“U, Uweeeeeeek!!!”
A man was gripping the ship’s railing and dramatically vomiting toward the sea.
This man was none other than the world’s hope incarnate, the hero Raul.
He was currently suffering from seasickness.
He had run into an unexpected obstacle before even reaching the continent.
“Turn the ship around!! I feel like I’m going to die!!! Ha… Ha… Is there any… any seasickness medicine!!”
This was Raul’s first long sea voyage.
Moreover, the medieval-era ship swayed more than expected, making it difficult for him to adjust.
Seeing Raul struggle more than anticipated, Elf Tiffany appeared troubled.
“What should we do? This has never happened before. Victor, on the other hand, has never experienced seasickness.”
Jeanne agreed.
“I’ve never had seasickness either, so I don’t know how to handle it. If we leave him like this, he’ll get even angrier later.”
At that moment, the Saint Esther stepped forward.
“I’ll try casting a blessing spell. I should be able to heal the status ailment.”
Esther prayed next to Raul, who was vomiting.
A light began to radiate from the Saint’s body, and it enveloped even the nearby hero.
The two of them shone with the light together.
“Kind and merciful Goddess Ariane, please heal the status ailment that has befallen our hero.”
“Ha… Ha… What’s this…? I think I feel a bit better… My head is clearing up… I’m not nauseous anymore…”
“I’m glad I could help. I’m confident in my healing, blessing, and buff spells. No one is better than me at those.”
“Th-Thank you… I almost died… Unlike those other useless guys, Esther, you’re actually useful…”
“W-What are you saying? There are other members with far more experience who are much more capable than I am.”
Esther turned around as she spoke.
Tiffany the elf and Jeanne the knight were looking at her.
“First, Tiffany! I heard that, as someone of royal elven blood, you possess immense magical power. Elves’ mana is already greater than that of humans, but royalty’s mana is on another level, right? I’m really looking forward to seeing how powerful your magic is!”
“And Jeanne! You graduated with honors from the academy that only accepts the best knights from around the world, and you’ve led countless battles to victory. I heard that in front of your sword’s aura, demons can hardly breathe?”
“And Cynthia! The top graduate of the academy…”
“Huh? Cynthia? Where is Cynthia?”
Now that she thought about it, Cynthia hadn’t been seen for a while.
Tiffany and the elf looked around as well.
“Cynthia! Where are you?”
“Cynthia! Is something wrong? Let’s split up and look for her.”
Fortunately, Cynthia was quickly found.
She was secretly vomiting in the exact opposite location where Raul had been suffering from seasickness.
“Uweeeeek! Ughh… Ha… Ha…”
“W-What are you doing, Cynthia?”
Jeanne couldn’t hide her surprise as she spoke.
“Seasick? You…? That’s so rare… no, it’s almost the first time, isn’t it?”
“It’s not the first time.”
Tiffany spoke up.
“This has happened before, a long time ago… Do you remember? It was when we first met…?”
“Ah, now that you mention it, you’re right. Cynthia was seasick back then too. But you recovered pretty quickly, right? Esther!”
Jeanne called out to the Saint.
“Hey.”
“Please cast healing magic on Cynthia as well. She should recover quickly, just like Raul did earlier. After all, Cynthia isn’t that weak.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
Everyone thought the method that had worked on Raul would definitely work on Cynthia, who was much more experienced in travel.
However, even though Esther cast her blessing spell, Cynthia’s nausea did not stop.
“Merciful Goddess…”
“Ugh!”
“Ariane, please…”
“Uweeeek!”
“Please heal the status ailment that has befallen Lady Cynthia.”
“Uweeeeek!!!”
The magic wasn’t failing entirely.
A bright light enveloped both Cynthia and Esther, clearly visible to everyone around.
But the effect was nonexistent.
Cynthia continued to vomit, her face pale, just as she had when she first boarded the ship.
The most bewildered person was Esther.
“Huh? Why isn’t it working? Why isn’t it healing? Nausea and things like that should be easy to cure… Cynthia, are you okay?”
