Math Trip (2)
I had never felt a serious sense of crisis while possessing this body until now. Even if the butterfly effect had occurred, nothing had reached an overwhelmingly dangerous level. But the event unfolding right now left me completely clueless about how to solve it.
This was one problem that game knowledge simply couldn't fix.
“Ugh!”
My head was spinning. It felt like everything I had eaten was about to come rushing back up. Seeing my condition, Sherry beside me patted my back with a deeply worried expression.
“Are you okay?”
“I’d like to say I am, but….”
Honestly, I felt like I was going to die. Who could have predicted that the motion sickness I had before the possession would carry over to this character? And the severity was exactly the same as before. At this point, I was seriously starting to suspect the author had thrown this in just to screw with me.
“Mister Baran. Could you tell me where it hurts?”
At that moment, Risa came rushing over and began examining me. I told her exactly how I was feeling. The next instant—
“Hmm. Then why don’t you try drinking this?”
Risa handed me a potion with a serious look on her face. Was it really okay to drink this? This wasn’t modern society. It wasn’t unreasonable to wonder whether motion sickness medicine could even be made here.
It feels like drinking this might just make things worse.
Thinking that, I looked at Risa. In response, she placed both hands on her hips as if to say just trust me. Then she let out a proud little huff.
The fact that she’s acting like that actually makes me trust her less.
Still, considering her abilities, it was probably worth giving it a shot. If nothing else, her talent was exceptionally outstanding even in the game. I opened the potion bottle and drank it. A strawberry flavor slid down my throat.
Gulp. Gulp.
I emptied the entire bottle. Naturally, I wasn’t expecting much and was already preparing to be disappointed when—
Huh?
Unlike before, I didn’t feel dizzy at all. I stared at Risa, just to be sure. She crossed her arms with a triumphant expression.
“How is it? Pretty amazing effect, right?”
“How did you do this?”
I couldn’t help but ask. Even in the modern world, completely eliminating motion sickness with medicine was impossible. Yet the moment I drank the potion Risa gave me, the effect had appeared instantly. From my perspective, it wasn’t strange at all to wonder if Risa was actually a grand mage.
“Hehe! I’ve seen quite a few people with symptoms like yours, Mister Baran. I was one of them, actually. So I developed this a while ago to solve the problem.”
“Miss Risa. Are you an angel?”
When I asked with genuine sincerity, her ears turned red and she waved her arms around in a fluster.
“Ahahaha. There’s no way that’s true.”
“Anyway! Since Baran is feeling better now, let’s go look around!”
At that moment, Sherry, who had jumped into the conversation, suggested we explore the ship with sparkling eyes. At the same time—
Disciple. I will step inside the Bow of the Beginning for a while.
Because she had formed a contract with me, it seemed Miroel was also feeling motion sickness. After saying that, she disappeared into the Bow of the Beginning.
With that, we each headed to our rooms to organize our luggage before exploring the cruise ship.
After sorting our belongings, we gathered and immediately began touring the inside of the ship. Was it really worth the enormous price? There were all sorts of things inside.
For example—
“Wow! They even have a microphone amplifier here!”
There was a karaoke room for the passengers. Or—
“The food here is incredibly good!”
There were bars and restaurants. Not to mention billiard rooms and all kinds of entertainment facilities. But unlike the others who were enjoying themselves, I found myself growing suspicious as I looked at everything.
What is this? Why are there things that belong in the modern world?
When setting up the story, I had almost always skipped this section. The only time I didn’t skip it was when fighting off invading pirates.
In the end, that’s all there really was.
After winning the battle against the pirates, the story would immediately skip ahead. That was why I hadn’t paid much attention to it before.
But why are there modern objects here?
As I was pondering that question, a seductive voice reached my ear.
“Mister Baran~”
I turned my head toward the sound. There stood Lillia, wearing a relaxed smile.
“What do you think? Our guild rented this.”
“Pardon?”
