Moments earlier…

Will is watching the group play and swim in the water. Alicia happily paddles away, bobbing up and down on each wave. Lian sits down next to him, leaning back a little while the warm summer sun shines upon them both.

「Not going to swim, Will?」

She asks, leaning on one arm a little closer to him. Her black eyes quickly dart over his bony body. His arms, back and side are showing a faint hint of physical fitness, despite otherwise appearing as scrawny, and weak.

「No. I don't want to risk losing my glasses.」

He glances at her quickly, and adjusts them with his finger.

「You might miss out if you are afraid, Will. Look at Alicia, she's having fun.」

Lian says, looking at Alicia paddling in the water with a contented smile while Greaves lazily floats past her on his back.

「Yeah, she is…」

Will nods, and glances with scorn at Straf while he's talking with Lily.

「…Thanks, Lian.」

He quietly says, and adjusts his glasses again.

「Hm? What for?」

Lian leans in further, and a little forward, to get a better look at Will's face while it's hanging low. Will looks up at her gently smiling face, up into her almond-shaped eyes, but he breaks the eye contact nigh-immediately.

「For everything, I guess… I still haven't thanked you for saving that dumbass back then, so I suppose I should do that now… And thanks for teaching Alicia so that she can have fun, too.」

He shrugs, sitting on the sand hunched over, cross-legged, with his eyes on the rest of the group.

「Well, you're welcome…」

Lian nonchalantly accepts the gratitude, tilting her head a little while still looking at Will's face. A brief moment of silence begins while the waves crash on the sand with a watery rustle.

「…I don't get it. When we first met, you said your people murder, kidnap and enslave everyone. I thought you might be some sort of a monster, but you're just… Nice.」

Will says, looking up at Lian's face, maintaining eye contact this time.

「You think so? Well…」

Lian says, and breaks eye contact to longingly look towards the horizon. She sighs, thinking for a few moment while gazing at something distant, far out of sight.

「…You would be singing a different tune if I came here onboard a ship with my clan members, Will.」

Her black eyes return to Will's face, and she gains a faint, smug smile. Lian realizes his eyes are drifting downwards to her black swimsuit, still wet and glossy from the water, and tightly wrapped around her toned abdomen.

She lowers her head further, forcing her face into his peripheral vision. The sudden movement reflexively makes his eyes snap to hers, resulting in an accidental eye contact.

His face snaps away to the side, and he abashedly adjusts his glasses. He flushes red when he realizes Lian just caught him staring. Lian lets out an amused exhale out of her nose, and looks towards the water again.

「By the way, how are you feeling?」

She asks in a nonchalant tone, glancing quickly at Will.

「I'm fine. Alicia is exaggerating things.」

Will replies, looking away down at the sand.

「I see. Very well. I know nothing of magic, so I will leave your well-being up to your judgment.」

Lian nods weakly a few times, looking at the waters still.

「…But you are right. I came here looking for my brother, and if I were to do it as an invader, it would prove difficult very quickly. I had to play along with your society's little rules.」

She continues her previous thought, shrugging her bare shoulders lightly with a slight tilt of her head. Her silken black ponytail jiggles behind it from the motion, and she continues.

「Your money was the hardest thing to get used to. And then, what you would consider good manners and normal behavior.」

She adds, still looking towards the horizon, looking for something that she can't see.

「…And now that bastard is messing with it, and making it difficult for everyone.」

Will chimes in, side-glaring at Straf while Lily swims out into the waters.

「Hm? Well… The new money isn't that hard to get used to, if you know the basic principles. But gold, silver and copper was a source of much confusion to me. Why would gold be more valuable than a harder metal?」

Lian asks a rhetorical question, smirking at Will as he briefly glances at her. She goes silent for just a moment again, then continues.

「I ended up absorbing a lot of your culture, too. Perhaps my clan would berate me for it.」

She scoffs, smirking again.

「What? Why?」

Will looks at her with his brows furrowed in confusion.

「For becoming soft. Or, as you called it, nice.」

Lian replies, and the two look at each other. Will's gaze starts escaping, and he breaks the eye contact. A powerful wave sweeps Greaves and Alicia as Lily swims in the distance.

