35 Chapter 35: All aboard the ship–No, not you!

I watched as the bustling crowd continued to create a cacophony of noise, filling the windy atmosphere of the air dock.

I'd always felt mildly amused by the whole thing, to be honest. For reasons, this world—or at least this country—mixed the ship docks and airports and so we had airships parked on harbors like regular ships. It made sense in a way, I supposed. But then, they had to make it look exactly like a harbor.

"Still think it's dangerous, the way they use ramps to connect the docks to the ships. I mean, seriously, there's no support or railing. If they weren't so big, I wouldn't be surprised if every now and then people fell from those."

[I agree. The people in charge should have used better means to lug the passengers and luggage on the ships. Or at least had the decency to make railings so no one accidentally falls off them if they get too close to the corners or due to sudden strong air currents and jitters.]

I huffed in acceptance and continued to watch the people going about their business, from merchants and traders carrying luggage to their trading airships a little ways away to the passengers and their friends and family who had come to either say their goodbyes or waiting for their arrival.

Then there were opportunistic merchants who had gained permission to set up some stalls and shops near the waiting area and warehouses that were either used to store luggage or taken out.

Since I had accepted that Wayne girl's request to aid in her Pirate issue, I was here today, ready to embark on what felt like a side mission in a story.

I was waiting for Olivia and Angelica who were both taking their time.

Not that we were on a schedule, but I had been here for an hour or so, having to come early because I had to make sure the ship was ready. Yes, I know Eris could have let me know easily about that. In fact, I already knew the ship was in perfect and ready condition. But as the captain, I had the duty to act like I was busy doing very important stuff.

Okay, fine. I lied. I just didn't want to deal with the whole mess I had somehow created this morning.

Like, what the actual fuck was I thinking—I wasn't—when I did that to not just Olivia but Angelica as well. Ugh.

My head hurts just thinking about it.

Fuck, I needed some distractions and didn't want to deal with them so early in the morning. And no, it didn't matter that early in the morning for me turned out to be 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

So, anyway, here I was, standing in the afternoon sun on the docks, waiting for my passenger… oh, and also the Wayne girl. I mean, she was the one who asked for this, so naturally she was coming as well.

[Captain, they're here.]

I hummed and squinted my eyes to recognize two familiar blondes in the crowd.

"Guess they are. Good. And they seem to have brought our guest as well. We can finally leave."

I sighed and then dawned a lazy smile as I saw the trio of girls approaching.

They smiled as they saw me waiting near my ship, Partner.

"Ah, milord! A very good afternoon!"

Carla greeted me enthusiastically as they reached me, accompanied by a cheery wave of hand—her free hand, as she carried her luggage, a suitcase, in the other.

'And she's back to using milord and whatnot. Oh well, I'm not gonna tell her again and again.'

"Hey, Carla."

I nodded to the smiling bluenette.

The two blondes with her offered much more demure but still genuine greetings and smiles and I felt a little awkward myself greeting them back.

Oh, I was not particularly looking forward to the pending conversation. But I had to do it and resolve any issues if I didn't want this entire ride to be awkward and complicated. That would suck.

"Good, you girls are here. We can start our journey."

I spoke to the three before turning back to Carla.

"I already have the location of the region you informed me about marked in my system, but do let me know if we steer off course too much. Also, I don't want to deal with local air traffic or a flock of wild fliers. You'd probably be more knowledgeable about it, so once we take out seats, I'd like you to tell me about any in the path if you know. Gotcha?"

The girl dazedly nodded, her mouth open but no words coming out. Not sure why she was so surprised. I was just asking for some minor information. I'd had the displeasure of running into both air traffic and flocks of small flying monsters that splattered the ship's exterior once or twice after getting smashed by it. Eris was not amused by the mess she had to clean. 

It was mostly some minor problems if one at all, but it didn't hurt to know about them beforehand. I could easily avoid those scenarios and save myself from listening to Eris grumble about gross flesh bodies and whatnot. It was only funny the first time. And the second time. It lost its charm the third time onwards.