“Ugh! I… I don’t know why this is happening. I’ve never had anything like this before… Well, when I was younger, I was prone to seasickness and used to vomit a lot. But since joining the Hero Party, I’ve always been fine. Why am I suddenly like this? Ha… Ha… Sorry, but could you leave me alone for a bit? I’ll feel better once it’s all out.”
“I… I’ll try healing magic again.”
“Would you?”
Despite Esther repeatedly casting blessing spells, Cynthia’s condition didn’t improve.
Eventually, Esther’s expression became even more awkward.
She was puzzled as to why such a light ailment was proving so difficult to cure.
Why?
She had saved people on the verge of death with a single spell before.
Headaches, dizziness, nausea—these were minor symptoms that she had always been able to solve with minimal effort.
Was it because she was nervous?
No, but Raul’s condition had improved so quickly earlier.
Her magical power couldn’t have waned so quickly in such a short time.
Then what was the cause…?
‘Lady Cynthia is a genius who graduated top of her class from the Academy and published numerous papers in academic circles… Could it be that our magical powers are clashing because of our proximity? That’s the only explanation I can think of… No, honestly, that logic feels a bit forced. I don’t really know… I’ve never encountered a situation like this before.’
For a moment, Esther’s mind flashed with the warning from Senior Teresa, “There’s a secret within the Hero Party.”
But the Saint had yet to grasp even the smallest fragment of that secret.
Still, time passed, and the ship continued to cut through the waters, eventually arriving at the continent.
Cynthia’s vomiting showed no signs of stopping, but it wasn’t a major problem.
It was something that would resolve once they disembarked.
Sure enough, as soon as the ship arrived on the continent, Cynthia was the first to disembark.
Her hurried run toward the land looked somewhat comical.
“Hah! Hah! We… we finally made it… I thought I was going to die. I think I threw up everything I ate yesterday…”
“Are you feeling better now, Lady Cynthia?”
“Just call me Cynthia, Esther… Ha… You saintly types are too kind, you know.”
“Does that mean… Senior Teresa was similar to me?”
“Yeah. Teresa was a bit more comical, though. Anyway… seeing you reminds me of her coming back.”
“Maybe… it’s because I’ve been imitating Senior Teresa. She’s always been someone I looked up to. I can’t believe Senior Teresa would ever embezzle the party funds.”
“Do you happen to know anything about that incident?”
“…No.”
Cynthia said seriously.
“That incident was a difficult time for us, so we don’t really talk about it. But not many people know the full story. The reason is…”
At that moment, a loud scream echoed: Kiyaaaaaaak!!!
A giant lizard monster leaped out of the sea and crashed into the Hero Party’s ship, destroying it in one blow.
This was the continent. It wouldn’t be surprising for demons to appear and attack at any moment.
The party members still on the ship quickly jumped off.
Raul was even injured in the chaos.
“Ouch! What’s going on here?! What’s that monster?!”
“Esther. Let’s talk about this later.”
When the demon appeared, Cynthia’s expression changed completely.
As the magician responsible for the Hero Party, she began casting a spell that sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
“Fire God Agnir, burn my enemies to ashes!!”
“Agnir’s magic!”
Among the many spells, borrowing power from the gods to cast elemental magic was considered an A-rank or higher skill.
Only high-level mages—or true archmages—could use this magic without trouble.
Watching it in action was an honor in itself.
Esther opened her eyes wide, watching the battle of the Hero Party unfold before her.
This was the kind of battle she had always dreamed of!
“Kraaack!!!”
A dragon-shaped fireball shot through the lizard demon, incinerating it the moment it touched the water.
But that wasn’t the end.
“Holy Arrow!”
Tiffany the elf shot a powerful arrow infused with magic that pierced the demon’s eyes.
“Die!”
Jeanne the knight delivered the finishing blow.
With a brilliant display of swordsmanship, she dismembered the lizard demon.
The creature that had emerged from the sea was no longer a threat, having been killed.
However… in truth, it had already done its job.
The Hero Party’s ship had been destroyed… which meant that they had no way to retreat.
The only path left for the Hero Party was forward, no matter what awaited them.