Blacksmoke Island
Satou here. According to a friend who used to live in a place where you could see smoke coming out of a volcano nearby, aside from the obvious danger of a possible volcanic eruption, there was also the day-to-day problem of which way the wind was blowing. If it came in from the direction of the volcano, the ash could ruin any clean laundry you put out to dry.
“There’s battle damage around here, too.”
“I guess the people who live around the inland sea really do go to war with each other rather often.”
There were burn marks, holes likely made by cannons, and other such traces of war dotting the buildings near the harbor.
This island was effectively self-governed by the samurai general from Saga Empire and his militant group.
According to the information in my Vice-Ministry of Tourism papers, they made a strategic resource of the fire stones that were plentiful in the mouth of the volcano, as well as a few gold veins. While they didn’t have a lot of crops to harvest, there was enough bounty from the sea to make the island self-sufficient if they wanted.
“’Tis due to Parion’s indiscriminate love,” Urion murmured.
“Sometimes protecting people only results in fostering conflict amongst them,” Karion added.
Parion, love, protecting people… Wait, do they mean Parion’s Lampfire?!
The goddesses were probably saying that the Lampfires that warded monsters off from the ships sailing the inlet sea were giving rise to wars between human nations.
I don’t think that’s Parion’s fault, though—it’s the idiots who start wars of aggression out of greed who are to blame here. This might even be part of the reason that Parion Province was always mediating disputes between nations.
“Master, a small ship is approaching.”
A little boat with four or five rowers was approaching us rapidly from the direction of the harbor.
At first, they looked like some kind of small-scale pirate crew, but my AR display informed me that they were the harbor staff.
“Kimono.”
“You’re right, those are some very Japanese-style clothes. They’re wearing tasuki cords to tie up their sleeves and hachimaki headbands, too.”
While I had heard that there were a lot of samurai who immigrated here from the Saga Empire, I wasn’t expecting them to be wearing traditional Japanese garb and everything.
“This is Blacksmoke Island, a place of carnage! Only the strong are permitted to come ashore!”
What is this, a manga?!
I couldn’t help poking fun at the dramatic declaration in my head.
Spare me the kind of setup you might see in a postapocalyptic battle manga, please. I’d much prefer to stick to the heartwarming fantasy route. Arisa looked so excited she was practically speechless, which wasn’t helping matters.
“They call me Liza Kishreshigarza! I am a vassal of Viscount Pendragon of Shiga Kingdom and a mithril explorer who defeated a floormaster in the Celivera Labyrinth! All of us aboard this vessel are the mightiest of warriors!”
Liza held up her Magic Cricket Spear and shouted back enthusiastically.
I was so impressed with this rare side of Liza that I couldn’t help recording her heroic moment with the Picture Recorder and Sound Recorder spells.
“Well met! I am Sir Gonrock, first vassal to the samurai general and master of the Tennenrii Sin Style! Throw down a rope, and I shall test your strength myself!”
The middle-aged samurai shouting up to us from the small boat had a name similar to the famed samurai Gonroku.
“Is that all right?” Liza asked me; I nodded.
We lowered a rope, and the middle-aged samurai climbed it as nimbly as a monkey, coming up onto the deck of the sailing ship. Although he seemed surprised to find it entirely full of women and children other than myself, he didn’t comment on this as he turned to face Liza.
“It’s a samurai, sir!”
Pochi seemed excited to see the man up close.
“En garde! Duel one, begin!”
Dressed in an all-black getup like a stagehand from traditional Japanese theater, Arisa took charge of refereeing the fight between Liza and the samurai.
I had no idea when she changed into this outfit, which was probably a cosplay from a certain series of showdown games.
“But how?!”
In the split second that I looked away, the fight was already over.
Liza had closed the distance between them in a flash using “Blink,” and pierced the sword’s guard with her spear before the samurai could finish his sword-drawing technique.
“I have never been so soundly defeated by anyone but the general or the master swordsman!”
The samurai guffawed heartily.
“They are strong!” he called down to his comrades, and the small boat rowed away from our ship and let us pass through. Evidently the middle-aged samurai was going to ride with us.
