The Scholar and The Hat Guy Wanderer x Reader

Chapter 3: Set Sail!

You were amazed. You have never seen the Alcor close-up before. You have only heard stories of the Alcor and the sea monsters, and how brave the captain is. You have also heard that Captain Beidou earned her vision by fighting a sea monster, trying to save her crew. She's a real hero.

You were so amazed that you didn't notice a huge group of people around you. They were both workers and civilians.

"Alright everyone, the shipment has arrived! Get everyone out of the way and get into positions!" a worker called out.

Everyone, including you, was moved out of the front of the port and moved to the sides. You looked around you and you noticed that everyone had backpacks, suitcases, purses, and more luggage. They were probably the other Inazumens traveling to Liyue.

You look over to the front of the port, and the ship is slowly coming to a stop. You could hear a strong, but powerful female voice calling out from the ship. You looked around the senary to see whose voice it was. That was when you noticed Captain Beidou. You also noticed another person beside her. They seem to have white hair, but you couldn't get a good look at them because they left Captain Beidou's side to help with the unloading.

After many minutes passed, the port was full of boxes of goods and luxuries. You looked around to see if your ship had arrived, but nothing. You thought for a second that you might have missed it until you heard the same commanding voice.

"All aboard the Alcor citizens of Inazuma who are traveling to Liyue!"

That is when it hit you. You were going to travel in the Alcor. It didn't seem right because the ship was only used to transport materials, not civilians.

An Inazuman guard came up to the crowd of civilians, "People traveling to Liyue, you will be traveling with Captain Beidou and her crew." Everyone around you started to pick up their luggage to board the ship.

You boarded the ship just like everyone else. It was a dream come true, almost like destiny was affirming that you had made the right decision. Or maybe it was a warning that disaster would strike soon.

When everyone boarded the ship, the Captain yelled out, "We're setting sail! Men, to your posts! A new adventure is about to begin!" and with that, the whole crew started to run around the ship. The civilians, including you, were confused, but of course, no one had ever been on a ship before.

When the ship started to leave the port, everyone was given a room to stay in for two days. One day if the winds picked up during the journey.

A crew member led every single one of you to your rooms, and you were one of the first ones. When you got to your room, you noticed that it had only two types of furniture. A small bed and a squared-shaped table. It wasn't at all fancy, but good enough for a few days.

It was probably evening when you finally decided to leave your room and walk around the deck. You started to miss your comfortable bed back at home, this one was hard as a rock.

When you got onto the deck, the whole crew was still working. Some were cleaning, others rearranging, and many were singing. There didn't seem to be any civilians on the deck, but you didn't mind, you wanted to look out and see the vast ocean, reminding you that you were finally starting your journey in a faraway land...with a rock-hard bed.

You were admiring the scenery when you heard someone whistling a tone. You turned your head and saw the same white-haired person that you noticed before boarding the ship. He was calm, also admiring the scenery, which he could have seen many times already.

You looked back to the scenery until you heard his voice, "This scenery is wonderful. Though I have seen it many times, there is always a change in the calm waves."

His calm voice was soothing to the ear, and his wording made the scenery of the ocean more lively.

"It is wonderful. It's a shame that I might only see it just this once." You responded in a sad tone because it also reminded you that you might not be able to go back to Inazuma until you graduate, and many leave the Akademiya after ten years or more of studying. You might even make your life in the new land.

"You never know what destiny has in store for you, like a maple leaf. They may come from a maple tree, but it's the leaves that travel far and beyond. They don't know where the wind may take them, or how long they'll be traveling, but they will always come back the next season," he looked at you with a smile, "All you need is faith."

You looked back at him, and you smiled, "Thanks".

You both looked back at the scenery until you heard the same commanding voice from before, "Alright scallywag, get out of your fantasy world and introduce me to your friend!"

You looked behind you, and you noticed Captain Beidou coming your way.

"Good evening Beidou. Even though waves splash on the shore, they always bring back something to the ocean." The white-haired guy responded.

"Ho Ho! It seems even you don't know who they are! My guest, may I know your name?"

You stared at Captain Beidou for a second before responding, "Y-Y/N, my name is Y/N Captain Beidou."

"Y/N, what a lovely name, and also, Beidou is just fine. And this scallywag here is Kazuha. You may have heard of him seeing that you're from Inazuma."

You blinked twice, then looked at Kazuha, then back at Beidou. He couldn't have been the person who parried the Shogunate's Musou No Hitotachi! Why would he be in a ship, transporting shipment, instead of being in Inazuma and being seen as... a hero? A rebel? A villain? You kind of started to understand why he decided to keep traveling on the ship.

"Ha Ha, so you have heard! And if I may be allowed to ask, why are you going to Liyue?"

You looked at her for a second, and responded, "I'm planning to travel from Liyue to Sumeru to attend the Akademiya."

Both Beidou and Kazuha had a surprised look on their faces. Why would you travel from Liyue to Sumeru when you could just pay a bit more to travel to Sumeru quickly? And the 'pay a bit more' is what you didn't want.

"Hey little scholar, how about we take you to Sumeru instead? We were planning on dropping everyone off in Liyue and then sailing to Sumeru to pick up materials and goods for Inazuma. We can easily drop you off on Sumeru if that's alright with you."

You thought for a second, "Do I have to pay extra?"

Beidou laughed, "No need, just help around the deck, and you'll be fine."

"Then I accept!"

And like that, you saved yourself a bit of Mora and time. Hopefully, you can do the same in Sumeru.

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Word Count: 1217