I leaned on the railing on the deck of the ship as I enjoyed the sea breeze blowing past my face, watching as the ship sailed through the waves of this new World.

The ship had departed from the port for about an hour now and while we were still in sight of land, it was gradually shrinking further and further away into the horizon.

I had decided to head up to the deck with Katsuki, Odeta and Lisa to enjoy the sea breeze, feeling quite excited that I was on my first cruise trip in this World.

On the deck, there were also quite a number of people gathered there, most of them also enjoying the view of the sea like we were.

There were families, couples and even solo travellers walking around the deck or leaning against the rails on the deck, making it a little crowded.

It was a really big ship so there were quite a number of passengers too.

Nevertheless, we seem to have a part of the poop deck to ourselves thanks to being VVIPs, so we did not need to worry about crowding with the others.

Odeta stretched out her arms beside me, "Mmm~ It's been awhile since I was on a ship~"

"Me too~ I've been on land for so long it feels like forever since I was on a ship~" Lisa sighed contentedly on my other side.

"Please… Please be careful Mistress…" Katsuki pleaded, standing a short distance away from all of us..

Eh? Why is she standing over there instead of with us?

Odeta turned to face her, "Why are you standing so far away? You're missing out on the sights! Come over here!"

Katsuki glanced towards the railing with an odd look before shaking her head, "I… I have to keep watch over here to ensure Mistress's safety."

Eh? But doesn't she usually do that while close to me anyway?

Lisa nudged me with her elbow before whispering in my ear, "Oh my, I suppose this is her first time out at sea eh? She's scared of it. Ehehe~"

Oh… I didn't think of that. I should have known something was up when she was looking at the ship nervously before we boarded it.

I reached out my hand towards her, "Katsuki? Do you want to come watch the waves with me?"

She hesitated, something that I have not seen her do for a very long time especially when it came to me.

Usually she would do anything I asked without showing hesitation but it seemed like her fear of the sea was causing her to pause.

"It's ok, Katsuki, you can hold on to my hand if you want~" I assured her.

With those words, all her hesitation left her and she reached out her hand to grasp mine in hers, allowing me to guide her closer towards me.

She tightened her grip the closer she got to the edge, trying her best to appear calm even though I could feel her hand shivering slightly.

"Umm… Umm… Mistress… I…"

I squeezed her hand, "It's ok, I'm holding on to you."

She swallowed audibly but nevertheless stayed close to me instead of pulling away.

With slow, steady steps, she came up to the railing and stood there with me.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" I asked, making sure to maintain my grip on her.

She looked towards the waves and gulped, "How… How does one feel at ease when facing something so vast, Mistress? The water is so deep… If you were to fall in… You can't fight the water…"

"Relax, Katsuki. Take a breath."

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She breathed in deeply before breathing out, relaxing somewhat as I pulled her closer to me.

"You don't need to worry about falling in, Katsuki. I can fly, remember? So I would just swoop in and pick you up even if you were to fall in there," I assured her.

"Re… Really, Mistress?"

Before I could answer, Odeta appeared beside her and clamped a hand over her shoulder, "Wahaha! No need to worry Katsuki! I'm also a competent swimmer so even I can save you if you fall in!"

"... I would rather be saved by Mistress than you…"

"Haa? Why not me?! Do you not trust me?"

"I think if you were to jump in, both of us would drown instead."

"Are you saying that I would sink like a rock?! I'll have you know that it's true that I know how to swim, ok?!"

"I'm sure if I were to see you in the water, I would mistake you as some kind of sea monster instead."

"Hey! I'm not that scary!"

The mood was kind of ruined but at least Odeta helped in easing the tension from Katsuki's shoulders.

I giggled, "Ufufufu~ Now now, let's not fight~ The sea is beautiful to look at isn't it?"

Katsuki straightened herself, "You are right, Mistress. Forgive me for the earlier embarrassing display."