"R-Right. I will."

She finally spoke. 

"Well, let's go then."

I picked all three of their suitcases, because I'm a gentleman, and started making my way towards the ramp that connected the ship to the dock.

"U-Um, please wait, Milord!"

I turned to the flustered bluenette, an eyebrow raised in query.

"What's wrong? You forgot something?"

"Ah, well, I-I called for some additional help, you see…"

She demurely stated, causing me to frown in confusion.

"Who? And why?"

I asked flatly.

Did she seriously just suggest that she wasn't confident in my abilities? Why else would she call for extra help when she had specifically come to me and asked for my help? And who did she call? 

It's just some fucking pirates, anyway. I'd dealt with them in the past. My adventurer career had a pretty decent track record with pirates. You don't roam around the open sky and not crash into some stray pirate groups every now and again. I had a bunch of bounties earned from catching and throwing sky pirates to the authorities. 

At my boring gaze, she withered a little, probably noticing my utter lack of amusement at her actions.

"T-that is…"

"Hey! We're here!"

A loud shout distracted us and we collectively looked at the pair approaching us with gusto. Dawned in color-coded gear—that could barely pass as armor in one case and most certainly not in another. No, seriously, it looked more like a male stripper outfit than actual armor. The two figures with familiar red and purple hair walked up to us, their stature tall and filled with confidence.

I narrowed my eyes, not liking where this was going.

I turned to the culprit, who seemed to not want to maintain eye contact with me.

"I-I actually approached Brad-sama too. I thought it'd be better if you could get some competent support."

She managed to sputter her excuse but I wasn't sated.

"Carla. You came to me to ask for my help. And I agreed. So, now you bringing other 'helpers' without my knowledge clearly shows that you didn't actually have the confidence in my abilities that you were claiming before. I'm not amused if you couldn't tell."

The girl wilted further under my unamused gaze.

Olivia and Angelica on the side watched the interaction in silence.

Angelica was frowning, likely not amused by this series of events herself. This was very much a show of clear distrust on Carla's part after she begged for my help. Olivia's expression was more neutral. She seemed more confused than anything. She likely understood what I was getting at, but her nature made it difficult for her to be annoyed, much less angry, at others. But that's Olivia for you. She's a sweet cinnamon bun. And absolutely adorable.

"I-I…"

Carla stammered but didn't have anything to say in her defense. The girl looked like she was struggling to stay composed and could break if pushed too much.

But I had good reasons to make her life a little difficult.

"Hey hey, what's going on here? Why is he here?"

A certain redhead decided to interrupt our talk—and thus giving Carla some much-needed respite from my harsh accusations—as he pointed towards me with a hint of annoyance.

"I don't see how that's any of your business, Dred, or whatever your name is."

I retorted with half-lidded and unamused eyes.

"Greg! Get my name right, you punk!"

The redhead lashed out verbally.

"Greg, Dreg. I don't care. And I don't see why you're needed here."

I spoke, in hopes they'd get to the main point so I could shut them off.

"Well, obviously to help her."

The redhead pointed with a lazy thumb at Carla as he rested on his long spear which had a three-pronged blade. Something told me the weapon was more for show than actual utility. A weapon like that won't be something just anyone could use and I'd seen what little of the redhead's spearmanship in our little match. Not impressive.

My eyes drifted to the bluenette momentarily and then back to the colorful pair of boys.

"Ah, about that. She's changed her mind. You guys aren't needed anymore. She asked for my help and I'm more than enough to deal with some two-chump pirates."

 I stated, causing the two boys' faces to morph into shame, annoyance, and anger.

"Yeah? And you are so confident in your abilities? You're really arrogant, you know that."

The purple-haired one spoke with a clear distaste and arrogant undertone.

"Remind me again who won in our duel, Mr. Purple?"

I retorted and that shut him up for a bit, though he definitely didn't like it.

"That's old news! And this is different."

"I really don't see how it is. Unless you've somehow miraculously gained strength or ancient relics, nothing's changed. To put it simply, I don't see any need for you two. I'm more than capable of handling the pirate problem."

