I had no idea why he—my junior and Dierre’s friend—was here.
“S-Senior... spare... spare me...”
I wanted to ask something, but one look told me this wasn’t the time.
We were on a ship. Seasickness wouldn’t just go away if we left him like this.
“...Elodie.”
I called to Elodie beside me, and she sighed.
“It’s harder when it’s not on myself.”
Even so, she traced a magic array and cast it on Pielot. Pielot lifted off the deck.
Some kind of levitation—despite the ship bucking over the waves, he didn’t smash into the wall or ceiling; he hovered exactly where we saw him.
Once the rocking stopped for him, some color returned to his face.
After draining a cup of water, Pielot spoke.
“I saw the ship had arrived, so I slipped aboard before the others. Then I opened a crate with rations...”
He emptied it, climbed inside, and shut the lid over himself.
“Why would you do that?”
“...Because if I asked to come with you, you would’ve refused.”
Naturally.
Why would I toss a promising disciple’s future into a gutter?
“I think you leaving the Empire is a mistake, Senior.”
The moment his seasickness lifted, Pielot put on a noble, resolute face. Hard to take seriously when he’d looked half-dead moments ago.
In the game he was that perpetually needling brat with Aster, annoying but with a certain cool composure. In this world, his image is... less fortunate.
“You said you’d teach me. I’m going to walk the path I believe is right.”
“...Got it. I hear you.”
I nodded.
“I’ve got nothing left to teach you. You’ve grown splendidly.”
“...Sir?”
“Now get off this ship and swim back to the Empire.”
“Senior...!”
His face crumpled in despair.
Selena, standing nearby, spoke in a careful tone.
“Um, Lord Frondier.”
“What.”
“Even a Zodiac would have a hard time swimming back to the Empire in these waves.”
We’d already come a long way. Agoris might be closer now.
At that distance, with these monstrous seas, swimming wasn’t realistic. He knew it, which was why he’d hidden until he couldn’t take the seasickness anymore.
...Or maybe he just couldn’t endure it one second longer.
“That’s true.”
I nodded.
“Then fly back, Pielot.”
“Senior...!”
This time Elodie, who’d been listening, chimed in.
“Why not just take him along? Pielot’s not that weak. If things get so bad he’d die, there aren’t many here who’d survive either.”
Pielot bobbed his head vigorously at her defense.
She wasn’t wrong. Pielot’s combat ability is excellent. No one knows better than me how much he’s improved training with me.
But that isn’t the issue.
“Pielot.”
“Sir!”
“Did House Livanche give you leave to be here?”
“...”
His gaze slid away. Elodie’s supportive look cooled with it.
I said,
“Of course not. Think of your place in House Livanche.”
A rising star, a prodigy with aura, the hope of the next generation.
The family’s pride and glory—running off after a man branded a demon? Absurd.
“Arald.”
“Yes.”
I called Arald.
“Sorry, but grab any demon and have them drop him back at the Empire.”
Swimming’s out, but a demon could make the round trip at this distance.
Fwip!
Pielot dropped to his knees and bowed so deep he’d have smashed the deck if he weren’t floating.
“I—I can’t go back!”
“You think that’ll work on me?”
“I can’t go back, no matter what!”
This brat.
“Your parents will worry.”
“T-They’ll be fine! Someone will tell them.”
“Someone?”
“I-I already told Dierre.”
At that, I glanced at Elodie.
“Can I deck him?”
“Want me to wrap your fist in flame first?”
Elodie, strongly in favor. Pielot, meanwhile, hurried on.
“I have to get stronger!”
“I know. Get stronger in the Empire.”
“That won’t be enough!”
“Everyone gets stronger in the Empire, what are you—”
“It’s not enough! No one protected you, Senior!!”
His shout froze me for a beat.
Seizing the opening, Pielot snapped his head up and looked at Elodie.
“And you ran away too, Senior Elodie!”
“Ngk.”
“It’s not fair to come down on me alone! You’re an even bigger prodigy than I am! House Riche’s in an uproar right now!”
Elodie slyly averted her gaze.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected Elodie to tag along either. Granted, the head of House Riche, Ortel de Riche, seemed to let her go—she reined in her brother Levette’s rampage, after all.
But it’s still running away from home. Not that different from Pielot.
A thought struck me.
“What did Dierre say? He would’ve tried to stop you.”
Dierre’s someone I can trust. Not that I don’t trust Pielot, but when it comes to critical calls, I want Dierre there.
“Dierre wanted to come too.”
“...He did?”
“But he told me this.”
—I want to go, but I think I should stay.
