Not long after Zhuyun and the others left, a ship with no markings on its sails arrived at the shore of Shimotsuki Village.
“Dragon, look over there!”
The large-faced okama king Emporio Ivankov stared wide-eyed at the distant mountain that had been split in two.
“Let’s go.
We should hurry to Koushirou’s place.”
Dragon looked solemnly at the mountain before leading the Revolutionary Army toward Isshin Dojo.
“He’s the one living here, so he must know what happened to the mountain.”
***
“Long time no see, Koushirou.
We’ll have to trouble you again this time.”
Inside Koushirou’s room, Koushirou was speaking with Dragon and the others.
“There’s no need to thank me.
I’ve already prepared the food supplies for you.
You can take them directly.”
Koushirou pushed up his glasses, paying little attention to Dragon’s thanks.
To him, preparing some food supplies was merely a small matter.
What the Revolutionary Army was doing was the truly worthwhile endeavor.
“Mm.
We’ll take them with us later.”
Dragon put down his teacup.
“Actually, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“It’s about the mountain that was split in two, isn’t it?”
Before Dragon could ask, Koushirou had already guessed what he wanted to know.
“Yohoho!”
Ivankov’s large face suddenly appeared in front of Koushirou.
“On our way here, we heard the villagers say that a silver-white sword of light more than a hundred meters long suddenly appeared last night and split the mountain in half.”
“Mr.
Koushirou, did you see it?”
“Of course.”
Koushirou took a sip of tea and looked at Ivankov.
“After all, that was the slash unleashed by the person I fought.”
“What?!”
***
“So that’s how it was.”
“Miyamoto Musashi and Zhuyun?”
Ivankov sat on the floor, his face filled with amazement.
“I never imagined there were such powerful people in this world, people we’d never even heard of before.”
“Unknown powerful individuals who suddenly appeared in the East Blue?”
Dragon lowered his head in thought.
“Perhaps they’re connected to the incident involving the Celestial Dragon who went missing in the East Blue.”
“Dragon, you mean…”
Ivankov stared at Dragon with his mouth wide open.
“The Celestial Dragon’s disappearance happened in the East Blue, and these unknown powerful individuals also appeared in the East Blue.”
Dragon analyzed the situation.
“That’s too much of a coincidence.”
“Only people of their level would have the strength to disregard the authority of the Celestial Dragons.”
“Well, that’s certainly something…”
Ivankov licked his lips.
He had to admit that Dragon’s analysis made considerable sense.
***
At noon, after leaving Shimotsuki Village, the Golden Hind sailed rapidly across the sea.
Although only a gentle breeze was blowing against the ship’s sails, the Golden Hind’s magical propulsion allowed it to maintain an impressive speed.
If it sailed at full power, even the Sea Train would be unable to match it.
“Mmm.
Sure enough, the happiest time of the day is when I’m eating.”
Musashi held a skewer of dumplings, her face filled with happiness.
“Mr.
Emiya’s cooking is as delicious as ever.”
“Hmph!
It’s nothing.”
Emiya had now completely grown accustomed to his role as the ship’s chef.
In fact, he found it rather pleasant.
With so much combat power aboard the ship, he rarely had to fight himself, which suited him just fine.
“So, which makes you happier, eating or being held by Zhuyun while you sleep?”
Tsunade held a drink and teased Musashi.
That morning, Drake had gone to wake Musashi up and happened to see Zhuyun and Musashi sleeping while wrapped around each other.
At the time, Musashi had all four limbs wrapped around Zhuyun like an octopus.
Naturally, Drake had shared what she saw with her good drinking companion, Tsunade.
“W-Wah!”
The moment Tsunade brought it up, Musashi’s face turned red again.
Although she was usually carefree and straightforward, Musashi was extremely shy when it came to matters between men and women.
In that regard, she was far more reserved than the easygoing Drake and Tsunade.
As a result, Drake and Tsunade often teased her about it.
Now that she was blushing, Musashi only had to remember Drake waking her that morning with a mischievous smile before she wished she could crawl into a hole.
Drake’s words that morning had simply been too devastating.
“Well, well.
The dazzling Flower of the Heavens, Miss Octopus, you’re awake.”
“Sorry to disturb you.
Why don’t you two sleep a little longer?”
That was what Drake had said that morning.
Naturally, being reminded of it by Tsunade, Musashi could not take it.
“Don’t misunderstand!”
“I was only being used as a pillow by the Master!”
“The master said he had a condition where he couldn’t sleep without hugging a pillow, so that’s why we were like that.”
Musashi hurriedly explained.
“If you don’t believe me, ask the Master!”
“Yes, that’s exactly how it was.”
Zhuyun calmly put down his cup of black tea.
“I can testify for Musashi.
Last night, I simply hugged Musashi while we slept together.”
“Nothing else happened.”
When he said “nothing else,” Zhuyun deliberately emphasized the words.
“Oh!
So nothing else ‘happened,’ huh?”
Drake followed his example and deliberately emphasized the same words.
“Wah…
Master, saying it like that is only making things worse!”
Musashi was on the verge of tears.
“What’s wrong with how I said it?”
Zhuyun looked genuinely puzzled.
“Besides, my ‘I Can’t Sleep Without a Pillow’ condition hasn’t been cured yet.”
“So I’ll have to trouble you a lot more in the future, Musashi.”
“Huh?!”
“Hahahaha!”
“Hahaha!”
Looking at Musashi’s completely bewildered expression, everyone burst into laughter.