Wanderlust 2 [Hololive x D&D]

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 25

Polka's match was set to be first, in the late morning. She stood there calmly, muttering to herself to keep it together, to have confidence that it was possible to win. Surprisingly, she wasn't as nervous as expected. Compared to her, the bounty hunter projected an air of confidence and self-assurance. She then realized the bounty hunter was motioning her to come closer. Curious, she did so.

"Hello, my name is Korone Inugami," the hunter greeted jovially, "What's yours?"

"Erm, Polka Omaru," she replied hesitantly.

"Hello, Polka. Let's have a good fight," stated Korone with a grin

"Ah, sure," she replied with a smile.

"Fighters ready!"

Both of them nodded to the referee and got into their fighting stances.

"3… 2… 1… Fight!"

Korone was suddenly in her face with a flying kick. Quickly recovering from the shock, she dodged around the next two punches. Then, punching the dog girl in the head, she aimed down. It was blocked with both hands, so she got a quick punch to the head again.

Her opponent smiled, looking a little impressed as she aimed a kick at her head. She ducked under but wasn't prepared for a tap to her temple. She immediately leaned back to dodge the second tap, quickly ripping the cask from her belt and taking a swig. She then tossed the container at the dog girl's head. It bounced off it into her hands again and she sent a straight kick at her chest. Korone parried with both hands, but she swung around and used the momentum to return the kick to the temple. She then leaned back into a staggered drunken stance.

The bounty hunter's eyes lit up and said, "Oh..." She then leaped forward with a wide swing. Polka leaned back to dodge but got kicked in the side. The monk then leaned down and ducked another punch but got an elbow to her jaw.

Grunting from the pain, she took another drink and leaped forward, somersaulting and landing with a kick. She missed the first one as the bounty hunter backed away but lashed out with her other leg as she landed, catching her in the side as she approached again. The fennec fox girl then went in low with consecutive sweeps, causing Korone to back away. It didn't last too long as she jumped over and tried punching the monk in the head. Polka stopped her advance to block but she got a chop to the neck from the follow-up attack. This shocked her and made her weak at the knees. As she staggered back, she kept her cool and dodged another punch.

Taking another drink, she could feel a little groggy as all that moving around made her feel like throwing up. She was able to keep it down and pretended to turn around, pretending to throw up. As she heard the steps come nearer, she lashed out with a back kick and caught her opponent in the stomach. She then leaned back and pummeled the bounty hunter's defense with consecutive punches while advancing.

Unfortunately for her, Korone was able to recover from the sudden hit and jumped to the side while punching down. Her fist slammed into the fennec fox girl's forehead and the force crashed her head against the wooden floor. As Polka lost consciousness, she could hear the countdown and the dog girl giving her a thumbs up.

---

"By the gods, she lost," muttered Lamy in shock. Botan just stood there without a word, also quite astonished.

"Well… that dog girl is a bounty hunter… more experienced?" said Aloe hesitantly, fishing for a reason.

"Makes sense," agreed Nene as the countdown ended and the girl declared the winner, "We don't know how much experience she has. At least Polka put up a good fight."

"Hello, are you her friends?"

They looked to the owner of the voice. It was the bounty hunter and she had Polka over her shoulder.

"Er, yes?" replied the lore bard hesitantly.

"Oh, good. Here!" she said as she handed the unconscious monk to the archer. Then, she introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Korone Inugami. Nice to meet you. Are you with the guild?"

"Yes, they are," said Okayu as she suddenly appeared next to them.

"Okayu!" she exclaimed as she jumped all over the cat girl.

"Guah!? Stop! I'll fall!" the urban hunter protested as she tried to steady herself. After sniffing her a little, she added, "You also need a bath, Korone. You're sticky."

"Eh? No, I don't!" she protested in a similar manner as she playfully punched the cat girl's shoulder.

"Alright, alright," conceded Okayu. Turning to the party, she stated, "It's time for lunch. Go get something to eat now if you want to catch the next fight."

"Oh! Thanks for letting us know!" replied Nene. They waited a moment for the duo to walk away before turning to the rest and saying, "So Fein'Gaz and that half-elf is next. Does anyone want to watch it? I know I do."

"It would satisfy my curiosity," admitted Lamy, "To see him taken down a notch would be good."

"I don't mind. I'm interested too," agreed Botan, still carrying Polka over her shoulder.

"Count me in. I want to see him get pounded to the ground too," agreed Aloe eagerly.

"Alright, then. To lunch we go," declared the bard as she led them to Robel's.

---

The crowd was loud, both eager to see the next match as well as eager to support both sides. The muscular half-orc stood in one corner while the calm and collected half-elf stood in the other. Slowly, they approached each other and met several feet apart.

"As magnanimous as I am, I shall give you a final chance to back out, half-orc," the noble declared arrogantly as he tossed a red stone into the air. It starts orbiting around his head.

"Screw you!" he shouted back, "I am the strongest. No chance I'll lose!"

"Fighters ready!"

The half-elf chuckled and said, "So be it. It seems I must teach you a lesson."

"3… 2… 1… Fight!"

With a roar, Fein'Gaz charged forward while he roared, his skin gaining a slight red tinge. He tried grabbing the half-elf but he seemed to dance out of his reach just as his fists closed in on him.

The half-elf laughed haughtily. He raised his right hand to his face and sneered as he pointed with the same hand at the half-orc, "You dare try to lay your hands on me? Reyo Credo? Go and die, fool."

This pissed off Fein'Gaz and he started swinging his fists wildly in a frenzy, the roar of the crowd rising up to support him while drowning out the sound of a bell. Reyo just laughed and danced around his swings while counter-attacking with several straights.

He then shouted, "Fool! Flailing like a fish does nothing!" He then dove in and punched the half-orc in the solar plexus, stunning him. Then, he swung three times, all his punches slamming into his face. He ended his barrage by snapping his fingers and pointing at him, the faint toll of a bell drowned out once again by the crowd, "Lie down and die, fool!"

Reyo began swaying again, dancing out of reach of the recovered half-orc who was still enraged by his taunts. However, one of his flailing limbs actually punched the half-elf's face. An eventuality. The crowd cheered and roared in support. Suddenly, the noble burst out laughing.

"You call that a punch!?" he shouted with derision as he gave Fein'Gaz an uppercut, "WEAK!" He then landed two body shots and a punch that broke the half-orc's nose. As he staggered back, the noble then snapped his fingers and pointed at him, declaring, "You fool! You think you can compare to me!?"

The half-orc only roared back as he steadied himself, pumping and flexing before charging at the nobleman again. He only got off two swings before being punched in the solar plexus again.

"You!"

He continued to laugh as he landed two body shots and an uppercut..

"Are!"

Punching hard enough to actually lift the muscular half-orc.

"Weak!"

He leaned back and gestured, two energy beams shot out of his eyes and blasted his body.

"WEAK!"

It was a testament to the half-orc's fortitude that he landed on his feet. Bruises covered his body and his breath was heavy. Yet, he still persisted and pushed forward, growling as he did so.

"Why do you still insist on fighting?" Reyo jeered arrogantly as the crowd started to boo him.

"You only punch me because I let you," he continued as he did allow a punch to hit his chest but danced away from all the others.

"You still insist on fighting your betters?" he asked condescendingly as he thrust out a shadow-wreathed hand and pushed the half-orc away by the head. Fein'Gaz yelled in pain but still pushed on, running up to him swinging once more.

"I admit, your tenacity is admirable," he praised as he let one punch hit his chest, "But fighting against futility is just useless." He then used both hands to chop his neck on both sides and punched his face as hard as he could, instantly downing the half-orc in one punch. The muscular fighter slammed into the wooden floor hard, leaving cracks all over the platform.

The crowd fell silent. Reyo smirked to himself and simply walked off the platform, leaving his unconscious opponent behind.

---

The hushed din of the crowd slowly died out as the citizens slowly dispersed. The party sans Polka were stunned by what happened.

"For all his bluster, he actually defeated Fein'Gaz," muttered Lamy as they watched the half-orc get carried away on a stretcher to the temple for healing..

"...Just how did that happen?" said Botan in disbelief

"I have no idea," replied Nene as she shook her head, "I don't think anyone expected him to lose."

