第８４０堀：海上のロマンス始まる？ (Part1)
### Chapter 840: A Romance on the High Seas Begins?
**Side: Kagura**
*Splash, splash...*
The sound of the waves repeats, over and over, echoing endlessly. As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but a vast expanse of blue. It stretches on and on, a magnificent, sprawling world. I gazed upon the sight, feeling a sense of awe...
"Or at least, that’s what I should be feeling. Honestly, I’m bored."
"Wait, Kagura. What’s with the sudden change of heart?"
The one returning my monologue with a retort is Mikos.
"Exactly what I said. I’ve had my fill of the ocean."
"Well, we have been staring at this same scenery all day, every day."
She’s right. As Mikos says, we’ve been watching nothing but this endless sea for two days now. If we were moving at the carrier’s full speed, we would have reached our destination in a single day, but...
"It can't be helped, Senior. We are traveling alongside the Sea-Cypho fleet, after all."
Soro says what I’m thinking, providing the reason for our plight. As she pointed out, the Sea-Cypho are the reason I’m forced to endure these agonizingly dull days. We are maintaining this slow pace to match their sluggish sailing ships.
"...If things had gone according to plan, by now..."
I imagined myself back-to-back with Yuki, surviving a fierce battle against waves of sea monsters... No, that’s not right. If a situation arose where Yuki or the rest of us had to fight that hard, we’d be on the brink of total annihilation. We would have retreated long before things reached that point.
In that case, ah, yes. A romantic moment against the backdrop of a sunset-drenched sea—that’s the ticket. I saw it in a movie once. They say that when a man is framed by the setting sun over the ocean, he’s easily swayed. Yuki is always so detached, but I have a feeling something like this might actually work on him.
...Hmm. In other words, since we’re entering the waters where the monsters lurk, today is the perfect time to make my move.
Just as I was mapping out the most important schedule of the day, a sudden, massive *splash* erupted from the sea. I reflexively turned around...
"Wait!? Kagura!!"
"Senior!! Run!!"
Those shouts reached my ears, but I couldn’t move an inch.
"Eh?"
As I let out that foolish sound, a monstrous fish with its maw wide open lunged toward me...
"Phew! Nice landing! How was that, control room?"
*You idiot. You’re supposed to enter from below. You’ve soaked Kagura.*
"Eh? Ah—my apologies."
Shira-chan had passed perfectly over my head, and in doing so, the seawater clinging to her body hit me head-on.
"Ah, ahaha... It smells fishy."
*Kagura, get back inside the ship immediately, wash up in the bath, and change your clothes. And Shira-chan, write an apology letter and report to the hangar.*
"No way. Milly-nee-san!! That’s so cruel!!"
*If you don’t want to be grilled with salt, stop whining and get moving.*
"Yes, Miss!!"
At Milly’s stern, gravelly voice, Shira-chan scurried away and vanished from my sight.
*Drip, drip.* The fishy seawater continued to fall from my body.
"..."
"Kagura, come on, let’s go to the bath."
"Yes, exactly. You’ll catch a cold like this, and you have magic instruction with the Sea-Cypho people later."
Urged on by the two of them, I trudged toward the baths. And, belatedly, I remembered the work I had been assigned.
My primary job is to provide magic instruction to the Sea-Cypho in this region. However, the Princesses didn't exactly demand that I teach them with rigorous intensity. After all...
*“Yuki-sama and the others from Weed are going. You don’t need to teach them everything on the spot. A certain level will suffice. Just teach them the basics of the Academy curriculum, and depending on their rate of progress, consult with Yuki-sama and send those with talent to Haiden via the Gate.”*
That was the instruction. In the end, with Weed—with Yuki—coming along, I’m little more than a figurehead. I just need to scout out promising individuals and send them to Haiden. Still, the task of teaching the basics remains...
"...Because of this, I’m always meeting with Sea-Cypho officers, and I never get to see Yuki."
"No, no, Kagura. Our job is to support the Sea-Cypho Kingdom with magic acquisition, remember? Though, I get that it’s a shame you can’t see Teacher Yuki."
I understand what Mikos is saying. Our deployment is for the sake of supporting the Sea-Cypho Kingdom’s magic training. Well, behind the scenes, it was also meant to protect Yuki and the others. But that was just a follow-up to keep them in a good mood, and before we knew it, they had solved everything themselves, leaving me with no excuse to cling to Yuki. So, this current situation is only natural given my official position.
"We’re still in the selection phase, after all. But surely you’ve started to get an eye for those with potential, right?"
"I suppose. For the people of the Sea-Cypho Kingdom, this is a matter of life and death. And after the mock battle the other day, they felt Yuki’s power firsthand. There’s no one resisting; everyone is taking the lessons very seriously."
Over these past two days, the effort the Sea-Cypho officers have put into learning magic has been remarkable. It’s clear their level of seriousness is on a completely different plane than the students at the Magic Academy. But...
"Still, it’s a bit much to expect us to find talent in just two days, isn't it?"
"Mikos is right. If we send them off in a rush and they don’t produce results, it’ll be seen as a failure of our teaching or our judgment..."
"Ah..."
When I took this job, I thought, *Yay, I get to be with Yuki!* But just like when I was a diplomat, I’ve finally realized that this is, as always, a troublesome job. I feel like I’ve gained a little sympathy for the Academy instructors who have to teach the talented children gathered from across the nations.
As we talked, we arrived at the baths of the carrier *Lilishe*.
"Honestly, Shira-chan is just too eager."
"I never expected her to land on the flight deck like that. I thought for sure you were going to get eaten, Kagura-chan."
"Yes. Just like in practice, *chomp*."
"I thought so too. It really makes you realize that when it comes to a real fight, you truly can’t move at all."
As I undressed, I recalled the moment Shira-chan burst from the sea. Even though Mikos and Soro had shouted a warning, I had been left standing there, stunned and blank. Even though I’ve survived various battlefields—thanks to Yuki’s help—I realized that when faced with the unexpected, my body just doesn't react. The thought that if that had been a real enemy, I would have been left as a corpse on that deck, sent a chill down my spine.
"I still lack experience. In that sense, I think there was meaning in coming here."
That is one thing I can say for certain. Feeling things on the front lines is incredibly important. There are so many things you can only understand when you’re actually there.
As we talked, we finished undressing and stepped into the bath.
"Oh? If it isn't Kagura and the others. Yoo-hoo."
"It’s rare to see you in the bath at this hour."
It seemed there were already guests; Comet-san and Agil-san called out to us from the tub.
"We got a bit dirty, so we came to wash it off."
"We can't exactly give a lecture looking like this, after all."
"A lecture?"