As the storm passed away and the ship weighed a bit less, the ship sails at a faster pace, cruising through the mighty waves that did little to stop the ship from breezing through thanks to the supporting wind. The breezy wind cools me down and for a while, I am able to just relax and enjoy what life has to offer.

Even with this speed that is above the usual, it doesn’t deter the sailors from working harder than usual. Too hard; Too rushed I must say. And that’s fair, after all…

We are running three days late from schedule.

The harpies attack dwindles the sailor manpower needed to operate the ship, taking the simplest work on configuring the sail twice as long as it normally would. It’s so bad that I even see some of Caedric’s party helping out doing menial tasks, such as mopping the floor.

I’m just thankful they didn’t ask me to help man the ship, although it is most likely due to my noble background no doubt.

「 Look, sir Renald! We’ve finally arrived! 」

Aston is beside me in the captain’s deck with a grin on his face, looking out to the far distance. He is quite a friendly man, but I can’t help notice that he has become overly friendly and deferential towards me now.

「 Indeed, we have. 」I simply respond.

In the horizon between two different shades of blue, lies land — civilization. With buildings and architecture that is unknown to me. Angled brown roofs that seem to be made from hardened clay. Walls and foundations made of dark wood. All are an alien or unusual material for Veinardian.

With all of these different styles of structures, it’s hard to tell for me where we are exactly. But there’s one thing for sure, we have arrived somewhere in Kasanra safe and sound.

And that sentiment is shared throughout the ship as sailors shouts cheerfully. Grateful that they’ve met their destination, their expression filled with what seems to be hope that they can finally get some real good rest on land.

「 What are you all shouting and buzzing about?! 」Aston shouts, affronted by the sailors behavior,「 prepare to dock! 」

For a second their expression becomes disrelish but knowing the obvious duty that lies it is immediately replaced with a hardened serious expression.

「 Aye aye, Sir! 」 「 Aye aye, Sir! 」 「 Aye aye, Sir! 」

The sailors shout in unison, heading back to their duties. The ship becomes even livelier than ever once more with no man being idle except for me. Even Sir Aston is directly in the field, managing each man and supervising the whole operation.

With the ship’s preparing to dock, and with me being left alone I think it’s about time I go back to my quarters and pack my stuff. It’s a relatively short path to take, walking down the steep stairs and turning to the right, the door to my quarter is already in sight.

I open the door and reveal the humble place that I stayed throughout this voyage. I might spend most of my time in the Sky Palace, but I can’t help but feel oddly infatuated with this place.

It’s simple sling bed with modest furniture such as a chair and small table obviously pales to the extravagant furnishing that adds comfortable cushions that screams comfort and wealth. After all, this quarter reminds me of my once past life, away from the luxurious life of a noble, to my once humble and poor origin in my previous life.

There’s nothing much to pack, only several clothes that are in dire need of washing. I easily fold and shove them into my luggage. Oh, I almost forgot, some empty potion bottles that are not on the table that I once thought of….

The very same potions that I use to quickly regain mana after I depleted it and vitality potion to numb the headache. Those bottles aren’t worth that much, but it’s still better to resell it if given the chance.

Looking around, I found them on the corner down on the floor next to my sword. Did it by chance roll down when the ship sways? The potion bottle is quite cylinder by design…

There’s no scratches whatsoever so it’s fine either way. Just have to insert it into the outer pockets of the luggage and now I’m ready to go.

「 Sir Renald, the ship has been docked. 」Caedric says unexpectedly.

I look to my back and indeed it is Caedric leaning to the side of the opened door.

「 Thanks for the heads up. 」I say as I carry my bag and my sword, ready to go,「 have you told your party you’re retiring? 」

「 I’ve taken your advice to heart and I’ll tell them after our contract is over. 」

「 Woah, what’s the rush Sir Renald? 」Aston suddenly appears as he walks down the stairs hurriedly. Like a butler dashing over to hear his lord command.

「 Well, it’s about time for the ship to be docked, and I’m ready to go now. I know all of you are in a hurry since you still have other places to ship goods around Kasanra. So I took the liberty to prepare in advance to not disturb your continuous voyage. 」

「 That doesn’t mean we can’t have a few drinks at the local bar right? 」

「 Although that sentiment is appreciated, reporting to my guild or higher ups took precedence over any other matter. That doesn’t factor the account that I have a lot of meetings or training that I need to do in my guild. 」

「 I see… So not even that… 」Caedric responds quite slowly.

What’s up with Caedric disappointment? Does he have more to say and needs some adventuring advice?

「 It’s quite the shame we can’t repay back your heroic deeds, even less a simple celebration. This event will always be . We owe you a debt sir Renald.  」

「 My men owe you their lives. 」

「 And I owe you my ship. 」Aston chimes in.

They all are wearing thankful bright smiles. Their intentions are welcomed and appreciated; their inflated gratitude, however, is not.

「 If I need help I will surely ask all of you. 」I say, trying to stop this ludicrousness,「 but please don’t be so generous. In all honesty, I merely did what was necessary to get to my destination as fast as possible. 」

「 You clearly underestimated the harpies, Renald. Harpies are the most threatening monsters next to the kraken. 」Caedric retorts.

「 I wish I could escort you to the《Veinard Trading Guild》branch by myself or by one of my men, but we are running late on schedule due to that harpies encounter. I can’t even spare Caedric’s party members to escort you. Please forgive me. 」

Aston adds in, being extremely apologetic. The once confident captain that always holds his head high is now slightly looking down.

