Author’s corner: HELLO HELLO! Sorry for the short chap, but I had to cut it there…

ANYWAY, as I said, this is a short chapter for IO standards(only 3.1k words), but it just felt correct to cut it there, so I decided that it would be better to do so than make a half-assed cut later.

ALSO, I’m really, REALLY NO good when it comes to this type of scene. I hope it managed to work out somehow, but if it didn’t, I hope you guys can forgive me. At least we finally get the prelude to action! Hurray! (sadly, no monster yet… T.T That’s for when he stops at the cities…)

ALSO(2), Although it does get a rather seductive tone at the end, I do NOT, under ANY circumstances plan on making IO a mature tagged work, so don’t worry about it.

ALSO(3), Just a reminder, but this is still the same Yuu we are talking about, okay? Just sayin…

ALSO(4), I'm having talks with Cyg about the next SS chapter! Should be coming soon!

Have a good read!

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Looking around, I noticed that most of the people on the table were still oblivious to what was happening around me, so I was thankful for a moment, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before most of the gazes would gather upon me and Yuu.

Deciding that it wouldn’t be a good idea to start a discussion with an overpowered martial artist that is a bit drunker than she should be, I chose quickly complying with her request and used my free hand to pet her for a bit. She closed her eyes in pleasure for a moment, wagging the twin tails cheerfully. After a few seconds of doing so, I finally stopped.

“There… Happy?” I asked her.

It took her a couple of seconds with her eyes closed before she finally registered my question. Looking upwards with an extremely dangerously adorable look, she stared at me for a few moments before finally reacting.

“No!”

“Huh?” I asked confused.

Instead of letting go of my arm, she tightened her hug around me while pressing her head against my chest and using her two tails to coil around my waist. Caught by surprise by her sudden aggressiveness, I didn’t have enough time to react before I was completely held by her.

“I want one just like you did in the city!” She said in a pouting tone “That one felt really good… I want one just like that!”

“Huh? Wi-With the skill?” I asked confused, and she nodded.

There’s just no way in hell I’m going to use that skill on Yuu right here! No, let me correct that. That skill shouldn’t be used on her under any circumstances! That’s very bad to my health!

Then… Yuu clinging to me like this is also VERY bad to my mental health. As I tried to think of a way to escape from my current situation, Yuu seemingly got bored with waiting, because she stopped looking upwards and simply pressed her face against my chest. I felt another heavy blow to my self control when she did that and hugged me a bit tighter.

She smells kind of good, actually...

C-calm down, Gon… Let’s not get ourselves confused here… Yuu is too much of a dangerous foe for me to lose my head like this. Shaking my head, I sent glances to my sides in search of an ally. The most dangerous, but most likely to work was Lily, who had a strange rivalry with Yuu.

But the undine had disappeared somewhere else in the brief moment that had passed. From there, my gaze went to Argento, but he simply took his wine mug and lifted to me as if making a toast while sporting a mischievous smile.

Immediately, I looked to the other side, but the only thing I got was a shocked Hanbei and a thumbs up giving Yami, who had a somewhat proud face at the moment. I didn’t need much thought to notice that somehow she was the one behind Yuu being drunk. She didn’t ask for wine, after all.

Finally, in one last desperate attempt, I turned to look at my new buddy Lucas…

Well, he wasn’t in a very good spot either, as the vampire and the demoness seemed drunk and were both clinging to him tightly. In fact, I guess it was thanks to him that the attentions hadn’t gathered in me yet, seeing how the girls were actually pulling him from one side to the other.

I shall not forget your self-sacrifice, friend!

Seeing that I didn’t have any allies nearby, my attention was brought back to Yuu when she dragged her chair a bit closer to mine and found a more comfortable position.

“Hmm… Yuu...” I said a bit worried, and she looked up to me with expectant eyes. “Huuh… Isn’t it uncomfortable to keep hugging me like that? With stone body and all, I mean?” I asked hoping that I would get a positive response.

