Chapter Text
Touya stood with his hands on his hips looking at the three-story building they'd just finished fixing up and looked critically at the sign that ran the width of the establishment: Grandpa's Kitchen. They'd worried a bit that Hiroki would be offended but he'd accepted it, saying it would make people feel like they were coming home to eat and would likely draw the kinds of people they wanted to have come.
Grandpa's Kitchen was going to be the first Chinese restaurant in Akiba and the only one in Yamato (at least for now - the Ocypete was already headed back to Yamato from it's follow-on run to China after they'd returned and it might bring more Chinese chefs eventually).
Touya and his twin sister Minori would be helping Hiroki in the kitchen as his junior chefs. They'd not called on their friends in Crescent Moon to help work there, although some had helped with the building clean up and renovation. Most of them had shifts at one of the four Crescent Burger stands.
A few of the Eagles were taking shifts, though, including in the kitchen on the two nights Touya and Minori would take off. Rudy and Isuzu would also take shifts as wait staff, although they'd decided on an alternating rotation of two days one week then three days on the following.
Those two were going to be the main force on street beat for information pick-up. Touya and Minori planned on learning things from the people who came to the restaurant. A Chinese restaurant would draw a large variety of customers, they expected, and people talked all kinds of things when they were relaxed over food.
Touya's critical eye scanned the street around Grandpa's Kitchen, too. The main market area of Akiba was pretty full by now, so they'd not been able to get close in, but they'd found a place on one of the side streets that was generally quiet and easy to get to. Akatsuki had approved when she'd noticed it was only about a block or so from the Amenoma. Touya approved of the location himself. He'd been looking for a place that was quiet and peaceful in the main.
The second floor of the building they'd purchased included an apartment for Hiroki and a few extra rooms with beds and baths. Touya had said so that if they had an extra late night and needed to just crash they could, or if Shiroe had extra guests they needed to put up, since there weren't any more rooms available at the guild hall.
Unspoken by Touya, it was also so that if Minori just couldn't face the coming divisions in the guild on any given night, the two of them had a place to be. Grandpa's Kitchen was going to be the place he was providing to Minori for her to escape to and find the comforts of home when things got too difficult at the guild hall. He'd not told her that was why he'd done it, but as a man who needed to care for his family, he'd decided that this would do nicely.
The Eagles had asked if they could take the top floor and promised to be invisible and not do foot-traffic business up there. Touya didn't mind if the sub-guild of Log Horizon wanted to use it as a silent stake out area - it did look over the street nicely - but he didn't want the stress of worrying about what business transactions might be happening and he didn't want them to draw troubles to Grandpa's Kitchen either.
They'd promised, kind understanding on their faces, and let him know without really saying it that they'd asked just as much to protect him and Minori as anything else. That he could be comfortable with. More protections for Minori were welcome. He'd still kick them out if he got concerned, though.
"Hey, Touya. Looks good," Reed said, coming to a stop to his right. Reed was the second in command of the Eagles and a Sorcerer, but unless one read their status screens it was hard to tell just what each one's Class was. All twenty-four wore the same U.S. World War II uniform, and a large percentage of them were high level Hackers or Programmers who could hide their true status screen information.
"Yeah. It's good," Touya agreed. "...Hey, I've been thinking..." Reed looked at him, waiting. Touya turned to look the quiet military officer in the face. "You guys have a spell for hearing things, don't you?" Reed didn't say anything. "We need to be hands-on in the kitchen, but our ears are available. Can you give us the ability to hear anything we want to listen to out in the dining room?"
"You're not a magic user, Touya," Reed pointed out.
"No, but I've got MP and if a magic user can learn to use a sword, I can learn at least one or two spells." He gave a smile. "I'll have plenty of time to practice that one, after all."
Reed smiled a slow smile. "That's true, I suppose." He looked back up at the restaurant, silent for a few more seconds. "I'll see what I can do. How about we talk after dinner tonight?"
Touya looked over as well, seeing Minori had come to the door to see where he'd gotten to. "Sounds good to me."
-:-:-:-:-
Touya had been working hard and finally felt like he'd reached the level of useful capacity, if not ease, on the spell/natural Adventurer combination of listening to the dining room that Reed had taught him and Minori. Minori had it down within three days, but in the end it really was more difficult to cross Class types. He was determined to have this skill, though.
Today, he'd let her handle the more difficult busy time during lunch. Now that it was calming down, he was practicing. Shiroe and Akatsuki had come for a date lunch and they'd both not spied on that, but Shiroe was waiting for others to arrive now. It was easier to focus on voices he already knew, so Touya thought listening in on the Akiba Adventurer Academy school board meeting might be okay. He couldn't decide if he'd be bored or if he'd get the inside scoop the other students would be envious of.
"Souji, Marie, Henrietta, good to see you," Shiroe's voice came easily to Touya's ear since he'd already been thinking of him. He had to focus a little more to hear the others, so a little frown came on his face. Minori passed him and tapped him lightly on his forehead to remind him to keep his face impassive so no one knew.
Touya sighed and started over. She kept telling him it worked better to relax, rather than try so hard, and he'd found if he did it like he did his sword practice - a meditation more than a struggle - that she was right. He took a breath, relaxed and tried again, imagining the people around the table. That seemed to do the trick this time.
