While on the way to Cycelia, Straf quickly peeks over his shoulder again, looking at the storm clouds in the distance. He briefly stops, and furrows his brows.

「…Weren't they?…」

He rubs his chin, looking at the thunderbolts hitting the turbulent waters far away.

「Eh, who cares. Doesn't matter as long we have a few hours of fun, and most importantly, beach episode cliches.」

He scoffs, and continues onward towards Cycelia, ignoring the clouds that appear to be over a different spot than when the carriage arrived.

「So, are you going to join the rest, Lia? Are you done with your meet-and-greet with the bimbo?」

Straf asks Cycelia as he approaches with a grin, spreading his arms.

「Huh? Bimbo?…」

Cycelia asks, furrowing his brows at Straf with a confused look on her face. Athea clenches her teeth in visible fury.

「Straf, we need to talk.」

Athea says with a deceitful beaming smile, tilting her head a little.

「Heh, no we don't.」

Straf scoffs, grinning back at her. She clenches her teeth once more, and her face twists into fury again, but she manages to contain herself and warp it back into a visibly angry smile.

《Huh? Do these two hate each other? Why is Straf speaking in such a tone to her?- No wait, that makes no sense. If they hate each other, why did Straf invite her here?…》

Cycelia furrows her brows in surprise, looking at Straf's grin briefly, before turning her eyes to Athea's barely smiling face, and back to Straf's grin.

「Yes. We do.」

Athea insists through her teeth with a wide smile.

《Huh? Do they… Actually not get along?》

Cycelia's gaze jumps back and forth between them, and a sensation of relief washes over her. She lets out a sigh.

「Um, Straf, it's okay. I'm going to dip in the water, I'll let you two… Talk it out.」

Cycelia stands up and steps off the mat towards the water, waving her hands gently in front of herself, before she glances at Athea. She stands up as well, approaching Straf closer while glaring at him.

「Alright, I'll be there in a moment-」

Straf shrugs, and turns away from Cycelia to snidely grin at Athea with his fist on his hip.

「Um, before I go…」

「Yeah?」

Cycelia calls out to Straf, causing him to turn his head and look at her over his shoulder.

「…How do I look, Straf?」

Cycelia asks, looking down at the sand with gently reddened cheeks. Her marine blue swimsuit is anything but revealing, covering her legs as low as the knee and ending with a side-slit going up to the hip, tied with a little red ribbon at the bottom.

Her arms, too, are very covered in a modest fashion, the swimsuit's fabric stretching as far as the end of her shoulder on her arm. The most indecent part of the swimsuit, is the v-cut in the center, revealing a little of her large cleavage, though not all that much.

Cycelia looks at Greaves's party, and her emerald-green eyes open wide in shock.

《Wha-!? Even Lily!? Are they not embarrassed about showing so much skin!?》

Cycelia stares in disbelief at Lian's entirely exposed legs while she's holding Alicia's uncovered arms, floating her in the water while she flaps her legs around trying to swim. Her shocked eyes turn to Athea, who she knows is even more exposed.

Her wide-open eyes look at the triangles in the center of Athea's breasts, then the tiny strip of cloth between her thighs. She looks up into her blue eyes, blinking in utter disbelief at her.

《…Has she absolutely no shame!? I'd die if Straf caught a glimpse of me dressed like that!》

Cycelia stares, and Athea notices, staring back at her and growing increasingly uncomfortable with her gaze.

《Don't look at me like that! I didn't choose to wear it!》

Athea begs Cycelia in her mind, though her pleas can't reach her.

「…Pretty tasteful and decent, if a little old-fashioned… Isn't it a little too tight for you, though?」

Straf says, rubbing his chin. His eyes drift to Cycelia's tightly-squeezed cleavage, as it appears the swimsuit is at least a size too small for her.

「Ah… Well… It's been a few years since I last wore it, I might have grown a little…」

《Ahh… He's staring…》

Cycelia adjusts the v-cut on her torso a bit, pulling it upwards, supposedly to make the swimsuit fit better, but all it does is jiggle her cleavage right in front of Straf. She restrains the urge to coquettishly smile a little.

