Masashi left the merry-go-round room, heading over to the garden that he had seen earlier. Though troubled by his current circumstances, right now, he had no other option than to look around and find the other students.

Like the other rooms, the garden was full of grass and had a backdrop that showed trees, which gave the impression that he was walking through a lonesome spot in a woodland. This room, however, also had a small stream running from a waterfall at one end of the room to a small gap at the other. In the middle of the garden was a fenced-off great hole, which corresponded to the ceiling of the deck below this one. In fact, there was also the same kind of hole on this deck's ceiling as well. Like the garden below, there were a few batches of flowers, but here, there were much fewer of them. Instead, there were more patches of dirt in which one might grow flowers and crops. Besides the way from which he had come, there were two other ways out of the garden. One was a door at the other end of the garden, and the other was a door on the right wall that had stairs going up. On the whole, this room seemed much more a garden in which to grow things than a garden to admire.

Standing by the stream was a man that had ginger-red hair and wore a straw hat. The man had blue eyes along with a few freckles on his cheeks, and he wore a blue button-up shirt with short sleeves and a light-brown pair of khaki pants. If not for the fact that he was clearly a foreigner, his only remarkable feature would be the rural impression that he gave off.

"Now who are you?" the man said upon noticing Masashi. He spoke with a foreign accent, but it sounded different from what Masashi had expected. It was definitely not an American's, so maybe he was a European. Even once Masashi introduced himself, the man looked warily at him, as if asking himself whether it was worth the time to talk to him.

"Ultimate Lucky Student, you say?" the man said. "You certainly are lucky. Even if all you have is luck, you have no burdens to hold you back. You can choose whatever path you want."

"That's… one way to look at it," he said. Despite the praise, the man sounded not at all happy. "What about you?"

The man let out a frustrated sigh, as if he disliked the topic. "I'm Murphy O'Hagan, the Ultimate Potato Farmer. As you can tell, I'm not from around here. I'm from a land known as Ireland."

"Ireland?" Masashi thought that he had heard of it before, but there being so many European countries, he guessed that it was a small land and certainly no great political player.

"It's west of Great Britain, if it helps," Murphy said. "I'm currently studying in Japan right now."

"So you're a foreign exchange student, huh?" Masashi said. "What made you want to come here? Did you think that Japan had something in particular when it comes to potato farming?"

"Potato farming… Hah!" The man frowned, the delight disappearing from his face. "Let me warn you one thing, Masashi: if you want to stay on good terms with me, do not talk to me about potato farming. Do you understand?"

Bewildered, Masashi nodded. He had certainly not expected the man to go back to his grumpy disposition. It was clear that it had something to do with his talent, but if he disliked his talent, how had he gotten it in the first place?

"I'm glad that you understand," Murphy said. "You seem like a fine fellow. I could see us getting along rather well in the future."

Leaving Murphy alone, Masashi walked to the door at the very end. The room was a wide grassy space that was reserved for nothing in particular; instead, it appeared to be a room that was meant to foster playful activities that one could come up with. Besides the drawn trees in the background, there were logs, mushrooms, barren tree trunks, and a few wooden structures that one could sit on, climb on, and so forth.

A lone man stood by a trunk, staring off into space. He had curly black hair along with a rather pale complexion that did not go well with his orange eyes. Wrapped around his neck was a gray scarf that was tucked into his double-breasted black coat. On his lower half was a dark-gray pair of jeans that seemed a bit too short for him, as his red socks were exposed alongside his black shoes. All in all, Masashi already had the impression that there was something a bit strange with this man.

"Hello?" Masashi said, the man appearing not to have noticed him. Only when he stepped into his line of sight did the man look right at him.

"Ah, excuse me," he said. "I was… evaluating the room and its features. Would you like to hear what I think?"

"Uh, sure," Masashi said, still not understanding what this man is. The man spoke with such a cold tone that he seemed like the kind not to laugh at anything.

"To start things off, this room's features are well crafted and seem quite durable," the man began. "The backdrop is painted flawlessly, and the grass and the other things here feel realistic enough to fit the setting. But the flaw is that though each piece is authentic, together, they do not form anything authentic, so to speak. They are simply here, nothing going on. In a word, this room... is lifeless. The room can become authentic only when there is life here, perhaps when children play around it. But as there is none of that, I feel nothing."

