Chapter 148: The Cursed Sea?
Ethan wiped the sweat off his forehead.
The midday sun on the island was really too harsh. He had only transplanted a few seedlings, and it was already almost unbearable.
"No work, no food!!!"
After being sternly lectured by that Himiko, Ethan had no choice but to work in the fields in exchange for the privilege of staying here.
To get some livestream points and also relieve stress a bit, he decided to go live right away.
"Dear viewers in the livestream room, today we're going to continue experiencing rural life."
As soon as the livestream started, the screen showed Ethan with his pants rolled up, standing in a paddy field.
[What is the host doing? Is he really out in a field? Farming for real???]
[Looks like he's transplanting seedlings.]
[What is transplanting seedlings??]
[It's like planting young rice shoots into the water field. Later, they grow into rice plants and you get rice to eat, something like that.]
[Naruhodo, thanks, Wiki-san, long time no see—I thought you were dead.]
[Umu, I had some problems with my asshole, so I've been a bit busy.]
[Ayo what???]
[... just forget it.]
[This outdoor scene looks like it's near the sea? Seems like there are even seagulls in the sky.]
[No way, there can't be rice paddies by the coast, right?]
[I got it, the host's company ran out of budget, right? Next, he's probably gonna sell homemade rice?]
[Host, symbolic effort is enough, you've been at it for days, time to attach the sales link.]
[Hey hey, Chaldea is an organization that protects humanity, what are you all babbling about? Don't slander them!!! ...By the way, how much is the rice per kilo?]
...
Just as Ethan was about to exchange a few pleasantries with the livestream viewers, a sharp voice rang in his ears.
"Hey! Don't think about slacking off!"
A barefoot little girl sitting on the edge of the field was staring at Ethan intently.
"Why does it have to be me working..."
"Fool, do you expect this king to do it?!"
Draco suddenly kicked up a splash of muddy water toward Ethan with her foot.
The water splashed everywhere before Ethan could dodge.
"Ahahaha! Look at that! What a pitiful sight of you!!!"
Draco held her stomach, laughing uncontrollably.
Since Ethan hadn't switched to auto camera mode, the viewers this time got a full first-person view of the water splash attack from Draco.
Unexpectedly, the comment section exploded instantly!
[Host host! Is that still considered PG!!!]
[Draco-chan, why would you reward the host like that!!]
[What did I just witness? Dammit, where's the host? I'm heading there right now!!!]
[I'm satisfied... my life has reached its peak…]
[Host, can you ask her to step on you from a first-person view?]
[Host, can you please put that clip in the replay? I'm begging you!!!]
"..."
Ethan glanced at the familiar faces in his livestream chat and sighed.
As expected, people just can't understand each other.
But as long as everyone's happy, it's fine.
Even if he found Draco insufferable right now, there was nothing he could do about it.
After all, to the villagers, the girl in front of him was just an innocent child.
As the "big brother" in this makeshift family, he had to find a way to shoulder the responsibility.
"And you're really bold, feeding me human food. When I said I was hungry, I meant at the very least you should feed me a Command Spell, right?"
"The rice here actually smells pretty good, I think it tastes fine."
Honestly speaking, the freshly milled rice from this village was incredibly fragrant.
If not for his limits, he could've easily eaten three big bowls.
"You want me to eat the same food as ordinary humans? Command Spell, I want mana from a Command Spell!!!"
Draco, still displeased, kicked more water at Ethan.
"Don't you have Independent Manifestation? You even have a Holy Grail, how can you lack mana???"
"Don't forget who saved your life!"
Seeing Ethan talk back, Draco clearly started to get upset.
"Fine fine fine..."
Knowing he couldn't win in an argument, Ethan kept his head down and continued transplanting seedlings.
Thanks to Himiko's rain prayers and the continuous sunshine on the island, the rice here could be planted year-round and still grow well.
As long as it wasn't a rainy day, the villagers would go out to the fields to replant more young shoots.
The villagers were self-sufficient, and with Himiko clearing out threats around the village, life here had a bit of an idyllic, paradise-like feel.
