The Mage of Primordial Chaos

Chapter 487: Cruise Ship

– The Next Morning –

“Alright… so, uh, how are we going to get to Japan?” I asked during breakfast, as the girls were gathered around the table. “I can’t use Space Magic to teleport us over there, since I haven’t been there before.”

“Let’s, fly,” Xiuying said with a determined look, but the idea was immediately shot down.

“Certainly not,” Yu An Yan said sternly. “Not all of us here can fly, and even if we didn’t have to carry some of us, the journey would still be far too long. Our mana wouldn’t last, with the exception of maybe Xuan Kai and Mei Gui.”

“Then what should we do…?” Lan Xiao Su asked, bummed.

“Fufu… don’t you all think you’re overthinking this a bit?” Ling Xin said, giggling softly. “Instead of relying on magic… can’t we just go the normal way?”

“The normal way… Oh yeah!” Qing Yue smacked her fist against her palm, eyes lighting up. “Why didn’t we think of that? We can just go by ship!”

“Like… a cruise?” Lin Luo raised an eyebrow.

“Yep!” Qing Yue replied happily, clapping her hands together. “This is a good way to broaden our horizons too, you know. Personally, I’ve never been on a cruise ship before, so I want to see what it’s like!”

“Uh… we could also fly there, but cruise is fine by me,” I said. “Any objections?”

The girls all shook their heads, so with that, it was decided. We would be going to Japan by cruise.

*****

“… Uh, excuse me, what?”

“Like I said, sir, because of an impending storm, all cruises and flights to Japan have been canceled for the day.”

“But the sky’s as clear as day outside…” Flaria muttered, and Lan Xiao Su turned to the receptionist. 

“Um… are you sure there’s going to be a storm…?”

The receptionist who was tasked with helping us sighed, not even bothering to hide his exasperation by this point.

“Look… I just follow orders and relay information, alright? The higher-ups told me all cruises to Japan are canceled today, so I’m telling you the same thing they told me. If you check any airport in this country, they’ll also say the flights are canceled. If you don’t believe me, you can also check the weather forecast.”

“But we really need to get to Japan today…” Qing Yue begged, puffing her cheeks out and staring at the receptionist with the sad puppy dog eyes. “… Please?”

The receptionist, faced with this adorable image, was conflicted. “Like I said… begging me isn’t going to help… I’m saying this for your own good, you know?”

“Hey…” Feng Mian suddenly stepped forward and leaned on the counter, getting daringly close to the receptionist. She made sure to set her breasts on top of the counter so that they jiggled a bit, and she shut one eye before smiling alluringly. “… If this place doesn’t offer any cruises to Japan today… could you refer us to somewhere that does? I’m sure you know, don’t you? If you tell me… I might let you get a glimpse…”

She stuck out her tongue and moved her hand to the buttons on her collar, and immediately, the receptionist’s nose began bleeding before she even did anything.

“A-Ahem!” He hurriedly covered it up with his sleeve, and tried his best to regain his composure. Faced with Feng Mian’s natural beauty and alluring body paired with her succubus charm, he could hardly even speak, but managed anyway. Truly impressive.

“U-Uh… there’s a private ship owner down by the docks… his name is Zhou Chihuang. If you really want to, go see him. There’s no guarantee he’ll accept, but… he’s your best bet. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Yay!” Qing Yue cheered, and Feng Mian backed away from the counter with a happy smile on her face.

“Thank you~!”

With that, we left the line, leaving the receptionist in shock.

“W-Wait! What about my promised ‘glimpse’?!”

“Oh, that~ I let you glimpse at my face, didn’t I?” Feng Mian giggled with a wave. “Hehe~ goodbye~”

*****

“Right… so, the docks. Which way to there…” Feng Mian murmured as she scanned the map after we ditched the poor receptionist just like that.

“Man…” I sighed and shook my head. “That poor guy back there… completely fell for it.”

“Heh~ were my charms impressive?” Feng Mian asked me, wrapping her arms around mine.

“Of course,” I snorted without even blushing. “You’re a half-succubus. It’d be weirder if your charms weren’t impressive.”

At this, Feng Mian pouted slightly. “Hmph… you really know how to ruin a girl’s mood, y’know?”

