To become a king and a magician

"Stop grinning like an idiot, your nose is practically pointing to the sky."

Xia Chuanhu tapped the pot in the middle with annoyance: "More importantly, did you do a good job of what I asked you to do?"

"Yes, you mean the intelligence gathering, right? Of course I did a good job!"

Gather intelligence.

Although Natsukawa Torato had some understanding of the Lostbelt, those were memories from over twenty years ago, and he couldn't possibly remember everything. He only remembered the general outline.

Therefore, in order to make things easier for them later, Natsukawa Torama sent Miyamoto Musashi out to investigate the situation, while he went to earn the travel expenses needed for the two of them to live in this world.

Miyamoto Musashi has a big appetite; it would cost a lot of money to feed her.

At first, the two took turns cooking, but after tasting Natsukawa Torato's cooking, Miyamoto Musashi simply, or even shamelessly, handed over the cooking duties to Natsukawa Torato.

After finishing his eighth bowl of rice, Miyamoto Musashi let out a loud burp, rubbing his slightly bloated stomach: "Burp~~~~ I'm full. Today's lunch was quite a feast, Tiger, thank you."

You're welcome, I'm glad you're satisfied.

Xia Chuanhu tidied up the tableware: "Well then, you've eaten your fill. Tell me what you found out today."

"Hmm... let's start with the [Heroic Swordsman] that Tiger asked me to inquire about." Miyamoto Musashi organized his thoughts. "To put it bluntly, there is currently no information about the Heroic Swordsman."

Heroic Swordsman.

Originally, the monster was created by a sorcerer named Ashiya Doman using the corpses of Servants. In this Shimousa Kingdom, Miyamoto Musashi was originally supposed to fight the seven Heroic Spirit Swordsmen together with Fujimaru Ritsuka.

but--

Not even a little bit?

"Hmm, absolutely not. But there are reports of missing persons or sudden large fires."

There is no news related to the Heroic Swordsman, but there is news that the Heroic Swordsman may have caused the accident.

(Could it be that it has only recently appeared?)

Xia Chuanhu frowned: "What about the city lord?"

"Ah~~~~ It's completely impossible to get any information over there. We can't even get close. After all, there's a very powerful old man guarding that area; just approaching him makes me tremble." Miyamoto Musashi said with a wry smile. "So, is this information useful?"

"It can be said to be useful."

"Good!" Miyamoto Musashi smiled and clenched his fist. "This proves that I'm not just a good-for-nothing who does nothing but eat!"

"Well, now he's a useless good-for-nothing."

A person who can eat eight bowls of rice in one sitting, what else could they be but a glutton?

Ignoring the resentful look coming from Miyamoto Musashi, Natsukawa Tora cleared the tableware aside: "Get ready, we're going out for a bit."

"Huh? Where are we going?"

“Let’s take this opportunity, like an after-dinner walk, to investigate the place where the fire occurred.”

4. Gourmet Devil Musashi

In Japan, the word "country" is actually a very low-value designation.

After all, Japan is only a small place, and before it was completely unified, it was divided into many small regions called "countries"—for example, Shimosa Province was formed by combining the northern part of Chiba Prefecture, the southwestern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, the eastern part of Saitama Prefecture, and the eastern part of Tokyo.

It's really not that big.

Now, Natsukawa Torato and Miyamoto Musashi have left the main city of Shimosa Province and arrived in the fields outside the city. Apart from the main city, the rest of Shimosa Province is basically fields and forests, as well as villages of all sizes scattered throughout the country. This is actually the same all over the world.

"I said, Tiger, is it really necessary for you to come out even after dark?"

Miyamoto Musashi, who was following behind Natsukawa Tora, spoke up.

"It's very unsafe to go out late at night."

"What? Are you afraid of encountering some strange things at night?" Natsukawa Torama turned around and laughed. "Even the world-renowned swordsman Miyamoto Musashi has things he's afraid of? Insects? Or ghosts?"

It is now night, no longer daytime. Ghosts and spirits that would not come out because of the sunlight will appear at night when the yin energy is strong. It is not impossible to encounter a ghost at this time.

After a slightly awkward laugh, Miyamoto Musashi gave a wry smile: "Well... that's about right. It's not that I'm really afraid of anything, it's just that ghosts are quite troublesome if the blade can't cut them down."

"I'm not afraid of anything that a blade can cut, but conversely, things that can't be cut..."

Ghosts are incorporeal beings. Even if they are cut in half with a blade, they will reassemble and regenerate. Even though Miyamoto Musashi is a swordsman who has awakened his third eye and whose martial arts skills are comparable to those of Servants, he is still quite helpless in this regard.

Despite having drifted to so many worlds, it's a wonder she never thought of a solution for how to kill ghosts.

“That’s just because your swords are no good,” Natsukawa Torato said. “I’m not a swordsmith, nor am I a skilled swordsman. I won’t comment on whether the swords in your hands are good or not, but from the perspective of magic… uh, or rather, from the perspective of spells and incantations, those two swords in your hands are just scrap metal.”

The twin swords that Miyamoto Musashi used to this day must at least be of good quality in terms of craftsmanship; cutting people and physical objects would be a piece of cake for them.

But this is something any knife can do; they are just two ordinary knives, nothing mysterious about them.

"If you want to kill ghosts, I'll upgrade your sword later and add a few spells that can harm spirits."

"Huh? Magic? Tiger, you're a mage after all?"

Miyamoto Musashi was somewhat surprised.

