Published at 31st of January 2022 4:41 pm

Volume 4, Chapter 2: Set Sail, Doom!—translated by lucathia (proofread by Minthe)

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Although Shooting Star wanted to flee as soon as possible to prevent Ice Chess from returning on a whim to make sure they were thoroughly dead, which really would result in them becoming deader than a doornail, Alan wasn’t as recovered as they had hoped for.

The elf had probably truly been too exhausted. First, he had been captured as a prisoner with only fruits and vegetables to eat. Then, after getting rescued, he had to run about tiredly the entire time. Now, he had collapsed right into a serious bout of illness. He had clearly seemed much better yesterday, but his fever had returned in the morning.

Bai Saya could only entrust Yaya to Shooting Star and Saiximili, while he stayed in the room to take care of Alan. He was afraid that the moment he stepped out, the elf would once again burn with fever and lose consciousness without anyone knowing about it.

Shooting Star gave it some thought and poked Saiximili beside him. “Just how strong are sinners? Can they beat a thousand year old mage?”

Saiximili was currently stuck in battle with Yaya, the latter who was fruitlessly wailing for her mother. It was an ongoing battle! When the king who was busy taking care of a kid heard his guide’s sudden question, he unhappily said, “How would I know? I’m not a sinner.”

Shooting Star frowned. Before Shooting Star could mock Saiximili, the latter quickly explained, “I’m a starseer. I’m not responsible for battle. You should ask Bai Saya this question instead.”

I should, but if I disturb Alan and make him even more ill, that isn’t worth it at all. Shooting Star thought it over. Bai Saya would have to come out for dinner in any case, so he could ask him then.

If possible, Shooting Star wanted to give the elf a chance to recover. After all, their journey to come was a long one across the seas, and they would be heading to the Eastern Continent next…

“Mama!”

Shooting Star looked toward Yaya, who had been throwing a tantrum without end.

Saiximili wanted to cry but had no tears. He would rather take care of matters regarding his nation than take care of a kid!

Grabbing the little angel, Shooting Star jumped up from the chair and said, “Let’s go. Let’s take Yaya out to play to stop her from wanting to find Alan all the time.”

Shooting Star carried the princess and led the king by hand all the way from the palace to the streets to stroll around. Even though the palace guards saw their king get dragged away, they did not find it odd. Instead, they appeared grateful. The king was finally willing to leave the palace. Even though he hadn’t flown out with his wings, at least he had walked out on his feet.

As for the king’s safety, wasn’t that Barna following after them?

The guard captain knew to watch from afar in order not to disturb His Majesty on his incognito tour. The palace guards nodded approvingly. Even though the king’s pink eyes and slim figure meant that practically every avian could recognize His Majesty, it was fine as long as no one pointed it out.

The streets were peaceful. Even though a battle had just occurred, and the avians had suffered losses, they were naturally optimistic and gentle, so there wasn’t an air of melancholy hanging around. The atmosphere was already back to what it had been like before the battle.

Shooting Star ran directly to the street with the most food. Avian cuisine didn’t have a lot of variety, but everything tasted great. There was no problem even if he ate something again and again!

He slowly walked along the street. Shooting Star looked all around him. Even though all of the male avians looked like Agid with wings, the female avians were a lot easier on the eyes. They weren’t as buff in comparison. Even though they couldn’t be called slender, and they were somewhat taller and more muscular than human females, at least they didn’t look like female versions of Agid. He could bear to look at them.

However, Shooting Star still felt dissatisfied. He lowered his head to look at Yaya in his arms. This is what a true little angel is!

“Yaya, you have to hurry and grow up into a big, beautiful angel!”

“Ah?”

Yaya gazed at the numerous big wings around her, feeling very curious, momentarily forgetting about wanting Mama. She only cared about finding the largest pair of wings. She looked all around, only to discover that the king beside her was still the one with the largest and whitest wings. Pleased, she patted the king, but due to her small stature, she could only pat him on the chest and not the wings.

Saiximili looked at his own family’s little princess. He didn’t know what was up with her, but at least she wasn’t crying. This was fine. She could pat him if she wanted to. Little kids didn’t have a lot of strength. Avians had to at least reach ten years of age before their strength began to surge. As for royalty, their appearance and strength didn’t match at all. When that time came, Saiximili wouldn’t dare to let her pat him anymore.

Shooting Star grew bored of looking around. The streets were full of avians, but none of them looked as pretty as Saiximili and Yaya. Eating was a lot more practical.

And so, he dragged the king everywhere to eat. Of course, Barna, who was secretly following them, was responsible for paying.

