Right now I am cooking in the Grandcypher kitchen alone, because the crew members are increasing Usually Djeeta would help me cook for everyone...
But this time, Djeeta didn't help me cook at all for everyone. In the end, I could only sigh and refocus on cooking to make sure nothing gets burned.
Soon after I was almost done cooking, I felt someone approaching me which made me turn to look. It was Katalina, who seemed to be watching my cooking.
"Hey Rei, are you done? I'll help you bring it to the dining table," Katalina offered to help.
At least she didn't ask me to allow her to help me cook because Katalina is not allowed to touch kitchen forever.
"Yes, Katalina, that part is done so you can bring it to the dining table," I pointed with my head towards the food that was ready.
Katalina nodded and she gonna brought the food i pointed to the dining table, but she suddenly stopped as she was about to leave the kitchen.
"Um, Rei... you don't have to worry, I'm sure Djeeta and Lyria will return to normal later," then she left me.
Hearing that, I just shook my head and remembered the morning incident when Djeeta tried to wake me up as usual.
[Previously]
I'm walking towards Rei's room to wake him up, this is a daily routine that I do every time I wake up earlier than him.
Usually, Rei is the one who wakes me up because he always wakes up earlier than I do and go to Grandcypher deck to practices controlling his powers. Katalina and I also often help Rei train if we see that he isn't finished training yet.
"Hm~ hm~ hm~ hm~" I hummed as I saw that I was close to Rei's room... huh, isn't that Lyria?
I could see Lyria trying to open Rei's door, it seems like she also has the same idea as me.
"Hey Lyria, do you want to wake up Rei too?" I greeted Lyria.
Lyria was startled as she suddenly heard someone greet her and immediately turned towards me.
"Ah, Djeeta, yes I want to wake up Rei. If you're saying it 'too', does that mean you want to wake him up as well?"
Hearing that made me nod. "Yes, I want to wake him up. Besides, it's almost noon, and Rackam said we'll be arriving at Albion Citadel shortly."
Lyria then looked like she was about to open Rei's door since she had knocked on it and called out to Rei before, but received no response.
The two of us slowly opened the door, and finally, we could see Rei's room. Everything hadn't changed much compared to when I cleaned his room while waiting for Rei to return.
We both entered Rei's room slowly, and I started looking around the room.
It's been a while since I slept here with Rei. I couldn't sleep with Rei again since he fainted and suddenly disappeared.
Last night, I wanted to sleep beside him, but they waited too long for the imperial airship, so I accidentally fell asleep. But tonight, I'll make sure to sleep here.
I nodded in amazement at my idea, but it was short-lived because suddenly Lyria stopped in front of me, and I accidentally bumped into the back of her head.
"Ouch," Lyria held the back of her head, in pain because I bumped into her.
"Lyria, I'm sorry, is your head okay? Why did you suddenly stop like that?" I asked Lyria.
But Lyria only held the back of her head, looking wide-eyed at something, so I tried to see what Lyria was staring at.
...a..w....w....what? Why is there a girl with a very large chest sleeping while hugging Rei's head?
Lyria and I could see that Rei was sleeping, and beside him was a draph girl hugging his head and placing it against her chest.
They both looked sound asleep, as if they didn't have any problems at all and were just enjoying each other's company.
We both kept staring at this for a while because we didn't know what to do...
But it seems this won't last long because I can see Rei starting to move and open his eyes.
As I began to wake up, suddenly I could smell a pleasant scent in front of me, and this soft sensation... I don't remember my pillow being this soft.
I then started moving my right hand to feel what was so soft, but strangely, when I touched it, it felt odd... there was something bulge as I did this.
And as time went on, that something became hard, and finally I could hear something "Ahhh~"
...Wait, what? Slowly, I finally opened my eyes, and I could see what was in front of me... Someone's chest.
I could even see that her right breast the one I'm holding was sticking out of the clothing she was wearing because the buttons were undone... Oh wow, such a truly beautiful sight.
I wanted to admire this sight for a while, while Narmaya was still asleep, but suddenly I heard someone's voice.
"Rei... what are you doing?" I heard Djeeta's voice, sounding very angry.