"We've had six weeks to research the natural method to learning and teach our guild members so that we've got a good flow for how to teach it. I've brought the proposed lesson plan," Soujirou, guildmaster of West Wind Brigade, was saying.
Shiroe gave a murmured thanks, and Soujirou continued wryly, "The comments aren't mine. I showed up this morning and found the proposal that way. Since there wasn't time to rewrite it before the meeting, I just brought it as is."
Shiroe sighed. "Yes, Purrcy will do this to my to-do lists, too."
"And here's her proposed lesson plans for the half-beast lessons to go with it," there was another rustle of papers.
"Yes, she had me review the draft of that on the ship," Shiroe said. "I'm glad she got you your copy. What did you think?"
"She does a good job writing clearly, just like her explanations. I was thinking we could offer the basic course first, then invite any half-beasts who come to the class to stay for a few more days to a week to get their specific additional lessons in, rather than have separate classes altogether. That way they aren't quite so singled out, just given the allowance for the differences that the non-half-beasts don't need to stay for."
"I like that idea," Shiroe said. There was silence for a while as he read through the proposal. Touya let himself relax. He still couldn't hold the focus on the spell for long periods of time yet. He was treating it like weight-lifting and going for slightly longer times each time he practiced, but with rest between "sets".
He made up the next order and set it on the counter to be picked up by Isuzu, who was on waitress duty today. She winked at him and he smiled back, then went back to listening again while he started on the initial prep of the next order.
"I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one to get a red-lined proposal," Marielle was saying, relief in her voice. She was the elvin guildmistress of Crescent Moon League and Head Teacher of the Academy. "I also could only bring what I had.
"She seems to like the proposed graduation path we've selected for the younger students. We had more students come to the two full days of class than the week-long morning classes in our initial offering. They seemed to like being able to focus hard for a few days, then get back to work on the other things important to their lives.
"The exit surveys for the morning class leaned heavily to the difficulty of changing focus mid-day and sometimes of not having enough time to complete the other things they needed to do. A few really liked it though, so we'll need to discuss -"
Touya had to drop the listening. He'd almost lit himself on fire. It was a balancing act, to watch what he was doing and listen. He knew once it was automatic it wouldn't be a problem, but getting there was difficult still.
When he was at a place he could listen again, Henrietta was speaking. "Purrcy's financial and economics lesson plan is good in the foundational basics, but," Henrietta sighed, "she's left a lot of gaping holes for me to fill. I'll have to bring the final proposed lesson plan to the next board meeting. ...Other than that I think it's a good idea - although I have no idea who'll come to it."
"Ours will," Shiroe said mildly. "She's required it for Log Horizon as high-level training, particularly for the juniors. I think you could offer it to Calasin as well, and the merchants who want to understand better could benefit from it."
"Good points. We can focus our sales pitches for it in the marketplace, then. That brings up the point of purchasing the zones and the loan. Is that still your plan, Shiroe?" Henrietta asked.
"Yes. I've brought the loan contract with me, actually. I purchased the zones this morning on my way into town. Did you bring the proposal of repayment with you today?" Henrietta had and they sat and discussed terms, rates, percentages to come from grants, fund raisers, and other sources like the fees paid by the eateries that had set up in the cafeteria.
There was a long discussion on whether to increase the costs to students to pay for classes, versus the amounts that would come in with the new sets of classes. Touya wasn't surprised when they were cautious towards charging more. The school was less than a year old still and to raise costs to students now might not be the best idea. The longer they could hold off on that the better, and while they were still adding courses it seemed like it might not be necessary.
The natural Adventurer classes would be a strong draw, Touya thought, particularly if they had a demonstration before it started. He and Minori were still excited about their first experience with it. And look where it had led to - working together with Hiroki in Grandpa's Kitchen as junior partners.
His own pockets were lining nicely, although he made sure on his two days off to work hard to continue to increase his fighting skills. He didn't like the feeling of becoming soft just because he had a second way to earn his own income now.
He chose to take the next order out and stopped by their table. "Minori and I would be happy to participate in a demonstration class for the natural Adventurer lessons. It's so exciting to see how easy it is to learn naturally, and now that I've had a little experience with how hard it is to learn outside one's Class type, I could explain that part as well. I think a lot of people would come to that class just on one demo."
Soujirou laughed. "I do, too, Touya-kun. That was the most eye-opening and exciting moment of my time here on Theldesia, I think. I finally understood Akatsuki's excitement then as well." Akatsuki nodded several times, completely agreeing. Soujirou looked at her. "Would you be willing to show how to learn sword methods, if Touya and Minori take the chef demonstration?"
"Sure," Akatsuki said immediately.
"Great!" Touya left them feeling contented. Things were moving forward in Akiba in good ways even still.
"Ah, Shiroe," Henrietta said, "one of our fundraisers was going to be a play at the winter festival in Minami. Will Purrcy be able to be there to help out, and can we get her for the few days before for the rehearsal?" Touya froze just outside the door to the kitchen and Minori looked up at him, stricken. They didn't move as they waited for their guildmaster's answer.
