The glade that was the School of Muramasa lacked defences. A pathway led to the school and while there was forestry the school was nonetheless very far removed. Noor slammed her foot down. Snap!
"These are the shittiest traps I have ever seen in my life."
John chimed in, "Harsh but true."
Kazi arrived to see Noor absolutely destroying the traps that Marta and Elena laid out. Actually, to call them traps would be a disservice to actual traps. They were mangled attempts at entrapping. Forget humans, they would fail to capture a tiny critter.
'No wonder they didn't come with me.'
"Hey, Noor. How's it going?"
"Ugh, it's you. What's up?"
Noor didn't dislike him but she didn't like him either. That was fine, as long as they could work together. Arms crossed, the tall John Smith acknowledged him with a bob of the head. Kazi finger-saluted him in turn.
"Just here to check on the traps."
"We're better off not setting traps." Noor kicked the ground. "I don't think any of us know how to set traps anyway."
Kazi could but it was clear telling her would agitate her. Noor wasn't the type to listen once she ran through a train of thought. She wouldn't understand why Kazi had asked Elena and Marta in particular to set-up traps.
"Noor," said John, "should we not discuss what we were talking about before."
A sigh from the long-haired woman. "Yeah. Ignoring the elephant in the room is just going to harm in the future. Kazi…what the hell do we do about those four weaklings?"
The weaklings. The unspoken number hovering above Elena and Marta's heads: level 5 and an Amateur Alchemist and Mage Class. The number above David and Aisha: level 6 and Amateur Knifemen. They were weak, plain and simple, and they were stuck with them.
"We have a housewife, a nerd, a computer science loser, and a mute woman. Look, I don't want to be mean but this isn't some game. If they can't contribute, then we might be goners. Dead. Worse even."
The logic behind Noor's words couldn't be denied. The four players were weak enough to be a massive weight on their shoulders. Levels-wise, there was just too wide of a gap. Kazi was level 16 and Noor was a level below that. Sun-young and William were levels 14 and 13 respectively, and then there was John with his unknown level. Of course, from everyone else's point of view, Kazi's level was also unknown. Put simply, there were lots of questions, internal fears, and hesitation over how the battle with the ten bandits would go.
Nonetheless, Kazi kept wearing that chirpy smile of his.
"It's fine—"
"It's not!" A frustrated breath came out of her mouth. "You don't take things seriously, do you? I'm going to say this again VERY clearly. If they mess up, they'll mess up the rest of us."
"What's your solution then?" Kazi asked.
"How do you say it…there's a low fence, and they can't even jump over it. So we should just abandon them if—or rather, when they fall over."
"Noor over here is speaking a little tastelessly," John said, "but what she means is we cannot be sparing our strength on them on the chance they need us. We may be busy ourselves."
"I don't see any problem then."
Noor seemed puzzled. So was John, albeit he hid it better.
"Ten bandits. Nine players. We can assume the one samurai will be a boss or mini-boss. If only five of us can fight, then all I have to do is make up for the remaining four."
Noor snorted. "You make that sound so easy. That's a little arrogant, Mr. Unknown Level."
The smile didn't leave his face and he met Noor's gaze head-on. "I have a question for you, Noor. Will you be killing the bandits?"
"Excuse me?" Noor scoffed. "What, you don't think I can do it?"
"Well, the bandits are human, after all. They're not some slimes or whatever. We can choose to either tie them up, injure them severely or—"
"I doubt we'll get the special objective completed unless we kill them." Noor was full of confidence. "So it doesn't matter what I want. It's what we have to do."
"We're at an agreement then! We do what we have to do! I have full confidence in you, Noor."
"And you have the confidence to make up for five players?"
"I do."
Noor eyed him, puzzled, glanced at John for help who gave away nothing, and eyed Kazi again. "Oookay. Fine. Whatever. So should we just ditch the traps?"
"I can handcraft tripwires." Kazi approached the failed attempt at a bear trap. Instead of metal claws that would pierce and capture, there were wooden branches. He could feel a fixated gaze from John. "Oh, and do any of you carry a flashlight? Maybe a match? I can hook something up for us at night."
Even though Kazi couldn't see it, John opened his inventory. He fetched a flashlight. "Will this do?"
"Perfect. I'll get to work then. You tell everyone else to stay alert. There's a chance the bandits could come early."
John nodded. "Fair point. Let us go, Ms. Noor."
Left alone, Kazi's brain got to work. He had three goals in mind: one, to harm whoever gets ambushed; two, to gain their location whenever a trap was set off; and three, to involve it in battle. He had already burned the layout of the forest in his head. Like a map, he knew exactly where to go and how, whether it be Uji River or the spot he and William chopped wood down.
He remembered it all. Because for Kazi, it was impossible not to remember.
***
Night fell over them and the critters of darkness began to make their vocal mark. The players were inside at various spaces of the school. Entering the kitchen, he smelled fish, vinegar, and…
'Wasabi?'
In the kitchen, he saw who he expected to see: Elena, Marta, and Aisha. Hovering above their shoulders, carefully instructing them, was Yamato. The irritable young man limped and barked out orders.
"Come on, what is this!?" Yamato shoved Marta to the side. "Put more energy into it!"
"S-sorry, these chopsticks are so different from what I'm used to. I keep dropping them."