"That's…" Masashi could not think of a good word to describe what he had just heard. The man had rambled on and on about this room as if he were criticizing an art piece in a museum.

"Now tell me," the man said, seemingly unaware of how odd he appeared, "what do you think of this room?"

"What do I think? It's, uh… all right, I guess," Masashi said. "It certainly fits its role as a space for children to play in."

"Hmm… I see," the man said, sounding a bit bored. "If that is your opinion of it, then it appears that my conclusion is not too far off."

"Uh… I was hoping that you would introduce yourself," Masashi said, thinking it best that he be straightforward, lest he hear another round of critique of this room.

"I suppose that introductions are in order," the man said, still sounding uncaring. "I am Haruyuki Kanagawa, the Ultimate Art Critic."

Art critic, huh…

Masashi felt not at all surprised to hear what talent he had. It seemed rather fitting that Haruyuki, who liked to talk on and on about how he felt about this room of all things, critiqued art. Still, even with his talent, there was undeniably something singular about him; he was someone that those to whom he talked would remember clearly and most certainly not in a good light.

After Masashi's introduction, Haruyuki thought deeply for a bit. "You say that you do not know why you have your talent. That is rather… curious. Then again, this whole situation that we are in seems quite strange as well. I can only speculate on the workings behind this. What does the one behind this mean to evoke in us?"

"That's… a good question, actually," Masashi said. It was a weird way of wording it, but he now wondered what feelings the mastermind behind this imagined that he would have right now? Was he meant to be confused, scared, or careful?

"Now, if you will excuse me… I wish to be left alone." Haruyuki then faced away from him, staring off into space again. However weird he seemed, he certainly looked at things in a rather intriguing way. It certainly intrigued Masashi enough to wonder what was up with Haruyuki. In any case, now was not the time to think about that when he still needed to find the others.

Masashi headed back to the garden and headed up the stairs. This time, he found himself in a hallway that ran from the left to the right, and there was only one door before him. The walls were painted as if they were instead a tree's bark, and the door was painted brown to fit with the decor.

The room appeared to be some kind of living quarters; there were many small blankets and pillows set on beds shaped like great green leaves and hollowed tree trunks, and other things such as drawers and baskets were set beside them. Unlike the other rooms, the wallpaper was light brown, which made it feel as if it were a room built inside a tree. On the wall opposite to the door was a window through which one could see the room on the other side of this one. A small stepladder was set below it, even though a man could reach the window with no problem. It was quite clear that this room, fitting with this place's theme, was a bedroom not for men but for fantastic beings such as elves and fairies.

By one of the beds was a woman that had light olive skin. Her strawberry blond hair was tied up in a ponytail with a purple, white bow, many strands of hair beside each side of her face. The woman wore a yellow and white athletic jacket, a white halter top, a purple skirt, and a yellow pair of sneakers with frilly white socks.

"Hey, now, it seems someone's come to see me!" she said upon looking at his direction. "I don't remember seeing your face anywhere, so who are you?"

After his introduction, however, the girl guffawed greatly. "Seriously? Ultimate Lucky Student? Hah, I bet you made it up to make yourself feel special!"

"What? But it says so in my tablet."

"So what? Garbage is garbage, even if a tablet says it!" she said. "What do you think you are, if you're not a lucky student?"

"Well, a regular guy, I guess. I've never really done anything extraordinary, but it's more that exciting things happen to me, and more often than not, the reason is that my friends—"

"Yeah, yeah, I haven't all day to hear your life story!" she said. "I bet you're wondering who this gorgeous beauty is that's talking to you! Well, I'm Sayua Tomi, the Ultimate Cheerleader! Awed, aren't you?"

"Uh, you could put it that way," Masashi said, slightly shocked by how vain she had already come off as.

"Hah! Of course you are!" Sayua said. "You ought to join my fan club later! But I'll warn you, it's quite crowded!"

"Is that so…" Masashi said, looking at her perplexedly.

"What's with that face? Why the heck do you look so dreary, when you're with me right now?" she said, sounding not at all concerned.

"Well, it's nothing, but you seem rather confident when we have no idea on what's going on here. Aren't you a bit worried?"

"Worried? Worried?" Sayua laughed aloud. "Do you take me for a loser?"

