My first experience with airplanes was exciting and scary afterwards. I thought that it was smooth flying, but when we hit the clouds, it almost scared the shit out of me. Even so, I never hated flying even after that experience.

***

“This is amazing!”

“Yes, but please be careful.”

Currently, we are inside the airship and hanging out in the viewing deck. Jane's looking at the landscape with sparkling eyes like a little girl. I say ‘little girl' since she has the same expression as Marie right now.

We are now heading towards the Royal Capital with great speed. According to our pilot named, Akkin, we will reach the Royal Capital within 8 days if the weather is good. Its way faster than when we we're going to Berigious from Dalseriev by Carriage.

Leaving aside Marie, Jane, and Lapis, I also have important documents with me. They are letters from Teldarg to King Valeshtyre with me as the Envoy. Not only that, there are also other letters for different matters regarding the trade industries between the two capitals. I have a lot of work, but work is work. I can't complain.

So setting business matters aside, I'm quite entertained on how the three girls’ reaction on the huge windows.

Hmm… My > magic is telling me that the frames of the glass windows have > magic which fortifies the glass' durability. Even so, I think the glass are already made from strong materials since the fortification only multiplies it's durability to a certain degree. Unlike my version of >, I can turn anything soft to iron hard.

“Excuse me, Sir Chardelier. I have something urgent to discuss.”

I almost forgot. The Elves are also with us in our trip to the Royal Capital. Since the Dwarves and Elves have some kind of special relationship with their races, they don't need to hide themselves in the Airship. They just made exceptions for Jane and Lapis, and especially Marie since they're with me.

“What is it?”

“Regarding the loan that we we're talking about, we want to confirm if the amount of money you're willing to hand over.”

“It's 70,000 gold pieces. No more, no less. We have it both written in the contracts.”

Though it sounds less, it's actually a huge amount which could possibly build 2 towns. With all that huge amount of money, I wonder what they're going to do with it. Also, our contract has two versions. One in Kalek (Human Letters), and one in Pleante (Elvish Characters). The Pleante is with me while the other one is with them. We had Teldarg to be our witness during the contracting so there will be no cheating.

I only did that since I can't just hand over my money to someone I barely knew. Moreover, the amount's no joke. As a side note, the loan has 4% interest each week so that I can gain something from this.

“Say, even though you girls have enough mana to last you almost a year, what are you going to do with that much money? You don't need magic tools or anything besides that right?”

She shakes her head and denies my words.

“I want to have insurance in case we can't stand up against the ones who took our brethren. If we can't do it by force, then we'll do it their way.”

“So much resolution for one person, how do you plan on doing it?”

“We already have someone that has connections with the black-market with King Teldarg's help. According to Intel, our brethren that was kidnapped made a big commotion in the underground society. Rich merchants, nobles, and even magical craftsmen will be there for her.”

Her? So she's female huh.

“You said craftsmen. What do you mean?”

When I asked her that, she closed her left eye and activated her right eye.

“Our eyes are very valuable part of our body. But in the eyes of greedy magicians, they're worth more than a thousand lives. If extracted, they would be used and made into magical tools or even weapons. If they get their hands on the eyes of our brethren, they would gain strong power since that person has the strongest [Decrama Crusella] we've ever seen.”

So it's game over when they take the eyes huh.

“If that is so, do you still think that this brethren of yours is still alive? With those valuable eyes, I doubt that they'll bring your brethren alive to the Royal Capital.”

“T-that is…”

Ah, fuck. I let my mouth run again without thinking. She looks gloomy now.

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be.”

While saying so, she turns a heel and starts walking. I really hurt her heart badly.

Hah… I feel like shit.

Before she got away, I tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

“Miss Phillilia, as an apology, I'll let you borrow my daughter for an hour.”

While I said so, I hand over Marie who I immediately took from the window to her. Since it was too sudden for Marie, she looks a bit dizzy.

Phillilia who got Marie handed over, her mouth opens and closes while her cheeks and starting to turn red. It seems that Marie on her face all of a sudden is too much of a surprise for her.

“Apology accepted!”

I think its cuteness overload is what her emotion is called. She immediately takes Marie and hugs her. She rubs her cheek on Marie's cheek many times that Marie is getting dizzier. I'll leave Marie to her care.

I go to Jane and Lapis and told them to watch over Marie while I go somewhere else in the ship.

***

After being guided by a dwarven engineer, I was led into the heart of Drukade, the engine room.

I was told not to mess with anything inside because it might cause the ship to stop flying. Still, I was not told not to touch anything. I will touch everything until I'm satisfied!

That came out wrong.