"Hmm, so… tomorrow we have a showdown between Korone and Reyo," murmured Aloe in thought, "I doubt she would accept any bribes. Plus, she is friendly with Okayu. Double no."

"...let's go check on Polka," suggested the bard after a while.

They headed back to the guild house. Thankfully, Polka had woken up. However, she was still feeling a bit off and wanted to stay in for the rest of the day. Then, they decided to split up to do their own thing after agreeing to meet back up at the guild house right before dinner time.

Lamy had gone to the temple to see if there was anything she could help with. Fein'Gaz was fine and should wake up after some time at rest. The surprising thing she learned from the healers was that there were signs of necrotic damage to his body. While there were no restrictions to magic in the tournament, this was a little concerning to the half-snow elf.

After some time of walking between stalls, Botan came across a shooting stall. They were offering stuffed plushies as prizes. Interest piqued, she stepped up and paid a few copper to play.

"Mogu, mogu, enjoying yourself?"

She glanced behind her and exclaimed, "Oh? Okayu?"

The cat girl stepped up to the stall with a smiling Korone behind her. "Come, let's see who's a better shot."

The lion girl gave her an eager grin and replied, "You're on!"

Aloe stayed away from the crowds. Even if she could pass herself as a tiefling, she was still wary of possible holy warriors that will be walking around there. She had been lucky so far that Lamy had been quite understanding, but she didn't want to push it. Instead, she spent some time in the alley behind the guild house to practice her dagger throwing. She was getting bored with it until Yogiri showed up and decided to turn it into an accuracy duel.

Meanwhile, Nene found herself in front of the performing stage, watching Siren Song. They had come to the city and were staying there for the duration of the festival. The members of the bardic group were there as well, rehearsing their moves and songs. It wasn't time for the performance yet, so they were not wearing their costumes. The troupe was being directed by a blue-skinned lady who was standing near the front.

"Alright, ladies. Time to take five. Go freshen yourselves up. Performance in a few hours," she said after looking satisfied with the practice.

"Thank you, Ay!" cheered the Sirens gratefully before running off the stage.

The djinni then turned to address her, much to her surprise, "A fan?"

"Oh, umm, kind of?" she said hastily with a blush, "I loved their singing ever since I was young. They're amazing."

The elemental beamed and stated proudly, "As well they should be! They poured a lot of hard work into their performances. It wouldn't do to be anything less."

Something about that seemed to stand out about that to her. "Have you been with them since the beginning?" she asked.

"Ever since it was just me and Sora," confirmed the djinni, her brown eyes seemingly twinkling brightly, "She has grand dreams. One of them was to unite the world with song. In a way, she achieved that. All the better that she made good friends along the way. I'm proud of her."

She thought for a moment and then asked the lore bard, "Want to meet them?"

"...Eh?"

"It may take some time to clean up, but I'm sure they can make time to meet a fan," said the djinni with a smile.

"Umm, I'm sure there are other, bigger fans than me..." Nene muttered bashfully as she stared at her feet.

"Do you see anyone else loitering around here?" Ay pointed out.

Her eyes went wide and looked around. Everyone else was milling about at the stalls. Save for her.

"Right? Stay here for a moment. I'll check on the girls and let you know to show up when they're done. Be right back," the djinni stated before heading off in the direction of the troupe leaving the starry-eyed fan standing there.

---

"Eh, where did you get that?" asked Aloe.

Botan, who had come in with a large owlbear plush, said with a grin, "I won it at a stall."

"Ah, another trophy," stated Polka with a knowing smile, getting nods from the happy lion girl. Thankfully, the fennec fox girl was feeling better and well enough to move around.

"Where did you get that?" Lamy asked Nene. She was holding a picture frame in both her hands, close to her chest as if it was a piece of treasure.

She mumbled an indiscernible reply. "Excuse me?" said the half-snow elf questioningly.

"...I got some autographs..." the blushing bard muttered more audibly, "From Siren Song."

"Who?" asked the succubus.

"A famous bard troupe," stated the cleric, looking a little impressed. Continuing to address the bard, she said, "I never took you for a fan. But, I can understand. Their singing is simply melodious and beautiful to listen to."

"Ah, ha," the lore bard sounded as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Hmm, let's watch a show after dinner," suggested the archer, "I'm curious about them."

"Yeah! Sounds good!" cheered on the monk.

"So, what did you do, Aloe?" asked Nene as they walked over to the bar.

"Um, I was practicing my dagger throwing skills with Yogiri," the succubus replied as they stepped inside.

"Oh, that's great," praised the lore bard, "It's good that you're mixing around with our seniors."

"Ah, thanks," the former replied with a smile, "She had some interesting pointers and some tricks she does. I'm not as good as she is though."

"You can do things your own way," interrupted Botan, "You don't have to copy exactly what Yogiri does. You can use her tips but how you use your weapons is your own. Don't worry too much about it. Yogiri is Yogiri. You are you."

Initially shocked, Aloe gave her a grateful smile and then chatted with her party until the end of the day.

The Siren Song performance was absolutely splendid and they gained a few more fans that day.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Death Day

The windows were shut. The shutters were clasped tightly. Rushia sat in the small dining room of her house. The first day of the festival. She spent her day at the school instead of joining in the revelry, finishing up on several tasks before heading straight home. She then shut her doors and sealed herself inside the house, not intending to leave until the festival was over. The larder was stocked with enough food to last her the duration of it. Still, it helped that the hired help wasn't exactly hired help either.

"Are you alright?" asked a voice as a patchwork arm placed a glass of wine in front of the necromancer.

"...I would be lying if I said I was fine, Ollie," she eventually replied after swirling the alcohol a little before taking a sip.

Next to her stood a zombie girl sporting blood-red hair and tattered clothes with a blood-red ribbon on the front. Her long hair was pinned up with a longsword. She wore a maid hat and was holding a silver-plated tray from which she took a soup bowl. She then placed the bowl, a napkin, and a soup spoon on the table.

"Are you sick?" the zombie girl asked worriedly.

The necromancer sighed and stated, "No, Ollie, I'm not sick. I'm just sad, that's all."

"But, it's a day of celebration, isn't it?" the zombie maid asked in confusion.

"Perhaps for them, it is," she stated morosely, half-agreeing with her, "I would know. I helped to kill the dragon after all. I still remember my friends. Subaru. Choco. That dragonborn bard... Coco Naught or something. My stepfather. He was a lich you know."

"You were raised by a lich?" the maid said in disbelief.

"He was a necromancer when he raised me," she clarified, "Still... the reason I don't join in the celebration is that he died in the fight. Died protecting me. He would have said that he was just showing off his genius, but in my heart... even now... I still feel that he still cared for me with that pitch-black heart of his." By the time she ended her small declaration, she was clenching her free fist as she placed the glass on the table, still half-full with wine.

Ollie stood there silently, stewing inwardly with the revelation while Rushia moved on to sip on the appetizer.

AN: Supposed to put this after chap 24 but forgot. Anyway, here is the zombie from gen2 of Hololive Indonesia.

Ollie Kureiji

Zombie Girl

Dueling Fighter

So, she has no martial archetype as... in lore, she died and she forgot her skills in her archetype. So she is stuck being a basic fighter with a longsword in her hair. But, she can still fight. Plus, since she has been animated by Rushia, she also gets the bonuses that Rushia grants due to her Necromancy College. The Undead Thralls benefits of max hitpoint increase and extra proficiency bonus to attacks. So, add that to a level 11 fighter and slap on Undead Fortitude. And abracadabra, a battle maid for Rushia.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 26

The next day couldn't come any sooner. The third placing fight was scheduled before lunchtime and that meant Polka was facing off against Fein'Gaz.

"Will you be alright with this?" asked Nene worriedly, glancing over at the half-orc who was busy flexing for the crowd.

"I dunno..." said Polka as she shrugged, "But, I might be able to get him to be a strong man for the circus."

Botan chuckled and stated, "Hu, hu, if you do get him to join your circus, you will definitely get a lot of support."

"Well, do your best, Polka," encouraged Lamy.

"Yeah, just do your best. As long as you do, you won't have regrets," agreed Aloe, "At least, I think so."

"Hi, hi, thanks everyone. I'll be sure to do my best," replied the monk gratefully.

