After dealing with the monster, Luo Ge did not return immediately.
As night was about to fall, he went out onto the deck for a solitary walk.
The sea breeze was much cooler than during the day, carrying a damp, salty smell that invigorated the senses when it brushed against one's face.
He found a quiet corner and practiced his swordsmanship once.
The Phoenix Elegant Dragon Sword traced silvery-white arcs in the twilight.
The wind from the sword swept up the moisture on the deck, leaving ripple-like marks in the air.
After finishing his practice, he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
This is a habit he has cultivated over the years; meditation after sword practice makes his mind more focused and his perception of magic more acute.
He recalled his eleven years in this strange world.
From the age of five, I have been walking on thin ice, never daring to relax in the slightest.
After all, his enemy is the Dragon God, ranked second among the world's Seven Great Powers.
That kind of existence didn't allow him to have even the slightest bit of wishful thinking.
The terror of the Dragon God's sword strike on Red Dragon upper jaw when he was five years old is still etched into his bones.
He never wants to experience that feeling of helplessness again in his life.
Luo Ge opened his eyes, a glint of determination flashing in them.
He stood up again and continued practicing his sword.
He needs to seize every minute and second to become stronger.
He could vaguely sense that he would inevitably have a battle with the Dragon God in the future.
On the deck, from afternoon to evening, many people passed by and recognized Luo Ge as the young swordsman who had vanquished the monster during the day.
Therefore, neither the passing crew members nor passengers came up to disturb him.
This pleased Luo Ge greatly, as he dreaded being surrounded by people asking him all sorts of questions.
A night breeze blew, and several seagulls circled past the ship's mast.
Luo Ge casually picked up a small pebble from the deck, compressed it into a round stone bullet using earth magic, and flicked it with his finger.
clatter!
The stone shot through the air and struck a seagull's wing with pinpoint accuracy.
The seagull let out a pitiful cry and fluttered down to the ground.
Luo Ge went over, picked up the seagull, deftly plucked its feathers, cleaned its internal organs, and then used a discarded tin bucket in the corner of the deck to make a makeshift grill and start a fire.
Before long, the grease dripped onto the charcoal fire, sizzling as it did so, and a rich aroma of meat wafted out on the sea breeze.
After baking.
Luo Ge tore off a leg, tasted it, chewed it a couple of times, and commented, "Just so-so, not as good as pufferfish."
On the other side of the cabin, Roxy was sitting in her compartment organizing her luggage when she suddenly smelled a fragrance wafting in from outside.
"I'm so hungry..."
Her stomach rumbled twice, much to her dismay.
After hesitating for a moment, she put down her wand and prepared to go to the ship's kitchen to see if there were any leftovers from earlier that day.
As I pushed open the door and walked along the corridor to the vicinity of the deck, the aroma became even stronger.
She unconsciously took a few steps toward the direction the aroma was coming from, wanting to see who was grilling something.
Just as she was about to walk over to check the situation, she suddenly heard Elinalise's voice behind her.
"Huh, Roxy."
"So you're here! Come on, I was just about to talk to you."
"What's up?"
Roxy turned around.
"Anyway, don't worry about it. I just want to ask you about things related to the Demon Continent..."
"Huh? Now?"
Before Roxy could react, she was already being pulled back towards the cabin by Elinalise, who had grabbed her wrist.
She glanced back at the deck, where smoke and fire were rising, and she could vaguely see a figure sitting beside the fire.
But the distance was too far, and I couldn't see their faces clearly.
It seems to be the swordsman who slayed the monster during the day.
Just then, Luo Ge was turning over the grilled seagulls when he suddenly heard a noise behind him.
He tilted his head and saw only two blurry figures disappear at the entrance to the cabin.
Luo Ge frowned and muttered to himself, "Hmm? Did I hear that right? It sounds like I heard Professor Roxy's voice..."
He glanced back at the empty deck, where only the sea breeze, the night, and the shimmering moonlight on the distant sea remained.
Luo Ge gave a wry smile and shook his head, "Really... Am I also under so much pressure and suffering from neurasthenia like Nanahoshi?"
He didn't think much of it and continued humming a little tune as he turned the seagulls on the grill.
The sound of dripping grease accompanied his low humming, sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
After finishing his barbecue, Luo Ge didn't forget to bring one back for Nanahoshi.