“Your appetite is truly astonishing.”

Saiximili was a little speechless. Avians were still a type of beast, and beasts had large appetites. Although avians didn’t eat as much as the tiger or lion race, they still ate more than humans. But compared to the demon in front of him, they pretty much had the appetites of little birds!

I’ve never heard that demons have huge appetites!

Shooting Star said as if it were a matter of fact, “I’m a growing lad!”

Saiximili rolled his eyes. If a growing lad required so much food, then the demon race would have long hungered to the point of launching wars everywhere they went!

Shooting Star ate a mushroom shish kebab as he sighed, “Really, White Feather Nation is pretty nice. If we kill Philo, then it’s not like we can’t just stay here forever. After all, there aren’t more than seven sinners!”

Bai Saya was the strongest shield, and Alan would clearly become the strongest spear. If they could get rid of Philo who had unlimited healing, then Shooting Star was confident that even if the opponent was really darn lucky and found all four of the remaining sinners, Xiao Bai and Alan would definitely be able to protect him.

“No! You must not remain here!”

Unexpectedly, Saiximili’s response was extremely agitated.

Shooting Star thought it over and came to an understanding. He probably doesn’t want White Feather Nation to get involved in the fight between guides? He tilted his head and said, “If the world really does end, White Feather Nation won’t be able to escape either!”

Saixmili resolutely said, “At least before then, my people will be able to live well. No matter where you wish to go, I will accompany you, but you must not remain here.”

Shooting Star chewed on a mushroom and didn’t reply.

“Didn’t you want to go to the Eastern Continent?” Saiximili was deeply afraid that Shooting Star would change his mind. He quickly said, “I will have Barna and Markham prepare a ship to take us there. I believe the elf’s condition seems to have improved in the past two days. We should head over as soon as we can.”

Shooting Star nodded and ordered ten more mushroom shish kebabs and ten barbecued meat shish kebabs.

“…” Even if not for the sake of preventing White Feather Nation from falling to war, Saiximili felt they should depart at once to save on paying for so much food that the palace treasury would fall to dangerous lows.

***

Barna said with his eyes full of tears, “Your Majesty, this bag contains your clothes. This box of tissues and cloths is for you to use to wipe your face, sneeze, and go to the toilet on your journey.”

“Okay.” Saiximili took the bag and then carried the entire box of cloths and tissues.

Markham quickly carried over a large paper bag. “Your Majesty, these are your favorite mushroom crackers. Please take them.”

“Okay.” He grabbed the large paper bag of mushroom crackers.

“And this is a box of fruit wine, for you to drink during your travels.”

“Okay.”

After saying “okay” several times, Saiximili looked around. He carried an entire box of cloths and tissues in his left arm and a bag of mushroom crackers in his right arm. He didn’t have any hands left to carry the fruit wine. Naturally, he handed the mushroom crackers in his right hand to Bai Saya. Then, he took the fruit wine from his guard captain…

Alan smacked away Saiximili’s hand and growled, “Don’t take any more things! You’re not allowed to push anything onto Bai Saya either!”

Saiximili winced as he took his hand back. He really didn’t wish to give up on the box of fruit wine, so he put on the attitude of a king. “I’m the king of White Feather. I can take anything I want with me!”

Aurora Lightning!

The prideful king got electrocuted to the point of twitching on the ground. Suddenly, a shadow fell upon him. He lifted his head to look. The elf, who was even more prideful than the king, coldly glared down at the king from high above. “Then don’t shove anything onto Bai Saya. You must carry everything yourself!”

“Bzz, bzz!” The young Yaya cheerfully clapped her hands, clearly without a care that it was her own uncle who had gotten electrocuted.

“Hahaha! You actually dared to go against Alan, you big dummy!”

Shooting Star was enjoying the show to the side. He was always the one who got zapped in the past. Now, there was finally someone else also getting zapped by Alan. This feels too awesome! Wahaha!

Saiximili, who had gotten fried, leaped up and shouted, “Captain of the Guard! He attacked me! Why aren’t you protecting me?”

Barna and Markham, two strong avians, immediately moved forward. The elf, who was already agitated from being sick for so long, shot lightning straight beside their feet without another word.

The two avians stared at the round pit next to their feet and gulped. They declared, “Your Majesty, he is your companion. In the days to follow, you will be under their care. We are no longer able to protect you. P-please take care, Your Majesty…”

By the end, the two strong avians were sobbing and couldn’t bear to look at their king any longer, afraid that they wouldn’t be able to hold themselves back from following after the group to take care of their king. They quickly extended their wings and flew off.

