The most reliable of the Masters, also the most leisurely!
Only that kid!
"Kinkyū Shōkan"
An emergency summoning technique that can only be used by Masters with advanced techniques. This jutsu can summon all those of a lower level than himself to the front, no matter how far away that person is. Except for some people possessing the ability to resist Kinkyū Shōkan. Of course, Grand Master Fifth never disappoints with his [Force] summoning. Summoning the Masters was for him as easy as eating rice paper, but summoning his beloved apprentice was another matter, so forcing him to use [Force].
"Miss?"
This half hateful voice Rino will not forget for the rest of her life. Right behind her, he appeared when [Forced] summoned. He has messy black hair and an annoyed expression, but then gradually relaxes and softens. Today she had the opportunity to look closely, the day before she was busy fighting, so she couldn't see very well.
"Chipmunk?"
As soon as Rino finished speaking, he hit [Cop] on the forehead. She rubbed her forehead, glaring at the obnoxious guy as if she wanted to jump in and give him a faraway shot. His blue eyes clearly showed reproach: "My name is not chipmunk"
He knew well that this girl was incapable of remembering other people's names for long. Because he knew everything about her, somehow all the information about her was running into his brain and fading away. There is no other way but to get used to it from the beginning.
"Ah...and what's your name?" She laughs off. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the habit of remembering other people's names, remembering to do something heavy. The only thing she remembers about him is that he runs fast, so it's called chipmunk.
"Akazaka Minato. Remember this time carefully"
"Well, Akazaka Minato"
Rino wasn't too friendly with this faster squirrel, but he wasn't a bad guy either. She turned to look at the old man Mikami who had been silent since Minato's appearance until now to find an answer.
"For the tour guide. Have a nice tour, bye!" Then old Mikami disappeared like a vapor. Old people have superfluous thoughts, what do you need a tour guide these days?
The walk begins. The friendly tour guide Akazaka Minato told Rino a lot about this place. Reality is governed by the President. Called President, but they are just ordinary people, just rich and rich, so their power is so high. Although his position is higher than the Grand Master, but the President must rely on the protection of the Masters, so he does not dare to rely on the power to be rude. The Grand Master is only below the level of President, managing all work related to security and order in Reality on behalf of the President. Below the Grand Master are the Masters. Below the Master are Assassin and Rider. Below Assassin and Rider is Guard. And the lowest level is Beginner.
Each position has dangerous level quests ranging from SS rank to F rank to do. Just as Beginner is assigned D and F missions, Guard takes C to D rank missions. A to C missions are for Assassins. Masters can take quests up to SS rank and Riders can only take S missions and below.
In a year, the SS rank quests can only be counted on the fingers, each time the whole Master team competes to receive. Because the bonus amount is very large, so big that it is possible to buy both hills, no joke. The current Minato is also a Master, so it is no exception. He often carries dangerous missions to himself, risking his life to complete the mission despite everything.
Fighting for what, I don't know. He simply wanted to fight quickly to win quickly to complete the task, but he was not interested in money very much. Having just returned from a dangerous SS-rank mission, was resting after almost losing his life when he was suddenly summoned by Godaime, whose face was contorted with fear.
"But you always carry a sword, don't you?"
Right now, there is no sword in Rino's hand, but when it comes time to use it, it will appear as always.
"I don't carry swords. I have a lot of swords like Kusanagi, Masamune, Muramasa, Yaeko, Morgan...I have collected a lot everywhere in Utherworld. But there are so many that it's not convenient to carry, there is a way. another to bring all of them"
"What way?"
"Gate of Sword, that's the dimension of the swords that I make. Just thinking about which sword they will appear in an instant"
Rino immediately made to prove his statement. Her hand has Ifi-nano particles that quickly coalesce into the shape of a sword. It keeps appearing and then disappearing.
"How many swords do you have?"
"A lot, like the amount of sand in the desert"
With that comparison, Minato could guess that the number of swords was almost limitless. Too many she'll probably never use them all, only swords that are really useful.
Then they didn't say anything more because the topic was over because there was nothing left to say. Only the sound of light footsteps on the concrete floor remained. Soon it will be covered with white snow. The cold wind blows, signaling the coming of winter.
