• A/N:　The heat was so hot that, “I want to go to the beautiful sea. By merely wearing a swimsuit, a girl is already considered cute. Why does the food at the seaside house look so delicious?” were all we could think about.

The timeline of this arc would be inconsistent with the main story, however, we are giving priority to the current season. Please enjoy this arc while thinking that it’s a parallel dimension which ignores future plans and settings.

You can’t beat nature—

—it was foolish to even try competing against it in the first place. On the day she realized that, Jill finally decided to take action.

“Your Majesty, I want to go to the sea!”

Hadith, whom was making breakfast, turned around to face Jill who said so while raising her hand.

“Eeh? The sea? But why?”

“Because—”

—she pointed at the sky which was shining brightly. Its brilliance, which she couldn’t do anything about, was detestable.

Instead of brightly, it should be described as a heat wave or a burning inferno.

“It’s hot outside…”

“Ah, indeed… it’s been so hot these days, it’s unusual…”

“It’s no longer easy to bask in the sun nowadays. Is it the fate of humanity to be burned to death by the sun…?”

“Hence why, the sea?”

Jill nodded while pulling the hem of Hadith’s clothes.

“Let’s go to the sea with everyone, Your Majesty. It’ll be a cool, fun, and awesome experience.”

“Rather than the sea, why don’t we just stay at the imperial capital? Wouldn’t the air conditioning be a perfect solution to this?”

“The technology of the Rave Empire is amazing! But, if we’re just going to spend the entire day indoors, that’s just disappointing…”

“I think it’s better to just spend time while relaxing.”

Hadith, whom was preparing breakfast, didn’t seem to be dissatisfied with his shut-in life due to the heat. Inherently, he wasn’t the outgoing type.

—He has penchant for running away, though!

“Sunlight is good for your health.”

“Didn’t you just mention something about being burned to death?”

“But Your Majesty, lately, you haven’t even gone shopping…”

“Well, after all, I’m still the emperor. It’s unfitting of me to fetch my own things. That’s right, let’s make a cold dessert today.”

—Jill had almost cheered to that! To her shock, that was his means of evasion. She had to stay alert!

While clinging to him, Jill gave her best to spout the next line.

“That sounds good—but I still want to go to the sea—the sea!”

“I see, but do you remember what my older brother, Listeard, said regarding that?”

“Which is more important, me or your brother?”

“You’re going to use that question in such a situation?”

“Yes! Your Majesty, let’s go, to the sea! I want to swim!”

“Ever since this morning, I’ve been wondering as to what you guys have been fussing about—why would you want to go out in such shitty weather?”

Rave appeared from behind Hadith.

“I can’t say I support that idea. The sea is so far away from here. It’s outrageous to walk in that scorching hell just to cool down.”

“Then, how about asking Rave to teleport us there? That way, we can also go home quickly—it’ll be a day trip at most!”

“Don’t forget that I’m the Dragon God. Not to mention, the sea of the Rave Empire is different from that of the kingdom of Kratos.”

Rave laughed proudly as Jill tensed.

“The places where you can swim in the sea are limited—because the sea dragons will appear.”

“Rave! You idiot!”

“Sea dragons!? Such creatures exist?!”

Jill, whom was beaming, grabbed Hadith’s leg as he pushed her face with one hand.

“I want to go to the sea! I definitely want to go, now! I want to see the sea dragons!”

“Basically, what I’m trying to say is, there are limited places to swim, where there are no sea dragons, uh…”

“Which means I can still swim! Your Majesty, please, Your Majesty, Your Majesty—”

“—D, don’t shake me, Jill.”

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please, Your Majesty, Your Majestyyyyyy—…”

“I get it, I get it, already… Jill, I’m getting dizzy!”

“Really!? We’ll truly go to the sea?! Sea Dragons! Swimming!”

Behind the overjoyed Jill whom was doing a victory pose with both hands, the exhausted Hadith was about to vomit.

“—Useless Dragon God…”

“My bad…”

***

“The sea—!”

“Jill-chan, wait~! Your sunscreen~!”

Camila stopped Jill as she tried to run across the white sand beach with a floating ring in one hand and started applying the sticky lotion to her. Zeke tried to slip past them.

“No, Zeke! You have to do some preparatory exercises!”

“Preparatory exercises? Because there are so many people around?”

“What will you do if your legs cram?”

“Come on, stay still, Jill~ you have to properly take care of your skin~!”

Being glared at by Camila, Jill reluctantly behaved. While waiting for Jill, Zeke began to bend and stretch on spot.

Beyond that, a large number of families, friends, lovers, and many people came and went—the blue sea spread out. The hateful sunshine, the sunny weather, and even the horizon could be seen due to the brightness.

