After a little bit of walking around while keeping a tight pants — meaning high on guard — we returned to the ship. Yeah, this city was a little messy, and that’s putting it lightly. Every corner felt like shady shit. Now it just made me wonder how this place would be during the night. Evil comes during the night, after all. Guess as a creature of light myself, I should avoid going out at night.

It was almost sunset when we returned to the ship. The crew was anticipating our return. One guy walked up to us.

“So, how was the place?”

I sat down on the wooden rail, I was feeling tired after the long walk. It certainly had its own charm, this city. I wondered if it was the same as the other cities in this misbegotten shithole of an archipelago. Hm, was I exaggerating my phrasing, perhaps? Eh.

“It is a unique place,” I said to them with a wry smile. “But it's incredibly risky to walk around without security.” I lowered my hood as they formed troubled expressions. “This place is violent, aggressive, and… hm, what’s the word to put it lightly…?” I tried thinking of the less straightforward word, but a moment later, I gave up. “Quite disgusting in other parts.”

They seemed a bit baffled about what I was talking about. But I would rather not talk about such a thing in public, here. I mean come on, really? You expect such things to come out of my delicate and precious lips? No. Way.

“I won’t stop you from going into the city yourselves, if you’re interested and curious. But I strongly suggest doing so with someone that can fight.”

My crew might get harassed out there if someone sees them as weak. That would be troublesome and a hit to their morale. And it would reflect badly on my image as their captain. Image is important, people!

“Please talk with the crew before going out. All in all, if you plan it carefully, you should be fine.”

The crew looked at each other.

“Is it really that bad?” one asked, as if for confirmation.

“Yeah. But hey, don’t let some worry stop you. Enjoy the new place, the new scenery.” I gave them a reassuring smile. “You don’t get this far in your lives every day.”

Many live and die in the place of where they are born. They remain in one place. Although, there’s nothing bad about that. There are just others that want to stay, and they are satisfied and happy. However, there are those that are more adventurous that get stuck for whatever reasons. Maybe because of fear, or doubt, or you know, just the issue of money. Most are on the latter.

Haaaaah, if people have a lot of money, they could have traveled all around the world. Although, in this world, the situation might be a bit different. Less capitalism…? Hehehehe. Less money needed to travel, and the climate was just right for adventuring. Oh, and less restrictive country borders, unless you go into major cities, you should be fine walking in. I mean, look at us, we got to dock here without any ‘papers please’ scenario. True we almost got scammed and we had some help — but what I’m trying to say is that things are more open here. No visas, passports, looking into your phones and shits. Getting barred from entering because of what you said on social media…

But hey, what do I know? I’m just a sheltered princess.

“Enjoy what you can enjoy. Regret always comes last, you know.” I stood up. “Anyway, think about it. No matter how bad a place could be, maybe you’ll find it intriguing. I’m going back to my room for now.” I turned to Taneva and the others that I came along with. “We need to talk about you.” I pointed at Taneva.

“Me? Hehe, alright.”

Taneva, Velar, and Hartwin followed me into my cabin. Velar locked the door, and I headed straight to sitting down by the table.

I turned a sharp look at Taneva. “So, Taneva, I told you we would talk about it.”

He smiled and casually sat down opposite of me. “About me being immortal?”

I nodded. “Define your immortality.”

When referencing my old world, there would be different kinds of immortality. There was immortality that you could just not die no matter what, like the biblical story with Cain, if I were to assume that he supposedly could never be killed… Another was eternal youth, you would never age, but you could still die upon taking fatal damage.

There was this another that I wasn’t quite sure if I should regard it as immortality. The one where you steal the life force of another or something like that. You know, steal the years they have. Or there was immortality like vampires, where they could not die from any conventional weapons. But with the use of silver, or under the light of the sun, they would perish. Could the Cursed Children be in a similar situation? Hm, that didn’t seem to be the case, considering their story. People, or rather, monsters, that could not die.

The term immortality was never clear which one would have…

“What do you mean define?”

“What kind of immortality do you have?”

“Oh… I am immortal in the truest of sense. I do not age, I cannot die no matter what.”

I resisted a frown. “No matter what?”

“Swords, spears, drowning, lava. None could kill me. Believe me, I tried.”

I tried…?

“I regenerate naturally, no matter how fatal. Just like the Cursed Children. But I guess their immortality is a bit different, since they turn into monsters during the night, not to mention their intense thirst for blood.”

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“Woah wait, thirst for blood?” Hartwin frantically asked. “Aren’t the pair of guys outside Cursed Children?”

“Oh yes. Their nourishment is blood. You didn’t notice they never join us to eat?”

“... I just assumed they ate somewhere.”

“They are extremely dangerous during the night. That’s why they keep their distance from the ship at nightfall.”

“Wow… Interesting.” Hartwin placed a hand under his chin.

I let out a short sigh. “You say you naturally regenerate. Back at the arena, you had a glowing light after you were struck. Was the healing magic a fake out?”

“Of course. It’s strange for someone to just heal without any kind of magic being cast.”

True. They might think you’re a monster or something. Worse, a demon. I mean, imps heal without any apparent magic spell.

“So what’s your drawback? The Cursed Children turn to monsters and thirst for blood. How about you? Any certain weaknesses? Like a demon to the holy element?”

His casual smile dropped. “I cannot die, Princess. I have no weaknesses, no drawbacks. Just outright immortal, cursed to wander the world for all of eternity.”

“Cursed… by whom?”

He leaned back in his chair and stared through the window. He clenched his jaw for a moment before facing me again.

“The king of all gods. The ruler of magic.”

I, and both Hartwin and Velar, were surprised to hear that. I was not too familiar with the other gods, but hearing the titles, I knew that guy was a pretty big deal.