So the two, after having traveled a relatively short distance from the forbidden mountain of Nebbia, they officially entered the town of Watanabe. This world called Reality is divided into five towns, it's actually as big as a country. Currently, Grand Master Fifth's headquarters is located in the town of Watanabe, which can be considered as the center area of Reality. The President's capital is located in the south, in the town of Sashihara. Of course, no matter which town there is a large force from Master to Beginner to protect that town. The bustling noise emanating from the person of Reality who was actively trading.
Say what? Something is fine!
Minato didn't expect to continue walking nervously with the unfriendly girl beside him. Today was supposed to be his day off, he would be able to lie down and sleep all day, no, until he wanted to wake up. Who would have thought that as he was leaning back in his chair, a summoning circle appeared at his feet. Yes, before I could use summoning resistance, when I opened my eyes, I saw the blonde girl almost taking her life and the teacher abusing his power to order his students.
"What does it write?"
Rino pointed at the large orange [大島書店] sign of a large store at the top of Watanabe town. Minato frowned in confusion as he followed the direction her finger was pointing.
Hmm? She can't read words?
No, if that was true it would be the funniest thing in the world. The people of the mighty and noble House Hepburn could not be illiterate or illiterate. Well, even if you are very ignorant, you still have to know a little bit of words in the beginning, what if you don't know the words if someone cheats you?
"Oshima Bookstore. Would you like to come in?"
"Yes." Rino nodded rapidly as if he had just realized a new truth.
So it says [Oshima Bookstore]
"You are illiterate?"
"No. Because the writing in this world is so strange, it's not like my world at all."
Wait, that's it.
Minato even thought Rino was illiterate. The spoken language of the two worlds may be the same, but the written language is completely different. What kind of weird rule is that? It's like spoken language, it's like written language, and it's split in two, which is troublesome.
"Here" She held the book about six hundred pages thick, A4 size in front of him. "It is the written language of Utherworld"
It was a Utherworld script to be exact, the cover clearly marked with a yellow [Grammar] on a black background. In other words, its letter resembles the [Divine Letter] that Minato learned in Master class at the age of fourteen. The number of people who achieve high marks in the Than Tu exam is very few, even some people failed to graduate because they ate goose eggs in the Than Tu exam. And Divine Temple became the discipline that spread nightmares to all who wanted to become a Master.
Of course, Minato successfully completed the graduation exam with a perfect score of 100 for the Divine Temple subject. For him, it was quite easy.
"Reality calls it Divine Word. And I've learned about it too"
"Um. Just different names"
"Where did you get that book?" To be honest, he saw that Rino didn't have a backpack or anything, and suddenly pulled out a book as if he had been holding it all along. Rino replied:
"Gate of Sword, besides storing the sword, I also put the book in it" The Gate of Sword has many uses. "Also, there's this one"
She went on to hand him two other equally thick books. One red book has rather lengthy text [Grammaticalmente] and the other white one has [Bunpou]. He could understand these two words to mean the same thing, but he had never learned it before.
"In Utherworld learn four languages and study in four different books"
The Carsein language is in the Grammar, Romaji in the Bunpou and the Grammaticalmente
to learn Ricordano. Carsein and Ricordano are rarely used, only appearing in spells. The common spoken language in Utherworld is Romaji, of course, so is Reality. In short, in Utherworld learn the letters A, B, C, D. Reality learns both.
Now that Minato has opened his eyes, there are still many things in this world that he does not know. Well, instead of admiring the world, one must seek knowledge and learn it by oneself. Minato suggested:
"Can I borrow the red book?"
"Ricordano's Grammaticalmente?" Rino recalls the time when learning the pronunciation of Ricordano, it was not only difficult but also easy to bite on the tongue. She did not regret the books, so she agreed immediately: "Fine. I'll give it to you too."
Looks like it's pretty easy to beg the clothes of the second richest person Utherworld?
That was Minato's thoughts before entering the Oshima bookstore - where he would burn off half of his monthly salary with his own hands.
"Thank you for your support"
The greeting and bow of her sister at the counter made Minato's footsteps heavier than ever as he exited the Oshima bookstore. It's not like some giant happily hugged a stack of more than twenty books and stuffed them into the Gate of Sword. It didn't matter, as long as he could make Rino happy, he would do anything.
"Sorry for the money?" She blinked at him. Those blue eyes are innocent in contrast to the price bargaining when paying for books. Her face now was so innocent that it was too much, like rubbing salt into his broken spirit. He replied vehemently:
"That's right, I'm sorry for that."