It’s the sea~!

She thought it’d be impossible to go that day, but the preparations and trip were almost spontaneous. When a girl’s swimsuit appeared out of Hadith’s closet, Jill’s face tensed. Because he had already decided his bride was absolutely going to be younger than 14-years-old, he thought it was only natural to be prepared. Truth to be told, Jill was happy with her cute white swimsuit which had ruffles and scarlet stripes.

All that was necessary was the involvement of her two escorts and Rave’s teleportation. The same plan would be used for returning home.

“It’s alright, now, Jill-chan~”

Jill finally got permission from Camila and she then joined Zeke stretching Naturally, the stretching Zeke was also wearing a swimsuit. His muscles, which reflected the sun, were dazzling.

“It seems that you haven’t been lazy in regards to your training, Zeke.”

“This is how you’re confirming that?”

“How about your, Camila—”

“—I won’t show you~ I don’t want to get burned~”

Jill was amazed at Camila’s swimsuit—it basically covered her body from top to bottom.

“I wonder if you can get charred because of magic training…”

“Wait a minute~!? What does that mean~!?What kind of harsh training was that~!?”

“By the way, where is His Majesty!? Did you guys leave him behind!?”

“Ah, he’s over there.”

Jill raised her face after doing a forward bend and turned her gaze in the direction Zeke pointed.

First of all, something smelled good. It was from a simple building lined up on the beach. The sound of meat grilling and the smell of dark sauce were mixed amidst a voice selling sake and juice. The source was the resting place and stalls aimed for the swimmers. The people working there were busy.

“W, why is His Majesty!?”

“Oh, Jill.”

Far from a swimsuit, Hadith, who wore an apron, smiled before an iron plate. At the same time, he was dexterously flipping something neatly made of flour upside down.

“What are you doing…!?”

“You told me to just relax under the shade, but I decided to help out because I feel bad. Oh, welcome~, it’s freshly cooked.”

“B, but it’s the sea.”

“The sunshine, though. I’m confident that I’ll fall collapse due to heat stroke or suffer from burns.”

That’s not something you should be confident about.

“But, Your Majesty, your magical power is currently half than the normal amount, right? Shouldn’t that ease the burden on your body?”

“Yes, but I don’t know when and what kind of seizure will occur due to experiencing the temperature difference between the outside and the sea… Even if I managed to go to the sea safely, there’s a high possibility my legs will cramp, or that I’ll run out of physical strength in the middle of swimming and drown quietly.”

“That’s why you decided to help the store…?”

“It’s alright, this is more fun than I expected. For two people, right?”

If Listeard were to see that scene, he’d die on spot.

Jill also had a headache.

Whether he knew about it or not, Hadith merely smiled.

“Come on, I’ll be fine, Jill. But please don’t leave the supervision of Zeke and Camila.”

“Um… that, but, Your Majesty…”

“I will watch His Majesty for you, Jill-chan~ I don’t want to get any sunburn, after all.”

Camila waved her hand and began to help Hadith. If it was the nifty Camila, she’d be a good seller.

Zeke shrugged and called out.

“Let’s go, Captain.”

“Oh, right…”

“Have a safe trip. Be sure to have fun.”

Sent off by Hadith, she hurriedly chased after Zeke.

The sensation of the sandy beach. The smell of the tide. The whiteness of the waves which kept pulling away.

It was the long-awaited sea.

Although that was her impression, she felt that the momentum and brilliance that sight once had had faded a little.

…It can’t be helped. His Majesty has a weak physique, after all… there’s nothing I can do about it…

Zeke asked Jill, who wore a floating ring, from above.

“Let me ask you a question—could it be, you’re unable to swim?”

“Of course, I can! I brought this for fun!”

“Well, who knows? Let’s have a match!”

“Eh? Are you sure about that?”

Zeke turned away from Jill, whom was staring at the sea.

“There are a lot of people, I don’t think it’s possible to compete to the offshore… well, that’s that. About the emperor, it’s such a shame, but we came all the way here, why not have some fun?”

It seemed that Zeke was concerned. Jill laughed—not only did he make such a big deal about it, he was also trying to coax her.

“Then, can you help me? There’s something I want to find. I’ll surprise His Majesty with it.”

“Oh, sure? What is it? A shell? Or do you want to catch a fish?”

“Let’s catch a sea dragon!”

“…Ha?”

Jill pumped her fist and jumped into the sea, leaving a dumbstruck Zeke behind.

---

***T/N:

Far from a swimsuit, Hadith, who wore an apron, smiled before an iron plate. At the same time, he was dexterously flipping something neatly made of flour upside down.

“What are you doing…!?”

You know, the usual–hoboing my emperor status.

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