She got up on the platform and slowly psyched herself up as she moved near the center. She pat her cheeks and hopped in place, loosening her joints and her body in preparation for the fight. She also learned a bit from her last fight; don't drink too much of the booze from the cask. Let it settle down in her stomach first. Too much moving around with a stomach that is filling too fast is vomit-inducing.

The half-orc stopped posing for a moment and turned to face the fennec fox girl. He smirked and said, "Good you aren't running away."

"After this, I want you to join my circus," she offered with a grin.

This gave him pause. A few seconds later, he chuckled and replied, "Heh, we'll see."

"Fighters ready!"

Both fighters nodded and slid into their stances. They were prepared.

"3… 2… 1… Fight!"

Fein'Gaz was surprisingly fast, as he suddenly charged up to Polka and grabbed her head. Pulling her in and grabbing her by the waist, he jumped up and slammed her down on the platform with a loud crash. She slowly pushed herself up as he took a few steps back, posing and raising his arms in response to the cheers of the crowd. She then took the cask off her belt and took a long drink.

"Hah, that won't work on- urk," the half-orc started but was taken aback by the cask suddenly being tossed into his face.

The monk then jumped up and grabbed the cask after it bounced off his then drove her foot into the same spot, his head snapping back. As she landed on her feet, he tried grabbing her and failing. She leaned back to avoid his meaty hands and swerved away from the hard punch he tried using. Snapping a punch to his face again, she sent blow after blow at his body. Instead of blocking them, he weathered the blows by flexing his muscles as he looked to the sky and roared, his skin gaining a red tinge. Without warning, he then spun around, his extending arms catching her in the side of the head.

Shaking her head, Polka took another drink to numb the pain. Fein'Gaz tried grabbing the cask away but she ducked down low backward and shot back up again to headbutt his chest. As he staggered back, she held up her hands and lurched forward. Feinting with her left, she slammed her elbow into his chest. He blocked the follow-up elbow but got punched in the face for his troubles. Her momentum got interrupted again when he did his spinning attack, his fists catching her in the side of her head again. As she stumbled back, she got kicked in the gut. She almost threw up but she kept it down and got into her stance again.

Taking a breath, the monk leaped with a knee strike, her knee slamming into his meaty palm. As she fell, she lashed out with a kick as it went under his hand and struck his face. Landing on both feet, she swept her leg out and missed as Fein'Gaz lifted his leg up. With little warning, she then punched his lifted leg in the knee, then slammed her elbow in his other. The half-orc reached down and tried to grab her but failed as she rolled over to the side. He then waited for her to get up and lunged. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her over, slamming her neck-first into the ground as he fell back. He kept his grip on her and lifted her over again. And again. And again, finally letting go after she fell unconscious after the fourth fall. He then got up and paraded himself around again as the monk was carried away to the temple for healing.

The party immediately followed after the stretcher attendants, worried for Polka. They quickly made their way there and waited outside with the exception of the cleric, who went in with the attendants. After a while, she came out again.

"She is fine now," she informed her friends, all of them becoming relieved, "She just needs to sleep now."

"Phew, that was close," muttered Nene.

They stood there in silence until Botan said, "So… let's get some lunch, then bring some back to Polka."

"Yeah! She'll be hungry when she wakes up," agreed Aloe with several nods, "Let's do this!"

---

Polka woke up and was still feeling a little weak, so Lamy and Botan decided to keep her company while Nene and Aloe returned to the tournament area to watch the final match. The crowd made a din as everyone was busy talking at the same time while waiting for it to start.

Reyo was sitting on one corner, busy reading a book, his red stone already orbiting his head. Korone was in the opposite corner, stretching and preparing for the match. Soon, Lord Aruran stepped forward.

"Fighters ready!" he called out. It seems he was to be the referee of the final match.

The half-elf calmly closed the book and laid it on the platform. Then, both fighters moved to the center of the platform and got into the fight stances.

"3… 2… 1… Fight!"

"Come, approach me if you dare," he smirked as he motioned her to come. The atmosphere on the platform itself suddenly became menacing and suffocating at the same time.

Korone frowned and went in blazing anyway. Yet, somehow he was able to dodge her punches and kicks. Suddenly, he chuckled a little before going in as well, his attacks actually connecting. After several punches and kicks connecting, the both of them started trading blows. Punches, kicks, and blocks continued furiously. Then, the bounty hunter got the upper hand when a stray punch smacked him in the side of his head. She landed a flurry of blows on her stunned opponent, with two of her punches crashing into his nose.

Reyo glared at her as he stumbled back, his nose cracking loudly as he reset it. "You dare fight against your betters!" he roared as he surged forward, lashing out with a kick. He followed up with two knee strikes and a punch to her head. She got hit by the kick but blocked the rest and spun around with a roundhouse kick, which he ducked under. She then swung at him several times with the last one tapping him in the forehead.

"Damn it all! Have this!" he shouted angrily as he shot her with his eye blasts.

The eldritch blasts crackled as they slammed into her body and arms, she flinched in response. The half-elf took this chance to move in.

"Ha ha ha! You won't feel a thing when I'm done!" he declared arrogantly with a malicious grin as he hammered on her seemingly battered defense.

A failed block meant her hand cushioning the punch to her head. Two other punches being parried away as she supposedly recovered from the blasts and one kick slamming into her side. It was then she suddenly grabbed his leg before he could pull it away.

"What is the meaning of this?" he shouted as he tried to shake off her firm grip.

Despite her bruised state, Korone smiled and said, "Press the attack, Hound Dog."

A visage of a growling, humanoid dog person suddenly materialized, looming out of her body with large, muscular arms. It howled and started raining punches on the half-elf noble.

"...oraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraHORAYO!"

Right before the last punch, she let go and Reyo's beaten form flew off towards his corner of the platform. The crowd fell silent as their minds processed what just happened. And then, it went wild as loud cheers and roared erupted, the crowd relieved that the arrogant noble got his just desserts. Aloe and Nene just grinned at each other and joined in the cheering.

The bounty hunter waved at everyone as she walked off the stage. The half-elf noble propped himself on his elbow as he slammed the fist of his other arm on the wooden platform. A few people, presumed to be his servants, went over to help him. As he was ushered away, Lord Aruran got on the platform and announced, "Fellow citizens. Thank you for coming and witnessing the fine display of skill and power. Today is the final match of the tournament. Now, I present to you your winner, Bounty Hunter Korone."

Thunderous applause accompanied the dog girl as she got on stage again. She waved to the crowd as she stood in front of the lord. He then shook her hand and talked to her for a moment. She shook her head a few times before nodding. After that, he turned to the crowd to say, "I am afraid that is all for the day. Thank you for attending. Please, continue enjoying yourself during the festival. Have a good day."

The crowd applauded again before slowly dispersing. The lord and the bounty hunter walked down from the platform, shook hands, and went on their separate ways. Then, Lord Aruran caught sight of the two and walked over to greet them.

"Well, how is Polka doing?" he asked.

"She's doing fine," the bard assured, "She's just feeling under the weather right now but she should be up and running tomorrow."

"Ah, that is good to hear," he replied with a beaming smile. Then, he snapped his fingers and said, "Oh, I have good news. Miss Korone there turned down half the tournament prizes. She only took a thousand gold, leaving the rest of the gold as well as some enchantment offers. So, the extra gold will be turned over to the emergency funds of the city. The enchantment offers, we will take. Thus, I will be speaking with the other adventuring parties and offer them one each, yours included."

"Wow, amazing!" exclaimed the succubus.

He chuckled and said politely, "I do try… right, I must attend to other matters. I will take my leave now."

As he walked off, the two grinned at each other and hurried off to the temple to break the good news to the others.

---

"Wow, I wonder what kind of enchantments we should get for our stuff?" said Polka eagerly at dinnertime.

"Maybe wait first?" suggested Botan after taking a drink, "I mean, we have that ticket so someone will get something new. It may be a new weapon or new armor. We use that ticket first and then we decide what to use the enchantment on."

"Hmm, that seems reasonable enough. I agree with that," supported Lamy with several nods.

"Yeah… let's go visit the shop tomorrow? I mean, we don't have anything else to do, right?" proposed Nene before scooping another spoonful of chicken soup.

"Ah, I don't think we ever visited Camryn at the enchanter's place, right?" added Aloe, "Sounds like as good a time as any."

"Yosh! Now that's a plan," declared the monk happily.

