Intermission: A Culinary Detour (Bonus Deadly Duel Included)

The clouds parted with a boom as I flew past them. In the afternoon sky, I made my way briskly to the east.

Below me were first lowlands and even deserts, before giving way to rolling hills, dense misty forests, and distant snow-capped mountains.

The continent of Leclaire was made up of many diverse places, the Tessalian Empire being only the southern part. I knew it best, having been born there, yet now I was heading east, to the mysterious Three Kingdoms of Mido.

Meanwhile, I ceaselessly pondered every word Michio-sama had said.

Incredible—houses and even cities of glass and metal, with lights that never fade... Vehicles faster than chariots… and no magic?!

He talked for hours about the other world he came from, and I couldn’t stop asking. I might have worn him down a little, but I knew he’d be fine!

He was a god, after all!

“I’m not a god!” he would’ve said to me now for sure.

Honestly, I couldn’t believe that gods would so easily deny their divinity. It was quite funny actually.

To emit light without magic? Storing images in light? Computing with these light-driven machinery?!

This Japan, this land of the gods I've heard about for thousands of years! Even my friends...

...What they would have given to meet Michio-sama.

No, nothing could break my spirits, especially now. As I digested the thoughts of the other world, my stomach began to growl.

I had only one goal in mind now, to find food, and not just any food!

“It’s called onigiri,” he told me. “I always eat it when I’m hungry because it’s so good! There’s so much great stuff besides that, lots of them, but I still love it!”

O-ni-gi-ri. A rice ball covered with seaweed, meat inside.

Sounds so heavenly!

I was going to make that, but I couldn’t do without rice, seaweed and stuffing, so I had to hunt for the ingredients that were natural in Japan.

And since Japan lied in the eastern part of Earth, it made sense to me to visit Leclaire’s easternmost realm, Mido, to find them.

Flying past the snowy peaks, I soon caught sight of the eastern coast and the rolling fields that lay before it.

There, not far from the crashing sea, a manor rose on a hill. It was several stories high, its roof sloping upwards at the corners. It was quite unlike anything I’d seen in Tessal or elsewhere on the continent.

The System had even displayed its name.

«Castle of the Seaside Nobles»

Soon I descended, and began to climb the stone steps up to the colorful wood and metal main gate.

Once there, I grabbed a head-sized knocker and nearly collapsed under its weight as I knocked.

By the Gods, what do they keep here?!

The knock shook the whole entrance and it opened by itself. It wasn’t noticeable from the outside, but I would’ve bet there was immerse magical energy coursing through the castle.

I stepped carefully through the gate and it closed behind me. Holding my breath, I peered around.

A hall of unparalleled beauty greeted me. Smooth and clean floors stretched across the several stories high room, the walls covered with intricate paintings and tapestries. Stairs led up to the upper floors, from which lanterns hung down, illuminating the hall.

I would’ve spent hours admiring it if I hadn’t been driven by a grander purpose.

Let’s find some rice...

I walked to the center of the hall, hoping to get a better idea of where I was supposed to be heading, or to see if I could find someone.

This place looked marvelous. No way there wasn’t anybody here.

When I stepped into the center, something extraordinary began to happen. The big gate was closed, yet the wind was blowing in here, and it was so strong that the lanterns were wobbling, blowing them out one by one.

It wasn’t completely dark, for it was still daylight outside, but the hall without lighting gave me chills.

Then, in the silence, the deep sound of a gong rang out, echoing around the place. Not far from me, a bright jade-green light shone, taking the shape of a person.

I had barely covered my eyes before the light was dimming and a semi-transparent, jade-green woman stood before me.

She was beautiful and young, about thirty years old. She wore armor with a skirt visible under it, and a helmet with her long hair peeking out.

The guards and knights in Tessal were nothing compared to her. The armor and helmet she was wearing were layered and scaly like those on a beetle.

She drew a long, curved sword and—

NO WAY SHE WANTS TO FIGHT!?

“State your name before me, visitor!”

“M-Mineruva Bathory.”

“I am Akemi Gozen, Guardian of the Seaside Throne. I hold the memory and honor of our late Empress Hikariko. You have entered the gate of my domain, Mineruva, so for whatever purpose you have come, you hereby accept the challenge.”

My mouth was hanging open.

“W-Wait a minute! I only came to get rice! I can’t fight!”

Akemi Gozen took up a fighting stance, holding the long, hair-thin, but no less dangerous sword.

