With our party affairs settled, we gathered our things and made our way onto the deck for the final time. Robin was already there, watching the coast go by. I followed their gaze, once again in awe of the beautiful sandy beaches that had been untouched by pollution and waste like it had back home. 

Looking a bit further out, the sprawling city of Kin no Kaigan sat off in the distance. A shrine on the large hill stood in the heart of the city. Torii gates lined a path up the hill, leading to the shrine’s main courtyard. There was a small home inside too. Was that the haiden? I made a mental note to ask Nina later.

The rest of the buildings all looked pretty traditional as well, at least judging by the large, overhanging rooftops that curved upwards at the tips. It kinda reminded me of Tanbomachi, just bigger and grander. I idly imagined a samurai jumping from rooftop to rooftop, battling demons and other unseen threats.

“So, what’s the plan?” Alec asked excitedly. I envied his willingness to return to the mundane routine of the other world. How was this decision so easy for him?

Robin laughed and pulled out a sealed scroll of some sort. “Nothing too grand, I’m afraid. You four are going to teleport to shore using this and enter Kin no Kaigan on foot. That will allow you to skip the inspection of the goods, the ship, and all the other fun stuff us merchants have to deal with.”

“And since the anti-cheat ships are following us, you’ll be inspected before them, which will stop them from docking and following us,” Kei finished. “Not bad, captain.”

“Precisely, my friend. Kin no Kaigan is the busiest trading port in Haredo. If past experience is anything to go by, we probably won’t have a chance to dock until sunset.”

“Are you sure this is going to work, Robin?” Nina asked. “The ‘busiest trading port in Haredo’ has got to have more than one place for docking and inspections, right?”

The captain smiled cryptically. “Trust me, every dock in that city will be busy. I’d tell you why, but I’d hate to spoil the surprise.”

Alec was eyeing the spell scroll, his face scrunched up in confusion. “Hold on. Couldn’t we go anywhere we want with that?”

“Maybe if a powerful mage made it,” Robin replied. “The ones I have just barely reach the shore. Don’t worry, I keep a few extra spares for emergencies.”

Nina gave the captain a polite bow. “Thank you for everything.” 

“Ah! Um, thanks for taking care of me while I was out,” I added with a slight bow of my own.

“It was no trouble at all. In fact, this is probably the most fun I’ve had in years.” Robin held up the scroll. “So, who wants to do the honors?”

“Oh, can I?” Alec said. “I still haven’t had a chance to try any sort of magic.”

“Sure, kid. Stand near your friends, then undo the scroll and aim for the shore. Be safe out there, alright?” 

After we all said our goodbyes, Robin gave Alec the spell scroll. Eagerly, Alec undid the seal and, well…

The good news was that we made it to the shore. The bad news was that the way we got there included quite a few facefuls of cold seawater. One by one, we scrambled up the beach in an attempt to regain our bearings.

“That was… refreshing,” Kei said sarcastically.

Alec crossed his arms with a huff. “In my defense, Robin did say we were pushing the limits of the scroll.”

“If it makes you feel any better, you did way better than Sylvie on her first go,” Nina teased. “We wanted to go across the pond, but she put us straight into it.”

Ugh. Of course she’d bring that up. “That’s because you went and found the largest pond in Tanbomachi,” I complained. 

Alec traded a look with Kei before giving the two of us worried glances. “I’m supposed to remind you two that none of that never happened, right?”

“I know, I know!” Nina assured him. “I just wanted to get my little sis back for earlier.” 

I rolled my eyes and continued digging into my pockets for some fire elemental stones. Tapping into their magic, I allowed enough to leak out to function as a miniature heating device.“Well, guess you don’t need these...” I tossed a handful of the activated stones to Alec and Kei, keeping the rest for myself.

Nina’s eyes went wide. “Wait! Sis, I’m sorry! Please give me a few!”

“Mmmmm, Nah. I don’t feel like it.”

“I’ll give you more brushes and headpats…”

I leaped up. “Really!?” Alec and Kei both covered their faces, trying to suppress a laugh. It took me way longer than I’d like to admit to figure out why. I grabbed my overactive tail and cleared my throat before passing my sister a few of the pseudo hand warmers. “Fine, you got me.”

We spent a few minutes on the shore, warming our hands and drying portions of our clothes. It was during this time I discovered how much water my hair and tail could hold. And, unfortunately, how much effort it took to wring said areas out.

“We should probably get going,” Kei said once we had gotten as dry as we could. “Hopefully we don’t look suspicious when we walk into town drenched like this.”

Nina stood up, squinting towards the city. “Well, we have at least an hour’s walk, I think. If we’re lucky, we can pass it off as a bit of Alec’s mischief.”

Alec’s signature smirk formed on his face. “Alright. If we get Syl to cry, we can make it look extra realistic.”

I rolled my eyes. “I hate that I can’t even argue with you.”

“Alright, alright, come on kids.” Kei began herding us towards the road.

Alec glanced at Kei, then at me, eyebrows raised. A mischievous thought passed silently between us. I grinned, then silently counted down with my fingers. Three… two… one...

“Yes, mom,” we droned in unison. Kei’s face contorted in a mixture of shock, confusion, and embarrassment. We were going to be in a lot of trouble later, but it was definitely worth it. The entirety of Kei’s reaction was hilarious.

“Ugh, you-!”

“Syl, run!” Alec grabbed my hand and we took off down the road, laughing and giggling.