Chapter 261: Bad News
Marineford.
Inside a dim room, a man sat alone.
The room itself was not naturally dark. Its location faced the sun, and light should have been streaming through the windows. However, the curtains had been drawn shut by the man inside.
He was not doing anything shameful.
He simply sat there quietly, head lowered, lost in thought.
He had been sitting like that for a very long time.
On the table before him was something meant to numb worries.
Alcohol.
Slowly, the man moved.
His large hand, now trembling slightly, reached toward the empty bottles scattered across the table. He fumbled through the clutter, searching for any bottle that still had liquor left.
But all he did was knock one over.
Then another.
The same useless action repeated again and again.
If he raised his head, finding the alcohol would have been much easier.
But the man's gaze never shifted.
His head remained lowered in the gloom. Scruffy stubble had grown across his cheeks, and traces of alcohol still clung to the hairs. The faint glimpse of his eyes revealed a darkness that matched the room around him.
Anyone who saw him now would think he was a drunkard who had failed at life.
Creak.
The wooden door was pushed open.
"Teacher... Zephyr?"
Axel's voice carried disbelief.
Although he had already heard the news on the way here and had mentally prepared himself, he still could not accept the sight before him.
A man who was usually so stubborn and concerned with his image had turned into this disheveled mess in what felt like the blink of an eye.
The man raised his heavy head with the speed of a tortoise.
Although his appearance was completely different from the image-conscious Zephyr in Axel's memory, there was no doubt that this face belonged to Zephyr.
"You... came."
Zephyr's voice was low.
Axel nodded and replied softly, "Yes."
"It's all... my responsibility."
Zephyr's voice was filled with self-reproach.
"If I had listened to your suggestion... perhaps they wouldn't have had to die."
Axel fell silent.
What was meant to happen had happened after all.
It had not been avoided because of his arrival.
Edward Weevil had still attacked Zephyr.
Originally, because of Axel's interference, Zephyr had deviated from the original sea route and should not have encountered Whitebeard Jr.
Yet it still happened.
This result could only mean that it had been intentional.
It was not that Zephyr had happened to run into him by chance.
Weevil had been searching for Zephyr.
Axel did not know the reason.
Perhaps he had overlooked something.
Perhaps some other factor had led to this outcome.
But none of that was important now.
What he wanted to know was the current situation.
How were Ain and Binz?
Axel asked in an urgent yet tactful tone, carefully avoiding Zephyr's wound.
"How are they?"
In other parts of Marineford, the news had spread, but there were no specifics.
Everyone seemed to be intentionally avoiding the topic.
Zephyr seemed unable to answer.
Or perhaps he did not want to.
He opened his mouth several times, but no sound came out.
Finally, he reached for a bottle on the table.
Axel used his small, weak arms to gently grasp Zephyr's large hand.
"This isn't your responsibility."
This was not merely Axel's attempt to comfort him.
It was the truth.
No one could blame Zephyr for this.
If anyone was responsible, it was Edward Weevil.
Or perhaps himself.
Even though Axel had known what would happen, he had not spoken up.
He clearly had many ways to tactfully convey the information, yet he had chosen to ignore it.
Whether that was because he had been too confident in his own calculations, or because he had subconsciously treated it as an experiment, even Axel himself could not say.
Zephyr only thought Axel was comforting him and shook his head.
"...It's my responsibility."
His voice was hoarse.
"My arrogance killed my students."
"..."
Axel did not interrupt Zephyr's self-reproach.
He only watched silently until the older man's emotions calmed slightly.
Then he asked again, "How are Ain and Binz?"
More than anyone else, Axel wanted to know their situation.
"Binz is fine..." Zephyr said.
"Then what about Ain?!"
Axel could not stop himself from asking.
At that moment, Zephyr's expression was helpless, almost like a child's.
He stared at Axel blankly and asked, "...I wanted to ask you that too."
"Where is Ain?"
"Is she still alive?"
At this moment, Zephyr was like a drowning man clutching at a straw.
His voice carried desperation.
Because the feeling Axel gave him was simply too incredible.
Whether it was the Vergo incident or this attack, Axel seemed to possess deep foreknowledge.
So where was Ain?
This was also why Zephyr, who usually disliked asking favors from others, had asked his student Aokiji to find Axel.
Seeing Zephyr's reaction, Axel had already guessed something.
But he still could not help asking, "What exactly happened? Can you explain it to me first?"
"During... the battle..."
Zephyr's voice was painfully slow.
"Ain fell into the sea."
"You're... kidding, right?"
Axel stammered.
Although Ain was a decent swimmer, there was no way she could survive in that sea.
Moreover, the area where Zephyr had been attacked was the Calm Belt.
Another name for the Calm Belt was the home of the Sea Kings.
Could a young girl survive after falling into such a place?
The answer was obvious.
For someone who had gradually become indifferent to life, hearing this news made Axel's heart throb again with a suffocating pain.
He did not understand what this feeling was.
But at the very least, he knew it was pain.
In this world, he did not have many friends.
Even fewer truly understood him.
Ain happened to be the one who understood him best.
Without him realizing it, he had begun to care about this young girl who knew him so well.
And now, he began to regret.
If he had not been so immersed in his struggle with Donquixote Doflamingo.
If he had not kept the secret to himself.
None of this would have happened.
Yet in a world with so many ifs, this one did not exist.
"You're... kidding, right?"
Axel repeated the question to Zephyr.
How much he hoped Zephyr would answer that it was a joke.
Just like the ones he used to tell.
Zephyr avoided Axel's gaze.
He tried to adjust his glasses, only to realize that he did not even know where he had left the glasses he usually wore.
He sighed and hesitated for a moment.
Perhaps he was waiting for his own emotions to steady.
Perhaps he was waiting for Axel's.
"...It's true."
Zephyr's voice was heavy.
Then he slowly closed his eyes.
After his family died, Zephyr had treated his students as family.
Ain was one of the students closest to him.
He had long since treated her like a daughter.
He also wished it were false.
Yet he knew better than anyone that this had happened right before his eyes.
He had lost family once again.
Axel closed his eyes.
When he spoke, his tone was strangely indifferent.
"Life... is truly fragile."
"It turns out even the people around me... can die."
As his words fell, the surrounding environment abruptly changed.
From dim, it sank into pitch black.
.....
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