《Remarkable character development…》

「I see. Well, either way, it's better than what this exhibitionist bimbo dyslexiac is wearing.」

Straf says, nodding his head. He points his thumb over his shoulder at Athea in her insufficient micro bikini.

「That's-!」

She protests with a shout, but stops herself before she can say something damning, clenching her fist at him.

「She gets off on the idea of other people seeing everything, y'know? I hope she wasn't putting any weird ideas into your head.」 「Hhhhrrrrrrrk!」

Straf says with a massive grin, shrugging with his hand. Athea gasps for air in outrage at Straf's words. Cycelia's emerald eyes jump to Athea, and she instinctively cowers away from the exhibitionist by shielding herself with her arm.

「No! No! That's a lie! Don't listen to him! See!? This is exactly what I told you about!-」

Athea shouts, begging Cycelia and pointing at her, before turning her pointing hand to Straf as she attempts to explain herself.

「Wow! You mean you actually tried to!? Stop corrupting her, you sicko! Lia would never wear something like that!」

Chuckling, Straf turns his head to Athea with his brows raised, shouting, and points his finger at Cycelia.

《Ah… If it was for Straf… And only for him…》

Cycelia places her palm on her chest as her heart begins to beat faster while she looks at Athea's mostly-exposed body. In a completely mortified fury, Athea clenches her teeth, her fists, and glares at Straf with anguished eyes.

《I hate you I hate you I hate you! Die! Go die! I hope predatory jellyfish shock you to death! I hope you get a cramp and sink to the darkest bottom like a rock! Die! Step on a sea urchin! How dare you!? A goddess, like this!?…》

「Krkrkkhh!!…」

Athea seethes, fuming through her clenched teeth on the verge of tears from embarrassment.

「Um… I'm going to go… And dip in the water.」

Cycelia excuses herself, already shuffling away while talking.

「Right. Be careful not to dr- Ah, flotation bags…」

Straf cautions Cycelia as she hops away, but bites his tongue and mumbles under his breath, when his eyes catch a glimpse of her sizable bust covered by her swimsuit.

Cycelia shoots a parting glance at Athea, looking at her with wide-open eyes and a deeply disturbed expression, before she joins the rest at the water.

《Don't look at me like thaat! This wasn't my idea!》

Athea screams inside, and looks down in shame.

「So? What is there to discuss? Your weird fetish?」

Straf asks, with a scornful smirk. Athea bares her teeth at him, glaring daggers and sharply breathing air in through her nose.

「Nice-」

Straf blurts out, looking at her scowling, hateful face.

「What do you think you are doing!? How dare you do this to me!? Do you take some sort of sick pleasure from putting me through this!?」

She shouts at him, waving her arms about in frustration and causing her large chest to bounce and jiggle.

「It's not sick.」

Straf says, raising his index finger with a smirk.

「Krkhkrkhkkkkkk…」

Athea seethes again, and turns her face away. She takes a few breaths with her palm over her eyes. She glares at him again with a much calmer expression.

「I got most of the script across. Now I need you to not ruin it. Got it?」

She says, crossing her arms to appear nonchalant. Straf looks down at her cleavage, immediately causing her to cover it with her arms instead.

「You perverted, degenerate-!」

「Who do you think you are, ordering me around?」

Straf interrupts her furious stream of insults, asking with no sarcasm in his voice. She pinches the bridge of her nose, breathing heavily and rapidly with her eyes forced shut.

「If you do this to me again I am out. I am here. Frankly speaking, I already don't need to stay here any longer. I can just go back-」

「And randomly disappear after you've shown yourself off to everyone?…」

Straf asks, spreading his arms, interrupting Athea again.

「Kkkhhrrrrk!!…」

「Do you have any idea how weird it would look if you disappeared now? I'll throw you a bone and keep it to a minimum level, but don't act like you didn't earn it.」

Straf continues, talking over Athea's resumed fuming and seething through her teeth. He turns around, and starts walking for the rest of the group at the water.