「I see your training is starting to bear fruit.」

She remarks, looking once more at the faintly visible muscles on Will's back and arms.

「Huh?- Ah, n- No… Not really…」

Will stammers as he looks at his own bicep, and adjusts his glasses.

「You need to eat a lot more than you want to, if you intend to grow stronger, Will. We always had a feast when a large beast was slain-」

「Ah, damn it…」

Will curses out suddenly, interrupting Lian's reminiscing.

「Hm? What is it?」

She asks, tilting her head.

「I just realized a problem.」

Adjusting his glasses, Will announces loudly to the entire group, causing their heads to turn towards him. Lily continues to swim carefree in the distance regardless.

「Yeah? And what would that be, twerp? Sunburns?」

Straf scoffs, looking at Will.

「Tsk… We didn't pack any food. We'll be hungry by sundown at this rate. Faster, if everyone is swimming around.」

He explains, but not before clicking his tongue at Straf's sarcasm-filled question.

「Ah! Straf, I completely forgot to take something to eat with us as well!」

Cycelia exclaims, covering her mouth with both of her hands' fingers in a very ladylike expression of shock. Lian sighs and stands up.

「I'm going to try and catch some fish in that case. Let me get my spear.」

She says, and brushes herself off of the wet sand. Will takes one glance at her toned legs before self-consciously forcing it away.

「Weeeeell, it can't be helped! I'm going to get some firewood so we don't have to eat them raw! It can't be helped! Can't be helped!」

Straf keeps repeating, with his hand raised into a shrug and his mouth twisted into a smug grin. He turns, and begins walking towards the trees by the dirt road.

《Heh. I have enough rations in my inventory to feed a small army, but this is going exactly as planned. That's another cliche down.》

Straf thinks while he looks over his shoulder at Lian, grinning as she picks her spear up from her mat. He disappears behind the slope leading to the dirt road, while Lian approaches the water.

「…Can you really catch something like this, Lian? Are there even any fish this close to the shore?」

Will asks and adjusts his glasses, walking up to the water with her while she enters it knee-deep, and stands still with her spear at the ready.

「My clan brother taught me this. I've been successful trying it before, but that was at a river…」

Lian says, looking around the water with her almond-shaped eyes.

「…Let's hope we won't go hungry today.」

She adds, smiling gently at Will. Meanwhile, the rest of the group emerges from the water, sans Lily and Athea. They approach the mats laid out on the sand by Greaves's party.

「That was fun! If I knew learning how to swim was this easy, I'd have come with you to the lake back home!」

Alicia says with a smile to Greaves as she sits down on her mat.

「Well you shoulda have instead of reading all the time! Even Will could find the time to!…」

Greaves replies, sitting down himself.

「…Ain't that right, Will?」

He says to Will as he approaches them, leaving Lian by herself.

「What?」

Will adjusts his glasses and looks at Alicia and Greaves, unsure what the conversation is about.

「Alicia can't believe how easy swimming is! I told her she should have came with us at the village!」

Greaves crosses his arms with a grin, and nods his head at Alicia, still dripping with water in her white swimsuit.

「I kept telling you Alicia, you should have just listened-」

Will shrugs and adjusts his glasses. He steps near his mat to sit down himself, but then notices Cycelia is simply standing there and listening in, instead of sitting down as well.

「…Are you not going to sit, your highness?」

He asks, pointing his hand at his mat with a gently tilted head.

「Ah- No, my mat is a little far away-」

Cycelia lightly shakes her hand and head in reply.

「Well, you can sit on mine. I don't mind, your highness. I will just sit with Greaves.」

He explains, shrugging his shoulders, still pointing his hand at the mat.

「Ahh… Well… Thank you. And there's no need to be so formal, we're here to just have fun and relax, after all.」

Cycelia nods her head as she thanks Will for yielding the sitting space, and sits down. She waves her hands in front of herself with a light smile, refusing Will's formality.

「Even if that's so, I will still be formal, your highness. It's just how I am…」

Will explains, smiling back a little as he approaches Greaves's mat.

「…Move over.」

He commands Greaves, adjusting his glasses.

「Huuh? What makes you think I'm going to just hand my mat over? Sit on the sand, loser!-」

Somewhat amused at his tone, Greaves replies with a grin, nodding his head at the spot beside the mat.

