Kaito removed his dirty clothes.
The bathhouse in the inn was too shabby and simple; he had no intention of using it.
He would have to wait for them to heat up hot water, which was too slow.
Yor had checked it out too and simply decided to go back without washing.
Well, Kaito planned to simply scoop up some seawater to wash after boarding the ship tomorrow.
Or, he could have the Fire Keeper use magic to conjure some water.
But now, his clothes were so dirty, he definitely couldn't sleep in them.
Not only would it dirty the bed, but sleeping in these clothes would be uncomfortable.
"My Lord... I can wash your dirty clothes..."
"Forget it for now. We'll do it tomorrow. Let's just sleep like this. Oh, you too."
"Huh? I-I need to as well?"
"Yeah, your clothes are dirty too."
Kaito said with a smile, looking at the Fire Keeper.
He was deliberately doing this, of course. Yesterday they slept outdoors without any issues, so why would it be a problem now?
He had paid a lot for this room; even if they dirtied the sheets the innkeeper had painstakingly washed, it wouldn't matter.
"Come on~"
"M-My Lord, th-this isn't appropriate."
"What's inappropriate about it?"
"Wouldn't this... defile your eyes?"
"?"
'There was such a thing?'
Kaito was taken aback, then chuckled as he patted her shoulder, leaning in to whisper a few words in her ear.
The Fire Keeper was momentarily stunned, then seemed to understand and nodded hesitantly.
"If my Lord needs to replenish magical power this way... I-I can do it..."
Okay!
So there was indeed such a thing!
"Shall we try it? Based on the magical power gained, we can calculate how much can be replenished for my future battles?"
Kaito proposed. The Fire Keeper remained silent, quietly removing her voluminous robe.
Slowly, slowly...
The Fire Keeper stood before Kaito, looking a bit embarrassed.
"My Lord..."
"Don't be self-conscious. It's very nice."
"I-Is it...?"
"Yes."
Then Kaito reached out and took the Fire Keeper's hand, closed the window, and blew out the oil lamp on the table.
That night, Kaito began to recover a large amount of magical power.
Even though he didn't need to recover, he needed to test it.
He wasn't at full strength now, so there would definitely be moments of mana depletion in battle, times when he needed to recover a large amount of mana quickly!
…
In the next room,
It wasn't so calm.
Yor was a kind person. After much persuasion, she finally got her Maiden to share the large bed with her.
But...
Gradually, she heard sounds.
The quality of the wooden bed was really terrible.
The creaking kept Yor awake, and she wasn't so naive as to not understand what was happening.
"Um... my Lord, they are replenishing magical power."
The Maiden noticed Yor's situation and, after a moment's hesitation, explained the reason.
As Maidens, this was their duty.
If Yor needed it, she would do the same.
After all, this was one of the fastest ways to replenish magical power.
Regardless of whether the person was male or female, ugly or beautiful, this was something Maidens had to do; it was their fate.
To let their Lord truly ascend the throne, all of this was worth it!
"Th-There's such a thing!?"
Yor's face was bright red. She pulled the blanket up to her eyes and looked at the Maiden lying beside her.
Seeing the Maiden nod directly, Yor pulled the blanket over her head.
This was somewhat unbelievable!
No wonder it was like this!
Morning...
Yor had clearly not slept well. The Maiden, however, had slept quite a bit.
Kaito?
He walked out of the room feeling refreshed, with the Fire Keeper following behind. Her face was no longer pale but had a healthy flush.
Even though she was a bit tired and had even been a little hurt, she quickly recovered with magic.
But...
Not only had she not replenished Kaito's magical power, but he had instead replenished a terrifying amount for her!!
Now she could freely unleash magic!
"Good morning. Let's have breakfast. Afterwards, we'll head to the port to see if there's a large ship to take us to Limgrave."
"O-Okay..."
Yor, her face still red, didn't dare say much or ask anything.
She quietly ate breakfast with Kaito, then followed his lead out of the inn and walked towards the port.
There were many small boats busy at the port, preparing to set out for fishing or returning with their catch. Their harvests weren't great; they complained that there were fewer and fewer fish in the sea.
Usually, a single trip would fill half a boat (with barrels of water holding the fish).
"So, your large ship can take us?"
"Of course, esteemed Tarnished!"
This large ship was also used for fishing. If there were transport orders, they would take them. They would also take Kaito's group.
Besides the sailors' quarters, the ship had a large room.
It was usually used as a storeroom or for carrying large groups of passengers.
But now, with only four people wanting to go to Limgrave, he asked Kaito to wait a moment while he brought clean bedding from his nearby residence and had his maid clean the room.
Why was he so enthusiastic?
Because Kaito paid too much gold!
So how could the service be bad!?
"Cough, esteemed Tarnished, is this room to your satisfaction?"
Although there was only one large bed, there were also small temporary beds. It was perfectly adequate for four people to rest.
And it was on the upper deck, offering a nice view. It was pretty good.
