I’m so glad I’m alive! Being a part of the House is such a blessing! I can’t believe I get to experience something this nice…

  “Wow!! That was awesome! I could eat food like this forever!” While I was basking after our meal, Narumi said what we were all thinking. “When was the last time we had beef this juicy? I want more… That fish thing was incredible too!”

  “Fish thing? You mean the lobster?” Hecate asked.

  “Yeah, that! I’m literally melting from how good it was! I love you, Hecate!” After the loud outburst, Narumi plopped back onto the chair and started ‘literally’ melting.

  It truly was an incredible meal… Might be the best I’ve ever had... We have permission to use whatever’s on the ship, and since this is a cruise ship, it’s filled to the brim with delicious and luxurious ingredients. Left here completely unguarded for us to enjoy. “Thanks, Hecate. It was really tasty. You could probably get a job here and fit in just fine. I’d appoint you as the head chef if it were up to me!”

  “Thank you, Iroha, but I’m not that outstanding. The excellent ingredients available did a lot of the heavy lifting. The actual chefs that work here do a much better job than I did. You’d probably agree if you ever tried their food.”

  Hecate smiled while resting her chin on her hands, like she was enjoying watching our reactions to her cooking. Cheeky girl. She was still wearing her swimsuit, just like everyone here. Narumi and I just didn’t change, but both Carol and Katja got changed at some point. Katja’s clothes got dusty from her work in the vents, so that’s her reasoning. As for Carol… well… I have no clue.

  Katja’s swimsuit had a simple design just like mine, but she wore an open hoodie jacket with it. Much more sensible than me and also more stylish. The black jacket was pink on the inside and matched her hair. It gave her a cool, sporty look while also preserving the sexiness of the black swimsuit. I love it!

  Carol’s swimsuit is technically on the opposite end. She’s wearing a pink, frilly swimsuit that fits her petite physique perfectly. It’s absolutely adorable and makes her look so cuddly! I can barely resist. It’s almost like she’s going all in for cuteness, but there’s a twist. That being Carol herself! The cute exterior is the perfect contrast for the feisty glares she gives me whenever she catches me staring for too long. Now that’s driving me crazy! Almost as much as this food did!

  “These are all expensive ingredients, right? Won’t we get in trouble for using them as we please?” I turned to Hecate again, continuing on the topic of dinner. None of us wanted to eat in a big hall by ourselves, so we snagged a third room on the cruise and moved a small table here. We had plenty of space for everyone, and the meal was much cozier this way.

  “As long as we don’t go overboard. Instead of letting some of the ingredients go bad, it’s much better for us to use them.”

  “It’s great that we have a talented cook like you, Hecate. It really opens our tactical options.” Katja said, perfectly composed. Seems like she’s the type that doesn’t ‘literally’ melt no matter how good the food is. “The ingredients may have excellent quality, but they still need someone able to handle them. Good thing we have the talent required to not waste them.”

  “What kind of flattery is that? Almost sounds like you value efficiency more than the delicious food. Maybe I’ll make something simple for you tomorrow. You always say you have no preferences, after all.” Hecate’s tone was playful, teasing Katja.

  “Th- that’s a misunderstanding! I’ll eat whatever food I have to to survive, but I enjoy your food a lot. No need to go out of your way to make something different for me.”

  I stood up while the two of them were settling that. “I think I’m gonna go for a walk.” We don’t have anything to do for the rest of the day, and I’m curious about this place. I’ve never been anywhere like this, so I want to explore everything while I can! I’ll probably never get to explore another empty cruise no matter how much money I ever make.

  “On a walk here? By yourself?” Katja furrowed her brows. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s too dangerous.” Right… We’ve been taking things so easy that it’s easy to forget there’s a monster on board. I’m confident I can handle whatever comes my way, but it looks like that won’t be necessary…

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  “*Sigh…* It’s alright… I’ll go with her.” Carol stood up, acting like she was reluctantly doing me a favor. What’s with her? She doesn’t need to come if she doesn’t want to… It’s all an act, though, isn’t it? To keep our relationship from the others?

  “I guess that’s acceptable. Be careful out there.” Katja waved, and the two of them watched us leave. Narumi was maybe asleep? She looked so relaxed—so ‘melted’—that she didn’t even react.

  We stepped outside without saying much. We turned a corner, then another, and… We’re finally alone, aren’t we? I don’t need to hold back anymore, right? Carol won’t mind? I reached for her hand and squeezed tightly. “Carol! I missed you so much!”

  “Wh- what are you saying, you idiot?!” I caught Carol by surprise. “That’s what you said to Ririna last time! Are you gonna act like that every single time?!” Well… No promises… “How can you even miss me when we were together just now?”

  “Yeah, but we had to keep it down in front of the others. Now that we’re alone, it’s completely different! Like, we couldn’t even hold hands like this.”

  “Ahh, yes… Holding hands…” Carol rolled her eyes as we walked. She acts like I’m the silly one, but she hasn’t tried to let go. “The big game changer. How could anyone live without it? If it makes you that happy, go ahead.”

