Chapter 36:
Following Through

The wind flitted through the sails of the massive sea vessel, the flapping sounds fading into the background as the salty sea air pierced my nostrils.

God, it smells.

I wrinkled my nose and began breathing with my mouth. It didn't really do any favors for my train of thought, but it was better than nothing.

Said train of thought was about how exciting a boat ride would be, at least my expectations of it. It was obviously a thinly-veiled opportunity for a scene event. I mean, just picture it. It could be practically anything. Ares could grab me and point at some skipping dolphins along the horizon and say, "Look! Isn't that amazing?" and I'd say something like, "How awesome! Take me—"

On second thought, that's not right. Ah, I know! When you think of a ship, you've gotta think about being attacked by something like a sea creature. There was definitely a chance for it, I mean Ares and I were nearly chomped by one of those things and even that thing was small. And the sea is ginormous! There's got to be a tentacle monster out there, right?

Hm. Maybe I didn't notice how many visual novels I played that were geared toward men. That's fine, right? Gender equality means I can also watch tentacle… Well, that's better left unsaid. Like I've said before, reality is often disappointing.

Ares was doubled over in the cabin, retching and throwing up his lunch. It was honestly hard to watch, considering it took less than 30 minutes for him to go from astonished at the size of the ship to this.

For someone so confident in their strength, I couldn't deny that I wasn't expecting this. Ares had single-handedly downed an A-rank serpent yet had fallen to the whims of motion sickness. A bit ironic, all things considered.

But then, a momentary glimmer of hope showed up. On the fourth day on the ship, an octopus showed up. Well, it was different enough from its Earth counterpart, but it still had the signature tentacles and sickly blue skin that you'd picture when thinking of an octopus. Before anything could happen, an S-ranked adventurer team quickly crushed it, along with my dreams.

My dashed hopes aside, you might be wondering what was up with there being a dedicated group to protect the ship when the literal North God was on board. I had the same train of thought, so I questioned a nearby merchant about it. He informed me that these groups specialized in accompanying ships to their destinations. If Alek had interfered, it would've been stealing money from the people who earned it fair and square.

But I did manage to take away something from the whole experience. I'd sat back and observed in silence, just to grasp how they were fighting. The whole time, I'd thought that they were individually awfully weak to be an S-ranked party. The swordsman in the vanguard probably would've had a tough time dealing with Ares, despite his steadfastness. The tank of the group was certainly resilient, but couldn't hold a candle to Alek. The rearguard magician wasn't incompetent, seeing as how they stopped the octopus from advancing, but they weren't anywhere near as powerful as me.

I felt like I was being too harsh when I realized I'd internally scoffed at their alleged S-rank. I'd spent most of my life surrounded by prodigies and talented people, but even though I knew that well, I couldn't help but be disappointed. But that didn't sit right with me, considering that I wasn't just going around looking down on people. They'd made their efforts to get to this point, and even we hadn't advanced to S-rank for a reason. What was that reason, exactly? And that's when I noticed what I was missing.

A party's ranking system wasn't measured off of average party member rank like I originally believed. Rather, it took from how well a party worked together, and not how strong each individual was. Because when you're facing an opponent, it doesn't matter if you've got a heavy-hitter if your mage is a glass cannon. You only had to look at our encounter with the Black Drake to get an example of that happening within our own party. And while the party fighting the octopus wasn't outstanding on a member-by-member basis, it was the way their footwork and coordination flowed that pushed them to the top. Each person contributed, fulfilling their role in the party. That's teamwork, in essence.

And boy, did we have some work to do in that department. Each of the original three Dragon King's Odyssey members was powerful. I mean, that's how we managed to get to A-ranked in only a single year. But what of our teamwork?

Let me put it plainly: Alek sucked at doing anything other than tanking and one-shotting monsters in a team. He'd seldom let his intentions out, forcing Ares and I to make split-second decisions amid a fight because he neglected to tell us that he was going to let us handle it. But, that all made sense. For one, we had personally asked to be more involved in battles for the sake of our own improvement. And on the other hand, Alek's bold, confident attacks left almost no room for us in the equation. That's just how the North God Style is, it's mainly used for cornering an opponent or to adapt to any situation easily.

He was also, you're not going to believe this, extremely strong. Too strong, even. To be completely honest, he'd wipe our opponents off the face of the map instantly if we so much as asked. But, since we were stringing him along and forcing him to work with a team, things got distorted. I had a lot of battlefield practice in theory—in other words, just RPGs—but our situation was way too unique for any of it to be applicable. I had a habit of, when faced with a hoard of enemies, relying on Alek instead of using my ability to render the issue nonexistent. Whether consciously or not, I relied too much on him.