「If you say anything off-script, I am out. I am an idiot for-」

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Athea cautions angrily, following behind Straf with her arms crossed again, scowling at him from behind.

「I agree.」

Straf quickly retorts, cutting in with a smug grin.

「Khhkkh… Why did I listen to you!?」

She looks aside, gritting her teeth in fury.

「Yeah, why did you? Sounds like all this is still vaguely worth a day off, isn't it?」

Straf scoffs, looking at Athea over his shoulder with a smirk as he walks with her.

「What a mistake…」

She sighs out, shaking her head. Straf approaches the group with Athea. Lian wades in the water, following Alicia around as she paddles around on her own like a dog.

「Look Greaves! I can swim! It's kind of fun!」

She calls out to Greaves with her face just barely above the water, happily smiling at him as she doggy paddles away. Cycelia smiles back at Alicia as she paddles past her while she's wading a little over waist-deep.

「If you practice, you'll be able to swim faster and easier.」

Lian says, slowing to let Alicia swim on her own.

「Ah, I don't think I will get a chance to… But this is fun!」

Alicia replies, beaming another broad smile at Lian. She smirks a little back with her hand on her wide hip.

「What's the matter, twerp? Not gonna swim? Can't swim?」

Straf asks as he approaches Will while he's sitting on the wet sand. He angrily adjusts his glasses, turning his head towards him.

「I can swim! I'm just concerned about losing my glass-」

He shouts back, and glances at the figure walking into the view from behind Straf. His eyes open wide, and he stares at her in disbelief.

Pat.

「Ah, damn it!」

Will mutters out as his glasses slip off his nose and land on the wet sand. He quickly picks them up and looks at them.

「Damn it… Now they're going to be a blurry mess.」

He grumbles and gets up, walking into the water with them in hand. He submerges them, and shakes them a little to get the water off the lenses, then inspects them again while squinting massively.

「What's up Will?」

Greaves floats in on his back, looking at a rare sight of Will's face without his glasses.

「I dropped my glasses onto the sand…」

Will grumbles some more with a displeased, slanted mouth, and tries submerging them again.

「Oh! It's the boob lady!- Pfpfpfblblblbl!」

Splash!

Greaves exclaims, pointing his finger Athea. She immediately winces, and Greaves sinks into the water, splashing about the surface while air bubbles come up from his submerged orange head.

《I'm not a boob lady! I'm a goddess!》

Athea screams inside, hiding her face in her hands.

「Well, boob lady? Do you want to hide that shameful body beneath the water?」

Straf asks, pointing his palm at the rolling waves with a massive grin on his smug face. Athea winces again, scowling at Straf with her teeth bared, but she shamefully walks into the water, covering herself with her arms as much as she can.

「Torpedoes away!」

Straf exclaims, chuckling with his one and a half fists on his hip.

「What's a torpedo?」

Lily asks, walking up to Straf with her arms crossed. She glances at Athea, submerged to the neck and not daring to lift her blue eyes from the matching water.

「We'll get to that when I introduce unrestricted submarine warfare, Lily, don't worry.」

Looking at Lily, Straf answers with a grin.

「…What's a submarine?」

She asks another question with furrowed brows, tilting her head.

「A sea monster, Lily.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, tilting his head a little as he replies.

「…Like a kraken?」

She asks, and glances towards the waters.

「…Like a very small kraken, Lily. Arguably more destructive.」

Straf replies after a moment of thought, and her amazed crimson eyes look up into his.

「…You can control a monster like that?」

Lily asks, blinking in shock.

「Of course…」

Straf says, shrugging.

「Heh. As expected, Straf-」

Lily's face gains a smug grin as she lowers her head with her eyes closed.

「…With a crew of like 50 or so people.」

He finishes his previous sentence.

「W- Well… It's only natural for such a deadly beast to require a few servants. Obviously.」

Her smug grin breaks. Lily looks aside, nodding her head, stuttering a little before regaining her composure.

「Is a submarine metal, Straf?」

Lily looks up at Straf with her brow curiously raised.

