Chapter 10

“Looks like I’ve been rescued by a couple o’ wusses. I dunno if that’s a good thing or not. I guess the whole ‘sex sells’ thing isn’t true when you’re dealing with hopeless virgins!” She shook her head in despair. The girl was like a completely different person without her earlier behavior. She spread a red cloth across the ground and lit a lantern, before quickly laying her merchandise across it. Even Bisco forgot his anger when he saw the wide variety of items she had in stock and leaned in for a closer look. “Welp, I guess that just means I get to show my business chops! Welcome, both of you, to Jellyfish General!” “Jellyfish General? That’s pretty funny. Is that your name?” asked Milo. “Oh, my poor, sweet Panda Boy. No merchant in their right mind would give people their name in this day and age,” said the jellyfish girl, twirling a braid in her finger. “It’s my hair. Don’t you think the braids make me look like a jellyfish? This is so my customers have an easy time remembering me. Hence the name.” “…Just like ya said, you got all sorts of crazy stuff here. Holy shit, this wine says it’s from 2017! Is this real?!” “I specialize in weapons and military schematics, but I have plenty of food for sale, too! How about this? One-hundred-percent pure scorpion nectar; it’ll melt your tongue right off! Oh, I’ve also got this—vanilla vodka from Weeping Solomon Brewery… Perhaps it’s a little early for you boys to be enjoying this, though!” Bisco’s eyes sparkled as she showed off the goods one by one, until a tug at his cloak from Milo brought him back to his senses. “Hey, we don’t want any of your fancy stuff; we just need some food. You got any charcoal toast, salted mochi, anything like that?” “…Salted mochi? I ain’t running a food bank out here!” Seeing the merchant girl’s face twist in disgust, Milo hurriedly looked around for something to change the subject, before spotting a pile of biscuits in the corner of the spread. “Look, Bisco! Butter-flavored Biscos! You must like those, right? Let’s get them!” “…Nah, I’ve never had ’em, actually,” replied Bisco, looking quite embarrassed. “I’ve seen ’em before, but they’re kinda hard for Mushroom Keepers to get ahold of, so…” “Your name is Bisco, and you’ve never had Biscos…? Milo looked as if he was about to faint from shock, then quickly broke into a smile. “Well then, we’d better buy some! This will be your first time! Excuse me, how much are they?” “Those old things? Four sols each.” “What?! You’re still trying to bleed us dry?!” roared Bisco in anger. “Of course I am! The bow is your weapon, right? Well, mine’s the coin!” The girl’s pink braids bounced as she shoved her face toward Bisco’s. “And anyway, you owe me! If you weren’t so damn strong, I’d have collected your bounty already! So stop being stingy and pay up!” Her argument was so outrageous it actually sounded sort of convincing. As the two looked at each other, the girl snatched the bills out of their hands and tossed the box of Biscos toward them before folding away her shop in disappointment. “What a boring trade. I can’t even sell you fuel ’cause you’re on a crab. I’m going to sleep. Touch me, and it’s a hundred sols—got it?” The girl went over to the entrance and emptied a container of expired liquid bonecoal on the ground outside. “Nobody wants to touch your stingers, you damn jellyfish!” said Bisco. “I’ll allow a fifty percent discount just for you, Panda Boy.” “Go to sleep already!” Bisco glared daggers at the girl as she pulled the empty container back inside. Suddenly, he felt Milo tugging at his sleeve. “There’s no use getting mad, Bisco. It’ll only make you hungrier. Here, have one of these!” Milo took out several Biscos from the box and placed them in Bisco’s hand. Bisco looked down at Milo’s sparkling eyes and, unable to argue, gingerly put one in his mouth. “How is it? That’s what you were named after! …Is it not what you expected?” “I thought they’d be…y’know, harder. They’re supposed to make kids big and strong, right? I figured they’d taste more…nutritious, like bear liver or something.” “Ah-ha-ha! Of course they wouldn’t taste like that; they’re snacks! So do you like them?” “Yeah, they’re not bad,” Bisco replied, munching on them with unusual speed, reaching for a second box, then a third. “…So this is what you city folks eat