And, for as much as I liked him, Ares wasn't much better than either of us. He was brash, first and foremost. According to Alek, that was the one thing holding him back from attaining Advanced-rank in North God Style. For instance, Ares had a lot of trouble evaluating the risk vs reward output of a situation and often misjudged the risks he could take. If I had a penny for the number of times I had to use an Advanced-tier healing spell on Ares because he charged into an infested monster nest, I'd be rich. His one good point in battle is that he often tried to cover for me when I needed it, and he listened to directives well enough.

I'd originally been worried about what would happen to the two of us if Alek decided to abandon us somewhere for whatever reason, and how we'd work things out. But now, with reuniting with Mister Roxas, I don't feel that anxiety. Anyway, I wasn't wound up like a spring anymore.

I have both of my hands free now, which comes in handy. The uses for two hands were endless.

"Luuminaaa…"

As I was deep in my thoughts, I heard a zombie-like groan from the side of the deck. Ares's sickly and ghostly pale face nearly startled me as he drifted like a puppet to the edge of the ship and vomited.

"Whaddya doing… just sitting heea… when you could be healing me…" he groaned.

"Um… Just enjoying the view, I guess. You should take a look, really!"

"You're so…" Ares trailed off as he threw his arms around me. "So mean…!"

I've got to do something about this.

Day 5 of the voyage came around, and I was cooped up alone with Ares in one of the cabins. As you could guess, I was doing little more than taking care of him.

"A-Augh… I'll do anything… just heal me, please…"

"You don't have to do anything, silly. Just ask and you shall receive."

I was giddy, straight up. I mean, it was practically a complete role reversal of the first few times that Ares took care of me when I was… sick. It filled me with a sense of gratification to repay the favor after all this time. But that wasn't really the main reason. The true reason was a bit embarrassing, in all honesty. It was that the same boy that'd practically hissed at me from the wrong end of some metal bars was now lying defenseless before me.

So what if it's a weird thing to think?

Digressions aside, I distinctly remembered that seasickness was caused by an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. That system mostly takes care of involuntary functions in your body, like breathing, sweating, and sexual arousal. So, a healing spell here and there would fix it, right?

Wrong. Utterly wrong, even. I could reattach a hand if I wanted to, but apparently, sea sickness was out of my expertise. It helped, sure, but it wasn't a permanent fix. Thus, I was only left with the option of being by his side when he needed some remedy.

"Hey… Lumina…" Ares mumbled.

"What is it?" I responded.

"Thank you…"

Uncharacteristically forward for Ares, but I guess it's because he's sick. Heard that does things to what you try to say.

"It's no problem. Not like I'll run out of mana or anything," I waved him off.

"No… I meant… for being here…" he corrected himself.

"Oh," I said. I was taken a bit off-guard by him if I had to admit. "Of course."

"I'm sorry, by the way," he whispered.

"For what?" I asked.

"You know… getting mad at you the other day. It's just, no matter what I did, it was like nothing I tried worked," Ares admitted.

"Oh, that… You don't have to worry about it. I'm glad you're starting to figure it out now, though," I said.

"Like I said, I'm gonna work… my ass off so I can beat you. I'll show you that I'm strong," Ares promised.

"You don't have to prove anything, Ares. I know well that you're impressive, in all seriousness. But if you want to improve, I won't do anything to stop you. But don't think I'll just be waiting for you to catch up. I've got to get stronger, too!" I encouraged him.

If he's going to work this hard to get to my level, I can't slack off. I've got to give him something worth it.

"Well… maybe we should spar once we get off this boat," he offered.

"Sounds good," I replied, smiling and rubbing his head.

There was no one else in the cabin, even despite the size of the ship. Surely it would have had more passengers on it, but maybe it was because of the fees that demon folk would have to pay to get on the ship. Or because demon folk just found it that much easier to live on the Demon Continent.

In any case, the two of us were alone in a quiet, dimly lit room. And because healing needed direct contact with the skin, Ares was using my lap as a pillow as I had my hands wrapped around his head. Plus, he was sweating buckets, so his beast-hide breastplate was lying on the floor, and his school uniform-esque shirt was buttoned all the way down with his chest exposed. The intimacy of the whole situation was starting to weigh on me.

I was starting to feel strange. This wasn't a new feeling, of course, I'd mentioned it in one of my diary entries before. But to have it directed toward Ares was a whole different matter. What happened to me being a changed woman? Gah, this wasn't good. I need to take a breather.