The next day, they made their way through the crowds and eventually found the enchanter's shop. It was moderately sized inside with all manner of books on one side and a multitude of jars and bottles with various reagents and materials. Manning the counter was a bald gnome with a short greying beard. He wore old-looking brown robes and a bandanna over his forehead.

He saw the party and muttered in a bored tone, "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Huh, I thought the shop will be closed during the festival," commented Aloe.

"Hah, I still need to train my new apprentice. There is still much for him to learn," the man said with a frown, "Now, unless you have any actual business..."

Then, Nene produced the ticket and handed it to him, "Here, sir. We found this in a wreck in the desert. Is this from your shop?"

The gnome picked it up and scrutinized it for a while. "A pity. He was a good customer," he muttered as he finished looking it over, "Well, I suppose you want it?"

"Well, if it isn't a bother..."

He waved the bard's concerns away and said, "The down payment was already given. And he did promise to retrieve it. A shame he wouldn't be able to keep it. And rather than let it collect dust in my store, I suppose I could relinquish it for...two hundred and fifty gold."

"...Alright, I'll pay for it," agreed the bard, "Can we have a look at it first?"

"Ah, I'll go get it then," the enchanter replied as he hopped off the stool and walked to the back. A few seconds later, he brought out what looked like a set of studded leather armor.

"...Is that all?" asked Botan, voicing what the puzzled party was thinking.

"Pah, is that all, she asks," he snarked as he placed the set on the counter, "This set has been enchanted with a glamour that transforms it into other clothes. It's still armor, but it can be made to look like your everyday clothes."

"Oooh," they sounded as they looked over the set. Then, the archer clapped her hand on the bard's shoulder and said, "Nene, you take it."

"Well… it does sound useful… alright, I'll pay the balance," she finally agreed after some thought.

She did so and took the set. The enchanter also passed a piece of paper he said had the command word for the glamour. They went back to the guild house; she went to her room to change and the rest waited in the side room. A few minutes later, she came back to meet up with them. At first, she was wearing her new set instead of her everyday clothes. But as she stood in front of them, she whispered something to herself and the armor transformed into her everyday clothes, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom.

"Woah, so cool!" exclaimed Polka.

"Hmm, we should go to the blacksmith's to sell off the old armor then," suggested Botan.

That also sounded like a good idea. They made their way to the nearest one and checked out the shop. They were a little surprised to meet Camryn there.

"Oh, hello. I thought you'd be at the enchanter's shop," said the bard.

"Ah, he had a new enchantment he wanted to teach me, so I'm buying a few swords here," the apprentice explained.

"Oh, good luck with that," she stated with a smile.

"Hey, Camryn, are you free tonight? Do you know where Robel's is? Perform with me outside Robel's tonight," invited Polka.

"Er… sure, I guess?" he replied hesitantly, "If my teacher is done, I'll try and make my way there."

"Ha! Awesome!" cheered on the monk as she did a little jig.

He had a slight smile as he shook his head. He left the shop with a few shortswords in hand. Meanwhile, Nene sold off her worn studded leather armor. Botan wanted to get a new set of armor but… even with trading in her current armor, she couldn't afford it. Plus, she was also glancing reluctantly at Lamy, remembering what happened last time.

"Hng, I think we need to go on another request run," she groaned as she looked over a well-made set of half-plate.

"Sure we could. The festival ends tonight, so we should be able to go tomorrow," said Aloe, cheering up the lion girl. It definitely did, considering the bright happy smile on her face.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 27

The next day, the party and several others gathered in the side room. In the front stood Lord Aruran and Miyabi. He announced what Nene and Aloe had been told the day before, cueing excited whispers among them.

"Alright, please settle down for the moment," he said as he gestured with his hands, "Right, the enchantment tickets will be handed out by Miyabi so please be patient."

As the guild clerk stepped forward to hand out the tickets, the nobleman made his way to the party and said, "Well, I am afraid your party does not have a ticket as we do not have enough for every party. However, I do have a little present for Polka for doing quite well in the tournament. Fourth place is no small feat. If you would follow me, please."

He led them out of the side room and produced an oddly-shaped purple needle from his pocket and passed it to the monk. "Here, press this between your palms during meditation and you will receive your reward."

"Hah? Wait, meditation? Aww, you know I can barely sit still, teacher," groaned the fennec fox girl.

Lamy let out a giggle before saying, "I can help you with that. I know about certain scents that help calm a person down for such a thing."

"Hng… I guess that's fine..." she grumbled but still looking a little relieved and thankful for the help.

"Oh, you won't have to meditate too long," assured the guild master as he waved the concerns away with a smile, "An hour or so should be enough for it to be attuned to you."

"Alright, we'll go and pick out a request while you meditate, Polka," said Nene.

They waved each other off as they went to do their own thing. After looking through the pieces of paper pinned to the board, they were interrupted by Risu.

"Botan, Nene, Aloe… where's two more?" the squirrel girl asked anxiously.

"They are busy right now," informed Nene, noticing her fidgeting, "Is something wrong?"

"Umm, remember the cockatrice cave you visited the other time?" she asked.

"Urgh, I do," said Aloe with a frown, "Turning to stone was not the best thing to happen."

"Well… a few trolls have moved in four days ago," she explained worriedly, "The elders are worried about the balance of nature in the area since trolls eat a lot. So they asked me to get some help."

"Sure we can help," started the bard, "Who else is going?"

"Moona and Artia."

"Well, alright then, we have more than enough people to take them down," she continued, "We'll wait for Polka and Lamy first. Then, we can go."

---

When Polka showed up again, her forearms and hands looked very different, as if a tattoo artist inked her skin. Black, claw-like, lightning shapes stretched across her forearm all the way to her fingertips.

"Wow, this looks really cool," exclaimed Aloe in awe.

"Right? Right?" said the grinning fennec fox girl.

"It was a little creepy to watch, though," stated Lamy calmly, looking no worse for wear, "To see it moving like it was alive. Too creepy."

"Yeah, it's cool, but we have been asked to help Risu's circle," stated Nene, drawing their attention back, "Trolls moved into the monster chicken cave and we need to remove them."

"Yeah! Moona and Artia will be joining us, so we should be able to send them away easy," quipped up the squirrel girl.

"Ah, let's go then. I can test out my new skills," said Polka as she slammed her fists together eagerly.

With that, the party and Risu left the guild house and headed to the south gate. There, Moona and Artia were already waiting for them. After some preparations, the larger party then departed, heading straight into the forest. Risu led them through since she already knew the area quite well. They didn't bump into any trouble. They were even surprised when Risu suddenly sped on ahead and greeted a tree. To their shock, it turned around and moved its branches to wave at her. It had a smiling face in the grooves of its bark as it went back to being motionless.

"What in the world was that?" asked Aloe nervously, looking around at all the other trees questioningly.

"Oh, those are Elder Mila's friends," the dream druid explained with a grin, "They are her eyes and ears, and help to keep guard of the forest."

"Interesting," muttered the ice genasi.

"I know, right?" she exclaimed excitedly, "I want to have my own happy trees too."

"Huh, happy tree friends?" muttered Botan, "I guess it wouldn't be strange to you."

"Nope!"

They continued on their way and soon reached the familiar, grassless area. And they could hear a mix of Common and a strange, harsh language. The party then slowed down as they got nearer. In the clearing in front of the cave, the squirrel girl gasped. A group of eight orcs were standing in front of the cave, talking to three trolls. They were thin and gangly looking with very long arms and legs. But, that wasn't what prompted the gasp. One of the trolls was busy eating something, something red or blue with butterfly-looking wings. Risu then started muttering incoherently and fell to the ground.

"Risu, are you alright?" asked Lamy as she knelt down to the shivering druid.

"They... they… eating faeries..." she muttered as she sent a teary-eyed glance to the cleric, "The small dragons… they… no..."

"The trolls have been eating faerie dragons," stated Moona with a grim tone, piecing together what the distraught girl said.

"That… doesn't sound good," muttered Polka as she peeked out from their hiding spot.

"From what I can understand… they can cast spells… and trolls can adapt to their environments and to their food..." mused Artia worriedly, "I just hope they don't have any surprises for us."

Then, the trolls started sniffing the air. A few seconds later, their eyes looked straight at the larger party.