"Great. We'll leave it to you then."
"Of course!"
The maid also went to the market to buy fresh ingredients to prepare meals for Kaito and the others.
The journey from here to the port in Limgrave was a long one.
Not as exaggerated as one or two months, but it would take ten days to half a month!
And this all depended on the weather.
With good weather and favorable winds, they could arrive in about ten days. If the weather was a bit worse or there was a headwind, the speed naturally wouldn't be too fast.
It might take over fifteen days, at most twenty.
Based on his experience.
This was how he calculated when transporting goods on schedule.
By evening, everything was ready. Kaito and the others boarded the large ship. On the deck, they watched the sailors chant as they first used oars to leave the port.
After sailing a certain distance, they hoisted the large sails and adjusted their position according to the wind direction.
Kaito found it quite novel and stayed on the deck for a while. The captain, also the owner, warmly brought some beer to share with Kaito.
He didn't refuse, took a cup, and drank it down.
It wasn't great compared to modern beer; the taste was similar but rougher.
Still, he didn't complain. After drinking the large mug of beer with the captain, he waved and went inside, waiting for the maid to bring up dinner.
They might still have fresh food for the first few days, but later, that wouldn't be possible.
Inside the room, there was a single large wooden window.
Yor sat listlessly by the window, leaning against it, gazing at the vast ocean and the setting sun.
For now, they could still see the mainland coastline, but soon, no matter where they looked, there would only be seawater. The view would gradually become monotonous.
"Sigh, staying on the ship for so long is going to be really boring."
Kaito lay on the large bed, feeling listless.
The captain provided books, even some cards and board games, but Kaito wasn't interested in any of these.
First, the gameplay was very different. Kaito couldn't understand the card games at all; how was he supposed to play?
Thus...
Mahjong tiles made from rock were born!
Smooth as ceramic, not rough.
After Kaito made a mahjong table, he invited Yor, the Fire Keeper, and Yor's Maiden to play together.
After explaining the rules in detail, the three women slowly started to get the hang of it.
Perhaps because there were no other entertainment options, they all quickly became engrossed. Even the Fire Keeper and the Maiden were no exception.
They could have spent their time meditating or training.
But since their Lord was so bored, they naturally came to keep him company.
Even dinner was eaten quickly, and then they started a new round of mahjong.
However...
Even playing gets boring after a while.
The first two days were okay.
But after two days, Kaito didn't want to play anymore; there were no stakes, after all.
With four people sharing one room, Kaito didn't do anything improper.
Basically, Kaito slept on the large wooden bed, and the three of them slept on their own small beds.
Three meals a day were as plentiful as possible, with some fruit.
Helplessly, he then introduced the game of Fight the Landlord.
With four people rotating in and out, it held their interest a little longer.
Their skills were really not good. Kaito hardly lost at mahjong, and even less so at cards.
Eventually, even that became boring.
"Tarnished, please stay inside and be careful! Also, please close the wooden window. A storm is coming."
The captain didn't enter; he knocked on the door and shouted from outside.
Putting down the cards, Kaito looked outside.
'What? Isn't it clear skies?'
'No, maybe it's on the other side?'
Kaito stepped out of the room. The captain hadn't left.
The captain kept using his telescope to observe the weather, but he shook his head helplessly.
The storm was heading straight for them; they couldn't avoid it, and it was too late.
Kaito didn't need a telescope. Squinting, he saw a dark cloud mass heading their way from the front-right.
It looked like a significant storm.
This was the sixth day at sea. They were deep in the ocean, and encountering extreme weather was very likely.
"Will your ship be okay?"
"Yes, it's been reinforced in every way! And I've weathered larger storms. We'll get through this one too."
"Alright. You all be careful too. Don't let anything happen."
"Okay. Thank you for your blessing, Tarnished!"
The captain nodded firmly, then shouted orders to the sailors, preparing for the storm.
This wasn't a good time to keep sailing fast; they could only proceed slowly, or even stay put to face it.
Because no one knew what the waves would be like during the storm.
They had to proceed slowly, observing and making decisions.
Kaito returned to the room but didn't close the window immediately. He waited for the storm to arrive.
In less than an hour, the sky was pitch black, and the wind grew stronger and stronger.
The wind battered the large ship, naturally causing creaking noises that unsettled the heart.
After another ten-plus minutes, the storm finally arrived.
Based on the wind force, it was probably around a typhoon of level 8, with torrential rain.
The waves were monstrous, crashing one after another!
The ship's creaking grew louder, accompanied by violent pitching and rolling.
For Kaito, this was also quite novel.
Staying inside was too boring; it felt like losing control. So, he opened the door and stepped out. Facing the sea wind and heavy rain, he saw some sailors standing ready on the deck.
The captain was constantly observing the sea with his telescope.
"Hmm? Why is the water turning black?"
Kaito had wanted to see how spectacular the waves were, but instead, he saw a dark shadow directly beneath the ship...