「 That is fine. I can go there myself. Where is it anyway? 」

「 Straight from the dock, you only need to go straight and you’ll reach it in ten minutes walking. Don’t worry, you’ll find it easily. It’s almost exactly like any building in Veinard with its classical white paint, and it will stand out like a sore thumb in the midst of the natives’ Canids buildings. 」

「 Alright. Thank you all for the journey. 」I offer my hand to them and soon they are greeted with a handshake by both of them,「 I sincerely hope this won’t be the last time we meet. 」

「 We too, sir Renald. Go ahead, the sailors are all waiting for you. 」Aston says extending his hand that leads to the stair.

Confused with Aston’s statement, I simply go upstairs to the ship deck. To be greeted by the lines of sailors and Caedric’s party member.

「 Here it comes lads! 」The sailor on top of the barrel shouts, brimming with excitement.「 Three cheers for Sir Renald Alderhide! Hip hip! 」

「 Hooray! 」「 Hooray! 」「 Hooray! 」

Between the lines is an empty space that might be meant for me . Huge smile and even louder shouts compared to last time.

「 Hip hip! 」

「 Hooray! 」「 Hooray! 」「 Hooray! 」

「 Hip hip! 」

「 Hooray! 」「 Hooray! 」「 Hooray! 」

What a way to send me off. A useless act of celebration. I understand that they want to show their appreciation towards me, but this flashy over the top way is not my thing.

 

---

For mere mongrels, they sure know how to praise my great and honorable master!

---

 

The cheering didn’t stop with just that. For they all now start singing praises to me.

「 Good luck with your duties sir! 」

「 If I ever have a son I’ll name him Renald. 」

「 We will all drink and pray for your success, sir! 」

One of the sailors’ face is full of red with a drink in his hand. I’m pretty sure he’s already drunk before the rest could join. They don’t even spare me as they all somehow take turns patting my shoulder and dilly-dagging. Are those people in the corner dancing?

Okay, this is getting way out of hand.

「 Okay, okay… that’s enough. 」I turn my back and face the cheering crowd.「 Return to your duties as I shall go to mine. And thank you all for the wonderful journey. 」

With that said the sailors cheerfully shouts for one last time, where they finally return to their post, to their duty. The needed peace finally makes me able to walk off the plank and finally to the dock on land. Only to be greeted by the curious gaze of onlookers in the dock.

「 Dear god… What happened to that ship… 」

I look to my back and now I can see why they all are shocked. I’ve never thought the ship would be in such a bad state. Those big scars on its hull would indeed shock almost anyone.

I meddle past the many crowd onlookers before many more come, and push through straight ahead.

My body and my whole sense overwhelmed with how crowded the road is. Must be because it’s near the harbor.

Two months in the sea does take a toll on people. But It doesn’t deter me much from walking through experiencing what this new land has to offer.

People from all sorts of life are mashed all together on this road. Humans are less apparent, replaced with the obvious Canids people with their canine ears and tails. Man going to their workplace, woman seemingly going back home carrying a basket filled with groceries.

Even a young Canids couple holding hands to one another with such joy.

Seeing them soo happy, seemingly so into their own little world and out of touch with the rest of the outside world, it somehow causes me to reflect on my whole view towards romantic relationships.

Perhaps… I did have a part in why she cheated on me…

I remember being so busy with work that I rarely paid attention to her. Only at the weekends and the occasional trips abroad did I ever spend my time with her. Perhaps she seeks out a man that was simply available to her when she wanted attention and affection when I wasn’t there for her…

Indeed it was her fault, but I might have played a role in why she became like that…

…Love and loyalty is dead.

So why bother being kind? The world is full of people caring about their own self-interest and won’t spare anyone if it means attaining their interest. I’ve even experienced this in the cutthroat office politics in my company.

Morality? As long as nobody finds out and doesn’t affect the outcome then who cares.

I fully understand this and yet, at the end of the day…

I’m still naive.

I’m still sentimental.

I’m still delusional.

Even knowing the reality and the way the world works, I… I still want to believe true love and loyalty exist.

That’s why I thought. If I can’t control the world then at the very least I can control myself then. If the world doesn’t want to then I’ll be the one who does it instead.

That’s why I won’t take advantage of Shen’s distorted love for me.

I know I will be taken advantage of for being too kind. Inevitably she will find a better man. And well… I’m somewhat fine with that. Very somewhat. I know it will happen in the future. I’m prepared for that. But that’s not an excuse to not treat her well.

I will suffer and die by my ideal.

Perhaps… It will make the world a bit better place. Or cause the lucky man that Shen genuinely chose to have a better fate than me.

Amidst my pondering regarding my situation, a building stood out like a sore thumb. A white building with glass panes covering almost half of the building. A complete contrast with the natives buildings.

The building is almost the exact same as a typical Veinardian building. For a second, I thought I’m back in Veinard but other than the occasional Canids people

I stand in front of the door that seems to be quite intimidating with its humongous size and sleek polished brown color.

Before I even knock, the door already opens, revealing a man with a distinctive uniform that I remember from back then in the《Veinard Trading Guild》headquarter.

「 Welcome to the 《Veinard Trading Guild》how can I help you? 」He asks with no pause, getting straight to the matter.

「 I came from the headquarters, here is the letter. 」

He takes the letter and briefly skims over it before he puts a smile bigger than the previous one.

「 The guild master has been expecting a person of your caliber. Please follow me. 」

Wait.. I am to report directly to the guild master himself?

 

Previous Chapter — Next Chapter

The cloudy storm passed away just like that. Now, the blue skies with its occasional clouds greet us in the sky. The waves are calm to the point of barely any. Back to the usual calm weather before the harpies came in. As if what happened before wasn’t real and didn’t happen. Just a passing thought.

