The Water Magician

"The world is so wonderful!"

On the deck of Public Ship No. 10, a water attribute mage raised such a voice.

"Indeed, it is wonderful," said the swordsman next to the mage, but there was no enthusiasm in his voice.

Naturally, he received a sharp glare from the water attribute mage.

"Abel is always like this. He acts aloof and says nothing but cynical things. I think people would follow him more if he were a little more straightforward."

"No, I genuinely think the view outside the deck is wonderful. I wholeheartedly agree with that. But when you say 'world,' it includes the deck as well, right? As for the deck..."

On the deck, a small drinking party was taking place.

The four participants appeared to be quite drunk.

Of course, they were not members of the crew of the Tenth Ship.

The crew rarely drinks enough to get drunk while seriously navigating the ship.

"Ahh, drinking on a ship is so nice!"

"This is what it feels like to get drunk!"

"I can't swing my sword like this..."

"When you're drunk, it also becomes a hassle to open the 'Gate' and procure more alcohol!"

Leonor, Pastra, Argenta, and Jean-Jacques, four demons, were holding a drinking party.

"Isn't it a wonderful sight? So peaceful..."

"Is that so?"

Ryo said with a strained expression, while Abel cast a skeptical gaze.

"By the way, why are demons on the deck of a public ship?"

"Because Jean-Jacques opened a 'Gate' and came here..."

"Yeah, when I say 'why,' I mean not how, but why."

"I'm troubled if you ask me," Ryo replied, shaking his head.

This was an event that happened just thirty minutes ago.

The group was departing from the imperial capital, Hanlin, and heading towards the Duchy of Atinjo.

Ryo and Abel were leisurely spending the afternoon on the deck as usual.

Ryo was fiddling with the Flying Ring he bought in Darwei, and Abel was swinging his sword.

Then, without any warning, a pitch-black 'Gate' opened, and four demons emerged.

"Certainly, this is just the right place," Leonor said, which Ryo could hear.

"Right?" Jean-Jacques replied, which also reached Ryo's ears.

"It's nice that they provided a place for an experiment," Pastra nodded and said, which Ryo also heard.

"It's spacious enough to swing swords," Argenta murmured, and Ryo caught that too.

After that, the drinking party began.

"It's Ryo's fault for not stopping them."

"That's not my fault!"

Abel condemned, and Ryo hurriedly protested.

"Who has ever defeated these four?"

"Well, that would be me..."

"Then realistically, who could have stopped them?"

"Well, it would only be me..."

Ryo glanced over at the four who were drinking.

For some reason he couldn’t quite understand, their appearance on this Tenth Ship was connected to him... he had to acknowledge that.

But even so, stopping them... He had only beaten them one-on-one.

What if he faced all four at once?

Absolutely impossible.

After all, they are demons, right?

By the way, when the crew of the Tenth Ship, including Captain Ra Woo, first saw the four appear, they were surprised, but soon no one cared anymore.

They realized that they wouldn’t break the ship or harm the crew.

And among them, information was exchanged in hushed tones.

"He's an acquaintance of Duke Rondo."

With that single phrase, the crew stopped caring.

They returned to their work.

That context also put pressure on Ryo.

It was indeed true that the four demons were acquaintances of Ryo. Completely true.

However, most of them were demons targeting Ryo's life.

But there was no one else to ask.

"Um, excuse me."

"Hmm? What is it, Ryo?"

"Do you want to drink too?"

Leonor replied to Ryo’s question, and Jean-Jacques invited him to the drinking party.

Argenta silently offered a cup, seemingly for Ryo to use.

"No, I'm fine. But what are you all doing?"

"As you can see, we're having a drinking party," Leonor answered, tilting his head, with an expression that implied it was obvious.

"I phrased that wrong. Why are you having a drinking party here?"