“You can’t use sword-drawing when you fight Liza, sir! Pochi always gets stopped, too, sir.”
“Oho, you can already use sword-drawing, little one?”
“That’s right, sir! Kwandoh taught me, sir!”
“Kwandoh? You mean the Sin Kaage–style prodigy, Kwandoh the ‘Protean’?!”
I didn’t know Kwandoh, a Saga Empire samurai, had a nickname like that.
“If Sir Kwandoh was willing to teach you, then you must have real promise, young one.”
“Mr. Kajiro and Rudoruu taught me, too, sir.”
“The imperial Zi-Gain-style user Sir Rudoruu and the original Zi-Gain-style user Sir Kajiro?! Both are incredibly famous masters of Zi-Gain!”
Sounds like the world of samurai is a small one.
The middle-aged samurai taught us about the different sword styles and their famed users as we made our way into the harbor.
Since none of the piers were equipped for seafaring ships, we anchored our sailing ship near the harbor and came ashore on a smaller boat.
Unlike the other cities we’d visited recently, where the climate felt like spring to early summer, this harbor was laden with midsummer heat.
I took off my robe and rolled up the sleeves of my shirt. The others put their coats and such away in their Fairy Packs as well.
“Aside from the storehouses, most of the buildings around here look like huts.”
“There are only a few nice wooden structures throughout the town. Maybe building materials are expensive on Blacksmoke Island.”
The middle-aged samurai led us through the maze of narrow streets.
Our destination was the samurai general’s mansion.
“There’s piles of sand on the street, sir.”
“Oh, you’re right. Are there dunes nearby or something?”
“That would be volcanic ash. Normally the wind blows in the other direction like it is right now, but occasionally it blows toward the town.”
Ah, so that was fallen ash that drifted in from the volcano, not accumulations of smooth sand like I first assumed.
“It makes a good polishing agent, so sometimes inland sea merchants come to buy it.”
That was an unexpected local specialty.
“Provide the tasty morsels.”
“All I see is grilled fish and squid. Is that all right?”
The only food stands around to satisfy the goddesses’ request were all serving simple grilled seafood.
“Aye. They may taste different, though they look the same.”
“I concur, Karion. Tasty morsels have great depth.”
Thus, we let Pochi’s nose guide us to the yummiest-smelling stands and bought up food while the middle-aged samurai generously waited for us, snacking on it while we continued toward the mansion.
“Welcome, strong ones. I am Siingen, the samurai general.”
An older man with a kimono and a topknot introduced himself in a dignified voice.
We were in the formal Japanese-style guest room of his mansion, which was styled after a samurai house built on a low stone wall. Even the customs here seemed to have Japanese influence; we removed our shoes at the entrance, which confused everyone but Arisa and me, who were of course used to the practice. We were seated on straw woven rugs, too.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Excellency. My name is Satou Pendragon, a viscount of Shiga Kingdom.”
I introduced myself, then Liza and the rest of our group in simple terms.
“So this scalefolk girl is the one who made short work of Gonrock…”
The samurai general looked at Liza like a predator who’d found its next prey.
“If you’re going to spar, do it in the garden. Nuume will be furious if you damage the dojo or the walls again.”
Leaning against the sliding paper door that opened onto the adjoining deck was an older woman with her white hair in a bob cut, wearing Western-looking clothes.
According to my AR display, her name was Blume Juleburg. She had titles like Master Swordsman and Follower of the Hero, and aside from an array of “Close Combat” and “Swordsmanship” skills, she also had Lightning Magic and “Holy Magic: Parion Faith.”
This woman must have been the very same master swordsman that we weren’t able to meet on Titan Mountain.
Based on her family name, she was also obviously related to Sir Juleburg, the “Unstoppable” leader of the Shiga Eight Swordsman.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. Come along, Liza.”
The samurai general stood up.
Liza turned back to me for permission, so I nodded again.
“Very well.”
“Pochi wants to do a duel, too, sir.”
“Tama toooo?”
“I also request a match with the samurai master, I declare.”
As Liza stood up, the rest of the vanguard eagerly followed suit.
