"So... this is the orange ocean?"
After traveling for an entire day, Rhys and the party reached the end of the vast land they had been traveling on without pause, and what welcomed them on the horizon was a wide ocean that reflected the Helios.
None of them needed to get off the bus, however, as a large ship was already waiting for them there. But they did, however, still get off the bus as soon as it was on the ship. And surprisingly enough, Katarina was the most curious out of all of them as she moved to the edge of the large ship to observe the ocean.
"Have you been here before, Rhys?" Katarina then turned to Rhys, who followed her to the edge.
"Once," Rhys nodded, "But not on this side. The Underworld Corps received a report that smugglers were on their way to the country, it was our squad's mission to eliminate them."
"By eliminate..."
"Kill them," Rhys glanced at Katarina, "And I killed them all."
"...You were following orders, Rhys," Katarina closed her eyes, "I would know."
"No," Rhys shook his head, "Only at the start. But when I saw what they were smuggling, it turned personal."
"I... see."
"Well, since you have been here before — anything to share?" And before their conversation could turn sour, Agatha suddenly approached them and embraced Rhys from behind, causing Katarina to just squint her eyes and glare at her, "I've never traveled so far in the Underworld before, so... I need all the information I can get."
"Why don't you ask Commander Olga?" Katarina continued to glare at Agatha.
"But she's so scary," Agatha rubbed her face on Rhys's back and hugged him even tighter, "She reminds me of a tutor I once had."
"No," Rhys was the one to answer Agatha, "She seems very friendly despite her looking strict."
"...And how would you know that?" Agatha leaned away, and even Katarina turned to look at Rhys as he said that.
"Well, we spoke briefly on the bus," Rhys then turned around and very gently pushed Agatha to the side, "And we should probably get inside before something sees us."
"...Wait," Katarina's eyes widened, "Are you saying there's a chance monsters from the water will attack us?"
"Well, the chance of that is slim," Rhys shook his head, "I was told by Ayesha that the monsters of the ocean are relatively peaceful and only hunt in their territories. What we need to worry about is there."
"..." Both Agatha and Katarina looked up at the empty air of the Underworld.
"One of the main reasons why we prefer traveling by land — the flying monsters of the Underworld are... unforgiving. And right now, we're like sitting ducks."
"That sounds... ominous," Agatha blinked a couple of times.
"The ship is large, so it's unlikely anything will attack us," Rhys shook his head.
"...What about something bigger?" Katarina gulped.
"Let's... not think about that for now."
"Give some kvass for the Major to try! Quick, quick!"
"I... don't drink alcohol," Rhys shook his head.
"No, barely any alcohol. We made this ourselves! Cook, come on!"
"Major, I heard you fought the Arachnea all on your own, is that the true!?"
"Why are you still speaking the english, eh? The Major knows Russean! The man's language!"
"No, I almost died several times with Arachnea."
"...I heard she is very beautiful, even more beautiful than the Commander."
"Ack, the Commander's beautiful, but she's too strict, like a man."
"The Commander is strict, but she is kind. Do not let her looks fool you, Major Wilder. Just don't let her catch you breaking the rules, because she will impose it."
"I see," Rhys sighed, "I guess she imposes it quite a lot, then?"
"Ha! That's true!"
"I remember this one time, the Commander found a little baby monster nearing the camp. We were about to kill it, but she said not to since it hadn't committed anything yet and just marked it. It's a monster, why would it commit anything!? It just does it!
Anyway, long story short, that monster once again returned a few weeks later, except bigger — and as soon as the Commander saw it was violent, she killed it without any hesitation."
"Hm..."
And just like that, Rhys spent another hour with the Russean soldiers. He did not mind, however, as these were the people who also risked their lives fighting the battles he also fought — if anything, maybe he belonged more with the soldiers of the Underworld than the people from the Surface — his thoughts were sounding more and more like Ayesha now.
Fortunately for Rhys, everyone just started fading away as they all drank several bottles of vodka, which made Rhys's retreat... possible. He learned a lot about Commander Olga from her men, and it would seem she truly was a nice person — which was weird since the news being shown in Amerka about the Russeans always make them extremely tough.
Rhys continued his exploration of the ship. There wasn't really anyone in the cabins since all of them were either in the cafeteria or doing work around the ship. He was about to turn around and just return to the bus...
"Major Wilder."
...Before he heard someone calling his name.
"Major Rhys Wilder, please enter."
Rhys turned to look at the cabin where he heard his name, and since he recognized it as Commander Olga's voice, Rhys just followed his order and opened the door very gently...
"Rhys Wilder... please enter inside me."
...only to see Commander Olga lying on the bed... without any pants on; her legs spread as her hand was playing with herself, while her other hand was holding a photo.
Rhys's photo, to be exact.