「I will surprise you, Lily… It indeed is metal, quite literally.」

Straf nods, spreading his arms as he explains.

「You mean… Its very essence is metal?」

She asks, once again amazed by the monstrous submarine.

「Yup. When you think about it, submarines are kind of fucked up. Who in their right mind would sign up for that?」

Straf idly remarks, shrugging his shoulders as he looks at the storming clouds ahead.

「…Weren't they?-」

He mutters under his breath and furrows his brows, squinting at the dark blanket of clouds above.

「What a terrifying beast, indeed! I wonder who would win a battle at the sea… the kraken, or the submarine? What a metal fight to the death between two beasts it would be!」

Lily exclaims with an excited grin, looking at the clouds with Straf. With an almost theatrically exaggerated mannerism, she throws one hand aside, palm up, and places the other on top of her swimsuit, on her flat chest.

「It would probably be the kraken, honestly…」

「Eh? But the submarine?…」

Her crimson eyes snap to Straf, blinking in confusion while her grin remains frozen. She tilts her head, still not parsing how the mighty submarine could possibly lose to a kraken.

「Are you not going to swim, Lily?」

Straf asks, and nods at the water. Everyone else is either swimming or otherwise playing in the water, except Will and Lian, who are sitting beside each other on the sand and talking.

「Why should I?」

Lily asks back, tilting her head in confusion.

「…For fun, Lily. That's why people swim, generally. That, or for their life.」

Straf says, with his lips squeezed together into thin lines.

「I do not see what's so fun about it. It's just water.」

She shrugs dismissively, looking at everyone else having fun.

「Come on Lily, give it a go. Or are you afraid you will sink?」

Straf goads Lily with a small smirk.

「Nonsense! Witness me!」

Lily exclaims, and walks into the water with broad steps. She leaps in, and swims a little away from the store with powerful swipes of her arms, splashing large amounts of water everywhere.

Splash!

「See!? I haven't the slightest issue!」

Lily shouts at Straf back on the shore while her golden twin tails float on the surface like odd, derelict seaweeds.

「Nice, Lily! How fast can you swim from there to here!?」

Straf asks, pointing his finger at one point in the water, and then another in the opposite direction.

「Very quickly, and with ease! Observe!」

She says, and begins sweeping her arms out into the water. She accelerates slowly, but then rapidly reaches an inhumanly fast swimming speed. She reaches the first point, then flips around in an aquatic barrel roll, and shoots forward towards the next one.

Ffffwwooooosssh!

The waters greatly upset in her wake, causing a small tsunami that washes over the rest of the group.

「Hey!」

Greaves exclaims in annoyance as he's thrown back onto the shore.

「Blblblblb!?」

Surprised, Athea submerges completely for a moment, letting out a stream of bubbles to the surface. Alicia is swept aside as well, but Cycelia catches her, acting as an anchor while she's just wading around in the water.

「Nice! That's pretty fast!」

Straf shouts at Lily with a grin, chuckling.

「This isn't even my top speed! Observe, Straf! I can go much faster!」

Lily announces, and starts paddling her arms like a steamboat.

「Hold on! Do that a little farther from the shore! You'll seriously cause a tsunami!」

He shouts, pointing a decent distance away, well into the sea.

「Very well!」

She shouts back, and zaps towards there across the surface like a speedboat, with a wake matching one, too.

「Observe!」

Ffffwooooosh!

Lily shouts at the shore, and crosses the distance between the two points in the blink of an eye, causing a gigantic wake. The waves mostly die down before they reach the group, however.

「Faster! Faster!」

Fwooooosh! Fffwoooosh! Fwoosh!

She shouts, attempting to beat her own top speed each lap, and succeeding.

「Heh. She's really more twelve than thousand at times.」

Straf remarks with an amused grin and his one and a half fists on his hip, looking at her go.

「I just realized a problem.」

Will loudly announces, adjusting his glasses as he sits with Lian on the sand, watching the rest of the group. Everyone looks at him, except Lily, who is too busy beating her own lap time…