Cruise Voyage

Purity Academy.

It stood at the edge of the world, on the holy island of Dilmun.

A place that could never be reached by ordinary means. Surrounded by ocean on all sides, entry by land was simply impossible. One could approach by ship or by plane, but even those routes were far from smooth.

The skies above the island were plagued by violent turbulence and magical storms fierce enough to keep even aircraft grounded. The dense mana rising from the sea clung to any vessel floating on the surface, weighing it down, dragging it toward that deep, dark seafloor below.

Only a cruise ship specially crafted by the Academy could glide across the mana-saturated waters.

Pwoooang~

The cruise ship sounded a low horn as it carved its way through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the calm blue sea. Its hull was so massive it brought an aircraft carrier to mind, drifting serenely across the water as if sliding over glass.

At the center of the rooftop deck sat a large swimming pool. Deck chairs and parasols for sunbathing lined the space in neat rows, festive music pulsed through the air, and the crowd danced, sinking deeper into a party of pure revelry.

"Everybody scream it out loud! Let's go!"

"WAAAAAH!"

A DJ in trendy slacks and a baseball cap ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worn backwards surrendered his body to the beat up on his booth. The crowd answered the heat, shaking themselves hard enough to spill the liquor from their cups, or shouting along at the top of their lungs.

Passengers bounced up and down on the spot, carried away by the music. Women in bikinis and swimsuits cut daringly high wobbled their ample chests and firm, round hips — a spectacle that made your mouth water on the spot.

Some danced along under the rollicking music; others drifted off to some corner or other, pressed their bodies close together, and traded kisses thick and sweet as honey, the picture of sensuality.

They ground their chests and thighs together carelessly, utterly oblivious to the lecherous stares glued to them — practically begging to be devoured.

Any man alive would want to pluck a freshly bloomed lily right then and there.

"Wow, now that's a sight."

I thought I was entering an academy, but one look at this scene and my whole impression flipped.

This was straight-up a brothel. If I could dive straight into the crotches of those juicy little honeys right this second, I'd ask for nothing more in life.

"Why didn't you ever describe this scene in the web novel, Writer?"

"If it were me, I'd have spun this scene off into a side story before writing the Chloe X Eva ending and raked in even more cash."

"They really don't go further than that? You serious."

Sucking and licking and everything, but holding out on the main event? If it were me, I'd have gone all the way, audience or no.

They're all adults who've come of age, and they wrap things up at that level right when the fever should be peaking? Kind of kills the mood, honestly.

"Such proper little ladies. Makes me want to plow them all the more passionately."

"Oh, I know it well. That's what enrolling at the Academy is for, isn't it?"

Change the ending, and guide this world onto the proper path. My resolve on that hadn't wavered one bit.

Still, you've got to enjoy yourself while the enjoying's good, no? Once we reached the island and classes kicked off in earnest, I'd be too swamped to find time for women.

Now was the only window I'd get to sniff out a good opportunity. Ideally I'd catch anyone at all and strike up even a light bit of conversation.

"Hey, you there."

"Hm?"

Turns out I'm a lucky bastard after all. Before I could even approach, they came to me.

Something touched my right shoulder lightly. Two, three little taps, and I turned around.

Students in swimwear — fresh out of the pool, judging by how the wet fabric clung to their bare skin, accentuating every hidden curve.

Droplets trickled down their thighs. It was nothing but water the swimsuits had absorbed, dripping downward — and yet all I could see was them climaxing right in front of me, squeezing out their sweet nectar.

"Were you calling me?"

"You passed the entrance exam and got in too, right?"

"My process was a little different, but I'm a full Academy student just like you, and I boarded this cruise the same way."

I answered their probing questions courteously. Might as well advertise: the only man on this island who wields mana, a talent good enough to make it into the Academy.

"No way. Guess it's actually true."

"You can tell just by looking at his uniform, dummy."

"I'm not believing it till I see proof."

Every student's gaze swung toward me at once.

They'd approached out of curiosity, and their numbers kept swelling until I was completely surrounded.

"If I were them, I'd have come over for a chat too, out of sheer wonder."

A man who wields mana — a rare breed barely enough to fill two digits' worth among a population of billions.

Seeing the real thing in the flesh had curiosity blooming all over. The same interest they'd shown in the store, and again when I'd boarded the cruise.

Solis's forbidding scowl had kept their attention at bay until now, but once one girl worked up the nerve to speak, the curious ones came flooding in like the tide.

"Can you show us the mana thing?"

I spread my palm at the student's request and drew mana together.

