Yamamoto pulled out the rusty key he'd recovered from the ocean floor and proceeded to use it on the door. Not surprisingly, the key fit almost perfectly, following some shoving and readjusting. After a bit of further resistance, the lock turned and opened with a grinding click.
Looking ahead, a passage came into view, and from its look, anyone could tell that it was clearly a man-made tunnel, with the carved stone walls and remnants of old torches in brackets. As for what the tunnel was used for, there was no way to say for sure.
Yamamoto led the boy and they walked through the tunnel in pitch darkness… once again, he had forgotten to get a torch.
They walked for less than 30 minutes before another door appeared. This one wasn't locked, it just needed some force to open, and once it did… blessed daylight. They emerged inside a storage shed on the outskirts of town, with the sun setting before them.
Taking into full view the sight before them, Toby could no longer hold it and burst into tears, streams rolling down his face. Yamamoto wanted to drag him home, but had to wait for the crying to reduce enough for the kid to gain proper control of his movement.
Once he had cried enough, Yamamoto led him back home… actually, he took him to the docks, where he found the boy's father, Marcus, sitting and staring at the water.
As soon as he spotted his father, Toby shouted, "dad!" and ran to him.
Marcus turned, his expression cycling through disbelief, shock, and overwhelming joy in the space of a heartbeat. He ran to his son, dropped to his knees, and pulled the boy into a crushing embrace.
"Toby. Toby, you're alive. You're alive."
Both of them were crying now, and several nearby fishermen had stopped their work to watch, their own eyes suspiciously wet.
Marcus looked up at Yamamoto, his face streaked with tears. "You found him. You actually found him. How can I ever—"
"No need," Yamamoto said firmly, putting out a hand to stop the man. "I'm just glad he's safe." He concluded, wearing a very manly face at that moment.
'Just your friendly neighbourhood swordsman.' He said in his mind, looking at the quest completion window that had opened up before him.
Strangely, the reward was yet to materialize.
…
[QUEST COMPLETE: The Fisherman's Missing Son]
Rewards:
+3 Free Stat Points
+3 Free Mastery Points
+5 Roasted Fish
Item Received: [Rusty Silver Fishing Rod]
…
Regardless of Yamamoto's words, Marcus insisted on giving him something, hugging his leg until he agreed… it had become a little embarrassing.
Yamamoto followed Marcus home, different thoughts bubbling in his mind, since he could no longer say for certain what was and was not possible.
Once they got there, he had to watch and wait for the boy and his mother to go through their own round of crying and reminiscing. Then Marcus introduced Yamamoto as the person who saved their son, and once again, he had to hold out his hand… well he couldn't, he just helped the woman up while repeating himself, "I am just glad that the kid's alright."
Even then, the boy's mother insisted that he came in and eat with them, which he couldn't refuse and obliged.
After the meal, Yamamoto was just about to leave when Marcus came to him with something in hand and handed it to him. On receiving it, Yamamoto could tell it was a fishing rod, and Marcus referred to it as an old family heirloom, which he gave out as it was nothing compared to his son's life. "If you didn't bring him back, who would inherit it?" He questioned with a relieved sigh.
Even though Yamamoto couldn't see why they wouldn't just give birth to another child to inherit it, he received it graciously without debate. Marcus also pressed a bundle of roasted fish into Yamamoto's hands, refusing to take no for an answer.
Even the roasted fish was provided by Marcus. 'I won't be surprised if he hands me mastery points now.' He thought to himself.
Yamamoto accepted everything and made his way back to the Rusty Anchor after greeting the family and bidding them farewell.
This entire experience further irritated the reality of this life to him.
In his room, he examined the fishing rod. It didn't look like much—tarnished silver, worn wood, clearly old… the way these treasures were hidden…
He stashed it into his inventory for later, since it would only be important much later.
…
Far away, in the mountain gully that Yamamoto had left for a while now, something stirred…
A massive serpent emerged from the waters not far off. Its scales were smooth and dark, almost black, absorbing what little moonlight reached the bottom of the crevice. It was easily forty feet long, with a body as thick as a tree trunk.
The serpent moved gracefully up the wall of the gorge, reaching to its nest where it had laid some eggs months ago.
Surprisingly, the eggs were all broken, and its nest spotted a hole through it.
The serpent's head swayed back and forth, tasting the air with its tongue, searching for something… then after staying still for some moments more, it moved again, this time faster than when it came, diving back into the water and disappearing.