The two had been traveling together for over a month, during which time no battles had actually taken place. Even if one did, the two were able to quickly resolve it with their skills, and Natsukawa Tiger hadn't even needed to use any of his supernatural powers. Therefore, Miyamoto Musashi was completely unaware of Natsukawa Tiger's various methods.

"It's really not fair of you to keep it from me all this time."

"It's not like I deliberately hid it from you, it's just that there's no need to tell you. If I need to use magic in the future, I will use it naturally."

Miyamoto Musashi chuckled: "Hmm~~~ By the way, Tiger, what kind of magic do you know? Is it something like a shikigami? Or maybe you can summon water and fire by chanting 'Hurry, hurry, as the law commands'?"

Have you encountered an Onmyoji before?

"Uh, I don't know if that was an Onmyoji or not, I just met someone who did that before."

“I can do all of what you’re talking about, though in different ways.” Natsukawa Tora said as he used a summoning spell, igniting a flame in his hand. “Elves, fairies… and maybe even celestial spirits? These are the [Shikigami] I can command. Besides summoning water and fire, I can also conjure all sorts of things out of thin air, fly into the sky, and instantly move from one place to another.”

As he said this, Natsukawa Tiger had already left the ground and flown three or four meters into the air, disappearing from Miyamoto Musashi's sight. He then reappeared behind her and blew a breath on the back of her neck.

"Ah ...

Miyamoto Musashi blushed and covered his neck, hopping forward a few steps: "Ugh... that really startled me. Tiger, you know so many spells—by the way, if you can fly, can't you just fly me to where we're going?"

“If it were just me, I would definitely fly over, and I would also make sure I was well hidden so no one would see me. But the problem is, there’s you here.” Natsukawa Tora pointed to Miyamoto Musashi’s stomach. “You’ve eaten so much and you don’t want to move. Do you want to turn into a pig?”

"Goo-"

With just one sentence, he completely shut down all of Miyamoto Musashi's ideas.

Indeed, Miyamoto Musashi isn't a Servant, but a living, breathing human being, and a girl who's quite conscious of her figure. If she were to become overweight...

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it! It's so delicious! Wouldn't it be a waste not to finish it?"

"Is this your reason for eating most of the food by yourself, almost leaving me without any food?" Natsukawa Tora raised his fist and slammed it hard on Miyamoto Musashi's head. "From now on, you can eat a maximum of two bowls of rice per meal."

"Yes......"

Under the threat of Natsukawa Tiger's fist, Miyamoto Musashi could only temporarily admit defeat and nod. However, she was not afraid that she would only be able to eat two bowls of rice per meal from now on. After a month, she had seen through Natsukawa Tiger. He was completely helpless against requests from women. As long as you asked him properly, he would definitely agree!

(Then I can just put on a little act and continue to enjoy my meal. Musashi, I'm such a genius! Hehehe~~~ Tiger's cooking, Tiger's cooking.......)

Miyamoto Musashi looked completely like his stomach had been captured by Natsukawa Tora, and he had become a prisoner of someone's culinary skills.

And just as she was thinking this—

"Whoo~~~~~~"

A cool breeze suddenly blew from the front, along with the smell of burnt coal.

The laughter on Miyamoto Musashi and Natsukawa Tora's faces vanished instantly. After exchanging a glance, they quickened their pace and soon followed the scent to its source.

"This is......!"

Seeing the scene unfold before him, Miyamoto Musashi was stunned and stood frozen in place.

What came into view was a field that had been completely burned down. Although it was not very clear under the cover of night, it was still barely discernible with the help of a little moonlight.

The area in front of the two should be a village that has been completely burned down.

5. Physical salvation, may Buddha have mercy.

"That's really tragic."

Walking into a scorched field, Natsukawa Tiger came to a pillar that was stuck diagonally in the ground.

This should have been a pillar of a house, but the house has now been burned down, and the pillar was too fragile. Xia Chuanhu only gave it a light push, and the pillar broke and fell down.

"It seems there's no one alive left—Musashi, have you found out when the fire happened here?"

"I think it was last night?"

After thinking for a moment, Miyamoto Musashi said, "It seems to be before dawn... But who would do something so outrageous? Burning down an entire village is just too cruel and inhumane."

"Who else could it be? The Heroic Swordsman, of course."

Natsukawa Torato said, "That is, if they really exist within this Lostbelt."

Heroic Swordsman.

This is about the thirteenth time Miyamoto Musashi has heard Natsukawa Tora mention this in the past month.

"Tiger, did you know all along that this kind of thing would happen in this world?"

"More or less, but I'm not entirely sure."

Natsukawa Tora explained, "I once went to a place called Root, where all the knowledge in the world is gathered: parallel worlds, pan-human history, Lostbelts, the past, present, and even the future... all knowledge is gathered there."

“I’ve been there twice and learned a lot from it, and I also have some impression of the Lostbelt. But to be honest, that was more than 20 years ago, and I don’t remember it very clearly now.”

"Is that so..."

Miyamoto Musashi lowered her head somewhat dejectedly. She was still thinking that since Natsukawa Tora knew that this would happen, why didn't he come here to save people sooner?

But as for memories from twenty years ago, there's really nothing we can do about that...

Eh?

"Twenty years ago?"

Miyamoto Musashi noticed a crucial point that could not be ignored.

Natsukawa Torato just said that he went to that so-called Root twenty years ago, but no matter how you look at it, he's only about eighteen years old! He's a completely immature blond pretty boy!