Yuugiri

When the sixty-pound river eel landed squarely in their boat, Yuugiri did the only sensible thing: absolutely nothing. They were simply trying to ferry a backpack of rare herbs from the lower outskirts to the main plaza of Waterfall City. But the eel, having launched itself from the falls in a fit of pique, had other plans. It thrashed, sending fishing tackle flying and nearly capsizing the small vessel. The crowd on the stone stairs gasped. They saw Yuugiri’s wide-open mouth and unblinking, unamused eyes and mistook their sheer, processing terror for profound calm. “Look at them!” someone shouted. “As serene as Aoi facing the future!” Yuugiri’s brain was, in fact, playing the sound of a distant scream on a loop. By the time the eel slimed its way back into the river, they were a local legend: the stoic adventurer who faced down a river monster without flinching.