Ch.345Chapter 345 – Tonight, I Will Come to See You. (1)

On the second day after joining up with Beatrice.

We were on the sea.

“It’s magnificent.”

It was Sera who was enjoying the view of the sea with me on the ship.

After gazing at the sparkling sea surface with curious eyes, Sera turned to look at me gently and asked.

“Have you ever been to the sea before, Kay?”

“I think I went once, a very long time ago.”

I couldn’t remember the details, but the feeling itself wasn’t unfamiliar, so that’s how I answered.

I probably had played on the sea at least once before coming to this world.

Of course, if someone asked if I’d been to the sea here, I could say that I had.

But that was when I was a test subject captured by the Emiris Order, so I didn’t count it.

“Come to think of it, is this your first time seeing the sea?”

Sera nodded at my question.

“I only lived in the countryside before coming to the capital.”

“I see.”

I heard that some people here spend their entire lives in one village.

For Sera who grew up in the countryside, it made sense that she hadn’t seen the sea before.

“I didn’t know the sea was such a beautiful place.”

I quietly nodded at Sera’s words.

“It’s fortunate that you’re not getting seasick.”

“I took the motion sickness medicine Lady Diana gave me yesterday. I took it today too.”

“How thoughtful of her to have that medicine.”

Diana had somehow brought motion sickness medicine even though she couldn’t have known we’d be going to sea before we came here.

Sera smiled at my comment and said.

“It seems she carries it as a standard precaution. It came in handy since some of us are seeing the sea for the first time.”

Sera said that, but as she mentioned earlier, she was the only one who had never been to the sea before.

So Diana’s medicine was only taken by Sera.

“It must be quite effective.”

“She said you need to carry something strong because seasickness can be terrible.”

After saying that, Sera muttered with slight disappointment.

“I think it could be improved further.”

Even though she had taken it and felt its effects, she seemed to have several points of dissatisfaction.

Perhaps because I brought up the topic of medicine, I could see Sera muttering to herself about how to improve the motion sickness medicine.

“You’re quite dedicated to your profession.”

“I am an alchemist after all.”

Sera gently pressed her body against mine.

“Still, I’m glad I can enjoy the sea with you without feeling sick.”

Sera said with a slightly blushing face.

She was always pretty, but I thought her face looked even prettier from the side.

As I was thinking that, I unconsciously started to bring my face closer to Sera’s.

“IT’S HERE!!!!”

“What, already?!!”

The atmosphere was immediately shattered by the voices of two uninvited guests.

Together with Sera, who now wore a very displeased expression, I turned my head to see Beatrice and Sia, who had cast fishing rods into the sea a short distance away.

“Wow, it’s strong! Could this be a big catch?”

“Hold steady and reel it in slowly. I’ll go get the landing net.”

Sia secured her own fishing rod and quickly disappeared somewhere on the ship.

And people started gathering around the two of them from all over.

Not all of them, but most were burly men.

“Hey, the ship owner’s got a bite!”

“Get ready!”

People who must have been quite bored started shouting excitedly.

As I watched them quietly, I said.

“Beatrice is the one who caught it, but the crew seems to be having more fun.”

“Lady Diana seems to have brought along some very energetic people.”

The people who had appeared earlier were crew members selected by Diana.

Most of them had volunteered to fight against the demon race, like people who had volunteered as soldiers out of anger when a distant fishing village was attacked.

Perhaps because of that, they were somewhat rough but surprisingly kind and full of enthusiasm.

And soon the crew gathered around Beatrice and started chattering.

“Beautiful ship owner, feel the movement of the fish!”

“More importantly, this lady’s good at fishing? Must have done it a lot?”

“Who cares about that. Let’s get ready! If it’s a big one, we’ll eat it!”

“And drink!”

The crew was cheering for Beatrice while also thinking about eating the fish they caught right away.

Sera and I watched them happily.

“Miss, we’re all ready, so give it your best!”

The crew cheered for Beatrice as they made their own preparations.

And Beatrice didn’t disappoint their expectations.

“It’s a big one!”

After a struggle, a fairly large fish started to be reeled in on Beatrice’s fishing rod.

And when it came up high enough, Sia quickly scooped the fish into the landing net and safely placed it on the deck.

“Oh, this is bigger than I expected? I heard people haven’t been catching much fish lately, so maybe these big ones were left?”

“Hey, bring a knife! A knife!”