That wasn't what I meant, but your answer's enough, I guess…

If she truly was that confident, then there was no need to be concerned about her, even though he thought that she had little reason to be that prideful. Feeling ever so minded to leave, he bade the cheerleader goodbye and left the room.

Facing the stairs that he had climbed earlier, he walked to the left, passing by two rooms that were labeled the men's and women's restrooms. At this end of the hallway was a room that had a great golden lock chained to it, as if it were a treasure chest. Trying to open it only resulted in failure; the lock was not there only for show. As he left, he wondered whether he could somehow get into that room later. It was the only locked room that he had seen so far, and so it was only natural that he felt curious about it.

Masashi headed the opposite way and walked over to the other end of the hallway, and this time, the door there had no lock. The room seemed to be a restaurant; there were tables strewn throughout the room, and on the left side of the room was a counter at which one could make one's order. He could even spot a door by the counter that led to what looked like a kitchen. The wallpaper was colored light-green, but there was no grass on the floor. He looked around a bit more and saw that there were two other doors connected to this room. One was a door at a corner, but on the door was a sign that said "STAFF ONLY". Unsurprisingly, it was locked. The other door, on the other hand, was on the same wall as the door from which he had come through, and it appeared to be the only way forward.

Just as he thought to leave, however, someone came from the kitchen door. It was a girl whose blue hair was tied into a curly bun at her neck's back. She wore a light-gray headband, her eyelashes thick, her skin fair. Her light-gray apron had a light-blue trim at the bottom and had many black-and-white images of sundry pastries. Worn over the apron were a white blouse whose sleeves were off her shoulders and a black pleated skirt. She also wore a black pair of ballet flats for her shoes.

"Oh, hello there!" she said blithely. "I don't think we've met yet. I'm Faye Nirigiri, the Ultimate Patissier! How about you?"

Masashi answered her, after which she looked at him curiously.

"You don't know why you have the talent, huh?" Faye said. "Well, that's pretty weird. Hopefully, it'll be cleared up sooner or later."

"So do I," Masashi said. "Now, what were you doing when I came in?"

"Oh, I was only looking through the kitchen," Faye said. "I was thinking that if we happened to be stuck out here, then it might help if I made us a treat. I assure you, as a maker of pastries, I can make a really good, lovely, and delicious treat!"

"Well, now that you're talking about it, I'd like to try one of your treats later!" Masashi said.

Faye giggled. "Well, I'm glad and delighted to see that you're interested! I may cook you a chouquette later!"

Masashi had no idea on what a chouquette was, but given that it would come from the Ultimate Patissier, he was sure that it would be delicious.

"By the way," he said, "I've noticed that your first name sounds foreign."

"Well, it is, but I assure you, I'm only half-Japanese," she answered. "It's spelled F-a-y-e in the English alphabet. My father's Japanese, as you can tell from my last name, whereas my mother's French."

"Ah, that explains a lot," Masashi said, now wondering whether the chouquette was a French delicacy. "Well, I'll see you later. I think I'll look around a bit more."

"Take care now!" Faye said, smiling gladly.

Masashi headed through the other door and found himself in another hallway. There were a set of stairs and a room in the middle of the hallway, like the last one. This time, however, the room had nothing remarkable; it was a room that had the same decor as the servants' quarters, but all it had were boxes, so it seemed to be a storage room. There were only a few vending machines around the other end of the hallway, so there was no other way than go up.

This is the deck below the uppermost one… Masashi thought, recalling what he had seen from the map. Once I head up, I'll be outside.

With a mix of excitement and carefulness, he walked up the stairs, heading toward the light. As soon as he reached the top, for a moment, everything became bright, which made him cover his eyes with his hand. Once he slowly lowered it, he could then see everything. The blue heavens stretched above him, clouds strewn throughout, sunshine beaming down and warming his skin. The seawater hit against the great ship, and its smell lingered in the air, but the sea seemed calm, for there was no rockiness felt. All seemed well.

"Incredible…" Masashi said as he looked around. The deck, unlike the lower ones, had only grass in the inner portions. The cabin from which he had come out was built to look like a gap between two trees, as if entering it meant going through a forest of some kind. Behind the cabin appeared to be the captain's cabin, but even from here, he could not tell whether anyone was in there.

