The ferry rocked heavily from the impact, and the passengers shouted in shock.
“Excuse me, miss!” The boatman was understandably agitated. “Don’t jump in like that! It’s dangerous, and you’ll startle the fish!”
“Eh heh heh... Sorry,” she apologized lightly, not looking particularly penitent. She seemed a bit younger than me, with curly golden hair flowing down her back and richly brown skin. As for her height and bust size... Ah, damn it. Never mind. Who cares about that?
She was dressed like she was out for a nice stroll around the block. Some would say she was traveling light, while others would have said she was woefully underprepared for a long journey. She was carrying a small sack for her belongings and a wooden stick whose purpose I couldn’t decipher. Overall, I got an “ordinary village girl who’d had a fight with her dad and run away from home” vibe from her.
“Do you have your fare, missy?” the boatman asked.
“Ah, yah, yah.” Turned out she was ready for a journey after all and paid her way when prompted.
“Now, never do that again.”
“Teeheehee... Real sorry. Ah, and I’m sorry to all of you too!” After being scolded by the boatman, she apologized to everyone and took a seat.
The fish-pulled boat sped up as we moved upstream. When I finally had a chance, I moved to sit next to the latecomer. Gourry followed, realizing I was up to something... or not. Who’s to say?
“Hi there!” I called to the girl casually.
She turned her brown eyes toward me. “Oh, hiya. Sorry for the fuss.”
I replied with a warm smile, “I’m Lina. And my companion here is Gourry.”
“Call me Ran!” The girl—Ran—took my outstretched hand and shook it. Her hand was so soft it shocked me a little.
“I was hoping to ask...” I said, still smiling. “You used a wind spell earlier to get on the boat, didn’t you?”
Most people couldn’t change the trajectory of their jump halfway through, so magic seemed like the only explanation. But here in the outer lands, where there was no sorcerers’ council and folks didn’t seem to know much about magic... just who was this girl casually using a wind spell like that? I decided to ask her straight-out and see how she reacted rather than trying to dance around the subject. And in reply, she said...
“Awesome, eh? An elf taught it to me long ago.”
She’s bragging?! Is it not some giant secret? Wait a sec... “What?! You mean there are elves here too?!”
“Oh, yah, but not too many.”
Had I just hit pay dirt? Elves in the inner lands lived longer than humans and were more skilled in spellcasting. Getting in touch with one potentially meant a big lead on how to get home!
But even so... I knew that if I started grilling Ran on the spot, it might put even a bubblehead like her on her guard. So I swallowed my desire to do so and casually replied, “I’ve known a few elves myself.”
“For real? Zowie! How about that! What were they like?”
“Well, one only ordered cabbage at restaurants, and the other was really shy but a total braggart underneath it all.”
Ran cocked her head. “So you don’t like elves?”
“No! Those are just the elves I know! It’s not that I think all elves are like that!”
But our conversation came to an abrupt halt when...
“Hey! Boatman! Behind us!” one of the passengers called out.
Everyone turned around and saw turbulence in the river behind us. This wouldn’t be anything special, except... it was moving upstream! Rather, straight toward the boat!
“What’s that?!” I yelled.
“No way! It’s the rockeye!” the boatman shouted back.
“The what?” Gourry asked.
The boatman didn’t even spare a glance as he replied, “A big fish that eats bas! Damn it! What’s it doing here?!”
It eats bas, fish even bigger than humans? Just how huge is this darn thing?! If something that size attacked, it could eat the boat—or even us!
The boatman used his pole to spur on the bas fish. Either in response to him or the approaching danger, they sped up and pulled us along swiftly.
Still, when I looked back, I could see the wake steadily gaining on us! If I squinted, I could see a flat figure just below the surface. I couldn’t make it out in full, but judging by its basic silhouette, it could definitely swallow a bas in one go. In other words, this thing was sea-serpent-tier in terms of size. And it was gonna capsize us soon if we didn’t do something!
But... what could we do? If we’d been on land, I’d have happily left things up to Gourry, but he’d never be able to hit the thing underwater. A lightning spell from me would harm the giant bas too. And while an indiscriminate area-of-effect spell might chase the thing off even without a direct hit, it would also cause a wave that would capsize us.
Okay, then how about this?! I moved to the back of the boat and began chanting a spell aimed at the lurking black shadow chasing after us.
Dynast with thy frozen soul, slumbering below the earth...
Just then... I felt like my eyes met those of the beast under the surface.