Half a month's salary, but less? Now swinging my arms too high, determined this month to drink white porridge with home-grown greens. Minato was originally a person who put saving first, but because of a big game to buy books for girls, he starved for a whole month. You know what Rino did when he entered the bookstore? She picked out a lot of Reality textbooks, of course, the better the book, the more expensive it is. Then hug a whole stack of books to pay. Fortunately, the store owner Oshima Yuko and Minato were acquaintances, so he got a 20% discount on the amount to be paid. Looking back at his wallet, he just wanted to find somewhere to scream to calm his anger.
"Haaa, so what do you want, I'll give you double"
Double? So generous, why didn't you pay for it yourself?
Just now, it wasn't that Rino didn't want to pay for himself, it was that he couldn't pay. The currency here was so different from that of Utherworld, she couldn't afford it. She had used a Ruby to pay for the money, but looking at the constantly changing color of the store owner Oshina Yuko, she understood.
That ruby was priceless to the people of Reality, its value was so great that it couldn't be exchanged for money. But to her it was nothing, just a tiny, microscopic ruby she owned in a Grand Duke's estate. The owner Oshima did not dare to accept the ruby because it cannot be exchanged for money, even if it is accepted, there is no money to return it. That's why Minato was the one who reluctantly stood up to pay on behalf of Rino.
"Come on? Say it, or I'll change my mind now" Rino urged when he saw Minato's thoughtful expression. What should I ask for? Opportunity only comes once in a lifetime and will not come twice.
"You're the Grand Duke, aren't you?"
"Yeah what?"
"The food at your place must be delicious, isn't it?"
"Of course." Rino cocked her chin smugly. It's true that the food at Amaterasu Palace is delicious, even more so than a meal for royalty. Well, he asked what this is for? "But does that have anything to do with it?"
"I've run out of money to buy food this month. I just need you to feed me three meals a day."
Of course, he had to find a way to survive until the end of next month's payday. Making a claim like this isn't bad either.
"Ah, that's easy."
I thought he was going to ask for something big, if it was just three meals a day, she could take care of this chipmunk for as long as she wanted. However, both of them are in different dimensions, she doesn't always run over here to bring food.
Rino raised Minato's heavily calloused right hand, and inserted a ring made of special metal on his middle finger engraved with the word [Cordone]. Only then did Minato realize that Rino's left hand, middle finger also had a similar one. What does this action mean?
"Done. That way you can go to Amaterasu castle any time you want." Rino immediately let go of his hand after finishing putting on the ring for him. "Just read the inscription on the ring and think of Amaterasu castle, it's not that difficult"
It's easy to say like you. "How to read?"
"Ko-ru-don" She read it once for Minato to remember. But thanks to this pronunciation, she remembered another person.
[Kodama Kojima] The girl with this name is a resident of Reality, kidnapped to Utherworld and paid tribute to Passato, in order to become a reluctant imperial consort. Of course, that didn't happen, because the night before Kodama became queen, Minato tracked down the trail to find it. Thanks to Rino, finding Kodama was as easy as porridge.
"And why was that Kodama girl being taken to Utherworld?"
Rino was still wondering about this. This came from a girl named Kodama Kojima and the connection to that hole was of course important. After the rescue the previous day, Minato went to investigate the cause of Kodama's abduction to the next world. He explained according to the information he investigated:
"Kodama is similar in appearance to Amelia of Utherworld. Amelia committed suicide before being taken away to mingle. Someone kidnapped Kodama to replace Amelia."
"Hm…do you know anything about that kidnapper?"
She rubbed her chin skeptically. Who's free enough to have to run to the afterlife just to catch a girl with similar looks? The plot must be very dark to go through the world to kidnap people. Minato shook his head.
"No. When I followed Kodama's Toge, I found out that the hole existed. It wasn't there before."
Minato replied. At the end of the forest was the mountain of Nebbia, the gaping hole there and linked to the Utherworld's harbor of D'argento. The space hole seems to have just appeared, but it feels like it's been a hundred years. When he found out, he was equally surprised, so he ventured through the hole with another Master in pursuit of Kodama's Toge trail. With the permission of Grand Master Fifth, of course.
Minato and the other comrade split into two directions. Unexpectedly, the number of black brothers was blocked by Rino in the middle of the road. After that, the fight was bruised, the wound that Rino cut him on his back had not yet healed. Fortunately, Kodama was saved. More importantly, Minato had found the person he was always looking for. But the difference here is...
