"Anywhere but the Calm Belt, hm?" Zephyr studied him for a moment, intrigued.
"Young man, how did you shatter the pirate ship just now?"
He'd seen what happened, but not how. Even to Zephyr, the mechanics were a blur.
"Oh, that?" Gil said lightly. "I just… grabbed it. Didn't really use much strength."
Around them, Marines went stock-still.
Just grabbed it.Didn't use much strength.
You crushed a ship by accident?
No one dared call it boasting. They'd watched him do it.
Which meant the truth was worse: this harmless-looking youth was a genuine apex monster.
Crushing a pirate ship… casually.
Even Zephyr—a man who stood on the threshold of Admiral-level might—couldn't do that so effortlessly.
Gil smiled, unbothered, as if he'd merely flicked a splinter from his sleeve.
Hearing Gil's answer, Zephyr's surprise slowly showed on his face. Curiosity sharpened his gaze."Young man, can you tell me how you grabbed it?"
"How?" Gil blinked. "How else? I curled my right hand like a claw, and the pirate ship came apart."His tone said, Are we really asking questions this dumb?
Part of him even regretted sparing the Marines. If he'd crushed their warship instead, maybe he wouldn't be fielding so many questions.
"A simple grab…" Zephyr had braced himself, yet still couldn't help the breath of astonishment.
He was about to press for details when Gil's expression cooled. Zephyr sensed the impatience and swallowed the follow-up.
"Young man," he asked instead, adjusting his glasses, "should we take you home—or…?"
"Home?" Gil's smile tilted with a trace of bitterness. "My homeland is very far away. Even with your strength, you wouldn't be able to reach it."
He was telling the truth. His home was Earth; how could Zephyr deliver him there?
Zephyr frowned slightly. Where could be so formidable that even someone of his rank "couldn't enter"?
He studied Gil in silence. Years of experience told him the youth wasn't lying. Beneath Gil's calm, Zephyr felt a faint ache—homesickness.
A man not yet twenty, carrying power at the Admiral tier… He couldn't have come from some nameless village. There had to be a powerful lineage behind him. And if the scion was like this, what kind of giant was the family?
Are there hidden clans in this world—so strong the Navy knows nothing of them? The light flashing in Zephyr's lenses hardened into resolve.
"Where do you plan to go next?" he asked, voice neutral but probing.
"Haven't decided. Wherever."
"Wherever?" Zephyr's eyes lit. "So you don't have a place to stay yet?"
"That's right."
Zephyr drew a breath, focused on Gil, and extended his hand with unusual solemnity."Young man—join the Marines. I promise you the rank of Vice Admiral."
"What? Vice Admiral? Teacher Zephyr—what's going on?"
"First day in uniform and he's a Vice Admiral? That's unprecedented!"
"Is Zephyr-sensei setting a new precedent?"
"Vice Admiral isn't something you just hand out…"
"Maybe not—but if Zephyr has promised it, that says everything about how much he wants him!"
"Accept it already! That's a Vice Admiral commission!"
Gil met the wave of envious, yearning, and jealous stares, then calmly raised a hand."Sorry. I'm not looking for that."