155　A silverous yearning

"Let's see…… How about Urashima and Mamushi? "



　I looked around the dojo and picked out two people.



　Old man Urashima, the head of the Jyurou school, looked grim, while Mamushi, the head of the Tennan school, stepped forward with a flippant "Yay". Good, apparently neither of them will refuse.



"Okay, then both of you, engage at the same time. Just use a wooden sword just in case, so you don't get into any trouble."



　I tell them this while handing them both wooden swords. Immediately after, the air in the dojo seemed strained and tense.



"……Wait. Did you say me and Mamushi at the same time?　Miroku-sama, is that correct? "

"Tch-tch-tch, that is indeed a nonsensical question, Urashima-sensei. Did you not see the battle between the two of them earlier? "

"What?　Hey Mamushi, since when do you talk to me like that?

"Pardon my rudeness. But facts are facts. Without Me and Sensei working together, we wouldn't last a minute."

"Are you mocking me?! "



　The two seemed to have a dog-eat-dog relationship.

　However, while Mamushi seemed to be well aware of reality, Urashima seemed to have no clue. This will probably only last a few seconds.



"Akaneko, Masamune, Azami. Get ready. You'll be next in less than a minute."

"What are you saying...... no way, three against one? "

"I'm not very confident."

"Ehh, m-me too?　EHH……!? "



　Two against one, then three against one. As a demonstration, this could not be better.



　I hope this will make them feel a little more inclined to get off the island.

　Well, let's see what happens.



"Bow to each other."



　I ordered Urashima and Mamushi to confront Miroku and issued a command.



　After a bow, the two men took a small distance, sat back, and took a stance. Miroku, on the other hand, remained upright with his back straight and eyes closed in meditation.



"――Start."



　Now, let the games begin.







　　＊　＊　＊







　A strange scene was unfolding in the dojo.



　Facing Miroku, the 20th head of the Miroku School, also known as a living god and feared by many, were the heads of the Jyurou and Tennan Schools.



　A headmaster was the pinnacle of their venerable school and one of the seven samurai who represented the Land of the Eight Swords.



　It was unprecedented ...... for a head of a school to be challenged by two people.



　No matter where one looked in the past leading up to this day, there had never been two headmasters fighting together. In the long history of the island, there had been numerous attacks by outsiders and monsters, but all it took was one of the headmasters of either of the schools to be enough to deal with it all.





"Begin."



　The command to begin the match was given by Second.







　――――The next moment.



　One of them collapsed. As for the other one, the wooden sword disappeared from his hand――





　After a second, khonk...... the wooden sword fell on the tatami mats.







"…………"



　A drop of cold sweat trickled down Urashima's cheek as he stiffened, still frozen in his wooden sword-swinging pose.





"Enough."



　……Four seconds.



　That was the time it took to settle.





"T-Than-ks……"



　Mamushi got up, clutching his stomach, and thanked him.



　Following him, Urashima, his eyes still unfocused, stumbled out of the dojo with his back hunched over.





"……Did you see that?"

"I wasn't able to follow it at all."

"Neither did I……"



　The samurai who were watching the game began to talk about their impressions.





　Here, for the first time, they realized the "difference" between them and us.



　The headmasters, to whom they couldn't even stand up to, were helplessly defeated by Miroku even while two of them were confronting him; and yet, that same Miroku stood no chance against Second.





　It was a very easy picture to understand.

　There was a different dimension of strength.



　And it made one have this thought.

　Rather, everyone has this thought.



　If I traveled to the continent and trained myself, I wonder if I could be like them……





"Next up are Akaneko, Masamune, and Azami. Good luck!"



　On top of that.

　Second makes a follow-up.



　Akaneko, a top-notch Sword-drawing master who has been confirmed as the next head of the Tobatsu-style, Masamune, a genius who became the head of the Benzai-style at the age of only 16, and Azami, the head of the Kisshou-style, who is the hardest worker on the island.



　He wanted to have these three people deal with him at the same time.



　In reality, these three women were better samurai than Urashima and Mamushi. Urashima, who had begun to decline, unable to beat old age, and Mamushi, who pursued only the unexpected. In comparison, the three were young, honest, resourceful, and eager to learn. Although they had already perfected themselves as Samurai, they were about to show even greater growth.



　Three such samurai attack Miroku at the same time.



　Usually, there would be no way he could win. Up until now, the samurai would have thought so.

　But now…… it's the exact opposite Even with three of them, there is no way they could win. They began to think this way.



　That's right. Second's aim had been quietly successful.