A thought occurred to him: all the people to whom he had talked must also have their own tablets as well. And since they naturally had information about themselves on their own profiles, it might be that his own tablet had been updated with their information. Masashi took out his tablet and checked the Profiles section. Indeed, most of the question marks on the row showing his icon had been replaced with the icons of the people whom he had already met. It was as if someone had been watching him and updating the tablet accordingly. There likely were surveillance cameras placed in each room, which was not too surprising, given that that was a thing in amusement parks.

All right, I think I should go find the rest of the people here. They should be here—

About a second later, his tablet disappeared.

Wh-What the?!

The tablet that had been in his hands was gone. It had not instantly disappeared; it was more that someone had quickly snatched it from him. He looked to the left and to the right, but could see no one else here. Whoever had taken it from him must have run away really quickly, or at least, that was what he thought. A few seconds later, however, he heard giggling from above.

"Looking for this?"

Masashi looked up at the cabin behind him. There, sitting on the branches of the trees that decorated the cabin, was a girl that had an incredibly odd and flashy outfit. The most noticeable feature was the bright red mask that covered much of her face, the only exposed parts being her eyes and the region around her mouth. She wore a dark-purple shirt that had red stripes running up and down, as well as a black skirt that reached down almost to her knees and a brown pair of boots. As for her natural features, she had chestnut brown hair that reached down to her neck and was cut in a bob style. In her right white-gloved hand was, indeed, the tablet that she must have taken from him.

"Uh, could you come down here? I'd like to have it back." Masashi asked, more befuddled than alarmed. The thief's outfit was rather flashy, the red mask being the greatest giveaway, and altogether, it was as if she had dressed to impress.

"Sure thing!" The girl, rather than climb down, jumped down from the cabin and landed on her feet without a problem, which left him speechless. She then offered him the tablet. "Well, go ahead! Take it! It's yours, right?"

"This… isn't a trick or anything, is it?" he asked.

"What? No, not at all!" the girl said, sounding truly confounded at his wariness. "What makes you think I'm trying to trick you?"

"Well, for one, you've just taken my tablet," he pointed out, "and you dress rather suspiciously. Can you really blame me for thinking that you're up to something? Maybe you're only pretending to give it back."

But instead of getting angry at the accusation, the masked girl simply laughed a hearty laugh. "Ah, but that is where you are mistaken! I've already done the job of stealing this from you, and so I see no need to use any more tricks and gimmicks! Rest assured, I'm only returning this to you, the owner!"

Even though he still felt a bit wary, she seemed to be telling the truth about her intentions. And now that he thought about it, if she truly wanted his tablet, why would she let him know of her presence here, when she could have simply run off with it? Masashi slowly reached for the tablet and let out a small sigh of relief after turning it on and confirming that it was his.

"You see? I wasn't trying to do something suspicious!" the girl said.

"But in that case, why did you even take my tablet in the first place?" he said, looking askance at her.

"Oh, I was only playing around… and showing off a bit of my prowess!" the masked thief said blithely. "What I did was what most of my job is like, but if I had truly been on the job, I would've sent you a calling card first!"

"And you are?"

The girl giggled, setting her right index finger on her red mask. "Behold and be amazed, for I am Red Mask, the Ultimate Phantom Thief!"

Ah, so that was it. The weird get-up, the whole talk about returning the stolen thing, and the part about sending a calling card was all simply due to her being a phantom thief.

"Wait… you're not a cosplayer?"

"Nope! I'm the real deal!" Red Mask said. "What makes you think I am?"

"Well, for one, you call yourself a phantom thief," he said, "and that sounds like something from fiction."

"Ah, but I'll have you know that we phantom thieves are indeed real!" she said happily. "And the owners of the treasures we've stolen certainly don't sing the same tune as you!"

Given that she had just successfully stolen his tablet from him and how genuine she sounded when talking about the subject of phantom thieves, Masashi leaned toward believing her. Still, it was rather strange to see and talk to a phantom thief in the flesh, and of all people, why would a phantom thief be here?

"One more thing," Masashi said. "You said that your name's Red Mask, but that can't be your actual name, so could you tell me what it is?"

The lady thief giggled. "Well, I'm Red Mask right now, and what kind of phantom thief would I be if I were to give away my true identity like that?"

