Ignoring the sluggish commotion coming from the deck above, Dimitry pressed an ear to the hull.

Layered wooden planks remained under relentless assault, the banging against them low-pitched, resounding, and prolonged. There was also yelling. Although accelall’s time dilation reduced every word to muffled groans, the message came across. Someone wanted to sink the boat and wouldn’t stop until every passenger drowned.

The crewman who came to warn the unplanned passengers dashed back towards the deck, his gait accelerating with each step. Every shout, stomp, and thud increased in pitch. A faerie’s shoving became forceful. Signs that accelall’s effects were wearing off.

Dimitry thought he heard voices coming from the ocean. Was he going insane? No, there were definitely voices.

“Strike until you breach the hull!” A vicious woman commanded.

A dozen war cries followed.

How could someone speak underwater? Was it the work of magic? Medieval diving gear? Dimitry shook his head. How the voices got there wasn’t important; their owners trying to sink the ship was.

Another volley slammed into the boat.

The impact’s echo surged through the walls and into Dimitry’s ears. Deafening ringing rattled his brain. He pulled back. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Aquatic demons are attacking the ship!” Precious shrieked.

“Aquatic demons? They can speak?”

“Speak?! Do you hear yourself?”

Ignacius mumbled, fingering through the vol pellets in his palm as he marched towards the deck.

Was Dimitry the only one who could understand the voices?

Saphiria stomped closer. “The boat might sink. Can you swim?”

“Swimming won’t help us.”

“We’re close to the shore.”

“The ocean will sap all the heat from our bodies by the time we get there,” Dimitry said. “We won’t make it alive. Even if we somehow do, the cold air will finish us before we can reach a village.”

“Perhaps.” Saphiria shed two layers of blankets, revealing an azure Coldust dress beneath. “But we might not have a choice.”

She wasn’t wrong. If Ignacius and the crew failed to fend off the aquatic demons, everyone on board would drown. But was fighting their only option?

“We should negotiate,” Dimitry said.

“Negotiate?!” Precious drifted closer with as much limroot in her folded arms as she could carry. “How are we supposed to negotiate with those… those things?”

“I think I can.”

“If you want to gurgle at them until they stop, be my guest!”

So it was true. Only Dimitry understood the aquatic demons. Did his ability to decode speech extend beyond human languages? He pointed at the storeroom’s wall. “I hear them yelling about sinking the ship right now.”

“You what?” Precious asked.

“I’ll talk them out of it.”

Indigo eyes conflicted, Saphiria bit her lip. She loosened her grip on Dimitry’s leather bag and tossed it aside. “Let’s try it.”

Precious dropped her limroot haul. “You’re honestly going to believe that?”

“I’ll ask you questions as they come up,” Dimitry said, “and you’ll give me information as necessary.”

Saphiria nodded.

“W-wait, you guys aren’t kidding?”

Dimitry cupped his hands around his mouth and pressed them against the storeroom’s wall. “We wish to negotiate!”

“Hold!” the vicious female shouted. “There is a brother among them!”

The assault against the ship halted.

“Brother, have the mudgills taken you prisoner? Are there others with you? Where have those brutes injured you?”

Precious landed on Dimitry’s shoulder. “I can’t believe it. They stopped. And how are you making those… gurgling sounds?”

Stunned by his success, Dimitry turned to face the girl behind him. “What’s a mudgill?”

Saphiria shook her head.

Precious looked on with shock. “Mud… gills?”

Damn. Was this humanity’s first verbal exchange with aquatic creatures? If so, his companions’ confusion made sense. They couldn’t help. Dimitry had to do this alone. Hoping he didn’t end up in an underwater grave, he ran a trembling hand through his hair.

Since they rode a boat, a vessel that carried people, the term ‘mudgill’ referred to humans. The aquatic demon called Dimitry her ‘brother’, meaning she believed he was one of them. A fact Dimitry would use to his advantage.

He pressed his hands against the wall once more. “It’s a misunderstanding! The mudgills have treated me well.”

“Well?” The vicious female hesitated before speaking again. “How can that be? They murder us without a second thought! I worry it is not only your body that is unwell, brother.”

“It’s true!” Blood pounded in Dimitry’s ears. “They showed me only the utmost hospitality so far.”

“It matters not. We must release you before the mudgills change their minds and the rock giants take notice. Continue the assault!”

Rock giants? Did she refer to heathens?

Before Dimitry could organize his thoughts, the relentless thumping against the hull resumed. Water poured into the storeroom from cracks between oak planks.

Something plopped into the water.

The vicious female and her band of aquatic demons released agonizing cries. Their attacks, however, didn’t stop.

Dimitry looked back. “What the hell was that?”

“W-what?” Precious asked. “What the hell was what?”

“Whatever made the aquatic demons scream.”

“Enchanted bolts,” Saphiria said. “Most seafaring merchant vessels carry them.”

That explained the ship’s mounted crossbows. But they weren’t enough. At this rate, both sides would perish.

Ignoring clothes drenched by the saline water pooling in the storeroom, Dimitry spoke into the wall once more. “Brothers and sisters, please end the assault at once! If you continue, we will all die.”

“It is a glorious death, brother. Embrace it!”

“It’s not just about us!” Dimitry said. “I’m trying to negotiate with the mudgills, but you’re ruining any chance for peace!”

“You speak foolishness,” the vicious female said, her words competing with an endless barrage of slams against the hull. “If we don’t kill them first, they will kill us. You know this well.”

“That’s…” Dimitry used his hand to cover a blood pressure monitor-sized hole in the hull. Scouring his limited knowledge for any bargaining pieces he could muster, he found only one. “If we wish to survive, we must unite with the mudgills against our common enemy—the rock giants!”

“Our common enemy?”