Slowly and a little sadly, with the firm and quiet surety he always held in himself, Shiroe answered, "It would be nice, I'm sure, Henrietta, but I think you'd best be safe and assume she won't be. I know she's going to work very hard to be at the wedding, but that may be all she can do as even that much is going to be more difficult than we anticipated, due to the circumstances she's found herself in. I'm very sorry."
"She never gets to relax and have fun," Marielle complained.
"No, not really," Shiroe agreed quietly.
Minori was standing at the door now, one hand resting on the frame, the other over her heart. "Please, Marielle-san, Henrietta-san...," she bit her lip. "I know she'd love to be there. I hope we'll do it anyway...and maybe, if she can't be there, we can have it recorded and sent to her to help lift her spirits. It's not like she couldn't enjoy it...I think it's more that she has her other responsibilities she has to attend to."
Touya turned to see the entire table looking at Minori. He was somewhat glad the rest of the room was mostly empty. "I think we could do that," Henrietta said kindly.
"But...," Marielle whispered, "what about Tetorō? He's been gone, too. Will he be there? He's the lead actor." Minori didn't have an answer to that and slumped a little. The other women turned to look at Shiroe. Only he would know if the High Priestess' guardian could become available.
Shiroe's brow creased until finally he pushed up his round glasses. "I'll ask him what he wants to do. He may have the flexibility to stay that long." He looked between the others at the table, since Soujirou was also looking hopeful. "I'll get back with you as soon as I know - no later than the next board meeting, okay?"
"Okay," they agreed.
Touya hoped in his heart for their sake - and Minori's - that it could somehow work out. Minori looked him in the eye and he firmed up, putting his arm around her shoulder, and helped her get back into the kitchen to work again. "It'll work out if we put our hopes and intent into it," he said to her quietly.
Minori's brow didn't unwrinkle until she finally sighed and said, "Somehow." He nodded and stayed close to her as they got back to work. It was hard for the mother of their guild to be missing from the house.
-:-:-:-:-
It was early afternoon, towards the end of the lunch rush, when familiar cheerful female voices entered Grandpa's Kitchen and were politely escorted to one of the larger booths. The Water Maple Ladies had come for the open house like most of the city had, actually. They'd almost had to call it a week-long open house.
Everyone in the guild and sub-guild who could cook had been called in for that crazy week, but things had settled down now to a nicely brisk business during meal times. There wasn't much down time in the in-between, but it wasn't too stressful either. Chinese was indeed very popular with the city residents.
The ladies were towards the end of their meal, and the waiter had stopped by to make sure everything was still okay with the meal and refill drinks. "Um, excuse me," it was Clair Winthrop, just a little unsure still when she addressed Adventurers she didn't know well, although she got along very well with the Water Maple Ladies now. "Is Minori very busy right now, or could I speak to her for a minute?"
Touya glanced at Minori. She'd paused, and was looking around at what she was doing. She quickly finished her current chopping and went to the stove and turned down the heat on the pot she'd been adding ingredients to. The Eagle waiter poked his head in just then. "Miss Minori, have you a moment to come talk to Miss Clair?"
"Yes, I can come briefly," she said with a glance at Hiroki. He gave a glance at her workstation and gave a nod and she headed out to the dining room.
"Hi everyone!" Minori said cheerily. They greeted her with thanks for the yummy food. She accepted it with gratitude. "What can I do for you Clair?" Minori asked.
"Umm," Clair hesitated then lowered her voice. "I was wondering if Lady Purrcy was back?"
"No," Minori said kindly.
"Well...I..." Touya was looking out the door, needing to watch over his sister, not just listen this time. Clair was hesitant from confusion it looked like.
"Has something happened?" Minori asked. The other ladies at the table were paying attention to the conversation, too.
Clair took a breath. "I finished my studies of the clothing samples she left, and also of the works she's done to date. - Shopping District 8 has been very kind to let me have an office and stay in their warehouse for hours on end. - And I was finally drafting ideas the other day, trying to see if I could take what seems to be Lady Purrcy's focus and style and fit it to what I've learned in Maihama.
"I left the drafts on my desk when I left for the night and when I arrived in the morning they'd been commented on. I'd wondered if she'd stopped by on her way to your guild hall. I didn't have time to ask then, but this morning there were five new design drafts on my desk when I got in." She was looking at Minori, confusion on her face.
Touya's hand made a fist as Minori took a deep breath, trying to decide how to answer. "I'm glad Purrcy-san has been able to find the time to help you move forward," Minori said gently. "But it's one of her skills - and all Adventurers have it, really - to be able to collect the papers off your desk, review them where she is, and return them to your desk.
"If you're ready to try creating the new line, then she's made herself available to help you get there, like she promised." Minori tried to smile and it came out but it was still sad. "But she isn't here and won't be for quite some time, really."
Marielle slipped out of the booth and took Minori in her arms. "At least it's better than the other times, isn't it?" she said both kindly and with cheer in her voice. "This time she can try with us, instead of just be gone without a word."
Minori nodded her head (after being released from the hug). "Yes. It's very heartening to know that she can both watch over us and help us when we need it."
