Iger hummed cheerfully on his return trip. His mood was through the roof. The day couldn't get any better. He still couldn't believe it. Just two days prior, he came across lost travellers- maybe even merchants. Despite how dirty and scuffed their clothes looked, the way they carried themselves told him much. They were obviously lost and out of their depth. It was dangerous out in the forest, so his natural inclination was to bring them somewhere safe like the village.
So when they came close, he wasn't expecting to come upon probably the most beautiful woman he'd seen in his life. A literal vixen that was drawing all of his attention by simply being there.
If there was a goddess of beauty out there...he'd praise them.
Iger had been to larger towns. He'd visited a city twice. The people there lived better lives, and so did the women. He'd heard stories of noble ladies, of fairytales and princesses, and how beautiful they all looked. At the same time, there were stories of cruelty. More often than not rumors would drip down the vine and talk about how the reputation of some were tarnished. How every week there was another scandal.
It was not unlike his home village where the people constantly talked about each other. Little news reached them this far away from the rest of civilization. So to pass the time, they resorted to stories and updates from one another. Once in a while drama would occur, but that was quickly blown over. Everyone lived together long enough that there was little to fight about. They were all friends here.
But if there was one thing Iger learned about women, it's that the more beautiful one was, the harder it was to approach them. There were simply too many conditions. You needed money, reputation, looks. Then when you had all three, you needed more.
Atago was none of that. She didn't treat him below her. She said thank you when Iger let them stay. She blew away expectations when she herself asked to join his hunt.
Yes, Iger was infatuated. Yes, Iger was horny. But no, he was a good man and he wasn't going to lose to his libido. He wouldn't go as far as touching her just for the satisfaction.
...yes, he was also trying to impress Atago with his hunting skills.
She was a quick learner Iger would admit. Traps weren't the fastest skill to learn. Even if the one he taught her was basic and good for beginners, Atago picked it up in one go. Talent perhaps? It was too early to tell until Iger showed her the other tricks and lessons.
A frown appeared on his face when Iger spotted something large, brown, and very familiar laying on the ground at their meeting location. He was about to sneak to the side bushes before he noticed how oddly the bear was positioned.
It was belly up.
'No, it could still be dangerous.' His survival instinct prevailed until someone popped up from behind the bear and waved at him. The fox ears and black hair ws a dead giveaway.
"Atago what the fuck are you doing near a bear?! RUN!" He roared.
"I caught it!" She cupped her hands back to shout the reply.
'She what now?!' Iger gaped.
"Look, see?" Suddenly the bear's body was lifted into the air. Iger's mouth fell open. How did...? She was even doing it with only one arm!
Bullshit. No...it was magic. That has to be it! He jogged closer without taking his eyes off Atago or the what was now becoming an obviously dead bear judging from how it flopped.
"How did you do it?" Iger asked in awe. "You have magic?"
"Magic?" Atago paused. "It's real?!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S REAL?"
"HOW DID YOU KILL THE BEAR THEN?"
"I tackled it." Atago stated as a matter of fact.
"You WHAT?!"
"You're telling me magic is real?!" Atago asked excitedly. The bear she was carrying in the air already forgotten.
Iger couldn't believe this girl. "Have you never seen magic...ever?" It was beginning to make more sense now why the girl was so approachable. She was sheltered in a different way. There was possibly no way anyone wouldn't have seen of magic unless it was deliberately kept away from them.
"Not where I'm from." Atago didn't know if she should admit any more than that. Being from another world sounded impossible. But with magic...? Who knows?
Right, he wasn't far off the mark then.
"But you've heard of it?"
"A lot." Atago grinned. "Can you tell me more?"
"How about we do it on the way back." Iger looked around. "It's not good to stick around near the traps."
"Right. Can we bring this back? How much are bears worth?" Atago grinned.
Iger wasn't prepared for the cute attack. It was a testament to how Atago could pull off an adorable expression while still holding something crazy like a bear over her head. The poor guy nearly collapsed.
=== WINTER ===
Winter was making bank...or at least he thought so. The decision to limit the number of answers he gave would help spread out the money for the next few days. It also helped keep their attention longer.
"We're already offering double and you still won't do it?" Another insistent customer demanded.
"I'm not doing it because I want to. Atago would kill me if she caught up quickly." Winter explained. He was already playing a dangerous game. Atago would kill him once she found out. His idea was to earn enough money and buy something for forgiveness. It was easier that way.
Hopefully.
The door to the pub suddenly banged open.
"Winterrr!!!" A familiar black-haired shipgirl poked her head inside.
"IT WASN'T ME!" Winter quickly denied any allegation he could think of.
"What?" Atago blinked while slowly noticing the large crowd of customers around her admiral. "...what are you doing?"
"I was making bets with everyone." It was the only believable reason Winter could come up with. In front of him was a sum of coins he'd have a hard time explaining. "We're betting if you would work here." The crowd quietly picked up on the story Winter was going along with. They had been caught red-handed and he was swooping in to save them all.
"We don't have money! What are you betting for?!" Atago growled.
"You."
"What?"
"Betting you'd join out of the goodness of your heart not to bankrupt us."
"Are you trying to lose the money I just earned us?!" Atago glared. Iger appeared beside her with dumbfounded expression. "See look here!" She raised a small bag of coins. "This isn't even the rest of it! The butcher said he'd pay the rest once they get more money from selling the bear!"