　In this short time, the samurai had naturally gained a broader perspective. They were able to think higher than the top.





"――Start."



　The command ruthlessly echoed.



"Hoo."



　Miroku's eyebrows twitched.

　He sensed the spirit of the three of them.



"I will not be humiliated in front of my Lord."



　And for the first time―― Miroku took a stance.





　……After that, it was quick.



　The collapse was Masamune and Azami. The awkwardness between the two led them to separate, creating a two-on-one and one-on-one composition as soon as it happened.



　The next blow knocked Azami down, ricocheting against Akaneko, fending off Masamune, knocking Akaneko down, forcing Masamune in, and then knocking her down.





　The three could not take advantage of their superior numbers and fell to the tatami mats.





"Enough."



　Twenty seconds.

　Second evaluated this as "the one who has it".



　He knew it. That Miroku was aware of the Tobatsu-style and Kisshou-style principles. Because Miroku must have absorbed their ancestors. Therefore, the moves of the other two were obvious to him, except for Masamune.



　There was only one way for these women to win. Strategies should have focused around Masamune, whose hand had not been revealed, to take advantage of the number of players to the maximum extent possible.

　Instead of starting with a fight, carefully and safely detecting that Tobatsu-style and Kisshou-style will not work, observe Miroku's reaction to Benzai-style, and use whatever decoys were available to bring out Masamune at the right moment to make her and Miroku cross swords. If this had not been done, there was no chance of victory.





"You're naive."



　When the match was over, Second said.



　It was not against Akaneko and the other two. It was towards Miroku.



"I just couldn't resist the temptation. Forgive me."



　Miroku seemed to know what he was talking about and quietly bowed his head.





"S-Second-kun. What are you talking about? "



　What was naive? Masamune, wondering, staggered to her feet and opened her mouth.



"No, he was a little serious, wasn't he?　He was probing the rough edges of Benzai's style while pinpointing the weak points of Tobatsu-style and Kisshou's style. You shouldn't say that."

"Are you asking him to go easy on us!? "



　Akaneko said angrily.



　Second continued to speak. "Wait, wait, wait," he said, restraining her with his hand.





"Idiot, it's the other way around. The way he was fighting, it was as if he was saying, "I haven't figured out the secrets of the Benzai style yet". That would give you guys a chance to win. That's where he's lenient. If he's going to be a little serious, he should be really serious. Don't give the opponent a chance to win. It was good to get around to contain the numbers advantage, but it was not good enough in execution."



"It is as the Lord has said. I have put in a half-hearted effort. It would be disrespectful to everyone else. I apologize for that."





　Miroku bowed down to the three of them. The girls, however, still did not fully understand what the hell Second and Miroku were talking about.



　It was the same for the samurai in the dojo. Everyone's eyes darted around.





"You mean…… that there was a hole in Miroku-sama's current swordsmanship that even he admits to……? "



　Someone somewhere muttered.



　And everyone had this thought in their mind.



　In this place, only Second could have seen through it……



　No one thought it was a lie. In fact, if Second had fought instead of the three, he would have instantly seen through that and treated Miroku like a rag, grumbling that he was "naive" as well.



　Miroku, who defeated three samurai representing the Land of the Eight Swords in a mere twenty seconds, was given a failing grade. The samurai in the dojo were suddenly struck by a wave of dizziness at the thought of how extraordinary this was.





　But no matter how confusing it got, in the end, it still reached the same point.



　I want to be like that.

　I wondered if the world was so big.



　Everyone was clearly impressed, even moved. They were struck by a strength that was far above their heads.





Second's pet theory, that "everything in the online game starts with yearning," was about to be proven.



　After all, samurai are samurai. A group of people who are deeply in love with Sword-drawing and devote their lives to training for a higher level of skill. That was the nature of the Land of the Eight Swords and the nature of the human beings known as Samurai.



　That is why it was worth inviting them.

　Come quickly to the continent. He smiled and enticed them.





"This concludes the demonstration. Anyone who wants to cross over to the continent, come and talk to me later. I'll be in the abandoned house of the Hiruko school."



　The Second said only that, and after "Unsummoning" Miroku, he left the dojo.





　The starry night sky greeted him after a day's work.



　And the rain had long since stopped.







　　＊　＊　＊







"So, this is the house of that 'murican.……" 



　Returning to the abandoned house of the Hiruko School, he once again looks around at its exterior.

　It is somewhat emotional to think that Okan-san once lived here.



　It was so blatantly Japanese that I never felt strange about it when I first saw it, but now I feel tremendously uncomfortable.