I turned to look at Carla.

"Hey."

The girl jolted as she looked at me nervously.

"I'll make it simple for you. You can either take their help or mine. I'm not letting the extra luggage inside my ship."

"What?!"

"You arrogant–!"

The two growled in indignation but were promptly ignored as I pointedly stared at the girl who was the source of this minor annoyance.

"Well? Choose. Them, or me."

"I… that…"

Carla seemed to be in between a solid rock and a hard place, unable to decide. No matter what she chose, she'd be making a pretty bad impression on the other. Well, I was already not amused by her actions, forced or not.

"Y-You, milord."

She finally decided, glancing at me with misty eyes.

"I-I am so sorry, Lord Brad and Lord Greg."

She bowed to the two who looked frustrated and annoyed, but in the end, they couldn't do much.

So, they had to turn around and leave while grumbling and fuming.

"Well then. Make sure to stay in the center as you walk up the ramp, ladies."

I idly warned as I motioned them to walk aboard the ship.

"Was that necessary?"

Angelica asked as she walked passed me, behind Carla who had promptly made her way to the airship without any delay.

"No. But I didn't want to bother with the extra baggage. And that's what they are. I meant it when I said I can deal with some pirates. Have done it before. And they wouldn't have been much help, if any. Because most of the battles against pirates are done through airship battles and occasionally armor units if the pirates have them somehow. Those two came without their armor units and with just simple gear that wouldn't protect them against the pirate's guns. So, yes, they wouldn't have accomplished much if anything, and instead would have been a liability."

Hearing my explanation, Angelica nodded in understanding, a wry smile now on her face.

"Well, I see what you mean. They certainly weren't happy, but in this case, I think your decision was both reasonable and justified. I'm not happy with that girl, though."

Her smile turned into a small frown as she looked at the figure of Carla who was entering the airship in haste.

"Me neither. But don't worry about her. I have it all under control."

I gave her a reassuring smile and she was placated, returning a smile herself before her face suddenly gained a pink hue.

"R-right then."

She muttered, her blush deepening and her eyes straying away from my face.

My own smile turned a bit rigid.

"… Yeah."

Not saying anything else, Angelica turned and gingerly walked up to the airship, her face hidden from me, leaving me with Olivia who was staring in the direction the two boy scouts went with a troubled face.

"Livia?"

I called, jolting her out of her stupor.

"Come on."

I brought a hand forward for her to grasp, a subconscious action on my part, as Olivia extended hers reflexively, even though her face gained a shade of pink as she held my hands, making me smile wryly.

"Okay."

She spoke quietly.

Yeah. I really, really needed to have a talk with these two. 

Also, why the fuck did I ever agree with testing Experimental Alcohol made by Eris? Even if she was giving me puppy eyes through her metallic lenses somehow. It was my first time drinking alcohol and by fucking god was I very much tempted to never do it again. Not after the mess my drunk(?), somehow sleep-deprived self caused. 

I seriously have no idea what the fuck happened to me in the morning. Well, that dream with Mylene was actually pretty nice if I did say so myself, and I would most certainly not mind a repeat, maybe going further the next time. A part of me had been regularly screaming at me to seduce the real one after that dream. And honestly, I was tempted to do it for real. Mylene was certainly the best waifu material in this world. But I digress.

The thing I did with Angelica and Olivia, though… oh boy… I mean, I don't have any real regrets, other than the fact that my memories of it are kinda foggy now and I wasn't straight in my head at the moment. But I definitely sparked something there and now I had to… take the responsibility, as they say. Not how I thought my day would be. It was supposed to be about traversing through the beautiful skies and defeating pirates. Not… whatever this was.

Well, again, that conversation could wait until we settled on Partner and had some privacy.

Trying not to think too much about it, I gently pulled Olivia on board, the young blonde readily following my lead as her grip on my hand tightened and her head lowered further in embarrassment.

'Nope. Don't think about it too much. Even though she looks hella cute right now—No, stop!'

***