The mast sail was hastily replaced with a new one as soon as the harpies retreated. Leaving the evidence of that horrific encounter of numerous scars of the harpies, monstrous nails, and stained blood in the ship’s wood. And dead bodies.

The casualties in total are three injured sailors, two deaths, a sailor and an adventurer. That doesn’t even factor in the missing people; a whopping three sailors are missing.

Missing is an understatement. Everybody knows deep inside that the missing are very much dead. Taken by the harpies to their nest to be eaten for their starving children or sunk to the deep sea left to its own fate by either drowning or eaten by the sea monster. Their bodies never to be discovered alongside their ultimate moments before their death.

If only I helped a little earlier, maybe the casualties wouldn’t be this high.

My mewling of the past however, is a very dark contrast to the sailors who simply shrug it off. At first I thought it was insane how there’s no outburst of mourning, no tears, or any signs of grief. How easy it is for them to accept the death of their comrade who slept close to one another in their hang bunk, sharing the smell of their sweats and the sourness of the sea for most of their entire life.

But I guess it’s just their nature to simply accept that it’s how it is in life on the harsh sea.

Nevertheless, a mourning is necessary, and here lies a burial at the sea… of some sort. A tradition for all men who lived and passed away in the middle of the sea.

To give some sort of meaning to the death of these people. A last farewell before their bodies were thrown off the ship, leaving it to sink to the deep dark blue sea. Leaving no trace of their existence.

At least on land, there will be a stone with their name on top of where they buried the body. Ashes of the cremated dead bodies if it were in Japan. A proof of their existence. A remnant to be remembered for their predecessors.

I understand why they must do it. Left alone and the body will rot, causing infectious disease that puts the ship and the whole crew in danger. But I can’t help but think that this is just too… heartless.

The tradition feels like it’s just a facade. To give a sense of grandeur and meaning to their death. Even though in reality, what little remains of them will be discarded off the ship like unwanted trash.

The dead bodies are all on top of a plank on the side of the ship, covered in a plain white cloth, from the scavenged damaged sail. With nothing attached to their bodies except the same little intact clothing they wear at the time of their passing.

It was a disaster. The deceased adventurer’s body was in a horrible state. It’s body was plucked piece by piece, like a scarecrow slowly nibbling the meat out of a corpse. The harpies, when left alone, eat their prey. There’s little they can do to clean or fix the body to its prime or proper state.

If there’s one monster you should fear the most, it isn’t the strongest or the one with the most magical prowess. Rather, the one that thinks humans are a delicacy meat.

The mourning and the burial starts with devout prayers by Sir Aston. Standing on the captain’s deck with his hand grouped together. Sailors, adventurers and including I are all on the main deck, looking down serenely. For a while there’s no words or voice, only the occasional gushes of the waves resonating during the burial session.

「 O goddess of the sea — Pontus — I beg of thee. 」Aston begins the prayer, 「 Take these souls — your children, gently. To be consumed tenderly by your mighty waves. To your vast blue kingdom of the sea. Where we will all inevitably return to as humble mortals alongside our ancestors. Amen. 」

『 Amen. 』『 Amen. 』『 Amen. 』

With just a single nod from Sir Aston. The plank lifts and the bodies drop to the sea.

And just like that, they are gone in a matter of seconds.

The people that once stands at the center of the ship moves to the edge. And from the few bowls attached to the side of the deck, grabs a fistful of dried red petal flowers and scatters it to the sea. Throwing might as well their cherished memories with their deceased brothers. A last farewell.

That reminds me…

I wonder how they treated my dead body in my past life?

She must be the first one to see my lifeless body. What would she feel the moment she found out?

Would it be a feeling full of regret? No… Knowing her, she must’ve been relieved — delighted even. Jumping out of pure joy with the nice house in mind most likely.

Sadly, I won’t be able to truly know what that woman’s expression would look like when she first discovered it.

「 Sir Renald, a word with you if you please. 」Caedric reaches out to me, while simultaneously gesturing to me to follow him.

…Is he going to reprimand my action of taking over his command over his party? But surely it was out of necessity and didn’t really overtake his authority by much. I don’t see why I have become the center of his attention, but might as well see it to the end.

「 Lead the way. 」I reply with a nod.

Caedric wastes no time and goes straight to the stairs and down to the quarterdeck, where I follow his lead.

Where one of the sailors, in hand with a filled pouch bag, rises on top of the box crate. Calling for attention.

「 Gather around now, men. Dig into your pockets — dig deep. And be generous to the dead man’s widow. 」

The auction of the dead man’s belongings has started so it seems. I remember from one of the sailors they will use the money gotten from the auction to be given to the dead’s widow.

Well it’s not like I have something I want to get. I have a more concerning business here with Caedric.

I follow him down the stairs to the quarterdeck, a place of relative peace and quiet, with just the two of us. Away from the commotion that’s happening on top. I sincerely hope nothing bad is going to happen here.

He takes a seat and I follow suit, and before I’m about to address why he wants to talk with me, he faces me with a rather solemn expression.

「 Back then… How were you… how were you able to stay calm when facing those harpies? 」

「 What? 」

「 When one of the sailors screamed for his mother… I… I panicked. I knew I was doing it. But… But I couldn’t stop… 」

「 I’m pretty sure we were all are afraid- 」

「 But a party leader… 」He cuts me off, immediately.「 Has no business in panicking… It led to the loss of some good men. 」

「 And as such we will always remember them. 」I start talking after he calms down,  「 How’s your party holding up? I’m sure nobody blames you. Although it is quite hard to accept the death of your comrade. 」

「 Sort of… Nobody is in a good mood. Kataryna took it the hardest of it all. 」

「 All of you are adventurers. I’m sure they know what they signed up for. 」

「 They signed up for adventure, loot, legendary tales to share; not to die horribly in the sea! 」He shouts, banging the table.