　Or should I say, Japanese-style architecture as conceived by foreigners who misunderstand Japanese culture? It somehow looks like a ninja house.



"Maybe there's some kind of gimmick."



　After laughing, I walked in through the front door.



"…………"



　Nah, that can’t be.

　But, just in case……



"………………"



　The more I think about it, the more sense it makes.



　Akaneko said this. "It's a vacant house that no one uses or even goes near."



　I can understand why. Okan-san, who drifted to this island and founded the Hiruko school. I am sure he would have been hailed as a great genius. It was smooth sailing, and everyone must have had high hopes for his future. Then one day, someone suddenly took his life. And then 【Absorbed】.



　I know what happens to a subject that is 【Absorbed】. A shell. The effect was that the contents were sucked out of the body, and they became like mummies. It was reason enough for the island's samurai to feel him "cursed" when they saw his changed appearance, either at the wake or at his funeral.



　As a result, no one ever came near the Hiruko residence……



"……………………"



　Perhaps.



　I searched everywhere in the abandoned house.



　I turned over the tatami mats, peeked around in the attic, knocked on the walls, and went around……





"Ah."



　And then I discovered it.





　At first glance, it is just a plain wall.



　However, it was a sliding door, and once lifted and slid to the side with great effort, a staircase leading to the basement was revealed.



"Seriously, a ninja house……?"



　The most meta of the metas. I descend the stairs with some trepidation.



　At the end of the tunnel, there existed a small room that could only be entered by bending down.



　I nervously opened the door of the small room.





"Wow."



　What appeared was a shiny silver tearoom.



　I wonder if it's actually called something like 『White Silver Tea Room』.



　It must have been several hundred years old, but its brilliance was nothing short of magnificent. The light from the Cantera in my hand reflected off it, making it dazzling.



"Huh……? "



　As I was looking around the tearoom, I suddenly noticed a hanging scroll.



　An Ukiyo-e style portrait. I couldn't help but recognize the man depicted there.



　Shoulder-length silver hair, a sleek nose, sharp, slanted eyes, and long eyelashes. This is……





"……Me?"



　Not Second. But Seven.



　A White Silver tearoom, a hanging scroll of myself. In other words, this is a tearoom of mine that was prepared especially for me.





　……That son of a bitch, he'll do something like this. Did you have to go this far?　Be normal.



This is not something on the level of "I was your fan". Isn't that something a crazy fan would do?! (←Actually happy.)





"……I'm gonna take this……"



　It is very well drawn. The white silver tearoom even seemed to play a supporting role in enhancing this picture. It truly embodied his longing for the past. Just looking at it reminded me of that. That passionate, intense, and glorious time……



　I removed the hanging scroll from the wall, carefully rolled it up, and put it away in my inventory.





"Ehh."



　Behind the hanging scroll.



　There was a slightly recessed area where one lever was attached, although this was another goofy contraption.





　Okie dookie. When you get to this point, you have no choice but to pull it.



　I pulled down the lever with a single thought.



　There was a clank―― and then the sound of something opening.



　The mechanism seems to have held up well after a few hundred years.



"This way."



　I turned my gaze in the direction of the sound.



　There was a furnace there.



　I see, it's under here.

　I removed the furnace. Then, sure enough, a space continued under it.



　Sliding into a gap that just barely allowed one person to pass, I slid down the slope.





　After descending for a while, I came to a reasonably large cavity.



　Lanterns and a torii gate. A staircase, a small building, and a sliding double door.



　Apparently, this was a shrine.





"…………"



　Behind the door, on a rock pedestal.




　A single katana rested there.





　I took it in my hand with trepidation.



　The durability of the equipment had been reduced to the limit. It was one step away from breaking down. This would require significant repairs to use. However……





"Amazing. I've never seen this katana before."



　In my long, long Mobius career, I have never seen this equipment. Even battered as it was, the katana was so beautiful that one could not help but be taken aback.



　Yes, perhaps.



"……An original?"



　An "original weapon" manufactured by Okan-san.



　An object created by reaching 9th Grade in all 【Blacksmith】 skills and with only a small percent chance of being manufactured by pouring in tremendous experience, materials, and time; the dream of any high-level player.



　Why is such a thing in this place?





　I put it in my inventory for the moment and then looked at the information on the katana.



　The name of the katana was Seventh Reikan.



　And in the item's description――







『Dear SEVEN, I hope we can fight together again. From 0k4NN.』







　…………



　Suddenly, my eyes felt a bit warm.



　I put Seventh Reikan into my inventory with great care and stood there for a while.