“The divine cursed me.” There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

I leaned a bit to the side, processing what he just said. “The divine… You offended the king of all the gods?”

His fist clenched, his face now lacked the nonchalance he always had. “They’re the scum. Not me.”

I narrowed my eyes. This was the most vulnerable I had ever seen him. His emotions were so clear.

“You hate them.”

“Damn right I do. I’ll kill the bastard who did this to me when I get the chance!” His eyes blared in hate and anger.

I decided to push him a bit.

“Is immortality such a bad thing? Eternal life is the wish of many. Nothing is greater than being unable to face death.”

He pursed his lips, his brow furrowed. “I never asked for this. Eternal life is not always a good thing. This is not what I want. Because of this damned curse I could never reunite with—” He looked away, stopping himself from a subject that he didn’t seem to want to tackle. “... My immortality is not a pleasant one. Not dying is a nightmare when you want something else.”

Want something else, huh? Reunite with whom I wonder.

He continued, “There is an immortality that can be considered good. Eternal life where you get to live forever, but you can still die. By others’ hands, or by your own. If you are to turn into a god, that is the kind of immortality you will have.”

“... Gods die…” I muttered.

Shit, then I still have to be careful with my life? Ugh, fine, I’ll take that then. What matters is that I can still live forever.

I mean, the goddess of blood did die, so it wasn’t that surprising.

“What can kill you then? Do you have any idea?”

He lowered his head. “Like how the Cursed Children need you to relieve them of their curse, I may require the one who cast me mine. However, I don’t know if it had to be done willingly.”

“I assume the king of gods would never do that.”

“That bastard would never… Another option would be to kill him. However… I’m not so sure about it. The goddess of blood died, but the curse to the Cursed Children still persists.”

Oh damn, he really is in a tight spot.

“I see. It sounds like a difficult position… Is that why you want to follow me? To piss off the gods?”

He smiled a little. “I want to hurt them however I can. What better way but to destroy the race they loved so much? Heh.”

“You absolutely hate the gods, huh?”

“Of course I do.”

I tilted my head slightly. “I am a god, Taneva. Does that mean you also hold resentment against me?”

That would be troubling. I could never win against him. How do you expect me to beat someone who had lived for hundreds, or thousands, of years? The best I could do would be to restrain him. Maybe tie and throw him into the sea, keep him at the bottom forevermore. But executing it would be extremely difficult.

“Why would I? You’re not involved. So no, I hold no hatred against you. I told you, I want us to work together and be friends.”

He seemed sincere about that part.

“I see… But I realize it now. You seek death.”

“...”

“Is that why you tried receiving the attacks of the monster in the arena without defending yourself?”

“... You’ll never know. There might actually be a special enchantment in the monster’s attacks that would work against my curse. Most of the time, I try to at least take an attack.”

“Hm… Have you tried receiving divine attacks?”

“I’ve faced a couple of godkins like you, but nope. Nothing worked.”

Huh, guess I’m regarded as a godkin.

“You mentioned Rulers. Have you tried receiving their attack?”

“Never met one again since my last encounter. So I never got to try.”

“I see…”

“Hey, that reminds me.” He grinned for some reason. “Why don’t you try striking me?”

“What…?” I was dumbfounded by the sudden suggestion.

“Yeah, maybe your attack would work. Come on, give it a try.” He pointed at his neck. “Strike here.”

“W-What in the world are you saying?”

“Come on, I’m immortal. Go on, pull out your beautiful dagger.”

With hesitation, I pulled out my precious, fancy dagger.

“Make sure to imbue some magic in that. Plain steel would be nothing special.”

I looked at my dagger and then to the eager looking Taneva. Velar and Hartwin looked equally disturbed by the idea of striking an ally.

I held out my dagger, but then hesitated. “Wait, what if it actually works?” I was a bit anxious about that.

“Then it’s great!” He was all smiles as he said that.

“What if you actually die? Then I have no guide. You’re supposed to bring me to my immortality.”

“You still have the Cursed Children.”

“Seriously? No way.”

“Oh, come on. What are the chances of it working? Like less than one percent?”

I frowned. “But not zero percent.”

“Give it a try, Estelia. You’ll be fine.” He presented his neck.

I hesitantly moved my blade closer, but I had yet to cast any kind of magic on it. What if it would actually work? ‘You really think you’re so special that a strike from you would kill the immortal?’ Um, yeeeaaah. Just so you know, I am special.

I can’t lose Taneva yet.

No fucking way was I trusting the Cursed Children entirely with leading me to my prize. There was a chance that it wouldn’t work on Taneva. But then again, what if it works? What ifs are important, for they present possibilities. And possibilities could happen. Would you casually throw away the possibility of winning a lottery?

Yeah, fuck this.

I retracted my hand and returned my dagger to its sheath.

Taneva’s eyes blinked in confusion. “Why did you stop?”

“I’m not taking any chances.”

“Whaaaat?! Come on, Estelia. You can’t just stop there after all the buildup!”

I sat back down and crossed my arms. “I’ll give it a try once I have my power. Got it?”

“B-But we can try now.”

“True. But I don’t want to take any chances. Besides, wouldn’t it be best when I finally have my true divinity?”

Taneva scratched the back of his head. “... True…”

“So once I have what I need. I will try striking you down.”

Taneva smiled widely. “Alright. You said it.”

At least with divine power, I shouldn’t need a powerhouse like Taneva anymore. No guide needed anymore.

“Promise me, Estelia.”

“... I promise.”

Damn, everyone here just has curses, don’t they? Immortality at that. And I threatened to kill them… So pointless… So embarrassing…

Thinking about that, I just wanna hide under my pillows…