"...Did they just smell us out?" asked Nene in disbelief as the trolls roared and pointed in their direction. The orcs were also forewarned and looked in their direction as well.

"That's it! Let's get ready to evict all of them," stated Aloe as she held a dagger up and aimed at the advancing orcs.

"Er… where did the trolls go?" asked Botan in shock. True enough, the trolls seemed to have disappeared.

"Risu! Snap out of it!" shouted Moona as she shook her friend.

"Tch, help her quickly. We shall protect you as best we can," declared Lamy as the rest got ready to fight.

As the orcs charged at them, Botan loosed an arrow which slammed into the chest of the center orc. It burst to splinters, showering its neighbours. Nene's dagger found purchase as well, finding the same orc's throat. The orcs weren't deterred and quickly got into melee range, targeting the nearest people. Polka had no problem dodging all their attacks while Aloe and the bard got wailed on.

As they fought back, the aasimar's hurried coaxing got the druid out of her despair. Risu's hushed chanting brought condensed moonbeam to rise over the orcs. Then, she wreathed her hand in a green glow and waved it at the lore bard's direction, that same glow lighting her up for only a second. Meanwhile, Lamy and Artia had finished their own casting. A wave of frost and a deluge of snowballs dropped on the orcs, whose numbers were quickly diminishing due to their efforts. However, it was then the trolls reappeared again and attacked the front liners.

Nene, Polka, and Aloe took the brunt of their bites on their shoulders and claws slashes on their arms, surprised by their sudden appearance in place of the fallen orcs.

"Going up!" shouted the succubus and she shot up, biting back a scream as the troll attacking her raked her back with its claws. She then started throwing her daggers with careful aim as she hovered in the air with her wings.

With worry in her eyes, the dream druid moved the moonbeam over the trolls while doing her best to help with healing. However, the moment the wizard changed up her spells from ice to fire, the trolls started bellowing and charged in after her, throwing all caution to the wind.

"Under pressure..." Nene sang out, the strains of her song being disregarded by the trolls as they were hyper-focussed on the wizard.

The first one that reached her failed to touch a hair on her head. The other two tried to slash Nene out of the way but she refused to budge in spite of her injuries. It was then that Risu produced a small ball of flame and tossed it at the troll in front of Artia, who unleashed another torrent of flame at the same time. The trolls roared, having another threat to attack. The combined efforts of Botan and Polka took down one burning troll while Moona suddenly pulled out her flute and started playing. The troll that wasn't on fire suddenly froze in place. It didn't last long as it broke out of the song's hold as Artia screamed when the other burnt troll bit down on her shoulder. Before it could start clawing her apart, she disappeared from its mouth in a burst of mist and reappeared further away.

"We have to hold them back!" shouted Polka as she got in the way of the burnt troll and landed a flurry of blows in its stomach.

"We're doing our best!" replied Nene loudly. She then shouted at the non-burnt troll, "Hey, we are going to win and evict you!" The troll suddenly just started rolling on the floor and laughing.

Then, several arrows, both copy and real, pierced through the burnt troll's throat. It fell over and the archer roared loudly, bringing everyone's spirit's up. However, it suddenly got up again and tried biting the monk. She dodged that but she got caught by its follow-up claw attacks and got tossed aside a few feet. The others called out to her in horror as it started making its way towards Risu. All was not lost as one of Aloe's daggers punched through the back of its neck, causing it to collapse forward. This made it easy for the dream duid to produce another flame and set it on fire. That left one troll. And since it was the last one, it got bombarded by their attacks. Punches, Kicks. Stabbings. Paralysis. Arrows. Thrown daggers. Flames. Acid arrows. Spiritual weapon attacks. And finally, a ray of frost freezing its head as acid splashed over it.

They let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Well, I think we settled that," stated Botan, "So… let's burn the bodies? We better not leave them like that."

"We probably should," agreed Nene.

"Are you alright?" Moona asked as she gave Risu a side hug from her shoulders.

"It's just… all those faerie dragons… it's so sad," the dream druid said in a forlorn tone.

"Those trolls were odd," stated Artia as she passed a healing potion to the lore bard, "The moment I started using fire, they threw everything out of the window just to kill me and Risu… then again, they are said to really hate fire so, I guess it makes sense."

"Ah, maybe we should have you use fire early on and distract them while we kill them," quipped Polka.

"Denied," refused the genasi.

Eventually, the lion girl got them to gather the bodies in the center of the clearing and the squirrel girl dropped a flame on them, setting them alight. Then, she led the group out of the forest. On the way out, they encountered a wing of faerie dragons. The wing seemed to gather around the dream druid, as if sensing her sadness. She started giggling as the tiny dragons started flitting around her and playing with her ears and hair.

"Thank you, everyone," she said, now very cheered up. This also lifted the group's spirits as well as giving them some form of relief.

Tiny tinkles and cheers were replied as the wing flew off into the forest. The cheered up party then went on their way back to the city. At the edge of the forest, Risu suddenly said she was going back to the circle.

"I need to inform the elders about this. Thanks for helping us," she said with a smile.

"We are your friends. Never hesitate to ask for help," stated Moona as she hugged the squirrel girl.

She waved goodbye before running back into the forest. The party made their way back to the city and the guild house. After Artia said her goodbyes and returned to her dorm, the rest went in.

"Hello, welcome back," greeted Miyabi at the counter.

"Hello… Miyabi, are there any high paying requests that we can take?" asked Botan.

"...let me check," he stated after a thought. Looking through a stack of papers, he pulled one out and said, "Well, here is one. Remember the sewer cleaners guild? They found the location of a sewer shambler and they want someone to destroy it."

"...We have to go in the sewers...urgh," groaned Polka.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, the shambler has been living in the sewers for a long time," the guild clerk informed them, "I think this is the first time the sewer cleaners are trying to remove it. I guess they will explain it to you when you meet them tomorrow morning. I suspect that it might be involved in a few deaths but I'm not too sure about that myself."

"Ah… I guess that is something the guild should help with," mused Nene thoughtfully.

"Hng, I wouldn't want to go in the sewers again but I guess this is the right thing to do?" Botan muttered, still looking a little unsure.

"Why does everyone want to stay away from this 'sewer' place?" asked Aloe.

"...you do not have sewers where you are from?" questioned Lamy in surprise.

"No?" the succubus replied as she shook her head.

"Ah-ha… you'll find out tomorrow," the monk informed, "I guess we can induct you into the sewer team then."

"Huh?"

---

"Urgh, ew, why? Why!?" wailed Aloe.

That morning, the party descended into the sewers. Apparently, it was less of an extermination request but more of a relocation request. The sewer cleaners guild wanted to move the shambler to a different part of the sewers that was already marked out. As simply baiting it around the sewer was rarely an easy task, they wanted the adventurer's guild to assist them in the endeavor.

"Now you know one reason why I dislike the sewers," muttered Polka, agreeing with the

"I dislike it too, but it is for a good reason," quipped Botan.

"Indeed, the safety of the sewer cleaners are guaranteed this way," added Lamy.

"Plus, it shouldn't be that troubling. The shambler is a slow thing so as long as we just stay out of reach, we're safe," assured Nene.

All well and good, but the part that worried the party was that they had to find the shambler first. That meant combing the entire sector of the sewers they were in just to find a large walking plant. At least the smell wasn't as bad there. Not to mention, they didn't see a single giant cockroach or a rat of any size. So, they moved slowly and carefully, keeping their eyes and ears open for anything odd or out of place.

It was a few hours in when they got a whiff of something that overpowered the muted smell of the sewer sector. Around the corner, they spotted the shambling mound sitting in the sewer water. The large, plant-like thing was covered in rotting vegetation, knotty vines, and dead flowers. The damp sludge that enveloped it was the source of that horrible stench. As they watched, the mound slowly rose up on two stumpy legs and walked towards them.

The lore bard then turned to the party and said, "Alright, time we lure it to its new home."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 28

Luring the shambler to another part of the sewer took a long time. True to its name, it moved slowly, trudging after the party. They moved in formation that they had planned beforehand; Botan and Nene moved further in front to make sure the way was clear. Lamy and Polka were in the middle where they could easily give some backup. Aloe was last, hovering over the middle of the tunnel where the stream of sewage water flowed, keeping the shambler on the move and hovering barely out of its reach to keep its attention.