“Pochi, if you’re going to be moving around a lot, I can hold your egg for you.”
“Thank you, sir. Please be super extra careful with my superspecial egg, sir.”
“Okey-dokey, no prob!”
“…Are you really, really sure, sir?”
“Aha-ha, don’t worry, I’m sure.”
Still looking concerned, Pochi removed her egg belt and handed it over to Arisa.
Maybe I should take over carrying it from tomorrow on. It’ll probably get in the way if she’s going to be training.
“And what of the tasty morsels?”
Karion tugged on my sleeve expectantly.
“What, are you hungry, missy? Nuume! Some food for our guests!”
Already heading out into the hall with his katana in hand, the samurai general bellowed into the back of the house.
“Okaaaay!” a woman’s voice called back cheerfully.
“And the alcohol?”
“Wait a while. That comes after we’ve had our duels.”
“Very well. I shall observe the battle.”
Urion sat down on the edge of the deck with an exaggerated gesture.
You would never know she was really a goddess from the way she swung her legs back and forth over the side.
“You first, Liza.”
“…Understood.”
The samurai general drew his katana and held it steadily.
He was level 51, high enough that even Liza would have to be careful.
“There she goes.”
Just as a falling leaf drifted between them, Liza moved at lightning speed.
The general just barely managed to parry her powerful blow.
“Hrm…!”
He grunted in surprise at her unpredictable attack.
Liza had feigned a retreat for a moment, only to use her tail to sweep his legs just as she turned away.
Somehow, the general reacted in time to dodge backward.
The pair traded positions in the rather small garden as they fiercely exchanged blows.
Though Liza threatened to overpower him, the general read her movements just in time to counter, creating an opening for a counterattack.
Liza had the advantage in speed and power, but the samurai general had an even greater advantage in his countless years of battle experience. For now, at least, it seemed like he might have the slight edge in their battle.
Just like when I battled Elder Dohal in the dwarf dominion, I was reminded that there was a lot to learn from an experienced veteran warrior.
“That girl’s very good.”
The master swordsman came over to stand beside me.
Between her perfectly straight posture and her remarkable vitality, nothing about her would suggest that she was eighty-eight years old.
“You lot came from Shiga Kingdom, eh? You must know the Shiga Eight, then? If she can beat Siingen, I’ll write you a letter of recommendation.”
Sorry, we don’t need one.
“Bet she can knock some sense into that son of ours. He’s gotten a big head with all that ‘Unstoppable,’ ‘strongest in the kingdom’ nonsense.”
Ah, so she meant a letter of recommendation for a duel, not to join the Shiga Eight.
She seemed every bit as combat-obsessed as her son Zef.
“So you’re Sir Zef Juleburg’s mother as well as the master swordsman, ma’am?”
“Oh, no need to get all formal or call me ‘ma’am.’ I don’t go by Juleburg or any of that nonsense, either. Just call me Blume.”
Ms. Blume spoke in an easygoing tone.
“Ahem.”
I turned around to see Karion looking up at me in obvious displeasure.
Behind her was a stressed-looking girl who I didn’t recognize. According to my AR display, this was Nuume, the samurai general’s daughter.
She had placed a small table with brown rice balls and a clear soup in the tatami room.
“I’m sorry. If our head chef Mr. Ladpad was here, we could make something a little more elaborate. Unfortunately, he went to the seashore to look for ingredients…”
“Would you mind if I borrowed your kitchen, then?”
“Go right ahead. As long as you don’t mind that we don’t have many ingredients to work with…”
Permission secured, I invited Lulu along with me to the kitchen.
Just to be safe, I used the Space Magic spells Clairvoyance and Clairaudience to keep an eye on Liza and the others.
“Hmm, the stove is made with fire stones. For seasonings, we have salt, sake, and…this black paste must be miso. Is this tamari soy sauce, maybe?”
“It’s a strained fish sauce that Mr. Ladpad made. The taste is really nice and clean.”
Lulu checked the kitchen over with enthusiasm.
I was planning to use our own ingredients and seasonings, but since she seemed so excited I decided to let her take the lead.