“No. Shishou is good to hug.” She said while putting her face against my chest once again, putting an slightly annoyed tone. “It feels good to be close to Shishou.” She added in a low tone.

Just wait a second while I reboot my brain here. The damage was heavy this time.

…

“Hmm… Can’t we… Leave that for lat...”

“NO!” Yuu said with a stubborn tone. Feeling a bit hopeless, I once again tried to find a way to get out of this mess.

PETS! That’s it! Having a sudden burst of intelligence, I quickly turned to my companions, looking for some help from them. While Rio was feasting herself with some fishes she found on the table, I felt as Aura moved beneath my leg, looking up to me.

But, for some reason she looked extremely annoyed when she looked at me, which left me confused on the reason for that. Blinking surprised, she immediately looked away and let out an annoyed Hmph. Blinking surprised at her reaction, I didn’t exactly have the time to wonder the reason for that, so I quickly turned my attention to the remaining two beings I could count on.

Lieutenant! Turning to the soldier cat… I found him pouring even more wine on Yuu’s mug. I stared in shock at him only to see the cat give me the best innocent smile he could put on his trickster face while hiding the wine mug behind his back.

Et tu Lieutenant?

While I cringed at this sudden betrayal from the cat’s part, I still had one last card to count on…

“Muuu… Why is Shishou only looking at others?” Yuu asked me angrily. Blinking surprised, I turned to her only to find her looking at me with some tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. “Does shishou not like me?”

“Wha?” Where did that even come from? “How can that even be possible?” I asked her in shock.

“Then, Shishou do likes me?” She said with a dubious tone, but I felt my mind freeze at the question.

Like... Yuu? If I like Yuu? Well…

“Hmm… Yes, I… I do like you.” I said while looking away embarrassed.

“Then pet me!” She said with a stubborn tone. “If shishou does like me so much, then Shishou should not mind petting me, right?” She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I… Don’t mind petting you, but… To use the skill...” I said a bit worried, noticing how some other people on the table were starting to take notice of my situation.

“Hmmm… I want that petting! It was very good!” She said with a pout “I really liked when you did that to me...”

“Yuu.... Look...” I said getting a bit worried, seeing that she wasn’t going to change her mind any time soon. “I… I’ll do it.” I said finally, and her eyes widened in excitement. “But first we have to go somewhere emptier, okay?” I said, and she nodded cheerfully.

Seeing that I didn’t exactly have much of an escape from my actual situation, I sighed loudly and got out from the chair after making a brief nod towards the captain. He raised an eyebrow in amusement, but didn’t look too much into it, and simply nodded in response.

Since both the table and the chairs were nailed down on the deck to avoid any possible slide due to sudden gusts, it was a bit bothersome to manage to leave the table, but it was worth for some stability.

Wait… How did Yuu drag her chair then? While thinking such, I gave a quick glance to the chair beneath her, and saw that there were some strange burnt marks where the nails were earlier. Did she burn the wood around the nails just to move the chair a bit?

if you think that this came from a drunk girl… It’s a bit scary.

Getting up and out from the deck, I quickly took one of the stairs down, all while wondering what I should do with Yuu, who was following right behind me… I mean, right besides me, since she quickly went and grabbed my arm and put on a happy face.

This girl… I don’t think I’m going to be able to resist her any longer…

And, taking a girl to a quieter place so that I could do something, doesn’t that sounds somewhat immoral? While thinking so, I couldn’t help but suddenly feel that what I’m doing had actually made things worse for me. Shaking my head in grief, I gave a quick look around just to be safe and finally decided to get over with it.

I mean, it’s just petting Yuu, right? It’s not like it’s any different from what I keep doing with her anyways.

That, and she actually go get a bit adorable when she’s hanging close to me, right?

Hmm… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…

I mean, it’s just a bit of petting…

Whatever comes next...

“Eh? Is that Lily?”

