Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 408: Matsue Castle

Chapter 408: Matsue Castle

By the time other players arrived...

"You’ll be alright."

Kazi was already healing the fishermen that had tripped and fell. Indeed, none of the injuries were detrimental. All had been spared from a fight, after all. More than the healing and confirming everyone was okay was the information provided.

According to the locals, three months had passed since the bone whale, the Bake-Kujira, attacked.

"If it wasn’t for the samurai fending it off, we would all be dead," muttered the fishermen whose hands had blistered from the throwing of the spear. Kazi smiled and nodded.

"You should be proud of your efforts too."

The fisherman pursed his lips and stared, not quite believing his kind remark. But then Kazi looked and smiled and suddenly he did.

"Well, well, well. If it isn’t my old friend, Kazi Hossain." Flip, flip, soaring into the air, and land. Leon had arrived. "Remember me? It’s Leon. I do gymnastics."

"We saw each other two weeks ago."

"Did we? Sorry, I have short-term memory loss."

"Ha. No, you don’t."

"I don’t know, can’t remember." Leon winked. "And I certainly don’t remember."

Over his shoulders, Kazi saw samurai marching in. The locals that had witnessed the one-sided victory pointed in one direction—toward Kazi Hossain, the foreigner that made the impossible happen. They pointed and they marched.

The samurai wore kamishimo of dark colours—the shoulders long and pointed, worn over a kimono, and hakama trousers. There were over fifty of them. They expected combat but were greeted by peace instead.

"Did you defeat the monsters?"

Kaz smiled, getting up from his kneel, and pointed to Leon. "Me and him."

"Huh? Wait, me—"

"Will you take us to Lord Mosuke?" Kazi asked.

The samurai exchanged looks and nodded.

***

A feudal stronghold and in a state of emergency, much of the people ran amok close to the castle. Many canals lined the city and after a twenty minute walk, the central Matsue Castle slipped into view. The moat surrounding it was called the Kyobashi River. This wasn’t some grand thing. Neither the castle nor the waters were comparable to the great structures in the Nebulous Bazaar in size. Five levels tall on the outside, walls coloured black, and freshly completed.

Kazi and Leon were escorted through the ote gate and up the stairs by a pair of samurai. As he walked, Kazi closed his eyes to sense if there was any danger.

’No danger but...players are inside.’

The castle was made for warfare. On the outside, there appeared to be five floors when in actuality there were six. So up the stairs he went. Up, up, up, until he reaches the resting area of the daimyo.

At the far end, seated on a pillow, was Lord Horio Mosuke, founder of Matsue clan and the ruler of this fledgling territory. He was an imposing figure, not only in stature but in presence. His sharp features were softened by a thick beard streaked with gray. Most certainly sixty-nine years of age and slowed due to his wealth and health.

Lord Mosuke wore a black kimono stamped with the symbol of his clan at the front. A teenager sat beside him, equally important and garbed black.

’That teen must be Tadauji, the real head of the house. But since he’s young, his grandfather Lord Horio Mosuke is ruling in his stead.’

Lord Tadauji did not speak or look. The teen had his eyes closed and head tilted like a puppet.

"I hear you two defeated the monsters," said the elderly daimyo in power, Lord Horio Mosuke, "before either my samurai or other Otherworlders could so much as see them."

Kazi sat on his knees. Leon followed suite. "We did our best."

While Kazi answered happily, Leon was on the fence. This was a blatant lie he was telling. All for what? To help him? It was strange from his perspective. Kazi’s logic was pretty simple, however: it paid to do simple favours like this. There was no super elaborate plan. This was just to get in Leon and potentially the Sapphire Order’s good will.

So when came down to this gate and what was actually important...

’From what I’m understanding, the Bake-kujira might be on the same level as Princess Otohime. In that case, I’ll need all the help I can get. And luckily, some help is already here.’

A group of players were lined up to the left, seated and uphilled by a blonde whose smile was all too familiar. Caleb and Liam were the two players accompanying Samantha and a Hellhound was with them too. Caleb stroked the huge beastly dog. Most certainly if it stood up, the hound would rival a human in height and a demon in ferocity.

"Ah, Lord Mosuke, I know this man!" Samantha, seated, pointed her staff at Kazi. Her hips hung a pair of short swords too. A change from last time. "This is Kazi Hossain. I believe I mentioned him to you?"

’Mentioned me? Ha, I see. Samantha has been whispering in the Lord’s ear to get herself a strong position as an ally. The more names she gives out, the more hope. I bet she’s already mentioned Ms. Sun-young or a teammate of hers.’

Skullmask, the strongest of her group, was not here. The same could be said about the Olympic spear lady, Dee. Either both had left Samantha or, more likely, they were biding their time to make a grand entrance to further convince the Lord of Samantha’s insight.

"My lord," Kazi greeted. "It is as she said: I am Kazi Hossain. I hope Samantha was kind in her mentions."

"He killed every single monster," one of the two escorting samurai proclaimed loudly. "He is easily stronger than any Otherworlder we have met so far. His movements were so fast, I could not see them."

Samantha hid her surprise well. "As expected." She was two feet away from the daimyo. "As I said, My Lord, there are some of us who can truly protect these lands."

Lord Mosuke’s eyes flicked toward Kazi, appraising him in a way that only a seasoned leader could. There was a pause, a moment of silence that felt like an eternity as the lord sized him up. Then, a faint smile appeared on the lord’s face, as though he had come to some unspoken conclusion.

"You have those eyes. The eyes of a dreamer. You would get along with Sasaki Kojiro."