Admittedly, the woman was certainly drop-dead gorgeous. But beauty meant nothing when someone did not have the personality to back it up. As her eyes settled on him, he could practically see the distaste and disdain oozing from them.

  “You must be the so-called Hero. Allow me to thank you for giving me a hand in this situation. But next time, a passenger should act as a passenger and not cause a problem.”

  Man, I wanna punch her so bad.

  – I bet she tastes really bad. Should we test it? For the sake of science, of course.

  Noah had to hide the smirk that threatened to tug his lips. Eve always found a way to crack him up. Though determining if one’s personality affected the taste of their flesh was certainly something worth studying.

  Well, this is gonna be real fun. He thought sarcastically.

  First, the stuck-up elves and now a stuck-up knight with a stick so far up her ass that Noah was astonished it did not literally come out of her mouth already.

  Could the day get any better? Noah immediately regretted thinking like that as he knew he might have just jinxed himself.

  Seeing as Noah was ignoring her, a cold light flashed in the eyes of the head-knight but she did not act. She had no fear of a Mecha pilot outside of their mecha. But Noah was undoubtedly the hero in the hearts of all the passengers of the Traveler and touching him in front of everyone would bring problems that she was not willing to deal with. She snorted and walked away with her mercenaries behind her while muttering low enough so that only Noah could hear.

  “Don’t be too happy yet.”

  Looking at the mercenary knights saluting the other VIPs with respect before starting to inspect the capsule, Noah asked his friend, “What was her deal?” He was still a super VIP, right?

  “Well… Your actions kinda made them look really bad. Even more so since this also increased the value of my group while she got reprimanded and demoted. I guess she did not have any good feelings for you after all that. Furthermore, she was once an imperial knight and still is a noble. They disdain everyone really.”

  “So, she is angry because I saved her incompetent ass? Got it.” Stuck-up nobles were the last thing Noah had expected to deal with here. But if they continued provoking him, he would make them quite literally disappear if it was necessary.

  Of course, ideally, he would just make sure she vanished without alerting anyone...

  Well. Let’s not think of murder as the first solution.

  Noah caught himself before he could really go all in on that train of thought. It seemed like Eve was rubbing off on him. A simple beating would be enough as a first lesson if that woman pushed too much.

  “Everything is clear. The VIP can now board in.” When the inspection ended, the knightly woman came out and announced.

  Noah was not interested in wasting precious energy to remember her name. She was not worthy of such action.

  “Well, my friend. It seems like it’s time to part ways.” Karnax spoke, giving a gentle tap on Noah's shoulder.

  Their meeting was brief but enjoyable.

  “Don’t worry. This won’t be the last time we meet each other.” Noah grinned and brought his fist forward. “In my home. A fist bump is a sign of friendship. For greeting as well as parting.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Karnax smiled and balled his hand into a fist before bumping it against Noah’s.

  One giant green fist and a smaller pale one bumped against each other in a simple but straightforward way.

  This was how friendship worked. Sometimes all you needed was to spend a few moments of understanding.

  “Honorable warrior Noah. May the gods guide your adventures and bring you to new horizons.”

  After the fist bump, Karnax spoke once again while Noah waved his hand without turning back as he walked away.

  “I told you Karnax. I believe in no gods. But I will accept your blessing. See you later my friend. Don’t die!”

  Noah laughed as he boarded the small capsule.

  His adventure on The Traveler was short but it was still enjoyable.

  Great fight. Great friends and new mysteries. What else could he ask for?

  – You seem to be in a good mood.

  That I am.

  Noah nodded and took his seat in the capsule. The sofa was arranged in a semi-circular fashion, and he could see that there was a second room in the vessel.

  When he landed on the soft cushion, he felt like every bone in his body was moaning in pleasure and his brain was sending signals to never stand up again in all of his life.

  “Pretty comfortable, right?” A muffled woman's voice reached his ears, causing Noah to look at his neighbor. It was one of the sketchy masked individuals.

  “I feel like I am in heaven,” Noah answered comfortably and received a chuckle from her. Before they could discuss more, a robot butler approached them and gave everyone a drink.

  Taking the glass in his hand, Noah looked at the amber liquid with a faint frown.

  [Let’s all toast to our survival and to a better day.]

  A voice came out from the speaker. The one he recognized as the spiteful noblewoman.

  The passengers looked at each other and lifted their glasses before drinking it. No matter how awkward they were, they couldn’t refuse such a polite toast, right?

  Noah drank as well. However, the moment the liquid entered his body, his frown deepened. Light flickered in his eyes as he opened his mouth but, in the end, simply swallowed his words and smiled thinly before drinking the liquid in small gulps.

  He could feel the vessel tremble, and soon, the light in the cabin dimmed slightly, bringing forward an atmosphere of pure relaxation.

  [We will land on Neverland in 10 minutes.]

  The announcement ended and was replaced by a soft and beautiful melody, filling the air. Noah had never been a particular fan of musi,c but he had to admit that, though only one instrument was playing, the skill of the musician was clearly on another level.

  He couldn’t but close his eyes, enjoy the music, and softly hum to the song.

  Perhaps he should sleep. He wondered.

  Maybe he should sleep. He thought.

  Ten minutes was more than enough time for a light nap. Someone said,

  Sleep.

  He needed to sleep.

  He wanted to…

  !!!

  With a snap, Noah’s drowsy mind stirred awake. But he did not open his eyes. His breathing stayed even as he perfectly controlled every part of his body.

  “Are they asleep now?”

  “They are. Even without the drink, there is no way they would be able to listen to that flute and stay awake.”

  Two people were speaking. One was the stupid noblewoman.

  “Look at him. A great hero. Haha. I guess even heroes cannot fight against His music.” She laughed, but her companion seemed uninterested.

  “Stop playing around and start steering. All the VIPs here are at the top of the top. The boss won’t be happy if we get caught.”

  “Heh. Either way, this is our last work. But you are right. I will activate the drive now. Hahaha. I wonder what that bitch B-54 is going to think when she sees us vanish under her nose.”

  The woman laughed and walked away.

  As for Noah, who was still acting like he was asleep. Only one thought filled his mind.

  Seems like we will soon be able to make the experiment you proposed a reality.

  — Hahahaha!!

  As a laugh full of pure sadistic joy and anticipation filled his mind, the ship vanished in a warp drive along with all its passengers.