Much as he wanted to satisfy his curiosity, she had a good point. If he had a career in thievery or any other misdeed, then there would be no reason to let any details of his identity exposed.

Bidding her goodbye for now, he walked around the main deck, wanting to see what features awaited him. Up ahead appeared to be a pool; beside it were chairs and parasols that had a wooden and grassy look, respectively; it was as if he were in a makeshift resort built by a lake outside a forest. The water looked rather clean, and given that it felt a bit warm right now, Masashi imagined himself swimming in it. It would certainly be something that he would do in a normal cruise trip.

There was a man standing by the pool. He had a tan complexion and dark-brown hair that was rather well groomed, and on the whole, he had a rather lean build. For the upper body, he wore a beige jacket over a white shirt, and for the lower body, he wore a pair of denim pants that had many sewn pockets. The man, his arms crossed, seemed to be looking down at the lake.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked once approached. Already, the man had a wary look, as if evaluating him. "Well? Will you tell me aught, or are you come to make me wait until nighttide?"

By 'aught', he meant 'anything', and by 'tide', he meant 'time', Masashi guessed. It seemed that the man liked to speak archaically.

"Sorry about that," Masashi said before he told him his name and his talent. No sooner had he finished than the man looked dismissively at him.

"What a shame," he said. "I hoped that you had a useful talent."

"Wh-What? What do you mean by that?"

"What use is it to be lucky?" he said, looking away from him. "'Tis an utterly selfish talent that does not help mankind at all. Instead, you should have excelled at a subject such as mathematics or geology."

"But I didn't choose to be a lucky student!" Masashi protested. "I don't know why this talent's been given me!"

But the man looked not at all convinced. "That the title has been given you for an unclear reason does not change the fact that you had no talent beforehand. You have done nothing to foster the gift in you."

"You really think so?"

"Forsooth," the man said, his brow furrowed. "All men, even the lowliest ones, have the purpose of seeking knowledge. To disregard that makes us no better than other animals."

"That's… interesting to hear. Then who are you?"

"A man that is naught like you," he answered. "I am Atsushi Morokuzu, the Ultimate Archaeologist."

If he was an archaeologist, it somewhat explained why he had a fondness for speaking with archaic words. Atsushi came off as a scholar that had been so engrossed in his work of the past that he had come to talk like a man of the past.

"Now then, begone," Atsushi said, leering haughtily at him. "I have little want to talk to you when I have more important matters to think about."

Masashi was keen enough to follow his bidding, finding his dismissiveness rather troublesome. However intriguing he might be, it was quite clear that he would not talk to those that did not fit his standard, and there seemed to be little that he could do to change Atsushi's opinion of him right now. It was best that he leave him to his thinking for now.

After walking around the pool a bit more, he spotted someone else standing at the side nearer to the bow. It was a small boy that had short messy blond hair over which was worn a light-blue beanie bedecked with pink stars. The boy wore a light-blue sweater over a white shirt and a blue pair of denim pants whose pockets were also sewn with pink stars.

"Uh, hello?" Masashi said, wondering what he was looking at, as he saw nothing special in particular above him. No sooner had the boy turned around than he ran up to him, wide-eyed, which took him by surprise for a moment.

"Oh, hey there!" the boy said energetically. "You're another Ultimate, right?"

"That's right," Masashi answered before introducing himself.

"Wow, Ultimate Lucky Student! That sounds awesome!" the boy said, putting his hands beneath his head. "I'm Arashi Seiya, the Ultimate Pyrotechnician! Glad to meet you!"

Of all things that he had expected the boy to be, he would have never guessed that he was a pyrotechnician. It struck him as a rather careful job, given that it involved fire, and with this boy's energetic attitude, he could easily imagine him making a reckless mistake that would lead to a different kind of explosion from the one desired.

"Let's have a lot of fun together!" Arashi said, pointing keenly at the pool. "We can go swimming around in the pool! Or maybe you want to chase me around in a game of tag!"

"You really want to go play around, don't you?"

"Yep! The others don't want to, saying that now was not the time!" Arashi said, "That's why I want you to play with me! Trust me, it'll be lots of fun!"