「 His death can be easily avoided. 」He continues, slightly frowning,「 if I just… stayed calm… like you. 」

Is he asking for comfort or advice? Nevertheless, this is not necessarily the first for someone to randomly come to me and act this way. There was that time where multiple junior engineers rely on me in mentoring and training them, getting them used to the company engineering effort.

「 We all make mistakes. When someone feels that things go awry for the first time, it’s hard to calm down. The only cure for it is experience. 」

「 I… I’ve fought goblins that outnumbered us five to one. Orcs that’s the size of three men combined. 」

For him to only mentions common low-level monsters and not the unusual hazardous kind such as the killer worms that he once used to boast about, perhaps my prediction of his empty boast was correct.

「 But those goblins, orcs, and others aren’t as terrifying as the harpies right? For the first time, you’ve realized there’s nothing you can do to fight against them, especially when they are above you, immune from everything you can throw at it. Leaving you all helpless to the core. 」

「 Even then… His death was due to my carelessness in the end… 」

From that last sentence of his, I know what he wants is comfort. I still truly don’t know why he consulted with me instead of Aston who’s far more credible. But somehow, I think an advice would be more appropriate than just soothing, comforting words.

「 I’m afraid that is the price of command. The only way to make sure his sacrifice never goes in vain is to always remember him — to learn from your mistake — and never repeat this incident to ever happen again. 」

Silence ensues. He seems quite perturbed with what I said but slowly starts to get it the more he silently thinks of it.

「 I’m thinking of retiring after this contract is over. 」He breaks the silence, 「 let everything here be bygone. And set out back to my hometown. Maybe follow my father’s wishes in inheriting his blacksmith shop and craft. 」

「 This is quite the very big news… Have you ever talked about this with your party? 」

「 I’m planning to, after I talk with you. 」

「 I am just an outsider to your adventurer party but if you are very certain to retire then I highly suggest you tell the news almost at the end of this contract. Telling the news right now would drop the morale even further. 」

「 Huh… You think the death of our comrade wasn’t enough? 」

The place succumbs to a quiet silence once more, leaving only the chime waves of the sea and the occasional creaking of the ship’s wooden hull. Mostly due to nonresponse to my end. I want to further move the conversation forward, but he seems to be processing everything that I just said, even more this time. Perhaps it’s about time we end this conversation.

「 You seem to have a lot in your mind. I will leave first, if you ever need help, you can always knock on my quarter. 」

He nods seriously while still looking down. With nothing left to do, I walk to my quarter.

「 How… 」He starts speaking slowly again, stopping me on my track,「 How can you be so sure and confident regarding this whole adventurer’s business? Are all scholars as wise as you? But this is nowhere close to books and that mind wizardry of yours…  」

「 That is easy. 」I look back to him,「 before I was a ‘scholar’, I used to be an adventurer like you. 」

I finally left him. It’s important for him to digest and internalize those thoughts himself. Only by then he can learn and hopefully grow into a better person.

 

Previous Chapter  — Next Chapter

「 Master! Have I displeased you in any way?! 」Shen asks, letting out those puppy eyes that make it even harder to look at her.

It’s only been a day since that transgression happened. Every time I see Shen, it reminds me of that time; I almost let my violent desire get out of control.

So I’ve tried making myself scarce in the Sky Palace, whether that’s sneaking in the greenhouse’s corner, covered by the lavish greenery as I read a book or in one of the many bathrooms available. To my luck, however, she could always find me and long were my hours suffering from her constant pestering.

I have to admit I am quite astonished at her persistence, as this is the gazillion times she asks me; And as such, I shall persistently answer the same way as I do.

「 You’ve done nothing wrong, Shen. 」

「 Then why did you sleep in a different room? Surely something must have happened before! 」She squirms, yet her gaze unflinches.

It pains me to see her react this way, but this is necessary. For the both of us.

「 Something did just happened, but it’s not because of you. It’s because of me. 」

「 No matter who it comes from, please just tell me, master! And I will correct it in no time! 」

「 Why are you so obsessed with sleeping in the same bed as me anyway?! 」

As soon as the words left out of my mouth, I realize that I’m sounding more and more immature. This is not good.

「 Because I sincerely love you master! I love sleeping beside you. It makes me happy, and you too right, master?  」She offers a small smile amidst her face full of uncertainty.

「 That is right, Shen. 」I calmly reply,「 but sometimes, you must do something that makes you unhappy in the short-term so that you can be happy in the long run. 」

「 Master… Why are you like this…? I can tell that you were holding back… That you are… Afraid of me…? 」

Her last few words become much more hesitant, seemingly afraid of the answer that lies. Of course she’s smart. She’s a dragon, for crying out loud. She must’ve noticed something’s off with me.

「 Is that correct, master…? 」She eyes me cutely and nervously.

I nod lightly. The way she asks brings me to the spotlight, causing me to be uncomfortable and forcing me to answer. Despite that, however, I don’t blame her. I can tell from our interaction that the only way to deal with her is to do so in a direct manner. Something that I’m not used to, but so be it.

Then…. Should I directly tell her why I’m so hesitant?

Here goes nothing…

「 Sir Renald Alderhide! Please wake up! 」

An unknown stranger’s voice comes within me, shouting, panicking with great worry. The courage to tell her was thrown out of the window, replaced with a great deal of attention and caution to that alarming voice.

「 We need your help, sir! 」

There it goes again, the same voice, affirming once more that it’s not something that I’ve just made up in my mind about. Then there’s no time to lose. Something dire must have happened. But what the hell could’ve happened when I’m away.