"Nothing so far?" asked the lion girl as she looked around the junction.

"Yeah. Nothing here," replied the bard.

Nodding, the former turned around and called out, "Bring it in, Aloe!"

"Alright!" the succubus shouted back.

Things were slow-going but still without any interruptions. Then, they turned into a long stretch of tunnel with several tunnels on the side branching off. So, they continued down the paths… until a drip of yellow liquid splashed on the archer's armor. Glancing up, she noticed a shimmering yellow patch on the ceiling of the tunnel. The yellow patch suddenly shivered and a pseudopod reached out to swing at her.

She stumbled back as she shouted in surprise, "Yellow slime!"

"Uhm, there's more here," the latter replied as she took a few hurried steps back as another ochre jelly dropped down from the ceiling while a second one took its place. The same thing happened in Botan's lane; one ooze on the floor and one creeping on the ceiling.

"What's going on!?" called out Polka as she and Lamy ran up to them, "What in the world is that?"

"Ochre jelly," explained the bard, "I don't remember much from the time we read up on the monster chickens, but looks like what they say is true. Can walk on ceilings and can form limbs to attack. I wouldn't be surprised if it can squeeze through cracks and under doors."

"Will anything happen if you punch it?" asked the fennec fox girl as she stepped past her.

"I… don't remember?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt to try!" she yelled as she moved in. Meanwhile, Lamy moved to the front of Botan as the lion girl pulled back and shot at the jelly. The cleric then manifested her spirit weapon and shot a ray of frost at the same jelly. The ooze was unable to resist the constant battery and froze over internally before it shattered into pieces.

"Under pressure, walls closing down on me, surrounding my life, looking down on me."

Nene's melodious strains filtered through the air as she stowed her lute on her back. Polka's punches sent shockwaves through the ooze she pummeled before retreating away from a pseudopod that reached out for her. The jellies slid after them but failed to hit any of them with their extended pseudopods.

"Incoming!" shouted Aloe as she flew up to them, "Watch out for the shambler."

True enough, the shambling mound trudged up to the nearest party member and slammed its viney tendrils on her. Botan yelped as she dodged to the side, only to get clipped in the shoulder.

"Tch… Aloe, help them! I'll handle this," ordered the archer as she started waving her hands at it as she moved away from the party, "Oi, stinky! This way!" Its body groaned and squelched as it turned around and tried its best to grab a hold of the lion girl.

"You heard her! We can do this!" shouted the cleric as she sent another ray out at the other ooze sliding towards her on the ceiling. Her spirit mace did the same as it tried to break the ooze apart. It tried slamming her with a pseudopod but she blocked it with her shield.

"Alright!" replied the succubus loudly as she flew up and tried scratching the ooze with her claws, only to fail when the oily ooze flowed around her claws like water, "Urgh, not sure about this!"

"Switch!" called out the bard after stabbing the same ooze, neatly swapping places with the monk, who yelled out a cheer as her punches burst the ooze. She then turned her attention to the ooze on the ceiling, attacking it as well. It then somehow lost its grip on the ceiling and flopped on the sewer floor.

"Argh!" yelled Botan as she got slapped in the stomach by another tendril, "Hurry up! The smell is getting too much."

"We know!" Lamy shouted back as she double-teamed the ooze with her spirit mace. Aloe tried helping her but the same thing happened with this ooze and she barely made a scratch on it.

"Hey, this way, stinky plant!" shouted Nene at the shambler, trying to gain its attention. Meanwhile, Polka finished off her ooze and moved on to help the cleric with the last one. She didn't need help as she successfully popped it all on her lonesome.

"Blergh," vomited the archer as she got slapped around again. Wiping her mouth, she ran and dodged around the reaching vines as she ran towards the party, "Let's go!"

"Look here, you smelly vine! I bet you can't catch me!" shouted the bard as she mocked the shambler before joining the others in running away.

It then slowly plodded after them, its viney tendrils reaching out to grab them. Soon, their smelly chase slowed down and they were back to luring it around.

"Ah, looks like I'm back to lure duty again," muttered Aloe as she hovered in place to wait for it. She then got a surprise when it slammed a tendril on the ground, grabbing a giant cockroach and pushing it in its center of mass. The vines on the body reached out, pulled it in, and engulfed it.

This shocked her greatly and she almost didn't notice the shambler reaching out to her. Realizing this, she quickly hovered out of the vine which grabbed empty air.

"Careful, Aloe," cautioned Nene, the rest of the party witnessing it.

"I know. No need to worry," the succubus replied as she glanced back and smirked, "I got this."

Assured by her words, the bard and the archer went on to lead the way to the intended sector. It took another hour of navigating the sewers but eventually, they saw the red marker that the cleaners guild master told them about.

"We're almost there," announced Botan.

"Thank you! I want a bath!" exclaimed Polka before she yelped due to almost slipping on a patch of water.

"Careful," chided Nene as she pulled the fennec fox girl away from the edge of the bank.

"Are you the ones helping?"

Heads turned to a large branching tunnel. A guy wearing brown-colored clothes with the sewer cleaners guild hat holding a staff.

"Yes?" quipped Lamy hesitantly.

"Come, come, lead it this way," he said as he motioned them to follow him.

They hurried after him after making sure the shambler was still following them. He led them to a large room where the sewer water fell down into. There was an iron ladder leading to the lower level where the bank circled around and led off to two other openings. The level they were on had also extended to the side where the other branch had a similar sewage waterfall.

"Please lead it off the rails into the pool," instructed the cleaner, "Then, keep to the side silently, please."

"Alright, Aloe. You heard him?" stated the bard as she looked over. The succubus gave a thumbs up and continued luring the shambler.

Bit by bit, she kept just out of range as she hovered backward. Soon, she flew over the railing and kept in sight. Little by little, she went a little higher. The shambler reached out and tipped over into the sewage pool. The party then ran over to the side and looked down just as the succubus landed.

"Is it already leaving it down there?" asked the lore bard in wonder.

"It'll be fine," the cleaner informed them, "It knows how to swim so it will get out in no time. Anyway, thank you for the help, ladies. Come, I'll lead you to the exit."

"Thank the gods! I want a bath!" exclaimed the monk.

---

After getting out of the sewers, they headed to the cleaners guild house first to get paid. Botan was a bit happier that with the reward she could get a better set of armor.

"Eh? Is that all you are going to get?" asked Lamy in surprise.

"Yes. I wanted something lighter while still protecting my important bits," stated the lion girl as the blacksmith helped to fit the spaulder over her left shoulder. The skirted breastplate fit well and the greaves were snug. A pair of vambraces were also part of the set. After everything was fitted together, she turned around and examined herself.

Finding everything well and good, she turned to the blacksmith and asked, "Can you engrave something on the shoulder part? I want a lion."

"Sure. That won't be a problem," he said as he motioned her to follow, "Let's get this done."

An hour later, the engraving was done and the party went back to the guild house to report what had happened.

"Well done, everyone," congratulated Miyabi, "Oh, and that armor looks good."

"Hi, hi, thanks," preened the lion girl.

"Right, that's all for the day. If you have any queries, do not hesitate to ask," he informed them with a smile before moving on to another stack of papers.

"Let's go wash up and get ready for dinner, yeah?" asked the bard with a grin.

That night, Robel's was full, with all the guild members present, including Lord Aruran and Miyabi. The general atmosphere was happy and celebratory. How else can it be, with all the teams and parties receiving that generous gift from earlier in the day? The majority of the music was brought to the fore by RIZnote, the bard duo of Rikka and Izuru, with several others being invited up to sing with them, including Nene. She was bashful but went up anyway to sing. Of course, there was a little trolling by Kira and his bagpipes, which prompted several little chases around the interior between him and the duo. It was quite comical in itself, and it prompted very loud laughter by the audience as it pretty much involved a lot of tumbling and acrobatics from Kira.

"Hi, hi, I can't believe he actually did that," giggled Polka.

"I admit, it was funny. But it was still rude," stated Lamy, her face very red from drinking.

"Rude or not, still funny," said Aloe with a grin.

"Ha… I think that's enough for tonight. I want my bed," stated Botan as she stretched, her arms reaching for the air.

"Yeah, I'm feeling sleepy too," agreed Nene, "It was nice though. I wonder if we have these kinds of things every moon..."