Saiximili lifted his hand but was powerless to make them stay. He could only watch them fly into the air.

“Seems like beastmen really are scared of magic. Even though I’m not a beastman, I don’t like magic either.”

Bai Saya looked at the guard captains who had flown off in sympathy.

When Shooting Star heard that, he had a strange expression on his face. Could it be that Bai Saya never angers Alan because he’s afraid of magic?

When the two avians had become specks in the sky, the two small black dots suddenly stopped and turned back to shout, “Your Majesty, the ship you are taking is the blue one with white stripes. Please do not board the wrong ship…”

“What are they shouting about?” Shooting Star propped his hands on his waist and pouted. Do those two avians think we have exceptional hearing or what? They’re two specks in the air. How are we supposed to hear them?

“They said something about a blue ship.” Alan frowned. Even with an elf’s long ears, he had only heard that much.

Shooting Star nodded. “Then, they should be saying that we should take the blue ship.”

The other people also agreed. They waved to the faraway specks to indicate that they understood. As for the specks, once they saw the response, they immediately vanished until they couldn’t be seen at all anymore.

Bai Saya worriedly said, “We should go and find the ship now. Ships always have a specific departure time. We don’t want to miss it.”

Alan nodded right away and said, “Let’s go.”

Shooting Star glanced over. Alan was really becoming a lot swifter. He even spoke less. He was becoming a lot less like an elf.

“Wait, at least help me carry the box of fruit wine!”

Saiximili hurriedly called out. Even though he was an avian with a lot of strength, he only had two hands, so he couldn’t carry three things!

Alan glared at the king viciously. “No! Adventurers can’t carry that much luggage. Stuff everything you want into this backpack. You’re not allowed to bring anything that doesn’t fit.”

Saiximili stared at the backpack Alan brought out. It was so small that he wouldn’t even be able to stuff one box inside. He looked aggrievedly at Alan, but the elf’s prideful coldness was clearly even more intimidating than the position of a king. After Alan coldly narrowed his eyes, the king immediately retreated several steps.

The pitiful Saiximili could only take the backpack and pick through the boxes. He took out two packages of mushroom crackers, two packages of cloths and tissues, three bottles of fruit wine… What? The backpack is already full?

After discovering that the backpack could only carry these things, the king was in even more pain.

Shooting Star was even being disruptive beside him. “Hey! Take more of the mushroom crackers. Don’t bring the wine. Xiao Bai won’t let me drink wine. You don’t need the tissues either. You’ll get dirty anyway.”

“No way! I hate being dirty. Besides, I can drink the wine.” Saiximili hugged the backpack with both arms, refusing to let Shooting Star remove the wine and tissues.

“The mushroom crackers are better!” Shooting Star wasn’t willing to give up on stuffing more mushroom crackers inside.

Bai Saya consoled him, “Okay, okay, stop fighting. Shooting Star, I’ll carry two more packages of mushroom crackers for you. Don’t bother Saimi.”

“No! Unless you carry three more… No! Four more packages!” Shooting Star activated his special move of striking the iron while it was still hot.

“My backpack can’t fit that many.”

“You’re helping him carry more crackers. Why can’t you help me carry more tissues?” Saiximili couldn’t help but complain, face full of displeasure.

Bai Saya was conflicted. It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle it, but it just wouldn’t do to carry a mountain on his back during their travels, right?

The veins on the elf’s forehead throbbed, and he growled, “Neither of you are allowed to bother Bai Saya any further. Saimi, carry your own backpack and bag!”

At first, Saiximili wanted to complain, but the elf’s hand faintly glowed with blue lightning, and his cold expression made him recall his dream. Saiximili’s words died on the spot.

Alan turned his head and commanded, “Shooting Star! Stuff two packages of crackers into your own backpack.”

Shooting Star pouted. Come on! In the end, I have to carry it myself. If I knew this from the start, I wouldn’t have wasted any energy arguing with Saimi.

Finally, Alan instructed Bai Saya, “Bai Saya, carry one more package of crackers and one bottle of wine. I’ll take another package of crackers and a pack of tissues. This way, the burden on everyone will be equal.”

Bai Saya nodded.

The faces of the other two lit up. They stopped just short of pulling on the elf’s hand and touchingly declaring, “I thought you were a cold-hearted elf, but now I know I’ve misunderstood you” or the like.

“Okay, with taken care of, let’s hurry to the harbor.” Bai Saya smilingly said, “Alan, I’m sure you’d like to quickly get back to the Eastern Continent.”

Alan didn’t respond. He sank into nostalgic memories. Ah, the Eastern Continent! It was the elf’s beautiful homeland.