“I will leave you here sir. I still have some inspection to do in the airship.”

“Ok, I will just take a quick look in this room and then leave.”

When the dwarf left, I immediately walk around and check every part of the engine room. Since it's just as big as a small apartment, it was only a short exploration. Still, I’m amazed by the things inside the room because of the things that I've never seen before.

Since I can't really mess with everything or anything, I decided to use my magic.

When I activated >, I got attacked by a severe headache which almost threw me off balance. It's not like there's someone attacking me or anything, I just got overwhelmed by the amount of magic scripts and arrays that's in here which overloaded my brain. Last time I felt this was when I got a hangover.

“That took me by surprise. Maybe I should activate it slowly next time.”

After collecting myself, I activate > once again in the lowest possible output. At that time, the scripts and arrays come into my mind one by one giving me time to understand each of them and the image of their structure.

“It hurts a bit, but I can manage.”

Judging by the size of the first script, it would probably take me more than a month reading them. I underestimated the work of Dwarves that spanned more than a hundred lifetimes.

I guess this is the perfect time I'm going to use this combo again.

While slowly increasing my magic's output, I put my right hand on my head and closed my eyes. Since the pain is slowly coming back to me, I give myself > to make myself withstand the pain.

“[Rune Grabber] activate, >. >.”

Using my head as catalyst and > as a route, my [Rune Grabber] copies every scripts and arrays and converts them into runes within 100 yard radius.

But because of the fact that I used my brain as a network router, I got myself knocked out from the huge waves of information going into my head in one go.

It's not like I didn't expect this to happen. Everything was within calculation. But man, I’m bad with math.

***

“He doesn't look like he got attacked. There are no anomalies anywhere aside from that swelling part of his forehead. He'll be alright.”

“Thank you, miss elf. Knowing that he isn't in danger makes me feel at ease.”

I heard such lines while I'm regaining consciousness. The former sounds like Phillilia, and the latter sounded like the worried Jane.

Though I can get up anytime I want now, I feel like I shouldn't and remain lying. I swear it's not because I'm lying on someone's lap!

“I think he's already conscious. I can already hear his thoughts running again.”

“Sir Key?”

Damn you telepath elf!

Since I got busted already, I slowly open my left eye and gave Jane a smile. I also smiled and thanked Lapis who let me use her lap as a pillow.

Still, I'm in my quarters. Why did she give such service?

“What happened? Who brought me here in my room?”

I tried raising my back to sit up, but for some reason, Lapis forcibly pulled my head making my lie down back on her lap. Since when did she become so forceful?

I can see from her eyes that she wouldn't let me stand yet no matter what. Is this her way of showing her stubbornness?

“Please don't stand up yet, sir. You hit your head somewhere in the engine room and knocked yourself out. You we’re brought here by one of the dwarven engineers.”

“Is that so?”

I then look at Miss Phillilia who has been looking at me with suspecting eyes. Did I do something wrong to her?

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, but there was.”

I tried to stand again, but the result was still the same.

“Before you we're found, the ship suddenly shook and lost power for a moment. Luckily it was just for an instant or everyone's life would be in danger.”

First day on the job and I almost fuck everything up. How many years of luck did I spend this time?

But before that, should I say the truth or not? If I say the truth, not only I would admit I almost destroyed the ship, it would also mean I tried to kill everybody. I fucked up real bad with this one!

Yep! Let's just feign ignorance here.

Just when I was about to say something, all of a sudden, Jane stands up and blocks my line of sight. I just saw it for a moment, but somehow she looks really angry. Scary…

“Are you trying to make my master look like the enemy?!”

“It’s not like I’m—”

Because Jane suddenly started yelling at her face, she got taken by surprise.

“My master is the kindest, sweetest, and the most whimsical person I know. He thinks about everyone and anything about them. He treats us like precious members of his family. There's no way he'll put everyone's life in danger! For someone who was offered by his kindness, you are very rude towards him!”

“B-but… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started accusing him with baseless accusations.”

Phillilia lowers his head to Jane who is really mad.

I’m happy that she's protecting me, but the feeling of Guilt is making my stomach hurt really bad. I should clear this misunderstanding and be honest. God I feel like shit!

I stand up and stood behind Jane. After that, I grabbed her shoulder and gave her a wink.

“Thank you for standing up for me Jane, but Miss Phillilia is actually right. It was actually me who cause the commotion.”

I don't know if Jane could hear the rest of my words, but her face is turning hot red.

Setting that aside, I face Phillilia who is in surprise after I admitted my mistake.