---

The next day, they were once again in front of the bulletin board. After looking at it for a while, Lamy pulled a request from the board.

"Doesn't this name look familiar?" she asked as she passed it to Nene.

"Prasadiv? Isn't that the information broker?" the bard muttered in surprise. After scanning the request, she muttered, "What is this? Harvest mission for… large beasts?"

"Oh… do we get a trophy?" asked the lion girl, becoming very interested.

"I think we should talk with him first," said the fennec fox girl, nudging her friend in the side.

"Indeed. A wise choice," nodded the half-snow elf with approval.

"So…do we take this?" asked Nene. Getting nods from everyone, she continued, "Okay, I'll give this to Miyabi and we'll wait for Aloe before we meet him."

"Huh…I think Lord Aruran warned me about him," stated the guild clerk as he noted them down for the request, "Make sure you don't sign any contracts with him or bind you with any favors. Just meet him, do the request, and come back. Understood?"

"Understood," the bard replied with a nod.

After Aloe met up with them, the party immediately headed to the Broken Stool. They found the rakshasa seated at his normal table, off to the side, and away from the bar.

"Ahhh, Prasadiv remembers you! You took this up I see," stated the tiger-looking humanoid with a joyful tone, "Very interesting. Prasadiv is eager to see how well you perform."

"Perform? But I thought we were hunting large creatures," questioned Nene in surprise.

"You are. But, not here," he replied mysteriously, "But first, please, follow me."

The party looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him. He headed to the store in the kitchen and much to their surprise, pulled a trapdoor and headed down. The flight of steps led them to a singular room, which was lit up with the snap of his fingers. A magic circle was engraved into the floor, one which he stepped inside and motioned them to continue following.

"Where are you taking us?" asked the bard, feeling all this is looking quite suspicious.

"Ah, this is something that Prasadiv shows to all members of the adventurer's guild as a sign of trust," the rakshasa explained, "Mostly a deal with the lord. He can be… let's say... persuasive. Plus, Prasadiv wishes to vet you while you help Prasadiv. Now, if you would be so kind as to step into the circle and follow Prasadiv to his secret place."

"Oh, sure… that doesn't sound creepy at all," snarked Aloe.

But, in spite of that, they stepped in the circle anyway. A flash of light filled the room, blinding them. As it died down, they found themselves standing in a small arena. Strange enough, the rakshasa was missing.

"Now, what you are here for is to help kill some useful monsters," stated the tiger humanoid. Everyone looked to the arena stands in surprise.

"Unfortunately, the normal help I have cannot handle such a thing. This is where you come in," he continued to explain, "You-"

"Wait! How did we get here?" cried out Polka, interrupting him.

He sighed and said, "Normally, Prasadiv would bring all of you without using those annoying circles, but in the interest of the deal made with Aruran, Prasadiv has to show something tangible to his guild at least once. You and your friends are not the first and not the last. Now, may Prasadiv continue, or do you have more interruptions?"

The fennec fox girl quickly shook her head.

"Now, you will help to put down these creatures for Prasadiv's hired help to harvest things from them," he finally continued, "Just make sure not to damage the body too much."

"How are these monsters being brought here?" asked Botan.

"Hmm, if Prasadiv is correct, a dimension hopper is helping Prasadiv to secure areas to pull these monsters from," he replied, "Prasadiv is not too sure about the magic involved, but it is a most useful deal Prasadiv has made. Very useful."

"Ah, so what will be fighting first?" asked the lion girl, now looking forward to the challenge.

"Ah… very eager. That is good. Good. Good," the rakshasa said with a grin. He then turned to the side and called out, "Bring it to me."

A spectral hand then appeared from the side and brought him a clipboard. Taking it, he looked at it for a moment and said, "Interesting additions today. First up is displacer beasts."

"What are those?" asked Lamy in confusion.

"Ah, they are magical monsters," he stated, "Think of a large black cat with six legs and two spiked tentacles." Glancing at the clipboard, he muttered, "And we have three of them today. Hmm, very nice. We can make a good cloak from these."

Focussing back on the party, he stated, "Alright, best be ready. I shall bring them out now."

"Ready as we'll ever be," said the bard as everyone got into position. She, Polka, and Nene moved in front of Botan and Lamy.

Nodding, he then called out, "All is ready. Bring them in and release them."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 29

A strange buzzing sound came from one of the grilled openings. A second later, the same opening had its grill lifted and three sleek, large black cats walked out. True to the rakshasa's description, the cats had an extra pair of legs and two long tentacles sprouting from their shoulders. The tentacles themselves had spikes protruding out at the end of each. The displacer beasts maintained their growling as they spread out to surround and corner them. Then, all three started shimmering and after the party blinked their eyes, the beasts' forms looked a little out of place. It was as if their bodies were shifting in and out of reality, like they were there and not there at the same time.

"Am I seeing things or do they look a bit off?" muttered Botan as she kept her aim steady in anticipation.

"Yeah, I see it too… and I have no idea what is going on," replied Nene as she readied her lute.

A spectral sword appeared and stabbed one of the beasts in its flank.

"The icy floes and frosty chills come, best keep moving or fall to slumber."

Lamy's frost ray went through one of the tentacles, as if it was not there. The party was surprised by this and in their shock, the beasts went on the attack. They jumped in, flailed their tentacles on them, and backed out. The archer tried shooting one but half her shots simply passed through its body as it moved around. The bard sang, her magic filling the air and the beasts growled as it settled on them. Only one seemed to be distracted by her tunes.

"If we stay here, they can hem us in," said Aloe as she narrowed her eyes, "Hey Polka, let's take the fight to them."

"Eh? Who are you and what did you do to our friend?" the fennec fox asked in surprise, taking a drink as she chased after the succubus, who ran forward and slashed a tentacle that was aimed at her.

"I have an urge to do something bad today," she said as she smirked while the monk pummeled the beast's head. At the same time, the spirit sword continued stabbing the displacer beast in the side while the cleric prayed for her goddess to guide their attacks.

"Tch, stupid tentacles!" shouted the monk as she got struck from behind. She did her best to evade and dance around the attacks as the other two beasts continued their hit and run tactics. The one they were attacking took this chance to retreat while it waved its tentacles around to cover itself.

"Chance!" declared Botan before shooting a burst arrow at the retreating displacer. The arrow burst and a loud boom splashed over it and its brethren, getting showered with wooden splinters.

Nene's dagger flew through the air and thudded into the ground as it passed through the displacer beast's paw. Meanwhile, the monk and succubus duo went in and cornered the two monsters and wailed on them. One got its skull caved in repeated blows to the head while the other flinched as one of its tentacles and its flank bled from claw and spirit sword.

"Argh!" the lion girl yelled as the singular uncornered displacer beast slammed a tentacle into her side.

"Keep shooting, Botan. I'll keep trying to confuse it," urged on Nene as she continued playing her tune.

"Got it," stated the archer as her next shots flew true, striking the cornered one in the shoulder. Unfortunately, it didn't mess with the tentacles, but it was enough to bleed it.

However, it powered through the pain and slammed Polka to the ground, its spiked tentacles crashing into her chest. She almost blacked out but Nene's healing note coursed through her body and sealed the perforations on her body.

"Finish it, Polka!" shouted Aloe as she raked her claw over its snarling face. Yelling in response, the fennec fox monk jumped up and slammed her heel on the top of its head, driving it down into the ground.

"Yosh," she yelled in victory. Then, she turned around and ran towards the last displacer, jumping up into a flying kick. The ball of her foot kicked away a tentacle aimed at the lore bard, who had moved in to stab it in the shoulder.

"Your ice doesn't seem to be doing much, Miss Healer."

Lamy frowned at the passing comment from the rakshasa as her ray of frost missed yet again.

"Don't let him get to you. You're helping us a lot with the ghost sword of yours," assured the lion girl as she landed a few more shots in the final displacer's flank.

"...I appreciate that," muttered the half-snow elf as she watched Aloe take to the air and pick up Polka.

Both of them then landed next to the beast, with the succubus releasing right above it. They then proceeded to target its head, raining fist and claw. Then, angling her summoned sword carefully, she then sent it flying at the beast. It buried itself into the beast's side, all the way to the hilt. As it fell over, the sword dissipated into motes of light, its duty done.

