*Desire*

"Autumn, a letter came. It's from Cole!"

"What? When? Let me see!"

"It came earlier, a merchant ship delivered it."

"He's… in the capital? And he's fighting in the tournament with the girls?"

"You should have seen Pina's face when she read that."

"Jealous?"

"Well, I think she wanted a chance to show Captain her improvement over these past months."

"Oh that's right, she is going to join the crew right?"

"That was what she requested as a reward."

"Oh, right did you ever decide what you wanted? Captain disappeared before you decided."

"Well his disappearance, while scary, was a secret blessing. I couldn't for the life of me think of what to ask for. And the pressure of having him nearby made it even harder to decide."

"But you thought of something? Will you ask for a collar like Alice?" Autumn asks with a sly grin.

"No, I'm not. Fortunately, Captain hasn't discovered my fetish yet. But enough about that, I did decide."

"Oh?"

"Mhm, I want Captain to build a mansion."

"What? But we already have the manor and the boarding house. And they stay on the Excalibur. Why?"

"Well, I don't think Alice likes staying on the boat all the time. And haven't you noticed it too? Ever since everyone moved out of the manor, morale hasn't been what it used to be when we all lived together."

"So you want Captain to build a house and have everyone live there? But didn't he want us to get our own places to live?"

"Mm, but I think if Captain asked everyone to move in with him they wouldn't say no. I think most actually wanted to continue living in the manor, but we knew we had to make room for new employees. But if we had a place big enough for everyone…"

"I agree, I've heard similar from the restaurant workers. Even the new girls know they have to leave the manor but are reluctant. But don't you think that's a pretty big request?"

"I don't know. Cole is so difficult to read. He will likely easily agree to it but is it really ok?"

*30 minutes or it's free*

"Excuse me is there a Lynn in here?"

"Yes here. Here."

"Ah, here you go ma'am."

"My thank you, dear. I don't recognize you, are you new?"

"Ah, yes Cap… Cole bough… hired me a few weeks ago. This is my first time delivering though. This town is complex but luckily I knew this place because of Miss Mirna."

"Oh, sounds so strange to hear my daughter's name spoken so politely."

"Daughter?! You are…"

"Yes. Well, I'm not sure I can still consider her my daughter though. But I am her mother."

"Mirna is renowned by all the staff at our restaurant. Did you perhaps teach her to cook?"

"I have heard as much, but I would say I only taught her the basics. Or more she picked them up from watching me. But she has long since surpassed both me and my husband. Now all I have is my cream stew recipe."

"Cream stew?"

"Ah, nothing. Sorry, I accidentally depressed myself. My apologies, you must be busy. How much does it come out to?"

"8 silver, but I am in no rush. It is interesting to learn about the Demon chef… Ah! I am so sorry I meant…"

"So she really is called that?" Lynn says with a laugh while counting silver coins. "Here you are. Thank you very much."

"No, thank you!"

*Adrift*

"Oh Golin, port side. 240 degrees."

"Hmm, Oh. What is that? Wreckage?"

"I'm not sure, I thought it was a boat at first but…"

"No that's no boat that's just some floating trash. Let's keep an eye on it but…"

"There's someone on there, Look, look." The first mate quickly passes a spyglass to Golin.

"That's… What in the hell? Who's the old man?"

"Should we help him?"

"Of course, we couldn't call ourselves an ETC crew if we left someone in danger. Adjust course, let's ask him if he wants a tow into town."

"""Yes Captain!"""

~

"So that's a boat you say? What about the sail?"

"Ah, no worries. The spirit of the ocean guides me."

"Hmm, is that so? Well this time it seems to have guided you to black seas. Then you don't want a tow to Ikin?"

"I never said that! Clearly, the ocean spirit guided you to me, so it would be rude to say no."

"I see. But it was actually Cole Moedy who brought us to you. My name is Golin, I am fleet commander, and a captain for the Excalibur Trade Company."

"Excalibur you say? And Cole Moedy… Why do I recognize that name?"

"You know the Admiral?"

"No I don't thin… Oh! It was those strange people from awhile ago. They asked me about him. I have no clue who he is though. They also asked about my daughters. Strange people. I hope Rou and Aqua didn't get involved with someone dangerous."

"Rou and Aqua… Then you are…?!"

"Hmm?"

*Rumor Mill #3*

"Hear about the explosion in the capital?"

"What?!"

"They say it was during the finals."

"Derrick, don't you go to the tournament with your parents?"

"We used to, but it got so boring we stopped going last year. Biggest mistake of my life I guess."

"Well from the sound of it, you might be better off."

"I suppose that's true. Did anyone get hurt?"

"Yeah… A lot."

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I haven't heard exactly but my sister works at the temple. They took care of the bodies and… It was apparently really bad. 'Hundreds' she said."

"Holy sh…"

"Oy! You rookies paying attention. You are on duty, enough chattering!"

"""YES!"""

~ ~

"Hey Kapi, you hear about the new kid?"

"Yeah it seems like everyone's talking about him."

"Zo said he already made his first transfer."

"What!? He already figured it out? Damien didn't do it for… what, a hundred years? And since then none of the new ones ever did it. But I mean, what kind of transfer was it?"

"Full, or so she says."

"What? Why in the world would he do that? Is he insane?"

"She said he probably didn't realize what it was, maybe still doesn't. In any case, it should be fun to watch."

"I suppose that makes sense, but… I never got a full transfer."

"Jealous?"

"No!"

"But isn't it funny, the first transfer was an accident, just like Damien."

"That's not the only similarity."

"Hmm?"

~ ~

"We were attacked on the road near Point port. It was strange though. Never seen orc's act like that."

"Hmm?"

"They didn't really attack, they mostly just held a defensive position. We were lucky they did though, their numbers were way above ours."

"How many did you lose?"

"That's the thing. None, a few were hurt but nothing a traveling priest couldn't handle."

"Wierd."

"Heh. Now I'm glad I'm a foot in the grave."

"What do you mean old man? And you know it's not polite to eavesdrop."

"Orc's acting weird, that the sign of the rise of an Orc King. The rise of an Orc King, that's the sign of the Demon King's revival. So it's finally come."

"What? Oy is that true!?"

*Hands to yourself*

"Captain."

"Yeah, what's up Aqua?"

"Um… Do you find me attractive?"

"What? What's this about?"

"Well, after… everything happened, you were touching my bare chest but… You didn't react or…"

"Oh? That was… an extreme situation."

"If it were Rou or Clove you would surely…"

"No, I think it would have been the same. I was more worried about your life at the moment. But thinking back on it… Ahem. Yes, Aqua. I find you attractive."

"I see."

"Come here."

"Captain? Is this really ok? Isn't this normally Mirna's position?"

"Well, it just sort of turns out that way. I normally prefer sleeping on my right side. But this is fine for tonight, as long as its ok with you, of course."

"No complaints here!"