I can extract broth from Suzaku’s feather faster than Reina can make the herbarium.
That means that after getting the necessary amount, I’m left with nothing to do. And so, I came here to the divine beast people’s village under Reina’s advice.
“No, this was a total mistake…”
I came here to check up on Snow and the others, but the sky is already painted with dusk.
Every home is preparing dinner, and there are almost no beast people outside.
They said they were staying in Luna’s house, meaning they’re with Elga and Livia, but visiting at this hour would be a bother.
I guess I should go back… But just as I’m thinking that, I see someone I recognize sitting on a boulder.
“Suzaku? What’s she doing over there?”
She’s usually full of vigor, but she’s watching the sunset with a lonely look on her face.
There’s a somewhat mystical feeling to that sight, and I end up staring without thinking.
I stay still because I don’t want to approach her for some reason, but then she turns my way.
“Don’t peep like Wilhelmina, if you’re curious, come here!”
I can’t leave now, so I approach the big boulder.
She’s not coming down, so I go up and sit next to her.
“What are you doing?”
“Watching the sun.”
Clear and concise. She says exactly what it looks like, and I face the sun too.
Honestly, watching the sun from this boulder doesn’t seem special.
There are trees around my house, so I can’t see the sun fully set from there, but I can go to the sea and watch the sun sink into the horizon.
The divine beast people’s village is also surrounded by trees, and there’s no special high ground to watch it either.
That means it’s not a place where you can see the moment the sun sets.
And yet, Suzaku is still looking on, as if she could.
“…The sun setting used to signal the start of the killing.”
As the sun gets darker, Suzaku talks to me quietly, like she’s talking to herself.
“First, Wilhelmina fired big magic. Then divine beasts and ancient dragons pulled out their power and went nuts to counterattack.”
“You too?”
“Yep. Without the sun, Wilhelmina would win on her own, so I provided light in its place.”
Well, she countered by dropping that fake sun and killing a bunch, she says nostalgically while laughing.
“Killing was a part of life, so watching the sun go down feels nostalgic.”
“I’d rather everyone get along.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not thinkin’ about killing anyone at this point. I have ones I need to protect.”
Being immortal means she’s had to say goodbye to a lot of friends.
At the same time, that also means saying hello to new kids.
I don’t really understand how that feels yet…
“I think Elga and Luna rely on you too.”
“Luna’s one thing, but Elga needs to stop that already and succeed as village chief.”
“Does he want to?”
“If he wasn’t gonna I wouldn’t have married him with Livia.”
Why is Livia being brought up? But then I remember.
Livia is the daughter of the boss over there.
I remember what Elga said, and it makes sense to me.
Suzaku raised Elga, so he’s practically her kid.
“Me and that water village chief don’t get along. Well, we fought to kill each other when we saw each other, so I guess that makes sense… But we agreed to a truce to focus on our villages.”
“Because you couldn’t involve the villagers.”
“Well, I’m just glad he feels that way too.”
And because of that, the two who met without anyone knowing got married.
“Elga can’t go in the water, so Livia lives on land. But if that wasn’t the case, things wouldn’t be the way they are now.”
Their marriage began a trend of mutual respect between land and marine beast divine beast people.
And they lived happily ever after… Is what I want to say, but if that was the case, I’d be talking to the divine beast people of the sea already.
“Is there still a problem?
“Not really, it’s just that we can’t go underwater, so we can’t go over there, right?”
“I guess.”
I’m assuming water beast people can come on land.
Then there’s no problem, right? Apparently there is.
“They’re old-fashioned like that. If we go on land, you people should come greet us underwater. Well, only some of them said that, the ones that have been around for a long time…”
There’s no helping the fact that their races are different, but apparently the younger ones don’t really care.
But it’s hard for them to really be friendly when older generations have that kind of attitude.
I feel like I heard something similar to this recently…
“It’s like the ancient dragons.”
“Yeah, I heard it. Wilhelmina’s kin came by and told me. I guess different races have the same troubles… Ahh, so tiring.”
So Edinburgh even got Suzaku involved.
She negotiated with great spirits too, so the way things are going, isn’t Graham going to be wrapped up in a crazy situation?
Well, Suzaku didn’t say she was going to help…
“Well, it’s a good chance to make a connection. We can’t let the old generations push them around forever, so I’m gonna help.”
“Good luck Graham.”
And Tiltue.
I press my hands in prayer for the ones who aren’t here, and we chat until it’s completely dark.
Suzaku lights her fire a little, and gets up.
“A new wind is blowing on this island, and you’re in its center.”
“…I’m somewhat self-aware about that.”
“Kukuku, I would’ve burned you as hard as I could if you denied it.”
She laughs, and looks up after jumping down.
“You got me involved this much, so solve my problem with me.”
“Gladly. I want to see the underwater temple.”
I got really excited when I saw Miss Sheryl’s temple and Yggdrasil, so if it rivals those, I definitely want to see it.
I tell Suzaku how I feel, and she smiles awkwardly as she turns around.
I watch her go, and go down too.
“I came here to check up on them, but…”
They’re not going outside now.
But I feel like I heard something pretty useful.
“Submarine divine beast people.”
There’s Elga’s case too, so I need to find a way to enter the underwater temple.
“Oh right… What kind of divine beast is their village chief?”
Suzaku is the immortal Phoenix, Elga is Fenrir, Gaius is Behemot, and Livia is Leviathan.
I’m not too knowledgeable about mythology, so I can’t think of many submarine divine beasts.
I only know about games and manga, and even then I don’t know if they’d fit.
At least I imagine if he’s on the same level as Suzaku, it’d be something I know…
“I can’t think of anything.”
Well, I’ll ask Elga some other day.
I say as I run through the forest to get home before it gets even later.
Thanks for the treat.
Hidamarisou, are you on break or something?