Touya slipped into the darkness of the kitchen so the ladies couldn't see him watching them. Their eyes had come searching for him, too, and he didn't want them to know he was watching. If Minori wanted them to think she was strong, he didn't want to change that opinion. It was mostly true anyway.
Minori was turning for the kitchen when Clair nervously ran her hand on the table and cleared her throat. Touya's eyebrow lifted and Minori turned back. "Can she hear us, too?" Clair asked.
"Hear?" Minori asked.
Clair blushed. "I...well, that day I'd been drawing the first set, I'd complained out loud and wished Lady Purrcy was here to tell me if I was even on the right path. And two days before this morning...I'd wished with all my being that she could be with me to help me with the designs, so I would know what it was she really wanted or thought would be good for the spring line."
Minori's eyes had gone wide and she didn't have an answer for just a moment. She took in a breath and said, "Yes, Clair, it's the same skill, really. It's based on our 'chat' ability, the ability to talk to each other across distances. Normally we can't chat with People of the Land, but she's a bit different from the rest of us, so if you were talking to her, she likely did hear you. When she does that, she can see, too, if she wants to."
Princess Raynessia shifted. "Like when we had our first day with her," she said brightly. "We were having a fashion show and she asked Marie to call Mister MarketMaker. He showed Nazuna some outfits and Lady Purrcy made them disappear from his hands and appear on my bed."
Minori and all the others were nodding. "Yes, it's like that," Minori said to Clair. Her face got serious. "But you should be careful with asking her too often. She is very busy, even though she wants to help you."
"Oh, no. I understand," Clair was quick to say. "I've been very glad to have this help. I don't feel so hopeless and alone now." She blushed again. "Her comments were encouraging and now that she's given me some of her own ideas, I have a direction to go. ...I probably won't need to ask for much more until I'm ready with the final options."
Minori nodded firmly. "That's definitely when she'll want to participate. And really, if there are times here and there where you just need a push, it's not bad either."
Touya could feel it. Minori was finally encouraged herself and feeling stronger as well. She'd finally remembered - Hahaue was always present. You just had to remember to ask her to come out when you needed her. He hoped Minori would finally allow herself that comfort.
He felt a light hand on his shoulder and a warm fuzzy kiss on his cheek and he smiled. He didn't look, though. It was enough that he knew she was still watching over them. He was back at his workstation by the time Minori returned to the kitchen. She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and determinedly got back to work.
Really, Minori was becoming more and more beautiful as she grew little by little from the child avatar to the adult avatar. Even Touya had been pleased with his growth from a boy-child's body to the muscular adult body he was coming into. He felt like he finally was going to be able to become the man his senior could be proud of.
It would be almost a year before the growth was final, but it was still exciting to see the changes as they progressed little by little. They were already getting jealous demands from their friends in Crescent Moon wondering when the growth potion was going to be available commercially.
-:-:-:-:- -:-:-:-:-
Yuudai drew a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. It felt just as heavy as the great mountain above him did. A smaller warm hand slipped into his left hand. Timidly, Majiyo said, "That's a lot of stairs."
"I'll say," Misa answered dryly from his right side. "Are we sure we want to walk up all of them?"
Yuudai looked at her with a smile. He took her hand in his. "After all of the steps we've taken to get here, what are these many more but the steps of gratitude that we've been able to arrive at our goal from the beginning?"
Misa looked at him with the bemused expression she looked at him often with - particularly when he said things like that. "Always the eternal optimist," she quipped softly.
He grinned at her for that. "Youth breeds it, I've heard," he said, although he knew he'd not always been that way. He'd just been working hard to learn the faith and hope that the future contained. He hoped that she would understand it for herself very soon. It was the goal of them all to have her relearn that hope for herself. "And I hope that you'll also arrive at that youthful optimism again soon, Misa."
She looked down and turned away, but this time not with so much sadness. When she said, "Yes, that would be good, wouldn't it?" he felt a lot better. She was moving forward a little more on her own.
Yuudai looked up the stairs again with the red torii gates spanning over the stairs and spaced at about every ten steps or so. He took one more breath, then said, "Then, shall we? It's the last steps of our journey to arrive. What new things will we learn when we reach the top, I wonder?"
He lifted his foot and stepped on the first step. The women went with him and for a long time they walked up the stairs in silence, holding hands in their continuing mutual encouragement of each other on the path before them.
-:-:-:-:-
Yuudai knocked on the door to the shrine of Inari-no-Izanagi, then stepped back to wait. A young man slid the door open after about three minutes. "Can I help you?" he asked.
"My name is Yuudai. This is Majiyo and Mise. We've just arrived from a pilgrimage Inari-no-Izanagi gave us. I'm an acolyte, assigned it by his own Oracle. Majiyo the same. We've been sent to learn more about what our roles are and how to serve properly."
Eyes flicked to Mise. "We were tasked with bringing Mise here safely, but she's allowed to choose the shrine she wishes to serve at, or if she wishes to just rest here in meditation."
The acolyte pointed to a raised fountain at the outer corner of the shrine that had bubbling water at the surface and a trickle running down the front of it. "Purify and enter the first room. I'll inform Priest Jared." They thanked him and went to do as bidden.