He nodded and solemnly said, “Yes, I miss my homeland very much.”

“Then, let’s go—”

“Wait.” Shooting Star suddenly stopped them. Everyone turned to look at him. The elf especially was pretty much glaring at him.

Shooting Star hesitated for a long while. Under everyone’s suspicious gazes, he suddenly ripped off the bottom of his shirt and wrapped it around his forehead. Then, he resolutely pulled off the remaining bracelet on his wrist.

Alan and Saiximili both frowned. They could feel the demonic aura emanating from Shooting Star. An expression of disgust flickered across Alan’s face. He didn’t want to react in such a way, but it was reflexive. That was how much the elf race couldn’t stand the demon race.

The elf did his best to smother his hatred of full-blooded demons and asked in confusion, “Why did you remove the bracelet?”

“Because of Saimi!” Shooting Star shouted, “It’s not like we can let him run around with huge wings like that? He’d definitely get snatched right away and sold as a slave!”

Everyone was stunned. They had stayed at White Feather for too long, a nation full of avians, that they had forgotten that avians were a rarity in the eyes of other races, fetching high prices as slaves.

Alan touched the bracelet on his wrist. Shooting Star had given it to him to help him disguise as a human. If not for this bracelet, he would be hard pressed to escape the fate of getting sold into slavery.

“Disguise as a human. Don’t even think about disguising as some other rare race. Not even a beastman!” Shooting Star handed the bracelet over to Saiximili and then muttered, “Even though Xiao Bai is human and was also nearly sold, at least humans are still safer compared to other races.”

Saiximili nodded and put the bracelet on his wrist. The magic immediately took effect. His huge white wings shrank on the spot until all that was left was a smooth back. The winged ears that were unique to avians also gradually became a human’s round ears. Finally, a male human with a rather beautiful appearance appeared in front of them.

Saiximili looked at his back uncomfortably. Then, he touched his ears, a dissatisfied expression coming over his face, like he was about to complain…

Shooting Star immediately cut him off and warned, “If you want to be locked in a bird cage and sold to a perverted old granny, allowing the granny to pluck your feathers to make fans, then you don’t have to wear the bracelet.”

Hearing that, Saiximili shrank back. Even though he didn’t want old grannies to pluck his feathers, he still couldn’t help but complain, “But I want my pretty wings and ears!”

Shooting Star snapped, “You don’t even know how to fly, so what do you need wings for?”

“I know how to fly!” Saiximili argued, “It’s just that I’m afraid of heights, so I can’t take to the air.”

“That’s called not knowing how to fly!”

“I know how!”

Bai Saya did his best to smooth things over. “Let’s not argue any more. We have to hurry to the harbor, and we still need to look for the ship. Saiximili, wait until we reach the ship. If there aren’t any issues, you can remove the bracelet then.”

Saiximili could only accept that, the largest reason being that the elf’s expression had grown more and more frigid. He had no choice but to accept.

They hurried on their way and finally reached the harbor. They hadn’t met any obstacles on the way, which was a great relief. Shooting Star had been worried that Philo or Ice Chess would have people waiting for them here.

Even so, it still wasn’t an easy feat getting on the ship.

“Just which ship is it?” Shooting Star couldn’t figure it out.

The harbor was full of ships. There were at least five blue ships, let alone blue ships mixed with other colors. Every other ship had some blue on it. Just which one was the right ship?

“Saimi should know which ship it is, right?”

Bai Saya looked at Saiximili hopefully. Since it’s his nation’s ship, he should know which one it is, right?

Saiximili gazed back at Bai Saya with a “You’re so strange” look and said, “We of the avian race never take to the seas. Barna and the others borrowed the ship from beastmen we are on good terms with. How would I know which ship it is?”

Everyone was speechless. Bai Saya regretted that he hadn’t asked Barna first. Does this mean we need to go back and ask Barna now?

Shooting Star frowned and guessed, “Since Saimi is a king, the ship must be extravagant, right? Let’s look for the most extravagant blue ship first. At most, we’ll just get it wrong and keep looking!”

That made sense, so they quickly looked around for the most extravagant blue ship.

All of a sudden, Saiximili spotted a gorgeous, sky blue ship out of the corner of his eye. Intricate decorative carvings adorned the bow and stem of the ship. At the ship’s bow, there was even a statue of the Goddess of Blessings, as if a real beauty were standing there.

“That ship has to be the one!” Saiximli pointed at the luxurious blue ship.

“Wow! That ship is really gorgeous!”