Huh? Hearing a voice suddenly saying that, both me and Yuu blinked surprised and looked down the corridor. However, I didn’t manage to see anything there, so I kept staring confused. Only to be dragged away by something, leaving Yuu behind as she looked around with a frown in her face.

After taking a couple of turns and finding myself near the kitchen, whoever dragged me let go of the hem of my clothes, making me fall down on my bottom. Looking around confused, what I saw left me slightly surprised.

It was Crys, or rather, Cyg in her larger elemental form. Looking at her confused for some time, she stared at me for a few seconds before finally sighing and shaking her head.

“What did you...?” I started, but she quickly interrupted me.

“I know I promised to avoid interfering with the game...” She started before I could finish the question before putting a pensive face. “But then, it’s not like I’m interfering with the game itself.”

“What do you mean?” I asked confused while feeling my head strangely light. She turned to me and put on a strangely weary smile.

“Gon, you were starting to be affected by the alcohol too, you know?” She said with a sigh, which made me widen my eyes for a moment.

It looked like she was about to say something else, but she stopped looking towards the kitchen door. A moment later, her large form was gone and the small body was back, to which she quickly floated to me and sat on my shoulder.

Not a second later, the door opened and one of the crewmember came out carrying a new barrel of wine. He looked at me surprised.

“Did something happen?” He asked for a moment, but Cyg shook her head.

“No, Master is only recovering from the alcohol a bit.” She said with a serious tone. The crewmember laughed a bit at this before pointing towards the kitchen.

“There’s some water in there if you need it.” He said before turning back to the hallway. Crys nodded in response after a brief thanks.

Once the crewmember was gone, she sighed deeply and turned back to me.

“Back to the previous matter...” She said, and I nodded. “Your thoughts were being a bit distorted back then, so I decided that it would be better to stop you before you did something you would... regret.” She said in a strangely slow tone.

I looked up and nodded slowly. Now that she told me, I do feel that my thoughts are a bit distorted right now.

“Thanks, Crys.” I told her while using my hand to pet her head. She widened her crystalline eyes a bit before nodding.

“Hmm… I wouldn’t like if you and Yuu regretted what happened and started to act awkwardly...” She said in a low tone. “That and...”

“And…?” I asked confused, but she shook her head.

“Nothing.” She said, leaving me suspicious for some time. “A-Anyway! Altough the minimap doesn’t really help while inside large vehicles, it would probably be better for you to go somewhere until the two of you recover from the alcohol.”

I stopped and nodded after a moment, raising myself from the ground and walking around while making my way to my room. At least I wasn’t swaying like a drunkard, nor did I feel like the ground was unstable, so I guess I’m still not that much of a goner.

After crossing the path to my room, I reached there and came in, not really waiting too much since the door was unlocked. As both me and Argento stored everything in our inventory, there wasn’t really much to worry about having stolen.

After coming in, I quickly locked the door without much worries and gave the key to Crys in case I fell asleep and Argento wanted to come in. Once inside, I sat down on the messy bed and made a signal for Aura to come up.

Strangely enough, Aura refused and simply laid on the ground besides me. As both Lieutenant and Rio were still up at the feast, this left me with no other option of fluffyness, so I simply laid on my bed and decided to wait until I could feel my head clearing up again.

Or so would have happened…

“Eh… Teacher?”

Are you effing kidding me?

While thinking so, I quickly got up and looked to my side, where I found a still red-faced Lily laying on my bed besides me. No wonder the bed was messy!

“Lily… What are you doing in my room?” I asked a bit weary. The undine tilted her head in confusion and looked around in shock.

“Eeeh… This isn’t my room?” She asked in a groggy and confused tone. Finally, her eyes landed on me and she shrugged. “I get to have teacher for me alone? Hooray!”

OI! WRONG LOGIC THERE! EVEN THE DRUNK ME KNOWS THAT!

