“I’m on a date with my darling~ Date with my daaaarling~~” Lisa sang as she held my hand while skipping along beside me.
The previously serious Alchemy professor was nowhere to be found right now.
“Lisa? Why are we in the Commoner’s District?” I asked.
Not that I have anything against this place in particular but if I wasn’t wrong, we would be attending a party hosted by a noble family. That means we would need to dress up well enough to suit the occasion, even if everyone’s identities would be hidden during that event.
I don’t think this place would sell clothes that would fit the occasion, is there? I’d think that the minimum level would be at the Merchant’s District, right?
Lisa giggled, “Ehehe~ We’re not actually going to buy the clothes here, Aster~ The place we’re going is further out~”
Further out? Do you mean beyond the city walls? Is this a case of some genius seamstress or seamster that chose to live outside the city for their art or something?
She then guided me down a rather familiar path and I quickly realised we were headed down towards the docks.
When the harbour came into view, a very familiar ship was anchored there, visible from the city itself. 𝐎𝑽𝓵xt.𝑐𝗈𝓶
“Emilia is here?” I asked, remembering that money loving Nekomata girl from not too long ago.
Lisa started giggling like she had successfully pulled off a prank, “Ehehehe~ That’s right! She arrived just this morning~ So I thought we could pay her a visit today and maybe even do our shopping on her ship!”
“Ehhh… Then we should have told the others to come along as well.”
She pouted at me, “They can come over tomorrow instead! Today we’ll just focus on choosing our dress for the party!”
In other words, Lisa just really wanted that date with me.
I’m not that insensitive so I just smiled and took her by her arm, “Alright then~ I’ll be depending on you to escort me, Lisa~”
She actually let out a soft squeal of happiness before moving to wrap her arm around mine and pulling me towards the ship.
No, I will not be calling the ship by its name.
“Let’s go, Aster! Emilia’s Floating Pussy awaits!”
Damnit…
We quickly reached the gangplank of the ship where a crowd of people seemed to have gathered.
I was thinking that it was the queue to get on board the ship but angry shouting from the people there told me otherwise.
“What do you mean we can’t get on board?! I was looking forward to a shopping spree on your ship! How could you turn us away?!”
“I’m sorry but those are our captain’s orders. We are not opening up our stalls this time, please step back.”
Lisa and I shared a look before heading towards where the crowd was arguing with the guards.
“What kind of crap are you spouting?! This has never happened before! We deserve an explanation for this!” Someone in front of the crowd shouted.
The guard raised his hands in a placating gesture, “I know you are all upset, but please understand that our captain has already decided this. We cannot allow anyone to come aboard!”
“At least tell us why the change!”
“I’m sorry, but the details for this is a company secret that I am not allowed to disclose. Please understand.”
Of course that did not help abate the crowd’s anger at all though I’m wondering why they were so desperate to shop there in the first place?
I mean… I get that Emilia brings various goods from all over the World, but aren’t they more of luxuries instead of necessities?
In that case, it shouldn’t really bring about such outrage from the masses just because they can’t get to get on board the ship this time right? Like I would understand if it was just some disappointment but an outrage seems to be a little too much? Are these people all shopaholics?
Maybe it’s just me who doesn’t understand?
“I guess we won’t be able to buy those dresses from here…” I muttered to Lisa.
Lisa made a face at me, “I think we should go and check what’s going on… Knowing how much she loves money, the fact that she would close up shop like this means that there must be a really big problem happening…”
“That is true… But I don’t suppose we can just go there and ask the guards to let us in could we?”
“Hmm… We don’t need to! We can just sneak in later when it’s dark!”
“… Doesn’t that create a whole new host of problems on its own?” I pointed out.
She waved her hand, “It’ll be fine! I’m sure even if we get caught, Em wouldn’t mind either!”
Err… I guess she would know Emilia better than I do… But maybe we should get out of here for now since there are a few people giving us weird looks. Most likely they were wondering if we were actually being serious about trying to sneak in since Lisa didn’t exactly keep her voice down when she was suggesting that.
