Shinki Itten had been a charming village. The thought of his home’s pastoral delights had kept Shin’s spirits afloat during some of his most troubling moments since stepping away from her familiar comforts. And yet no matter how much he might have cherished his memories of his little village, it was love at first sight with the bustling town that Shinki Itten had become.

While Shinki Itten had previously been little more than a collection of farms and homes nestled within the protective gaze of a central watchtower, Shin now found himself deposited from the Inside Place to a beautifully maintained garden. Blossoming trees shaded gracefully winding paths that stretched over a space larger than the space the entire original village used to take up, the familiar watchtower now casting its vigilant shadow over a perfectly tended piece of nature transplanted into the middle of civilization.

Shin didn’t miss that said watchtower had gained a few friends, three more towers standing proud within what appeared to be the districts of Shinki Itten, but the kobold had more pressing concerns at the moment. Namely, he’d just spotted the large ponds that filled the plaza garden and the fish that filled them in a riot of color. His fish.

The chipper little fish had taken to the Tribe’s upgrade with aplomb, each piscine marvel nearly the length of a man’s arm and painted in a dizzying array of hues. Reds, blues, yellows, even glinting metallic tints that caught the sunlight with a delightful twinkle, all neatly arranged by color and pattern with no two ponds the same. Did becoming a Level Three Tribe have any other benefits besides these fantastic fish? Shin couldn’t really remember anymore.

“Which’re your favorite?”

That was an excellent question. So excellent, that Shin didn’t even care to bother himself with who’d asked it. “The white and red ones, or maybe the ones with green and black splotches. Or the all orange ones. Blue and silver are definitely in the running, too. I have no idea that question is so hard.”

“Oh. I like the yellow ones.”

Goddess they made it sound so simple. “How did you pick, though?!”

“Because yellow is my favorite color!”

That...wow, yes. A simple, elegant choice, clear-headed and free from all indecisiveness. Shin’s fellow fish lover clearly had a clarity of vision that most lacked. The Schemer turned to tell his new friend just that, only to find himself staring down into the eyes of a small child.

Huh. A child. Shin had never seen one of those before. Both kobolds tilted their heads in unison as Shin realized that some part of him had idly assumed children would be just like all the kobolds he’d already known, but tinier. But no, this scrap of a thing with his guileless eyes and oversized ears nearly as big as his head was something entirely different. This was new.

Fortunately, even while stunned Shin knew the best way to respond. “Yellow is great.”

The young kobold nodded knowingly, his chest puffing up with pride as the woman holding his hand took notice of the conversation that what could only be her son was having. She took a quick glance at Shin, seeming to consider and immediately dismiss him as a threat before turning her eyes back. Then she wrenched her head back in a massive double take, nearly leaping out of her robe when she apparently realized who precisely it was her child was talking with. “Oh Goddess, I’m so sorry! So sorry to waste your time; he doesn’t know who he’s bothering! I’m truly sorry for–”

“No no! No.” Shin immediately waved off the woman’s concerns, quite embarrassed by her show of deference. “I don’t mind at all; to the contrary, in fact.”

The woman nodded, her ears still folded back in lingering consternation. “Tama always wants to come and see your fish, my l–”

“Oh no, please just call me Shin.”

“Oh, um, yes! Well, he simply adores your garden. How you maintain all of this alongside every other thing is simply a miracle!”

Shin oversaw this entire plaza? Well, he could already guess the secret behind how he managed it: involved hobbies are a lot easier when you don’t have a damn job. “I’m sure compared to raising such a promising member of our next generation, managing a few plants and fish is nothing.”

Tama’s Mother beamed at that, and the little kobold immediately sensed he had a moment to strike. “I want to feed the yellow ones, but the signs say we can’t!”

“It’s true, I’m afraid.” Shin knelt down, his expression solemn as he shook his head. “If you feed the fish, they’ll love you forever. They might abandon their ponds and try to follow you home!”

Tama’s tail burst into a frantic wag, his little fists clenched as tightly as he could manage. “What! But I want that!”

“Oh really?” Shin rubbed his chin, making a show of considering that. “Well, then how about this? If you come by some morning during feeding time, you can give the yellow ones their food. How does that sound?”

“Uh~!” The young boy nearly poofed out in excitement, his tail whipping around in violent delight as he stared up at his mother with pleading eyes. “Can I? Can I pleeease~?”

The woman laughed musically, her ears finally unfolded as she offered Shin a grateful smile. “Maybe, but only if you can go to bed without a fuss tonight. Can you do that, Tama?”

Tama nodded with the sort of fierce resolve that only zealots, small children and the truly insane can manage. “I can. I will go to bed right now.”