Sadly, I didn’t have enough time to react before the Undine threw herself at me, hugging me around the neck while rubbing her head against me.

I quickly reacted to her by pushing her away from me, and luckily enough, my strength stats seemed a bit better than hers, since I somehow managed to push her away. But she kept squirming her way back to me.

I turned to Crys asking for some help, and she sighed loudly before approaching me and helping to pull the girl away from me. However, before we could pull the girl away, a dreaded sound echoed through the room while the temperature dropped by a few degrees. Literally.

The four of us turned to the door like badly oiled machines, only to see a certain kitsune with a really ominous aura around her. She barely spared me a look before settling her eyes on Lily. Yuu calmly walked towards her and grabbed her by the arm before walking back to the door.

Once there, she literally kicked Lily out of the room and said.

“I am the only disciple Shishou needs.” She turned back and closed the door behind her, then settled her cold gaze upon me, a slight blush still staining her cheeks.

“Err… How… How did you unlock the door?” I asked worried while crawling back on the bed in fear.

“Old locks like these have simple mechanism. Once you understand that, it’s really easy to pick them.” Isn’t that a surprising logic for a drunkard? What with this disparity between the two girls? As she finished her short speech, she sat on the bed before leaning towards me, a clear frown in her face. “I am really angry with Shishou right now.”

“Huuh… Why?” I asked while leaning back, only to be stopped by the wall.

“Shishou left me so that he could stay with another girl… I do not like that!” She said with a pout. “You were even going to pet me! Shishou is a big meany!”

“Huh… Sorry?” I said while looking at Crys in worry. She also looked lost on what to do.

Then, Yuu grabbed my cheeks and redirected my face towards her.

“No looking away from me!” She complained in a surprisingly childish tone. “Right now, Shishou is mine and mine alone!” She said as if starting a tantrum, before stopping and looking back at me. I gulped in worry at the lack of distance between the two of us. “Right now, I don’t want Shishou looking anywhere that isn’t me. You have to pay for leaving me alone!”

I nodded weakly at her, and this seemed to make her satisfied, because she let go of my cheeks and leaned even closer.

“But now I want more than Shishou petting me.” She said with a strangely serious face. “Now I want something that shishou, and only shishou can do with me.” She leaned even closer to me, her arms and tail gently coiling around me as she hugged me gently.

“What I want Shishou to do, with me… is...” She said in a low tone, her face blushing a bit more than before..

But suddenly she stopped, blinking surprised as blue window popped up in front of her. She stared at it in confusion for a moment before pouting and swaying the window away angrily. Sadly, it also ended up hitting the crystal maid straight in the head just as she got close to the kitsune.

“MOOOU! Don’t get between me and Shishou!” She complained before turning to me with her eyes slightly moist. “As I was saying. There is something I want to ask Shishou...” She started, but thanks to her lost momentum, I managed to interrupt her.

“L-Look Yuu, I… I don’t think your father would like if we did it while you are like this...” I said while pushing her away.

“Father has nothing to do with it.” She complained while shaking my hands away from her and leaning in once again. “Besides, what I want… From shishou...” She started once again, her face blushing once again.

And just as she leaned close to my ear, preparing to whisper her demand...

The boat shook, throwing both of us out of balance and making her fall against my chest.

“IT’S PIRATES BOYS! ALL MAGES GO MAN THE DECK WHILE ALL GUESTS GO DOWN TO YOUR ROOMS!” The captain shouted from the main deck. “THE REST GET YOURSELVES SOME DECENT WEAPONS AND PREPARE FOR BATTLE! WE PICKED A BAD NIGHT FOR A DINNER, BUT IT’S NEVER A BAD NIGHT FOR A FIGHT!” He shouted as movement started on the upper decks.

Meanwhile, back in my room, with Yuu recovering from the sudden impact…

“...once again… my time… with Shishou...”

I heard something snap.

While feeling some pity towards the poor pirates, I couldn’t help but be somewhat thankful to them at the same time.