The villagers were all kind, and they had taught him the seedling transplanting techniques step by step.
If this place weren't a Singularity, Ethan truly wouldn't mind staying here for a while.
"Oh! Everyone's working so hard today!!!"
A bright young girl with twin ponytails stepped up from the edge of the rice paddy.
"Seeing onii-chan working so hard like this, Draco-chan must be happy too, right?"
She walked straight over to the blonde girl sitting on the edge of the field.
But the other girl slightly frowned and turned away, refusing to acknowledge her presence.
"Eh? Did I say something wrong?"
Seeing Draco's expression, Himiko looked slightly hurt.
"Ah, sorry about that, she's always a bit shy."
Ethan quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
Just looking at Draco's face was enough to know she had no affection for Himiko at all. The two were total opposites in personality, after all.
"Umu, it's fine. As long as you're all happy living in the village."
Then Himiko turned to Ethan.
"Right, that trading ship I mentioned before—it's arrived! Do you two want to go check it out?"
"It's here?!"
Ethan's heart tightened immediately.
Chaldea had been completely out of contact for several days now, and neither Mash nor the other Servants had left any trace. At this point, the merchant ship was his only remaining hope!
"Yeah, the people on the ship are docked near the village."
"Alright, we're going right now!!!"
Ethan scrambled up from the field, running off barefoot.
"Ah, there's no need to rush. They're bartering rice with the villagers, so they won't be leaving anytime soon."
"You're filthy."
At some point, Draco had stepped up beside him, looking at him with a disgusted expression.
"How is this my fault?!"
Ethan fired back helplessly.
Thinking about it, if the person leading the ship was actually decent, it wouldn't look good for him to just show up like this.
...
...
"Ten jin of rice, you can trade it for whatever you want—medicine, silver goods… I highly recommend this bronze lantern, top-tier stuff!"
"Huh? Don't want these useless items? You people seriously don't know value… hmph, fine, like last time then, I'll give you some soy paste."
Following Himiko's directions, Ethan led Draco to the western side of the village.
From a distance—what the?! A massive ship?!
Even from afar, Ethan saw villagers carrying sacks of harvested rice and lining up near a small bay not far from the village.
This ship was far larger than any ordinary vessel. Onboard were many burly men in rough clothing, taking stock of the goods to be offloaded, and then loading the rice handed over by villagers onto the ship.
Everyone seemed busy and bustling.
The ship's design...
It didn't feel Western at all—who on earth were these people?
Ethan lined up with the other villagers, and before long, it was his turn.
"Next."
Accompanied by a weak voice, Ethan stepped forward.
Just below the ship, a finely carved wooden table had been set up in front, along with a chair that was clearly extremely expensive at a glance.
On that chair slumped a girl who looked exhausted, resting her head on the table and weakly waving a hand.
"…How much rice did you bring, and what do you want to trade for?"
"Could it be… Xu Fu?!"
Ethan hesitantly asked.
"——————?!"
Hearing someone call her name, the girl in front of him lifted her head with a deeply puzzled expression.
"Who are you? How do you know my name? Show some basic respect to the captain, you rude brat!"
Could he have mistaken her for someone else?
Ethan quickly lowered his voice and whispered to the girl in front of him:
"You're Xu Fu, the one who helped Qin Shi Huang search for the elixir of immortality, aren't you?"
"YAAAH!!!"
The girl who had just been full of pride now jumped up in shock, nearly springing out of her seat.
"Who are you?! How do you know about that?!"
With a reaction like that, there was no mistaking it…
After Himiko, it really was Xu Fu.
She was definitely a Servant too.
Seeing Xu Fu panic so badly, the men loading goods behind her immediately gathered around to check what was going on.
Faced with the burly men surrounding him, Ethan got a little flustered.
Not out of fear for himself—but because if Draco got mad... would this ship even survive?
"No one is to come over here without my orders! Everyone, back off!!!"
"???"
Surprisingly, Xu Fu snapped furiously at her own people, leaving them stunned and confused.
