The wooden ship creaked and swayed. Lazarus wondered if this thing was even remotely safe, but he’d heard that it was reinforced by magic so it shouldn’t sink as easily as those medieval ships. Hopefully…

Lazarus, who was cloaked, casually strolled around the ship deck and avoided the very few people who were chatting away and admiring the ocean.

Lazarus sighed internally. Having boarded a ship illegally by bypassing security using stealth technology felt wrong. Not to mention, just a couple of weeks ago, he’d download a map to his neural chip illegally. Committing crime after crime was something he didn’t want to get used to. He was after all, a perfectly law abiding citizen before on Earth. Maybe except the military orders he had to carry out, but still, those were all virtual.

If he had enough money to pay, he would have, in all honesty.

Lazarus stepped to the side to avoid a kid dashing at full speed. It would’ve been disastrous had that kid hit him and seemingly bounced off of nothing. Lazarus walked for a bit to a safe distance where there were even fewer people and quietly stood at the furthest corner.

Feeling the wind in his hair and gazing at the long and wide beautiful blue ocean was calming to a degree.

As Lazarus silently gazed at the ocean, a thought occurred.

-’Isn’t this my first time actually seeing the ocean in person?’-

He had seen it in VR and thought it would’ve been different from reality, but it actually was practically the same. Maybe it was because VR replicated reality too well and was too advanced that sometimes it became an addiction worse than drugs.

Lazarus shrugged. Seeing something in reality really isn’t that much different from VR it seems.

*Ding-ding-ding* A bell rang as a sailor put a hand to his mouth and yelled. “The cafeteria is open you lot! Come here and get some grub!”

The people on deck smiled and cheered before going inside. As the last of the crowd, who was a small child was about to head for the door, a humanoid figure clad in an array of electricity appeared out of nowhere. In that split second, the electricity faded and a brown hooded figure could be seen following after the child who briefly glanced back and got pulled by his father.

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The canteen was surprisingly similar to that of an interior of a tavern with a round wooden table spread across the floor, surrounded by wooden chairs. There were orange stones encased in glass that served as a light and it made for a somber atmosphere.

Lazarus observed the people lining-up at the counter who ordered some meal and brought it to their table. It was reassuring to know that it was just the standard and there was no real difference from ordering in a fast food restaurant.

Lazarus lined-up at the back and waited for a while. As he looked around the table, he saw the party with the bi-pedal tiger beastman and his party members. One was a brown haired man in full plate of armor, and the other two were wearing hoods so he couldn’t see their features.

After lining-up and finally reaching the counter, the lady with thick arms and huge nose which could only be described as a stereotypical Russian nanny from cartoons, looked at Lazarus and asked in a raspy voice, “And what can I get for you?”

“Grilled fish and milk please.”

“Right.” The lady started preparing his order and briefly went to the back to get some milk and put it on the counter.

“How much?” Asked Lazarus. This was the usual. Nobody really used paper and ink to indicate a price since they were expensive to make. The only way to know the price was to ask, but Lazarus had ordered grilled fish and milk so many times that he knew how much they roughly went for. Sometimes it just varied a little bit from inn to inn.

“That would be 8 silver coins.”

-’What..?’-

Lazarus stared at the lady in complete shock and wanted to say ‘This is practically robbery!’ it was 4 times what he’d normally pay for them! Still, he held his tongue. No one seemed to say anything and everyone who ordered didn’t seem to mind the price that much. Which could only mean one thing.

-’I forgot to take into account that prices soar when on boats and hotels!’-

9 silver coins was all he had. He’d be left with nothing!

“Is something the matter?” The Lady asked, a brow raised.

“Hey, can you hurry up?” The man behind Lazarus chimed-in. At this point, Lazarus couldn’t exactly say ‘I can’t afford that’ and reluctantly handed over the coins before picking up the tray and going to the table in the farthest corner.

Seriously, of all the things he overlooked, it had to be that… Now he was practically broke. How could he even afford his next meal? He could just skip out on a couple of meals since his body was efficient at breaking down food because of the nanites, so he could technically not eat for weeks.

Thinking back on it, how long did this ship take to reach Kratos?

Lazarus furrowed his brow, “If I remember correctly, didn’t those sailors mention that it usually takes a month or two to reach Kratos?”

“...”

-’I’m so screwed…’- Lazarus thought to himself, burying his face in his hand. He should still have some food left in his D-storage, but that would only cover his next meal. He had plenty of water so he didn’t really need to worry that much, but could it last him a while? How did these people get water anyway? Wanting to know more, Lazarus looked at the table across and–

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” A feminine voice called out and Lazarus looked from the corner of his eyes and saw a woman with pointy long ears and wavy long hair as blue as the ocean. She had sky blue eyes that seemed gentle yet she had a slight glare. She wore a fitting green dress that had golden laced outlines at the hems that traced her hour-glass like figure and she had a leather belt that criss-crossed near her thigh that held a couple of leather pockets.

Lazarus felt his soul leave his body. He quickly lowered his head to hide better beneath his hood.

-’What the fuck is she doing here!?’-

Realizing that she’d ask him a question, Lazarus looked around briefly and immediately realized why she was asking. All the other tables were full or occupied. He hurriedly ordered, -’FS, lower the pitch of my voice dramatically’-.

Lazarus felt his throat being forcefully widened from the inside of his throat as if it was being pried by tongs.

What would happen if he’d say no? Would she go away? Or maybe she’ll start a fight? Lazarus hurriedly wracked his brains for answers, but given their last encounter, he could at least tell this Elven maiden was a bit impulsive so it was probably best to just agree.

Lazarus nodded, his voice change wasn’t ready yet as he could still feel his throat being pried open.

“I won’t take long.” The blue haired elven maiden sat down across, making Lazarus lower his hood some more and eating more quickly.

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Sylphi was furrowing her brows. She wasn’t sure why the hooded man was eating at a faster pace than before but she also didn’t intend to impose on him for long. All the other tables were already occupied, and the other tables that did have some free room were mostly composed of humans so she simply took a shot at this hooded man in the farthest corner and hoped he wasn’t human.

She couldn’t exactly see his features that much since it was hidden beneath the hood but she could tell he was a bit strange.

-’Not that it matters.’- Sylphi thought to herself as she sipped her soup. The man was quickly wolfing down his food and chugging down his drink that she couldn’t help but say, “Is sharing a table with an elf really bothering you that much?” in an icy tone.

The man froze like a statue.

There was a brief silence. Sylphi was starting to feel that something was amiss, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on it. Still, it was pretty obvious to her that the hooded man was trying to eat faster than before. And although Sylphi mostly ignored humans, she wasn’t used to being on the receiving end and it bothered her a bit.

The silence continued for a while but then the man, as if not hearing her, continued to chug down his milk.

At this point, Sylphi was downright frowning. Maybe she needed to have a word with him, if he didn’t like her here to begin with, he should’ve just said so and she’d deal with him accordingly. But this..?

Sylphi opened her mouth, but the man stood up. She managed to get a quick glimpse from the side and her eyes widened in shock for a moment. Then her eyes narrowed as she quickly reached for arm.

For some reason, it seemed as if he looked similar to a man she etched in her mind. The man whom she recalled made a fool out of her people and stole one of their precious Azalea flower.

But it was just suspicion since she just quickly caught a glimpse

“What the hell do you want?” The man grumbled in a deep husky voice. For a moment, Sylphi doubted herself since his voice was vastly different from what she could remember.

If only she could just take a look beneath his hood.

“Say, can I take a look at what’s beneath that hood of yours?” Sylphi asked menacingly, her grip tightening even more.

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