We spent two hours happily chatting away, stuffing our bellies to the brim. Rufus definitely received some stares. When he travels like this, he always likes to wear some black shades to complete his look. He rarely puts on his noble robe unless it is for official matters. Which, by the way, we are mostly in casual wear.
I brought it up before. The fact of my Equipment's appearance. Courtesy of this passage of time, I now have all of my Equipment slots filled out. Cool, right? And yet, my appearance doesn't look like I have them equipped at all. There's a neat little toggle button on my Character window, allowing me to turn my display off and on at will. If I want to wear casual clothing during events like this, I can.
And well, you know how we looked back inside the DG Cult and all. We couldn't...exactly wear that once we stepped into Messeldam. Rufus was kind enough to bring spare clothing for us while we 'crashed that party', but the first thing we did after finishing that meal was to go to a nearby clothing store. The selections they had didn't have as wide a selection as one would see back in Edith, but it served its purpose.
Rufus is now in a snazzy grey tux and dress pants. He definitely draws more stares now, haha! He likes to steal the show a lot, doesn't he?
As for me, I was now in a lightweight beige short sweater with a navy blue undershirt. The sweater wasn't zipped up all the way, which neatly outlined my muscles.
Sherryl was starting to take her role seriously. For whatever reason, the shop had a frilly maid uniform, so I just let her do what she wanted, and she put it on right away.
As for Tio, she picked out a simple black one piece skirt, which was very similar to the outfit she wore when she first joined the SSS. She lacked her choker, though.
Lechter, well, was Lechter. He kept his own uniform and didn't request to switch it out. He does have his points sometimes. At least he's serious about his work.
Van wore a simple black shirt and pants to match his hair. He's probably used to looking plain and all. Not really picky about his clothes.
Perhaps it was Ennea who surprised most of us. She ditched her assassin look, and actually put on a one-piece skirt. Similar to Tio but it looked even more surprising on Ennea. I was beginning to wonder if I was looking at the same girl.
"Do I really look that strange? Sir Rufus was right to say we need to adapt to the real world again. So I'm merely adapting to it. I do not keep wearing something light to make sure my mobility remains at its peak.", Ennea said. I shook my head.
"Haha, it isn't like that. You just caught me by surprise. You look great, Ennea.", I replied.
Hearing that, Ennea actually blushed from embarrassment, which earned another round of laughter. But one thing is true. We aren't tied to those caves any longer. It will take some time, but we have to get used to how the normal world works again. That's how much the DG Cult impacts a normal person.
We soon made our way back down to the docks, easily fitting in with other people. If anything, I was grateful to Rufus. Did he dress like this on purpose to draw away the stares on the rest of our group? That was definitely possible.
We then flashed our tickets, and boarded a private cruiser. It wasn't a yacht by any means, even though we could easily afford one. It was a medium-sized boat. Having a certified background really does wonders to get something like this. Lechter mentioned something about having a captain aboard the ship, but to keep our matters private, Rufus paid the clerk enough where this boat is just rented by us. No one else would be coming on board.
And apparently, Rufus has a boating license. Lechter probably does too, even though he isn't old enough yet to drive one. He's still around thirteen this year. You'd think he wouldn't even hold a job with the Intelligence Division due to his age, but Father accepts all talents.
With Rufus at the helm, he kept the cruiser steady, and we could hardly feel the waves sway the boat as we sped into the small gulf. Passing by a peninsula, the Northern Sea slowly opened up, and before long, all we could see was water. Do keep in mind it is still quite cold with it being winter and all. Rolling grey clouds shifted across the vast sky.
All of this was expensed by Rufus and I. I know money can be a sensitive topic to some, especially with the likes of Van for him being an adopted orphan and all. Due to the eminosity he developed with the Quincy Company, I doubt he received much. If any at all. He was a true-and-true street rat.
After being on the water for a little while, Rufus found a nice cruising speed before he set the automatic dial. Very similar to orbal airships, if you had the proper boat. One didn't need to manually pilot it the entire way. Rufus joined the rest of us.
Lechter immediately began doing what he did best.
Being a lazy ass.
From god knows where, he pulled out a foldable chair, and unfolded it on the left side of the boat. Jumping on it, he grabbed a fishing pole, and tossed the lure into the waters below. He even began to shut his eyes, and before long, all we could hear was his snoozing.