Slowly, I turned to look at them, and I could see Djeeta and Lyria staring at me with blank expressions.
Seeing the two of them like that, there was only one thing I could think of 'i messed up...'
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
I brought the food I cooked to place on the dining table surrounded by the others.
Djeeta, Lyria, Vyrn, Katalina, Eugen, Rackam, Io, Rosetta, and Narmaya... Katalina and Narmaya seemed to be talking to each other, discussing sword techniques.
The others remained silent, waiting for all the food to arrive, and then I sat next to Djeeta who was avoiding eye contact. Hahh, I will talk to her later. For now, let's have lunch before we arrive at Albion.
A while later, after we finished lunch and I successfully explained to Djeeta and Lyria why Narmaya was suddenly in my room.
We were all on the Grandcypher deck, waiting to catch a glimpse of Albion Citadel in the distance.
"Oh my gosh! It's like a big, flying castle!" Lyria looked amazed seeing Albion Citadel from afar.
[IMAGE]
"That's right. Albion is a floating fortress city. The castle in the center and the city outskirts that surround it all float as one." Katalina looked happy as she explained it to Lyria.
"Hmm, I've never been here before, because this island is filled with the Erste Empire, so I always avoid this place. Don't want to get involved with them," Narmaya spoke as she looked at the island.
"And the imperial general is waiting for us there..." Vyrn also spoke, thinking about what the Empire's intentions were, claiming they want to make peace with us.
But we all know that it's just a bullshit...
"Humph! They want to make amends, huh? Sounds like a crock to me. A clever lady isn't fooled so easily!" Io said, even though at first she believed they wanted peace with us.
"Alright, everyone, I'll land the Grandcypher. Prepare the gear you want to take," we heard Rackam's voice shouting towards us.
Upon hearing that, they began preparing our equipment and weapons we wanted to bring, but I still staring at Albion Citadel because I felt like I would remember something about this place...
Not long after, we finally landed at Albion Citadel, and Rackam finished setting up the Grandcypher and lowering the anchor.
"Whew. The anchor's set now. So, Everyone, let's look around the city before our chat with the general," Rackam spoke to us.
What Rackam said had a point because if this is all a trap, we need to know every side of this city so we can find an escape route and return to the Grandcypher quickly.
We all started to descend from the Grandcypher and were about to leave the place, but suddenly we saw someone waiting in front of this place.
"If you're going to look around the city, perhaps I can give you a few location recommendations?" the woman spoke to us.
...Oh goddamnit, seeing that woman immediately made me remember the plot in this story, and I glanced at Katalina.
"Hm? Who are you? A local or something?" Vyrn asked the woman for her identity.
Vira... a blonde woman with red eyes, her hair styled in a ponytail, wearing clothing that clearly showed her cleavage, and a sword hanging at her left side.
[IMAGE]
"Vira..." Katalina said the woman's name in front of them.
"It's been quite some time, my dearest Katalina. I hope you've been faring well?" Vira directly approached Katalina, but Katalina seemed to step back a bit from her.
Seeing this, Vira stopped approaching Katalina and finally looked at all of us... but when she looked at me, I could see the hatred in her gaze.
...Why? I didn't do anything.
But she only glanced at me like that for a moment before returning to her usual gaze and waiting for Katalina's response.
"W-well, yes... And I'm glad to see you've hardly changed," Katalina looked uncomfortable as she answered Vira.
""Dearest Katalina?" Oh my gosh... Are you two sisters?" Lyria, who didn't understand what Vira meant, looked surprised, thinking they were sisters.
"Not quite, I'm sad to say... Katalina, why haven't you told them that you have a close friend in Albion Citadel?" Vira asked Katalina.
All this time, Vira just focused on Katalina and seemed to ignore the rest of us. I'm sure Narmaya could sense that too. But the others seemed to assume it was because they rarely met each other.
"Not to worry. I'll explain everything on the walk into the city." Vira said without waiting for our approval walked away, but before she left she glanced at Katalina one last time.
We all watched Vira leave, we just looking at each other while waiting for a decision from Djeeta.
"What else we can do, in the end we need guidance from someone if we want to see the whole city," Djeeta then started following Vira then all of us starting to follow Djeeta because she is the captain of this crew.