“That was amazing, Wataru! I didn’t understand any of your ‘rap,’ though.” Aria still couldn’t help but throw Wataru a compliment!
Now, allow me to gently explain for those of our Dear Readers who are neither hot-blooded, hardcore, nor gangsta rappers! That was a legit martial arts move, called the Dripping Fists of Rhyme!!!
(*Dripping Fists of Rhyme: The famous rap personality MC Prominence invented this martial arts move that uses the power of music in the year 2000. By rapping with burning-hot emotions, the user moves their opponent from the bottom of their heart, robbing them of their will to fight. For inventing this move, the MC was revered all around the world and eventually won the Nobel Peace Prize. After that, he continued working on his rapping career. Now, he has climbed his way up to become the leader of rap society in Tokyo. [4])
Through that fierce battle, Wataru had defeated the second of the Four Masters!
“Impressive. I didn’t expect you to take out Binker, too...” Résistance said as she approached Wataru!
“Heh, ain’t nothing but a thing!!!” Wataru gloated, crossing his arms in victory!
“But... ‘Rap,’ was it...? What country is that music from? I’ve never heard such music before.” Résistance cocked her head in curiosity!
“Hm? Oh, yeah... Well, some distant country!” Something like “I came from another world” would have raised even further questions, so Wataru told her this instead.
Aria picked up on what he was putting down, too! “Wataru is a traveling fighter who came here from a distant continent to defeat the Demon Lord. Right, Wataru?”
“That’s right!” Wataru said, nodding deeply!
“Oh, I see... Then Aria, where are you from?”
“Me...? The Sky Kingdom,” she answered truthfully!
“Look at you, Aria! You gave a straight answer this time!!” Wataru was a little taken aback that she answered the question at all, considering her harsh attitude toward Résistance just moments ago!
“Well, she did keep her promise that she wouldn’t intervene in your battle against the other Master... She didn’t seem like a totally evil person, at least...” Aria said, blushing in embarrassment!
Résistance returned a smile! “Good. I’m glad I was able to clear my name a bit... But aren’t we rather close to the Sky Kingdom right now?”
With a lightbulb above his head, Wataru chimed in, “Perfect! Why don’t we head there and take a break!?”
Come to think of it, Wataru hadn’t rested for a bit since coming to this world! Even Wataru, a hot-blooded fighting teen, would have a hard time fighting any more totally fearsome enemies without any downtime between his battles! Resting, to him, was just as important as training!
“Okay. Let’s all go to the Sky Kingdom, then.”
And so, Wataru’s party set course for the Sky Kingdom, Aria’s homeland!
A few hours passed, and eventually the trio arrived at the Sky Kingdom, the largest kingdom in all of the Wind Continent!
“We’re here, Wataru and Résistance! This is my homeland, the Sky Kingdom!”
“Whoa... What a fancy place!”
“Indeed. I haven’t set foot in such a prosperous city in a while.”
Rows of aesthetic wooden architecture, stone-paved roads, and markets bustling with vibrantly colored shops lay before them! A beautiful fountain, so extravagant that the mere sight of it made them feel refreshed, sat at the center of a plaza! This kingdom was practically straight out of Medieval Europe, from the history of Wataru’s old world! Wataru was moved by its magnificence!
“Hey, look at that fancy castle!” Wataru pointed at the gigantic construction before them! It was a beautiful palace of meticulously stacked yellow bricks!
“That’s the palace where the Sky King resides. It’s better made than any other castle around, so we get a lot of tourists.” Aria puffed out her chest with pride!
“Cool! By the way, Résistance, where are you from!?”
“Me? My hometown is a small fishing village near the western edge of the Wind Continent.”
“Good to know!”
No need to take notes here, Dear Readers! That piece of information will never come up in our story again!
Wataru carried on walking through the market, looking to and fro, filled with curiosity! Everything he saw was fresh and new! Every moment here would become a memory he would cherish!
But he couldn’t help but make a particular observation! “Hm!?!?!? Everyone looks... unhappy!”
Correct-amundo! The market, heavily populated by shoppers, did appear bustling upon first glance. Upon closer inspection, however, all of the merchants and all of the shoppers had subdued expressions!
“That’s because...” Aria began to answer, lowering her voice, “...of the Demon Lord. Like me, many people have had their friends and family taken by him...”
“I didn’t know that...!” As Wataru commented, Résistance turned her eyes to the ground. As someone who had served the Demon Lord, she didn’t know what to say in this kind of situation!
The owner of a nearby market stand called to them with a depressed tone! “First time in the city, young man?”
Wataru nodded. “Did the Demon Lord... take your family, too!?”
“No. I never had anyone that loved me, anyway.” The man shook his head slowly, eyes cast down! “But a lot of people here had their families kidnapped by the Demon Lord. That’s not the only reason we’re struggling, though.”
“What’s going on???”
“Take a look at these,” the shopkeeper said, pointing to his own products on display! They were steaming, golden-brown pies! “I bake these apple pies in my kitchen and sell them out here. I import the sugar and apples from other countries, but... thanks to the Demon Lord, the trade routes have been shut down. Once I sell what I have here, I won’t have any more for who knows how long.”
“What!? So, what does that mean!?” Wataru demanded!
Aria answered in the shopkeeper’s stead! “The Sky Kingdom’s capital is a center of trade, too. Traveling merchants visit often with the likes of jewels, crafts, and clothes from all around, but...” She paused, before continuing with a little confusion in her tone, “...for some reason, only the merchants carrying sugar or sweet fruits on their way to the kingdom are being attacked by the Demon Lord’s army with alarming frequency. Because of that, merchants carrying anything sweet will no longer come here, putting our country in a historic deficit of sweets...”
“The girl said it. My business is drying up.” The man crossed his arms and sighed!
“That’s very... bizarre!” Wataru commented!
What inconceivable, diabolical, villainous scheme was the Demon Lord hatching!?
A few minutes after that conversation, when the group was reaching one end of the market, Aria pointed straight ahead! “If we turn that corner to the right, there’s a clinic. That’s where I live. The clinic’s not running right now, though.” Since Aria’s parents, both doctors, had been captured by the Demon Lord, there was no one there now to run the clinic! “We have plenty of rooms, so you can take your pick, Wataru. Résistance.”
“Thanks!”
“Yes, thank you.”
Behold Aria’s overwhelming generosity! She was going to lend a room even to Résistance, to whom she had been so mean in the beginning! This is the kind of characteristic we want to see from our main heroine!
Suddenly, an arrow came slicing through the air straight towards them!
“Arw!!!!!” Wataru caught the arrow with impeccable instincts! “Phew... That was close!”
“...Well, the tip of the arrow is digging into my forehead, Wataru,” Aria declared, blood trickling down her face! Of course, Aria could use healing magic, so this was no problem at all! Q.E.D!