"I wonder if Purrcy-san is here on the mountain?" Majiyo whispered as they waited for Mise to finish her purification ritual.
"I wonder?" Yuudai echoed. "I wonder if we'd get to see her if she was?"
They took themselves into the shrine and waited, kneeling on the tatami floor in the room they'd been sent to. After about ten minutes, the paper door opposite them was slid open and they were ushered into the next room. "Please be patient. Priest Jared is on his way and will be with you shortly," they were told. There wasn't anything else to do, so they waited some more in that room.
Finally a door to the side slid open and a man in a red kimono, embroidered with black, entered the room. He sat down cross-legged facing them and looked at them closely. "You say you're here because Inari-no-Izanagi sent you?" he had a bit of a wrinkle on his forehead.
"Yes, sir," Yuudai said very politely. "I was summoned and had him ask me if I would be his priest. Majiyo asked if she could also be his shrine maiden. When I accepted, I was granted the ability to bless weapons to make them tools of purification so that the plague of demihumans and monsters could begin to be removed from the face of the earth. Majiyo was granted a yuma yai for the same purpose."
The Priest gestured and Majiyo took the azusa yumi bow out, and the quiver of hama ya arrows, and showed them to him. He inspected them, then handed them back, his face not saying anything yet. His eyes went to Mise.
"We were asked to help bring Mise back to hope," Yuudai explained. "We've been traveling here on foot from Nakasu, being tested the whole way, and learning to put our trust in Inari-no-Izanagi, that he would provide for us and protect us.
"Mise was promised that if she would come with us that she would be allowed to rest in the shrines and relearn hope for life in the peace of Shrine Mountain. We have all been obedient to the words we were given. I desire now to receive instructions from the shrine in what it is to be a priest."
"I also desire instructions," Majiyo said quietly.
The Priest looked at them, studying their sincerity. He waved his hand and there was suddenly a visible, if somewhat cloudy, list of their status data hovering in front of them. As the Priest read the data, his face closed down somewhat and Yuudai had to work hard to pray their goal could be met and their sacrifices until then would be received.
After some heavy contemplation, Priest Jared finally asked Yuudai, "What is your final calling? To stay here on the mountain, or to be a traveling priest?"
Yuudai had a ready answer, but he paused to really think it through one more time. "To be a traveling priest, although I don't know how long I'll stay or when I'll be called to leave again. I've been tasked to bless weapons to purify them. I've done a lot of that, but I haven't been told I'm done, so I don't know yet what's next."
Priest Jared seemed to relax just slightly. He turned to Majiyo. "And you? Will you also go?"
"Yes," she answered. "When Yuudai goes, I'll go with him."
"Are you married?" he asked them.
They both blushed. "No, Priest Jared. We're still too young," Yuudai said.
The Priest's eyes went to Mise. "It's good you've traveled with a chaperone then. And will you go with them when they go?"
Mise hesitated, not sure how to answer. "Perhaps," she finally said.
"Mise has been getting stronger and stronger every day," Yuudai said. "Perhaps when we're called to leave, she'll have become strong enough to face her companions and family again. If so we'll take her home."
Priest Jared gave a nod. "Instruction for each shrine occurs in the first room and is from the hour after breakfast until the hour of lunch. If you enter the room after the first purification, a teacher will come. Once you've gone through the initial instructions, then we'll see if you'll still be initiated.
"There are currently only three occupied shrines - the shrine of Inari-no-Izanagi, the shrine of Inari-no-Izanami, and the shrine of Inari-no-Sarutahiko," he informed Mise. "You may visit all of them. The other two are unoccupied." He addressed all of them again. "While you're in lessons, you may stay at the guest house near the top of the stairs."
The three of them bowed. "Thank you, Priest Jared," Yuudai said.
The Priest rose and left them. They could hear him sigh softly from the other side of the door once he'd closed it.
-:-:-:-:-
Yuudai closed his eyes, took a breath, and dunked himself underwater in the warm water of the hot spring outside the shrine. He made sure to rinse off very well, then came up for air, wiping the water out of his face. Today he was both very sober and very excited. Today he would become a lesser priest and Majiyo a shrine maiden in fact and ceremony, not just in calling.
It hadn't been easy, going through their lessons. The priests and acolytes of Inari-no-Izanagi weren't sure they wanted Adventurers among the clergy, although they were perhaps a little more resigned to it than those of Inari-no-Izanami.
The priest of Inari-no-Sarutahiko, a solitary figure in his shrine, had been kinder, if somewhat confused by Adventurers wanting to serve the gods of the People of the Land. Mise had spent her days there, learning from him and meditating in that shrine or in the gardens nearby.
Yuudai was grateful to Priest Sasuke for being what Mise needed. When they'd arrived at Nakasu from China there had been an intense day of boar and food harvesting, followed by a wild ending party of the allied Adventurers of Yamato celebrating the end of the quest to China.
At that time, Mise had become very overwhelmed and they'd left the beach early with her. She'd kindly tried, so that they could say their farewells, but it had been too much for her when she really wasn't ready to celebrate being an Adventurer at all. She'd been lost and angry then. Perhaps a step better than despair and hopelessness, but not a happy way to be.