—I’ll be more needed by Senior Aster than by Senior Frondier.
‘...That guy.’
I let out a silent, crooked laugh.
Just as Aster and I were split by our situations,
Maybe Dierre knew, and split from Pielot deliberately.
“...Fine.”
In the end, I relented and nodded.
For all his dramatics, Pielot’s a cool-headed kid. If he went this far, he’s steeled himself.
“I’ll allow it. But—”
Instead of Pielot’s brightening face, I looked to Elodie.
She understood and snapped her fingers.
“Ugh.”
Pielot dropped out of levitation.
I told him,
“Handle the seasickness yourself.”
His face went ashen again—before the voyage had even truly begun.
***
On the fifth day at sea,
The thing I’d worried about happened.
“Monsters on deck! Engaging!”
“They’re on the ropes—climbing up!”
Sea monsters. Creatures we’d never faced before swarmed us.
I rushed out of the cabin to see them for myself.
Those clambering onto the deck looked like humans wearing fish hides. They walked upright and carried weapons. Humans with gills and talons.
They were much bigger than humans, though. Two to three meters, easy. If they hit as hard as they looked, most ordinary people wouldn’t stand a chance.
Sssst!
Thoom!
Elodie’s magic was already pouring down, and the demons’ aura flashed bright.
I moved to her side.
“How strong do they feel?”
“Not so different from land monsters. The weak are weak; the strong are so-so. The real tough ones haven’t shown yet.”
Even as she answered, Elodie was building her next array.
With her,
“Menosorpo.”
I joined in.
My magic circle spread to cover the entire ship, and within it I sensed each enemy with precision.
'There are some attacking from underwater, huh.'
The detection showed more—things hammering the keel without bothering to climb.
Likely not bipedal. The ship’s protective magic wasn’t failing easily, but leaving them alone would be unwise.
The others could handle the deck. I’d deal with what was below—
Vmmm!
My thoughts cut off as something else entered the array.
A rock? No—a whole island was surging toward the ship.
“...!”
I lifted my head to Elodie.
She was already looking at me. So my reading was right.
Bearing: straight ahead of the bow.
Tap!
I wrapped myself in aura and sprinted. Elodie dropped her current casting and began a new chant.
'Not arrows. There’s no need to aim anyway.'
Bigger than that—and sharper.
I prepped what I needed in my right hand at high speed.
Weaving
Rank — Unique
Atjie’s Spear
I grabbed the spear as I ran and poured aura into the tip.
By the time I hit the prow, Elodie’s incantation was done.
Divine Power—Open
Rudra
Wind Magic, Form Three
Range Increase, High-Pressure Discharge, Radial
Giant’s Fan.
Elodie clenched her right fist and swung; a colossal gust slammed out, shoving the entire ship.
An unbelievable wind that drove the vessel, sails and all. It yanked us back, bow-first.
Into the space it vacated—
Kwooooo!!
A vast “island” erupted from the sea. It gaped its maw, hauling its bulk above the surface, as if to swallow the entire ship. It looked like a whale, but at that absurd size, it was anything but.
Its mere emergence tilted the sea’s surface, making the ship lurch. I fought for balance on the slanted deck and sprinted for the very tip of the prow.
I could have flown and spared myself the balancing, but you can’t transmit force properly unless your feet are planted.
“So you’re the ‘Outside’ of the sea.”
I set my last step on the outer face of the bowsprit. Every ounce of momentum funneled into my spear hand.
Craaaack!
Heukcheon gathered on the aura-wrapped spear; Helheim’s mana bled in, glooming it with black light.
“Hup.”
I compressed a single breath—
Sssst!
—And let the spear fly in a dead-straight line—
Thud—!
—Through the whale’s skull.
Its eyes froze mid-gape—
Kwoaaah!!
—and it sank back down, limp, exactly as it had risen.
“...Maybe I overdid it.”
It was so huge I put a lot into that throw. If it really was on par with the monsters from Outside, that was excessive.
Still, I learned something.
“Everything in the sea is... oversized.”
Whatever the principle, the monsters we’re facing out here are mostly massive. To be precise, their bodies are blown up beyond the power they’re packing.
Sure, being big has its advantages, and they can exert more force. But watching the demons and Elodie fight them, they feel distinctly different from land monsters.
On land, big doesn’t always mean strong. If something the size of that “whale” showed up on land, there’s no way one hit like that would’ve finished it.
“At this level, someone else can handle them.”
I said it without thinking—and the moment I did, an idea clicked.
“...And that ‘someone else’ doesn’t have to be just anyone.”