Shooting Star began shouting, unable to contain his excitement. No one else could possibly flee in such a luxurious fashion as they were. Not only did they have mushroom crackers to eat, they even had such a huge ship to ride!

“As expected of a king.” Bai Saya also approved of the ship’s beauty.

“Hurry, hurry! I want to get on that ship. I want to play with the Goddess statue!”

“Shooting Star! Don’t run so fast…”

Bai Saya shouted in alarm, but Shooting Star’s impatience wasn’t something that had developed recently. There was no way Shooting Star would have waited around for him to finish speaking. He had already rushed off toward the ship. Bai Saya could only hurry after him to prevent Shooting Star from stirring up too much trouble on the ship.

Goddess! I want to play with the Goddess! Shooting Star ran excitedly, pushing aside the workers who were still carrying cargo onto the ship. He leaped over mountains of supplies and then leaped onto the deck.

Large golden eyes darted around and narrowed on the statue of the Goddess. From this angle, he could see her golden hair.

Ohhh, such a big statue! From far away, he had thought the statue to be the size of a person, but up close, just the head of the Goddess was half of Shooting Star! Shooting Star had on an expression like that of a sailor who had just seen a naked woman after an entire year of thirst. He approached the statue one step at a time, and an odd “hehehe” continuously slipped through his lips…

“Who are you? Why have you randomly boarded the ship?”

A growl suddenly came from behind him. Shooting Star immediately spun around arrogantly and shouted, “I’m your master’s friend! Let me tell you, you better give me a good welcome! Otherwise, hmph! You’ll be in deep trouble.”

“My master’s friend?” The person was stunned, seemingly unable to react right away.

Shooting Star brashly pointed with his index finger, nearly poking the other person in the nose. He was so arrogant that it was like he was the king. “Hey, hey, I’m a friend of royalty! If you dare to provoke me, I’ll have him, have him… have him lock you up!”

“…” The man was silent for a long while. He really didn’t know what to do about this boy.

“Shooting Star! You can’t be so rude to him.” Bai Saya and the others hurriedly ran over and quickly pushed Shooting Star to Alan. The latter only needed one glance to make Shooting Star fall in line.

Bai Saya apologetically told the man, “I’m really sorry.”

The man took measure of these people who had boarded the ship one after another. After taking a look at them, his eyes stayed glued to them for a long time.

What a distinctive, beautiful team. At first glance, the man apologizing at the front seemed only somewhat handsome, but after moving one’s gaze away, you wouldn’t be able to resist from turning back to stare at his gentle, amber eyes. The more you looked at him, the easier he was on the eyes. He also easily made others feel goodwill toward him.

Behind him, a single glance was all it would take to be stunned by the man’s beauty. He was even wearing a long white robe—truly, a divinely beautiful man. His pink eyes, however, gave him a tad of gentleness, so he didn’t seem as difficult to approach as the gods.

Even further back was someone who piqued his interest the most, a beautiful woman with a long, slim build. That head of golden hair was like carefully spun gold set with sparkling diamonds. A devastatingly beautiful face was paired with a haughty expression and blue eyes with a sharp gaze. Although she appeared delicate, she had to be a hot pepper with an explosive temper!

Unfortunately, she was carrying a sleeping little girl in front of her chest. He couldn’t tell whether or not she had a good figure either. What a pity.

Even though it was a handsome and beautiful team, he couldn’t be negligent in his duties at all. After taking measure of the group, his eyes stayed on Alan and Saiximili’s wrists. His expression immediately relaxed. After nodding, he politely said, “No problem, I was also waiting for Your High… Ah!”

He suddenly stopped and glanced around. Then, he lowered his voice and told Bai Saya, “Milord has already informed me that several friends would be boarding and for me to give everyone a good welcome. However, please do not mention milord’s name here onboard. There are many among the crew who are human. Unnecessary troubles may result.”

Bai Saya was taken aback. Why can’t Saiximili’s name be mentioned? However, the other person was looking at him seriously, so he didn’t have time to think too much. He could only nod quickly and say, “Of course.”

“Then, allow me to guide everyone to the cabin.” The man explained politely, “Milord is currently napping. After he awakes, I will take you all to meet him at once.”

What? Milord isn’t referring to Saiximili? Bai Saya was getting more and more confused. Just as he was about to ask for clarification, the zapping sound of lightning came from behind him.

“Shooting Star, come down right now!” Alan shouted. Lightning was overflowing from his hand.

Shooting Star climbed up the bow and didn’t look back at all as he shouted, “No way! I want to play with the statue of the Goddess!”

Alan’s eyes narrowed, magic readied, while Yaya delightedly clapped her hands next to him and shouted, “Bzz bzz!”

