Chapter 59: On the airship (2)
We’re nearing the end of our tour of the hull and I think I’ve seen most of the places I can see.
Yuri lets out a long breath and speaks.
“Wow… I should probably get back to unpacking, it’ll be meal time soon… Do you remember where the male cadets’ rooms were?”
“Yeah, thanks, so I’ll see you later.”
It was more fun to be with Yuri and I had a good experience thanks to her.
[What a good-hearted child.]
Sierra said as she watched Yuri walk away.
In the deserted hallway, I gave a small nod in agreement with Sierra.
And with that, I parted ways with Yuri.
[An airship… With this, we should be able to reach the East in no time…]
Sierra looked out the window in the hallway. Through the glass, she could see the landscape passing through the clouds.
There was a hint of longing in her voice.
The East was her home and it had been a long time since she had been able to visit her hometown, as she had ended up dead while in seclusion.
However, the East was too far away for her to travel easily.
‘Perhaps I should take the time to visit some of Sierra’s acquaintances sometime.’
For now, I had to go unpack my things. But my room wasn’t in the direction Yuri had told me the male cadets’ rooms were gathered.
I wandered over and spotted a staff member sweeping the hallway and said to him,
“Are you from the crew, by any chance?”
“Uh… Yeah, that’s right. What can I do for you?”
“I was wondering what room this key is for, do you know anything?”
I held up a key to the employee with a question mark on his face and continued.
It was a key to an ultra-luxury room that had once belonged to Hubert Graham, the Academy’s president.
“Uh, if it’s this key… I’ll get the manager right away!”
The staff member looked at the key, and then ran off somewhere with a hunch.
A moment later, a man in a suit who appears to be the airship’s manager approaches me from the direction the staff member disappeared.
“You must be Cadet Zetto, I’ve already been informed by Mr. Hubert, if you’ll follow me this way.”
His words are followed by his polite directions so I follow him down the hallway to a large door.
Accepting my key, he opens the door and begins to show me around the room.
“This is the best room on the airship,” he says, “and while it was originally Mr. Hubert’s but we have removed his personal belongings. If you have any problems with the room, please feel free to ring this bell.”
The manager pressed the call bell in the room and said to me,
‘Looks like he got my information ahead of time.’
I guess he was trying to let me know where the call bell was by ringing it to make a sound.
“Thank you for the directions.”
“I hope you have a good time on your way to your destination.”
The manager then bows to me and quietly closes the door on my visit.
He was very neat. I thought, this is what a manager should be like.
Soon after he left, I unpacked my luggage in my room and found myself chatting with Sierra. We were mostly talking about the interior of the room.
[This is not a luxury, it’s an art form.]
“Is it?”
I look around the room and realize she’s not far off.
There wasn’t a single item that wasn’t gilded, jeweled, or opulent. Even the toilet was gleaming.
It was a little overwhelming.
For me, the quality of the bed is enough to make me happy.
Anyway, meal times were set on the airship, so I had to go eat before it was too late.
As I was about to leave the room, Sierra leaned her face into my ear and opened her mouth. Her soothing voice echoes quietly in my head.
[Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be in the sword for a while.]
“…Are you sure you don’t mind, won’t you be frustrated?”
[Whatever it is, it’s better than being a burden to a pupil as a master. Eating is important, isn’t it?]
Sierra was unusually particular about eating. Though, if she stuck around during meals, it might be difficult to eat.
“Okay, bye.”
[Be safe.]
Sierra then entered the sword on the wall while I opened the door and headed for the dining room.
The cafeteria, not far from the room, was crowded with cadets and all sorts of food wafted through the air.
Yuri and Aizel were nowhere to be seen so I grabbed my meal and sat down.
I was just picking up my cutlery when suddenly someone sat down at my table.
“Mr. Zetto!”
“Let’s eat together.”
Crank and Lucia greeted me, followed by Amon at the table. I guess they were still together.
“Looks like the two of us are still together.”
The cheerful Crank chimed in, and I followed suit.
“Miss Lucia, you didn’t have any accidents in between, did you?”
“Hey, I stayed calm…!”
Lucia looked away and muttered in a low voice.
“…To hell with being calm. I feel like I’ve been hit in the head twice.”
Amon responded after Lucia’s summary of the situation.
I couldn’t tell because Crank was smiling, but Amon definitely looked tired. Maybe I should give him a break.
“Haha, somehow I think Miss Lucia will survive falling off the airship and not die.”
