Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

※8/11 Typo corrections made.

This is Satou. When it comes to sea travel, most people imagine luxury cruise ships, but the only ones I’ve been on are overnight ferries. I mostly slept through those trips, so all I remember is that annoyingly catchy theme song.

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“Birds~?”

“It’s a bird!”

A green-feathered member of the bird tribe soared close to the water’s surface, gliding past our ship.

Pochi and Tama were waving their hands so hard it looked like they might tear off. The bird tribe, perhaps feeling playful, even made a few spins midair before flying away.

I was worried the two might fall from leaning out and waving too much, but luckily Liza was holding onto their waist belts, so it should be fine.

Even if they did fall, I recently learned the “Float” spell, so it’d be okay—but it’s best if they don’t fall in the first place.

The ship is basically boring.

Yesterday, we had two attacks by aquatic monsters, but before we joined them, the gill people soldiers on escort duty had already taken care of them. River pirates—like sea pirates but on rivers—showed up from a tributary, but they were quickly dealt with by strong short stuns from a distance, which capsized their small boats.

All in all, it’s been peaceful, so I’ve been practicing receiving signal magic again with Nana.

I convinced them that being able to receive signals anytime is important, so though Mia and Arisa looked a bit annoyed, they didn’t interfere. Instead, this person came to meddle.

“Again, all lovey-dovey in broad daylight!”

“Lady Karina, even if it’s a common-law marriage, it is normal for spouses to be affectionate among the human tribe, is it not? Besides, the two seem to be training to receive magical signals. I think it would be unwise to disturb them.”

Laka was gently admonishing Karina for interfering. As expected of a magical creature, she could tell that signal sending and receiving were happening.

“If it’s training, I want to join in too!”

“Miss Karina, since Lady Laka is here, you don’t need training. If anything happens, I’ll contact Lady Laka.”

Seriously, if I tried training with Miss Karina around, I’d definitely end up staring at her chest, and Arisa and Mia would scold me to sit properly again.

“That’s right, an heiress with convenient magical artifacts doesn’t need training. Now, it’s Arisa-chan’s turn.”

Arisa declared this, breathing heavily. Like it’s a card game!

Around the time Karina got involved, Arisa had taken my short staff and was doing something in a corner of the deck. It seemed she was using the signal magic. The heavy breathing was probably because she used the signal spell without any arcane magic skill, which put a strain on her body. She really pushes herself recklessly as always.

Seeing Arisa, Mia clapped her hands and took out a short staff and the arcane magic spellbook from my bag, then began chanting the signal spell. Mia’s getting more like Arisa.

Mia also succeeded in casting magic, but instead of just panting, she fainted from anemia. I tried to put her to bed in the cabin, but she insisted on staying here, so I let her rest with her head on my lap.

Lulu was looking at Mia with envy right next to the tea set. I don’t think it’s really something to be so jealous of. Miss Karina’s expression seems similar to Lulu’s, but I’ll ignore that.

“Hey, since we worked so hard to get you to be able to receive signals, start the training already~”

“Alright, first we’ll start with receiving while the ‘signal’ spell is active. Hold out your hand.”

“Okay~”

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I held hands with Arisa. Such small hands. Soft and squishy. While playing with her small hands and thinking about unrelated things, I heard strange noises from Arisa like “au” and “iyan.” She seems embarrassed, but I still can’t guess what embarrasses her.

Mia scratched my knee, so I stopped playing and went back to training.

“First, this is a short signal. Next is a long signal.”