“Haha, well, maybe we’ll wait a little while longer to…oh!” The woman straightened up, slipping back into courteous formality as she took notice of something over Shin’s shoulder. “I’m terribly sorry, it seems we are keeping you from your duties after all.”

Shin glanced back to find Mimasu standing there, waiting politely for his conversation to end. How long had the scribe been there? Well, no matter. “Well, it was my absolute pleasure to be kept from them.”

The woman bowed in gracious farewell before starting off, little Tama furiously waving goodbye. “Bye~! See you tomorrow~! The yellow ones are gonna like me best~!”

Mimasu cleared his throat as Shin waved back, offering the Schemer a peppy grin. “That was cute! You do realize that you’re going to have a horde of children demanding to feed their favorite colors of fish now though, right?”

“I think I can handle that. Oh, before I forget!”

“Hm?” The scribe tilted his head as Shin produced a few sheets of folded paper. “What’s this?”

“It’s the notes from our Tribal Decision meeting; I figured that even though you weren’t there, you’d want…” Shin trailed off, his ears flicking up in surprise. “Uh, Mimi, are you crying?”

The kobold let out a loud, emotional sniff as he clutched the papers tightly to his chest, his tail wagging in unalloyed glee. “This is the nicest thing that has ever happened to me.”

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“Oh, um. You’re welcome?”

Mimasu sniffed again, the smile all but bursting off of his face. “Just as soon as I’ve corrected the undoubtedly countless spelling and style errors in these notes, I will treasure them.”

Huh. Shin wasn’t…entirely thrilled with all of that sentiment, but he supposed it would be best to just roll with it. “Was there something that needed my attention?”

“What? Oh. Right. A Player’s arriving.”

Shin’s tail shot up in alarm. “What! Already?!” When Mimi nodded in confirmation, Shin immediately turned to start towards Moots’s farm and the zone’s exit. “There’s no time to waste, I need to be there when–”

“That’s the wrong way.”

“What? But the only zone barrier is–”

“Not anymore.”

———————————————————————————————

As Shin raced through the streets of Shinki Itten, Mimasu close at his heels, he couldn’t help sparing a second to admire the tactical simplicity of the town’s layout. Every district had been seemingly built around its own watchtower, meaning a fortified position to gather in was never further than a short walk regardless of where one might find themselves. Shinki Itten was beautiful, no doubt, but it was also defensible.

Shin had to admit it: Whichever storied ancestor of theirs the System created out of whole cloth to take credit for the construction of Shinki Itten had done a damned good job.

Goddess, that was a confusing thought.

Mimasu had already given Shin the details, but the Schemer couldn’t allow himself to believe it until he saw it with his own eyes. All he could think about was that conversation he’d eavesdropped on between the Sky Voice and the Empty Voice. Sky Voice had been so concerned about something happening with the zone’s lake, could it have meant…?

The streets of Shinki Itten gave way, laying bare the answer as clearly as day. Shin could only gaze in wonder as the river that cut through the city itself tumbled out into not the lake that had become so familiar, but a full fledged bay. And beyond that?

The sea. Nothing but blue, expanding out endlessly.

Shin’s shoulders slumped as he continued to stare out at that expanse of azure, unable for the moment to admire the bustling port that ringed the estuary’s sapphire waters. Some part of him was simply gripped by the sheer majesty of the sight, but the rest…the Sky Voice had been worried something would happen, and clearly that concern had been well-founded.

So what, then, was the Ring? And the Edge that was meant to keep them from…doing whatever it was they shouldn’t be doing with the Ring? Was the ocean the Edge? For the first time in his life, Shin actually regretted having a special insight into something. As loath as he would have normally been to admit it, there were clearly some secrets that he’d have been happier leaving unlearned.

“Surprised you’re the last one here.” Shin had been so distracted by both the changes to the city and his own private turmoil he’d completely missed Gero’s presence, the woman already standing ready at the docks. “Even Hilde beat you, and she wasted time enlisting a whole army.”

Hilde tsked, Gero’s barb over the half dozen Banken lined up behind her deflecting off of the hobgoblin’s confidence as she nodded towards the ship swiftly approaching the docks. “If the Player jumps off that ship and immediately starts setting everything on fire, you’ll be glad that I brought extra hands to keep things under control. Maybe you should have thought about bringing some help, too?”

“I did.” Gero jerked her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the impatiently wiggling Bex. ‘I brought her. She already exploded the head of one Player; she could probably do it again.”