“Who dares go scrounging for food in my kitchen?!”
A half naked man burst into the room.
“Mr. Ladpad! Welcome back.”
“Grrrr! Are you the culprit, Nuume?!”
“I’m not a ‘culprit.’ You weren’t here, so our guests were about to make some food for themselves.”
Apparently the hot-tempered, heavily toned, muscular man was the chef Mr. Ladpad.
I couldn’t quite decide whether the seaweed atop his head was a fashion statement or a byproduct of his trip to the seashore.
“Guests?”
“Yes, from the Shiga Kingdom.” Nuume turned to us. “Sir Satou, this is our personal chef, the ‘Kaleidoscopic Chef’ Mr. Ladpad. I’m told that many people also call him the ‘Deviant Chef,’ but I assure you he’s perfectly normal aside from his appearance and behavior. Please look kindly on him.”
Nuume introduced Mr. Ladpad with a decidedly insulting defense.
“Nuume! That just makes it sound like you’re saying I’m a weirdo!”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
As the pair’s little comedy act played out, the match between Liza and the samurai general ended in a draw. I could hear cheers from the garden. Liza looked very frustrated that she hadn’t quite managed to win despite coming so close.
“Well then, Mr. Ladpad, please make something for our guests to eat.”
“If they’re just a bunch of bumpkins going around looking for fights, you might as well give them the leftover broth and rice balls from lunch. Those meatheads don’t care how their food tastes as long as it fills their bellies.”
“Nay,” Karion interrupted. “The cold soup was just barely a tasty morsel. ’Tis lacking in depth of flavor.”
“You’re one of the guests? Seems like you’ve got a decent palate, missy.”
“Provide tasty morsels.”
“Sounds like a challenge to a chef! Just you wait! I’ll make ya something so good you won’t be able to say another word!”
Karion nodded, looking satisfied by Ladpad’s declaration.
“W-wait a minute, Mr. Ladpad! Aren’t those the ingredients for tonight’s dinner?”
“So what if they are?! If we can’t even satisfy a guest’s palate, no one else in the house deserves to eat either, right?!”
“They most certainly do! Don’t you realize how hungry everyone will be after all their training and hard work?!”
Ladpad couldn’t protest any further. Miss Nuume must have been in charge of the kitchen budget.
“If you’re short on any ingredients, we’d be happy to go stock up for you.”
“That right?! I’m counting on ya, then! Help me out here, Nuume.”
“We shouldn’t be making our guests do something like that…”
“I don’t mind at all.”
Since Lulu seemed interested in Mr. Ladpad’s cooking, I decided to go buy the needed ingredients alone.
“Satou.”
Mia ran up to join me on my shopping trip as I headed toward the front gate.
“A lot of idiots are bound to bother you if they see a stranger walking around these parts. I’ll send an errand boy with you to carry your things and clear the way for you, eh?”
The guard was kind enough to give us an escort, a mischievous-looking young man who joined us as we headed to the fishermen’s pier to buy ingredients.
The boy was wearing a casual kimono and straw sandals. The rope belt around his waist held the wooden sword of a student, not a real blade.
He seemed to have developed an immediate crush on Mia; he kept glancing over his shoulder at her, his face flushed bright red.
“Hey, mister, is your master strong or what?”
As we proceeded down the rocky path toward the pier, the boy got bored enough to try and talk to me. I assume the question was directed at me, anyway, although his gaze kept flicking back toward Mia.
“I’m the head of the family, so to speak. The young ladies practicing with Mr. Siingen are my companions.”
The boy must have assumed I was a servant or something.
“Whaaat? Do they send bigwigs out shopping in Shiga Kingdom? The masters of our house would never run their own errands.”
He was so shocked that he stopped glancing at Mia and stared at me openly.
“It’s the same way in Shiga Kingdom.”
“You’re a pretty weird guy, huh?”
His expression shifted to one of genuine bewilderment.
Fair enough. I guess you could say my attitude is pretty far removed from the norm in this continent.