Yuudai floated in the natural hot spring, meditating further on the journey they had taken to arrive at this day. The morning after everyone had left, the three of them had risen and purified themselves in the first purification, then asked Inari-no-Izanagi to guide their footsteps, grant them the knowledge of what to say and where to go, and asked that he bless their journey. Then they'd contacted Brody, head of the Nakasu city council.
He'd willingly given them maps for the regions and zones of Ninetails Dominion they'd have to pass through to get to Shrine Mountain, then sent them to the office of the chief of police, who gave them the maps for Westlande that they would need, since her guild was over that region of Yamato.
As they sat around the first map, looking to see which road might be the best to take out of town, they'd been interrupted by a tall, pompous, thin man with long curly blonde hair. "How does one break a curse set on a person by an Adventurer?" he'd asked.
"Do you know what Class the Adventurer was?"
"Of noble class," the man had answered, his view on the world completely orthogonal to their own.
They hadn't really known how to answer since it was a rather broad answer unless they understood what Class or sub-class had cast the curse. "Usually with a quest?" Majiyo had finally offered as a possibility.
"What kind of quest?" he'd responded with a frown.
"I would think something related to correcting whatever the cause of the cursing was," Yuudai offered. "Is it something you can tell us about? We might be able to help more if we knew the cause of the cursing or even the curse itself."
The man, Marquis Code his status read, had hesitated, not really wanting to say. "Well, really most Adventurers just want a simple sincere apology," Majiyo finally offered, "If you know who cast it, if the one who is cursed apologizes to them and makes it right, that same Adventurer can usually make it go away if they wish it to go away."
Marquis Code gave a curt nod and walked off, without a thank you even. They'd looked at each other and shrugged and finished choosing their path based on the feeling of calm Yuudai was getting when he put his finger on a particular passageway.
They'd traveled by foot, stopping each night to make a camp. Majiyo already had Druid spells that allowed her to put up Thorny Hedge around the camp to keep most things out and they'd purchased two tents and a protection item that would warn them if enemies came into the camp.
The road they followed didn't have spawn points on it, which was nice, but if they needed food they could detour to some every few days to harvest from spawned monsters if they hadn't managed to catch smaller non-monster game along the roadway. Majiyo also knew which plants they could harvest to add to the meats they were able to find, so in the main it wasn't too strenuous a journey at the first.
The first difficulty they ran into was a bit of a surprise, actually, for all they knew from their travels to date that Izanagi wouldn't always make the way smooth. It had come about because of an impatient comment from Mise in the hearing of another party of Adventurers they'd come across and it had turned into an angry brawl. In the end Mise had been humiliated, for all Yuudai and Majiyo had tried to help smooth things over.
Mise had spent every moment practicing and making herself stronger after that, trying to catch back up from where she'd allowed herself to stop. She'd been irritable with them, too, until Majiyo had finally snapped and scolded Mise most fiercely. Yuudai hadn't been surprised to find her gone the next morning, striking out on her own.
That had made Majiyo more angry, but Yuudai made the decision that they wouldn't break camp. He'd sat in meditation by the fire while Majiyo steamed, then fretted, then finally settled down silently next to him. "What are you doing?" she'd asked then, in a tone he was willing to answer.
"Praying for Mise, that she'll come to understand, and she'll be able to come safely back to us so we can continue forward." Majiyo had been silent a long time, then sighed, settled, and joined him in prayer.
Mise had shown back up late that night. They'd been waiting up for her and had to chase off the Dire Wolves that were chasing her back to the camp. She'd been able to outrun the heavier monsters she'd run into, they were relieved to learn. Once they'd healed her and fed her, she'd humbly apologized. They freely forgave her, as Yuudai had been forgiven at his beginning on this path. After that she wasn't angry any more.
Yuudai nodded now as he sat back up, preparing to leave the hot spring. He'd learned that for himself back at the beginning of his own journey - forgiveness was a far more powerful way to change another person's heart when they'd seen the error of their ways than anger met with anger. When both women had settled by a few days later, he'd explained it that way so they could see it for themselves. Majiyo had been able to apologize to Mise then and they'd gone back to companionable travel with few difficulties.
Yuudai toweled off in the changing room, focusing for a bit on what was coming up. One of the lesser priests entered, handed him a grey yukata and asked him to enter the next room and wait in meditation until Priest Jared arrived. As Yuudai settled himself in the small seven tatami mat room, he closed his eyes and the second difficulty of their journey came almost unbidden to his mind.
He frowned a little, not really wanting to remember it. That time it had been his own lesson, and it had been hard. However, he probably needed to face it one more time. He sighed slightly and let it play out in summary.
They'd been asleep for about four hours, half-way to Shrine Mountain from the border of Eastal and Westlande when there was a blaze of light outside the tents and the proximity alarm began, then was cut off abruptly.
They were instantly awake, but being surprised there was nothing they could do. They'd been Stunned and Petrified before they could defend themselves properly. Yuudai knew it had to be Adventurers, given the rapid attack and counters to their defenses, but as consciousness had faded, he could only ask that they not be burned in the center of their Thorny Hedge barricade and have to start all over.