Lechter did all of this before our eyes regardless of wanting our opinion or not. We just stared at him with deadpan looks. Lechter was out of commission. Shrugging my shoulders seeing this, I sighed.
"Well, that's one way to enjoy a boat ride.", I retorted.
"I get the feeling this bimbo was looking forward to this out of all of us.", Van also retorted.
"Shall I toss him overboard?", Sherryl asked, feeling annoyed again.
"Lechter is a sleazebag.", Tio said, also retorting his actions.
"Please don't, Sherryl. He's our bodyguard, so if we lose his protection, who else is there to protect us?", I asked her.
"Umm. You?", Sherryl asked me. Hearing this, Lechter cracked one of his eyes open.
"Hey! The Young Master said we're on vacation, so I'm just doin' my job here. And 'cause you all said that, I won't be sharing any fish I catch with you all later.", Lechter responded.
"Haha, fine, fine. In all seriousness, you all can do whatever you want for these next two days. On the third day, we'll arrive on Nemeth Island. As for me, I need to reach out to someone. If you're interested, you can hang around. Otherwise, feel free to explore the deck to your hearts' content.", I said to everyone.
Yet hearing that, Rufus raised his eyebrows.
"You need to contact someone? Who might that be?", Rufus asked with interest.
"A friend. If anything, she might be a bigger sister to me? We studied under the same person a few years back before I met you all.", I said, keeping the explanation vague.
"A big sister figure? This is the first time I'm hearing about it.", Sherryl responded.
"I didn't take you to have relatives, knowing your status and all, Naoto.", Van also said, nodding his head.
"Well, we aren't related by blood or anything. Would you all be interested in seeing another magic trick?", I suddenly asked.
"...Another magic trick? Like that red sphere you made earlier?", Tio asked.
"Something like that. Same concept, but different effect.", I answered, causing Tio to nod her head acting like she understood me. Everyone else just remained confused. Sherryl was interested since she had seen a few spells of mine, but Ennea and Van stayed silent. Rufus was confused as for what I was talking about. He likely hasn't seen magic before.
Still, I glanced down at Lechter once more.
"Anddd, for a certain someone, you best watch now, or forever hold your peace.", I said, retorting at Lechter again. By the time I looked at him, Lechter put on some sunglasses. "Seriously?", I continued to say, looking at Lechter with a blank look in my eyes.
"What? I'm just out here livin' the life.", Lechter said with a grin. "Isn't that what you told us to do, Young Master?", Lechter asked.
"You...", I began to say, only to sigh once more. "Whatever, I don't care. You do you.", I continued. Instead I approached the west side of the ship.
All of a sudden, the air began to swirl around me. I activated some Mana. While a Witch's staff may act as a conduit and such for their spells, I thankfully am not bound by such a constraint. Courtesy of the Gamer System, probably.
Still, to make it look authentic, I activated my Inventory. Roselia lent me a training staff back in Eryn, so I pulled it out. It wasn't a piece of Equipment or anything, so it didn't override any of my Stats. Still, the group became shocked seeing my hand disappear into a black hole, only to see this staff come out.
"The hell? Is that a staff?", Van asked, still in shock.
"It is.", I replied, only to point my staff outward, and flipped it horizontally. A blue aura soon wrapped around my body, which startled them. Even Lechter lifted his sunglasses up to see me do this. Shock was written all over his eyes. Any wrong movement and he could see his fishing pole slipping into the waters beneath us, haha!
"Resound, resound, O voice everlasting...Rend Night's silent veil and reveal unto all the beautiful world. Open up, phantasmal window. Phantasmagoria!", I shouted, letting my Mana burst forth.
I had used an incantation, Phantasmagoria. No matter where you are in the world, it connects one space to another through a window. Before long, the atmosphere around us began to distort. Space tore through, revealing an image. It soon connected to another side. The moment it finished forming, I heard an excited voice speak through.
"Kyuuu!", Tamamo's voice happily said, reaching my ears. I smiled seeing Tamamo now before us, but she wasn't alone. I saw a figure I knew well.
"N-Naoto!?", Vita exclaimed, seeing me through her end.
"Oh good. Glad to see the both of you. The connection has been established.", I said, greeting Vita and Tamamo.