　I remembered his last words.



　It is not how much you regret, but how proud you are of yourself when you die.



　For me, it's much more in the future, that's what he said.



　Idiot. I can't help but feel that way every day now that I received such a gift, can I?





"……We will fight together again."





　As if to make up for lost days.

　Like reliving our youth.



　Now, indeed, the hot, dazzling, vivid, and splendid scene of those glorious days has come back to this chest.



　Hopefully, once more in this world.



　Let's go out into the world and fight together again――!




======


Thank you for reading.

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Cheat sheet

Stats details

＜Status Details＞

• HP　Hit Points
• MP　Magic Points
• SP　Stamina Points
• STR　Short range attack skill power, strength, physical power.
• DEX　Long range attack skill power, dexterity, hit rate.
• AGI　Quickness, avoidance rate.
• INT　Attack Magic skill power.
• LUK　Good luck, critical rate.
• VIT　Simple defense.
• MGR　Magic defense.

Types of combat skills

Named after shogi pieces (The word in bold is the one being used in this translation). From easier to acquire to harder.

1. Pawn/Soldier (Fuhyou)
2. Lance(Kyousha)
3. Knight (Keima)
4. Silver General (Ginshou)
5. Gold General (Kinshou)
6. Bishop (Kakugyou)
7. Rook (Hisha)
8. Promoted Bishop/Dragon Horse(Ryuuma)
9. Promoted Rook/Dragon King (Ryuuou).

List of Swordsmanship skills

Swordsmanship

1. 《Soldier Swordsmanship》　                  Normal attack.
2. 《Lance Swordsmanship》　                    Piercing attack.
3. 《Knight Swordsmanship》　                   Precision attack.
4. 《Silver Swordsmanship》　                     Strong single-target attack.
5. 《Gold Swordsmanship》                           Small-range attack to all directions.
6. 《Bishop Swordsmanship》                      Quick and powerful piercing attack
7. 《Rook Swordsmanship》　                      Rush piercing attack
8. 《Dragon Horse Swordsmanship》　  Powerful ranged attack in all directions
9. 《Dragon King Swordsmanship》　       Most powerful range attack, takes time to prepare

List of Shieldmanship skills

Shieldmanship

1. 《Soldier Shieldmanship》　                  Normal defense.
2. 《Lance Shieldmanship》　                    Piercing deflection.
3. 《Knight Shieldmanship》　                   Defense + knockback.
4. 《Silver Shieldmanship》　                     Defense +chance to parry
5. 《Gold Shieldmanship》                           Ranged guided defense + knockback.
6. 《Bishop Shieldmanship》                       Reinforced defense (Temporarily boosts VIT and MGR)
7. 《Rook Shieldmanship》　                      Rush attack
8. 《Dragon Horse Shieldmanship》　    ???
9. 《Dragon King Shieldmanship》　       Powerful shield attack, takes time to prepare

List of Archery skills

Archery

1. 《Soldier Archery》　                  Normal range attack.
2. 《Lance Archery》　                    Piercing range attack.
3. 《Knight Archery》　                   Precise sniping range attack.
4. 《Silver Archery》　                     Strong single-target range attack.
5. 《Gold Archery》                           Weaker range attack with added knockback.
6. 《Bishop Archery》                       Strong piercing range attack.
7. 《Rook Archery》　                      Very strong single-target range attack with scaling % damage.
8. 《Dragon Horse Archery》　    Powerful Area of Effect piercing range attack.
9. 《Dragon King Archery》　       Powerful on-impact range attack, takes time to prepare

Types of Magic skills

They use the “Form” or “step” system of martial arts. From lower to higher.

1. First Form　      　      Regular attack
2. Second Form　      　 Extended range attack
3. Third Form　      　    Strong single target attack
4. Fourth Form　      　  Strong extended range attack
5. Fifth Form　      　      Extremely powerful extended range attack

• Their cast time becomes longer in this order First→Third→Second→Fourth→Fifth.

Ranking of the skills

From lower to higher, then it changes to the “Dan” system of martial arts, which means Grade.

1. 16th class
2. 15th class
3. 14th class
4. 13th class
5. 12h class
6. 11th class
7. 10th class
8. 9th class
9. 8th class
10. 7th class
11. 6th class
12. 5th class
13. 4th class
14. 3rd class
15. 2nd class
16. 1st class
17. Grade 1
18. Grade 2
19. Grade 3
20. Grade 4
21. Grade 5
22. Grade 6
23. Grade 7
24. Grade 8
25. Grade 9
26. Title

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 ToC    

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