Published: August 15, 2025
Two Hours Later
With everyone from Shikum’s pier helping out, we finished applying the acidic slime all over the open-air bath. We were now eating an early lunch in front of the hut.
On a cloth spread on the ground, today’s lunch was the usual soup and rice balls made by my mother. The filling was simmered fish, and the rich flavor paired perfectly with the rice.
The weather was nice, and it felt like a picnic. As I ate, I heard voices coming from the mountain path.
I wondered who it could be up here on the mountain.
“Phew! The road is as terrible as ever... Oh!”
“Lord of the Territory!?”
To my surprise, pushing through the bushes was the Lord of the Territory himself. Two Dragonewts who appeared to be his guards followed behind him.
“Sir!?”
“Pigoo, did you guide him here yourself?”
“Of course. There’s no one more familiar with this place than me.”
“That may be true. I did say I’d leave the personnel decisions to you. But you should consider your age a bit more... Well, whatever. More importantly, I seem to have disturbed your meal again.”
“No, not at all. By the way, Lord, what brings you here?”
“Hmm, I was curious to see how things were going. I finished some urgent tasks and came to check. Is the cleaning going well?”
So, we showed him the bath and explained the current situation.
“I see... So there really was a chemical that could dissolve that rock-like grime.”
“This time we used an improvised substitute since we didn’t have the right materials on hand, but it’s effective.”
“Sir, I personally observed the experiment. The chemical-soaked cloth was applied and left to allow the chemical to penetrate the grime, and even at that stage, the surface had already begun to dissolve.”
“After about an hour, we plan to remove the cloth and begin the full cleaning.”
“That sounds promising.”
The Lord stepped outside the hut with a pleased expression.
Outside were the two guards and the people from Shikum’s pier who had been told to eat lunch. They were silent and seemed a bit uncomfortable.
The Lord seemed to notice the atmosphere as well.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce them. This is Kicchoumaru, who serves as my bodyguard and attendant.”
“I am honored to be introduced as Kicchoumaru.”
“And this man is a master of the Dragonewt village’s martial art, ‘sumo’—”
“I am Tairyuuzan. Pleased to meet you.”
“He has been recognized as a Yokozuna, the highest rank for sumo wrestlers, and not only guards me but also instructs me in sumo.”
The two bowed upon introduction, so I introduced myself naturally.
Following the people from Shikum’s pier, I was last.
This cleared up a mystery.
“So the Lord of the Territory has been studying sumo all along.”
“Yes. I noticed that Ryoma-kun looked at me differently than others yesterday, and you knew about sumo as well.”
“Yes. My grandparents traveled as adventurers when they were young, so I’ve heard about it. I never thought I’d meet a real sumo wrestler here.”
“I learned about sumo during my student days. A foreign exchange student from the Dragonewt village was among my classmates, and when I heard about sumo from him, I thought, ‘This is it!’
Our Pigmen tend to gain weight easily and lose it with great difficulty, which is why we have this body shape. But those aspiring to become sumo wrestlers in the Dragonewt village intentionally eat large amounts of food to build their bodies. Typically, when training swordsmanship or other martial arts, they first tell you to slim down, but many Pigmen injure their bodies, especially their knees, due to overtraining and their persistent body weight. However, sumo has training methods that maintain a large body while enabling movement even with such a frame. It’s a martial art seemingly made for us Pigmen!”
Since then, the Lord had secretly wanted to learn sumo. After becoming lord, around the same time he invited rice farmers and technicians, he also brought in Tairyuuzan, the Yokozuna.
“By the way, Ryoma-kun, may I ask you something?”