"...I'm going to catch some fresh air. Holler if you need anything," I hurriedly said, gently laying his head on the cabin seat.

"Mhm…" he grunted.

The first thing I saw outside were storm clouds. They cast a looming shadow over the ship as if they were threatening to spill over and cause a downpour. I momentarily hesitated, conflicted as to whether or not to head back inside. I perked up when I heard some chatting on the deck, so I took the stairs up to see what was going on.

I was met with familiar faces once I arrived at the deck. Alek was conversing enthusiastically with Elinalise and Talhand, albeit with Talhand staying quiet as usual.

"Say, that sword of yours sure is impressive. I'm surprised you can just lob it around without a care in a world," Elinalise commented.

"It barely weighs anything. Try it out for yourself," Alek said casually, retrieving his sword from its straps and handing it to Elinalise. She yelped in surprise, backing up as the sword slipped from her grasp. It clattered to the ground with a reverberating thump.

"Just how do you manage to carry that thing? I couldn't even hold it for a second!" Elinalise asked, her eyes squinting in disbelief.

"Maybe I'm just used to it. I've had this thing for decades, after all," Alek said, sheepishly scratching the side of his neck.

Their conversation was cut off as a sailor yelled, "Heavy rain just up ahead! Take cover!"

The four of us jolted to attention as we collectively peered up at the sky. Like a bad omen, the wind was deathly still. But ahead, the clouds were lighting up like electrical sparks.

"Lightning storm," I whispered to myself.

Most ships didn't need to worry about going through rainstorms. But if they were particularly unlucky, or if they had too much metal shipment on board, they could be struck by lightning. For that purpose, there was a high demand for warding mages that could dispel the storms onboard. There was even a stand at the front of the ship designed to be a way for mages to cast spells without blowing away any of the sails or masts.

Including me, there were two mages on board, and one of them was the designated warding mage. In other words, I needed to get Roxas out here before the storm arrived. When we arrived, Roxas was offered some extra cash if he agreed to help in case of this situation. They apparently didn't have a proper warding mage until we arrived, and they were planning to just come to me if no other mage arrived. Anyhow, this was Roxas's job. And an important one, at that. I didn't want to get stranded out in the monster-infested waters because the hull of the ship got struck by lightning and split in two.

I'd rather not do another Titanic, please.

"Hey, do y'all know where Roxas is?" I asked after I approached the three. There were two floors of cabins, so I wanted to narrow down my search a little. I was in a bit of a rush.

"Last I saw of 'im, he was on the second cabin floor. He might be eating right now," Talhand answered.

"Are you getting him?" Elinalise asked.

"Mhm. I won't be long," I said, walking away and peering back to them. I hurried down the stairs and made my way onto the main deck. On my way down, I peered into the room that Ares was in. He was lying in an odd position, sleeping while blissfully unaware of the impending storm. After briefly smiling, I rushed to find Roxas. Like Talhand said, he was flipping through a notebook with a piece of jerky in his hand.

"Hey, Mister," I called out. He peered up from his book and looked back at me. "There's a lightning storm inbound," I said, hooking my thumb vertically.

"What are the chances?" he asked, setting down his book and getting up. He followed me out of the cabin and closed the door behind us.

"Mister, I recall you telling me not to use any spells that messed with the weather back in Buena Village. But here, there's a whole occupation for it. What's up with that?" I questioned as we made our way upstairs.

"Hehe. It's been some time since you've asked me a question like this. Feels nostalgic, somehow," he said. I nodded my head in agreement. It really does feel like we never parted.

"Anyway, to answer your question, there's a reason why weather manipulation spells here aren't discouraged. It's because all warding spells cast on board are documented by one of the Captain's assistants. From there, they can take that report and give it to the officials in Zant Port, so that the other crews of the ships going to and from there can accurately figure out what the weather pattern looks like. That way, no one is harmed by someone accidentally displacing a storm. Neat, isn't it?" Roxas explained.

I've always loved his explanations. They're simple, easy to understand, and get straight to the point. One day, I want to be that good at teaching people things.

"That clears things up, actually. Hah, I remember bombarding you with a question every chance I got. Hope you didn't mind all of that, Mister," I said sheepishly.

"Quite the opposite. Ya reminded me of how I was when I first attended the Ranoa Magic University, so it was a fun experience. Plus, it was sort of a review of my own knowledge to teach you all of that. You were a great student, Lumi," Roxas said cheerfully.