The assault halted once more. Hopefully for good this time.

Her voice grew in volume as she approached. “Isn’t it the mudgills that command the rock giants? They invite the beasts beneath their walls.”

The cooling sensation of hope and mild relief flooded Dimitry’s body, but he couldn’t relax. This was his last chance to avoid surfing to shore on ship debris. “No, the mudgills rebel against them, even putting the lives of their young at stake. I’ve seen it myself.”

“Their young?” The vicious female paused. “… how barbaric.”

It was a sad state of affairs when even ‘demons’ were morally superior to humans. “Indeed it is, but they have no choice. The giants clamor at their walls, and, after they are razed, the giants will target us. That is why I endeavored to negotiate with the mudgills.”

“And you can communicate with these mudgills, brother?”

“Hey, hey!” Precious pulled on Dimitry’s ear. “What’s it saying?”

Dimitry brushed the faerie off of his shoulder. “Yes, there is one among them who understands me.”

“Do they go by a name?” The vicious female asked.

Footsteps rushed through the adjacent cargo hold.

Precious dove into Dimitry’s clothes, her wings brushing against his neck until she reached her favorite hiding spot inside his hood.

The door to the storeroom burst open to reveal a breathless crewman whose grizzled appearance resembled that of a bear in a thick and bright Coldust dress. “We’ve fought them off, my lady! Please rest in the cabin while we fix the damage to the hull!”

“Well done,” Saphiria said. “Give me a moment to gather my belongings. They’re private.”

“But the storeroom is floodi—”

“Give. Me. A. Moment.”

“R-right.” The crewman dashed away.

Dimitry gave Saphiria a thumbs up for buying him precious time. She tilted her head at the gesture. He pressed his hands against the wall. “They do. The diplomat’s name is Dimitry.”

“Dimitry? What strange monikers.”

Storming footsteps approached from the cargo hold.

Dimitry attempted to calm his ragged breathing. “The leader of the mudgills calls. He seeks to exchange words of gratitude for our benevolence in stopping the assault. I must go to make amends.”

The captain rushed into the storeroom, his boots plopping into seawater puddles. “You have my humblest fucking apologies, my lady, but we have to clean this mess now!”

“I will inform the hierarch of your efforts,” the vicious female said. “May the waves bring you to sea once more, brother.”

It was the night following the assault by aquatic demons. A luminous full moon hung high in the obsidian skies, painting the river a dark green color. Wisps of light, like tiny stars, danced above the water’s surface, in the air, and even aboard the ship’s deck. They brightened and faded on a whim. Dimitry tried to enjoy the show but could only watch, mortified.

His second night of repentance brought wonders as well as horrors.

Green woodlands flanked the river from both sides, and dotting the landscape were stone beasts whose gargantuan statures toppled trees, abandoned cottages, and anything else that crossed their paths. Many were crawling devils, complete with giant, razor-sharp legs. Others torpedoed through the river or flew overhead. One heathen resembled a tortoise almost as large as a nearby hillock.

Every monster ignored the ship. They seemed to have another goal in mind—a walled city in the distance that grew closer.

Malten.

Knowing that vol consumption attracted heathens, the captain ordered the crew to throw every enchanted object overboard. It wasn’t much of a loss. The bolts, lamps, and heaters lost the bulk of their glows during the extended voyage. One by one, they plopped into the water. The captain threatened to dispose of anyone caught using magic in the same way.

Hands red from gripping the ship’s railing with excessive force, Saphiria stood beside Dimitry. Her expression wavered as if deciding between vaulting off the ship to save her city from the invaders, praying for divine intervention, and losing all hope.

“Can you negotiate with them, too?” she whispered weakly. “Tell them to stop?”

Dimitry watched the girl sink further into desperation ever since they passed the collapsing heathen barrier by the shore. Although Saphiria often expressed concern for her home during the voyage, sometimes shivering with anxiety or excitement, her arms never tremored as they did now. To ease her worry, he had already tried to understand the heathens without results, but he ventured another attempt. It was the least he could do for her.

Cupping a hand to his ear, Dimitry listened for signs of intelligible speech. There was none. Only the stomping of heathens was audible. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can.”

She bit her lip.

“I still can’t believe you pulled that off, Dumitry.” Precious’s whisper came from inside his hood. “Where did you learn to speak to aquatic demons? I didn’t even know they could talk!”

She raised a good question. Although the ability to speak every language—including that of corrupted creatures—was an advantage, the implications troubled Dimitry. Not only did the man in the dark hall modify his body by adding circuits and cores, but he also altered his mind. How far did it go? What else about him changed?

He sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“You’re the most interesting human I’ve met. I made the right choice tagging along with you.”

“If you say so.”

Ignacius approached from behind. “You kids still awake?”

Saphiria didn’t respond. She stared at a distant city besieged by stone monsters.

“Yeah,” Dimitry said. “Falling asleep’s a bit tough given our circumstances.”

“Little miss, if it soothes your worries at all, the fact that this many heathens are attacking Malten means the city is doing reasonably well. You should try to get some rest.”

Saphiria’s eyes were somehow exhausted and alert. Legs unsteady, she could fall into the river at any moment.

“Ignacius is right.” Dimitry placed a hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her away from the ship railings. “Come on.”

“I… I can’t.”

“I know you’re worried, but aimless panic never helps. You’ll know for sure when we arrive in the morning. Wouldn’t you prefer to greet your family well-rested?”

With a weak nod, Saphiria trudged past him.

Dimitry glanced at the emblem on his wrist. The pale blue knight tugged towards two opposite directions at once. Did multiple shrines lay nearby?

He shrugged.

No point in thinking about that now. Tomorrow, he would meet Saphiria’s father. He needed to do everything he could to leave a good impression.