"Ah, thanks, but no thanks," Masashi said, thinking it not the time to be playing around. He was not surprised to see that Arashi wanted only to play around, given his kiddishness. "Maybe some other time—"

"But I want to do it now!"

The boy, who had been smiling all this time, suddenly scowled, his teeth clenched, his hands tightened into fists, his eyes dead set on him as if he were a predator that had spotted its prey. The quick change in his personality stupefied Masashi; he had quickly thought him to be a cheery little boy, but all traces of that were gone now, as if that had not been his true self.

"Why won't you play with me?!" Arashi yelled. "All I want is a little fun!"

"W-Well, I just think that given the circumstances, now isn't the right time—"

"You're just like the others, then!" Arashi said, which scared Masashi even more. "You're not busy, are you?! Then there's no reason you can't play with me!"

Seeing that trying to explain it to him rationally would not work, Masashi thought that a different approach was needed here; the more the boy leered at him, the more willing he was to believe that he would soon try to hurt him if he did not have his way.

"Oh, uh, I'd love to, actually," he said, "but the thing is, I can't go swimming with you. See, I don't have my swimsuit with me, so that's what I meant when I said that now wasn't the right time! And I can't play tag with you, either, since I'm feeling pretty tired right now, so a game wouldn't be all that fun!"

The last one was not a lie; walking around this ship had tired him out a bit, and it did not help that a few of the people with whom he had already talked were tiring in their own ways. But in any case, he hoped that he had sounded believable enough.

"Oh, is that it? Then I understand!"

In a flash, Arashi smiled like an innocent child, Masashi bewildered that none of the stark anger that he had seen from him was there anymore.

"Well, it can't be helped that you can't play with me right now!" Arashi said. "Maybe we can do it later!"

"Yeah… maybe."

As Masashi walked away, he could not help but think him to be utterly confusing; he had quickly gone back to his happy self as if his anger had been fake all along. But his anger had felt so strong that Masashi could not tell himself that he had simply been pretending. What exactly was up with his sudden shifts in emotion?

As he reached the other end of the pool, he spotted a woman standing by the edge. Her dark-red hair was tied into a high ponytail with a black ribbon and had bangs that were neatly cut such that they hung just below her eyebrows. Her side bangs reached down to her neck, and some of them were even tied into braids with black hairpins. Her face had been made quite attractive with the help of mascara, eyeliners, and highlighters, and as for her clothing, she wore a black dress that looked fit for dancing and was bedecked with many ornamental diamonds. The black gloves that she wore covered her forearms and her hands except for the fingers, which were decorated with black nail polish. A red ribbon was wrapped around her neck, another wrapped around her waist as well. On the whole, she looked rather well-dressed, to the point that it must have been quite overwhelming for her to ready herself. She certainly looked fancy, however, and her outfit was more than enough to catch Masashi's attention.

"Hello there," she said once Masashi approached her. Her voice sounded quite smooth and a bit deep as well. "Are you an Ultimate? If so, what is your title?"

Already, Masashi had the impression that she was quite well-off; it would certainly explain her elaborate appearance and her somewhat polite way of speaking. Once Masashi answered her, she looked at him more closely.

"I see," she said. "Tell me, what is your station?"

"My station?" he said. "Are you talking about my social class?"

"Why, yes, it's quite important that I hear your answer," she said, already with a hint of disapproval. "Or shall I presume that you are from a middle-class family?"

"Well, I guess so. I'm not dirt-poor, but I'm not rich, either."

"Then in that case, I expect you to speak more humbly to me," she said, "for I am Maiha Hanazawa, the Ultimate Competitive Ballroom Dancer. Surely you must've heard of me."

Masashi thought for a moment. "Sorry, but that doesn't ring a bell."

Maiha widened her eyes a little. "Hmph! You commoners are quite unaware about many things. I've won many ballroom dancing competitions and have had great success in the field. Tell me, what have you accomplished?"

"Well, nothing, really, but—"

"Precisely. Like the typical commoner, you've done nothing special, and your talent says it all," Maiha said, smiling snidely. "In fact, you should be glad that I'm even talking to you right now. I usually do not talk to those that have little money."

"Wh-What?" Masashi stared at her, astounded that she could even say that. Though she spoke politely, it was rather amazing how open she was about her dislike of those of lower standing. It was more than a sense of betterness that seemed to come naturally if one were rich; it was the attitude that commoners were barely any better than swine.