“I don't know if Jane's image if me is accurate, but I can confirm the ‘Whimsical’ part. When I entered the engine room of the ship, I was curious on how it works so I tried using my magic to read the magic structure of the engine. I didn't know that it could cause for the ship to lose power momentarily. For everything that happened, I am very sorry.”

To show my outmost sincerity, I drop on one knee and put my right hand on my chest with my head down. I only knew about this when Jane I heard Jane reading a book in my office. She was quite interesting to listen to actually.

“If you apologize like that, I don't have a choice but to forgive you.”

Looks like Phillilia got too overwhelmed by my level of apology. Her cheeks are turning slightly red while her whole body started shaking. What the hell?

Next thing after that, Jane came to me and whispered some words to me.

“Actually, sir, that way of apologizing is something a man would do for her lover.”

….

….

….

WHXIBEDIDBHWKDNDOSO!

I didn't know it had a meaning like that!

“Miss Phillilia, please don't misunderstand! I didn't know!”

“Geez! Don't say that! It's embarrassing!”

Well, after this fiasco, I went around the whole ship apologizing to every crew member on board. Luckily, they understood and forgave me.

However, after a couple of bottles, I heard that the real reason for the ship to lose power is actually because of a power switching that happens normally when the ship reaches a certain altitude.

***

Later after our short toast, I left Marie and Lapis in my Quarters sleeping while Jane and I are staying on the top deck. The Elves are in their quarters resting and half of the crew are sleeping taking shifts.

Since it's already evening, the temperature has dropped and I had to use the coats I brought with me after a long while. But since I only have one, I gave it to Jane instead and used magic to warn myself up.

The air is calm because of a > barrier around the top deck so Jane and I are just calmly looking at the stars.

“Back at my place, I wouldn't be able to see such scenery beautiful as this sky.”

“Hmm… is that so? You're place sounds really bad.”

I look at Jane who just replied to me. But she's looking at the stars so I can't make any eye contact. So, I go back looking at the sky again.

“It's not really that bad, it's just the air back in our place isn't really as good as this and made some stars in the sky disappear. There are parts in my world that can show a scene almost as good as this, but they're really rare. If my words can be absolute, I would let this world remain as it is and let it stay beautiful.”

“I agree.”

I really like how this world looks. Unlike Earth's advanced science and technology destroying the world, Marzenthura’s medieval timeline is better since they aren’t destroying the world. This world is already unique and the concept of magic is just a bonus.

We look at the sky for more than 10 minutes, and yet we don't feel like getting bored yet.

*Jane's point of view*

Sitting beside Sir Key while watching the star filled sky is like a dream come true! I never expected for him to actually invite me here at the airship's top deck just because he's bored.

I tried to take a peek at his face, but he looked at me the moment I turned my eyes at him so I immediately put my gaze to the sky.

We have been doing this for more than 10 minutes already and my neck is starting to hurt.

“Damn, my neck feels terrible.”

It seems that sir Key is also feeling the same, he shakes his head and makes cracking noises with his neck. After that, he stands up and looks around the deck.

“There's nobody here. Good.”

I really thought that he wants to go inside already. But shockingly, he suddenly sits and lie on the floor with his back.

“Sir?”

“Do I look weird?”

“N-no, but why in such a manner?”

“I just want to watch the sky more, but the back of my neck was starting to hurt so I did this.”

After saying so, he starts giggling and then looks at the sky. It seems he's really enthralled by the beauty of the stars. Oh how I wish I was the sky.

No! What am I think!?

Then out of a sudden, Sir Key raises his head and looks at me.

“Will you accompany me on the floor?”

Suddenly, he asked me such question which I couldn't answer immediately. Not only that it would be embarrassing, it would be too daring if I answered immediately.

“So it's a no, huh…”

Sir Key makes a sad expression and then rests his head again on the floor. If he acts like that, I can't say No at all!

So, to answer his request, I stand up and sit down beside him. Before lying down, I gave him a one meter space.

“You're too far. Come closer.”

WHAT!? That's too much for my heart to handle!

“Sir, I can't! It's too embarrassing!”

“Don't be, you're already like a sister to me. It's not going to be weird.”

L-like a sister…. He only sees me like a sister huh…. What was I expecting?

While feeling slightly defeated, I moved closer to his side and then lied on my back. Now, we're looking at the stars side by side.

We look at the stars once again. During that time, a shooting star suddenly draws a line on the sky and disappeared.

“Hey, Jane. Did you know? Back in my place, people believed in when you see a shooting star and make a wish, it will happen without a doubt. Is that belief also here?”

“No, sir.”

“Then we should start it. Make a wish.”