I had assumed the academy had arranged it separately, but it turned out the Eldorado Merchant Guild had rented the ship. When I stood there stunned, she linked her arm with mine and spoke.
“You seem quite surprised?”
“Well, I never imagined you would be the one to rent this cruise, Miss Lillia.”
“Well, to be precise, I only contributed a portion. No matter how wealthy our guild is, renting an entire cruise ship by ourselves is quite difficult.”
It certainly seemed that way. It was undeniable that the Eldorado Merchant Guild was overflowing with money. However, monopolizing a cruise ship like this in a fantasy world—not the modern one—would require an enormous fortune. Of course, if they really wanted to, they could afford it, but Lillia didn’t seem to be abusing her power. Therefore, she must have supplemented the academy’s funds. Though judging by the way she spoke, it looked like she had contributed the most.
“But why did you contribute?”
“Hmm. Why do you think?”
“Hmm.”
I thought about it carefully. Just as I was about to open my mouth—
“Baran!”
Sherry strode toward us with heavy steps. Her eyes looked as if she had spotted an enemy.
“Tsk.”
At her appearance, Lillia openly clicked her tongue. Then she turned to Sherry with a bright smile.
“Miss Sherry. I’m currently speaking with Mister Baran. Do you have some business with us?”
“Hmm. So you can only talk to Baran when you have business with him?”
“…….”
The next moment, Lillia’s eyes narrowed into slits. It seemed she hadn’t expected to be countered like that. Seeing her reaction, Sherry let out a snort.
“Hmph. Unlike you, I talk to Baran all the time.”
“What kind of conversations do you have?”
“Huh?”
“Go ahead and tell me. I’m very curious about what kind of conversations you two have.”
At those words, Sherry’s mouth clamped shut. She probably didn’t have much to say. Their conversations were usually just training or simple greetings. Seeing her reaction, Lillia’s eyes curved into crescents.
“As expected. From the look of it, it’s just greetings or silent training, right?”
Twitch!
“Your reaction tells me I’m right. And yet you were acting so proud. I can do at least that much too.”
Fwoosh!
Sherry must have been quite angry, because red mana began rising from her body. Not to be outdone, Lillia released her own mana with a terrifying smile.
Crackle!
Sparks flew between the two of them. Watching them, I fell into deep thought about what I should do.
What the hell? Why are they so scary?
As I was wondering how to stop them—
“Baran.”
Luden appeared between us. At her entrance, both girls whipped their heads around. Ignoring their reactions, Luden spoke.
“I heard there’s a swimming pool over there. Want to go?”
“A swimming pool, you say?”
“Yeah.”
Her sudden suggestion left me stroking my chin in thought. I hadn’t expected Luden of all people to suggest going to a pool.
Wait. Why am I suddenly imagining Luden naked again?
The image of Luden showering flashed through my mind. I shook my head vigorously to clear the thought.
“I don’t mind, but I was in the middle of talking with these two.”
When I turned my head and said that—
“Mister Baran, let’s go quickly.”
“Baran? What are you doing over there?”
I don’t know when they formed an alliance, but both of them were now urging me to come with them. Wait, weren’t you two just fighting? You were clearly glaring at each other like you wanted to kill one another. When did you two get so close? For some reason, I felt like the only idiot here.
“Understood.”
With that, we headed toward the swimming pool.
The female group had formed a silent alliance without even exchanging a single word. Normally, forming an alliance between them would have been impossible. After all, there was only one Baran. And currently, three different people were aiming for him. How could an alliance possibly form?
But then they imagined Baran wearing a swimsuit.
Even in his school uniform, his collarbones and muscles were clearly visible. His perfect facial features and proportions that matched them perfectly. Even though he was blind, he was so attractive that the women around him lost their minds. Baran’s popularity was far beyond what he himself could imagine.
And now he was going to wear a swimsuit?
This is absolutely something I can’t miss.
Even if it meant forming an alliance with the other rivals, this was one desire they simply could not suppress. Just as all three of them reached the same conclusion—
It was the moment shadows fell across the faces of the female group.