“Where’s the alcohol?!”

The crew seemed even more excited than Beatrice who had actually caught the fish.

And as if on cue, a crew member appeared with alcohol, and a small drinking party immediately broke out.

Naturally, Beatrice and Sia didn’t miss out and began to heartily accept and drink the offered alcohol.

“Yes, this is it!”

“We’ve got food too, isn’t this great!”

The two of them smiled as they looked down at the fish.

Watching them getting along so well with the crew, I voiced the thought that had been on my mind.

“No matter how I look at it, Beatrice and Sia really do seem like middle-aged men.”

“They really do.”

It was unbalanced how they looked like pretty young ladies but acted like middle-aged men.

Actually, it had been revealed that Sia was quite old and she had hinted that she’d lived a rough life, so it made sense for her to act that way, but Beatrice was supposedly a princess according to what she herself had said.

This current trouble was also for a reason befitting a princess—wanting to resolve the chaos in her country.

It seemed that now that everything was resolved, she had returned to her original self.

‘No, is it that she’s returned to her changed self?’

Which came first, the princess or the middle-aged man?

Was she born a princess but her true nature was closer to a middle-aged man?

Or had she been twisted and changed to become like a middle-aged man?

“Kay, what are you thinking about?”

“Whether the middle-aged man came first or the princess.”

“That’s like asking whether the chicken or the egg came first.”

I didn’t know that expression existed here too.

Anyway, Sera seemed to have immediately understood what I was talking about.

“Let’s leave the contemplation of why Beatrice acts like a middle-aged man for later… but is this okay?”

“What is?”

“The crew having a drinking party right now. I’m wondering if it’s alright since they must have duties to attend to.”

I nodded at Sera’s words.

We don’t know anything about sailing so we can relax, but the crew members must each have their roles.

“Well, judging by how relaxed they are, I guess there’s no problem with the voyage.”

Indeed, the weather was good, and because of what Beatrice had done to the ship, they probably had less to worry about.

Besides, since they were people selected by Diana, they wouldn’t be lazy enough to neglect their duties.

Those gathered there were probably people who happened to have some free time or whose duties were minimal at the moment.

“So it’s okay then?”

“The voyage, that is.”

Just as I was about to answer Sera.

“Get back to your positions right now, you lot!”

“Eek, the captain caught us!”

“Run! Hide it!”

Diana started shouting as if she had come to end this commotion, and the crew began to move in perfect unison.

Despite having just been drinking, their movements were very nimble.

“That’s not the skill of first-time escapees.”

I was impressed by the crew’s escape speed as I said that.

While thinking that I would probably react more slowly than them, Diana approached us with her hand on her head.

“My goodness, I give them a little break and they completely lose discipline…”

“P-please calm down.”

“I will calm down. But first, I need to lecture them.”

Chris, who seemed to be accompanying her, tried to soothe Diana, but she still seemed intent on giving the crew a piece of her mind.

Soon the two of them approached the crew, and I could see the crew members grinning sheepishly as they approached Diana.

And Eve, who seemed to have followed behind them, came straight to Sera and me.

“So this is where you were, Kay.”

“What have you been up to?”

“I was checking the provisions and other supplies with Miss Kara.”

Eve seemed to have been working diligently.

She was certainly different from Beatrice and Sia who were playing around, or Sera and me who were just enjoying the view of the sea with nothing particular to do.

But Sera asked with slight puzzlement.

“I would think we wouldn’t be short on provisions thanks to Beatrice, right?”

“That’s true. Since we’re moving several times faster than our planned schedule, we shouldn’t run out of food.”

Eve nodded as she spoke.

“We didn’t expect her to cast a spell to make the ship go faster while we were greeting Princess Gabriella.”

“We’re lucky she did.”

Eve nodded at Sera’s words.

As Eve said, Beatrice had gone ahead and made various preparations during the short time before we arrived, one of which was casting a spell on the ship.

Thanks to that, the ship was moving across the sea at a speed that surprised the crew.

Naturally, the arrival time had been greatly advanced, and because of that, the provisions and other supplies were considered excessive if only the number of days was taken into account.

“Still, a merchant always has to be cautious. Unexpected situations can always arise.”

“That’s true.”

As Eve said, it was never a bad thing to be thorough with checks when at sea, as you never know what might happen.

“Still, the voyage is so comfortable that I don’t think anything will go wrong.”

“I see.”

Eve smiled and stood beside me.