Light shaped like the sun in that sky blazed to life, scorching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hot, radiating heat in waves.

Vrrmmm!

"Enough for you?"

When I held up the little sun resting in my hand, the Academy students burst into applause like an audience that had just witnessed the performance of a lifetime.

"Amazing... he compressed his mana so far he reproduced the very essence of nature itself."

"Hey, so which faction are you with? Or maybe..."

"If you've got time, how about a cup of tea with me?"

Ah, my popularity — soaring without ever once looking at the sky. Being fawned over by all these beauties brought a smile to my face before I knew it.

"Don't be jealous, my little baby kitten. What can I do? I'm just born popular."

"Which is me now, exactly."

I'd possessed him, so he was mine now. His body was already shifting to match the shape of my soul; soon it would transform into a perfect me.

More importantly — an opening to get close to women had just landed in my lap, and I intended to exploit it to the fullest.

They were all decent-looking, but if I had my pick, I'd go for the ones with the cuter faces.

"Move aside, all of you."

"Well, well. An unexpected party crasher."

A woman shoved her way through the crowd of students and came toward me, looking up at my face with a scowl of pure displeasure.

Countless students had surrendered themselves to the festival's heat in their swimwear, but amid all that revelry she stood apart, dressed in a uniform just like mine.

Where the other girls had ordered skirts with their uniforms, she had chosen trousers. The exact outfit I'd once drawn for a novel illustration.

"We meet again. And seeing as you're on this cruise, you must be..."

"Don't act friendly with me. It's disgusting."

A tone that stung all the way down to the bone. Chloe's lifeless, clouded eyes spat contempt at me, the human being I was.

"The first thing you do upon entering the Academy is lure girls into your web. After that, you still call yourself a student of the prestigious Purity Academy?"

"Shouldn't you be saying that to the girls over there instead of me?"

"Eek, darling, everyone's staring."

"That's fine. Pay even more attention to me."

I pointed a finger at the women writhing and clinging shamelessly in front of everyone, putting on a show in a public place.

I was merely calling out a spectacle too embarrassing to ignore, right there in the open.

"They're fine. Because they're not you."

"We're students of the same Academy, aren't we?"

"If I say they're different, they're different. Don't talk back."

Her logic-free, brute-force reasoning left me utterly dumbfounded.

Hey — was she always this kind of character?

"Fine, whatever. Wipe the blood dripping from your nose first, then talk to me."

At those words, Chloe pulled a tissue from her pocket and rubbed away the nosebleed trailing down from her philtrum.

"Let me make one thing clear — this is because I stayed up all night last night."

"Ah. Of course."

Like hell I'd believe that, you idiot. I made a show of ignoring it and silently studied her instead.

So she didn't bring Eva along?

According to what the Writer had written in the web novel, Chloe had stayed in the cabin with Eva, keeping her company as they waited for the Academy to come into view.

Eva feared strangers, so the story went — Chloe stayed by her side to soothe her, and the two of them forged an even deeper bond. That's what I'd read.

"Where's the person who was using that blanket the other day?"

If I was curious, I'd have to ask outright. If she refused to answer, I'd simply read her visible reactions instead.

"Hk..."

Huh?

Tears welled up in the corners of Chloe's eyes. As though a dammed-up flood of emotion had burst through, her flushed face looked so fragile it might crumble at any moment.

Oh no. I hit a nerve.

Stunned — no, genuinely thrown off by the reaction — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my words jammed in my throat.

"It's your — your fault! If it weren't for you! Eva wouldn't have had to sleep in a separate room from me! She wouldn't have run away every time she saw me, and... and...!"

"Um, excuse me?"

"I don't know, I hate it, all of it! Because of you, my Academy life crashed and burned before it even began. I'll have my revenge. I swear it."

Having vented her fury at me, Chloe departed as if her business here was finished. I stared blankly at the spot where she'd stood.

Blank-faced, I was — this was a development straight out of a trashy melodrama.

"What the hell was that?"

She comes up out of nowhere, talks to me, squeezes out a bunch of tears, and bolts?

"Why on earth is she like that?"

"Well, everyone's got their own circumstances, I suppose."

A story unfolding differently from the web novel. The only thing capable of producing this result was my own doing.

My best guess was that our encounter on the walkway had planted some kind of change in her.

Though for the life of me, I couldn't fathom what that something might be.

"Anyway — we're here. Time to get ready to disembark."

Pwoooaaang~

The horn blared long and deep — the signal that the ship would soon dock at the island. I set everything else aside and turned my mind to what came next.