"What is a human doing with them?"

  "Why would the elves travel with a human?"

  "You haven't heard? That human is one of their nobles and..."

  "Tsk, that human grenihksnch should thank the Mother for the grace of the elves."

  "Damn humans, we'd all be better off without them!"

  "Quiet! Keep your voice down if you don't want to get kicked out of the ceremony!"

  The elven ship had finally arrived at the dock, and after resupplying, was finally ready to set sail again, this time with me and another company of elves aboard. Before leaving, however, I had to endure some kind of ceremony where Lady Elovere, as I had been politely but firmly instructed to address her, would give them gifts or something?

  Oh, and there was the non-issue of the crowd insulting me under their breath in hushed whispers and quiet tones. Every so often, I'd overhear a new word which made me guess they were using some rather colorful descriptors for me. But still, what did I care if they insulted me? They didn't know anything about me, and after today it was unlikely I would ever see them again. Their comments might as well have been the squawking of birds or the wind rustling the grass, just empty background noise. After a few minutes of Elovere exchanging greetings with the leadership of the town, the ceremony began. The mayors of the port town had assembled the maximum number of people they were allowed to, and had corralled them all by the dock where the elven ship was anchored. After a short speech where they thanked the elven delegation for their continued show of camaraderie and brotherhood, they introduced Elovere as she turned to face the crowd.

  All the whispers stopped as she stood before them all, her hands outstretched like that landmark statue of Jesus Christ in Brazil. Even if all I could see of her was the back of her head thanks to where I stood on the dock, along with the rest of the elves, I had to admit she seemed far more distinguished and stately now. So far it seemed like it was a coinflip whether she'd be composed or anxious when faced with pressure, but I guess the odds were in her favor right now.

  Sadly, I couldn't feel much of anything as the ceremony was entirely in elvish and I didn't understand a single word of it. Yet. This was one of the situations that highlighted a limitation of my Control abilities. While it had happened in the past, I couldn't just say to myself, I fully understand all forms of elvish now, and expect for it to magically come true.

  See? It was still gibberish.

  After comparing each instance where I spoke something into existence, I came to the conclusion that there had to be some basis in reality for what I was saying. While the ability allowed me to skip some steps in the process, it still had to be something I was capable of doing. The same held true for other impossible demands like, 'all the voranders and alien parasites are dead now', or 'there will never be racism in this world ever again'.

  I focused on the ceremony once more as I felt the essence around us moving in a familiar whirlpool motion, slowly growing in size until it encompassed everyone present. For a brief moment, there was a feeling of suspense, akin to looking down from a tall building, until I felt...lighter. I could see with more clarity, my senses had improved, and a few aches and pains I had accumulated that I had left unchecked were completely gone, leaving me at the peak of health.

  I could see that this was a normal occurrence for the elves, judging by their lack of reaction, but the beastfolk were easy to read, as their gratitude was plastered on their face, their eyes widened in pleasant surprise. Some even prostrated and kowtowed to the one responsible, who graciously took it all in stride and regally waved before dispersing the crowd, who were obviously eager to obey their benefactor, even if it meant they'd spend less time in her presence. Once it was just the elves and me hanging on, the young elven lady surprisingly maintained her demeanor as she told Malin, "I expect to depart as soon as possible."

  "Of course, young miss," Malin bowed his head as the elves backed up to the edges of the dock, making room for a passage for Elovere to walk onto the ship. I debated on whether or not I should do so as well, before deciding against it. Nobody had told me to do so, least of all Elovere, so I saw no reason to. That decision left me standing awkwardly in an empty space with elves on either side and two walking steadily towards me, but seeing as one was suppressing a giggle and the other rolled their eyes, I figured I wasn't in too much trouble for any perceived disrespect.

  "Just walk behind us," Malin whispered as he passed me, and I followed them both aboard the gangway onto the ship, noticing the other elves were following in lockstep behind us. There were about twenty crew members running on the ship's main deck, making adjustments to set sail, and the addition of the fifty elves behind me only seemed to add to the chaos.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  The ship resembled the one I had taken to reach the beastfolk continent in the first place, if slightly more advanced. While both models seemed to be made out of the same type of wood, this one had eschewed the bird-like design and adopted a more typical sailboat-esque appearance, with a mast and sail in the middle of the main deck, likely powered by air magic when needed. The pair I was following led me to a door on the rear side of the ship, which led to a narrow staircase then an even narrower passageway with doors on both sides.

  "The young miss's cabin is here, mine is beside it, while yours is...I suppose the one across from mine," Malin said, looking around at the available rooms. "Now, for the most part, you're free to walk around the ship, but I'd suggest staying in your room for the most part, seeing as not everyone can speak with you. Someone will get you for meals, but other than that, we'll leave you alone until we reach our destination. Anything I left out, young miss?"

  "Hmm, nothing comes to mind. Oh! You don't need to mind all the formalities that the others do, like that arrangement earlier. Although you might be a recruit later, for now you're our guest, so just relax and enjoy the ride. I doubt you'll get much free time if you do get accepted, so make the most of this leisure time while you can."