Marta's low muttering was met with a frustrated noise from Yamato and a small laugh from Elena. The housewife wasn't struggling unlike her younger counterpart. "It's alright, dear. Just keep practicing. We'll get there."
Beside her, Aisha was marinating thin slices of fresh fish. Kazi and William had caught the fish together this morning.
"It's good to see our efforts are being rewarded."
Making his presence known with a small joke, there was less shock to his entry.
"You're back." Yamato focused on stirring the pot of rice. The rice needed to be nice and sticky. "You sure took your time, Onmyōji."
Kazi winked. "I do my best."
"Are you sure you don't need rest?" Elena asked. "I can set-up the beds early."
"I hope you understand those futons were gifted to us by nobles. If they rip, it's on you."
Yamato's over-the-top solemn nature gave rise to some chuckles.
Smiling, Kazi waved off Elena's offer. "It's alright, nobody is sleeping just yet. Ms. Sun-young is training with Aiko and I'm sure those two are going to have one hell of an appetite for dinner. Say, you guys need help with anything?"
"We are fine," Yamato assured.
"Yamato, please." Elena shook her head. "None of us are too good with rolling the sushi. How about you?"
Kazi grinned. "I'm a god at it. Just wait and see."
Mastering the delicate and precise technique of sushi rolling wasn't easy. During culinary school, Kazi watched his peers struggle with it. He didn't, because he was Kazi and he never struggled with imperfection, but he could see why others did.
Elena gently handed him a bamboo sushi rolling mat. Kazi's nimble fingers gracefully lined the mat with a sheet of nori, a crisp and briny seaweed sheet that would be the outer layer of their sushi rolls. Yamato, finally done with the stirring, carefully scooped a portion of the seasoned rice onto the prepared nori. The rice was still warm as he spread it evenly across the seaweed with a wooden spatula.
Aisha came afterwards and arranged her slices of marinated fish atop the rice.
With all the ingredients in place, Kazi took charge of the rolling process. He lifted the bamboo mat with a deft motion, gently folding the nori and its fillings over the rice, creating a neat, cylindrical shape. The scent of the seaweed intensified as he pressed down, sealing the roll into a compact, flavorful package.
Kazi's practiced hands made it seem almost effortless. The aroma in the kitchen became a tantalizing mixture of all the components coming together—the rice, the seaweed, and the fish.
"Not bad," Yamato admitted. "Who taught you? Or is this another magic?"
Kazi winked. "Call it another magic."
The sushi rolls were done and separated. Their work was done and Kazi couldn't be hungrier. It didn't just look good, it felt good. The natural aspect of the food came into play splendidly and gave it a nice, almost ocean feel to it.
Almost abruptly, to slice the appreciative mood, came a shaky voice.
"Sorry for making those bad traps."
He had been waiting for this—for Aisha's first authentic words to him. Before, he had struck up conversation and she muttered responses. Here, she was properly engaging with him. Her voice was softer than he expected.
But her voice led to the others also apologizing.
"We really are sorry," Marta added.
"We just…we've never done traps or…you know…fighting." Elena put a hand to her forehead. "It was just…impossible. We really owe you, Kazi. Truly."
"I know you are." Kazi looked at each of them. Aisha was downcast. Elena flickered from his face to the floor. Then there was Marta who faced him full-on. "We can see your levels. You guys aren't built for this."
Marta raised her voice with desperation, her glasses tilting down her nose, "But we can't just not participate! We need the points if we want food and water! If we want to live with any kind of dignity!"
"And trusting strangers and those guilds, we can't do that." Elena clutched her hands over her chest. Shiny tears appeared at the edges of her eyes. "The only people I really trust are my family. My husband and my sons and they're not here. They're…gone away from me."
"So you'll keep participating and hoping the gates will be as easy as Baba Yaga's Home?" A simple task with a simple layout and no violence whatsoever. For a housewife like Elena, it was perfect. For Aisha, there was no need to talk to anyone. For Marta, it was easy.
"We have no other choice," Marta muttered.
"I just want to see my kids again." Elena's voice cracked and she wiped at her eyes. "I don't even…I didn't even get to say goodbye to anyone. In the morning, my stomach hurt and I was sweating. My chest suddenly started feeling full and it squeezed me, a-and…before I knew it, I was here. I…my husband had decided to go out for grocery and I stayed because I wasn't feeling well. I shouldn't have. I just…I really want to see them again! I really want to see my babies!"
Elena dropped to the floor, stricken by tears and her grief. Yamato limped to her, afraid.
"P-please calm down..."
"How did I even get here? I was in Kraków in my house and now I'm in feudal Japan. Feudal Japan! I mean, haa…haa…" Elena slapped her forehead. She struggled to form sentences as her breath hastened and her lips went up and down. "H-how…ha…how is this even possible!? How am I even here! Feudal Japan!"
Yamato came closer and—
Elena slapped his hand aside and she stared up at Kazi with wet cheeks. Her breathing escalated till it was raspy and uncontrollable. "I just want to see them again! Please! I just want to see my family again!"
'Indecisive people are weak people. It's an unfortunate reality.' Looking down at her, he saw a poor mother breaking down after being ripped from the life she loved.
'But there's also nothing wrong with being weak and indecisive. Some of us aren't meant to be great. Some of us are just ordinary people, and that's okay too.'
Kazi dropped down to her level. "El—"
Bong!