Thanks to the boy’s presence, we didn’t run into any major issues as we bought the required ingredients. Some other youngsters were drawn in by Mia’s sophisticated charm and cuteness a few times and started trying to talk to her, but the boy blushed and chased them off each time.
“Hey, you sure you shoulda bought that many maelstrom sea bream?”
“It’s no trouble. You want to eat some, too, don’t you?”
“I mean, yeah. Even us errand boys get to have miso soup made with sea bream bones for New Year’s, you know.”
The boy sounded pleased.
“Mrr. Mushrooms.”
“You can get mushrooms in the mountains. Since anyone can go pick ’em, no one sells ’em in the village. If you wanna eat some, I’ll go grab ’em for ya.”
His excitement at finally getting to talk with Mia showed in the way he suddenly started speaking much more quickly.
“Please.”
“No problem! I’m on it! I’ll find some wild veggies for ya, too!”
The boy turned bright red and dashed off to the mountains, forgetting about his job of escorting us. Mia’s charm is truly powerful.
I didn’t want to ruin his chance to show off his skills by offering to help him, so we just headed back to the mansion.
“Welcome back. I thought I sent Heiske with you… Ah, he ditched his job, did he? Cheeky little bastard.”
The guard at the mansion seemed annoyed at the boy for abandoning his task, until I reassured him that we’d sent the kid off on an errand.
The vanguard had finished sparring with the samurai general, and now Blume the master swordsman was instructing them.
“The speed of your charge is great. But you need to pay more attention to your surroundings!”
“Yes, sir!”
Blume parried Pochi’s attack with graceful ease.
“Cat-ears, you’re paying attention, but your attacks are too light. If you’re going to increase your options with two blades, you’d better learn a better variety of attacks to go with it!”
“Aye!”
Blume’s blade knocked away Tama’s duel-wielding attack from her blind spot.
Although Pochi and Tama were higher-level than her, Blume was many times more skilled in combat.
“We’re not done yet, sir!”
“One more tryyy?”
Pochi and Tama kept at it with determination.
“Tasty. The stew is perfectly seasoned. The white rice isn’t quite as well-cooked as Satou’s, but ’tis even tastier with the broth.”
“The white rice, eh… My only choice is to buy it from Garleon Alliance trade ships, since you can’t grow rice on this island. You got any better rice you could share?”
Karion was feasting off the small folding table next to the garden.
Next to her was Mr. Ladpad, who directed the latter question at me.
“Sure, I don’t mind. Would rice from the Ougoch Duchy in Shiga Kingdom be all right?”
“Oho! That’s as fine as they come! No one’d complain about getting rice like that!”
Lulu gave me a small bowl to taste test the meal they were currently eating. Long-grained rice seemed to be the norm around here.
“The cloudy sake has too strong a taste. The rice wine is a little bitter but still tasty. Mead and rum are still better.”
“You want some? We’ve got shochu, too.”
“Aye. I shall allow thee to pour it for me.”
The samurai general, who was sweaty and stripped to the waist, was drinking alcohol with Urion.
“Mr. Ladpad, quit playing around and start cooking dinner! At this rate it won’t be done until after sundown.”
Miss Nuume came out from the kitchen.
“I know, I know. Didja get the ingredients, Young Master?”
“Yes, they’re right here.”
I handed the Magic Bag full of foodstuff over to Mr. Ladpad, who was posing and flexing to show off his muscles.
“Oho-ho, you got a good eye there. Not a damaged ingredient in sight. And on top of that, you even got six whole maelstrom sea breams! Now this is a feast worth cooking!”
Still half naked, Mr. Ladpad ran off into the kitchen with a delighted grin, leaving Nuume to hurry after him.
Lulu followed them to the kitchen to offer her help.
“So eepyyy?”
“I’m beat, sir.”
Tama and Pochi flopped face down onto the deck.
They must have wrapped up their training with Ms. Blume.
“Here you are, Pochi.”
“Thank you, Arisa, sir.”
Pochi accepted the egg belt from Arisa and wrapped it around her waist.
Despite her exhaustion, Pochi looked pleased as she patted the egg through the belt.
Then she looked up at me. “Master, Pochi is going to get even more stronger, sir.”