“I could die on the airship…?”
A look of shock crosses Lucia’s face at my words.
At this point, Crank seems to have realized my intentions and opens his mouth with a serious face, cupping his chin with both hands.
“Alas… I told you there were cadets who would die on the airship…”
“Heh, heh…”
The fork Lucia was holding was shaking along with her body.
No cadet had ever died on an airship…Maybe.
It was just a ‘nice’ lie to scare Lucia.
‘That should do it.’
Dealing with Lucia…was easy once I realized the trick.
The three of us, except for Lucia, left her trembling and began to eat nonchalantly.
The meal was quite enjoyable while Crank’s friendliness and eloquence were exceptional.
In the game, Crank would have been just an extra, but in this world, at least, he was no extra at all. He was special, if not extraordinary.
By the end of the meal, I could see that Lucia’s eyes were completely dead but she had finished her meal, and her bowl was neatly empty.
It’s dinner time so Amon and Crank should get some rest and I feel like I’ve done my part as a leader.
After finishing the meal, I parted ways with them and headed back to my quarters.
‘Was there anything I should have picked up inside the airship?’
There are often hidden items scattered throughout the map.
They might be trivial, but some of them were fun.
I was about to open the door and enter, wondering what to do next.
“Zetto…?”
A familiar voice called out to me from the hallway beyond.
I turn my head in the direction of the voice, and there she is, running her fingers through her tightly braided red hair.
“I was looking for you anyway, have you eaten?”
“Yes, I just finished and I’m on my way back. What do you mean you’re looking for me?”
“I didn’t see it when we were together, but I heard there’s a really good restaurant, and I wanted to take Zetto to eat with me later…!”
Yuri said in a shy voice, her cheeks slightly flushed. She was very interested in eating. Maybe she was similar to Sierra.
The few times we’d eaten together before, I remembered how nice it was to see her eat so well.
“Haha, that’s great. Was it that good?”
“Yeah, Zetto should know how good it tastes. More than that, why are you trying to open that door? It doesn’t look like you’re supposed to go in there…”
“Uh… Because this is my room?”
I stammer out, and then Yuri tilts her head in question.
“It’s Zetto’s room…?”
“Yes. The chairman prepared it for me as a goodwill gesture regarding what happened at the Labyrinth.”
“You met the chairman?”
“Yes. Well, it just so happened…”
“I see… I thought he was a difficult person to meet…”
“…While you’re here, would you like to take a look around?”
I offered Yuri a tour of the room and since I didn’t have anything to hide in the room, it didn’t matter.
Yuri was curious, so it would be better to let her have a look around.
After a few moments of hesitation, Yuri followed me into the room and her eyes widened as she looked around the room.
She didn’t ask any questions, but her curiosity was piqued.
“Do you mind if I sit down?”
Yuri asked me as she stood in front of the bed.
“Sure.”
In response, Yuri sat down on the bed, and I followed suit and sat next to her.
Behind her, I could see Sierra on the wall. She hadn’t come out of the sword when I returned to the room.
Yuri rustles the bedspread and then speaks up.
“The bed is quite large…”
“Not ridiculously wide. It’s barely big enough for the two of us.”
“Ooh, the two of us?”
“Yeah.”
At my cheerful reply, Yuri nudges my shoulder and opens her mouth.
“You don’t have to imagine that!……or what happens when a man and a woman spend the night in the same room…It’s obvious…”
Yuri stuttered in embarrassment, her voice fading as she continued.
‘It’s obvious what will happen…’
Having already had the experience of spending the night in a room with a woman, I questioned Yuri’s words, which I spat out without thinking.
Afterward, when I’m lost in thought and don’t say anything else, there’s a strange silence between Yuri and me.
“…”
Yuri’s head is bowed, and she’s staring at the floor, fiddling with her finely braided hair. It was her who finally broke the silence.
“That… Shall I go then…? It’s getting late…! I’m done looking around the room…”
Yuri, who stood up from the bed and hastily organized the situation, couldn’t finish her sentence as someone knocked on the door.
At the sound of a knock on the door, Yuri stopped talking and froze in place.
I was just as puzzled.
‘Who could it be at this time of night? I didn’t call for an employee…’
I turn to Yuri as I step into the doorway.
“I’m coming.”
For now, my ‘friend’ was just looking around the room. It was true, and it wasn’t a very strange situation.
“Who is this?”