all the time…” “H-hold on, Bisco! Slow down! Save some for me!” “How come? I’m bigger than you are. Obviously, I should get to eat a little more.” “Wasn’t it you who said we were equals?!” Bisco cut back on the teasing and handed over half the remaining biscuits to Milo, nibbling on the rest sparingly. Milo looked over at him with a smile and began to eat them one by one. In the middle of the night, Milo carefully got out of bed without waking Bisco and made his way to the courtyard where Actagawa was sleeping. There he was, slumbering under the dazzlingly moonlit night. “…What amazing resilience. You’re no ordinary crab, Actagawa.” To have struggled alongside Bisco for all these years, he must surely have been a hardy creature indeed. Milo silently ran his fingertips over the crab’s joints to check the status of his tendons. All of a sudden, Actagawa awoke and slowly rose to his feet. “Ah…! Sorry, Actagawa, I didn’t mean to wake—” Milo stopped midsentence as he realized Actagawa was behaving strangely and strained his ears to listen. There was a distant rumbling coming from far below, and soon he felt the ground shake. “Earthquake…? No, that’s not it…!” As Milo looked back toward the temple, the flagstones of the floor split open, and great gouts of steam erupted from the cracks. Then the entire temple began shaking as it gradually rose off the ground. Milo let out a scream. Unable to keep his footing any longer, he collapsed against Actagawa’s legs. The giant crab lifted him up in one claw and placed him atop the saddle, before launching himself away from the temple and onto the moss-covered floor below. Then, as Actagawa struggled to regain his balance, they saw it. Before them was a pair of enormous eyes, their yellow gleam piercing the dark of night like car headlights. Two forelegs the size of tree trunks struck the ground, sending the rusted vehicles that were piled there flying into the air like so many scraps of paper. “The temple’s alive!” shouted Milo as he shook with fear in Actagawa’s saddle. “They didn’t just worship weapons here; the temple itself is one giant animal weapon!” It was most similar in appearance to a hermit crab, but it was about three times the size of Actagawa, who was already twice the size of a human. It was a monstrous weapon, like a battleship. It charged, tearing up the land in its path, and Actagawa barely managed to dodge it. The “temple” seemed uninterested, as though it had a destination in mind, and began moving toward it. “Bisco! Actagawa, Bisco’s still inside!” Actagawa raced after it before Milo even finished speaking. For the first time, the rookie Mushroom Keeper and the seasoned veteran were united in purpose. And what speed! For a second, Milo felt as though he were riding a roller coaster rather than a crab. It was all he could do to simply cling to the reins in terror. As Actagawa kept pace with the temple, Milo could see the remains of the memorialized tanks that covered his body. One by one, they turned their turrets to face him and fired off a volley of shells. Actagawa leaped forward and sideways, evading them all. “Look out, above us!” shouted Milo, and Actagawa swung his mighty claw, deflecting one of the shells. It exploded, taking out several tanks. “Gyaaah! No, no, no! Don’t leave me behind! I don’t wanna diiiie!” “Grrr, let go of me, you idiot! Dammit, how are you so strong?!” “Bisco? Is that you? Where are you, Bisco?!” Milo spotted Bisco atop the roof of the main shrine, his red hair and cloak fluttering in the moonlight. There at his feet, the backpack-laden jellyfish girl clung on for dear life. “Milo! This thing’s a Coal-Eating Shrimp! It’s woken up because of the fuel this jellyfish girl threw out last night! If it makes it to the Ashio coal mines, it’ll blow the whole place up, and we won’t be able to use the minecart!” As if responding to his voice, the tanks’ machine guns pointed at Bisco and fired. Bisco tucked the screaming girl underneath his arm and leaped away, dodging all of them, but the surprising force with which she clutched onto him caused him to lose his balance and fall off the roof. “It’s no use. I can’t fight this thing and look after the jellyfish! You’re gonna have to stop it somehow, Milo!” “Stop it?! How am I supposed to stop something this huge?!” “Crack his skull open!” As