“Tama, too, more strongeeer.”
As they went on muttering, a loud growling noise emitted from their stomachs.
“It’s almost time for dinner. Have this to tide you over till then.”
I popped a piece of whale jerky into each of their mouths.
“I’m powering up, sir.”
“Yummyyyy?”
The pair chewed on their jerky even as they started nodding off.
“Unknown tastiness.”
“Provide the morsels.”
Karion and Urion appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
“That looks good. Could I have some, too?”
Even the samurai general came over and stuck out his free hand, the other one already holding a sake cup. I passed out the jerky to everyone who wanted some.
“Huh, that’s got a nice kick to it. I bet it’d go well with wine, too.”
Blume gulped from a tankard of shochu to rehydrate and followed it up with a big bite of jerky. Talk about a wild woman.
“Master, exhaustion levels critical, I report. I require direct magic power supply, I request.”
Nana, who had been working with Blume last, slumped against my back.
She seemed extremely worn-out.
“Guilty.”
“H-hey! Nana! No hanging all over Master allowed!”
The iron wall pair jumped into action immediately.
“Replenishing supply of Master essence. Charging will be complete in thirty-six hundred seconds…”
“Come on! That’s way too long!”
“Mrr. Magic potion.”
Since it was rare for Nana to be so needy, I supplied the magic she requested.
By now, I’d gotten used to it enough that I could do it even in an unnatural position like this as long as our bodies were in contact.
I heard soft snoring from beside me.
“Young Pochi and Tama fell asleep, eh? Those two youngsters will be very strong someday, Satou.”
The general seemed to have taken a liking to Pochi and Tama.
“I have returned. Please instruct me for another round of sparring.”
Liza returned from the back gate.
The samurai general had sent her for a run in the mountains.
“We’re done for today. Starting tomorrow, you’ll study under Granny Blume. You can learn more from her than you can from me. Nana, you’ll be under Granny Blume, too.”
“Granny, is it? You’ve gotten too big for your britches, little boy.”
“Pshh, you’ve been a granny since I was still in diapers, and you know it!”
“Don’t lie. I was still in my thirties when we first met.”
The samurai general and Blume ribbed each other good-naturedly.
“Madam Blume, could I ask you to spar a round with me?”
“Don’t go working an old lady to the bone. I’m worn out from spending the day with those little girls and the blonde over there. I’ll work with you tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Liza looked uncharacteristically disappointed. Even her tail was slouching.
She must have really enjoyed getting to fight to the fullest for the first time in a long while.
“Liza, would you like to go a round or two with me, if I’ll do as a sparring partner?”
“Would you really?!”
Liza perked up excitedly, like a flower suddenly blooming.
“Only until dinner.”
“Yes! Thank you, Master!”
I borrowed the garden to have a light sparring match with Liza.
Even with my level being several times higher than hers, not to mention using my “Foresight: One-on-One Battle” skill, I couldn’t let my guard down without a close call from one of Liza’s expert attacks.
We sparred to our hearts’ content until the setting sun stretched our shadows long on the ground.
“Liza…”
I offered a hand to Liza, who had dropped to her knees from exhaustion.
“You’ve become even stronger than I realized.”
Liza took my hand with a beaming smile of satisfaction, which she quickly stiffened back into a straight face.
“Thank you, Master. But I still have a long way to go. I couldn’t even push you enough to break into a sweat.”
Liza was always the stoic type.
I lent her my shoulder and helped her back to the deck.
Hmm…?
Last I checked, there were only a few spectators aside from our group members. At some point, though, a huge crowd had gathered to watch us.
All of them were chatting amongst each other in obvious excitement.
I’d been so pleased about Liza’s growth that I forgot we were being watched.
“I see. So you weren’t just flattering him when you said your master is stronger than you, eh? You really meant it.”
“You and I are having a sparring match tomorrow, got that?”
“You’ll be facing me, too, of course.”
Apparently I was now locked in to spar with Blume and the samurai general the following day.
“Sir Satou, the bathing area is this way.”
