If Remina had to find one word to describe Kalaman Kampus, it would most certainly be “immortal”. A demigod. He could walk through hell, bathe in its molten waters, and come out the other side, wherever that may be. When Remina first heard of his exploits, she didn’t believe in them. She was a songstress, so she knew the tricks of the trade. Exaggeration caught more ears, after all.

Once she actually became a member of his de-facto “party”, she saw it for herself. The Dragonslayer’s strength was unparalleled. Sure, he was reckless. He got injured a lot, more often than the other members of his party combined. Yet despite all that, Remina could not see him as anything but indomitable. Even the visage of him battered, wounded, and bloodied in the face of a monstrous horde inspired awe; that even against these overwhelming odds, there was no doubt that he’d win.

Remina was well versed in heroes, but seeing it firsthand was truly an experience in and of itself.

Kalaman Kampus was cold and cruel and uncaring, which left him with virtually no weaknesses. And to top it all off, he was rigid and immovable. He held the air of a constant existence; he would never change. He will always be the insurmountable hero.

Which made it all the more intriguing that he, for the first time, actively invited someone to travel with him. Nentonia Brava was an unassuming cleric girl, very obviously new to the adventuring business. There was nothing about her of note, and yet, she was the one Kalaman chose. Why was that?

Remina walked the halls of the ship when she saw the cleric in front of her. She, too, was curious about the galleon, and was looking around. Remina stood there for a bit and thought of how to engage in conversation with her, what phrases to use, how she should conduct herself, the topics she needed to cover, what she wants the other person to feel about her, and so on. It was a habit of hers. Ever since she was old enough to remember, she’s always been very careful of what she said.

“Heya, Nen!” Remina called out, running towards her while waving her arms. “So? How’s your first sail?”

Nentonia noticed her and turned, giving a small bow in greeting. “It’s great! But I could do without the swaying,” she laughed nervously. “I’m trying to find my way to the upper deck to get a breather. Also, um ... Nen?”

“Do you like it? It’s a nickname I came up for ya! You can call me Rem if you like.”

“O-oh, ok then, miss Rem.”

“No need for the miss! But seriously, it feels great to hear you say that,” Remina laughed. “Nobody else in the party ever calls me Rem. Oh, and feel free to call everyone else by their nicknames!”

“They have nicknames too?” Nentonia asked with slight curiosity and amusement in her voice.

Remina smirked. “Care to guess what they are?”

Nentonia looked up and began thinking. After a while, she answered. “Nen, Rem ... Going by that, then ... Kalaman is Kal?”

“Yep! That’s correct!”

“And Alkith is Al?”

“Ah ... Well, it could certainly be that if we used his first name, but he doesn’t really like that. I guess it’s a cultural thing. Anywho, we all use his last name, Jarvarax, so guess again!”

“...Jar?”

“Yep! Sounds kinda silly, doesn’t it? I think it’s cute, though.” she giggled.

“And Armei is Arm!”

Remina laughed. “That one’s good! I bet she’d be thrilled to hear that one!”

“...Was I wrong?” She asked. Was she serious about that one?

“It’s actually Mei,” Remina corrected her. “Try calling them by their nicknames next time! It’s pretty fun.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Nentonia gave another small bow before continuing her walk.

“Oh, and another thing,” Remina interrupted her. “Please don’t think too badly of Mei. She’s rough ‘round the edges, but she’s not a bad apple. I’d appreciate it if you two got along!”

Nentonia simply bowed with a smile again and went on her way.

The tensions were high, this early into the voyage already. Remina didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps it was both. The fact that Remina couldn’t tell anymore was worrying.

Did her own heart waver during these past few years?

She raised her lute and began strumming. She closed her eyes as the words began to flow out.

“Forget not the days when the wheat fields danced, and children pranced under sunshine’s gaze...”

†

“Remina, can I confide to you about something?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Jarvarax suddenly asked something strange. He intentionally waited until it was just him and Remina in the room before asking, even though the two of them have been there for a while. Moreover, his tone felt more serious than usual.

“Sure thing, Jar. What is it?” Remina replied, making sure her tone was carefree as usual.

Jarvarax sighed. “I don’t trust this crew. I believe that there is something they are hiding.”

“Huh? What makes you say that?”

“The halls of this ship,” he continued. “They have faint traces of blood. While I was walking, I noticed blood smears on the floor and walls. They are hard to notice, but they are there. I think they are recent as well, maybe from around a few months ago.”

It seemed that Jarvarax had already caught on to the crew’s suspiciousness. That wasn’t surprising to Remina. Jarvarax may not have been as smart or sharp as Ques Van Lendi, but he certainly had his intuition.

Still, the blood was news to her. Even she didn’t notice it. A dragonborn’s sense of smell really was impressive.

“Blood smears, you say? That is troublin’, for sure...” she said.

“I feel like captain Nahar is hiding something from us,” Jarvarax said, a low growl hiding beneath his voice. “This crew, this ship ... it unsettles me, Remina.”

Remina crossed her arms and thought about what to do next. Certainly, the crew couldn’t be trusted. Remina got a feeling that the captain, Nahar, was much more than he seemed. She just couldn’t really tell what it was about him that seemed so frightening, but Remina didn’t want to cross him.