「 You will understand in the future… For now I must help the other humans on the ship. You’ve heard it too don’t you? 」

「 Is master talking about those lowly insects that dare to take our precious time together? 」

I sure am glad it was the right decision to never disclose Shen’s existence to them. Imagine what would happen when she boards on the ship.

「 That is correct Shen. 」I reply, knowing she’s definitely not pleased with my answer.

「 Who cares about those imbecile humans! They all can rot to the deepest earth for all I care and never bother us! 」

Her words, although weren’t directed at me, somehow hits me to the core. It reminds me of the supreme dragon that I once remembered. A dragon that is arrogant and puts little to no care to things that are below her; who flaunts her supreme prowess and does not hesitate to boast her legendary tales.

Yet, those very same feelings of her superiority and arrogance are not directed at me, even though I’m a human as well. Even though I’m nothing special.

「 Shen…. I’m a human too. I am one of the very things you call imbeciles… 」

Those words that I spat out with little thought, surprisingly does wonders to Shen. She couldn’t retort back. Merely standing frozen with eyes wide open and raised eyebrows.

「 I…. I… 」

「 It’s okay Shen… 」I say, my hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her,「 we’ll continue this conversation later on, okay? 」

She lightly nods, now staring at the ground with slumped shoulders. Gone was her cheery mood. I never thought she would be feeling this way just from merely offending me.

Only time and solitude can heal this. Fortunately I’m already sitting on the throne of the Sky Palace, it doesn’t take much for me to close my eyes and drift to nothingness as I chant my spell.

 

…..

 

I open my eyes, greeted with the same old wooden roof and the look of a man decked in the classic sailor uniform of white and blue stripes. His eyes widen, showing a great deal of fear, coupled with a hint of hope.

「 Sorry to disturb your sleep sir, but the ship is in danger! 」The sailor reminds me again, shaking my shoulder abruptly. In an attempt to wake me up no doubt.

Knowing his great deal of urgency, I spare no time and immediately get out of bed.

「 What’s going on?! Pirates are attacking the ship? 」

A screeching beast howl haunts the ship, as though those same beast knows my question and answers it. It’s the roar that bypasses the ears to speak right to the heart and instill fear.

Then followed by the scream of a man out of the top of his lungs, desperate for help. The type of scream desperate for help and an attempt to distill a bit of pain.

Damn, this is bad.

「 M-monsters? 」I say, knowing the full answer.

「 It’s better for sir to see it with your own eyes! Sir Aston will explain the situation better than me. 」

He hastily opens the door. I grab my sword and follow his lead to what seems to be the captain’s quarters. The sight that beholds on the room, is not pretty in the slightest.

It’s supposed to be an extravagant place, filled with papers and alcohol, but now wounded sailors laid on the table. Unattended spilled blood almost goes everywhere in this room.  Their pitiful mewls of pain and suffering taunt this place that was once a place full of laughter and cherry-mandering of the sailor’s singing.

「 Sir Renald! Oh, thank the goddess, it’s you! 」Aston shouts, a mix of worry and fear clearly plastered in his face.

He walks to me and greets my presence quite cheerfully. His eyes glittered with slight hope.

「 Sir Aston, what’s happening?! What kind of monsters did we encounter?! 」

「 It’s… It’s the harpies! Terrifying semi-intelligent beasts that toy their prey as they fly in the air. I… I can’t believe we’ve encountered them, I set the course three degrees to the southeast from last time. Was it due to that storm we went in a different direction?! It’s all my fault!  」

「 Calm down Sir Aston. There’s no point bickering about what has been done. 」

As if to remind us, the harpies howl once more, haunting the crew as I see them shivering, frailly. Aston sadly is not immune to this either.

「 Are the adventurers on top? 」I ask, urging him to focus on the situation.

「 Yes they are! Up there on the deck, trying to defend the ship. It’s… It’s hopeless… They won’t be able to stop them…. 」

「 I shall join with the adventurers and see if I can support them. 」

It will be hard to join an already established group of adventurers and move as a unit as an outsider, but it does me no good to stay still here. I can’t do anything to the wounded sailors and even though I’m not an expert in combat, I at least have a myriad of experiences in dealing monsters back when I still did adventuring with Elras.

「 Many are injured and few are dead! It’s a suicide to go up there! 」Aston shouts filled with despair.

His subordinates, the sailors, are all staring at us. Their expressions are full of dread and unease. Seeing even their leader that is supposed to instill hope and confidence full of despair and doubts of course does no wonder to their current morale.

His expression is not fit for that as a leader, a man in conrol. I grab both of his shoulders, and lean in closely to the side.

「 Control yourself! 」I hushly whisper, not withdrawing my emotion,「 at least for the sake of the men. if you, the captain of the ship, loses it, then the men will follow suit. 」

I let go of him and soon climb up the stairs, revealing the harsh weather of the stormy clouds. The sky is covered in grey clouds but with no rain or thunder. On a closer look monstrous birds with dark grey feathers — Harpies are flying in the sky. Forming what seems to be two encirclements. The first encircling the ships above is quite near, and the second one is quite far from the ship. All are moving in such an organized and timely manner that I can’t help but be slightly afraid with what we are up against. This sight would surely demoralize anyone who’s inexperienced.

「 Fire! 」A man shouts,「 Fire!!! Keep casting your fireballs! 」

I stop looking at the sky and down to the ship where the voice originates from.

Cedric with what seems to be a mage from his baggy robes.

「 Caedric, no matter how much I keep casting fireballs at them, none of them hits! 」

「 Just do as I tell you! 」he glares at the man feverishly

「 F-fine..! 」The magician relents, and closes his eyes to prepare a spell.