Although I hadn’t particularly worked up a sweat, there was a naturally free-flowing open-air bath at the samurai general’s mansion, where I decided to take a bath before dinner.
The samurai general and most of the other youngsters didn’t want to take a hot bath in the summer, opting to bathe in a nearby river instead.
The steaming hot bath was decorated with natural stones and protected by a bamboo fence. It really did feel like being in Japan.
“Mm, a hot bath in the summer feels great, too…”
As I sank into the rock-lined hot spring, the feeling of relaxation was so strong that I couldn’t help letting out a murmur of contentment.
Just then, a dot approached on my radar. Not everyone had gone to the river, after all.
“Mind if I join you?”
I managed to resist the instinctive urge to turn toward the source of the unexpected voice.
“Aaah, that’s the stuff. Can’t imagine why anyone would go all the way down to the river when there’s such a great bath right here.”
Settling into the water a short distance away with a contended sigh was the master swordsman Blume. Evidently she was a fellow hot springs appreciator. Judging by her shoulders, she was wearing a simple bathing dress (I was relieved that she wasn’t a stark-naked bather).
“Master’s heeere?”
There was a flurry of footsteps as my companions arrived. They were all wearing bathing dresses, too.
Pochi had wrapped her egg belt around her head so that the egg wouldn’t end up in the hot water.
“G…guilty…?”
“Give me a break, Master! I know you like older women, but this age gap is ridiculous!”
While Mia sounded unsure, Arisa didn’t hesitate to lodge a complaint.
“No, Arisa. Aaze is even older, I declare.”
Nana offered a defense that I didn’t entirely understand. Even if Aaze was millions of years old, she was still cute.
For that matter, Mia was technically older than Blume, too.
“Don’t worry your little heads. I’ve no interest in a whippersnapper young enough to be my great-grandchild.”
Blume didn’t seem particularly bothered.
“’Tis strange to immerse oneself in all this water. Karion thinks so, too.”
“I did n— Urion, thou shalt not fake me out. I suspect that immersing in hot water improves human circulation.”
The goddess girls came in as well.
Apparently neither of them had bathed since they took human form.
The two goddesses splish-splashed into the water and sank down in front of us.
“This slimy water feels quite pleasant.”
“That’s because it’s a hot spring. It wouldn’t feel like that if it was just heated water.”
I explained this to Karion as she scooped the water in her hands.
Unlike Urion, who was furrowing her brow, Karion seemed to be enjoying the experience.
“The clothes clinging to my body feel most unpleasant.”
Gah!
Urion stripped off her bathing suit.
Much to my dismay, the nude body of a young girl filled my vision.
I averted my gaze from Urion with no need for the iron wall pair’s intervention. I know from stories like the one about the Greek goddess Artemis that nothing good ever comes of peeping on a goddess while she’s bathing.
“Much better. ’Tis as if the water is massaging my body. Thou shalt strip as well, Karion.”
“Aye. Thy wisdom is great, Urion. ’Tis better to enter a hot spring nude.”
As much as I agreed with the goddess girls, I wished they would have the good manners to keep their bathing suits on in a mixed bath.
After a nice long bath in the hot springs, we changed into yukata-like garments provided by a servant girl and went back to the tatami room.
“I’m sorry. Did we keep you waiting?”
The serving trays were already set up in the room, with the unfed samurai eagerly awaiting our arrival like schoolchildren who missed their lunch.
Pochi and Tama sniffed the air, still looking drowsy.
It was clear that their hunger and tiredness were battling it out in their brains.
“No, we just got back as well.”
As soon as we took our seats, the samurai general picked up a sizeable sake cup and stood.
“Now, let the banquet begin!”
“Cheers!”
With the general’s toast, the feast began.
Liza woke Pochi and Tama for dinner. At first they were still half-asleep, but when a whole-roasted wild boar was carried into the room, they snapped awake at once. I guess meat really is the fastest way to stir their souls.
“Tasty morsels. Tastier than before. Praise be to the chef.”
“The wine is tasty, too. Karion says so, too.”
“I did not. Thou shalt know that grape juice is sweeter and tastier, Urion.”