Still, Jarvarax’s suspicion of them was interesting. She carefully took note of it and moved on.

“Hmm, I get what your sayin’, but is there really anythin’ we can do at this point?” she replied. “We’re in the middle of the sea, and not one of us knows how to steer a ship. If things get ugly between us and the crew, we might end up stranded here in the open ocean. I’d rather not become shark food, thank you very much. ‘Sides, all we need to do is escort ‘em, right? If we just shut up and don’t ask questions, we’ll be able to reach shore in no time.”

“What if they are plotting something against us? You know Kalaman has many enemies. One of them could have hired this crew as assassins to take him out. In the middle of the sea, he has nowhere to run. This is the perfect place to be ambushed!”

Remina shrugged her shoulders and scoffed. “This hasn’t been the first time an assassin’s paid a visit, no? Kal’s invincible. They could send an entire army and it probably wouldn’t be enough. Honestly, the man’s too amazin’.”

“You take this situation too lightly, Remina. We cannot let ourselves become vulnerable, especially where we are now.”

In all honesty, Remina was getting slightly irritated. Kalaman was damn near invincible. No assassin could ever be able to take him down, no matter how hard they tried. She understood that Jarvarax was just being cautious, but still...

“Then, what do you suppose we do?” Remina asked, losing much of her jovial tone from before. “Do we confront them and risk things gettin’ violent? You know that if things get violent with us, people die. Honestly, Jar? I can’t stand that anymore.”

Remina noticed that she was getting a bit too worked up, and calmed herself down.

Being part of the hero’s party wasn’t glorious as the songs made them out to be. To save others, they had to be prepared to do what needed to be done. But even as strong as Kalaman was, he couldn’t be everywhere at once. There would always be those that won’t survive. Remina had long since accepted death, but every time the light from a person’s eyes faded in front of her, as they become cold to her touch, it reminded her how she will never get used to it.

Perhaps noticing her shift in emotion, Jarvarax sighed and lowered his voice, almost apologetically. “...No, you are right. Forgive me, I had gotten worked up. All we need to do is have our guard up for now, that’s all.”

Jarvarax went back to doing inventory, or whatever it was he was doing.

It was fine. Nothing needed to change for now. Nothing could change. It didn’t matter whether it was an assassin, or something else.

Kalaman Kampus had no weakness.

†

A few days after that conversation, Remina walked the halls of the ship as she usually did. Staying still wasn’t something she was accustomed to doing, so she regularly went on walks. Who knows? Maybe she’d find something interesting.

Now that she knew about it, she could almost see the blood smears on the walls. Something was truly off about this ship and its strangely quiet and understaffed crew.

Remina recognized their behavior. They weren’t mute, of course. They weren’t shy either. They were hiding something. It most likely had something to do with the blood stains.

Then, she stopped in her tracks. She saw Nentonia across the hall, walking with her head down.

“Yo, Nen!” Remina called out.

Nentonia raised her hear, put on a smile, and bowed slightly. “Hello, Remin— Uh, Rem. What’s up?” she said with forced jolliness and a simple wave.

Remina raised her eyes in surprise. “’What’s up’? What’s that about?”

Nentonia sighed and lowered her head again in embarrassment. “Sorry. I tried copying how you usually talk. I heard that it makes people closer.”

The halfling chuckled. “Well, I already like ya fine enough anyways, so there’s really no need. I do appreciate it, though! So, what’s getting’ you all down in the dumps?”

“Ah. You noticed...?” Nentonia scratched her cheek.

Remina felt that Nentonia wasn’t really surprised. She probably knew how obvious it was.

“Can I take a guess?” Remina said. “It’s Kal, ain’t it?”

Nentonia made no reply, and simply lowered her arms and continued starting at the floor. Then, ever so slightly, she nodded.

“What, has he been ignorin’ you? You don’t have to take it too hard, he’s always like that.”

She shook her head. “No, he hasn’t been ignoring me. In fact, it’s the opposite.”

Remina almost froze up hearing that. Was Nentonia lying? “The opposite, you say? What do you mean?”

“He’s ... I...” Nentonia was having a hard time finding the words. Then, she took a deep breath. “He wants to spend more time with me. But I... I can’t. So, I’m keeping my distance from him at the moment.”

The gears in Remina’s head became loose and fell apart. What on earth was she hearing? That didn’t sound like Kalaman at all! He’d never willingly ask to spend time with someone, much less a stranger!

Then again, this entire situation has been strange. Kalaman’s never invited a person to his party before. It seemed that there was something about her—Nentonia Brava— that Kalaman was interested towards.

Clunk.

A gear fit into place. And she felt that it would be the first gear of many.

“That sounds really interestin’!” Remina bounced up and down in excitement. “Ah! Sorry, I know you’re going through somethin’ right now, I think. But, like, this is huge! Kalaman’s never wanted to spend time with anyone before!”

“He hasn’t?”

“You’re the first! How did the two of you meet, anyways? And what do you think about him? He’s a pretty cool guy, right?”

With each sentence, she inched closer and closer to Nentonia, demanding her for answers. Nentonia backed away slowly with her hands in front of her.

“U-um, can you slow down for a second? And you’re asking too many questions...”

“Then, follow me!” Remina grabbed Nentonia’s hand and smiled. “Let’s talk for a while.”