Lumi… I haven't been called by that name in a good while. It almost makes me feel… safe. In a way, I guess. Reminds me of the laid-back days learning from Roxas or tutoring Sylphie. Ah, speaking of. I should've asked Kishirika where Sylphie was, dammit! But I'm not too torn up about it. If there's any girl in the world that could survive something like the Mass Teleportation, it's her. I believe that she's safe and sound, wherever she is.

"Thank you, Mister. I hope you'll be around to see all of my family together again once we reunite," I said.

"I'll be there," he assured.

We made it back on board to the pit-pattering of heavy torrential rain coming down from the gloomy skies. Both the entire main and upper decks were utterly and totally wet. I could make out a few shouts through the downpour, most likely from sailors trying to keep the ship afloat. We were standing below a cavity that led directly into the main deck, so we were getting a bit damp ourselves from the exposure to the wind and rain.

"This is bad," I muttered to no one in particular. I flipped my robe's hood forward and tightened the strap across the middle. I looked over to Roxas, who looked to be similarly preparing to go out into the haze.

"1…" Roxas began counting down.

"2…" I looked forward and pursed my lips in preparation.

"3… Go!"

The two of us made a break for it, trying to not slip on the wet boards. The rumbling of thunder echoed throughout the ship, without a signature ray of lightning to go with it. There was something akin to a fog around the edges of the ship, leaving us unable to see much past it. That's when it hit me. This wasn't some ordinary lightning storm—no, this was much more similar to a typhoon.

In that case, we needed to dispel it as fast as we could.

By the time my thoughts emptied out of my head, we'd arrived at the Warding Mage's pedestal at the front of the ship. It was plated in some sort of metal that didn't seem to be getting wet. That was strange since everything around it was drenched. But no matter what, it was like the rain just slid off without leaving any water behind.

I swiftly activated my Demon Eye and tried to analyze it. I noticed that my Eye's ability was blocked by it, like a blind spot in my eye. If what Kishirika had said about its limitations was true, it meant that the metal was either organic or made of dense mana. The latter seemed much more likely since I'd heard of mana-infused material before. Maybe this particular piece was made to specifically repel water. It made sense, since then the warding mage would be able to have better footing. I deactivated my Eye to prevent any possible nausea if something went wrong.

Roxas clambered onto the pedestal, which painted the image of the ship's figurehead being Roxas himself. He tightly gripped his staff and raised it to the misty skies. His vibrant hair flowed freely in the harsh wind. The turquoise crystal atop the staff that was taller than his whole body glimmered flamboyantly, lighting up the area like a lighthouse in a storm. Funnily enough, that was a rather relevant metaphor.

Roxas took an audible breath and began to chant.

"Siren of the sky, grant me an echo of your voice. Let it stream through my blood and flow endlessly forevermore. O, thy heavenly singing that guides all lost men, polish the clouds until they shine like a jewel—Bestrew!"

A twinkle of white light appeared at the peak of his staff. Then, without a second's notice, it erupted like lightning, branching out into hundreds of sprites toward the sky. The form the light took was breathtaking, like a tree with an infinite amount of branches. But it was so intense that I had to look away.

Once the spell was over, the skies split, with the sunlight shining through as if we had just passed into the eye of a typhoon. The haze around the ship faded, ultimately just being mist thrown up into the air by the sheer amount of rain that there was.

A group of sailors and the rest of our party—excluding Ares, of course—cheered. Elinalise gave a few whoops, and Alek stood with an analytical gaze as always. Talhand was just kind of there, his expression unreadable.

"Woaah! I don't remember learning that spell!" I exclaimed, rushing over to the side of the pedestal.

"That's because it's something I picked up in Shirone. Seems there was a lot more I had to learn after I left Buena," Roxas responded, leaping off of the pedestal.

"Right. Can't believe it almost slipped my mind that you're a King-class mage now. I've never even heard of a single King-ranked mage other than you, you know?" I said.

"Hm. How about this, Lumina? Once all of this has settled down some, how about I teach you a King-class spell?" Roxas proposed. The second those words escaped his lips, I was sold.

"Absolutely. Gosh, that's so exciting. You'd better not leave me hanging on that one, Mister. I expect you to go through with that," I said firmly.

"Of course," he replied. "I won't let ya down!" he flashed a smile.

Lumina Greyrat, King-class Magician. Ah, I want that title so badly! I can see it now, my dream of becoming an alluring renegade could come to fruition! Augh, but I've got too many things on my plate to get caught up by that! What's first… ah! Nearly forgot.

"Just remembered that I need to check up on Ares," I stated.

"Ah… your boyfriend, right?" Roxas said in an ambiguous voice.