The right person but not the person of the time.
"The white seal, the one that appeared on your forehead that day... it's the seal belonging to my clan, only a family member can attach it to someone else... but..."
"So its name is the White Seal?"
"Yes. It can block all S rank attacks and below, lasts forever when possessed"
Rino explained. The White Seal is considered to be the heirloom seal of the Hepburn clan. But it appeared on the forehead of someone from another world. Could it be that someone from the Hepburn family went to Reality before?
"It's useful? I don't know since when I got it"
Minato rubbed his own forehead, eyebrows furrowing as he remembered that person's silhouette. Although it was very faint, he never forgot it.
Everyone in the Hepburn family was already dead, if only Rino remained. But she and he only met this time for the second time.
"Hmm... If you have the White Seal then you must be very important to Hepburn's people. Have you ever met someone weird?"
"Yes, but I can't remember exactly."
"How was that person?"
"Blonde like you. That's all I remember."
Minato's answer was so vague that Rino couldn't guess anything. Because half of Hepburns have blond hair. Remember having each of those characteristics, how do you know who that person is.
On the way, the two were stared at by the people around them. At first Rino didn't pay much attention to it, but now she finds it very disturbing. Do you owe them money or why do you keep looking like that?
She looked around once more, the eyes of the residents still watching her, then turned to speak softly enough for Minato to hear:
"Is there something on my face?"
He immediately looked at her from top to bottom, then from bottom to top, then stopped at her face, he replied:
"No, what's wrong?"
"The others keep looking at me"
"Ah..." At this point, Minato realized the reason: "Because she has blonde hair"
Rino frowned in confusion, what's so special about blonde hair that you have to stare at it like you're waiting to collect a debt?
"Huh? How about yellow?"
Minato stroked the entangled blond hair on Rino's shoulder, he explained:
"There's no one in Reality with blonde hair. If there is, it's just a character from a fictional story."
It turns out that Reality is not much different from Utherworld. In Utherworld, only the Hepburn clan had blonde hair, not even one in Reality had one. Rino was even more curious:
"What fictional character is that?"
"The sun goddess Amaterasu. It's just a legend, no one has ever seen Amaterasu. Amaterasu is the source of Reality's life, without Amaterasu's light, Reality would soon perish"
His finger pointed towards the sun, which gave off a soft, golden light as bright as Rino's hair. She looked up at the bright sun, then lowered her head to look at him.
"What a coincidence, the castle our family lives in is also called Amaterasu. But in Utherworld there is no legend about Amaterasu."
"It's just a coincidence, isn't it?"
At first he was skeptical about the connection between Rino and Amaterasu, but Rino's power had nothing to do with the sun, his suspicions were soon refuted.
Nothing in this world is random, everything is pre-arranged.
Once again, Minato looked at Rino and said:
"But you don't look like a girl at all. What kind of girl is that she pulls a sword and cuts people"
"Then do you want me to draw my sword and cut you?" Rino smirked. She was used to being teased like this. It's been like that since childhood.
It's just teasing to ease boredom, but I don't want to ascend to heaven so soon.
By this time it was almost afternoon, walking around and feeling quite tired, Minato suggested:
"Would you like something to eat?"
"Whatever"
Rino is not a picky person, eat whatever you want. She doesn't hate any food, because a bland person like her feels the same no matter what she eats.
"Eat fish?"
"Fish?" Rino's eyes wavered for a moment. Minato knew he had guessed the right dish that Rino liked.
"You like to eat fish?"
Rino nodded in acknowledgement.
"Um...almost. How do you know that?"
"Just guess"
Is it really only the second time we met?
Around here are only grocery stores, fast food... No fish at all.
"And where's the fish? I don't see—"
"Let's go fishing"
Minato grabbed Rino's hand and ran, looking excited. Of course, they don't jog for hundreds of kilometers out to sea. Using his Toge, he cast a spell that teleported Shadow from the crowded street to the seaside in an instant. She wasn't too surprised by his skill with teleportation spells. The cross-country chase the other day had already shown his speed. In addition, the hand-to-hand combat technique is very good, and the ranged combat skill is even better.
If this chipmunk actively trains, it won't be long before he surpasses the limits of ordinary people.
She guessed so, but whether he passed or not was not worth her concern. It's just a coincidence, today is a friend, tomorrow can also be a stranger, worse, an enemy. There is nothing faster in this era than the flipping of a man's rice paper. After all, he was a person from another dimension, her trust in him was only 2/10.