The Japanese-style fare prepared by the “Deviant Chef” Mr. Ladpad was just as delicious as Karion said.
“Where does this dish originate from?”
“This one? It’s a regional dish from Higashino Island, home to the long-eared folks’ dominion of the Saga Empire. They say it was created by a hero hundreds of years ago who wanted to recreate a dish from his homeland.”
Just as I suspected, it was a Japanese dish passed down by a hero. While I’d heard that there was a sanctuary for the long-eared folk before, I didn’t know that it was on an island.
Although this wasn’t quite the same as the Japanese cuisine I remembered, it was probably just a difference in the available seasonings and cookware.
“Made it with the help of the high-quality soy sauce and miso that Miss Lulu was kind enough to share.”
Lulu had given him other ingredients, too, like mirin, pepper, and wasabi, in exchange for teaching her some of his cooking techniques.
“You should hurry up and eat, too, Master. Everything is delicious.”
“Right, right. I’ll dig in now.”
There were three serving trays jam-packed with various dishes that utilized the bounty of the sea and the mountains.
The stew Karion praised was delicious, too. Putting the simmered fish on top of rice made for a particularly heavenly bite.
The samurai, too, could barely control themselves in the face of this rare feast.
“Is it good? That’s got the mushrooms and veggies I picked in the mountains.”
“Mm.”
The boy who’d accompanied us shopping earlier was trying to impress Mia with his contribution.
Despite Mia’s relatively disinterested reaction, the boy seemed content just to see her eating the food he’d found for her. When a bearded samurai threatened, “Heiske! Eat yer food or I’ll eat it for ye!” he hurried back to his seat in a panic, protesting all the while. I guess a growing boy needs to care for the needs of his stomach more urgently than his heart.
“Lady Liza! Your skills with a spear are truly remarkable! I should like a chance to duel you tomorrow as well, if ye’d be so kind.”
“Your swordsmanship was most impressive, too, Lady Nana. We are both swordsmen, though you may not fight like a samurai. Let us work together to polish our skills to the highest degree!”
When the dining settled down, the samurai-in-training started drinking sake and talking to Liza and Nana. While the pair politely declined the alcohol they were offered, they were quick to accept the sparring requests.
“A tasty morsel. What is this?”
“It’s botamochi, made with red beans. The green ones are zundamochi made with boiled green soybeans. Figured I’d make you young lasses some desserts with the sugar Miss Lulu gave me.”
“’Tis tasty indeed. Blessings be upon thee.”
When Karion said this, a red light surrounded Mr. Ladpad. The sweat on his muscles sparkled blindingly.
According to my AR display, he’d gained the title Blessing: Goddess Karion. That must be Karion’s way of showing her thanks.
At Karion’s prompting, Urion tried the wagashi-style sweets as well and liked them at once. Both goddesses blissfully snacked away on the mochi.
The rest of my group partook as well, although Pochi and Tama passed out in the middle of eating the roasted wild boar. They must have been really tired. At my request, Nuume saved some of the food for them to eat the following morning.
From the next day on, a long training period began.
The samurai general took a liking to Pochi and started training her one-on-one, while Liza and Nana learned techniques from Blume the master swordsman. When Tama initially joined Pochi, the head ninja of the household was amazed by her ninjutsu and brought her to the mountains for secret ninja training.
Aside from sparring a few times a day, mostly with the general and Blume, I spent the rest of my time reading the secret samurai spellbooks that the samurai general lent us along with Arisa and Mia. This so-called Samurai Magic referred to magic of various attributes that the samurai invented to use in combat. Sadly, there was no actual “Samurai Magic” skill in existence.
Lulu continued trading cooking techniques with Mr. Ladpad. Hopefully she wouldn’t pick up any of his deviant habits in the process.
The goddess girls seemed to have taken a liking to the hot springs; they spent their days soaking in the outdoor bath, taste testing the food Lulu and company made in the kitchen, checking out the mines deep in the mountains, gazing at herds of mountain goats, and generally enjoying life on the island however they pleased.
I guess we’ll leave once they get bored of island life?
Just as this thought idly crossed my mind one day, trouble came to us instead.
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