When he'd come to, he'd changed his mind. It would have been better. They'd been taken prisoner and had their camp ransacked and everything available stolen - by Hamelin, the very guild they'd been prisoner to at the beginning of the catastrophe.
Hamelin had been cast out of Akiba, but there not being a way to kill Adventurers, and probably with the hope they'd learn better and change their ways, no one had really done much about them once they'd left Akiba. Apparently they'd moved into this part of the region and set up a place to call home, such as it was.
Yuudai immediately looked for Majiyo and Mise. They were present with him and Majiyo was as frightened as Yuudai was concerned. He read the statuses on the men around them and wasn't thrilled. Having to live out of the city, they'd continuously gone up in levels. They weren't going to get out of their predicament by force.
He was pretty sure negotiation wouldn't work either, particularly when they threatened the ladies with horrible consequences if Yuudai didn't hand over everything in his list. He knew perfectly well they would follow through, but just as likely might follow through anyway if he did give up the things in his lists.
Still, he stalled for time as he looked through them one more time. When he didn't find a Hacker among them, he carefully went through his list, slowly - as if reluctant. It wasn't likely they'd learned about the nesting boxes yet, either, although if they had he might have excuses there if he needed them. He only had to give up twenty-four items, with just enough of them nice items.
They looked hungry, so he started with food items. He dropped six items of food they'd harvested over the last week. They seemed content with that, but looked with expectation at him. He took a breath, then dropped six potions: three HP, two MP, and one that would heal poison. He made sure that he looked like that hurt him, to give those up. It took a little while to decide what might be next from what he had with him. It was four mid-level magic items and two lower end clothing items.
He let them scold him into the next drop of three as he would normally be getting to the items that he would treasure and put in his anti-theft slots. He pulled out a knife, a stone, and a map, and very sadly put them on the pile. "You really don't want what's left."
"We really do," he was encouraged with sharp blades and dark looks at the ladies.
Yuudai looked sadly at Majiyo. She drew a breath and gave a nod. She understood what he was doing and at least seemed to say that if she'd already been made to do this, she'd likely done the same. A sword, a glaive, and a spear appeared on the ground. All three were cursed weapons.
"We're headed on a quest to get them cleared of their cursings," he explained. "Please let me keep them so they don't damage anyone else." Yuudai swallowed now at the memory. That one statement, that one lie said in the hopes to free them, had been his bane and caused them more pain and grief than they'd needed to go through.
Cursings hadn't come just on the members of Haemlin, but to the three of them as well, until he'd finally cried out, begging them to bring the cursed weapons, and not just those, but all of the cursed weapons they had in the house. Two of the lesser men who could still walk had made the ones who were against it let them take the weapons to Yuudai. Not that they could prevent it, being weak, ill, or with odd and - for a few - particularly nasty turns nearly worse than Crusty's.
Yuudai had painfully walked to the stream, guarded by the two. He'd knelt by the stream, begging in his heart that he would be forgiven for being afraid to honestly say he was an acolyte who could bless cursed weapons. He was so afraid that Hamelin would keep him again and never let them free once they knew what he could do, but it was wrong on his part. He'd purified himself, prayed for the power again so he could right his wrong, not sure he'd be allowed to do it, then put his hands on the first sword.
He had no idea how many he'd purified, but when he was done, he stumbled to his feet and went back to the house and blessed in a similar manner every member of Hamelin and the two women, then had fallen into his sleeping place, unconscious, fevered, and heartsick. All he could hold onto as darkness claimed him was a prayer that he would be willing to submit to whatever was placed on them now.
When he'd woken, they made him tell them what he'd done and how. He openly and honestly told his story, including where they had been headed and why. "As one of the child Adventurers your guild took advantage of and held captive, I was afraid. I'm sorry that fear caused so much trouble," he'd apologized.
They'd been locked up while the guild decided what to do with them and he'd apologized to Majiyo and Mise as well. Majiyo had taken his hand and been just as afraid as he still was, for all he was trying to combat it. Mise had finally sat between them and put her arms around them, letting them be comforted with her presence as well, although there wasn't anything she could do either other than that.
That night, Yuudai had a dream where he got a scolding of sorts, although that part was hazy, and then a very clear instruction and he was suddenly awake. He shook Mise and Majiyo awake, then went to the door and listened. There was only silence on the other side of the door. He tried the handle and the door opened easily. "Walk quietly," he'd mouthed to them and holding hands in a line, they'd cautiously made their way out of the house and into the woods around the house.
For the next full day they'd evaded capture by hiding and being very quiet whenever the trackers were nearby and not moving again until the area was clear. Yuudai had been very careful to be obedient to any urgings or thoughts he had and by the third day of careful travel they seemed to be clear of the slaver guild. They stayed vigilant for most of the rest of that week.
When they finally reached a point they felt they could really relax, Yuudai had finally had to have his melt down and sob while curled around his knees, sitting under a tree a bit of a distance from their camp. He'd nearly failed as a man and as a priest. His relief at their escape when he'd finally corrected his error wasn't really enough to overcome his guilt and his self-doubt that made him question if he could now even be the priest he'd promised he would be.
A light hand had come on his shoulder, and he was a bit surprised when it was Mise's voice, not Majiyo's, but Mise had been a leader of her guild D.D.D. before Theldesia had broken her.