  We walked through the hallways like lovers until we arrived at an interesting place. Some kind of lounge that Carol said looked cool when she was investigating earlier. I let go of her hand to open a set of doors before running inside.

  “Ehh… Good taste, Carol!” Part lounge, part bar. The room kept the bright, rich wood seen in other places of the ship while mixing a cool black from smooth stone to some surfaces. There was a countertop with some stools lined up, tables, and long couches down a couple steps. Naturally, I dived right in. “This is great We can do whatever we want here!” I started rolling in the couch just because I could. Is this what it is like to be rich?

  “Why are you such a child sometimes? Were you always like that?” Carol approached the couch like she wanted to sit too. There were plenty of other spots, but she must have wanted to sit next to me. I composed myself right away. “I swear you were a lot more reserved before.” She sat down.

  “I mean… I like to have fun like anyone else… I always get a bit shy whenever I’m in public, but I’ve always had a lot of energy at home. I guess it just means I’m comfortable around you now…” It gets a bit embarrassing when I put it into words.

  “Is that so? This is what you’re like at home? Hmmm…” Carol averted her gaze bashfully. “What do you do when you’re at home? I’ve seen how you act in the dorm, but you probably do other stuff at home, right- mhm?!” A sudden kiss interrupted Carol’s question.

  I wasn’t exactly doing it to avoid giving an answer, but it worked out that way. She was so inviting sitting next to me in a swimsuit that I noticed too late that I was reaching for her shoulder. I don’t know if I’m ready to tell her about my obsession with games and anime yet. It’s a bit too embarrassing.

  “Did you seriously need to do that?”Carol blushed with a happy look on her face. “There’s still a chance we could get caught.”

  “But… doesn’t it feel extra nice to kiss right now? In this place that would be normally inaccessible to us while hiding from the others… It’s like we’re doing something we shouldn’t. Doesn’t it make it more exciting?”

  “We technically shouldn’t be doing this… Have you forgotten we’re here for work?” We were sitting next to each other, and Carol leaned against me. “Not that I don’t get it. It was a bit lonely to be separated from you.” Ahhh… She’s so nice…

  We hung out for almost an hour before going back to our rooms. My soul’s healed now… We talked about a few random topics while lightly cuddling. She’s so soft… I wish I could just hold her forever… But we have work to do, and we can’t go to bed too late.

  When I entered my room, Hecate was sitting outside the bed wearing a black nightgown. “Took you a while. Has Carol returned to her room?”

  “Yeah… We came back just now. What about you? Were you waiting here for me the whole time?” I sat down on my bed across from her.

  “Not at all. I was talking to Katja about our plan for tomorrow until a while ago. I finished taking a shower just now and was about to go to bed.” Unlike her usual dresses, her nightgown made her look very slim. She gave off a very refreshing feeling.

  “O- okay… I don’t wanna bother you, so I’ll try to be quiet then.” Should I take a shower before going to sleep? I took one after I fell into the pool, but it wouldn’t hurt to take another.

  “I’m not in a rush. The night is still young. Why don’t we talk for a while?” Talking… yeah…! That’s a good idea! I still want to figure out why she was acting weird earlier.

  “Sure, let’s talk. I actually had something I wanted to ask you.”

  “Oh, what a coincidence. I had a question for you as well.”

  “Ehh? Really?” Why now all of a sudden? Hecate was smiling like normal, but for some reason, I started feeling nervous. “What kind of question?”

  “I was just curious about what you and Carol were up to. The way she offered to accompany you was unusual.” She’s worried about Carol? Is this her overprotective side coming out again?

  “It’s just like I said, I wanted to explore the ship a bit more, so we took a look around. Nothing else.” The later it got, the eerier the small moments of silence became. Every pause drove home the idea that this little corner with our two rooms was the only safe space in this monstrous behemoth. We can only rely on each other. It’s just me and Hecate…

  “Hmmm… Is that so? Sounds nice. Sounds like you two had fun.” Hecate paused like she was expecting something. “You two got a lot closer while you were away. Incredibly close given the short amount of time…”

  “Hahahaha… I don’t know if I would say that we’re that close…” We totally are… “After spending a few days with someone, it’s only natural that you start to know them better, right? It wasn’t easy at first. It took a while until we understood how to act around each other and get along. But after figuring that out, of course we’d get closer. Just like how I got to know Katja well at first from how much time she spent training me.”

  “Of course. Getting to know your teammates better is a wonderful thing, especially given the work we do.” Hecate was all smiles and spoke with a particularly nice tone. “It’s necessary for relationships to change and evolve, and since I trust you, I know this will improve our performance on the battlefield. But there are some downsides to these changes…”

  “Downsides?” From me getting closer with Carol? More fights? Those are a given in romance, aren’t they? Ughh… I don’t wanna think about that.

  “It’s a commonly overlooked phenomenon. Some relationships appear better and stronger on the surface but are rife with problems underneath.” Hecate straightened her back and continued confidently. “Your relationship with Carol underwent a big change recently, hasn’t it?” My shoulders grew stiff after a quick glint in her amber eye. “I’d like to hear more about it. How do you feel about her now? What is she to you? I’d like to hear the details of your new relationship with her. For everyone’s sake, of course.”