21 Discovered

I smirk at the ridiculous situation that just took place between Eden and me.

'That girl is too sneaky!'

Some might say I overreacted a bit, but it's essential to maintain an authoritative presence, especially since I look younger than her. In the future, it will be imperative that Eden and any other subordinates listen to what I say without question. Which is why I can't let Eden think she can so easily tease me.

'Plus, I mean, come on! I was trying to be all patient and kind, and she's over here trying to embarrass me!'

**Sigh**

Maybe I got a little too friendly a little fast. I could tell her impression of me already took a hit after she saw the state of my room. I should probably not baby her too much from now on.

"Hey Phil, what are you up to?"

Hearing a man talking I stop, I'm still in the employee's only area of the ship, so being found would complicate matters.

"Oh, hey, Juan. Apparently, some students are missing, so they asked nonessential staff to help search. Anyways, I came to get Eden."

"Missing students? How are they missing aren't we on a boat?"

"I don't know that's just what I heard. The Captain said to look for them, and the First Officer is in charge of finding them."

"How do they plan to find them? What are we supposed to just walk around the ship aimlessly?"

"...For today that is the plan actually, but if we don't find them by tomorrow morning, the Captain is going to make an announcement and have everyone return to their rooms. Then all staff members are going to go room by room and confirm each room has the correct number of occupants."

"What! That's going to take hours."

"Yeah, I know, but what are we suppose to do?"

I hear the conversation end, and the man named Phil starts to walk in my direction. Looking to my left and right, I spot a communal restroom. I quickly run to the restroom and silently slide in to avoid contact.

I take a breath of relief as I hear his footsteps slowly fade away. I turn and lean against the door in exasperation. What I find after turning around is a large man standing with his belt undone standing in his boxers.

For a minute, we stare at one another until finally, I break the silence. "You know...there are these things called locks that people use when others shouldn't enter a room."

The man blinks a few times, "Ye...yeah. I'll remember that."

"Yeah...you should." I turn awkwardly and leave.

I walk with a brisk pace back to my room.

'Well, it looks like things are about to get complicated.'

Entering the room, I gather all my dirty clothes and place them outside the door for Eden. I then deadbolt the door, turn off the lights and fall onto the bed. With a moment of quiet and respite, I start thinking through all the resources I have in case of an emergency.

'Oh, yeah. I never did look at my reward for finishing the last main task.'

"System, tell me about the 'Followers' option of the system I never had a chance to ask about it."

[Host, the 'following' option will only work if the intended target is a worshipper of the Goddess of Blood. It allows the Host to check their status, their loyalty to the Goddess, track their location, and send divine revelations or gifts to the worshiper. Essence is required for revelations and sending gifts.]

"Oh, is that how it works? Give me a summary of Eden. No need for stats and other unnecessary information, just the basics."

[Okay, generating a summary of what the system assumes the Host implies by 'basics' for Eden Groth.]

Name: Eden Groth

Gender: Female

Race: Dhampir {Blood Angel}

Level: 1

Health: 159/160

Mana: 80/80

Talents: Banshee's Wail

Loyalty: Bound by Angel's Blood - Semi Fanatic

Location: Pacific Ocean - 'Moonlight' Cruise Ship

I ignore the implied snarkiness of the system and instead focus on the information.

'Pretty convenient actually. It will have many uses in the future.'

I look through the given information and remember something I had forgotten to check.

"Analyze Banshee's Wail."

{Name: Banshee's Wail

Grade: B-

Details: A ability that was believed to only be useable by undead banshee's, however, due to a traumatic event and the individual's unique properties, the ability was acquired in the form of a talent. Banshee's Wail creates a sonic mental wave within a circumference determined by the user's physique and mental strength. Typically causes bleeding from the eyes/ears, fear, confusion, and in rare cases death.}

'That's great and very beneficial, but what does it mean by unique properties? Is it talking about Eden's angel blood...well, no point worrying about it right now.'

Forcing myself off the bed, I take off my clothes and head for the shower. Letting the hot water soothe my mind and body, I start running through what I heard earlier. From what those two men were saying, it seems they are going to be doing some kind of room and passenger check tomorrow. That means my time in this room has pretty much come to an end, and tomorrow I'll need to find somewhere else to go. What worries me is what they will do when they find out that those people are missing, whether turning back or stopping somewhere, it would be bad for me.

Counting tomorrow, we are about a day and a half away from arriving at Dutch Harbor, which is one of the stops for this cruise ship. The only thing I know about Dutch Harbor is they do a lot of crab fishing, so I would rather not get stuck there. After the stop in Dutch Harbor, the ship would go to Anchorage, which is another day away, if I am forced to I could leave the ship in Anchorage, which would be much more practical than Dutch Harbor although still not ideal.

Leaving the shower, I dry my body and attempt to tie my hair using the towel. Properly drying my hair is one thing I still haven't been able to figure out, but regardless of how I dried it, it always straightened itself out on its own. I assume this is not necessarily true for most women, but probably has to do with my body's genes and constitution. I go to Jerrold's bag, take out one of his oversized t-shirts, and put it on. I barely manage to maneuver the shirt around the messily tied towel on my head.

I glance at the writing on the shirt, 'Seems Jerrold was a Harvard grad or something.'

Next, I walk to the big pile of snacks and start storing everything until there's only enough room left for my current wardrobe and anything Eden might buy me. I take a few packaged buns out of the remaining pile and stare at the snacks I no longer have room for.

'Sorry, guys. I'll never forget you.'

I wrap myself in the bedsheets like a burrito and eat the buns.

'Tomorrow, I'll see how things play out before I make any drastic actions, but for now, I'm a bit tired.'

After finishing the buns, I toss the wrappers to the floor and stare at the ceiling. Eventually, I close my eyes.

_________________

Early the next morning, I am awoken by an announcement over the intercom system.

"Good morning, everyone. This is the Captain speaking. We are going to ask that all guests return to their respective rooms within the next hour. There is no cause for alarm; we are simply going to be performing a headcount. We ask that all guests, please have your passports or other forms of identification ready. A staff member will come by your room and confirm identities and that everyone is accounted for. We thank you all for your understanding and hope that everyone continues to enjoy their time onboard the Moonlight."

'Well, this is pretty much what I expected. I guess I should get up and go find somewhere to hide.'

[Ding!]

[Side Task: Escape the Moonlight Cruise

Task Objective:

1) Your presence and actions have been noticed by ship personnel. Escape.

Bonus) Escape with more than 50% health.

Task Reward: Mana Pulse Earring

Bonus Reward: Shadow Magic Book - Novice

Failure: Death or Capture.]

"...Great."