He wrapped the other roasted seagull in parchment paper, took the food, and returned to the cabin.
"I'm back."
"Wow... it smells so good."
Nanahoshi leaned against the wall, smelled the oil paper package, and found that not only did she have no appetite, but she also felt like covering her mouth and vomiting.
Clearly, Nanahoshi's seasickness hasn't completely subsided.
Seeing Nanahoshi's reaction, Luo Ge teased her, "Hey, aren't you worried about me? You went off to kill monsters all by yourself, and then stayed on the deck alone for so long."
"Snort."
Nanahoshi rolled her eyes at him listlessly. "Do I need to worry about a monster like you? To be honest... wouldn't it be better to worry about me instead of you?"
"Ugh!"
"Vomit!"
Nanahoshi covered her mouth, her face pale, and suppressed the urge to vomit.
Seeing her like this, Luo Ge stopped teasing her, placed the oil paper package next to Nanahoshi, and sat down against the partition to gnaw on the remaining half of the seagull.
"That's true."
As he chewed, he casually remarked, "How about we go for a run on the deck tomorrow? A little exercise will help me recover from seasickness faster."
"???"
Nanahoshi's lips twitched, and without even thinking, she refused, "No! I don't want to!"
For the rest of the journey, Luo Ge stayed in the room taking care of Nanahoshi.
Before I knew it, more than two months had passed on my journey.
The voyage proceeded smoothly, the sea was calm, and occasionally a few dolphins would leap out of the water and run alongside the boat for a while.
Although Nanahoshi is still seasick, she is much better than in the first few days after boarding the ship; at least she can sit up and eat something on her own.
Finally, after sailing for more than a month, the port of Wen'en on the Demon Continent appeared at the edge of the horizon.
The boat slowly docked, where many people were waiting to pick up their relatives and friends, and vendors were selling local specialties and food.
Passengers began packing their luggage and disembarking, amidst a cacophony of noise and vendors' calls.
Luo Ge and Nanahoshi dragged their luggage off the ramp and stepped onto the land of the Demon Continent.
In the crowd, Luo Ge suddenly spotted Elinalise's beautiful figure standing on the deck.
She linked arms with a demon man, one on each side, chatting and laughing.
The two demon men were tall and burly, with dark skin and short horns on their foreheads. Judging from their clothes, they looked like port porters.
"Miss Elinalise... How could I possibly accept this!"
"You've already taken such good care of my son and me along the way, we really feel bad taking your money."
"It's alright, you've all behaved very well along the way... This was the price we agreed on beforehand..."
Elinalise smiled and generously took out a few green ore coins from her purse and stuffed them into their hands.
The two men pretended to decline for a moment, but in the end they accepted it with smiles.
"..."
Luo Ge's lips twitched when he saw this; he had originally thought he was the most special one.
And wow!
It turns out I was just one of many candidates in their pool of potential partners.
If he hadn't seen it, that would be one thing, but since he has, shouldn't he at least say hello to his top-ranking rich woman?
Just as Luo Ge and Nanahoshi were carrying their luggage... passing by her.
Luo Ge paused, then smiled and waved, "Hi, this beautiful wealthy lady... Miss Elinalise, what a coincidence, we meet again!"
"Huh?"
" Nanahoshi... it's you?!"
As a result, the smile on Elinalise's face froze the moment she saw Luo Ge, and then quickly turned ashen.
She snorted, abruptly shook off the arms of the two demon men beside her, turned around, leaving the two bewildered burly men behind, and stormed off angrily.
Luo Ge's hand froze in mid-air. "... What's going on?"
Do you know her?
Nanahoshi glanced at Elinalise, who was walking away angrily, with a puzzled look.
"Uh, I wouldn't say we know each other."
Luo Ge withdrew his hand, touched his nose, and added, "... we've only met once."
"However, your relationship doesn't seem to be very good," Nanahoshi said with a suspicious look.
"... None of that matters anymore."
Luo Ge, dragging his luggage, led Nanahoshi toward the port exit. "Let's go, let's find a place to stay before sunset."
"Wait a moment."
Suddenly, Nanahoshi seemed to remember something and called out to Luo Ge.
"... Luo Ge, did you just hear that woman call my name? What's going on?"
