03 Journey

Bird Sea Maru was a massive luxury ocean liner. Protected by magic, it had claimed a vast stretch of coastal waters near the harbor all for itself, lying there with an imposing presence.

Only after Sherlock boarded did he realize that there were pitifully few wizards aboard Bird Sea Maru, while Muggles made up more than half the passengers.

"Does your country live harmoniously alongside Muggles?"

"Oh... Muggles. Mr. Sherlock means ordinary people, right? In Japan, we call ordinary people who cannot use magic mortals. That term is essentially equivalent to the European term Muggle," Yuriko explained from beside him.

"Oh... I see. But as far as I know, China also calls ordinary people mortals. Does all of Asia call Muggles mortals?"

Yuriko shook her head. "Not quite. In fact, throughout East Asia—using your European terminology—the wizards and magical communities have, to a great extent... nearly ninety percent, been influenced by China. China's magical heritage is vast and profound. The magical regime in China calls itself the Inner Court, but wizards in other East Asian countries refer to it as the Celestial Court."

Sherlock nodded calmly. So a large part of Asia's magical world had been influenced by China.

"However... Japan's magical government differs greatly from those of European countries. While the Japanese magical world is also hidden in the shadows and unknown to mortals... Muggles, we influence their lives to a considerable degree and maintain deeper cooperation with the Muggle government," Yuriko continued. "As you can see, there are many Muggles aboard Bird Sea Maru."

"Quite often, we wizards also lend a hand to the Japanese government. As you saw, those Muggles are all Japanese government officials. They had just attended an international conference in Europe, but because they are under threat from a certain Japanese organization, we wizards must provide extensive protection... to prevent any unforeseen complications at such a critical time. That is why they are traveling aboard Bird Sea Maru."

Sherlock caught a different implication in Yuriko's words. He asked, "They need wizard protection... then the threat they face is likely from wizards as well, isn't it? Are there wizards in Japan threatening or even killing Japanese government officials?"

"Ah!"

Yuriko gasped and covered her mouth. It seemed she had accidentally revealed something she should not yet have told Sherlock. Her pearly teeth bit lightly into her red lip before she finally said calmly, "It would be safer to wait until we arrive in Japan and have Lord Dharma Purification Institute explain it to you personally, Mr. Sherlock."

Sherlock nodded and did not press further. With his current strength, unless he faced legendary great wizards on the level of Voldemort, Dumbledore, or Grindelwald head-on, he did not think much of any other wizard—even all the wizards aboard this ship.

By unleashing the magical power of the Obscurus, he could easily destroy this vessel.

"Mr. Sherlock, please allow me to show you to your room. The journey has been tiring; perhaps you would like to rest in your room," Yuriko said beside him.

Sherlock nodded and let her lead the way. Along the route, every Muggle official in a black suit they passed bowed deeply to Yuriko and Sherlock. Even the wizards dressed in black-and-gray robes respectfully stood aside and nodded. Yuriko carried herself exactly like a supreme commander.

As for Sherlock, he was the most highly honored guest aboard the ship.

"Those wizards in black-and-gray robes look very much like the ronin samurai of ancient Japan, don't they?"

Sherlock looked at them. They wore black-and-gray garments resembling the bathrobes of ancient Japan, with thumb-thick cords tied around their waists as belts. Where a short sword would normally have hung, they instead carried a wand. The greatest difference between Japanese wands and their European counterparts was that Japanese wands had guards like sword hilts.

Just like the hilts of Japanese daggers and katanas, the wands were not completely straight either, but carried a slight curve like a saber.

"They are Aurors of the Great Way Academy Shogunate! They are among Japan's elite combat wizards, and their duties are the same as those of British Aurors. The Aurors of the Ministry of Magic answer to the Head of the Auror Office, but the Aurors of the Great Way Academy Shogunate answer to the Shogun."

Sherlock: "..."

Yuriko led him to his room aboard Bird Sea Maru. It was extraordinarily spacious, as large as a basketball court. Tatami mats lined the floor, with neatly arranged cool mats laid atop them, along with exquisite folding screens. The bathroom was actually in the same great hall as the bedroom. The bathtub was enormous, gently steaming.

A ring of gleaming cobblestones surrounded it, each one neatly arranged and about the size of a fist.

The place had been fashioned into an indoor hot spring.

After Sherlock and Yuriko entered the room, they felt a faint tremor. Sherlock assumed Bird Sea Maru had left the harbor and begun sailing, but then he felt as though the floor were dropping beneath him.

Bird Sea Maru had indeed set sail, but it was traveling beneath the sea. This was a liner capable of cruising ten meters below sea level. Protected by magic, Sherlock could see the underwater scenery outside through the broad windows. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Not bad at all!"

Sherlock walked to the window and looked outside. At the same time, he found a book on the room's bookshelf describing Japan's magical history. Yet this A History of Magic was placed together with a whole pile of Beautiful Women's Catalogs. These so-called catalogs could be regarded as pornographic magazines of the magical world—at least, in Sherlock's eyes, the sexy, slender, pretty women in the illustrations were not wearing a single stitch of clothing.

At best, some wore extremely provocative underwear. More importantly, like the paintings in Hogwarts Castle and the news photographs in the Daily Prophet, these women could move.

Whenever Sherlock turned a page, the woman in the image would excitedly strike all sorts of seductive, provocative poses at him. The longer Sherlock looked, the more excited the woman's image became, until she eventually wore an expression as though she had reached the height of pleasure.

It gave Sherlock quite a fright. He had never expected that simply looking at an image could make the woman inside excited. He found the sheer imagination behind Japanese magic unbelievable.

If these Beautiful Women's Catalogs made their way into the Muggle world, they would probably ruin a great many people.

Sherlock also noticed that the cover of every different Beautiful Women's Catalog featured an even sexier, more slender woman named "Chie Rii." She had a head of alluring wine-red hair.

Her fair skin was like the smooth snowfields of the northern lands.

It seemed this woman was something like the hottest magazine pinup star in Japan's magical world, Sherlock thought to himself.

What was even more stimulating was that this woman named Chie Rii was also aboard Bird Sea Maru—and she had already entered Sherlock's room.