Saiximili paled at the sight of the lightning magic. He had just been punished by that magic. Not only did he remember it clearly, he was still in pain!

Bai Saya quickly moved forward to stop Shooting Star and had to turn his head to shout, “Alan, stop! You can’t cast lightning magic on a ship. The ship will burn!”

Shooting Star made a face at Alan and gleefully said, “Did you hear that? You’ll burn the ship, stupid Alan.”

“You!” A fully formed ball of lightning had appeared in the elf’s hand.

“Stop it, Alan.” Bai Saya paled in shock and wanted to stop Alan but was afraid that Shooting Star would climb up and destroy the Goddess statue. Hands tied, he didn’t know which side he should hold back.

“Such lively guests…” The man responsible for welcoming them pursed his lips, a bitter smile that was less a smile and more a grimace coming over his face.

At this time, the captain, under the protection of several sailors, walked toward the man who was receiving them. The captain politely saluted the man and asked, “Are we good to depart now, Master Rainfall?”

The man turned and swept his gaze across the newcomers, the smile he had just shown Shooting Star and the others vanishing. With a cold expression, he haughtily replied, “The guests we were waiting for have arrived. Depart at once.”

“Yessir.” The captain nodded respectfully, turned, and left to prepare for departure.

The man called Rainfall turned again to gaze at Shooting Star’s mess of a group. With a strange expression, he mumbled to himself, “Even though I’ve heard that Master Ice Chess is strange, I didn’t think he would be this strange. And not only is he strange, even his companions are strange. And that hot pepper is way too hot…

“Sigh! I suppose the rumor that Master Ice Chess is difficult to deal with is true. I hope that the rumor that his magic is all powerful and that he likes to use it to embarrass other people doesn’t hold true.”

Rainfall sighed again. He customarily twisted the bracelet on his wrist. That bracelet was just like the ones Shooting Star had worn on his left and right hands, which were now worn on Alan and Saiximili’s wrists respectively.

After finally settling the guests, Rainfall felt like his head was about to explode. He had never met guests who were so noisy, like a group of kids on a trip.

“It’s almost time to wake up His Highness.” He mumbled to himself, “It won’t do to keep Master Ice Chess and the others waiting. I hear that his patience is infamously bad…”

Rainfall walked up to the most extravagant cabin on the ship. He nodded at the demons guarding each side of the door and knocked on the door.

“Your Highness, it is past noon. Please wake up.”

“…” No sound came from the room. Is there even anyone inside?

Having politely gotten those words out to show his respect toward royalty, Rainfall turned more casual and plastered half his body against the door. He pounded on it with his hand and yelled, “Your Highness, rise and shine. Time to get up!”

After yelling for a long time, an angry growl finally came from the room. “You’re too noisy, shut up!”

Rainfall lifted his eyebrows. He continued pounding on the door without letting it get to him and shouting, “As long as Your Highness gets out of bed, I’ll stop making so much noise.”

“Such a nag! Shut up, Rainfall. If you bother me any further, off with your head!”

“If you want to behead me, you need to get out of bed first, Your Highness,” Rainfall replied nonchalantly. He was even inspecting his nails to see if they were shaped nicely, showing no sign of nervousness.

The person inside seemed to know that the person out there wasn’t afraid of his threat at all, so he switched tactics. “Come on, let me sleep a bit more? Just a bit more, my kind Rainfall…”

“A bit more, is it?” Rainfall silently counted to three in his head and called out again, “Okay, it’s been a bit more. Your Highness, it’s time to get up.”

“… Fine! I’m up, damn Rainfall.”

The rustling of a blanket and the thud of feet against the floor could finally be heard from the room. Moreover, that person seemed to be deliberately exaggerating the actions to express anger. The banging sounds made it seem like all the things inside the room were “damn Rainfall.”

Rainfall casually asked, “Do you wish for my assistance in getting dressed, Your Highness?”

“The day you turn into a woman with a big chest and thin waist is the day I let you assist me! Come on, if I knew it would be like this, I would have brought a few female servants over you.”

Rainfall reminded him, “You were the one who said you could look for women anywhere. You were unwilling to bring along any female servants.”

The person inside immediately retorted, “How could I have known that the Southern Continent wouldn’t have a single good looking woman?”

Rainfall snickered, “There are beautiful woman. It’s just that they’re a bit furrier, a bit taller, and a bit too muscular.”

The door was pulled open, slamming against the wall. If Rainfall and the two guards hadn’t dodged quickly, there would be several people shaped patties plastered on the wall.

