"Sanda, let me ask you, do you know the way to Higi Village?"
In the woods, Ember lit a bonfire. Across from him were several people devouring their food.
Hunting a few wild boars was no challenge for Ember and Morgott. And as for grilling, anyone could do it.
So, there were no incidents of food poisoning here—Ember's cooking skills weren't so bad that he could grill a monster into existence.
Of course, that was assuming the meat being grilled was proper meat, not some strange kind he'd acquired himself.
"Hi… Higi Village?" Sanda thought for a moment, then turned to ask the people behind him, "Does anyone here know Higi Village?"
"No idea."
The people behind him all shook their heads.
"I'm sorry, Lord Ember. We all fled here from other places and don't know where Higi Village is."
Sanda shook his head, then wiped the grease from his mouth and tentatively asked Ember, "Lord Ember, would you like to come with us to Nazuchi Beach to have a look? Lord Gui Long is there."
"He has many trade routes at his disposal, so he's sure to know where Higi Village is."
"And even if you don't want to see Lord Gui Long, there are many people there, so you're bound to find someone who knows the way."
Afraid Ember would be suspicious, Sanda added a few more sentences.
Ember stroked his chin, thinking it was a good suggestion, so he nodded in agreement.
"Alright, in that case, let's not delay. Everyone, pack up your things and let's go!" Seeing this, Sanda quickly shoved the meat in his hands into his mouth, patted the dirt off himself, and stood up.
Everyone busied themselves; some picked up swords and spears from the ground, others tidied scattered armor plates.
More still carefully wrapped up the unfinished wild boar meat on the ground, even discarding newly picked-up items because there wasn't enough space.
"Hiss~"
White mist rose, and under the astonished gazes of the group, the wild boar meat, which would normally require several people to carry, quickly shriveled and shrank, eventually turning into dried meat that one person could pack and carry.
"Just a small trick, nothing to worry about." Ember said, extinguishing the flame in his hand and blowing a puff of air.
"L-Lord, are you a Vision wielder?" Seeing the scene before them, everyone's tone became involuntarily more respectful.
"No." Ember shook his head. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but why did he always feel that the people of Inazuma had a somewhat strong sense of hierarchy?
It was almost like being back home.
After all, The Lands Between used to be like that. Those with smaller physiques were born as slaves and servants, never able to rise in life, with a rigid and deadly hierarchy.
This was an unsolved mystery that Ember couldn't wrap his head around: why did those with smaller physiques necessarily have to become slaves and servants?
If it were truly according to the old rules of The Lands Between, given Ember's physique, he would at least be a small dung-collecting slave.
So Ember made all the large-bodied people in The Lands Between fly high.
Slave driver, fat man's suit, small sickle, I am Ember (Soul Five), remember me!
"Is… is that so?" Sanda didn't ask any more questions after hearing this. Because shrine maidens and Onmyoji placed great importance on inheritance, asking further would likely be taboo.
What he didn't know was that Ember was neither of those identities.
After passing through the woods and returning to the beach, and then walking forward along the beach, the beach area grew larger and larger, and the view became increasingly open.
However, the atmosphere became even more solemn.
Nazuchi Beach, it is said that its name means "Land of Divine Caress." But the scene before them truly couldn't be called a good place.
Broken flags were casually stuck in the white sand, and shattered warships lay on the beach like beached leviathans, unmoving.
Specks of crimson swayed occasionally with the breeze, appearing extremely conspicuous. Those small flowers seemed to have been nourished by the blood spilled upon this land.
"This place seems to have seen a lot of tragedy." Ember remarked, looking at the mess on the ground.
The traces left here were far more numerous than in any previous place.
"Indeed, after all, this is the main battle line. The resistance and the Shogunate Army have fought many times here, pulling back and forth, neither able to overcome the other."
Sanda's voice unconsciously lowered when he saw the scene before him, as if afraid of disturbing any potential ghosts that might exist here.
"If that's the case, is that fellow named 'Gui Long' you mentioned still staying here? Isn't he afraid of being dealt with?" Ember listened, on one hand marveling at the audacity of the fellow named Gui Long, and on the other, feeling a bit puzzled.
A pirate, truly not afraid of the Shogunate Army and the resistance finding time to eliminate him?
"Hehe, to be honest, Lord Gui Long has a few good Waveriders, and he can run really fast!"
"Moreover, Lord Gui Long is a famous great pirate in the vicinity; it would take a lot of effort to take him down. What's more, Lord Gui Long only cleans up battlefields and doesn't get involved in the war between the two sides."
Sanda introduced him with some pride. It was said that Gui Long was just an ordinary person before the war, and only grew strong due to the chaos of war, which made Sanda, who also suffered from the turmoil of war, feel a sense of shared honor.
Even ordinary people are not objects that the resistance and the Shogunate Army can dispose of at will!
Of course, this had nothing to do with Sanda; he was still worried about where to scavenge a few days ago.
"Oh, I see. A junk recycling plant boss." Ember nodded as if suddenly enlightened. To develop to this scale, it must not have been easy.
"Ha… haha." Sanda heard Ember's words and didn't know whether to respond or not, so he just let out a few dry laughs.
As they traversed Nazuchi Beach, everyone occasionally caught glimpses of watchtowers, faintly visible in the mist.
The wooden high towers, either fluttering purple flags or painted with red lacquer, resembled the teeth of man-eating beasts, inspiring dread.
Fortunately, Nazuchi Beach was large enough, and everyone only passed by the edges from a distance, so neither side came out to bother them.
Winding along the coastline, Ember noticed they were getting further and further from the center of Nazuchi Beach.
Finally, on a beach at the edge of Nazuchi Beach, a pile of shipwreck remains appeared.
Among the decaying ship wood, the faint shadows of several Waveriders could still be seen. If one didn't observe carefully, they might truly believe it was just a pile of unmanned wreckage.
"Sanda… who are these two behind you?" Before they could get close, an arrow shot out from a pile of wreckage.
However, the arrow was very crude, likely a warning arrow that had been reused many times, so its fletching was almost bald.
"Buzz!" The arrow landed diagonally in front of the group, its sparse fletching still trembling, as if it could fall off at any moment.
Then, a warrior dressed as a ronin emerged from the wreckage.
On the light crossbow in his hand, there was a gleaming sharp arrow, the crossbow head slightly lowered, revealing the sheen of the arrowhead without a doubt.
Anyone with a bit of common sense would know that if this arrow were fired, it could absolutely pierce a person through.
"Brother Xiaosong, these two are rare kind people. They want to ask Lord Gui Long some things."
Sanda, seeing the newcomer, responded with a fawning smile. As he spoke, he opened the package on his back, revealing the sharp swords within.
"Thanks to these two, we brothers found some good things today."
"Brother Xiaosong, take a look, if anything catches your eye, feel free to take it!"
"Oh?" Komatsu Ryukichi narrowed his eyes, sizing up Ember and Morgott.
"I can understand this one." Komatsu Ryukichi pointed at Ember. In chaotic times, there were too many people hiding their identities.
As long as his body could handle it, dressing himself up as an iron can was not impossible, but the one next to him was hard to ignore.
"What's going on with this guy?"
Komatsu Ryukichi turned his finger towards Morgott; he didn't even look human anymore.
"Him?" Ember looked up at the composed Morgott, then explained seriously, "Ever heard of monsters? He is one!"
"???"
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