"Yuudai, it's hard to fail, to find out you have a weakness you didn't know you had. ...But if it helps, I wanted to let you know that your strength and the efforts you put into trying hard don't go unnoticed. Because others see that, they want to help you keep going, too.
"Please don't give up. Please lift your head and walk forward again. That is what we need, not someone who is perfectly strong in all situations." She'd sat with him quietly until he'd recovered.
It had taken a few more days of travel for him to really internalize her words and understand that what he wanted to do was precious enough to not leave just because he'd needed another lesson in how to walk forward properly. The lesson still hurt, but he was now able to have a little gratitude for it as well.
He had to remind himself of that again now, forgive himself one more time, and he drew a long breath and let it out with the guilt and self-doubt. He was here now, and it was nearly time for that goal to finally be accomplished, even if he was a mortal with weaknesses.
The door slid open and Majiyo entered the room. Yuudai almost couldn't look at her. The final trial they'd gone through was hers, not surprisingly. She'd not recovered so well from that time being in the claws of Haemlin again and in the end, she'd given up.
They'd found a farmhouse where the family had been kind to let them stay. They didn't have the tents any more and the rain had been constant. The farmwife had been kind and let them have warm baths and fed them. When the rain had let up, Majiyo had asked the other two to continue without her.
She claimed she was having second thoughts and needed more time to figure out what she really wanted to do. Yuudai had earnestly tried to understand if she blamed him and if he needed to do more to make it right. She'd claimed it wasn't so, but wouldn't let them stay.
Sadly, Yuudai had bowed to her wishes and he and Mise had risen to their feet to go. At the door, Yuudai had turned back. "Majiyo, from the beginning I've hurt you, and I'm very sorry to have done it then and again more recently. Thank you for forgiving me and helping me walk forward each day." Tears had entered Majiyo's eyes. "I know it's been your choice and I'm grateful each day we've been together."
He'd paused, then said firmly, "I'm not leaving. I'm going out to find a place to pray for you. When you've found the answer you're seeking, I will hear what you have to say." Her eyes had widened and the tears had begun to fall. He'd turned away and walked out the door, giving her the space and time she needed to think about what she wanted to do for herself, glad she was finally taking the opportunity to do it.
Mise had gone with him until he'd found a quiet place in the shade of a few trees and sat with him long enough that he'd decided she was doing her own praying. Then she'd risen to her feet and walked back the way they'd come. He let her go and continued in his supplications in Majiyo's behalf.
He'd felt prompted to get to his feet and walk a little farther down the road. There was another farmhouse there with the farmer outside working in his field. Yuudai had silently started working alongside him, continuing to pray for Majiyo in his heart as he did so. When the farmer had finally stopped his working, rising to wipe his brow on his sleeve, he'd spoken. "What do you want for the help?"
"A room to sleep in until my companion is ready to tell me where we're going next," he'd answered. "And meals. I can do my part to add foodstuffs."
"Know how long?"
"No."
The farmer had led him back to his house and Yuudai had stayed with him, working alongside him and occasionally scaring away monsters, until Mise had called him on the party chat. "Yuudai, she's ready to talk to you. We're on our way."
"I'll be there," he'd promised, then thanked the farmer and walked back to the copse of trees. He'd stayed standing, but still praying very hard for Majiyo's sake - that she'd been able to find peace with herself and her choice, whatever it was.
The Majiyo he saw that day was stronger, no longer timid and unsure. She'd been glad to see him, that he'd kept his promise to support her like they had supported Mise, and she'd been embarrassed that she'd made him wait on her, but he hadn't minded at all. Rather, he'd always been worried that she'd just followed along after him because she felt bad for his sake. That wasn't the best way to walk forward forever, even if it was a way for a time.
Working up her courage, she'd said, "I'll continue to walk with you to Shrine Mountain and study at the shrine."
"I'm glad you've been able to decide it for yourself, selfishly," he'd answered. "I'll be glad to still walk with you for this time." They'd walked the rest of the pathway to the foot of what on Earth was Mount Fuji without hardships, and he had never pressed her to tell him what she'd gone through or why she'd decided it. It was enough.
Yuudai looked at her now, as she settled on her knees next to him, also in a grey yukata. "Is this still the path you selfishly wish to follow?" he asked her.
"Mm," she nodded her head definitively.
"Good. Then, when we're done, if you know what you'll do next, please tell me and I will listen again." She promised it.
A few minutes later, Priest Jared was entering the room and giving them their final instructions before entering the upper room of meeting, where they would be tested by Inari-no-Izanagi for their fitness to serve him in the callings he had already given them. Yuudai faced it with calm assurance. They had already been tested in their pilgrimage. This would be the moment of humble gratitude and blessing.
These stories are (time-wise) interwoven throughout the first parts of the High Priestess arc. I wanted to keep them cohesively together, so they are placed here as a "Prelude" of sorts to the Sixth Level of Purrcy's dungeon. There won't really be a better place to put these secondary characters' stories in as everyone gets so scattered. It isn't as lighthearted an OVA as I typically put in but the mood is a correct lead-in/foreshadowing of what's to come.