The massive hull split the water apart, sending ripple after ripple across the emerald-green river.
A scattering of seabirds perched on the mast, with the occasional one circling lazily in the air.
“Why don’t they just transport their cargo to the port using their own fishing boats?
Wouldn’t the profit margins be higher that way?” Lara stood on the deck, watching the occasional sailor pass by.
Most of them were on patrol, taking in the breeze and savoring this rare bit of downtime.
After clearing the narrow pass downstream of the village, the river had grown noticeably broader — wide enough now that several cargo ships of this size could sail abreast with plenty of room to spare.
In Lara’s mental schema, water meant safety: no demons, no fierce beasts.
Nina didn’t rush to contradict her, instead patiently launching into a story for Lara’s benefit.
“Did you know this river didn’t actually used to be this wide?
They say that back in the day, merchant ships passing through this stretch of water used to run into all kinds of things — river bandits, monsters, the occasional demon too.
And every encounter would turn into a full-on battle.
Fights between mages and monsters aren’t anything like ordinary brawls — they tend to devastate huge swathes of land.
Over time, the soil got loosened and washed away by the current, the river kept getting wider and wider, fewer and fewer people would dare pass through, and that’s how we ended up with the current situation — ships banding together in convoys to move cargo.” The story wasn’t long, but Nina told it with such vivid expressiveness — pairing every line with gestures — that Lara, already prone to vivid imaginings, could practically see the mages dueling it out, like one Frieren going at it with another Frieren.
“Is that really how it happened?” Lara nodded with the half-comprehending air of someone trying to look like they understood.
She hadn’t realized this world had things like that going on — watching the anime, she’d never have imagined anything of the sort, since basically everyone in the show was a good person, and you certainly never saw any river bandits.
Watching Lara nod along so earnestly, Nina’s lip twitched.
How was someone this naive supposed to survive in a world like this?
You could probably con her into having three kids for you.
“I’m messing with you, I’m messing with you — don’t take it seriously.
The truth is just that there used to be incidents where demons attacked ships here.
After all, this stretch of water isn’t so wide that magic couldn’t reach across it.
So we avoid trouble where we can.
Better safe than sorry.” Lara’s cuteness had stirred Nina’s conscience — she couldn’t bear the thought of letting her go on being fooled, and so she came clean of her own accord.
Just who on earth would do that to a cutie like little Lara?
She mentally cursed whoever it was to a lifetime of nagging guilt.
For Lara, though, there wasn’t much practical difference between the two versions — either way, the takeaway was that the river wasn’t absolutely safe.
Especially given that she knew Aura was somewhere in the vicinity.
Staying out on the deck was also so she’d be the first to know the moment danger arrived, and could be ready to make a run for it.
Aside from the cargo, this ship was carrying just over twenty people in total — a few sailors and a dozen or so mercenaries.
According to 0083’s identification readings, not a single person on board had mana over fifty, which meant there was no mage on this ship.
Lara drew in a deep breath.
Hssss~ Exhale.
To ease her own tension a little.
She felt she was wound up too tight.
The fact that a mere dozen or so mercenaries were enough to escort a cargo ship through here meant this river was actually pretty safe — no reason to keep jumping at every shadow.
BOOM!
A thunderous crash arrived with a violent shudder.
Lara, already wound up, gripped the railing with all her strength.
She hadn’t expected something to happen the very second she let herself relax — her body shifted reflexively into a stress response, and with a sharp CRACK, the railing snapped clean off.
“Lara!” “Monsters!!” Eh?
What’s going on?
The sudden lurch left Nina with no spare attention for anyone else.
Lara, before she could even process what was happening, tumbled straight into the water.
The turbulent current made it impossible for her to figure out which way was which — but at least this time around she had stamina to spare, so she wouldn’t just end up as a corpse drifting downstream.
“Someone’s overboard!
Get more rope and a board over here, and ready the harpoons!” Before the ship’s hull had even steadied, a middle-aged man appeared at Nina’s side.
His voice was low.
He took a rope from a mercenary’s hand and tied it around himself, ready to leap into the river at any moment.
Several mercenaries took up positions on either side of the deck, harpoons in hand, poised to throw.
Lara kept adjusting her position in the water, and a moment later she broke the surface — coughing up a few mouthfuls of water — but she was already some distance from the cargo ship.