She agreed with my suggestion with a curt nod and we got out of there, leaving the angry mob behind.
*
When it got dark, Lisa and I snuck back to the harbour that was, surprisingly, still quite crowded.
Lisa was wearing a hooded cloak while I was wearing the [Mask Of Impossible Identity] just in case things go south and we need to escape. It would be quite terrible if we were branded as criminals then.
I pity the guards since it looks like there’s a constant stream of people just trying to get on board the ship and they keep needing to turn them away and repeat their instructions like a broken recorder.
None of that really mattered to us as we moved to a more secluded part of the harbour where we were planning to get on board the ship, which just so happens to be at the ship’s stern.
Lisa was really excited about this for some reason which I found quite odd.
“Err… why are you so excited?”
“Because Aster is going to fly us up there right?”
“Yes?”
She then spread her arms towards me cheekily and I realised what she wanted.
I picked her up in a princess carry and spread my wings open, trying my best to ignore the Infrid that was giggling like a love struck school girl in my arms.
It didn’t help that she went ahead to wrap her arms around me and gave me another deep kiss before I could leap into the air.
“I love you~ I love you~ Ahhhh~ I love you so much, Aster~” She moaned, finishing off with a few more kisses on my cheek before snuggling into my chest.
That would have been cute if she didn’t start sniffing my boobs so I just decided to ignore it and fly us up onto the deck of the ship.
She was quite reluctant to let go of me even then but eventually relented after I started poking her.
That was when the sound of several weapons being drawn were heard in front of us.
I looked up to see at least a dozen or so Nekomatas glaring at us, no doubt they were the guards assigned to patrol the ship’s deck.
“Captain was right… They really did come from the back… Let’s get rid of them,” One of them spat.
Woah, did they expect people to try to sneak on board their ship just to get to their shops too? Are there really people that are desperate for that? Or maybe it’s for their casinos?
Hmm… That makes more sense now that I think about it.
I raised my hands up, “Wait! We’re just here to see Emilia! She knows us!”
Unexpectedly, the guard slashed his sword towards me and I was forced to dodge it, pulling Lisa with me to avoid his attack.
Wait a minute?! Even if we were just people that tried to trespass onto a ship, wouldn’t it make more sense to just throw us back on the harbour?! Why are you trying to kill us?! The punishment doesn’t fit the crime!!
“Stay still you damn assassins! We’ll be sure to gut you and hang you by your entrails this time!!” The guard roared, slashing his sword towards me again.
What? Assassins? Wait, wait, wait…
Is that why they closed off their ship? Someone tried to kill Emilia and probably failed so they’re being alert against more coming for her? The fact that they suspected us must mean the assassin either escaped or they believe there’s more than one coming for her…
“We’re not assassins! We’re friends of Emilia here to see her!! You’re making a big mistake!!” I cried out.
“Nice try you bitch! Everyone, attack together!”
Ah fuck it.
[Darkness Paranoia]
The guard trying to attack me suddenly stopped in his tracks when his vision was covered with darkness. He then squinted his eyes before charging towards me again, as though that was just a minor inconvenience.
Ah, that’s right, Nekomatas have good dark vision…
In that case…
[Madness Infusion]
The guard hit by my spell let out a roar of rage and started to attack his own comrades.
“What the fuck?!”
“He’s gone crazy!”
“It’s the bitch! She’s controlling him! Subdue him, don’t kill him!”
I shot the spell at another guard to create more chaos and backed away to create more distance, trying to find a way out.
While they were distracted, I felt my hand being grabbed before I was pulled away by Lisa, the Infrid escaping the scene with me and running past the panicked guards.
“This way, Aster! I know the route to Emilia’s room! Follow me!”
Just to cover our escape, she also threw something that exploded into a smoke cloud behind us, hiding us from the guards.
Seriously… What kind of mess have we gotten involved in this time?