Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Satou here. Unlike whales, it seems many people frown upon eating dolphins. I also feel uncomfortable when I hear about people eating dogs or cats, so I suppose it’s just a difference in food culture.

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“Alright, you guys! Captain Arisa is setting out!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Aye aye!”

“Hmm.”

Arisa and the others, dressed in pirate costumes, were playing at the prow of the ship. Arisa, playing the role of captain, wore a wide-brimmed hat and a long-tailed coat, paired with white pants and a shirt underneath. A rapier hung at her waist.

A bit of a retro pirate look. I thought she’d dress like the Pirate King, but this was a little different.

Pochi and Tama were dressed like pirate henchmen, wearing striped short-sleeve shirts and three-quarter pants. Both of them were sporting the eyepatches I made yesterday. Normal eyepatches weren’t fun enough, so I designed theirs to look like small stylized masks of a dog and a cat, respectively.

Mia looked like a naval soldier, wearing a white sailor uniform with white pants.

“Master, your tea is ready.”

“Thanks, Lulu.”

I got down from the raised steering area and sat at the simple table arranged on the deck. Lulu told Arisa and the others it was snack time, and they broke off their pirate play to rush back.

“Huh? The sunlight here feels soft.”

“Pff, I made ‘Sunlight Protection’ magic that cuts sunlight and UV rays so Lulu and the others won’t get sunburned.”

This was an extra I had ordered before when getting scrolls in the Duke’s Capital.

Natalina seemed confused, not understanding what kind of magic it was for.

“There’s no wind either?”

“Really, it’s strange. There’s wind above, but none here.”

“It’s magic.”

“I see~”

“I understand, then.”

The wind was just normal air control magic. While sending wind to the sails, the area here was kept calm so no wind would blow.

Otherwise, Lulu and Nana’s skirts would be flying up, causing quite a mess. Especially Lulu’s dress—it was a one-piece dress, so her belly button would be exposed. Of course, officially, no one was supposed to see that.

The sailing ship was currently voyaging inside the bay.

There were almost no monsters in the bay.

“Dolphins! There’s a dolphin jumping!”

Arisa quickly noticed a dolphin swimming alongside the ship. I wished she wouldn’t talk with her mouth full. I activated the flexible shield the size of a serving tray to block crumbs of snacks.

Arisa ran over to the starboard side behind me. Not only the younger kids were pulled along, but Lulu and Nana also ran over.

Where was Liza? Looking around, it seemed she had gone downstairs to the storage room to get a harpoon with a rope. Apparently for Liza, the dolphin was considered prey.

“They’re spinning!”

“Prey~?”

“What are you saying? Eating dolphins is unthinkable! They are to be cherished.”

It would be better not to tell Arisa about how I once ate dolphin at a guesthouse in Wakayama Prefecture. Well, considering they’re cute, cherishing them is understandable.

I thought Nana would react the most, but she didn’t seem to like it that much. Lulu just said, “It’s a big fish,” but that was the expression of someone thinking about cooking methods.

“But it looks delicious.”

Liza was hiding a harpoon on her back, but it wasn’t well concealed.

Everyone except Arisa seemed determined to eat the dolphin, but I decided to let it slide for Arisa’s sake.

I don’t think the dolphin felt threatened, but after a while, it swam away from the ship.

◇

By the time afternoon snacks finished, the ship had safely exited the bay and entered the open sea.

“Wow, it’s rocking.”

“More than the airship.”

“Hmm.”

Arisa, Lulu, and Mia seemed uncomfortable with the ship’s rocking. For a ship this size, it wasn’t really rocking much, but compared to a river, some rocking was inevitable.

“It’s okay, there’s water below. If you fall, just swim.”

Liza quietly advised. Quite different from the airship.

“Hm, I can swim.”