『 Aeogus! 』

A fire spark sprouts from his hand and in a mere second it forms into a ball of fire the size of his head. The magician throws it into the general direction of the harpies. Not hitting any one of them.

「 Don’t let these fuckers get anywhere near us! 」Caedric scowls, turns to stare at the sky full of harpies.

My eyes roams throughout the ship’s deck and the weight of the situation completely hit me, the situation here is in complete shambles. Blood paints the wooden deck on almost every nook and cranny. Dead bodies still lying on the place. And worse of all, the ship’s mast is torn apart, rendering it useless to sail.

The adventurers are disorganized with each doing whatever they think is the best. Both the archer and the mage keep firing at them without any care and keep missing. The spearman and swordsman are sitting ducks as they can’t even reach the harpies.

There’s no unit cohesion. Caedric becomes hasty in giving orders, causing the others to doubt his leadership.

「 What is going on?! 」

「 Caedric, report the situation! 」

「 CAEDRIC!!! 」

He finally looks at me, eyes surprised.

「 S-sir… 」he slowly regains his composure, taking a deep breath,  「 the harpies took us by surprise. They… They came out of nowhere. We’ve lost several sailors and our brother — Lucas… We’ve tried everything we can throw at them but nothing hits them since they are almost always airborne. 」

「 Good work, Caedric.」

That look of his is not good. He’s tunneled vision. The death of their brethren must’ve taken a toll at him. Causing him to easily panic and not think of things thoroughly.

This is not the end of the problems that we are facing. From what he described, the adventurers can’t deal with the harpies because of their flying capabilities. Not surprising, considering airborne monsters are very rare and .

I need to instill order and confidence to this shattered group of adventurers but how do I deal with the harpies…

If we can’t hit them because they are airborne… Then perhaps… What if I force them to fall to the ground, the ship?

「 Sir Renald! 」

Caedric shouts and halts me from my thoughts. In front of me, a harpy descends right to me at an alarming speed. In a nick of time, I roll to the side. The harpies misses me. It flies away without slowing, leaving scratches on the wooden ship floor.

One of the harpies swoops in and with its two fowl legs, holds one of the lying dead sailors and carries it away.

W-where is he being taken to…?

 

---

Master! Please let this servant fight in your stead. I have been itching to put my swordsmanship to the real test. 

…No can do, Shen. I won’t risk your presence to be known by the people here. Besides, the situation is under control. I have a trick up in my sleeve.

---

 

「 Caedric! I know a spell that will stun the harpies all at once, but I need time to prepare it. 」

By causing mental shock to the harpies, theoretically it could cause them to be frozen and fall down either to the ship or to the sea. It’s risky though. I understand it conceptually and theoretically but whether it works in practice is unknown. Still, it’s worth the try. There’s not much choice either.

「 A spell that can stunt?! This is news to me! 」Caedric shouts, giving me a look full of doubts.

「 I’ve learnt it in my time in academia. It’s not surprising for you to not have heard of it. Only scholars know of this. 」

Caedric face turns to the worse, doubt clearly plastered on his face.

「 You just have to trust me. 」I continue,「 as soon as the spell is activated the harpies will fall down to the ship, by that time you and your fellow adventurers must kill every single one of them! Is that understood?! 」

「 Ughhh.. Fine!  」He replies back.

「 All of you heard me right! Be ready for the fallen stunned harpies as soon as I cast the spell! 」I shout to the general direction of Caedric team members. They all replied with a slow nod.

『 Iugum! 』

I cast the spell, subtly prying the mental state of one of the harpies. This spell is originally used to determine the emotions of a sentient target. But this spell could also tell the wavelength of the target that would help me to adjust my next spell.

Monsters’ mental wavelength is different from humans, no doubt from this spell of mine. With the intel that I got it’s easy to deliberately calibrate the adjustment and configuration on my next spell. I hope what I have will link to the harpies mind and shock any of their mental capabilities for a moment.

With the flick of both of my hands gesture, I cast the Wits shocking spell.

『 Caecasur! 』

The sound of the cast echoes throughout the place. A sound boom.Forming a somewhat small force of wind, breezing to all corners. The mental connection that I forcefully send to the harpies impacts them,

All of the inner encirclement harpies drops down and most hits the ship, rendering them stunned and feeble enough for the kill.

Associating with the mind of an incomprehensible beasts starts to take a toll on me, as light headaches start to occur to me. This side effect thankfully is manageable as long as I don’t have to do such a straining spell again.

「 Go! Go! Go!  Fucking stab them to death! You, the one with the big sword! Focus on the harpies at the far end! 」I shout.

The adventurers including Ceedric rush to the fallen stunned harpies. Where they all plunge their sword, spear, or daggers towards the harpies. Dying screeching screams of the harpies follows.

They do quick work on each of the harpies, thank the goddess I don’t have to summon my shadow minion. Everything goes pretty well, until I notice the two harpies on the far edge corner of the ship standing on their two feet, flocking their wings, preparing to lift off. Even though I already fucking told one of them to focus on the far end…

「 Bugger it! The two harpies are not stunned anymore and flock off again! 」One of the adventurers says.

「 Kataryna! Shoot them! 」Caedric commands.

The archer prompts from his command, and lifts her bow and shoots. None of her arrows are nowhere even near the two harpies. The harpies, noticing the flying arrows, lets out another fearful screeching howl, and flies out to the sky.

Damn it all. I have to cast another spell then.

「 I-I-I… I’m sorry… 」The archer cries.

I still have enough mana for one more spell but the complexity and the arcane usage of the spell starts to take the toll on my head.

「 Sir Renald! Do one more!  」Caedric pleads.

Fuck it. I should still be fine if it’s just one more.