"Bear?" Winter blinked.
"Aye. She's...hella strong." Iger mumbled while making his was to the counter. "Seriously what the hell Winter? Did you know? She carried the bear here on her own. Didn't even look tired after!" Iger shot Winter a look. "No wonder you're scared."
"She tried to throw a rock at me. A big one." Winter deadpanned. "I told you that she's going to kill me one day."
"What?! I was only doing it to make you look away you pervert! You think I'd really kill you?!" Atago retorted.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes." Winter moved away from the pile of money to drag her attention away from it. "How about we talk outside for a bit." He lowered his voice while shooting a subtle glance back at the spectators.
Somehow, at the same time, he managed to suggest two different messages. Atago saw it as a hint to talk privately outside, whereas the crowd understood the message to disperse themselves and the money.
Atago crossed her arms once they were outside. "You really shouldn't have done that, Commander. Taking bets." She made sure to emphasize his official position in the navy to push her point across.
Winter grinned nervously while trying to play off the dangerous gamble he was doing. "Can't blame a guy for trying to make something out of nothing. We're getting meals but we need money too." Then he changed his composure to a serious one. "So...you showed Iger?"
Atago instantly sensed the commanding undertone the admiral subtly inserted. He wasn't kidding around with the question. This was the officer present, not the lost survivor from earlier. "I did. Only how strong I was though. He thought it was magic."
"Magic?" Winter frowned.
"It exists here! Can you believe it?" Atago grinned excitedly. "Iger told me all about it."
That wasn't something Winter was expecting.
"I'll believe it when I see it." His eyes moved to the small bag of coins Atago had. A quick estimate told him it was more than what he earned that day. Looks like his plan to get Atago working at the pub was short-lived. "Are you going to be hunting everyday?"
"Of course not. I want to rest too." Atago huffed. "I swear if you order me..."
"Just do me a favor and show up around the pub sometimes. It helps bring the customers in for me." Winter glanced at the pub for a bit before continuing. "Since you have free time, explore around and find out whatever you can. Including magic. I'll be stuck here but at least I can talk more with the villagers." He stuffed his hand into his pocket and brought out the money he collected that day. "Do us a favor and buy something soft to lie on. My back is killing me. If soap exists, do that too. I'm dying to have a proper bath. Another pair of clothes too. We can find a stream nearby later."
Atago blinked. The amount Winter collected was nothing to scoff at. The butcher paid an upfront amount for the bear that he could afford. Iger vouched that the rest would come later since a bear was normally out of their range. A merchant came around once every month to buy skins from the village which would be brought to a tannery. Bearskin was a premium for higher paying customers. In the meantime, the butcher would pay her the proceeds from the meat sale.
"You earned this much...? Wow." She opened her small pouch and added his coins. "Betting? Seriously?"
"Entertainment in this village is short. Betting with a new guy in town was fun, even more when they were betting about you." Winter slipped a little truth in there. Technically it was about her, and technically it was entertainment. As long as nobody leaked it. Knowing information security, Winter was assured they would eventually give it away. He just needed to get on Atago's good side and prove it helped them out in the long run.
He needed to get on her good side...
"Atago, what do you know about cooking?" Winter had a flash of inspiration. Maybe this would be his ticket to salvation.
"A lot. We downloaded stuff online." She indicated to her brain. While scientists heavily modified shipgirl brains with tidbits of nanotech. No modern equivalent could replace the brain. It was surprising how a normal lump of meat had 2.5 million gigabytes of ram, several times faster than anything created yet. All they had to do was create synthetic implants that translated information from other sources into tangible neuron signals for the brain. The rest was practice, training, and development. A little nudge here, a nudge there, and suddenly shipgirls could efficiently use 2.5 million gb ram for anything. Calculating shell trajectories, weather forecast, offline gps...you name it, they could do it.
Any interests the girls had was downloaded online in less than a second. Food was nothing.
"Do you have recipes?!" Winter had been surviving on fish and medieval mush for the last week. If he was suffering, then Atago was too. "But we don't have paper to write it on." He facepalmed himself as soon as he realized. "We don't have much ingredients either. I could count in one hand what the pub uses." After working for two days, Winter had seen the kitchen enough times to take a guess.
Fortunately for him, Atago was on the same branch of thought. "I can identify herbs in the wild!" Her eyes sparkled. "I can bring them back and we can cook real food!" She was thankful they had other food than half a week of fish, but the stew and meals offered were mostly salted or bland. While she was used to going on weeks without the offered meals at the base during combat missions, it had dawned on her that they wouldn't be able to have the same food for a long period of time.
Maybe never- if they were really in a different world.
Yes, they were still half in denial.
"I'm going to forage tonight." Atago decided. Screw sleep. She didn't need it. What she needed was real food. Or at least something better than whatever they had been eating the past few days.
"Buy us some fur for bedding or something at least before you go." Winter reminded. "Maybe we can cook something tomorrow."
"Anything else?" Atago couldn't wait anymore. She wanted to go and look for anything they could use to cook. Still, some programming inside her was keeping her from leaving without her superior dismissing her.
"None. You can go." Winter eyed her tapping feet. He could tell she was excited. "Be careful out there." Those words weren't even heard because Atago was already running off.