And for a while, she gazed at the sea together with Sera and me.

“The weather’s nice.”

“It really is.”

Eve smiled and pressed her body against mine.

“It’s so nice that I feel like having a little fun, you know?”

Eve spoke to me in a slightly seductive voice.

As I was slightly taken aback by Eve’s tone, Sera also clung to me as if imitating Eve.

“Me too.”

Soon understanding what their gazes meant, I gently averted my eyes.

‘Even so, there are a lot of people here…’

To be honest, if I were asked whether I liked it or not, I did like it, but if we got caught, Diana would probably scold us severely.

Just seeing how she had scolded the crew members who were playing around a little, I could tell we’d be in big trouble if we got caught.

So I decided to change the subject for now.

“By the way, magic is amazing. To increase the ship’s speed this much.”

I deliberately turned my gaze toward Beatrice as I spoke.

Right now, she was staring at her empty cup, perhaps a bit sad that the drinking party had been broken up, and Sia was patting her shoulder to console her.

And Eve and Sera, with smiling faces, were starting to discuss something with each other.

“…You’re running away. Should we just attack at night?”

“Should we prepare so he can’t escape?”

“Shall we decide who goes first?”

“Hello?”

When I called out to them again, they reluctantly cleared their throats and backed away.

As I was thinking that I should check my surroundings carefully at night, Sera spoke.

“When Beatrice really sets her mind to work, she’s incredibly efficient. Still, she said this was just a temporary measure because the time was very short. She said she could have made it even faster.”

“Really?”

“That’s what she told us last night.”

Even now we were moving across the sea several times faster than normal, but for Beatrice, this was apparently just a temporary measure.

And Eve quietly spoke as if she had just remembered something.

“She had also taken care of the paperwork in advance so we wouldn’t be bothered. I appreciate how she’s greatly shortened our schedule with these small details.”

After saying that, Eve gently muttered.

“Though I didn’t expect her to register herself as the ship owner.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

As part of the administrative procedure, the ship’s owner had to be registered, and Beatrice had apparently put her own name, that is, “Beatrice,” on the form.

This was also why the crew called Beatrice “ship owner.”

Of course, none of us made a big deal out of it, and we all joked that Beatrice had embezzled the payment to become the ship’s owner.

“Beatrice said that while the registration is in her name, the real owner is Kay.”

“That’s what she said.”

There was no need for her to say that, but she seemed to feel sorry for becoming the ship’s owner on her own.

Actually, since the ship we’re currently on was kept by Princess Gabriella as her sister’s memento, I thought it was natural for Beatrice, her sister, to be the owner, so there was no need for her to feel that way.

But Eve and Sera seemed to see it differently.

“It didn’t seem like she was just saying it.”

“I wonder what she meant by that?”

“…If we consider Beatrice as belonging to Kay, then Beatrice’s possessions would also be Kay’s possessions.”

The two of them were muttering meaningfully, as if they suspected something suspicious about Beatrice.

And at that moment.

Suddenly I felt my body becoming intensely cold.

And as pain spread throughout my body, my heart began to beat irregularly.

‘Again, huh.’

Since the battle at the royal palace, I occasionally had these episodes where my body would convulse.

As I unconsciously placed my hand on my chest, waiting for it to calm down, Eve and Sera reacted.

“Kay!”

“Kay!”

Immediately, Sera handed me something that looked like a pill, and without a word, I took it and put it straight into my mouth.

It was the type of medicine that released its effects when chewed and crushed, so as soon as I bit down on it, I felt my body becoming a little more comfortable.

And Eve immediately spoke up.

“I’ll go get Beatrice.”

“No, I’m fine.”

I quickly raised my hand to stop her since my body was starting to calm down again, probably thanks to the medicine Sera had given me.

Eve looked at me with a worried face.

“Kay.”

“I’m fine. It’s calmed down now.”

“Don’t try to act tough.”

“I’m really fine now. Don’t worry.”

After saying that to Eve and Sera, I smiled.

“Even just now, it was something that would have gotten better with a little rest.”

“…Kay.”

“I’m fine, really.”

I continued to reassure Eve and Sera.

Although their expressions darkened, they seemed to have decided to listen to me for now and backed off slightly.

‘I didn’t want to worry them.’

I felt that I couldn’t leave my physical condition as it was.

For now, it might just be occasional brief seizures, but it could get worse in the future.