"Why do you look so surprised? What I say is common sense. The smaller a man's wealth is, the more willing he is to do foul deeds for a bowl of rice. Honestly, you commoners must be busy in finding new ways to astound me. Think of it as a compliment when I say that you had better stick to manual work."

"But—"

"That's it," Maiha said, turning around. "Our conversation is over. I gave you more than enough time to talk with me, so be thankful that I didn't shorten it by five seconds."

Masashi thought that it was best that he end the conversation here. It was quite clear that she would not change her opinion on commoners, and she even treated talking with her as a privilege. It was a shame, since something about her interested him, but until he found a way for her to open up, she would always drive him off.

He walked over to the ship's bow, at which a lone girl stood looking upwards. She had straight black hair that reached down to her shoulders and had dark green-blue highlights and a small light-pink bow. She wore a dark-blue hoodie that had gray stripes running down the sleeves and around the sleeve cuffs, as well as what seemed to be a pale-green minidress underneath it. She also had on light-gray sports leggings, a navy-blue pair of sneakers with glittery pink laces, and a white pair of socks.

"Um… what are you doing?" Masashi asked, after which the girl looked at him.

"Oh… hello," she said, her voice quiet and a bit husky. "Sorry… I was only looking at the heavens."

"The heavens?" Masashi said, gazing into her bluish-purple eyes. "What for?"

"I wanted to see whether there were any flocks of birds," she said. "I have a compass on me. If I know which direction they fly in, then I can make a guess at the current time."

"The current time? But can't you just use a clock?" And even if she did not have a clock on her, Masashi thought that it would make much more sense to use the sun for that.

"Oh, no, I don't mean that kind of time," she said. "I mean the season. Certain species of birds migrate in particular directions depending on the season. Of course, even then, there are other factors to think about, such as our current location."

Come to think of it, what was today's date, anyway? Masashi did not have his phone with him, and he had not seen anything that acted as a calendar. That this girl had been trying to pinpoint what it was by trying to find a flock of birds was quite remarkable.

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Masashi said. "You must be pretty knowledgeable about this. Who are you, anyway?"

The girl showed a small smile. "Oh, I'm Mari Anzai, the Ultimate Phenologist."

"Phenologist?"

"I'm a specialist in phenology, the science of relations between seasonal changes and biological phenomena," Mari explained. "For instance, bird migration and plant growth. Of course, those organisms aren't the only ones to be affected by seasonal changes. Doubtless, many folks throughout the world undergo changes as well."

"Yeah, no doubt about that." He could right away think of the yearly festival that celebrated the cherry blossoms' full blossoming, which occurred at different times of spring. "A friend of mine has a few relatives that farm for a living. He says that they have to know the exact schedules of the development of plants and insects, and a great deal of it involves the seasons."

"Exactly!" Mari said a bit more energetically. "As you can see, phenology has many practical applications. Even if phenology was not formally a science until relatively recently, phenology has been with folks for thousands of years!"

"When you put it that way, that's pretty amazing!"

Masashi already liked to talk with Mari. Not only had she many interesting things to say, but she was also kind and friendly.

"So, uh, do you have any ideas as to what's going on?" Masashi asked, hoping that she might have something insightful to say.

"No… even having looked around, I still am not quite sure," Mari answered. "But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Whatever happens happens."

Whatever happens happens? Masashi wondered why she had said that last part. Was she not at all concerned that danger might soon befall her, given that she knew nothing about this situation?

Just then, a merry jingle rang through the air, coming from a speaker.

"Puhuhuhu! Welcome aboard, everyone!" It was a blithesome but unsettlingly childish voice. "I hope you've been having fun looking around! Preparations for the opening ceremony have been done at last, so please head to the dining room in the second deck! See you there!"

The voice said nothing else, leaving him with even more questions. Who had just spoken to them in the announcement? Had it been this ship's captain?

Well, I can think of nothing else I can do, Masashi thought. I'd better go check it out.

And that's the rest of the cast! As you can see, the prologue's nearly over, so more exciting things will soon happen! And let me tell you, it was very interesting to read your guys' thoughts on the characters introduced in the previous chapter! I wonder what your impressions of the characters introduced in this chapter are.