Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 412: To Read

Chapter 412: To Read

Moving toward the outskirts and away from Matsue Castle and Lake Shinji, they reached her home, tucked between two crumbling buildings. A small, dilapidated hut, barely holding together. The door was half-hanging off its hinges, and the roof looked like it could collapse at any moment.

"This is where we live," Yuna said quietly, her eyes downcast. "It’s... not much."

Kazi put his hands on his hips. "I like it! It reminds me of my own home." His ears perked up. "Your brothers—I can hear them."

"Ah, wait, just...what do you plan to do to them?" Standing here, she suddenly feared the worst again. That perhaps Kazi was a villain and this was a mistake.

Kazi turned to her, his smile warm and genuine, and those fears melted for a second time. "Sometimes, helping people leads to great things. You’ll see."

Kazi put a hand on the door and waited. With the slightest push it could have opened yet still he waited. Yuna didn’t understand fully, but something about Kazi’s presence made her feel at ease, even in the midst of all the confusion. He was a samurai. He had the clothes. He might be a foreigner yet somehow...he looked good. He looked devoid of evil. So, she went ahead and opened the door.

Seven boys were in a circle. In the circle were items. Rotten food, broken sheaths, pieces of steel, and other such forgotten trash. The door opening caused them to spring to their feet. No one was supposed to be here.

"S-sister...?" the smallest of the boys exclaimed. "Why are you back so early?"

"Iwari! Matsuura! You all...you’ve been thieving!?" Yuna stormed in. "Iwari! Matsuura! I said only you two could do it! You two are the eldest! Don’t drag them into it so soon!"

"Y-Yuna..." Iwari pouted.

"We agreed! This was an agreement! You lied! You broke your promise!"

Matsuura looked guilty. Iwari pushed back. "We didn’t teach them exactly! We...let them watch. Like we said."

"You idiots..." A hand on her hips, a groan, and a gesture to the door. "We have a guest, so please, behave."

From the perspective of children who had solely experienced troubles and thievery, who saw Japanese men and women as their basis of humanity, the glory of the male that entered was akin to the blooming sun. Complexion sun-kissed and his smile dazzling. He was a perfection they could not quite grasp.

They all held that same expression. They all beheld that same awe.

"Are you a Kami?"

Kazi laughed as he lightly closed the door, applying the pristine amount of pressure to not break it. "How could you tell?"

All of a sudden, they were clambering around him, excited and thrilled that a literal god dropped by. Moreso than his face was his stature, a towering six-foot-three that dwarfed the Japanese of this era.

Kazi was the tallest and strongest appearing person they had ever seen.

"Woah! Really?"

"Who are you? Are you here to grant a wish?"

"I want a big house!"

"I want a big bowl of rice!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Yuna looked on as if wondering, "Wait...is he really a Kami?" He looked the part, that was for sure, and the effortless method in how he retrieved her was suspicious. Kazi was too smooth, too kind, too good-looking. Being a god just made sense to her feeble mind.

To add oil to the fire, he winked at her and then squatted down to the kids’ level. "You said a big house first, so we’ll settle with that."

"Ehh? Really?"

"Really." He smiled, stood up straight, and double-checked his surroundings. The moment he entered this room, he was aware of the weaknesses and imbalances. All that was left was to find the appropriate resource that would fit into his calculations.

’Found it.’

His hands rose and pointed itself toward the wall with a finger. A tiny magical circle manifested. Heat manifested. "Art of Transmutation: Wood Hinoki!"

Shape required refinement. Fill up cracks to stabilize and increase density. Size should remain the same. The Bases of Mutation were done. Next up, Alteration. With a bit of heat, kudos to the magic circle which made the heat easier to manipulate, a solid grasp of Etherparticle, and an intuition like no other—voila!

The meek wooden walls became an aesthetically wonderful work of a house. The light-brown wood, smooth and replaced. Kazi closed his eyes, vividly recalling the front of the house. A hand went up. The mana flowed through his arm, into the ceiling, and to the front.

Kazi transmuted everything.

Aesthetic: a branch of transmutation and a highly skill that changed the outward appearance while maintaining the structure. A skill applied to spells or objects to make them look cool. A skill to make objects look beautiful.

The children stared and turned and were utterly fascinated. "O-outside! Look, it’s changing!"

They ran outside. Yuna chased after them. All were stunned into silence. Kazi turned the place from a rundown structure to a proper estate. He walked out, smiling, and then pointed another finger at it. A zip of light-blue connected and he added to the inside. Rooms, a bathroom, a living area, all in accordance to Edo era architecture. Only one floor. Only sliding doors. Only mats and a flow of air underneath.

Kazi drew in a breath when he was done. Yuna and her siblings were staring and jumping and checking their new home.

"Looks cool, right?"

"W-wow...! Wow! Wow!"

One child opened the door and was greeted by the new world inside it. He beckoned the others to follow. They did.

Kazi decided to let them play and do this for a while. ’I wonder how I would have reacted if a god appeared and performed miracles. Ha, back then, I might have asked if he could suggest good books.’

In ten, twenty minutes, the excitement and running did not die down. Kazi had to create a wooden chair and table to garner their attention. So amazing! So godly! That was what they kept repeating as they took their seats, giddy.

Point was, they were seated, including Yuna.

"Comfy?" Kazi asked

"Yeah! Much better than the floor?"

"I think it’s waaaay better!"

"...I think it’s the same."

Kazi laughed and crossed his arms. "Looks like we can get down to business. You kids are smart and nice. I bet you’re in contact with the other kids here. Tell me, for a coin, would you be able to find out where Miyamoto Musashi’s students are."

Thieves and the impoverished spoke to coin and superstitions. A human appearing as a deity that fixed their home was enough to foster all the trust in the world.

"Oh, I know! I know!" the smallest boy announced, a hand raised. "Yoemon is at the Yaegaki Shrine down south."

"Ohh, impressive. Who told you, my scrawny friend?"

"He goes there all the time to pray! They say he is a lot like Musashi himself!"

"Very studious!" another child added.

"A-another one," Yuna intervened, "he goes to a bar down south too. Kurōtarō I remember it being called."

"Good memory!" Kazi praised.

"It’s nothing..."

"I’m sure you’re being modest."

He eyed the young woman. ’The way her eyes flicker, a suppressed stutter, and a good memory...just a quirk? Or something else?’

"Say, do any of you want to read?"

To read meant to understand more. In this case, to see what stores certain people came and went to. It was helpful and it was useful. It was what Kazi always did on Earth: he travelled and he taught.