Three days had passed.
A few hiccups, but the Takeda territory had more or less settled down, and a new lord had been chosen. Apparently Lord Kōsaka — the one of the Takeda Four who’d asked us to rescue the others — had been hiding Shingen’s son from Kansuke this whole time.
Kansuke had known about the son, but since he was puppeting the actual lord, he probably didn’t bother taking the matter seriously.
The incident was undeniably Kansuke’s doing — but I had to wonder whether the Kansuke we’d fought was acting under his own will. His mind hijacked by that artifact, yet unconsciously sparing his late master’s heir… Maybe that was reading too much into it.
In any case, the son — Takeda Katsuyori — was installed as lord, with the Four supporting him.
I did pass along the warning: Don’t pick a fight with the Oda. Worlds-syncing thing might be groundless paranoia, but I’d really rather not hear about the Takeda being wiped out in a few years.
Anyway — with the Tokugawa-Takeda matter settled for now, we headed for our original destination, the Nilya Ruins.
The Nilya Ruins sit at the southernmost edge of Shimazu territory — the southernmost point in Eashen, basically. Lucky for us, old man Baba had passed through the area in his youth, and he let me pull his memory. Honestly, holding hands and pressing foreheads with a hard-faced old man — what kind of penalty-round is this.
“Father, Mother, Brother, Ayane — I shall be off.”
“Mm, take care.”
“Touya-san — please look after our daughter.”
In the parting at the Yae house in Oedo, before departing for the ruins, Nanae-san bowed deeply to me. I had no idea how to answer; I just bowed back the same way. Beside her, Jūtarō-san and Ayane-san watched us with smiles.
“I’ll come by again, with more time. When I do, we’ll have you over to our place in Belfast.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
I shook Jūtarō-san’s hand and opened the [Gate] to the ruins.
Waving goodbye to Yae’s family, we stepped through — and came out on a sandy beach.
A sea that stretched as far as you could look, with brilliant white sand. In the distance, only rocky outcrops and a small forest. Nothing else.
Checked the map: a small, completely isolated island. Well — “isolated” but you could swim 200 meters and hit land, so.
Emerald-green ocean glittering in the sun, sparkling all over. Beach sand is white because it’s mixed with finely crushed coral and shells, if I remember right.
“Wow, beautiful——!”
Yumina walked across the white sand, eyes riveted on the ocean. At her feet, Kōhaku was struggling with the footing — meanwhile, the stuffed bear racing past her at full bounce. Seriously, what is in Paula’s [Program]?
Paula’s mistress was, having pulled it from who-knows-where, strolling the sand under a black parasol with marked elegance.
“Been a while since I’ve seen the sea~”
“Has, hasn’t it, Onee-chan.”
The twin sisters walked the sand together, sea breeze in their hair.
Yae started to follow, then paused mid-step to take off her zōri and tabi, going barefoot. Sand getting in must’ve been annoying.
“Hot! Hot! H-h-hot——!”
Yeah, it’s hot. Look at this sunlight. Still well before noon, and yet a blazing sun hanging in a cloudless sky. The white sand would be a baking hell.
In a sort of bizarre dance — lifting one foot at a time to escape the heat — Yae ran straight for the water.
A perfect southern-resort scene, but as to where this ruin was, no clue.
Juubei-san said “beneath the sea,” didn’t he. Don’t tell me — actual undersea ruins?
I tried searching ruins on the map. Hit. …Are you kidding me. Actually under the sea.
About 100 meters offshore — and naturally nothing to see from here. Have to dive to look at it?
“Leen — got any spell for moving underwater?”
“Walking on water, yes. Heard of a null-spell that lets you breathe in water, but I never bothered learning it.”
That’s the most important part, isn’t it…
For now — maybe dive in and confirm the ruins? I’d change into swim trunks if I had any, but no such thing in this world… Just my boxers feels a bit too embarrassing to commit to.
I walked down to the waterline. Elze, Linze, Yae, Yumina — all four were barefoot now, playing with the surf. They were splashing and laughing.
“Nice and cool — feels great. If we had swimsuits, we could actually swim, though.”
”…Wait. They exist? Swimsuits?”
I almost froze at Elze’s offhand comment. I’d been assuming they didn’t exist in this world.
”…? Sold in shops, I think. They’ve, started selling lots, of styles, in some, regions, I heard.”
Linze answered my question. Right… they’re a perfectly normal thing here, then.
“Well — we’re at the beach, so we may as well do this properly.”
When it comes to clothing, there’s only one place. We jumped to Zanac-san’s shop in Reflet.
Our reunion was brief — when I floated the idea, it turned out that with the hot season starting, swimsuit demand was rising and he’d just gotten in a large shipment. What perfect timing.