Lisa appeared on my other side, "Ehehe~ The sea is beautiful alright. But do you know what is even more beautiful? You, Aster~"

Oh gosh, Lisa… Could you be more cheesy? But it's not like I don't appreciate her flirting either…

Unexpectedly, Odeta also agreed, "Yes! Sister Aster is definitely more pretty!"

Katsuki nodded, "The sea is beautiful, but Mistress most certainly looks much better than some large body of water."

Oh stop it, all of you! You're seriously making me blush here!

Why is it that when it comes to teasing me, the three of you seem to work together so well?

"Hey, look! There's fishes!" Odeta suddenly cried out while pointing ahead.

All of us looked ahead and sure enough, there was a school of fishes leaping out of the waves, swimming in the same direction as the ship.

I was just about to ask what kind of fishes they were when an explosion of spray shot out from the sea as something rose up from the depths.

A sort of sea snake had reared up from the surface of the sea, letting out a roar of challenge towards the ship.

Woah, we're not even that far out from the harbour and there's already a monster? I quickly tried scanning it with my [Screen].

[Name: Sea Serpent

Race: Monster

Stats:

250 Strength

125 Dexterity

220 Endurance

150 Magic

Magic Skills:

Hydromancy (Tier 2), Aeromancy (Tier 1)]

While the stats suggested that I could probably beat it, it has the advantage of being in the sea but I should be able to handle that unless it dives.

"Sea Serpent!!" Someone yelled.

On the deck, some people started running while most seemed to flock towards the side of the ship where the Sea Serpent was, as though expecting some kind of show.

Alarm bells rang across the ship and I saw Emilia appear on the deck still dressed in that kimono looking outfit.

She drew her sword and pointed it at the monster, "Fire starboard cannons!"

The ship shook as the explosion of cannon fire rang out from the side. I was expecting normal cannonballs to fly out but instead, what was fired were blasts of what looked like energy balls that exploded against the Sea Serpent.

Those must be the magic cannons Emilia had mentioned.

The monster let out a roar of pain before summoning a jet of water to blast at the ship.

Emilia did not panic and simply issued another command, "Mages! Shields!"

A translucent barrier appeared in between the ship and the serpent, blocking the water from reaching us completely.

"Fire again!"

The cannons fired from the decks below once more, peppering the monster with a hail of explosions and causing it to reel back in pain.

It tried to attack the ship again, this time sending a gust of wind at us in an attempt to throw us off course.

Its attempt was once again thwarted by the translucent shield right before another wave of cannonfire hit the monster in the face.

Since it was a monster, its self preservation instincts must be pretty low since it still continued to attack us despite being repelled twice already.

Giving up on using magic, it swam towards us with its jaws opened, fully intending to take a bite out of the ship.

The cannons fired once more and a few of the shots landed on the serpent. However it was not enough to stop it from advancing towards us and it was already reaching us quickly.

That was when Emilia leapt into the air and swung her sword diagonally downwards with both her hands, the action causing part of the sea behind the Sea Serpent to explode upwards.

At first I thought she had missed her attack since the monster was still swimming towards us, but a second passed before its head suddenly separated from its body and crashed into the waters below, the body joining it a moment later.

Emilia landed back on the deck and sheathed her sword with a flourish, prompting the onlookers around her to start clapping and cheering.

Ah, these must be people who have travelled with this ship before and they already know that a monster like that Sea Serpent would be dispatched quite easily.

"Ehehe~ Emilia's pretty cool isn't she?" Lisa giggled.

"She's strong! Hey, do you think I can ask her for a spar or something?" Odeta asked.

Katsuki immediately rebutted her, "I would have to ask you to refrain from that. We will not pay for any damages you incur on this ship."

"Ehhh?! Alright, alright, I'll be good! I'll only challenge her on land!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at her.

Still, it's nice to know that our safety is assured here, even though I could have also taken out that monster if I needed to.

Now, where are the cafes here? I want my sweets!