...uh-oh...

With perfect weather conditions and a competent crew, the ship with Melinda, Zane, and Adrianna on board smoothly sailed through the sea.

The view was great. The vague shape of the Rubia Archipelago far on the horizon was adding some spice as it was a reminder of a piece of land that the alliance of intelligent races had lost to demons and monsters decades ago…

…but the novelty wore off quite fast, and Melinda began spending most of her time on the deck, leaning against the railing and…

…throwing toothpicks into the water… apparently...

"My lady, the captain is saying that we should get to the Chainlink port in less than an hour."

The maid approached the young Miss and informed her while bowing politely.

"Cool."

Melinda nodded, not even glancing towards the approaching shoreline, picking a single toothpick from yet another box she bought on the side from one of the crewmates, and casually flicked her wrist, sending the slightly oversized splinter into the depths of the water without creating any ripples on its surface.

…not that it was possible to notice that while the ship was moving…

"...my lady, you don't really look as if you are having fun…"

"Because I am not."

Adrianna pointed out, and Melinda nodded with a bitter expression. This time around she flicked the toothpick, still managing to send the makeshift projectile flying with so much power and speed that it created a decently-sized vortex of unknown depth.

"...?"

The maid leaned forward to take a peek at her master's face and gave her an intrigued look without saying a word.

"Zane shut himself in his cabin right on the very first day and refused to come out. What else am I supposed to do if I can't even nurse him back to health? I've read through all the schoolbooks twice back in the mansion, and someone didn't bother to bring any fun novels."

"Ohhhh…"

The gold-haired girl stopped halfway through the motion and slowly turned her head to stare accusingly at the brown-haired maid, who leaned back and looked away, acting innocent while letting out a quiet voice of realization.

"All things considered, my lady, is this really the only thing you could think of to kill the boredom?"

Adrianna rolled her eyes and snapped back, looking meaningfully at all the toothpicks in Melinda's possession.

"I'm training."

The gold-haired noble pouted and looked away, sending another projectile into the water.

"Suuuuure… how exactly is this considered training?"

The maid nodded, elongating the word while very clearly judging her master.

"I am practicing throwing. Plus. Since the beginning of our journey, I even leveled up a few times."

Melinda scoffed grumpily and repeated the motion.

"Oh. of course. How do you see the creatures down there? Wouldn't it be better and more challenging to aim for the birds?"

"..."

The maid pointed at a small dot in the sky above and nodded her head with a condescending look in her eyes, which earned her a glare from the gold-haired noble.

"The birds? And what? Make a show for every single person on the ship? You do know I am keeping my awakened ability a secret, right?"

"Whoa… that sounds like a roundabout way of saying that you don't have the skill to do it, my lady."

Melinda glanced up and scoffed, rolling not only her eyes but also her entire head to which Adrianna merely snickered.

"..."

That was a bit too much sass for the noble girl, so instead of sending the toothpick into the water yet again, she flicked it up, causing a small shockwave to wash over the ship…

"Hmph."

...and scoffed as the dot in the sky burst into even smaller dots and vague lines that all got blown into nothingness by the harsh winds before they could begin to fall down.

"...oho~!"

"C-captain! Something blasted apart the Spotted Albantrella that has been following us!"

The maid let out an approving gasp, but then one of the crewmembers shouted across the deck.

"Argh! I know. I felt that gust, too! That's a bad omen! Let's be twice as careful as usual around the shallows ahead! Some filth from Rubia might have swum over!"

"..."

"..."

The ship's captain clicked his tongue and shouted back while the two girls looked at each other, then towards the sky, then at each other once more.

"Anyway. My lady, aren't you bothered about the possibility of whatever you hit down there coming up here to have its revenge?"

Adriana casually changed the subject and leaned back over the railing, looking down at the water.

"Not really. If I see something coming up, I can always attack it again."

Melinda shrugged her shoulders, returning to the downward motion.

"My lady, how about we…"

"...ah…!"

The maid breathed out and leaned back while holding onto the railing. She began to speak enthusiastically as she came up with some interesting idea, but she was interrupted by the gold-haired girl flinching and backing off, putting one hand to her mouth, and staring at the sea with worry.

"...my lady…? What happened…?"

The maid furrowed her brows and asked, glancing between her master and the water…

"This is bad, Adi…! I just leveled up, like, over dozen times or more! I must have killed something really, really strong!"

"...wh-what…?"

Melinda gasped, backing off further and further away while her maid's eyes widened in shock.

"No, no, no, no…! To give me so much experience points, the monster would have to be… Z-Zane…! ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANE!"

The gold-haired girl shook her head while talking to herself in panic before turning right around and sprinting away with a worried cry.

"...she was definitely joking… right…?"

Adrianna watched her master go under the deck to where the cabins were and mumbled to herself…

"...eh…?"

She couldn't help but glance back at the water… and then let out a gasp of shock as the water was turning dark and the waves began to pick up and sway the entire ship.

"CAPTAIN! THE SKY!"

"I CAN SEE THAT! I KNEW THAT SOMETHING WAS OFF! EVERYONE GET READY! WE WILL TRY TO OUTRUN THIS BLASTED STORM!"

"!!!"

The crewmates began to call, and the captain responded, making Adrianna look up and witness the jet-black clouds literally materializing out of nowhere in the previously clear sky.

"Uh-oh…"

The maid gasped and hurriedly followed after her master.