My cheeks flushed as I turned back to him. "Boyfriend…?! Where'd you get that from?" I exclaimed.

"I dunno, Lumi," Roxas said teasingly. "When you deny it like that, I can't help but to think—"

"Ares is just… my slave!" I exclaimed, the words flying out of my mouth too fast for me to retract them.

"I'm your what now?" a familiar voice from behind me said.

I whirled around for the second time to see the man of the hour standing before me, Ares himself.

"Ares! I see you're feeling better!" I said enthusiastically, trying desperately to change the topic.

"Slave?" Roxas tilted his head, single-handedly ruining my efforts.

"Long story," I hesitantly said while avoiding Ares's gaze.

"Don't you dare tell him…!" Ares shouted in embarrassment.

"Ah!"

As the ship sailed through calmer waters, I couldn't help but think that these were good days. Hectic as they may be, I was content. I could only hope that my streak of good luck continued.

The illustrious waters of Zant Port's very own harbor rolled into view. Compared to the murky, almost yellow-green waters near Wind Port, the difference was night and day. Zant Port looked about the same size as Wind Port, but there were a few key contrasts. Vibrant rooftops peeked over the side of a massive, twenty-meter seawall made of brick and carved like castle ramparts. I could already see the shift in architecture from here, and we were just pulling into the harbor. We were finally back in human territory after what felt like forever.

"God, I'm never getting on a ship ever again. They're overrated, anyways," Ares mumbled, back in high spirits.

"Who hypes up going on a ship? They're not even overrated. They're just… rated," I replied thoughtlessly.

The six of us stepped off of the ship onto the harbor and took in the view. The layout of Zant Port was similar to Wind Port in that its harbor was much livelier than the city itself, and there were low hills and forests that one could barely make out around the perimeter.

We stood at our very First Destination in the Milis Continent. We'd taken another step on our long journey, even if said journey had shifted dramatically. We still had a long way to go. My mom, Lilia, Norn, and Sirius were all still missing. We needed to shift things into high gear from here on out since we were closer to them than ever.

I trusted that the new members of the Dragon King's Odyssey would propel us into new heights we couldn't have attained with just the three of us. And, more than ever, our reputation was vital to our survival. We needed to be trusted and held in high regard to gather information faster. We still had a long way to go.

"Lumi? What's wrong?" Roxas called out.

"No, it's nothing."

There's no reason to think about how much time it'll take. If we take one step at a time, we'll find everyone in a reasonable amount of time. For now, we need to focus on what's next.

We still needed to meet up with Paul, who'd hopefully have some good news on the other teleported Fittoans, and then form an official game plan afterward. We're on a good pace right now.

"Alright!" I pumped my fist. "To an inn, shall we? I feel like I'm going to sleep the day away."

The rest of the party chuckled. "I think we all need a little rest, Mina," Elinalise added.

"You can count me in that, too!" Ares exclaimed.

"What about the spar?" I questioned, glancing at his sword briefly.

"What's stopping us from putting it off for tomorrow? C'mon, let's go already!" Ares urged.

I snorted. "Okay, okay."

And that was how we arrived on the Milis Continent at last.

Author's Notes:

It's been done to death by now, but I'd like to advocate for the Ao3 (Archive of Our Own) version of Mushoku Tensei: Lumina Greyrat, as when the story eventually has mature content inside of the chapters, I will have to cut them out of this website due to the Terms of Service. You don't have to migrate now but do consider it.

If you're reading this in the future, this note shouldn't affect you all that much. But to those of you who are reading this story regularly, I'd like to say something now. I originally thought that the holiday season would give me more time to work on Lumina, and maybe I could get a head start and get right into the exciting parts of Volume 4. But, as you've probably noticed by now, this chapter was released four days past my expected release date. And now, to get straight to the point.

I am taking a short break from Mushoku Tensei: Lumina Greyrat.

This isn't to say I'm burnt out or demotivated, because I am still quite excited to see this story out to the end. But I've been updating this story regularly for the past four months without a single break. I need to give myself some downtime before I genuinely become demotivated. As for when to expect the next chapter? The first half of January is probably what I'm going to be going for. So, it's not going to be a very long break, so you don't have to worry! I hope you all have an amazing Christmas, and an even better New Year's. I'll come back better than ever and hopefully, we'll get to the Paul Reunion arc soon! I've seen your comments about it, and god, I'm excited too. Stay tuned, and as always, thank you so much for reading. That's all for me, y'all. See you next year.

I truly, truly appreciate everyone who leaves a comment/review, you make my day even if you leave a single sentence. Thank you.