"You don’t have to fight. You can’t win against me anyway. You must defend yourself! Endure my attacks for one minute and you will get what you came for, and even more! But be warned, the closest they got to completing my challenge was ten seconds!”

“Defend...? I can do that, but—”

Akemi Gozen then dashed at me, barely taking two steps across the room, her sword slashing inches away from my face.

◆ ◆ ◆

I’ve never backed away so rapidly.

Akemi followed me. I barely took a step and she swept again and again.

It was a nightmare, seriously! It was the last thing I wanted! I was backing up and running second by second, and she was right on my tail the whole time, cutting in front of me! No wonder she had no competition anywhere!

You might ask, “Why don’t you teleport away? It’s not worth it!”

I don't think you understand, it’s the Food of the Gods at stake!

I had to have it. What would the point of a thousand years of boredom if something exciting happens now and I miss it completely or run away?

Yeah, nothing!

Then it occurred to me, if Akemi attacked, why should I be tied to the floor? I could fly and she surely couldn’t!

I leapt off the ground, expecting to float, but my powers failed me.

Can't I...?

“No cheating within my domain!” Akemi slid in front of me and held the sword to strike as I dodged her, wincing in pain on the floor before getting up. “Don’t dance, girl! Defend yourself!”

There were only a few yards between us, which she overcame with barely any effort, but this time I didn’t run.

Inhaling, calming myself, I activated a magic shield.

A wall of yellowish light formed in front of me, and Akemi immediately crashed into it. She stumbled and then tried to smash it, but failed.

It was barely a second before she was out of my sight. I realized too late that she had stepped sideways so quickly and dodged the barrier that it was practically flight speed.

That’s when I saw the pleasure on her face. Not the desire to kill, nor the violence, she felt nothing like that. Akemi was enjoying fighting, the sense of freedom and the challenge of decoding what I was going to do next.

I fell into this trap when I pulled my shield into her face, moving it to dislodge her.

“Clever, but you're not saving time! Ten seconds!”

Every time I spun myself and the shield around, she moved with it to get behind it, even attempting to go the opposite way to stab me quicker.

“Haiyyaa!!!” I slapped her face with the magic wall, making her back a way for a bit.

"Getting out of ideas, are we?"

I’d had enough, and I was dizzy. I converted the shield from a wall to a small dome, so the wall was enclosed and she had no chance of getting in from the top.

“C-Could you slow down, please?”

“Talking won’t buy you any time!”

Akemi then started hitting the shield from as many sides as possible. She went around and up to the top, striking and stabbing so many times I couldn’t keep up. In an instant, it took so much damage that it slowly began to crack.

“I hate this!”

She continued with a half-smile. If someone was as fast as her, trying to read other's styles and weak points shouldn’t be hard.

If she couldn’t get around, she had to break in as quickly as possible.

The barrier cracked, but that was fine. I waited to see her blade break through my defenses, and from then on she would be able to break through with her whole body.

Insane attack force from a ghost warrior...

That brought me a few seconds of advantage. I had a plan for when she got in.

Akemi kept hitting until she finally succeeded. With one mighty smash, she cut a man-sized gash in the yellow wall, shattering it into glowing shards.

Sword in one hand, she reached toward me with the other to catch me, victory on her face.

“Twenty-five seconds! Game over!”

I ran straight at Akemi, throwing myself backward with the momentum and slid feet-first between Akemi’s legs, out of the shield.

She almost managed to catch me from behind, but I was thankfully a little quicker running away.

Racing to the other end of the room with the warrior at my heels, I knew what I had to do. I would hardly have any time, so I prepared myself mentally.

She’s not going to have an easy time with me. I’ll get what I came for!

I braced my feet and turned back to her, trembling. As I thought, she was on my heels in a fighting stance, eager to skewer me.

That’s when the idea struck me. I made a punching motion with my right hand, and a man-sized yellow wall swept Akemi to the left straight into the castle’s mural-filled wall.

I pressed her against it but she instantly broke free and came straight at me. I then did this with my left hand, squashing her to the right side of the room.

The third time she would dodge me no matter which side I swept her, I was more than sure. She’d roll to the side faster or just jump backwards. I had to think of something else.

I began to feel the excitement that she might’ve been feeling. I had to admit—I might’ve actually enjoyed it if it wasn't so serious.

I even remembered Michio-sama talking about those ‘games’ he played in those light-powered machines. That’s how he thought of this world too.