"Hey, is it possible you misheard?" Luo Ge glanced at Nanahoshi, feeling inexplicably guilty.
"Really... did I hear that right?"
Nanahoshi frowned.
I'm completely baffled.
In the past, she would never have doubted that she had misheard, but the three-month journey had left Nanahoshi feeling physically and mentally exhausted, to the point that she felt she was suffering from neurasthenia.
Maybe.
You must have just misheard.
On the other side of the dock, Roxy and Talhand carried their luggage out of the cabin and bumped into Elinalise, who was walking towards them angrily.
"Miss Elinalise, we've been looking for you for so long, honestly... why are you running around everywhere again?"
Roxy glared angrily at Elinalise.
Elinalise forced a smile, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, something came up and I was held up."
Just as Roxy and Talhand found Elinalise and were preparing to continue their journey outside,
Elinalise suddenly reached out to stop them. "Wait a minute, I have a suggestion."
What suggestions?
"It's best if we don't go down now, it'll be better to disembark later."
"What's wrong?"
Talhand asked, puzzled.
"Miss Elinalise... has something happened?" Roxy asked, also looking puzzled.
Elinalise gritted her teeth and lowered her voice. "There's a troublesome guy down there. It's best to avoid him; that guy is awful."
She recalled that night when Luo Ge had pinned her to the ground and repeatedly tortured her... a night of agonizing experience, and she couldn't help but grit her teeth in resentment.
She couldn't fight back, she couldn't run away, and she was inexplicably cheated out of a large sum of money. She hadn't experienced anything like this in a long time.
"Forehead."
"Excuse me for asking, did you encounter an enemy?"
Roxy asked.
"Hmm... I guess you could say that," Elinalise mumbled in response.
"In that case, avoiding it is indeed a wise choice," Roxy murmured.
The two glanced at Elinalise, but without asking any further questions, they followed her to the cabin entrance.
After all, someone who would warrant a special warning from Elinalise must be an extremely dangerous individual.
After a long while, once most of the passengers had disembarked, the three of them mingled with the last group and stepped off the ramp.
At that moment, after seeing that Elinalise had not come down yet, Luo Ge turned around and led Nanahoshi out of the dock.
They arrived in the urban area of Winnport.
The architecture here is similar to that of human towns, with wooden and stone houses and stone-paved roads, but it is clearly much poorer and more backward.
Many houses had holes in their roofs, the goods sold by roadside vendors were mostly rough and simple, and the pedestrians were dressed plainly.
Occasionally, you can see a few demons chatting together on a street corner. They have different skin colors, some have horns, and some have tails.
But most of them look busy and tired, and their lifestyles are not much different from those of humans.
That is, a type of person with an odd or unusual appearance.
" Nanahoshi."
"Well then... let's find a place to stay first."
Luo Ge looked around. "Hmm... it would be best to establish a base first, and then inquire about the Demon Emperor Kishirika."
"Stronghold?"
Nanahoshi looked at him.
"It's a hotel."
Luo Ge shrugged. "How about we find something cheaper?"
Upon hearing the word "cheap," Nanahoshi immediately became alert and hurriedly protested, "No, please don't! This time... please, please find a better one, preferably with good soundproofing."
"That shabby hotel last time had such terrible soundproofing, it still gives me a headache just thinking about it!"
Seeing her still-shaken expression, Luo Ge couldn't help but chuckle, "Hahaha... Alright then, I'll do as you say. This time, let's find a more expensive place."
"Huh?"
Nanahoshi was stunned for a moment, not expecting him to agree so readily, "Hey, hey, you... you've changed your mind? How come you've become so nice?"
Luo Ge dragged his luggage forward, then suddenly turned back and grinned. "Because... I'm not short of money now."
"..."
Nanahoshi watched his retreating figure, her lips twitched, and she dragged her feet to follow him.
As dusk fell, the streets of Winnport gradually lit up with scattered lights, and the shouts of boatmen calling to finish their work could be heard from the direction of the dock in the distance.
Luo Ge didn't know was...
On the other side of the same city.
His teacher, Roxy, along with his companions and the trio of Rudeus, had already set foot on this Demon Continent.
The three groups, by the twist of fate, have unknowingly grown closer and closer together.
What sparks will fly between them on the rest of their journey?