A male demon full of vigor was fixing the intricate neckline against his chest while he lazily instructed Rainfall, “Come, let’s have afternoon tea.”

Rainfall rudely rolled his eyes at the prince. You just woke up, and you want afternoon tea? Are you a pig?

“Don’t you dare think that I don’t know what you mean with your eyes. You’re retorting to yourself that I want to eat right after waking up just like a pig. Am I right?”

The prince pointed at Rainfall’s nose and narrowed his eyes in accusation.

“Your Highness, please don’t misunderstand your underling. I have never spoken a word against you,” Rainfall responded politely while his eyes spoke a different story.

“Bah!” The prince waved his hand. “You say one thing and mean another! Time for afternoon tea.”

“Your Highness, Rainfall has something to report.” Rainfall quickly interrupted the prince’s plans to drink afternoon tea. They had to take care of business first.

“What is it?” The prince asked in some confusion. To his knowledge, they had already taken care of everything they needed to take care of. There shouldn’t be anything that would require Rainfall to report to him so seriously.

“Master Ice Chess—” Rainfall quickly reported.

Even though the prince was rather easygoing, causing his subordinates to also be quite laidback, when it came to official matters, even this demon who was considered the easiest prince to approach didn’t allow for any mistakes.

The prince indicated that he understood and interrupted Rainfall. He waved his hand and said, “Mm, Ice Chess said that he has things he needs to take care of, so he won’t be returning with us to the Northern Continent. We can head off without him.”

Rainfall was shocked. Master Ice Chess isn’t coming? Then who in the world are those people…

The prince looked around. The ship had already left harbor and was sailing across the ocean. Finding it odd, he asked, “We have already set sail?”

Rainfall’s head felt numb, but even though he was nervous, what needed to be reported could only be reported without missing any detail. “Your Highness, just now, a group of people who claimed to be your guests boarded the ship. I thought they were Master Ice Chess, so I allowed them to board, and we set sail.”

“Just because they claimed to be my guests, you took that at face value?”

The prince’s expression wasn’t friendly at all, but he didn’t erupt in fury. Rainfall had served him for a long time. He knew that Rainfall wasn’t a demon who would carelessly believe someone, so there must be a reason.

Rainfall helplessly said, “Because two of them were wearing disguising bracelets made by royal mages, so I thought the group was Master Ice Chess’s.”

“What, there are two bracelets?” The prince frowned.

No wonder Rainfall thought the group was Ice Chess’s. The bracelets were created by mages employed by the royal family of the demon race. Their creation required expensive magic materials and master mages, as well as the secret magic sigil that the royal family possessed. All three were required, so few bracelets existed.

Even though he was a prince, he had only acquired two bracelets. One had been given to Rainfall for him to disguise as various different races for ease of mingling among the crowds for information. The other bracelet had been given to—forget it! It wasn’t important.

“Since they have two bracelets, could it really be Ice Chess?”

The prince frowned. He was a bit uncertain. Ice Chess had clearly told him quite firmly that he was heading off on his own.

Rainfall tried asking, “Does Master Ice Chess possess blond hair and pink eyes?”

To his understanding, that person was the most likely to be Ice Chess among that group. The others included a rambunctious child, a gentle young man, and a delicately beautiful hot pepper.

The prince shook his head and said, “No, he has silver hair, but he can change his appearance with the bracelet. Pink eyes sounds like something he would pick as a disguise considering his bad taste. Hm, it’s sounding more and more like Ice Chess himself. Whatever, let’s go take a look.”

Rainfall nodded. Erring on the side of caution, he ordered the guards by the door to follow them. If those people harbored ill intent toward the prince, the two bodyguards would definitely be able to subdue them with their strength.

Rainfall led the way at the very front. The prince strode along behind him, while the guards followed the prince step by step, just a step behind him to the left and right. Since they knew there was a situation, they carried themselves with a particularly determined attitude.

Rainfall led the prince to the corridor where the guest cabin was. Even though they were still more than ten meters away from the room, they could already hear the various loud noises from the room—wailing, shrieking, yelling, and even the sound of lightning that could only be heard on a stormy day. From time to time, there were even thuds against the floor, as if something had fallen.

“They don’t sound like spies.” The prince didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Rainfall had gone ahead and accepted that this group was Ice Chess’s since they were just too much of a mess and too open. They didn’t at all feel like spies or enemies.

“Rainfall, go knock on the door…”

Boom!

The prince, Rainfall, and the two guards uniformly turned their heads from left to right. The door, from where it should have been, shot off to the right, flew past the corridor, smashed against the ship’s railings, flew for several more meters, and finally broke apart into smithereens, scattering across the rolling waves of the ocean, becoming one with nature.