Playing games must’ve been cool. I wished I could try out what Michio was talking about, but this was that kind of game too.

“Forty seconds!” Akemi jumped on the magic platform above my head, which I was using to protect myself.

Before she could break it though, I launched the yellow panel upward, several stories up, to finally trap the warrior girl.

I smiled up at her from the ground, waiting to see what she would do.

“Whoa, good one! Very clever!” she complimented me.

It felt good…

Now how fun will it be when she jumps off.

And it happened, just as I expected. With her blade in both hands, she made a final lunge at me from above.

With just over ten seconds or so to spare, she would’ve been here in an instant—and would've won with one strike.

What she wouldn’t have expected, however, was that I would put six shields around her at once!

Akemi jumped onto one and would’ve bounced down further, but one after another the six sides slammed shut, leaving her little room to move, trapping her in a cube.

“W-W-What is this?!”

She tried to move, but there wasn’t space for a single sword slash, or even a fist strike!

And even if there was, I was keeping the magic walls sealed with two hands, concentrating on keeping her about ten meters high! She never would’ve come down if I hadn’t let her!

GOOONGG!

The same deep gong tolled, and I felt a great sense of relief washing over me. My arms were shaking, my muscles a bit wobbly, but I couldn’t help smiling.

I won.

“Sixty seconds!” now I was the one to talk. “Hah! Game Over for you!”

I fell to my knees, no matter how dramatic it seemed. I was tired, sweaty and could’ve used a bath. But that wasn’t the important thing, it was that I did it!

As the gong silenced, I weakened the magic cube in my tiredness, its light slowly fading. Looking up, though, I could no longer see Akemi.

That’s because she appeared in front of me at that very second, semi-transparent jade, looking pleased and joyous.

She was so close all of a sudden that I almost jumped up to back away, but Akemi said something that caught me by surprise.

“I yield.”

She lowered herself to half a knee, her head bowed.

“Ugh, y-you what?”

“I yield,” she repeated calmly, there was no harshness in her voice. “To you and only you. You were the first who completed my challenge. You were the first who understood.”

I blinked. “What did I understand exactly?”

She gazed up at me proudly with those ancient eyes.

“That merely defending yourself in a fight wasn’t enough. You pushed back, you blocked, you tried to balance. You weren’t trying to win, you were trying to make peace between you and your attacker, even if there was little chance.”

As she explained, I felt the weight of her words, which perhaps I hadn’t yet fully grasped.

“You made a clear, clever move by sealing me away. You didn’t do it with violence, but with strategy.”

“Uh-huh…”

“That’s an important lesson, one I’m glad I was able to pass on to someone worthy of it. I learned it from my master when she and I were both alive.”

“Your master?”

“The former ruler of Mido, Her Majesty Empress Hikariko, about four hundred years ago. It was during her reign that the country reached its peak of prosperity and enjoyed the longest period of peace.”

Good heavens, she had been dead for a while then. Still, she couldn’t have been more alive now.

“She taught me that fighting or peace aren’t important. What’s important is that peace can be kept not only by not fighting, but by embracing your opponents.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I stood there like a dummy.

“You’ve given me joy, Mineruva. Since my death, you have finally given me an exciting, fun fight.”

“That's why you smiled. You enjoyed chasing me around.”

“Every moment of it,” she nodded. “A game is best when it’s taken seriously, isn’t it?”

Huh. Now that I couldn't argue with. I guess Michio-sama couldn’t either.

Akemi then waved quietly for me to follow. Through a sliding door we came to a short passage, at the end of which was a small ornate cabinet.

She opened it and took out a gleaming object, some kind of jewelry. It was a blue pearl enclosed by gold and jade rings with beautiful craftsmanship.

She unexpectedly handed it to me, and I took it just to look at it more closely.

“This is the Soul Index, wherein dwell the most ancient spirits of Mido, including mine. From now on, it's yours.”

Wait...

“Mine? But it’s a great privilege, isn’t it? I don't think I—”

"You've earned it, fairly! And since you are the bearer, all you have to do is say the word, and the spirits will do what you ask or want."

Something in my head ticked into the right place. As if a lantern had been lit, making my thoughts clear.

I looked at Akemi, flushed.

“What I ask or want? Would that include finding rice?”

Akemi raised her eyebrows kindly.

“Nothing could be simpler.”

OH GODS, YES!