「Move over, I said.」

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Will forces his way onto the mat, pushing Greaves's head away by his face.

「Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself!」

Greaves shouts, and starts pushing Will away from the mat. The two begin struggling, which escalates into a full-blown grappling bout.

「Hey! Let go-! Let go of me, Greaves!」

Will shouts at Greaves, struggling against his headlock on the sand.

「Huuuuuh? Not so tough now, are you!?」

Greaves taunts with a smug grin, pulling Will off the mat completely.

「Shut up! You're only tough because you're a meathead! There's spells to make yourself stronger!-」

「Huuh? But you don't know any, don't ya!? Let's see how you like this!」

The two shout back and forth. Will's bony, thin body is no match for Greaves's meaty arms and deceitfully muscular torso. Greaves starts shoveling large heaps of sand away with his bare hand.

「Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!」

Greaves grunts as he swings his arm, digging a deeper and deeper hole in the sand.

「…What are you doing?」

Will asks with great confusion and concern in his voice, as he can't quite catch what Greaves is using his other arm for.

「Let's see if you're smart enough to think yourself out of this! Heave-ho!」 「Wha-!?」

Greaves yanks Will into the pit in the sand he just dug out quite literally single-handedly. While Will is still recoiling from being thrown into the hole, Greaves is already working on dumping all the sand onto his body while his head is just barely above the ground.

「Hey! Stop it!- Cut it out! Alicia! Do something!」

Laying in the pit with an awkward pose, he shouts at Greaves, as he shoves him back into the hole each time he tries to crawl out of the shifting and unsteady sand.

「Huuuh? Begging Alicia to save you now, tough guy?」

The grin on Greaves's face widens, and he continues burying Will chin-down in the sand. She awkwardly shrugs her shoulders with a pitying grin while she and Cycelia look on.

「Khhrhk!…」

Will grits his teeth in frustration at Greaves as he stands up and dusts his hands off. With his fists victoriously on his hips, he grins down at Will while he's buried in the sand.

「What's the matter? Can't think of a way out, Will?」

Greaves snidely asks, sitting back down on his mat.

「I can easily unbury myself! Hnngh! Hmghnm! Hnnggggh!…」

Will proclaims, and starts wiggling his buried body powerfully along with his head on the surface.

「Hahaha! Yeah, right! Serves you right, shrimp! You're a trillion years too early to try and usurp my kingdom here! Hahaha!」

Greaves laughs at Will's folly struggles, slapping his kingdom, the mat beneath him gleefully.

「Or even a million! That's how you deal with usurpers, right, queen!? Hahahaha!」

He adds, turning his smug grin to Cycelia as he asks, and throws his head back in laughter with his arms crossed, almost falling over onto the mat with his back.

「…Hmmpf! Hnngh! A trillion is larger than a million, you idiot! And stop being so familiar with her majesty!」

He grunts and strains to no effect, though his brow furrows curiously in the process.

「Ehehe, no it's okay, I don't mind.」

Cycelia chuckles softly at Will's predicament, shaking her hands in front of herself lightly with an innocently amused smile. Will stops his wriggling, and looks at the sand around him with a slanted mouth.

「…Actually, it's nice and cool here, so I don't mind staying like this for a while.」

He says, almost shrugging his shoulders, if not for the fact he can't.

「Sounds like an excuse to save face to me.」

Greaves says with a smug grin, looking at Will's face.

「Shut up! You couldn't tell because you were in the water the whole time, but the sun was roasting me! It's nice not to feel like I'm burning for a change!」

「Well you're welcome, Will!」

Greaves sarcastically scoffs at Will's shouting, with a snide grin remaining on his face.

「Ahh… That sure was a nice swim! You're missing out!」

Greaves further taunts him, plopping down on the mat with his forearms behind his head.

「You sound like you're having fun, Greaves.」

Will says with his mouth scrunched to the side.

「Wha-? Shut up! I'd have more fun on an adventure! I'm just saying the water is nice!」

Greaves abruptly sits up, visibly a little embarrassed about enjoying his swim. They turn their heads towards the water. Lily is still beating her lap time, though with absolutely minuscule increments, and Athea's head keeps disappearing beneath the waves caused by Lily's wake.