“Reporting to Your Highness, there no longer exists a door I can knock on,” Rainfall replied, stunned.

“…”

At this time, a voice on the verge of tears came from the room. “Alan, stop it! The ship will burn down!”

“Even if the ship burns, I have to kill these two pests to prevent them from endangering this entire world!”

“This has nothing to do with me. How can you claim that I’ll endanger the world? Barna prepared those crackers for me. You’re the ones who weren’t willing to carry more for me. There are so few crackers. I’m not going to share with Shooting Star!”

“I don’t care! I want to eat mushroom crackers! I want crackers. Crackers!”

“I’m going to electrocute both of you to death…”

“Bzz, bzz!”

“…Rainfall,” the prince suddenly called out.

“Yes, Your Highness?” Rainfall reflexively answered, still stunned.

The prince solemnly clapped Rainfall on the shoulder. “Whether or not Ice Chess is among this group, I won’t blame you. No one would ever send this lot to be spies!”

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Rainfall replied, “My thanks, Your Highness.”

“Go remind them that I’ve already arrived.”

The prince looked a bit helplessly at the smithereens floating among the ocean. If they weren’t given a reminder, perhaps he would also receive a blast of magic when he walked up to the door. If it came to that, should they hold them accountable or not?

“Understood.” Rainfall walked up to the room with a cautious attitude not because he was wary of the group but because he was afraid the erratic lightning would accidentally zap him and send him flying like the door, to become smithereens.

“Shooting Star, don’t fight over the crackers with Saimi. I’ll get some meat for you to eat.”

The man with the amber eyes shouted this behind him as he rushed out. He was about to run right into Rainfall, but his eyes were still on the room…

Rainfall had already planned to dodge to the side, but the man was even faster. In a mere flash, that man had completely vanished.

“Sorry, I almost ran into you.” The man’s voice came from behind him.

Rainfall quickly spun around. The man with amber eyes was already standing behind him. He looked apologetic.

“Excellent reflexes!” praised the prince. Since he was standing behind them, he had clearly seen everything. When the man had been about to run into Rainfall, he had spun and beautifully gone around Rainfall. Even though many fighters could achieve this, the man had been looking behind him and had carried out this action purely off of reflex. His quick reflexes were something few could accomplish. That was why the prince had praised him for his excellent reflexes and not his agility.

Hearing this praise, the amber-eyed man’s gaze found the prince, a trace of suspicion flickering across those eyes.

“Do you know Ice Chess?” asked the prince suddenly. Then, he carefully observed the other person’s reaction.

The amber-eyed man was momentarily taken aback. He responded and asked his own question. “I know him. Do you know Ice Chess too?”

The prince frowned. He hadn’t thought the other person would respond in such a way. If Ice Chess was among the group, he would say that Ice Chess was in the room. Or, if they were borrowing Ice Chess’s name to board the ship, then he should look guilty that he had been found out. Or, he would pretend to be calm and such.

“Are you a demon or an elf?” The man looked curiously at the prince’s sharp ears.

Hearing that, the prince, Rainfall, and the two guards all didn’t know how to react. Elf? How could anyone mistake a demon for an elf?

“Oh, you have a demonic emblem, so you should be a demon, right?” The man excitedly looked at the inverted pentagram next to the prince’s left eye. He was finally able to recognize a demon on his own!

Rainfall yelled, “You can’t even tell what a demonic emblem is. How dare you pretend to be Master Ice Chess!”

“Huh?” The man’s amber eyes widened. He blurted in shock, “W-When have I pretended to be Ice Chess?”

“You clearly… Ah!”

Rainfall froze and thought it over. This group had indeed never claimed that Master Ice Chess was among them. This meant that the blame was solely his. He looked toward the prince in a panic.

However, the prince waved it off, indicating that there was no need to care about all that for now. Right now, the most important matter at hand was to figure out who these people were and what they were after.

What would be the fastest way to make him reveal his hand?

However, the amber-eyed man was already asking in curiosity, “Your demonic emblem is an inverted pentagram. That’s really similar to Shooting Star’s. Do you know Shooting Star?”

When Rainfall heard that, he immediately took it upon himself to berate the other person, “What are you talking about? The inverted pentagram is—”

“Eh? Phoenix Gold? Big brother, why are you here?”

Shooting Star rushed out of the room and stared at the prince with dropped jaw.

The prince’s jaw dropped straight down too, almost to his chest, and he cried out without the least bit of princely demeanor, “Shooting Star?!”

Share