Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 345: Lodgings

Chapter 345: Lodgings

"The Samebito is an old thing, really. A beard like a dragon and a form that has scars from prior battles. The Princess is actually capable of reviving her monsters from the dead, though at a cost. The wound that inflicted death becomes a weakness. The Samebito, between the Nure-onna and the mermaids, has died the most and so has the most weaknesses. Although we’ve never killed all of them at once, we’ve gotten pretty damn close!"

"There’s mention of two other names." Well, well, well. A third familiar face. Kazi noticed him at the beach and smiled when he heard him speak up. "Chiyo and Mate."

"Chiyo is one of Otohime’s mermaids. As for Mate...I have no idea who that is," Masanori said.

"He meant to say Mat-te," Kazi said, emphasizing on the pronunciation. "I know, Kibiwott. The spelling is weird."

Kibiwott was here! So were Pauline, Remmy, and Jackson. He could see Pauline quietly muttering the correct pronunciation to herself. She spoke seven languages, none of which were Japanese.

"Ahh, yes, Mate." Masanori crossed his arms. "The second mermaid. To be honest, us fisherman never really saw them fight. Can’t you ask your predecessors for advice?"

"Not possible," Kibiwott said.

"Why not!?"

Kibiwott’s gaze swept the circle. "Does anyone here have information?"

Before a response could even be uttered, there was a knock on the door. A fisherman entered and said, "More of the travellers are arriving."

Masanori stood up and threw out an arm. "Take these travellers to their lodgings then! Today, we tell! We inform! We train! Tomorrow, we plan!"

***

"This is hopeless..."

"This is one of those gates that has never been completed—at least on our side."

"For every one player here is one player there and that’s because of the princess. Otohime is listed as a Class Four threat. She’s a divine being."

It wasn’t until after they were given their lodgings that the whispers and rumours spread among the players. Those in guilds were already aware of this. It was one of ten potential Gates. Kazi, having read up on a decent chunk on the White Abyss’ history, was in the same boat. He knew what this was the second he read the name Urashima. Men and women were separated in their lodgings. Kazi wondered if they other side was anxious about this too.

’One side of players are Princess Otohime. The other side—our side—is on the side of the village that lost Urashima Taro. The boys he adopted grew up in his last days wanting revenge for taking away their father’s age. That revenge has snowballed into a centuries of hate and battle.’

The huts the village handed as lodgings were actually huge in size. The mystical element of the travellers aiding them led to the creation of these special homes. Futons were laid everywhere. Fireplaces were set-up at several points with buckets of fish as food.

The male players had sectioned off each fireplace with their personal group or party. Kazi lay on the futon with his hands behind his head and his eyes set on the smoke rising to the ceiling.

"If we had Akihiko and Kenzo, the old group would be back," Remmy said, smiling.

"Either they are on the other side or busy with classes," Kibiwott said. "Hopefully it is the former."

"You mean the latter?"

No, he didn’t. Kazi chuckled and sat up straight. "Remmy, you know him. He’s the sporting type. The stronger the opponent, the better."

Kibiwott didn’t offer a rebuttal because he was right.

"Can’t even catch a wink of sleep with all this talk?" Jackson stretched his arms high in the air and yawned. "Gosh darn it. Shouldn’t we be gettin’ ready for tomorrow?"

"What’s there to get ready for?" Remmy asked. "I can’t use my bow and arrow. I can’t drink any potions. I gotta rack my brain and come up with something soon."

"Pull a David and use a slingshot," Kazi joked.

"Ha, I’ve tried slingshots and trust me, they are not easy to use."

"Kazi Hossain." Kibiwott’s tone of voice cut through the conversation. "You are as relaxed as always. Do you have a plan?"

"A plan...? Hm, not so much a plan as it is a feeling."

"A feeling?"

Kazi tapped his temple. "See, I memorized the night sky. I’m trying to see if I can pinpoint where we are exactly."

"It’s Japan. What more do we need?" Jackson asked.

"Ah, my southern friend, Japan is a big place with over fourteen thousand islands with two hundred of them actually inhabited."

"Oh."

"We are in the story of Urashima no ko. It’s an old story from the eighth century. A folktale with a lot of debate regarding certain details. For example, which island did Urashima come from? Nobody knows. Plenty of islands claim to be islands of legend but none can really confirm it. For us who have to navigate through the treacherous seas without our weapons and armour, the more information we have, the better."

Kibiwott stared at him. "You’re going to figure out where we are by looking at the stars?"

Kazi lifted one finger, smiling. "We walked from the edge to the epicenter — from shore to the village. So by counting how long it took for us to get there, I got the radius of this island. Do some basic math—pie and all that—and we can get a rough estimate of this island’s shape and size. Combine that with the arrangement of the stars, it is possible to find precisely where we are."

’But so far, I’ve found no match. Either this island doesn’t really exist or...’

"That...sounds pretty incredible, brother," Remmy said, blinking. "I don’t think you ever told us what you did."

"I was a traveller. I went allllll over the world." Kazi laid back down, arms behind his head and eyes closed.

"You’ve been to Japan then," Kibito stated.

"Yep! Been to Tokyo, Kyoto, Toyama, and pretty much all of the inhabited islands. Hey, if you ever go to Japan, here’s some advice from a veteran to you newbies: when it comes to food, you shouldn’t focus on Tokyo. Tokyo food, in the grand scheme of Japan, is alright. I mean, unless you pay crazy amounts of money, you can probably find a chef that can whip up something amazing. But truuust me, Hokkaido is way better. Anywhere you go, low cost and great food. Meat is fresher. Sushi and fish and everything is just...mwah! Phenomenal."

"We’re in Japan now technically," Jackson pointed. "What should we expect for food?"

"Oh, here, you should expect salmon. Heaps of salmon. This is a fishing island, after all."

"Salmon? Seafood?" Jackson blanched. "Ah, hell no! That’s like eating rubber band!"

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