Seeker 330

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Chapter 330. Capital Of Ihe Far East

The capital of the Yamatai Kingdom at the eastern end, is the city of Oedo.

It's a coastal city facing the sea on the eastern side, with a population of over ten thousand in the urban area alone, making it quite a large city in this world.

"Alright, we're here. Thank you, 'Daichi's Spear' folks, for your escorting services. You really helped us out."

As we passed through the city gate, Wolf-san, the merchant from the Wolf Fang tribe, said this and handed over the promised payment for our services.

With this, our escort mission was complete, and we disbanded.

Wolf and his assistants, along with more than ten camels, proceeded along the main street of the castle town.

Left at the gate were the usual group - me, Kazane, Yumizuki, and Griff.

It was evening.

Under a fantastical sunset sky reminiscent of a painting, the castle town was bustling with people dressed as if they had stepped out of a period drama.

A notification of mission completion appeared with a beep.

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Mission 'Reach the Capital of the Far East' completed!

All party members gained 70,000 experience points!

Mission 'Complete 3 A-rank quests' completed!

All party members gained 30,000 experience points!

New mission 'Reach the Ice Castle' (Reward: 100,000 experience points) initiated!

New mission 'Complete 6 A-rank quests' (Reward: 60,000 experience points) initiated!

Musou Daichi leveled up to 52!

Yuzuki Hotaru leveled up to 52!

Current Experience Points:

Musou Daichi: 2,015,904 / 2,129,196 (Next level: 113,292)

Kodachi Kazane: 1,891,536 / 1,927,788 (Next level: 36,252)

Yuzuki Hotaru: 1,994,651 / 2,129,196 (Next level: 134,545)

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Having completed the mission, everyone was relieved after the long journey.

We left the port town of Baren and reached our goal after about ten days of travel.

There are 62 days left until we can return to our original world.

Incidentally, after completing the special mission last time, Kazane also reached level 51 and acquired several new skills, achieving significant growth.

Kodachi Kazane

Level: 51 (+7)

Experience: 1,791,536 / 1,927,788

HP: 324 / 324 (+68)

MP: 288 / 288 (+64)

Strength: 36 (+4)

Endurance: 36 (+4)

Agility: 60 (+7)

Magic: 36 (+4)

Skills:

[Dagger Attack Power Up (+40)] (Rank up! x2)

[Mapping]

[Dual Wielding]

[Presence Detection]

[Trap Detection]

[Trap Disarming]

[Wind Slash]

[Item Box]

[HP Up (Endurance x9)] (Rank up!)

[Treasure Chest Drop Rate Doubled]

[Quickness]

[Wind Storm]

[MP Up (Magic x8)] (Rank up!)

[Dual Wield Enhancement]

[Evasion Enhancement]

[Stealth]

[Trap Detection II]

[Dual Wielding Enhancement II]

[Gale Slash]

[Levitation]

[Finishing Blow] (new!)

[Flight] (new!)

[Tornado Edge] (new!)

Remaining Skill Points: 0

Compared to when we were playing around with Sahagin in the underwater city, there have been significant increases in stats and the addition of some dangerous new skills, making her seem more like an assassin. But I decided to keep that thought to myself to avoid any danger.

Anyway, what to do from here?

Apparently, there is a small-scale adventurer's guild in this Yamatai country, so maybe we should visit it first.

Just as I was thinking that—

"Senpai, I'm starving. I want to eat soba. Tempura soba or something."

"Grilled eel with hot sake sounds good too."

My wives started expressing their dinner requests.

Now that they mention it, we only had light meals like rice balls bought in the previous village for lunch.

I was starting to feel hungry too.

Fortunately, in the towns and villages of this Yamatai country, you can find a lot of Japanese-style food, which is very pleasing for a Japanese person like me.

Besides soba, tempura, and eel, there's sushi, simmered dishes, dumplings, green tea, and sake, though you won't find curry or ramen here.

"Alright, let's have dinner a bit early. Let's find a place around here."

"Gii, gii!"

With that, I petted Griff, who was happily flapping on Yumizuki's hat, and we wandered the streets for a while to find a place to eat.

Soon, we found a nice soba and tempura restaurant and decided to enter.

Unfortunately, the eel would have to wait for another time.

We took a table and looked at the wooden menu plaques on the wall to order our food.

With plenty of money, we ordered whatever we wanted, including deluxe tempura soba and tendon.

Of course, Kazane naturally ordered hot sake.

Seeing this, I realized that after this, we'd probably find an inn and call it a day.

While chatting about trivial things, our ordered food and drinks arrived one after another.

The table was filled with food, and we all said our thanks before starting to eat.

The deluxe tendon was delicious...

The crispy batter enveloping the plump shrimp, the flaky white fish, and the slightly bitter wild vegetables blended perfectly with the sweet and salty sauce and hot rice, creating an exquisite harmony.

It was so good it almost brought tears to my eyes.

Japanese food is indeed the best...

Kazane was sipping hot sake with a flushed face, looking very pleased.

Yuzuki was enthusiastically eating her two servings of deluxe tempura soba, exclaiming how delicious it was with each bite.

I wondered if she could finish that much, but she seemed to be managing just fine.

Griff was happily munching on a tempura platter.

I couldn't help but worry about him burning his mouth, though I wasn't sure if a summoned monster could get burnt.

While we were enjoying our happy dinner, three new men entered the restaurant and took a nearby table.

The men, who seemed to be regulars, quickly placed their orders without looking at the menu and began to chat.

"Hey, did you hear about the eighth 'Miko'?"

"Man, where have you been? It's the Young Lord. Even kids know that nowadays."

"Really? I just heard it today and was shocked."

"Hold on, guys. I heard that the 'Miko' offered to Yamata no Orochi has to be a young girl. The Young Lord is a guy, isn't he?"

I couldn't help but react to that.

Yamata no Orochi—that monster's name was mentioned in a mission.

Mission: 'Defeat one Yamata no Orochi' for 250,000 experience points.

Incidentally, the Kraken we fought related to the mermaids in the underwater city was a 200,000 experience point mission.

The Kraken we fought was an incomplete form due to an incomplete unsealing.

Kazane and Yuzuki also widened their eyes and looked at me.

Yuzuki noisily slurped up the remaining soba in her mouth, which was rude.

Unaware of our reactions, the men's conversation continued.

"You're behind. The Young Lord is actually a woman raised as a man. Everyone knows that now."

"No way, really? No wonder she's so pretty."

"But still, the Young Lord... or rather, the Princess. It's sad, isn't it? Being a monster's sacrifice at such a young age."

"But she's not the only one. Seven young girls have already been offered as 'Miko'. It's fairer than only taking them from commoner families."

"Well, yeah. Honestly, I'm relieved it's not my daughter. I feel bad for the Princess, but what can you do?"

As the men's conversation continued, various words floated in my mind, fitting together like puzzle pieces.

Yamata no Orochi, Miko, sacrifice, Young Lord—

When all the pieces clicked into place, a shiver ran down my spine.

The image of the girl we met a few days ago flashed in my mind.

"Hey, Senpai...!?"

Yuzuki's surprised voice.

Before I knew it, I was standing up.

Half in a trance, I approached the table where the three men were sitting.

Two days ago, I thought it was unnecessary to pry if she didn't want to talk.

But now, I couldn't think that way anymore.

As I stood before the puzzled men, I spoke up.

"Can you tell me more about what you were just discussing? I need to know what's going on."