Focusing on the mind and the linkage to the harpies mind, I cast my spell.

『 Caecasur! 』

A more powerful headache strikes me like a lightning that jolts directly at my head. It takes my entire conscious effort to appear calm and stand still.

A loud thump reverberate next to me. One of the harpies lands quite close to me. The headache makes it quite difficult to gain my composure and focus on the task at hand, but with sheer will, I close the gaps, unsheathing my sword, and go in for the kill. My sword thrust downwards to the harpie’s neck.

It screams a little, but soon turns silent and its eyes blacked with lifelessness. Its throat is clogged by its own blood.

「 Sir Renald, we fucking did it! Look, the rest of the few harpies are going away! 」

The harpies indeed go away. The encirclement above the ship is no more and the few of the surviving harpies fly away in a v-shape formation, like flocks of immigrating birds.

The adventurers cheer and the surviving sailors from the deck down below climb up to see the commotion, joining in the adventurers in cheering when they notice the harpies are finally gone away. Relieved they survived and can live another day.

「 Bless the goddess Maria! What kind of magic school was that?! 」

「 It’s… 」I say numbingly,  「 It’s… The《School of Wits Magic》」

Everything goes well, until I unknowingly almost trips to the ground.

One of the adventurers is able to catch me when I almost fall to the ground in a timely manner. Thanks to him, I’m able to get on my feet with ease.

「 Woah woah… Are you alright, sir Renald? 」

「 I’m okay…. Just a little headache… 」I say as I force a smile.

This is the worst. The overuse of such a straining and complex spell takes a toll on me now. My brain turns into an overloaded, ringing and beating inside my very damn skull. It’s a miracle I haven’t passed out from mana exhaustion.

But I can’t pass out now. It won’t be good for the people’s morale if I’m out now and who knows whether there will be more harpies coming. All I can do is to endure this for now.

And hopefully, a crack amidst the grey clouds occurs that shall reveal the sun that will shine on this ship once more.

 

---

M-m-master……………………..

---

 

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The ever-lasting pleasure was over, and with Shen seemed satisfied, we spent the rest of the night inside the same spacious bedroom we made love in.

Her last request is for us to cuddle or sleep on the same bed. Which I oblige, but with one condition: a very minimum skin contact is to be maintained as we sleep. It’s something easy considering the bed is ridiculously big, big enough to hold four people sleeping, and this is the smallest bed we can find in the palace.

At first, she disagrees as expected, throwing a tantrum about what according to her is an ‘unfair’ condition. What surprised me however, after a few seconds of obvious temper squirming, she suddenly stops for a moment and then smiles agreeing to my terms. It’s honestly quite scary how eagerly she jumps to agreeing pretty easily and also easily falls asleep. Is this correlated with my Sky Palace brainwashing power?

Nevertheless, this place is somehow cold. Way too cold. It wasn’t this cold as far as I remember. Was my repressed lust throughout our love-making heated me before? Tucking into the bed’s heavy blanket does little to provide warmth either, it pervades this empty heart of mine.

I wish I could just shut my eyes and fall asleep. But I can not, not with this coldness, even more so with Shen so close to my side. The almost freezing temperature compels me to detect anything that resembles warmth and it so happens to be the beautiful goddess, Shen.

She’s sleeping beautifully while facing me, and so peacefully too. Throughout my attempt to force myself to sleep, she inches closer to me in her sleep. I don’t know if she does so since she’s awake or it’s just instinct. Just with her presence so close to me, it’s so hard to not pay attention to her. It is one of these moments where I can truly marvel just how beautiful she is.

It’s hard to believe she was once a powerful dragon, or rather… is a powerful dragon; she can always transform back to her original dragon form. We are completely different beasts altogether. The disparity between me and her is just too high. She’s gorgeous and powerful, whereas I’m just a normal human that you could find anywhere.

Almost everything she does is divine in itself. Beyond devoted and most important of all eager to please. The only reason why I think she doesn’t delve into full-blown selfless servitude is because she notices my reluctance.

It feels… Too good to be true. Too good to be mine.

But no, of course it was not enough. It was never enough.

This high virility of mine, it is both a blessing and a curse. On the right person, it can be such a wonderful and thrilling experience; left alone, however, my mind deviates to thoughts that are… wild. Extremely wild.

Mutating into an urge. A fierce and violent urge. A feeling similar to hunger; a craving so close to a thirst. Which then transforms into deprivation.

An unfathomable desire to taste the prey in front of me to the very core of her bones. Having shen on top is great on its own, but what I love the most is when I’m the one in charge and in control.

Her existence and devotion lights a fire to the once extinguished fire pit before. It’s as if she is the personification of my ultimate fantasy. My wildest desire for absolute, unwavering devotion. For that someone to stay obedient with me, and thinks nothing else but me and only me. To always stay with me.

The feeling of power. The feeling of controlling and owning someone, where I don’t have to care about their being and I can be my true self.

There’s just this desire, a need to destroy something so perfect and to reduce her to be just a thing.

She’s so perfect, a goddess materialized, that it compels me to destroy her.

I want to break her and ruin her. To not treat her as a dragon princess but rather as a cheap sex toy that have no value and only deserves rough fucking.

I want to dominate her; put her into her true place. A little plaything in my hand, reducing her into a mere three-holes cum dumpster slut.

I want to rape her non-stop, fucking make her moan both in pleasure and pain. To not care of her pleasure and just fuck her pussy without care and purely for my own pleasure.

I’ll lock her in chains so she won’t be able to resist whatever I wish to do upon her. All she can do is to accept the fate that she is just a mere masturbation toy to be used.

