Ferrudion was still unsure what exactly the Palevine Empire was, other than a location, of course. But after wasting too much time trying to understand the mortals stunted language, he had told them that he would know when they got there.

Right now, he was standing on the ship's deck, Kalou Dan at his side, and tried to understand the various managy constructs involved in its movement.

One helped minimize the friction of the material the ship was made of, “Irontree wood”, and another rotated the “wings” that pushed them forward.

It was a curious way of inducing movement.

‘I admit that it is less costly than using managy to move the ship directly, but those constructs are so... ugly!’

Compared to the intricate constructs he had been studying, these lacked finesse. They were disappointingly simple.

“Please allow me to ask a question, Pelou Dean-agam.”

Ferrudion had already gotten used of these mortals' strange forms of address. Apparently, adding -gam or -agam to someone's name signified respect in their culture.

“Okay.”

“When this ship gets to the Palevine Empire, what are your plans?”

Ferrudion pondered the question.

‘To do something fun!’

Unfortunately, fun was a word he had not yet learned in their language. He had tried showing them some funny activities.

The vision of him dropping out of the sky and plunging in the water had yielded the words for falling, diving, injury, and healing.

Likewise, his various visions of him playing with his father's secretary by setting him on fire had only earned him looks of incomprehension and fear.

‘Father did forbid me from playing with his subordinates, but I thought he simply had no sense of humor...’

For the first time in his life, Ferrudion considered the possibility that his own sense of humor might be abnormal.

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‘Well, it makes sense that these mortals would be different. There are so many of them.’

This single ship housed more souls than Ferrudion had seen in all his life. And he had lived longer than the oldest mortal on-board!

Noticing that Kalou Dan had started looking tense, Ferrudion remembered that he had been asked a question.

“To do good things. Good like the falling,” he replied, hoping Kalou Dan would catch the reference to the vision.

“Like burning things?” the teen asked fearfully.

“Not that.”

‘These mortals are so weak that it might kill them.’

The teen smiled and Ferrudion felt that he was relieved.

Before he could ask another question, Ferrudion held up his hand.

“Wait.”

To further his understanding, he had spread out his soul. To not accidentally smother any mortals, the part outside his body was as thin as he could make it. Thin enough that even a mortal soul could push it aside.

And right now, he was feeling a bunch of new souls doing just that. They were closing in from the direction the ship was going.

He decided to ask the water.

『“Water, who are those souls moving towards me and the ship I am on?”』

Communication with the weak mortals was tedious, so Ferrudion frequently opted to ask the water instead. After all, it could actually use its soul to respond.

『“I do not know. Hmm… I do feel another ship moving towards you.”』

『“You should really pay more attention to what goes on in and around you.”』

He felt the water's annoyance through the soul link.

『“Unlike you, I am not immortal. If I wasted my time on lesser beings, I would never make progress.”』

『“Not immortal yet! I can feel that your soul is almost big enough. Even if you do not become a lesser God, as a deity, you will still be as good as immortal.”』

『“…… Thank you for the compliment.”』

Asking the water more would probably be pointless. Hence, Ferrudion sighed and turned to Kalou Dan.

He pointed in the direction of the new souls.

“Kalou Dan, there are one-hundred-and-three souls on a ship in that direction. They are moving towards us. Do you know them?”

“There is a ship moving towards us?”

“Yes.”

Kalou Dan looked uncertain.

“It could be not their plan. Or they might be Pahipiti.”

“Not their plan? Pahi-what?”

“Yes, it could be unintentional. I need to tell Kalou Sahagam.”

The teen bowed, that was what the weird bending movement was called, and ran off.

Moments later, the man and a few others joined Ferrudion on deck.

The man gave a “spyglass” to a woman and she proceeded to climb the ship's empty mast. As they were currently using the managy rotors, the sails had been stowed.

“Pahipiti!” she shouted down.

The teen looked excited and the man worried.

“What are pahipiti?”

“People that take other people's ships away.”

“Without permission?”

“Yes.”

That helped Ferrudion understand. ‘These people are thiefs!’

“What is your plan?”

“To defend, to kill.”

Ferrudion smiled and conveyed his approval. His father had told him about thieves. Those who dared to steal from a greater god deserved to die.

Now, this ship was not exactly his, but who cared about the details.

“Do I kill them all?” he asked the man.

The man stared back quizzically.

“You intend to kill the pahipiti?”

‘Right, intend, that was the word.’

“If you approve.”

The man looked hesitant.

“When they reveal their intentions, I would be happy to receive your aid.”