She had no idea what had caused the hull to lurch like that.
All she could do was swim toward the ship as best as she could.
“Don’t move!” Before Lara could splash her way more than a few meters forward, she heard the shout and instinctively stopped swimming.
The next instant, a shadow loomed overhead.
SLAP — a large wooden board crashed down into the water beside her, the splash spraying so hard she couldn’t open her eyes.
A rope was bound tightly to the board, and right after it, a middle-aged man landed on top of the board, harpoon in hand.
He reached down, gave a single pull, and hauled Lara clean out of the water.
“Pull!” At the man’s command, the sailors on deck heaved together in unison.
Lara, dumped onto the board, couldn’t keep her footing — she stumbled and ended up dropping to her knees on it, frightened enough that she clung to the board for dear life.
The man swept his eyes around them, as if waiting for something.
“Captain!” At that moment, time itself seemed to halt.
As if sensing something, Lara slowly turned her head — and saw an enormous sea serpent leaping out of the water, its razor-sharp teeth less than a meter from her face.
Terror seized her, her breath caught in her throat, and everything that had happened over the past few days flashed before her eyes in rapid succession.
83, Aura, Uncle Haiven, Nina…
And a single, biting harpoon!
With a wet PFFTT, it plunged straight into the sea serpent’s open mouth and burst out through its back.
The man braced his left hand against the upper jaw, planted his right foot on the lower jaw, and balanced on the board with nothing but his left foot.
Before the sea serpent could even begin to writhe, a flash of cold light streaked through the air — several more harpoons flew over from the cargo ship and skewered the creature outright.
For a single instant, Lara felt her heart had stopped beating.
Once again, she’d brushed shoulders with the god of death.
Blood gushed in torrents from the puncture wound where the sea serpent had been impaled directly above her, pouring down onto her head until she couldn’t open her eyes.
Bathed in blood, she gave a physiological gasp — and as her breathing came back, the blood was sucked straight down into her lungs.
Perhaps sensing death closing in, the sea serpent thrashed wildly, trying to get back into the water.
The man they had called Captain shifted his stance, wrapping both arms tightly around its lower jawbone to keep it from opening its mouth or escaping — but its struggling threw the board’s center of gravity completely out of control.
Lara coughed a couple of times and tried to stand up to readjust her position, but the blood mixed with river water had turned the surface slick.
One foot slipped straight into the water, and the board, no longer controllable, flipped over entirely.
Lara immediately held her breath.
The taste of blood filling her mouth made her, almost involuntarily, swallow—— A single gulp.
She opened her eyes — and the sea serpent’s gaping, blood-soaked maw was already right there in front of her.
‘Existence replication — effect notable.’ Grip Strength +7kg, Mana +1 I don’t want to die.
It was the only thought left in Lara’s mind.
With a powerful twist, she dodged the sea serpent’s strike and at the same time grabbed hold of the harpoon embedded in its body, pressing herself flat against the creature.
The air in her lungs and her stamina were both bleeding away fast.
She climbed along the shaft of the harpoon up to the serpent’s neck, wedged the harpoon under her armpit to form a kind of locked embrace, and sank her teeth deep into its vital point.
Blood poured forth in a steady stream — and with each swallow Lara took, the strength in her arms surged stronger and stronger.
Maybe it was the lack of oxygen — Lara had no memory of what came after.
By the time she registered anything again, she was already back on the deck.
“Little miss doesn’t look that built — never would’ve guessed she’d be that strong!” “My respect, my respect.
I really can’t measure up to this little girl.” “Lara!
Lara!
Are you okay?!
Can you still hear me?!” Lara sat collapsed on the deck, coughing endlessly.
The voices of the mercenaries rose and fell around her.
Nina knelt behind her, supporting her, patting her back in an attempt to make her feel a little better.
“Nina…” Lara turned her head ever so slightly and caught sight of Nina’s face.
Her lips trembled faintly — she managed to squeeze out those two syllables before passing out cold.
P.S.: This is the most over-the-top black-long-straight setup I could come up with.
P.S.
= Author’s note ____ ________________________________________ 🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push…
and you can help!
The romance won’t stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P).
You know that’s where the magic happens…
😉