Kazuki had one dream that week:
"Sun. Sea. Sizzling yakitori. And maybe—just maybe—a mango smoothie with a tiny umbrella."
He even made a checklist titled "Official Vacation Vibes Checklist" and drew little doodles of him in sunglasses.
Tala reviewed the map from her perch on Getsuryu's back. "We're headed for Minatozu, a peaceful coastal city known for its seafood, silk markets, and an annual Watermelon Festival. Should be quiet."
"YES!" Kazuki fist-pumped. "Beach episode, here we come!"
Smile bounced in place, wearing inflatable floaties even though it had no arms or legs.
Getsuryu sighed. "I fear this tranquility is doomed."
✦
Minatozu, upon first arrival, was exactly what Kazuki hoped for.
Children splashed in the shallows, vendors sold skewers and sweet buns, and gulls cawed lazily overhead. Azure rooftops shimmered under the sun like waves frozen in flight.
Kazuki ran down the boardwalk, sandals flapping, shouting, "I CAN SMELL THE VACATION!"
Smile rolled behind him in a beach hat and coconut shell bikini top.
Tala and Getsuryu trailed at a safe distance, already sensing something cursed in the air.
"I bet he trips into the mayor's office and becomes royalty," Tala muttered.
Getsuryu groaned. "That's oddly specific."
✦
Meanwhile, deep within the city…
The current Lord Mayor of Minatozu—a corrupt noble named Lord Sazanami—was screaming at his mirror.
"WHO STOLE MY MANGO PUDDING?!"
Servants trembled. The city's guards were on edge. Rumor had it the mayor had been stealing funds from the port tax and enslaving water elementals for his "aesthetic fountains."
The people were scared.
But all that was about to change.
✦
Kazuki's "Vacation" Begins
He started strong: mango smoothie in hand, he walked the sandy coast, letting the breeze tousle his hair.
Smile built a sandcastle… with six towers, a working drawbridge, and tiny slime guards.
Tala set up camp under an umbrella with a magical fan.
But then Kazuki spotted a man being chased by guards.
"What's going on?" he asked.
The man tripped and shouted, "They found out I wrote a poem mocking the mayor's fashion sense!"
Kazuki blinked. "…His fashion sense?"
"It rhymed 'corruption' with 'he needs a lotion'—AND NOW I'M A WANTED MAN!"
Kazuki frowned. That wasn't even a good rhyme.
✦
The (Accidental) Rebellion Begins
Kazuki, without thinking, blocked the guards with a smile.
"Hey! He's just a poet!"
One of the guards sneered. "Out of the way, tourist."
They lunged.
Kazuki stepped aside.
One tripped on a coconut. The other faceplanted into Smile's sandcastle.
A hidden mana mine under the drawbridge exploded gently with glitter.
The guards screamed, then passed out.
The crowd watching from nearby gasped.
Someone whispered, "…Did he just defeat two guards… by standing there?"
Another whispered, "He's The Tourist Rebellion."
Kazuki: "Wait, what?"
✦
News Travels Fast
By sunset, rumors had spread across Minatozu:
A mysterious wanderer defeated the mayor's guards without lifting a weapon.
He liberated a poet using only a smoothie and sandals.
He commanded a giant beast (Getsuryu), a mysterious priestess (Tala), and a jelly assassin (Smile).
Posters appeared overnight.
✦ THE CHOSEN BEACH LORD HAS COME ✦
"All hail Lord Kazuki of the Chill Tide!"
Kazuki, meanwhile, was asleep in a hammock, snoring peacefully, covered in sunscreen that Smile applied in the shape of a happy face.
✦
Coup at Sunrise
The next day, a parade formed outside the villa where Kazuki was napping.
A delegation of city elders, adventurers, and overworked street vendors approached with trumpets made of clamshells.
"We beseech you, oh Blessed of the Beach," they said, kneeling. "Please replace Lord Sazanami. He's currently locked in his sauna, screaming about puddings."
Kazuki blinked. "Huh? I just came here for yakitori."
But when he saw the crowd—families holding signs that said "Down with Pudding Tyranny"—and children waving tiny smile-shaped flags, he couldn't say no.
"…Okay. But only until the Watermelon Festival ends!"
✦
Kazuki, City Lord of Minatozu
His first decree: Free the water elementals.
His second: Lower smoothie prices by 30%.
His third: Everyone gets a paid beach day once a week.
The people cheered.
Tala stared. "How do you trip into political revolution?"
Getsuryu nodded solemnly. "He rules as he walks—accidentally, and with great chaos."
Smile was already engraving Kazuki's Beach Empire into the mayoral office wall with a slime chisel.
✦
Elsewhere…
Aurelis read the morning paper while sharpening his sword.
"Kazuki… now rules a city. From a hammock."
He gritted his teeth.
"Unacceptable."
He threw the paper down and stood.
"I will beat that idiot one day—if only to prove the world has logic."