But something made her trust him more than 2/10. About 7/10, maybe a little higher. Just getting used to it, right?
The wind blew gently on the swaying foliage, the waves swayed with white foam, and the blue of the sea was like her eyes, like a beautiful sapphire. The winds seemed to deliberately play with Rino's golden hair like sunlight, making it flutter in the direction of the wind.
The scenery here, no matter how beautiful it is, is only worth the background of a girl's beauty. If she had a smile, how good would it be, on her face the emotions were not clear, neither happy nor sad.
Minato's gaze did not leave Rino, his mind seemed to be immersed in the person in front of him. He knew she didn't trust him completely, even though she was standing here. She accepted to go around with a stranger like him without any precaution, because she was confident that no one could kill her. And the reason for her existence until now, she herself did not know, undefeated or not. Sometimes she just wanted to die peacefully, but she had a career in restoring the Hepburn family, so she couldn't take her own life.
And also because of a promise to someone that I can't remember.
It wasn't until Rino spoke that he regained his composure.
"Now what? Don't tell me you brought me here just to get some fresh air, okay?"
Of course not, having worked hard to run to the sea, in addition to enjoying the wind, we have to find something to eat. Should I bring this hungry stomach back? Minato replied:
"Are you going to catch fish?"
"I can't swim"
Then Rino sat down on the fine white sand, a disappointed look on his face. Although she is honored as a legendary knight, that does not mean that she can swim. Swimming and cooking, those are her two worst things. From a young age, she only focused on studying, practicing swordsmanship and spells, and in some cases of housework, she surrendered.
Forgot...she can't swim...
"No problem at all. There are fish near the shore too." He rolled up his sleeves, ready to go fishing with a short knife in his hand.
"Um, I'll help too."
She stood up, brushing the sand from her pants. Her hand has accumulated ifi-nano particles.
As a sword - Kusanagi is its name.
It only takes three slashes to ensure that the sea water will be splashed on both sides to reach a land that is cut into three pieces like a piece of fish. Minato looked at the man holding the sword in an aggressive manner, he laughed.
"Are you… going to catch fish with a sword?"
"What's up?''
If you catch fish, then hold a sword and cut a few times like cutting fruit, right? Use Kusanagi to slash with plenty of fish to eat.
Her thinking is quite simple and pragmatic, as long as her strength is concerned, she can do it all and is not inferior to anyone. Minato sighed, pointing at the Kusanagi sword.
"Of course there's a problem. You put that sword away for me."
"Uh"
Rino nodded, Kusanagi disappeared instantly when not in use. At this point he began to seriously instruct the brute blonde:
"It's better to do it yourself than to use other things to achieve your goal. You sit on the edge of the fire, don't abuse Ifi-nano. I will go fishing"
Minato went out into the sea, his figure gradually fading indistinct. He blinked once and he was nowhere to be seen. Making a fire is an easy task using Ifi-nano, while creating fire by yourself is a bit troublesome, but for Rino it was just a trivial matter. It's true that she knows nothing about cooking, but making a fire is easy, even if the gibbons know it, she can definitely do it.
Gather firewood, arrange it, light a fire.
Everything he learned and practiced at the knight order Rino was someone better than anyone else. The fire began to burn large, spreading around the dry straws. She sat by the fire, her face calm and unwavering.
It's been a while, why hasn't the chipmunk come back yet?
Rino's eyes were directed towards the sea. No one there, eerily quiet. She stood up, her bare feet imprinted on the fine sand, calling out:
"Chipmunk?"
No one responded. The only thing she heard was the sound of the ocean waves. She took a few more steps, just a little more and her feet would touch the sea water, of course she didn't want that to happen.
"Squirrel? Where are you?"
A feeling of anxiety welled up in Rino's mind. Just go fishing, why does it take so long? Not even an answer. Rino called out even louder:
"Minato"
A low voice whispered into Rino's ear from behind:
"I'm here"
"ASIAN!"
Rino was startled and fell forward. Fortunately, he caught her shoulder in time.
Rino finally called his name properly, and it seemed as though when she called his name she was worried, it contained a concern that never showed clearly in her face or actions. Still, he was glad that she was worried about him.
Rino stroked his chest and sighed, his voice a bit irritated:
"Since when are you...in the back?"