I asked: swimsuit demand inland with no sea? — and apparently people used them at rivers, or for the lakes that were half a day’s travel out. The rich also had pools.
The women’s swimsuit selection was clearly going to take a while, so I told them I’d be back to pick them up and went home for a bit. Going to enjoy the beach together — leaving anyone out would be a shame.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“The sea, you say?”
“Waah, lovely”
“Cécile-nee-chan, what’s the sea?”
The three reactions from my maids landed three different ways. No one objected to coming, anyway, so I [Gate]‘d Lapis-san, Cécile-san, and Renee straight into Zanac-san’s shop.
Then dragged Claire-san out of the kitchen and Frio-san out of the garden, same treatment.
Tom-san and Hack-san couldn’t be pulled — can’t leave the gate unstaffed. I’ll make it up to them another time.
Lime-san said he wouldn’t swim, so I took him with me and jumped to the Ortlinde residence next. If they find out later they weren’t invited, the Duke will sulk.
“The sea of Eashen! Yes! Let’s go!”
“Father! I was invited, was I not!”
Seriously — is this country always at leisure? Why is the Duke himself the most fired up about going? Beside his bouncing form, his wife Ellen-san was smiling gently.
I was about to [Gate] the three of them and the Ortlinde steward Laim-san to Zanac-san’s shop when the Duke dropped a bomb.
“Let’s invite my brother and his wife too.”
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Ohh — the sea of Eashen! Al is thoughtful sometimes.”
“Sea air, it’s been a while. I’d love some.”
“Aren’t you busy with state affairs?”
I asked the king and Queen Yuelle, just to check.
“My afternoon schedule cleared today. I’d been thinking of summoning Al for a game of shogi. So no problem.”
Good timing or bad timing. Their usual attire would stand out way too much, so I had them change into plainer clothes. Show up at Zanac-san’s in royal regalia and the man would faint.
Meanwhile I went to General Leon’s place, planning to assign a guard for the king — only for the General himself to declare he was coming. Wait, really?
“How can I not accompany His Majesty’s vacation! And I’ll enjoy myself too while I’m at it!”
He grinned and slapped me on the back hard. Ow — that hurts!
By the way, I’d also invited Charlotte-san, but the moment she found out Leen was coming, she refused. Is she really that scared of her…
I gathered the king and queen — now in plain clothes (still very expensive-looking) — and [Gate]‘d back to Zanac-san’s. Whoa, that’s a lot of people.
Eh? Why are Mika-san from Silver Moon and Aer-san from Parento here too?
“Long time no see~. How’ve you been?”
“Elze-chan invited me. Said to come along to the beach.”
Elze invited them, huh. Whatever, fine. I had everyone who’d bought a swimsuit jump to the beach. I just fixed the [Gate] open — it was simpler.
On the sand, I pulled iron and tarp from [Storage] and used [Modeling] to build simple iron-pipe-frame changing tents. Big one for the ladies, small one for the men. Elze and the others immediately ducked in to change, shooing me out. Stop treating me like a dog.
I added some parasols and beach chairs for lounging, plus a big sun-shade. Heatstroke would ruin the day fast. Made a few beach balls and swim rings out of rubber while I was at it.
People who’d finished buying swimsuits streamed onto the beach one after another. Look at this turnout, though…
Right — me, Elze, Linze, Yae, Yumina, Leen, Lapis-san, Cécile-san, Renee, Claire-san, Frio-san, Lime-san, the Duke, Ellen-san, Sue, Laim-san, the King, Queen Yuelle, General Leon, and add Mika-san and Aer-san. (Plus two other animals.) …That’s twenty-one people. Nearly a third of them royalty. Only a third are men, too.
Right, with everyone bought-in and crossed over, I went to close the [Gate] — wait, I didn’t buy mine.
I grabbed an appropriately-sized one-size trunks-style swimsuit. Black. This isn’t nylon or polyester, is it? Looks similar… Good stretch, looks water-resistant. I asked Zanac-san — the material was thread spun from the cocoons of a water-dwelling insect called Aqua Butterfly, apparently. Also used in high-end umbrellas.
I thanked Zanac-san, reconnected the [Gate] to the Belfast living room and locked it open. Toilets, you know. And food… yeah, barbecue maybe. I’ll prep a steel griddle and charcoal later. There was plenty of meat and vegetables in the pantry. Drinks too — make ice bowls with magic, chill some fruit juice.
Wait — am I the only one doing any work here? Not paranoia — yeah, I’m the only one working.
Damn it — I’m enjoying this too!
Wait — what was the original goal of this trip again?