“...This ship will stop at Tisah. As soon as we arrive, leave. No need to say goodbye, just leave, then and there, without letting Kalaman know.”

Nentonia expected something like this to happen.

Almost as soon as she joined, one of Kalaman’s party members—Armei the half-elf—asked her to leave. The points she made were valid, too. She was weak, and she would be a burden to the party. Something about that was enticing to Nentonia. If she was unable to perform her job as a healer, then the party would suffer more wounds than necessary, right? Imagining a sight like that made Nentonia’s heart race.

“Sure.”

But she decided to do what Armei had asked of her.

In the end, Nentonia was “evil”, and the whims and wishes of evil should not be followed. She allowed it to take control over her once before. At the very least, she knew what was evil, and she knew how to hold herself back now.

Armei looked at her, dumfounded and full of suspicion. “Sure, you say...? What do you want? What exactly are you after, Brava?”

“I want to become an adventurer, that’s all,” Nentonia replied. “I was invited to a party, so I joined. If you want me to leave, then I’ll just find another party.”

The half-elf didn’t look convinced in the slightest. It was a pretty generic answer, but Nentonia didn’t really know what else to say. It was true that she accepted Kalaman’s invitation on a whim—in part because she thought Kalaman himself was a bit interesting. But, at its core, all she was doing was trying to fulfil her childhood dream to become an adventurer. Even if it didn’t feel at all fulfilling, she had nothing else left.

“If you know what’s good for you, then you will leave at Tisah, for your sake and his,” Armei said as she walked away, clearly displeased by the conversation.

“...Urgh...”

As soon as Armei was gone, Nentonia collapsed to her knees, leaning her head against the railings. It honestly took everything she had to keep a straight face. Fresh air did not help with the seasickness at all.

She took deep breaths. In time, this feeling should disappear, she hoped.

A minute passed. Then two.

Even after ten minutes, she only felt marginally better. Nentonia had a newfound respect for sailors, having to contend with this feeling for most of their lives.

“You gonna die?” A familiar voice called to her.

She raised her head to see Kalaman Kampus staring down at her with an expression that said “What is she doing?”

“...Oh, hello, leader,” she eked out a response.

“I told you not to call me that.” His brows crumpled up as he said that.

She did remember him saying something to that effect. As she expected, his reactions really were entertaining to see. “Sorry, I forgot. Then, can I call you Kal, like Rem does?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

There was a very brief pause. “...No. And when did you get close enough to the halfling that you’re using nicknames now?”

Halfling. Earlier, at the port, he also referred to Armei as elf. Was he bad at remembering names? Or did he just not bother?

“You could at least use their names. You clearly remember them, don’t you?”

“If you weren’t good with ships, you should have said so.” He changed the subject. He was probably too proud to change his ways now. She remembered that the heroes in her books were often haughty like that.

“Did you know I easily get seasick?” she asked.

“What? No. Why would I?”

“Well, considering this is my first time on a ship, we’re on the same boat. Haha.”

Some people apparently didn’t get seasick at all. At least, now she knew that she wasn’t one of those people. Despite having lived next to a river and seeing so many ships pass by, this was the first time she’s ever ridden one. Safe to say she didn’t really like it very much.

“Aren’t you a cleric? Just heal your stomachache away.”

She stared at him. “...For an experienced hero, you sure are ignorant of how clerics work. I heal wounds, not seasickness.”

“Hm. I’m not a cleric, so of course I wouldn’t know.”

For a bit there, she could sense a bit of embarrassment from him. She couldn’t help but smile. “Heh. You want me to teach you, then?”

Kalaman sighed. “Go back to your room and sleep. It’ll wear off before long.” Another subject change. He likes to do it a lot if he doesn’t want to talk about something, huh?

“It’ll come back the moment I wake up, though,” she replied.

“You’ll get used to it.”

At this point, she expected him to just up and leave. Yet he stayed there, gazing at the horizon with her. She expected him to not be the sociable type, and judging by his teammates reactions to him recruiting her, she was right. His attitude also screamed unsociable.

Yet here he was, the hero calmly partaking in her company.

Right. He was a hero, like those characters in her books. Though he was rude and unsociable compared to them, he was undoubtedly a hero too.

“Hey, tell me a story.”

“What?” he asked, surprised from her unprompted request.

“You’re a hero, right? They usually write stories about heroes in books. I’ve never read a story about you, though.”

He scoffed. “There are none.”

“Does that mean I get to hear a hero’s story that’s never been written before?” She lit up with excitement.

“No. Stop asking.”

An instant shut-down.

Nentonia pouted. “Aw. I thought you’d be fun, but you’re not.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“No you’re not,” she said, not sensing even a bit of genuineness in his words.

Still, this awkward silence was becoming almost unbearable.

“You sure you don’t have any stories to tell? Like, from your adventures?” she prodded further.

“No.”

“Not buying it. How about this, then! Why do they call you the Dragonslayer?”

“...Beats me.”

“There has to be something, right?”

“You’re starting to get on my nerves. Stop asking.” Kalaman’s voice became deeper and more forceful. He was pissed now, for sure.

How fun! she thought.

“Boring. Killjoy. You could have at least humored me so that this stomachache would be a bit more bearable,” she chided him.

“Then go to sleep already.”

“But that’s boring, too. At the very least, poking at you and playing around seems a bit more fun. You don’t mind, right?”

He sighed and glared at her. “If I do, would you stop?”

“What do you think?” She returns a knowing glance with a smile. They both knew she wouldn’t.

“Tch.”

“’Then don’t ask’, right?” She completed his thought.

“Shut it.”

Nentonia giggled at his every response. The more annoyed he got, the more enjoyment she found from it. This was a bad habit of hers, even back when she was at the orphanage. Jaysie was her prime target, of course.

She stared at Kalaman’s face, blankly staring at the ocean. He was being annoyed by her, but he didn’t leave yet. What, did he like being bullied or something?

“You’re pretty weird, you know that?” she said to him.

“...You looking for a fight?” he replied.

Seriously, it was too fun being around him.

No need to say goodbye. Just leave.

She remembered Armei’s words, and stopped laughing. Right. She had already agreed to that. Armei didn’t want her here. Although he didn’t say it out loud, the dragonborn, Jarvarax, was probably also dissatisfied with her. She had no place here, just like anywhere else.

But, she realized didn’t want to go anymore, and the implications frightened her.