Chapter 33: Our Ship Is Men-Only… Are You Sure It’s Really Okay? Don’t Come Crying to Me If the Boss Gets Mad Later!

The woman was wearing a coffee-brown ten-gallon hat and jeans with leather chaps attached.

She had on a fringed shirt and vest, and leather boots.

Around her waist she wore a gunman-style gun belt with a holster holding a handgun hanging from it.

Just as Yuri had said, her appearance gave the strong impression of a Western-fashion cowgirl.

It was a fashion the two of them were seeing for the first time in this world, which was why Kazui and Yuri were surprised. Ordinary jeans were common even in this world, but jeans with chaps attached were something they had never seen before.

Firearms such as handguns were not mainstream weapons in this world. They did exist to some extent, but ordinary firearms were powerless against monsters, and even in human-versus-human combat they were almost completely ineffective against even trainee adventurers.

When an adventurer carried a firearm, it was almost always a special weapon that used aura or mana. However, Kazui and Yuri did not possess that knowledge.

The approaching woman stopped in a way that blocked Kazui and Yuri’s path. She was a tall woman who easily exceeded 175 centimeters and looked to be around twenty years old, with well-shaped features.

While glaring at Kazui and Yuri, she declared in a sharp voice:

"You two over there, stop!"

She had cream-yellow skin, short chestnut-brown hair, and hazel eyes with a sharp gaze that gave off a rather intimidating impression. On her left upper arm she wore an armband.

The armband was embroidered with the same emblem that was drawn on the Black Maiden.

"Where’s your permit?"

Asked by the woman, Kazui and Yuri looked at each other.

"Permit? What’s that?"

When Kazui asked, the woman answered with an exasperated look.

"It’s common knowledge that you don’t approach a ship flying a red flag while it’s docked without a permit!"

She pointed at the bow of the Black Maiden. Not only at the bow but also at the stern, the Black Maiden had poles raised with red flags flying from them.

"There’s a common rule like that? Did you know?"

Kazui asked, and Yuri shook his head. In this world, whether it was an ordinary ship or a terrestrial ship, when a red flag was flying while docked, approaching without permission was forbidden by regulation.

Neither Kazui nor Yuri had known of that world-wide rule.

"You’re adventurers and you don’t even know the meaning of signal flags? If you keep that up you’ll get into trouble real quick!"

Because they had Orbs embedded in the backs of their hands and were wearing combat uniforms, the woman had assumed Kazui and Yuri were adventurers.

"If you approach a ship flying a red flag without a permit, you can’t complain even if you get attacked or captured!"

"Kid! What’s going on?"

From the deck of the Black Maiden came a voice that was somewhat low for a woman — a voice Kazui and Yuri recognized. A dark-brown-skinned woman leaned out from the deck and looked down at Kazui, Yuri, and the woman called Kid.

"Just a couple of kids without permits approaching, so I’m about to chase them off right away!"

Kid looked up and replied in a loud voice to the woman who had called out.

"Ah, it’s Ebony-san."

Looking up at the woman on the deck — Ebony — Kazui muttered. The one who had called out from the deck was Ebony.

"Why is she in a swimsuit?"

Yuri murmured with a puzzled look. From the ground only her upper body was visible, but Ebony was wearing the top of a blue bikini-type swimsuit.

"Ebony-san! Thank you very much for saving us yesterday!"

Kazui raised his voice and expressed his gratitude to Ebony.

"Ah, it’s the kid from yesterday!"

Ebony realized that the one on the ground was Kazui, the boy they had saved. She also roughly guessed the identity of the boy standing next to him, even though his sex and hair color had changed.

"Is the kid next to you the Leona from yesterday?"

At Ebony’s question, Yuri answered in a loud voice.

"Yes! Thank you for everything yesterday!"

"Ah, so you guys are the ones the sisters saved, huh."

Learning that they were connected to her seniors in Iron Maiden, Ebony and the others, Kid let down her guard and her attitude softened a little.

"Let those kids through! They’re the ones Ivory said she wanted to examine and confirm whether the treatment had worked properly!"

"Our ship is men-only... are you sure it’s really okay? Don’t come crying to me if the boss gets mad later!"

This time Ivory peeked her upper body out from the deck. Having overheard the conversation involving Ebony and the others, she had realized that Kazui and the others had come and showed her face.

Ivory raised her voice and spoke to Kid.

"I’ve already cleared it with the boss! She said it’s fine if they stay on the deck!"

Next, Ebony called out to Kazui and the others.

"You two, come on up! If you can jump this high, you can jump straight up without using the lift or ladder!"

Anyone who possessed skills that enhanced running and jumping power, such as Rapid Yalt, could jump directly onto the deck. However, Kazui and Yuri could not do that.

"Jumping up is impossible for us, so we’ll use the lift!"

Kazui answered as their representative. The reason they chose the lift over the ladder was that he was carrying a large box containing the cheesecake, making the ladder difficult to climb.