Before I can open the door and say anything else, a flash of pink hair catches my eye and I realize who it is.
‘I don’t remember giving Kaen the location of the room…?’
It was Kaen who burst into the room. She hasn’t been keeping an eye on me lately and I didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary on the airship.
How could she have seen me enter this room?
Kaen walked into the room, looked straight at me, and opened her mouth. She hadn’t even looked in the direction of Yuri, so she hadn’t realized she was in this room.
“Cadet Zetto, why didn’t you come to see me, my body…”
“Body…?”
Kaen’s words were cut off by Yuri’s muttering.
“Cadet Yuri…?!”
Kaen suddenly realized that Yuri was there, and she freaked out so I immediately opened my mouth to defuse the situation.
“Uh… I was showing Ms. Yuri around the room.”
“Oh… I see.”
Kaen nodded her head as if she understood. But the truth was, Yuri was not convinced.
“Surely you’re the Kaen who fought Zetto…? Why are you in Zetto’s room… and what do you mean by your body…?”
Yuri’s pupils were twitching as she spoke….I think she’s imagining things in her head.
Kaen must have come to my room thinking I had information for her.
She came to me because I didn’t seek her out.
‘Still, there’s no need to be so urgent.’
I didn’t want Yuri to know about this anyway. It would be even more dangerous if Kaen tried to pass it off as something that needed to be done.
‘What am I going to do about this?’
The situation was completely out of hand.
“Uh… Well, what is it, Cadet Yuri?”
Kaen began to ramble on, trying to think of a good excuse.
I couldn’t think of anything to say either, so I had to go with Kaen for now. The ball was in her court.
“Well… Cadet Zetto and… Oh, the sauna…! We were supposed to go to the sauna! That’s why I said I was feeling sore, ehehe…”
A silly laugh followed the rather shocked Kaen’s excuse.
She suddenly started talking about the sauna so Yuri tilts her head in confusion and asks Kaen a question.
“Sauna…?”
“Both Cadet Zetto and I are swordsmen, aren’t we? Well, we can talk about swords, too… We decided to have a contest to see who can last the longest in the sauna…?”
Kaen’s voice faded as she continued to explain to Yuri.
I listened for a while longer, and it was quite plausible. Kaen was a quick thinker.
“Zetto, is that really it, a showdown?”
Yuri, who was listening to Kaen’s explanation, looked at me and asked.
“…That’s right, we were supposed to go to the sauna, and since Kaen and I have been having various confrontations since the duel, I had forgotten about it for a while, haha.”
“What, I never thought you’d be interested in a sauna… Zetto, I’ll come with you then, because I’m pretty sure I can handle the hot stuff…!”
At my hesitant reply, Yuri offered to go with me.
“Well, if that’s the case, let’s all have a contest to see who can last the longest!”
Kaen then raises her arm with a goofy look on her face.
So this is what it comes down to.
I glance over at Sierra, who’s set up against one of the walls. She could see what was going on from inside the sword but Sierra was still unresponsive.
Given Sierra’s reaction to the sauna, this was probably best left unsaid.
Soon enough, I left the room, drawn by Yuri and Kaen.
***
It was late, so no one else was using the sauna. However, the changing rooms were segregated by gender.
The staff in charge of the sauna explained that there was special underwear for the sauna. However, I couldn’t help but notice that my lower body seemed to be covered by a single towel.
The towel covering my lower body was also made specifically for the sauna, and it was so thick and firm that it didn’t seem to slip off.
I don’t know why they thought to make a mixed sauna with only one towel, but it was definitely not a pleasant experience.
‘What the hell is this…?’
I double-checked the knot in my towel, took a deep breath and stepped into the sauna.
As soon as I walked in, the hot, stifling air hit my nose and I realized that the heat I was already feeling was perfect for sweating.
I see Yuri wrapped in a towel behind a cloud of smoke and soon enough she spots me too.
“Hey…?”
Yuri’s words come out rather shyly.
The water vapor that had been obscuring her figure dissipates as if it were peeling away, revealing her full form.
Yuri, like me, had covered herself with a single towel and her sensual body, which was thoroughly covered by her school uniform, was exposed.
A single towel couldn’t cover all of her.
As I approached her, Yuri rolled her eyes as if she didn’t know where to put them, then opened her mouth.
“Ka, Cadet Kaen is going to be a little late, she was blushing before she came in, I asked her if she was okay and she said she was going to get some water.”