Most attack spells would be physically stymied by water. But what about a spell calling upon the power of a mighty demon? All they consisted of was life, spirit, and magic. A little water wouldn’t make a lick of difference.
That thought passed through my mind briefly... And then I finished my spell! “Dynast Breath!”
This puppy borrowed the power of Dynast Graushera, one of five high-ranking demonic lieutenants. When I recited the words of power, the head of the creature in the water froze and shattered! The scattering fragments caused the surface to swell, but not violently enough to burst. The rest of the creature’s body, not fully covered by the magical ice, continued to writhe a little even as it floated to the surface. It soon stopped moving and drifted off into the distance, carried away by the river’s leisurely current.
It was only then that the other passengers spoke up.
“Wow!”
“Was that for real?”
“How did you do that?”
“You took out that big thing in one hit?!”
Honestly, all the oohing and aahing had me a little bashful.
“That’s amazing! Was that magic?!” Even the boatman joined in.
“Well, yeah...” I responded impudently.
“Wait, are you a court magician?!”
“Not exactly, no...”
“Either way, you saved us! The rockeyes aren’t usually so aggressive, but that bastard acts like he owns this river. They say that if you encounter him, you should abandon ship and consider yourself lucky if you survive. I’ve known quite a few men who’ve lost their boats and their fish, so... thank you. Thank you so much,” he said, then turned away.
So that was the story, huh? I’d only seen the creature with its head blown off, so I had no idea what kind of beast it really was.
The next thing I knew, Ran was right beside me, looking at me with sparkling eyes. “Nissy Lina, you’re amazing!”
“Nissy?!”
“Oh, sorry! That’s what we say back home!”
“You do?” I just thought she was trying to be cute!
“Yeah. Here they’d say... Lady Lina!”
“That’s a bit much!”
“Should I call you ‘Lady’ instead?” Ran asked, cocking her head.
Nissy and Lady... I wasn’t exactly fond of either. “Just call me Lina.”
“Oh, but I couldn’t do that! Nissy Lina it is, then!”
“Ah, fine. Whatever.”
I hated the idea of being called “Lady Lina,” so I decided to just chalk this up as the lesser of two evils.
When I stopped to think about it, though, the nature of language was to change over time, and given what we’d learned, it was no surprise there were places where odd-sounding words had sprouted up. Much as it annoyed me...
Ran responded, scratching her back with one hand, “Oh, it’s nice we can understand each other even though I’m not from here, but sometimes the little things are real different. Like the laughter! I couldn’t believe it!”
“Even the laughter is different?”
“Yeah. At home, nobody goes ‘hahaha.’ They go ‘eh heh heh’ and such. And the dark lord in children’s stories goes ‘teeheehee.’”
“How is that intimidating?!” That sounds cute! While words might change, at least apply yourself and give us a ‘keh heh heh’ or a ‘bwahaha’!
“Well, to us, ‘teeheehee’ sounds real wicked!”
“Does it...?”
I wondered... What if Norst had sent me and Gourry to a region closer to Ran’s homeland? Just the thought of it exhausted me. I was gaining a new appreciation for the importance of dignity in language.
“So,” Ran began, “Nissy Lina and Rostir Gourry...”
“Rostir?!” Gourry and I said in unison.
“Oh, Rostir means—”
“Forget it. Just keep going,” I interrupted dismissively.
“Rostir...” Gourry muttered with a frown and a furrowed brow.
“So, where are you headed, Nissy Lina and Rostir Gourry?”
“Ah... Right. We’re on our way to the capital for now. There’re some things we need to look into.”
“Hmm... Say, can I come?” Ran asked capriciously.
“I don’t mind, but... are you sure? You aren’t heading somewhere yourself?”
“Nope!”
“I see. No destination in mind, eh?” I don’t know why, but even now that I understood her weird colloquialisms, I still couldn’t help but worry about the girl. I felt like adding Ran, who was also a stranger in these parts, wouldn’t be much of a boon to our already clueless party... Still, I wanted to ask her more about the elves she’d mentioned, and I had no particular reason to keep her at arm’s length. “Then let’s head to Palbathos together. We can go our own ways there if we want.”
“Okey lokey!” Ran said, throwing her left hand in the air... And her face went a little pink as she waved her hand side to side. “Sorry, flubbed it. I meant to say ‘okey dokey.’”
“I don’t understand either one,” I said extremely calmly.
As it turned out, having Ran with us wouldn’t be bad at all... In fact, it would be welcome. I just didn’t realize how much until that night.