“Huh? Did I say something wrong?”

At this, all the girls around me gave a collective sigh except Mei Gui, Lorelei, and Xiuying.

“… You still have a long way to go in the arts of women, Big Brother Xuan Kai,” Qing Yue said with a smile.

I sank into thought. “Hm… I suppose I do.”

*****

It didn’t take long for us to reach the docks, using the map we had picked up inside the cruise ticket-buying building. Of course, we couldn’t actually enter the docks, since those were all fenced around and only those who bought tickets could enter and board the ships through there, but we were still by the seaside. And a short distance away, a single battered-up ship lay in the water, connected to a wooden dock.

A shed sat not too far away from it, door closed. There was only a single window in it, and it was quite small. I figured it was a tool shed, and decided to approach it to investigate.

“Hm… I wonder what kind of tools are stored in he-“

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“W-Woah!”

I hurriedly jumped backwards as the door suddenly was smashed open, and a fuming man walked out, angry and old. He glanced down at the broken wooden door beneath his feet, then yelled into the air.

“RAGHHH! I BROKE IT AGAIN! GOD DAMMIT!”

“Uh… are you alright?” I asked hesitantly, but the raging man turned his furious face towards me.

“DO I LOOK OKAY, DAMMIT?! UGHHH! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”

“Er… we’re looking for a cruise to take us to Japan,” Feng Mian said, speaking up. “You’re Mr. Zhou, correct? Could you, perhaps… take us there?”

“Nope, no can do, goodbye.”

The man, who was raging just a moment earlier, now turned his back on us and calmly waltzed back into his shed, causing all of us to gasp both at how quickly his temper changed and how his massive frame was able to fit in that tiny shed.

“Um… we can pay you?”

“HM?” The man suddenly busted back out of the shed, eyes widened. “PAY ME? WHERE? MONEY?”

“Uh… is this enough?” I handed him a 100 dollar bill, which he glanced down at and began trembling.

“Er, excuse me, sir?” Feng Mian waved a little. “Are you alright?”

Still trembling and refusing to let us see his expression, the man slowly pointed towards his battered-up cruise a short distance away, and spoke.

“… Get on.”

*****

Soon, we departed. The ship was hardly comparable to those luxury cruises not far away, but it was enough to fit all of us. Mr. Zhou sat in the captain’s cabin while the rest of us were told to stay out of it, and none of us were exactly eager to disobey him.

“What are you looking at, Xiao Su?” Yu An Yan asked, sitting down beside the bookworm and hidden idol of the group, who was busy on her phone.

“Erm… it seems there really will be a storm coming in about two hours, but from the clear and sunny sky we have right now, that is quite unbelievable,” she said. “Though I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see…”

“Eh, it’ll be fine,” Yu An Yan said. “Even if there is a storm, with Xuan Kai’s power, he can easily create a force field around us that renders the effects of the storm useless. Don’t worry, we’ll be ready when it comes.”

“Mm… I suppose that’s true. We’ll be ready.”

*****

– Two Hours Later –

“… We are so not ready for this!” Yu An Yan cried as she desperately held onto the railings of the ship, and Mr. Zhou gritted his teeth as he spun the ship’s wheel furiously to prevent it from flipping.

Outside, rain and lightning crashed down all around us. What had once been a bright, clear, sunny day was now a dark, cloudy thunderstorm. Thankfully, so far, we were spared from the lightning and howling wind of the storm thanks to the barrier Mei Gui and I were working together on upholding, but riding these tough waves were still going to be a challenge.

Yu An Xue and Lan Xiao Su were doing their best to calm the sea using their Water Magic, but it wasn’t doing all that much. 

“Ugh… how much longer of this?!” Flaria yelled, being held firmly by Amane for protection.

“Ngh… worst comes to worst, we can teleport away, but for now, just hold on tight!” Amane shouted in reply. “Mr. Zhou! How long till we drive out of this storm?!”

But contrary to our expectations, the captain of the ship was laughing.

Yes, laughing.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA! WOOHOO! THIS IS THE BEST! BRING IT, STORM! AHAHAHAHA!”

“… We’re in for a long haul, aren’t we?” Feng Mian said with a sad smile, clinging to a pole on the ship.