After hearing her command, the laborers gradually returned to their work moving the rice.
Xu Fu frantically grabbed Ethan's arm.
"What exactly do you want? What are you trying to make me do???"
"Uh… could we talk in private for a moment?"
Though he wasn't sure why Xu Fu was so afraid of him, it wasn't a bad thing—maybe he could use that to his advantage.
"Ugh… I get it now, you're blackmailing me, aren't you…"
Xu Fu lowered her head, looking as if she had accepted her fate.
"Please, follow me. We'll talk somewhere more private."
Xu Fu gestured, and a man in traditional Chinese official robes quickly rushed down from the ship.
"I'm leaving things to you. Make sure to record all exchanged items properly."
The man nodded and sat down where Xu Fu had been, continuing the trades with the villagers.
"You two, come with me."
Xu Fu reluctantly turned and walked up the plank connected to the ship's deck. Seeing Ethan still staring intently at the vessel, she called back in a weary tone:
"Hey, didn't you say you wanted to talk? Get up here."
"Oh, coming."
Ethan turned to look at Draco. She seemed curious about the ship too, glancing around with interest.
"You're coming as well?"
"You're so naive. I wouldn't let you die that easily."
Draco was the first to step onto the plank.
"Haa…"
Ethan sighed and followed her up.
The deck was wide, with several men and women in coarse cloth cleaning, while a few armored soldiers stood guard at the ship's edge.
Ethan noticed the deck was stacked with ceramics, silverware, and neatly arranged crates.
At the same time, the rice collected from the villagers was being poured into sacks and sealed on the spot.
"This way."
That weak voice spoke again, leading Ethan below deck. Ahead of him was a spacious ship's cabin.
When the door opened, inside was a collection of finely crafted bronze items, a vintage wooden bed, a tea table, and a few round stools arranged neatly.
"Sit."
The girl gestured toward the seat by the tea table.
Ethan gave a slight nod and sat down.
"Seriously… next time, don't say such terrifying things out loud like that. My palms are still sweating!"
Xu Fu looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown, her voice almost tearful.
"Huh? You're still asking why?"
Ethan blinked in confusion.
Xu Fu had once been tasked with seeking the elixir of immortality for Qin Shi Huang. Wasn't that supposed to be the ultimate mission of this entire ship?
What was she so afraid of?
"You're asking why?! You seriously don't get the situation, do you?!"
Xu Fu shot him an irritated glance.
"There's no such thing as an elixir of immortality! Stop pressuring me already! Everyone's already close to giving up, and you suddenly bring it up again—aren't you basically trying to dump all the blame on the captain?!"
"..."
So that was it. Xu Fu was terrified that the people on the ship would suddenly remember the goal of their journey and pin the failure on her.
"But for you to know all that… seems like you're not from this era either."
Xu Fu looked at Ethan, then at Draco—who stood there without saying a word, her expression unreadable.
"Then… you're also…"
Ethan hesitantly asked.
"A Servant. Isn't it obvious?"
Xu Fu replied irritably.
"I woke up and found myself already sailing at sea. Everyone on board is obsessed with finding the elixir. Spare me! I've had enough of this exhausting, drifting life!!"
As she spoke, Xu Fu looked like she was about to curl into a ball—she was only a moment away from literally hugging her head and transforming into a weird round creature.
"We're all people who ended up in this time together. So, what do you want from me?"
"I want to hitch a ride on your ship and head out to sea."
Ethan stated his intent clearly.
To proceed with the next step of his plan, he needed a ship. And Xu Fu's ship was big enough—perfect for searching for Mash and the others.
"Out to sea? That's impossible. You'd best give up on that."
Xu Fu, who had been curled up, immediately lifted her head.
"Why???"
Ethan was a bit baffled.
He was just asking to hitch a ride—did she really need to be so stingy???
"Because the waters around here are cursed. There's no way to get out."
Xu Fu replied with a face full of despair.
"We're trapped in an endless, hopeless life at sea, doomed to repeat it forever."