“Um, hopefully no one’s head’ll get exploded?” Bex squinted at the ship, her lips silently moving as she did her best to read the name painted on its side. “The…Octo Poix? That sounds sort of–”

“Finally!” A voice called from the prow of the expensive-looking ship as it slowed to a halt, several figures on board expertly bowlining the vessel to the docks once it finally stopped. A gangplank enrobed red fabric extended out and the owner of the voice immediately descended, unquestionably a Player and, at least for the moment, friendly.

They were some sort of race Shin had never seen before, tall and willowy with blueberry-colored skin and a short shock of rose-gold hair. Their face was all angles, sharp cheekbones and pointed chin and hawkish nose, giving their pale eyes the quality of being intensely focused on anything they might fall upon. Their manner of dress stood out as well, clad in a tightly buttoned jacket so pristinely white that Shin doubted even a speck of grime had ever befouled it.

The Player took a moment to inspect the comings and goings of the dock, offering pleasant if somewhat brusque nods to any villagers who happened to glance their way. After a moment, though, they began to tap their foot. Were they…waiting for something? Oh crap, was Shin supposed to go say something?

Regardless of what the proper protocol would have been, when the Player laid eyes on Shin they quickly marked the kobold and his companions as locals of status. “Hey!” They called out, cupping a hand around their mouth, “Where’s my fanfare?”

Shin tilted his head, sharing a confused look with Gero before calling back. “What do you mean? What fanfare?”

“For my achievement!” The Player threw out their hands, indicating the docks and the village that lay beyond. “Should I get a World’s First for being the first one here?”

“Oh!” Bex pulled up a status window and clicked a few options, calling back to the other Player in a mixture of sheepishness and excitement. “Forgot I had my Mantle on. Sorry, I already got that one!”

The Player huffed in mild annoyance, plopping their fists onto their curved hips. “Oh blah. Well, congratulations…?” They trailed off expectantly, raising their eyebrows at Bex.

“Oh! I’m Bex, hey!”

This seemed to be as good a moment to speak up as Shin would get. “And we’re members of the Shinki Itten Council.” Shin nodded towards Bex and Hilde, both warriors offering the new Player courteous if reserved greetings. “On behalf of Shinki Itten and the Grand Alliance, we welcome–”

The Player waved away what was almost certainly going to be a long introduction. “Yeah yeah, cute dog people and hobgoblins; I get it, I love it, it’s great.” They clapped their hands together, excitedly inspecting the dock activity once again. “Now I’ve already missed one World’s First, and I’m not going to miss another. What’s the keystone ingredient for your Cooking Styles? It’s got to be some sort of seafood, right? I’d bet my eighteenth Star on it. That’s the one I earned in-game. My First World First, coincidentally.”

Bex let out a gasp, recognition blooming across her face. “Omigosh, I know you! You’re, um, that chef! From that show!”

“Which show?” The Player idly replied, “Chef Masters, Hellhole Restaurant or Celebrities Can’t Cook?”

“All three I guess! I mean, mostly from clips of you making famous people cry? Which are probably taken from those shows, I bet?”

The other Player gave a bemused laugh at that, leaning in to inspect a crate of vegetables being unpacked. “Sounds about right.”

“You know this person?” Shin asked Bex, keeping his voice low.

“Yeah totally; they’re Chef Yasmar! Totally famous chef, had a bunch of big time restaurants, closed them all and only cooks in Magica now. You have to wait like six months to get a seat at their place in Magica City! They’re one of the only Players to reach Pinnacle Master in Cooking!”

Pinnacle Master, huh? That was the highest rank someone could reach in a profession without some sort of transcendent event. Shinki Itten wasn’t simply playing host to a Player. Their guest was a bonafide celebrity.

“Give me some sense of urgency here, people.” Yasmar rolled their hand in a circle, attempting to coax anyone into answering their question. “You must have some sort of special ingredient local to the city, right?”

Well, the Player was probably right? Shin considered the matter. “Well, we grow a wide variety of vegetables and grains. We’ve got silkie chickens, and the pork we raise is particularly fine. But I…” Before he could finish that thought, Shin’s eyes focused on something happening further down the docks. “Actually, I think you might be able to see for yourself?”

“Hm?” Yasmar turned around to spot a new ship settling down on the other side of the docks, her burly crew securing her to the pier before descending with their catch. Each sailor carried in their sturdy arms an enormous crustacean, easily the size of a small child. The huge creatures were tightly trussed, with special attention paid to securing the six massive, meaty-looking claws attached to their spindly legs.

Yasmar let out a hiss of breath, their pale eyes blazing with excitement. “Dire Shrimp. Fuck yes. Go get your Style Masters, find us a kitchen, and bring me ten of those babies. I’m about to take your mouth to fucking heaven.”