  Elovere and Malin exchanged a few more words before she retired to her cabin, and he strode back upstairs, leaving me alone in the hallway. I slid open the door to my room and saw that some kind of spatial magic was at play, as the dimensions of the room were clearly at odds with the rest of the ship. I was expecting something narrow and thin, but the nearly three hundred square foot room met my expectations and then some. A bed, dresser, wardrobe, chest, desk, table and chair were all present in the room, and were of such high quality that it left me wondering if I could take them for myself if they weren't bolted down.

  Setting aside my covetous thoughts, I tried to organize my priorities for this new 'job' of mine. As some kind of recruit, I would be expected to fight the voranders and likely the parasites which I didn't mind, as quite frankly I needed the experience, but if the situation ever looked irreparable, I would hightail it out of there. With that said, I also needed to learn about my burgeoning space affinity and why it refused to manifest like all the others, something I hoped Elovere or her family would be able to help me out with.

  As soon as I learned how to teleport, though, any obligations to help were completely optional. Even if the higher-ups wanted me to contribute more or for longer than I felt comfortable doing, whether that be by the carrot or the stick, I would find a way out of it, so long as I had access to space magic.

  I didn't even notice when we took off, as I had fallen asleep almost immediately upon landing on the bed, but an insistent pounding on the door made me bolt upright and scramble to open it, revealing a familiar yet blurry face in front of me. I could make out some type of derision on the face and once I had wiped my eyes a few times, I recognized it as belonging to Malin's son, whose name escaped me at the moment. Whether his scorn was due to my being human, shamelessly tagging along with them for free, or my disheveled state, I couldn't say. It didn't help that I had just woken up and my brain was only now realizing that fact.

  "I've been instructed to inform you that we'll be landing in two hours, and that the kitchen staff have packed up their equipment but left a meal for you at the request of the young lady. Now, if there's nothing else." he began turning to leave before I shouted out.

  "Wait! Yeah, um, hi, sorry, what was your name again?"

  "...Yole."

  "Right, Yole. Uh, I just wanted to thank you for informing me."

  And to my surprise, he nodded at me before turning on his heel and walking up the staircase to the main deck. It was nice of Elovere to instruct the kitchen to leave a meal for me, though once my faculties returned, I was slightly startled at how quickly time had passed. I had either slept for days on end, or this ship was capable of breaking the sound barrier and travelling at speeds well over Mach 2.

  Honestly, either explanation was possible, so I decided to just not think too much about it, heading topside to wash my face. For all the comforts aboard the elven ship, there was no running water, so I had to soak my face in magically created water then toss it overboard. The sight of my little bubble whizzing by and falling at supersonic speeds was a real eye-opener, as I saw how fast we had to be moving, though I couldn't feel any turbulence or irregular movement indicating high speed. Like the only other ship I had travelled on, the elven ship seemed capable of both air and sea travel, if more advanced in many ways, such as defense. The ship must have formations protecting it.

  A field of magic I had only minimal knowledge of, enchantments and formations both dealt with runes, an entirely different language than any other spoken across the world. Given that I had my plate full at the academy studying other topics, I never saw the need for learning about runes or their applications when my focus was on utility and immediate use. Well, that and the pull I felt towards taming.

  Hopefully the elves would have a more favorable view towards taming than the beastkin and dragons. I could use more beings in my space.

  While I stood transfixed by the amount of work that had to go into creating a piece of technology like this, Elovere brought me out of my daze with a poke to my arm. Seeing her accompanied by both Malin and Yole was odd, but we exchanged pleasantries and she brought me over to the kitchen when my stomach grumbled in the middle of her sentence.

  As Yole had said, the kitchen was closed and only two elves were left to watch over the equipment, though the meal they had packed for me was delicious, and I was glad to see that the trope about elves not eating meat was purely fictional.

  Once I had finished eating, Elovere, or Lady Elovere as tradition, circumstances, Malin and Yole all demanded, informed me again that I would be staying with her family for the foreseeable future or until arrangements were made for the other recruits once the program was properly developed. While I would have a modest stipend after receiving approval from whoever was in charge, likely one of her family's elders, for now I would have to contribute somehow to justify my staying with them. Or if I wished to seek accommodations in the city nearby, that was fine as well, so long as I remained in the vicinity and could be contacted swiftly.

  Yeah, I had no issue trading some dignity for better lodgings. Besides, I wasn't exactly inclined to try and make my way in a city where I didn't even know the language, or had any money on me. Better to take the offer while it was there. With my agreement to her proposal, Malin said that I would likely stay in the guards' barracks for now, which I was more than fine with.

  No sooner had the preliminary details been hashed out than a crewman shouted, grabbing the attention of the elven party before me as I heard people repeat the same thing, echoing across the entire ship. I didn't need to speak elvish to know what he meant.

  "We're landing."