Life on Ship
Announcing the results of target hitting game.
1st Hiyoko - Outstanding 72 points
2nd Reinamiure - Dignified 65 points
3rd Almatina - Close match with 2nd at 63 points
4th me - Rock bottom 13 points
What. Laugh all you want.
Dagnabbit!! I asked you girls to hold back a bit, told ya I got no Skill!
"...I lost, to Hiyoko..."
"Hiyoko-chan's Throwing Skill is only at Level 1, right? How come you're so good..."
『Cluuck.』
Hiyoko smugly puffed out its chest. No really, how do you hit that precisely anyway.
Reina's Throwing Skill is already at Level 5, yet Hiyoko beat her handily.
...Hmm, let's check some things out.
"Hiyoko-sensei, can you show me the rope just once more?"
『Cluuck.』
"Uwaa, this man even lowered his head to Hiyoko-chan now."
Oh shut it. I just wanna check something.
『Cluck!』
Hiyoko gripped the dart-ball with its claw and threw it.
The dart-ball went completely straight, yes, as if it was unaffected by gravity, before hitting dead center on the target board.
"Uwaa, Hiyoko-chan really is so good at it!"
"...How do you throw so accurately with a claw anyway?"
『Cluck, clucluck!』
"Thank you very much, sensei."
I held Hiyoko in my arms as I said my thanks.
I can tell it's been putting on weight when I have it in my arms like this. It's grown so much in just two months. In so many ways.
"Yup. You've grown splendidly, Hiyoko."
『Cluck.』
"Who could have imagined you'd even go on to learn Direct Mana Control too... Eh?"
『Clu... C-cluck...!?』
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Hiyoko's smug face turned into that of a panic.
"Eh, Mana, what?"
"What do you mean?"
"This chicken wraps its own mana on the dart ball and remotely manipulates its trajectory. Just like, this!"
I wrapped my mana on a dart-ball and threw it.
I can then control its trajectory by manipulating that mana using the same principle as Mana Flight.
Even someone as clumsy as me can hit dead center with this trick.
In fact, my dart-ball pierced through the dart-ball Hiyoko threw earlier... I'll reimburse the facility later.
"T-that's dirty, Hiyoko-chan!"
"...Unfair."
『...C-cluck...』
Hiyoko clucked apologetically when the two pressed on it.
...Looking at Hiyoko so dejected, I'm feeling bad about it now.
"Hmm, why don't we play again then?"
"I'm in! It's a rematch~!"
"This time, I won't lose."
"Hiyoko, no cheating now, okay. Let's treat the first match as your win because we didn't set the rules."
『C-cluck!』
I understand you have a fiery competitive spirit, but let's not break the rules. Gotta be fair and square.
Above all else, it's more fun when everybody is having a good time together playing games.
Still, I can't believe Hiyoko even learned Mana Control. Children grow up so fast, don't they.
...By the way, do I have to pay for two now that we're having a second match?
We played three more matches afterward, with Reina winning twice, Alma once, and Hiyoko once in the beginning.
And so I ended up having to treat them all.
They went too wild, this is a bullying...
Thus how we spent the days on the ship including some light exercises in the sports ground every now and then.
I thought our meals would be mainly seafood but turned out there were plenty of meat dishes as well.
Thanks to that, we don't get tired of the food. Rather, our food expenses would go through the roof if we didn't cook for ourselves once in a while too.
My only complaint is the lack of opportunity to fight magic beasts, so our leveling sessions have come to a grinding halt.
Two weeks of no leveling is honestly pretty bad.
Not fighting magic beasts being the worst thing about traveling, I'm gradually turning into a battle junkie aren't I....
One week had quickly passed before an event that solved that issue cropped up.
In other word, we got trouble.
"Big troubleeeeeeee!! A s-swarm of magic beasts is closing in on uuuuus!"
A sailor on the lookout shouted a warning out loud.
"H-how many!?"
"From what I see, there's around 30 small ones and three big ones!"
"Are you serious, can't we shake 'em off!?"
"No can do! They're way faster than us! Dammit, we turned down Monster Ward's output cuz this was supposed to be a safe sea, curses!"
Monster Ward? Did they cast a magic to reduce encounter rate on this ship or something?
<<Holy Magic Skill Ability [Saint Veil], a spell that erects a mana barrier that makes its target nearly imperceptible to magic beasts. This ship is installed with an engine that generates the same effect. The crew may have reduced its output to save on magic stones required as fuel during this long voyage. This results in beasts discovering the ship.>>
Welp, it's the ship crew's fault then.
Seriously, do they even care about their passenger's safety~.
No choice, guess we gotta exterminate those beasts ourselves. Ah man, what a troublesome crew they are, really, seriously.
...I'm absolutely not happy to have an opportunity for leveling up after so long. Nope, no sire.
"Welp, let's get rid of 'em quick."
"Un. It's nice to fight for real even during a trip."
"Yessire!"
『Cluck!』
Our group went out on the deck.
Looking down the sea, I see dozens of shark-like fins encircling the ship.
Then there's three giant whale-like beasts in the distance, seemingly watching the situation here.
...Fumu, I'm guessing those three whales are commanding these sharks to attack the ship.
By the by, Menu-san, are these sharks edible?
<<The body has a bad texture, unfit for consumption. The fin part, however, is delicious when prepared correctly.>>
I see, thanksies.
...We're having a shark fin's party today. I'm not letting even one of you escape, you're all part of the meal fufufufufu...