More importantly, I had ruined the cheerful atmosphere because of me.

I immediately bowed my head and said.

“I’m sorry for ruining the mood.”

“…It’s alright.”

Eve smiled and said.

“Kay is more important. …We can create a good mood later.”

“…In the room?”

“In the room. You can decide which room, Kay.”

You’re incorrigible.

I smiled at Eve’s words.

Sera was smiling too.

“…Anyway, at this speed, we should reach our first destination in two days.”

The destination Eve was talking about was Evgenia’s fourth seal.

She said we could arrive even at night if we pushed through, but for safety, they decided to stop sailing at night.

And Sera was looking up at the sky for a moment.

“What is it?”

“Just thinking. If we could fly through the sky, we wouldn’t have to stop at night.”

Sera spoke with unexpected seriousness.

“Since we can’t just lift this with magic alone, if we combined different methods to stably lift it and then make it fly in the desired direction…”

“Oh, you’re saying something interesting.”

Having apparently regained her energy, Beatrice approached us.

“Where’s Sia?”

“She said she’ll continue fishing. I said I’d take a short break.”

After hearing Beatrice’s words, I looked at the fishing spot and saw Sia raising one hand.

“Then, helmet. Stand still for a moment.”

After saying that, Beatrice placed her ear against my heart.

At the same time, she grabbed each of my hands with her own and pulled me.

I ended up with my body pressed against Beatrice’s.

“Excuse me.”

“Shh.”

Beatrice closed her eyes.

And quietly said.

“…As I thought, your magical energy became unstable just now. I’ll straighten out the flow for you.”

“Huh?”

With those words, something like a slightly warm energy came from Beatrice’s hands.

Soon that energy circulated through my body once, and Beatrice separated from me and said.

“I’ve stabilized the flow a bit. You shouldn’t have any sudden deterioration in your condition for at least today.”

“Really?”

“Yes. This is fine for now. But seeing how quickly it becomes unstable, I’ll need to correct the flow periodically.”

I was a bit surprised by the sudden body contact, but it seemed Beatrice didn’t do it without reason.

Soon she grinned and looked at Sera and Eve.

“Were you nervous because we were so close?”

“Well…”

When Sera couldn’t speak, Beatrice smiled and opened her mouth again.

“Actually, I could have noticed to some extent just by holding hands. But to be certain, it’s better to have as much skin contact as possible. …There’s an even better method, but that’s a bit embarrassing.”

Beatrice cleared her throat slightly and continued.

“…Anyway, the skin-to-skin contact was to directly infuse magical energy to stabilize helmet’s condition, not for any other reason. Just so you know.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So please understand, Miss Merchant. Sera. …You don’t want helmet to be in pain either, right?”

At Beatrice’s words, Eve and Sera let out a slight sigh.

“Certainly, Kay’s health takes priority over our feelings.”

“That’s right.”

“Thank you for understanding. Now, let’s get back to that interesting conversation from earlier.”

Beatrice smiled and said.

“Is it realistic to make a ship fly?”

“While it’s possible to lift it with magic, it would be too inefficient because it continuously consumes magical energy.”

“Then…”

The three of them immediately entered into a discussion.

Beatrice and Sera looked more excited than expected, and Eve was in the middle, considering whether it could be profitable.

As I smiled slightly watching the three of them.

I heard suspicious voices from behind.

“Go.”

“But Kara.”

“Go. Push through.”

It seemed Chris and Kara had separated from Diana and returned here.

And the two of them were in the middle of some suspicious conversation.

After Chris declined for a while and Kara kept pushing, Chris finally seemed to give up, took a deep breath, and I could see her approaching me.

‘I wonder what this is about.’

I thought as I watched Chris, who seemed tense.

And Chris arrived near me.

“Um, Kay. I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“Can I have a moment?”

I nodded at Chris’s words.

Since Eve, Sera, and Beatrice were focused on the conversation about making the ship fly, I could certainly talk with Chris.

“Well, there’s a good method to stabilize the body with holy power, so…”

Chris was being cautious.

And behind her, Kara was clenching her fist and saying something.

“There’s such a method?”

“Yes. So…”

Chris closed her eyes tightly.

And her face turned red.

“Well, um, it works better when there’s no one watching.”

“I see.”

“So…”

After saying that, Chris took a deep breath.

And slowly said.

“I’ll come to your room tonight, so please keep your schedule clear.”

Chris’s face turned bright red.