If she truly loves me and serves me, then surely she would be willing and even eager to fulfill my wish, won’t she? Where my needs are absolute and be in absolute joy for fulfilling my desires.

Her long swan-like neck is so ideal and perfect to rest my hand and just… squeeze. She would be desperate to breathe, and her eyes would flicker mixed with pleasure and despair, Tears dripping out of ecstasy of being put into her true place of being a lowly slut.

Or even better, I’ll force my dick into her soft lips, straight into her throat. Plant her face deep into my crotch, forcing my pubes to penetrate her nose. Savoring the unbelievable, taboo-wrecking sensation of selfishly using her throat for my own pleasure while she’s desperate to breathe, fucking her face like I’d fuck her pussy — roughly, without a worry about how she feels, uninhibited by her feelings and conscience.

And then she will truly know how it feels to be owned by me. Her true place. To be below me. To be mine.

「 Master~ 」

Shen’s soothing calm voice snaps me out of my lustful desires… As I begin to slowly but surely regain my awareness I realize I’m… I’m on top of her… My hands are wrapping around her throat.

She looks at me very innocently, merely asking about me, even though I’m just about to hurt her.

「 Master? Is everything okay? You seem to be… hurt?  」

H-hurt?

…God, I’m such a terrible being.

How can a degenerate like me be able to get such an understanding perfect girl?

I… I’ve thought so many terrible things and was so close to choking her out…

This is… this is… getting too far…

Fuck….

What was I thinking?

「 Shen… you’re not hurt aren’t you? 」

What am I talking about…? Of course she’s hurt. I’ve been sitting and putting all of my weight on top of her belly. I might’ve not choked her at the last minute but what if I did?

「 Master, I’m doing great~ Please continue whatever you want to do to me. 」

No… No…. No…

「 Sorry Shen… I’m just feeling a bit under the weather just now… 」

「 What are you apologizing for, master? There’s nothing and there won’t be anything you need to apologize for. 」

I get off the bed, trying to find my clothes but soon realized that my clothes were scattered around the room. I should just go out as soon as I can without bothering to dress myself. Even while still being naked I don’t let the cold bother me and calmly walk towards the door.

「 Starting from today, we will be sleeping in separate rooms. 」

「 M-master, please wait! 」

Shen shouts went muffled midway before she could finish the sentence as I shut the door closed.

Plans of sleeping in another random bedroom of the sky palace pops up, however, she might chase after me immediately so it’s best if I continue sleeping in the ship instead. Not a great place to sleep in all honesty with it’s uncomfortable canopy like bed and constant sway due to the waves, but it will do for now. As long as I get away from her and calm down my mind then it is fine.

I am her master, but that doesn’t mean I can abuse her servility for my own selfish desires.

Absolute power, corrupts absolutely indeed.

 

…

(3rd POV; Close Narrator, Shen-focused)

 

With the door shut closed with a loud bang, Shen could only do naught but stop in her tracks. She’s so close to jumping off the bed and going after her master, but decides to stop at the last second with the fear it would only escalate his reluctance.

Emotions she never experienced in her past life before start festering. Anger? Shame? Regret, but most important of all–doubtness towards herself. Is she even worthy of being his servant for allowing such a stupid mistake? To fail to comfort her master, her creator?

She recalls from one of his mother’s lessons that to win a man’s heart is to maintain a delicate balance of being assertive and submissive at the same time. Submissiveness was a no brainer. What kind of servant is not submissive towards its master, towards its creator? But assertiveness… Assertiveness was not something she truly thought of, even though it fits so well with her original way of doing things.

Now she fully understands what his mother meant by balance.

It was the right idea to subtly cast a spell that would cause the room to grow colder slowly but surely. A little devious trick for him to search for warmth; that would inevitably turn into him seeking out for her embrace. While she submissively pretends to sleep, waiting for his move.

What was not is stopping the act and calling him out. She foolishly thought since  master has taken his first step, it wouldn’t be wrong to be clear and assertively encourage him to continue.

It was going so well. She was more ecstatic than ever before when master was on top of her, doing what he truly wanted to do without holding back.

Like a key inserted to its designated lock. It feels so right; like the way it should be.

It’s such a fantastic feeling, the purpose instilled on her very soul. Life is not hazy, ambiguous clouds full of uncertainty anymore. The path is already there, provided with guaranteed satisfaction and happiness, lying all across in this path that goes forever long.

It wasn’t like her past life where, even if she was fully certain of a choice, it would always turn out to be the wrong one either way. Even when she thinks a choice is the most correct one, there’s always something that is not ideal. Stuck between the choice of two lesser ideal choices, it always leaves her unsatisfied and regretful.

This second life was different, further proven by how she quickly recovers from this failure.

So what if she failed? She has all the time in the world, and master is not going anywhere. What she needs now is not just attentiveness but also persistence. Both of which are completely new to her. Both of which she doesn’t have much experience in her past life as Naga.

But isn’t this what makes this second life so interesting?

Back then, everything just fell to her slightest whim, making everything rather boring. Thousands of dragons fought her and it only took a day to defeat all of them, coming out with miniscule injuries. Claiming the peak of the tallest mountain that was reserved to the most supreme beings was also too easy. There’s little to no excitement in that world. Only the vainness of it all.

Now, she actually has to push effort to fight and conquer master’s heart. There’s thrill in the chase like nothing before. The challenge to fulfill her purpose fuels her drive and leaves her excited to earn her price. The failures and setbacks doesn’t even demotivate her the slightest bit — it further drives her yearn for master’s love even more.

Recalling how close she was to fulfilling master’s desire, she can’t help but notice the corners of her lips curving up.

 

I will earn my master’s love, and my master’s trust. And soon master’s heart will be mine, and only mine.

 

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