Sir Key believes in weird stuff. Still, if I could really have my wish granted, that would want you to look at me not as a sister, but a woman too.

“What did you wish for?”

Sir Key looks at me with excited eyes. But of course I can't say what my real wish is or it'll become a death wish!

Quick! Think of something me!

“W-Well… it's to attend a ball. Yes! To attend a ball.”

“A ball huh… quite simple.”

Sir Key says so while nodding.

“Speaking of which, I still don't know what kind of dance the royal ball has. Nah, I'll just worry about that later.”

I couldn’t help but find it funny every time Sir Key starts talking with himself. His conflicted face is really cute too.

After that, we fall to a silence once again while we watch the stars.

….

After a long while, I feel myself getting slightly sleepy. I look around the deck and still find no one here. It seems that the rest of the crew is just inside the ship working.

Then I notice Sir Key beside me. He has fallen asleep. And since he was drinking not too long ago with the dwarves, he's in a deep sleep.

I was told not to let him drink too much. Is this alright?

Since the breeze has gotten stronger a bit, I thought the air would be colder. However, it seems that the coat I'm wearing is warming me up for some reason. I know how the coat prevents the cold penetrating the body, but for it to warm me up… Sir Key probably used his magic again.

“Sir Key, I think we should move back to the rooms.”

I tried shaking him a bit to wake him up, but he's a heavy sleeper so I knew it wouldn't easily work.

“Hah… what should I do now?”

I look around the deck again to see if there is crew that could help me carry him back to his room. Still, no one’s here.

While I was in deep thought on what to do, all of a sudden, Sir Key grabs my hand which is on his chest. It really surprised me that I almost let out a scream.

“S-sir Key? Are you awake?”

I tried whispering to his ears, but he didn't respond.

“Right… He just moves a lot when he sleeps.”

After letting out a sigh, I look at his sleeping face again.

Then, for no actual reason, something is whispering into my ears.

He looks like he's not going to wake up unless it's day time. He's vulnerable! Attack him!

While those words we're whispered into my ears, inadvertently look at his lips.

No! This is a bad thing to do! I'm not a loose woman!

Who cares if you're loose or not? You're just a commoner and he's a noble, there's an obvious line that separates you two. But at this moment, this line doesn’t exist since he doesn't know. If you kiss him right now, he wouldn’t realize it!

That's the point! He doesn't know, my feelings for him wouldn't reach him at all. If he knew about this, he'll hate me! I don't want that!

That's only IF you're found out. But look around, no one's here. You can even do more daring things than a kiss.

The devil inside me is tempting me so much that she even made me look at the part where I'm not supposed to look. That bulge is making my head run wild!

Shoo! Evil and lustful thoughts! I'm not a pervert who would molest sir Key in his sleep!

When I finally defeated that evil side of me, I calmed myself down while taking my hand off sir Key.

“I look like I'll be stuck here for the night with him… hah….”

I lie my back beside sir Key. After that, I look at his sleeping face once again. And as usual, that handsome face of his really stimulates my heart.

After quite some time, the back of my heard starts to hurt again because the floor.

“I wish I have a pillow or something soft…”

Then, while I was searching for one, I noticed Sir Key's free arm.

Maybe, I can use his arm as a pillow.

I look around the deck once again to see if there's anyone here. Luckily, no one is really here besides us.

Slowly and gently, I rest my head on his arm. When I put all my weight on him, he still doesn’t look like he'll wake up.

“I'll just wake up first and escape in the morning.”

Just when I was about to close my eyes, Sir Key suddenly starts moving. I thought that I woke him up, but in reality, he has mistaken me for a pillow and hugged me really tight. Not only that, his legs also wrapped around mine which prevents me from moving.

But most importantly, my right hand is somewhere it shouldn’t be! OMG! BIG?!

Immediately, I pull my hand off his crotch and then tried to escape. However, his physical prowess makes him really hard to move like a stone boulder.

This is like what happened two months ago in Berigious! Help!

I tried struggling to wake him up, but he wouldn’t wake up no matter what. I also tried to call him, but it's not working.

This can't be happening! I was just supposed to make him my pillow, not me becoming a hug pillow!

Since I know that it's useless to struggle, I just relaxed my body and waited for him to let go off my by himself.

Then while I was calming myself down, I notice his face is actually close to mine. It took me a while to realize it, but his lips are actually really close.

I shake off the temptation that's starting to take over my head again.

Because of this, I wasn't able to get a good sleep at all. Sir Key wasn’t able to find out about this because I immediately escaped the moment he let go off me.

And also, I learned a very valuable lesson.

Sir Key is like a trap when asleep. Very dangerous!

-End of Chapter-