Musashi was awakened by the aroma of cooking.
As she opened her eyes, her nose immediately caught the scent of rice and meat being prepared.
Was someone cooking?
Looking at the familiar wooden ceiling, Musashi knew she must be lying in the wooden house in the jōkamachi. And if it was about who would cook for her here—
"Naoki?"
Turning her head toward the source of the aroma, Musashi saw Naoki and a white-haired woman in white standing by a stove that clearly didn't belong to this era, busy preparing food like a married couple.
Hearing her voice from behind, Naoki turned: "Awake, Musashi? Sleeping all day— are you a pig?"
"Sleeping all day... Wait, I remember I..."
The last memory in her mind was the scene of her slashing Houzouin Inshun.
"I managed to cut down Inshun?"
"Yeah. After that, you passed out from blood loss. Slept until now. It took some effort to drag you back from outside." Naoki said, approaching Musashi. "You're really bold. I didn't expect you to defeat Houzouin Inshun without getting hurt, but injuring yourself that badly—are you some muscle-bound woman who only thinks about attacking? Is all of Musashi's swordsmanship just about striking and trading wounds?"
"Ugh... Uh... Well..."
Naoki's aggressive tone made Musashi instinctively shrink back, her eyes drifting to the side: "I... guess I got carried away, or maybe I overestimated myself... Inshun's spear techniques were so beautiful, I couldn't help but want to fight him longer."
"So you got yourself hurt that badly?"
"Mhm..."
"Are you an idiot?"
"I'm really sorry..."
Musashi's head drooped so low it nearly buried itself in her chest.
Meanwhile, the white-haired woman—Tomoe—turned around: "Enough, Naoki-sama, don't make things hard for Musashi-dono. To fight Inshun-dono to that extent and even land the final blow—that's already a rare and commendable achievement."
"If I praise her, she'll get smug as hell."
"Not smug! If anything, it's my nose—wait, you're..."
After instinctively retorting, Musashi suddenly realized who was speaking. She hurriedly rolled to the side, grabbing the two swords leaning against the wall: "Archer Inferno!? Why are you here!?"
"She's no longer a Heroic Spirit Swordsman." Naoki said. "It's a bit complicated to explain. Musashi, calm down. I'll explain slowly—Gozen, is lunch ready?"
"Yes, Naoki-sama. Everything's prepared."
"Then let's eat while we talk."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
A few minutes later.
"Nom nom... So you mean... nom... Lady Tomoe Gozen... nom... is back to normal?"
After listening to Naoki's explanation, starting from the Seventh Singularity, Musashi spoke while devouring rice.
Naoki nodded: "After destroying the karma embedded in her Spirit Origin, Gozen returned to normal. The reason she's still here is because I gave her a new Spirit Core—and, Musashi, finish the food in your mouth before talking."
"Nom... Got it!"
After swallowing everything in her mouth, Musashi took a sip of water: "Alright, I understand. Nice to meet you, Tomoe-dono. I've long heard of your fame. I'm Miyamoto Musashi, currently staying with Naoki as his guest in this house. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is mine, Musashi-dono. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask Gozen for help. It's the least Gozen, who remains in this world with a body burdened by grave sins, can do."
"Yeah!" Musashi nodded with a smile. "But... Naoki, you're really incredible."
"What do you mean?"
"A Servant disappears once their Spirit Core is destroyed. I heard you say that before, but you managed to give Tomoe-dono a new Spirit Core, letting her stay in this world. What amazing method did you use?"
"Well..."
"Ugh..."
Hearing Musashi bring up this topic, Naoki immediately fell silent. Tomoe's face flushed, her hands and feet fidgeting as if unsure where to place them.
Unaware of the shift in their demeanor, Musashi continued: "With such an incredible method, if you'd been there when I killed Inshun-dono, maybe he could've—"
"I'd never do that even if I died!"
Naoki abruptly cut off Musashi's daydream.
Give Houzouin Inshun a new Spirit Core? Logically, it wasn't an issue. He was a top-tier spear master whose skills reached the realm of gods and Buddhas. If restored, he'd be a great asset.
But Naoki couldn't accept it physically. It might be a double standard, but he'd rather die than make mucous membrane contact with a man!
Seeing Naoki's sudden strong reaction, Musashi was startled: "What's with you? Why are you so against it..."
"Musashi-dono." Tomoe, still blushing, whispered in her ear, "The method Naoki-sama used on me was..."
"Oh, oh... EH!?"
Hearing the method whispered in her ear, Musashi instantly turned as red as Tomoe: "T-That method?"
"What did you think it was?" Naoki said irritably. "That was the only way at the time, okay?"
"But still... I remember Tomoe-dono is Minamoto no Yoshinaka's wife..."
Musashi looked at Tomoe: "Are you okay with this?"
"Gozen thinks it's fine. After all, it was an emergency. Though I apologize to Yoshinaka-sama, I believe he'd understand given the situation." Tomoe explained. "Moreover, for this summoning, Gozen has resolved to fight for Naoki-sama and live for Naoki-sama."
"Wow... Such a mature response... That's an adult for you..."
Hearing Tomoe's heartfelt words, Musashi couldn't help but lean toward Naoki and lower her voice.
"Naoki, I've got one question. Answer honestly."
"What?"
"You... don't tell me you're into widows?"
Naoki: "??"
What was this idiot swordmaster saying?