「Those two seem to be having fun too. Well, one of them, at least.」

Will remarks, looking at Lily beat her lap time again, and the waves submerge Athea again.

「Why is the boob lady still in the water? She's just… Standing there.」

Greaves asks, and a brief silence begins, as neither of them have any idea why Athea is still hiding herself in the water.

「I hope that storm there stays away until we leave… The weather is really nice.」

Alicia says, looking at the dark clouds in the distance over the water.

「Yeah… But it doesn't look like it will-」

Clunkclunkclunk!… Clunk!

Greaves nods, agreeing with Alicia. A sudden, loud clattering of wood on wood sounds out from behind them. They all look towards the source, and see Straf standing next to a pile of branches with his arm spread aside.

「I'm back. Looks like what won't?」

Straf nonchalantly announces, and asks Greaves as he walks to stand beside his mat.

「The storm. We're thinking it'll probably be on top of us before we leave.」

Will answers the question for Greaves, sounding displeased he's talking with Straf, but remains cordial.

「Hmmm… Yeah. When we arrived, it was just barely there on the horizon. Now it's real close. Too bad. We better make the most of the beach episode to collect all the cliches we can…」

Straf nods, agreeing with Will. He then turns his head to look down at him.

「…I see you've got one while I was gone.」

「…Huh?」

Straf remarks, nodding in approval at Will. It causes him to furrow his brows back at Straf in confusion.

「I've caught some-」

Lian says, returning to the group with a large amount of fish on her spear. She looks down at Will with a troubled face.

「…Are you okay, Will?」

She asks, sounding more confused than concerned.

「Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just hiding from the sun for a moment.」

He nonchalantly answers, maintaining eye contact with her with a straight face.

「…I see. Like a mudsinker, I suppose… Here are some fish. I took the liberty of gutting them ahead of time.」

Plap!

She throws the mass of fish off her spear onto the sand, and throws the spear next to her mat.

「Nice, Lian! That's more than enough for everyone!」

Will exclaims when he fully appreciates just how many fish Lian has caught.

「I've caught enough for everyone surprisingly quickly, but then I've decided to stick around a little longer with you in mind.」

She replies with a little smirk on her face. Will looks up into her eyes, and self-consciously breaks eye contact.

「Could you do your magic trick, Lia?」

Straf asks, presenting the pile of wood and the pile of fish with his hand.

「Huh?- Ah, yes. I need my sword, though…」

After an initial confusion, Cycelia catches onto Straf's meaning, and stands up from Will's mat.

「Let's get the mat closer too! Just anywhere is a pretty poor place to set it down at!」

Straf shouts at Cycelia as she hops towards her own mat and the parasol in a quick step. He turns his head to Lian, who glares back at him unprompted, already prepared for some unpleasant comment.

「…Are you proficient at fishing?」

He bluntly asks. Lian's head recoils back in surprise, and her brows furrow a little at the shockingly normal question coming from Straf.

「…Yes. I would dare to say so.」

She replies, doubly with a remarkable lack of disdain in her voice.

「How proficient, if you had to rate yourself one to ninety-nine?」

Straf asks, with a completely normal tone and neutral expression. She looks at him with a suspicious glare, but decides to reply.

「I would say se-」 「Nice.」

Straf snaps his fingers and replies without really waiting for her to finish, pointing at her.

「…venty or so. Were you at all interested in my answer to begin with?」

Lian finishes her own estimation, and asks. Her usual cold expression returns to her face.

「Nope, I couldn't miss this chance though.」

Straf replies with an amused grin over his shoulder, walking towards Cycelia as she wraps the sheath's belt around her voluptuous hips.

「What chance?…」

Lian mutters out under her breath, narrowing her black eyes at Straf's toned back. She sighs, and turns to Will again.

「Will… Would you like to go and swim with me, before he comes back?」

She asks, looking at Straf in the distance picking up Cycelia's beach mat.

「Uh. Sure… I suppose I could leave my glasses here, but…」

「But?」

Lian tilts her head at Will when his voice trails off.

「…Could you dig me out, Lian?」

Will abashedly requests, without as much as glancing at her, his face turned aside…