Sifa calmly removed the Thousand-Faced Traveler from his face and recalled the Hunter projection before stepping onto the blue-gray tongue.
He walked aboard.
He could, of course, have stepped straight onto the deck.
But as a guest,
landing directly on someone else's deck would have been rather rude.
Besides, his host had already lowered a "gangway."
Sifa had noticed that keeping his pride in check in everyday life and remembering who he had been before becoming a demigod
helped him reinforce his humanity and resist the chaotic, maddened, indifferent divinity, as long as he continued to abide by those rules of conduct.
Before long,
he entered the ship's interior.
The white skeletons, zombies in tattered clothes, transparent phantoms, and bizarrely shaped Spirit World creatures inside
all backed away to clear a path.
The skeletons removed their heads, the zombies prostrated themselves, the phantoms turned almost invisible, and the Spirit World creatures did their best to display an array of colors.
Each showed its reverence for Sifa, an angel, in its own way.
Sifa kept walking.
He went up onto the deck.
Then he reached the captain's cabin.
Abrio, tall and sporting brilliant blond hair, stood at the door to welcome him in person.
"Good morning, Your Highness Rayleigh."
Abrio gave a passable bow, then stepped aside and gestured for him to enter.
Sifa accepted the invitation without ceremony and entered the captain's cabin.
Only then did Abrio follow him inside and close the door.
Once the door was shut, the undead, zombies, and Spirit World creatures aboard resumed their activities.
"You wanted to see us?"
After entering the captain's cabin, Abrio got straight to the point.
Sifa nodded, glanced casually out the window, and said, "I'd like to commission you to do something."
Abrio took out a glazed porcelain teapot,