a tank turret turned toward him, Bisco fired an arrow to block the barrel, causing it to self-destruct. “If you can rattle his brains, it might just stop these tanks as well! Use Actagawa! Smash him in the face with his claw!” “That’s too hard! I barely know how to ride him!” Bisco was about to respond when a tank turret swung around. The last thing Milo saw was Bisco moving to protect the girl, before he was engulfed in a cloud of white smoke. “Aaagh! Biscooo!” There was nothing more frightening than being in such a dangerous situation without his partner to guide him. And yet Milo suppressed the fear threatening to overwhelm him. He took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. Bisco said I have to stop it. He knew I could do it. He had faith in me… Okay, Bisco. I’ll do it. Just you watch! When he opened his eyes, they burned with newfound determination. Placing his cheek on Actagawa’s back, he gently brushed his finger over the giant crab’s head. “Actagawa… This is his weak point,” he whispered. “If we hit him there, Bisco can take care of the rest… Actagawa… Do you think you can do that for me?” A single bubble rose from the crab’s mouth and burst before Milo’s eyes. Milo wasn’t sure, but it seemed to be a sign of Actagawa’s approval. Suddenly, there was an explosion as a tank shell impacted the ground. Milo pulled the reins, steering Actagawa toward it, and the crab launched his enormous body into the air. Landing directly on the temple roof, Actagawa quickly made for the main entrance and, with a swing of his claws, lifted the towering gate of gun barrels clean out of the ground. “Yes! Go, Actagawa!” Actagawa sprang up, past the newly formed cliff, all the way to the Coal-Eating Shrimp’s forehead. There, he turned and swung the gate like a colossal ax, smashing it between the creature’s eyes! It was a blow like out of a monster movie, and steel and shell alike splintered. The impact threw up a cloud as the giant shrimp staggered back, raising its mantis-like forelegs in defiance. Then a figure ran up the shrimp’s claw, bursting out of the cloud with a flash of red hair! “Bisco!” He somersaulted through the air silhouetted against the silver moonlight, throwing the unconscious girl toward Milo and drawing his bow while still upside down. “What did I say?” He grinned. “You’ve got talent.” Milo caught the jellyfish girl just as Bisco fired his first shot. A red streak flew through the air and embedded itself within the crack opened up by Actagawa, deep inside the creature’s brain. The mycelium spread out of the hole and across the shrimp’s body, and then huge redcaps burst into being all over. Gaboom! Gaboom! Gaboom! Bisco fell down and landed in Actagawa’s waiting saddle, then the group speedily made their escape from the rampaging monster. Hiding beneath a red oyster mushroom on a nearby hillock, they watched the creature’s final moments. “…That was close,” said Bisco when it was all over. “Another half a kilometer, and he and the whole bonecoal mines would have been blasted to smithereens.” “Haah…haah…haah… Bisco…,” said Milo. Finally becoming aware of just how much the ordeal exhausted him, he drooped his shoulders and fought back his dizziness. “Do you always have to fight creatures like this?” “Nah. I never fought a living temple before.” Bisco gave a carefree laugh, as if unfazed by the battle. “But there’s always scarier foes on the horizon. That’s just our fate. The fate of Mushroom Keepers.” “…I’m not sure that’s the fate of every Mushroom Keeper; just you…,” muttered Milo softly. It seemed as though Bisco didn’t hear him, for he pointed at the Ashio mountains that towered before them and said, “We can see the entrance to the mines from here. That’s where they collect all the bonecoal and where we’ll find the minecart. Tomorrow we’ll ride Actagawa over there, and then—” Bisco was cut off by a boom, like a clap of thunder. The two peered over their shoulders toward the source of the sound and saw the great shrimp that had been Nikko Sencho-gu. In a final swan song, it had lifted its largest cannon into the night sky and fired. “…Ah.” The smooth jet-black projectile arced through the sky and fell toward the Ashio mountains, toward the place Bisco had just been pointing at, toward that powder keg, and impacted the earth like a