"By the way, where’s Merlin?" Monica asked curiously.

She looked left and right but couldn’t find Merlin or Luna.

Liora also glanced around, but neither of them was anywhere to be seen.

"Hmmm..." She rubbed her chin and guessed, "Maybe he went off with Luna?"

That was the only reasonable explanation, so Monica didn’t ask further.

Just as the two of them were enjoying the water, a massive wave suddenly rose in the distance.

Without thinking, they both turned toward it—and froze.

"T-That... Aren’t those Luna and Merlin!?" Monica exclaimed.

Liora followed the direction Monica was pointing and saw two figures swimming out into the middle of the waves.

Upon closer inspection, they were indeed Merlin and Luna.

"This..." Her eyes widened in fear. "It really is them!"

The two exchanged glances, their faces filled with shock and confusion.

"What are they doing?" Monica asked worriedly.

"I don’t know." Liora frowned. "Let’s watch from here. I’m sure they wouldn’t swim out that far for no reason."

Monica nodded, and the two of them quickly walked back onto the sandy shore.

Meanwhile, Merlin and Luna continued swimming farther out. Every now and then, a huge wave crashed over them.

"Merlin, what are you trying to do?" Luna asked worriedly.

Earlier, Merlin had said he wanted to go surfing, but she didn’t even know what surfing was.

"Hehehe..." Merlin grinned and turned to her. "Surfing is an exciting sport. We stand on a board and ride the ocean waves back toward the shore. It’s really fun."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and called out, "System, do you have a surfboard? If possible, one that’s one and a half meters long."

"[Ding! Searching for a surfboard... Ding! Found! Price: 5,000 system points!]"

Seeing the price, Merlin rolled his eyes. The system never missed an opportunity to take advantage of him.

"Buy!"

"[Ding! 5,000 system points have been deducted!]"

The next moment, a red surfboard, one and a half meters long, appeared right in front of them.

Luna froze. She couldn’t understand how it had appeared out of thin air.

"Merlin, this board..."

Before she could finish, Merlin cut her off. "This is the surfboard. Get on it quickly."

Luna was still hesitant, but she obeyed his request anyway.

After she sat down, Merlin pushed the board forward and guided it toward the waves.

To be honest, Merlin had never surfed before. He had only seen it on summer TV shows.

But he wasn’t worried at all. In this world, they had magic.

What was the point of magic if it couldn’t be used for something as simple as surfing?

Suddenly, a two-meter-high wave rose in front of them. Watching its movement, Merlin was certain it would curl and grow even higher before reaching the shore.

"Stand up, Luna!"

Luna quickly got to her feet, and Merlin hopped onto the surfboard.

To keep them steady, he poured mana into the board. The wild shaking that almost threw them into the sea instantly disappeared.

"Hold on tight!"

Luna wrapped her arms around his waist as the wave grabbed the board and shot them forward.

The wave kept rising, higher and higher, and Luna could only stare in awe at the view ahead.

"Woah!"

Merlin grinned, steering the surfboard along the face of the wave. They glided smoothly along its curve, while Merlin kept them perfectly positioned so they wouldn’t drift out of the wave’s path.

To push the adrenaline even further, Merlin used water magic, causing the wave to surge up to eight meters.

"M-Merlin!" Luna cried out in panic, tightening her grip around his waist.

The wind roared past them, whipping her hair wildly backward.

Unlike Luna, who was terrified, Merlin wasn’t panicking at all. A wide grin spread across his face.

"Damn! This is so much fun!"

Now he finally got why so many people loved surfing. It was exciting and kinda terrifying at the same time—enough to make his heart pound nonstop.

Luckily, Merlin was using magic. Otherwise, he and Luna would have been thrown off long ago.

The surfing session lasted only a few minutes before the wave finally subsided.

Their board remained afloat, and both of them were still standing on it.

"How was it? Wasn’t it exciting?" Merlin asked.

Luna nodded enthusiastically. "That was so much fun!"

For the first time, she felt an adrenaline rush that made her heart race.

The last time she had felt something like that was when she and Merlin had traveled back in time and were chased by the city guards, accused of being spies.

"I’m glad you liked it. How about we try again tomorrow?"

"I want to!" Luna’s eyes sparkled.

Merlin smiled and nodded. Before long, they reached the beach, unaware that Monica and Liora were already waiting for them.

"Merlin! Luna!"

Two voices called out from nearby. When they turned around, they saw Monica and Liora.

Both of them were out of breath, staring at them with excited expressions.

"Merlin, what you just did... what’s it called?" Liora asked eagerly.

Monica was just as curious. Her little ears twitched as if she didn’t want to miss a single word.

"Oh? You saw it." Merlin looked surprised, then smiled. "It’s called surfing."

"Surfing?" The two girls blinked innocently.

"In short, we use the power of the waves to ride that board," Merlin explained. "Why? Do you want to try it?"

The two girls were startled. Then, without hesitation, they nodded enthusiastically.

"We do!" they answered in unison.

"How about tomorrow?" Merlin suggested.

"Okay!" They clapped their hands, clearly unable to wait.

Seeing how adorable they were, Luna simply smiled and shook her head slightly.

***

Nighttime...

The night sky was filled with stars. Since they were on an island in the middle of the ocean, the sea of stars looked incredibly clear, as if it stretched endlessly above them.

The sea breeze was strong, powerful enough to sway the coconut trees along the shoreline.

Fortunately, the Beethoven family villa was built on a sturdy foundation. An active protective magic system filtered the strong wind, turning it into a gentle, comfortable breeze.

"How does it work, Merlin?"

In the mansion’s courtyard, Lisa stared at the grill in front of her with curiosity.

The other girls gathered around, watching the grill with great interest.

"It’s very simple."

Merlin stepped forward and lit the prepared charcoal with magic.

Then he took the marinated chicken thighs and placed them on the metal grill over the coals.

"Like this. Flip the chicken and the other ingredients every five minutes. Got it?"

The girls smiled and answered in unison, "Got it!"