meteorite. Kaboom! There was an earth-shattering explosion, and Milo and Bisco were struck by a wall of sand and hot air that sent their cloaks fluttering. “Aaarghhh! Dammit! You’ve gotta be kidding me!” “There’s boulders raining down from the sky! Come on, Actagawa, we have to get out of here!” From atop Actagawa, they watched as the entire mountain burned, fueled by the enormous stockpiles of bonecoal within. The flames cast a scarlet glow into the night sky, causing dozens of explosions as they spread. “Dammit! We were so close! Now we’ll never be able to use the minecart!” “Bisco…” Milo stopped Actagawa in a safe place and, not knowing how he should respond, simply looked at Bisco with sympathy. However, Bisco’s lament lasted all of five seconds. “…Welp, it’s not like it’s impossible now. If the minecart doesn’t work, we’ll just have to find another way through.” Bisco took a deep breath, puffed out his chest in anger, and glared at the burning mountains. “Besides, as long as the mushrooms keep eating up that oversized seafood, then all the rust around this area should disappear. That should please the old man more than your life ever did.” Here Bisco turned at last to the huge creature, which by now had breathed its last and returned to nature. His glimmering emerald eyes twinkled. As Milo watched him in profile, he felt a deep pain lurking beneath Bisco’s stoic facade. He searched for some consoling words, but in the end, he was unable to think of anything appropriate to say. The sun’s light warmed his eyelids. Bisco gave a low groan and slowly rose to his feet. Scratching his belly, he looked around with tired, droopy eyes. The grasslands twinkled in the summer sun, and clumps of verdant driftweed floated steadily in the breeze. “Ah, Bisco! Good morning!” Milo tidied up the insect-repelling incense and hurried over to Bisco. “How are your wounds? …Hmm, they seem to be healing up nicely. Let me know if they get swollen, okay?” “Erm, what about the jellyfish? Was she, ya know, hurt?” “Just some scratches, but she’ll be fine. I’ve already tended to her. I’ll go and check on her now!” Bisco scratched his neck at the unfamiliar sensation of Milo’s bandages. Then he heard the all-too-familiar sound of Milo’s scream. “Ahhhh! She’s gone, Bisco! And she took all my money!” said Milo, rummaging through Actagawa’s saddlebags. “Ooh… It’s a good thing we agreed to split our money between us.” “She can’t have gotten far. When I catch her, I’m gonna make her into seafood.” “Ah, Bisco, wait!” Fishing around in the saddlebags, Milo suddenly pulled out candies, beans, and other preserved foods. Finally, he came upon a single scrap of paper and showed it to Bisco with an awkward smile. ATTN Man-Eating Redcap and company. A sum total of eighty-seven sols and seventy sen has been extracted as payment for foodstuffs provided. In the corner of the handwritten receipt, a note in rounded letters with a lovely chocolate heart read: PS: Panda Boy, if Bisco dies, come team up with me, okay? “She picked out quite a lot for us,” said Milo. “And here I called her a thief.” “Forcing us to buy her junk’s not much different!” Bisco huffed and leaped atop Actagawa behind Milo. Then he noticed that Actagawa was used to Milo, and he wasn’t throwing him off like before. “…?” Bisco looked questioningly at his partner’s face, rudely monitoring him. While it was clear Milo had taken efforts to treat it, his face was covered in small nicks and bruises, and his eyes were evidently baggy from lack of sleep. “When did you…?” Milo, upon realizing his face was being scrutinized, froze and held his breath, and his gaze wandered. It was obvious to Bisco that Milo had spent the whole morning struggling with the unruly Actagawa—and that he had finally won the crab over after being thrown to the ground god knows how many times. As Milo hurried to hide his cuts, Bisco laughed, tickled by the doctor’s strange sense of pride that caused him to hide the marks he ought to have been proud of. “Heh. Heh-heh-heh…” “Wh-what’s so funny?” “Oh, nothing…!” Bisco lashed the reins once. Actagawa saw that, beside his smiling master, the novice he had trained with since dawn was sitting with a somewhat dissatisfied expression. Nevertheless, the steelcrab moved his eight legs into gear and set off leisurely over the grassy plains.