"A most wonderful performance!" cheered Prasadiv as he clapped, "Most wonderful. Well done, members of the adventurer's guild."

At the sudden snap of his fingers, another grill opened. Several people of varying races came out and proceeded to pick up the bodies of the displacer beasts and haul them away. After the last body was taken inside, a few more people came out. Two women, one with a leather bag and another with a bundle of arrows. The one with the bag produced glass vials filled with red liquid and passed them around. The other passed the bundle of arrows to Botan

"Please, drink up! This will help you get ready for the next set," stated the rakshasa as he motioned them to consume it.

Glancing at each other, they all uncorked the vial and downed it simultaneously.

"Wow!" exclaimed Aloe as she looked at the glass vial with wide eyes.

"It feels like I have just woken up from my sleep," muttered Lamy as the woman wordlessly took the empty vials back, "My mind still feels a little fatigued, though."

"What in the world did we drink?" Nene asked the rakshasa. The helpers then went back through the opening and the grill fell shut.

"A good quality healing potion, of course," he said matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, if we get these after every battle, we can do this in no time," stated Botan eagerly.

"Right, you shall continue!" declared Prasadiv as he looked to the clipboard, "Hmm, a surprise summons. Directly brought to the arena? Interesting..." Snapping his fingers, he called out, "Next!"

Suddenly, two glowing summoning circles appeared on the ground. Soon after, a flash of light blinded everyone present for a moment before clearing up. Before them were two dinosaurs. With very surprised riders on them. The party was awestruck.

"What is the meaning of this?" shouted one of the riders.

"Demons!" snarled the other after catching sight of the rakshasa and then the succubus, "We've been captured by demons. Kill them all!" The both of them then raised their javelins as their dinosaur mounts growled menacingly.

"Wait! Wait! Please, can we talk this out!?" shouted the lore bard as she ran forward with her hands and arms held high.

"We won't believe your lies," hissed the rider, "Demon worshippers like you only tell lies."

The rakshasa only groaned in frustration. "It seems that the magics need to be tweaked a little. Prasadiv only wanted thunder lizard hides, not thunder lizards and their riders," he muttered. Harrumphing, he addressed the riders, "Please, if you wish to return whence you came, Prasadiv can assist. It will take a little time, but it can be done. There is no need for violence."

"Yes, there is no need to fight," agreed Nene, really trying to get the angry riders to relent, "This is clearly a mistake and we can fix this. Please, let us help."

The riders looked to each other and started talking in a hushed tone with a language they couldn't understand. After a moment, the first speaker said sternly, "Very well. Be quick about it."

---

It didn't take long for the mishap to be remedied. Prasadiv vanished for a moment to address this. Meanwhile, the party tried talking with the riders. They were a husband and wife patrol team that were scouting around the city they lived in. They were not very receptive to talking to Aloe but they didn't mind talking to the others, especially Botan, who talked with them about the wildlife that they sometimes hunted for. Her eyes shone at the thought of taking down large or even bigger sized thunder lizards. The type they were riding was an allosaurus, which in spite of its size could actually pounce on its prey after charging them down.

Soon, the rakshasa reappeared on the stands of the arena and said, "All is done. Please stand in the center and you will be sent back. You have Prasadiv's apologies for this trouble."

"Hmph, at least you can keep your word," stated the man seriously, "We will remember this."

After they were teleported away, the fiend turned to the party and said, "Well, that was unfortunate. However, we still have the last hunt of the day." Taking a look at the clipboard, he smirked and continued, "Two young remorhazes."

"What are those?" asked Polka while Nene went to retrieve her dagger.

"Hmm, think giant centipede with fire in their veins," he replied vaguely.

"Okay..." she muttered as everyone got into position

Nodding, he then called out, "All is ready. Bring them in and release them."

A strange buzzing sound came from one of the grilled openings. A second later, the same opening had its grill lifted and… nothing. Now, the arena was not as large as expected, but sizable enough that a displacer beast could prowl around the edges to make hit and run attacks. However, the only sign that there was anything was a slight tremble from the sandy ground.

"There's something moving in the earth," stated Botan as she knelt and placed a hand to the ground.

"Take care, everyone," said Nene.

Those words were well said, as the two young remorhazes burst out of the ground. A few were quick to react. The bard lashed out with her rapier, cutting off one of its many legs but was shocked when boiling hot blood spurted out and burned her sword hand. The monk and the archer shot their projectiles at it, the dart and arrow piercing its exoskeleton as it reared up. Both monsters lunged towards the bard, biting her in the shoulder and the stomach. The bloody mess was about to be lifted up when…

"Let her go!"

A spectral sword shot out and impaled one of the young monsters in the eye. It let out an unnerving shriek as it thrashed its head about, both releasing its hold on Nene as well as knocking her out of the other's mouth. She fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from her bite marks. Lamy then tried shooting her ray of frost at it but as soon as it hit, it simply melted off. Meanwhile, Aloe took to the air and threw a dagger at the injured monster but it bounced off the exoskeleton instead.

"Hey! Look this way!" shouted Polka as she threw another dart. It was accompanied by two arrows with one of them breaking on its carapace.

The young remorhazes shrieked again and burrowed into the ground. The cleric took this chance to heal the lore bard and close her wounds.

"Thanks, Lamy," she said gratefully as she was helped to her feet.

The monk took a swig of alcohol and muttered, "Alright, we hit when they pop out again."

"You're getting your wish!" yelled the succubus in warning as they burst out again.

As Nene started singing her magic, the fennec fox monk punched the monster's underbelly as it rose up. She then yelped when Botan's arrow opened a wound, which sprayed the boiling blood at her.

"Sorry!" called out the lion archer as she swayed and dodged the monster's maws.

"Keep it up!" shouted Lamy as she directed the spectral sword after the wounded one, "My goddess guides your blades!"

"Tell her thanks for the help!" quipped Aloe as her thrown dagger found purchase in the monster's neck. She had landed to reuse a dagger that bounced off its exoskeleton.

"Lay down and die already!" the bard shouted, directing her mocking at the weakened young remorhaz. It did die, not by her words but from Botan's arrow to its head. It shuddered a bit after its body fell to the side before becoming still.

"One down, one to go," the lion girl stated as the other young monster burrowed into the ground.

"Stop running already!" exclaimed the monk as she moved to the middle of the arena and stamped the ground.

"Will you stop taunting the centipede with the boiling blood?" asked Aloe with a frown.

True enough, the young remorhaz burst out next to her. It snapped at empty air as it got pelted by magic and arrows. The spectral sword was driving into its back while a flash of light was shot at its face. This distracted the monster long enough for one of Aloe's daggers to cut through its upper jaw, causing it to shriek in great pain. It got buried in and it was unable to close its mouth properly.

Seeing it was distracted, Polka threw caution to the wind and downed another swig. She proceeded to pummel its underside. The heat of its blood could be felt all the way through its exoskeleton and the skin of her knuckles got burned quite badly. It shrieked continuously, even after two more arrows got buried in its body. It then turned around and burrowed into the ground. Now the rumbling seemed to go all over the place, as if it was trying to find a way out.

"Eh, what do we do now?" asked Nene as the rumbling continued.

"It's running on instinct. It's afraid," stated Botan as she knelt down and felt the ground.

Suddenly, Polka turned to Prasadiv and asked loudly, "Can we try and tame it? I can have it join my circus."

"What nonsense is that? It is a valuable resource. Surely you can't be serious!?" exclaimed the rakshasa in disbelief.

"I'm gonna do it!" she decided aloud as the young remorhaz burst out of the ground and coiled off into a corner, chittering and hissing angrily.

"Polka, don't do this. It is a dangerous monster and it's injured. There's no way it could work," said the archer, trying to persuade her friend to not do this, "Please, listen to reason."

"Hng… I really want to… but you're right too…" groaned the fennec fox girl, "So we kill it?"

"We were hired to do this and so we shall," stated Lamy before firing another flash of light at its face. She then directed the spirit sword over and beheaded it

"Oof, that's cold," joked Aloe, prompting a few sighs.

The rakshasa then clapped a few times, getting everyone's attention. "Thus, your work has ended. Prasadiv thanks you for your cooperation. Now, while there is a reward promised for this request, it shall be directly contributed to the guild."

"Eh? I thought we would get it," replied Nene with a frown.

He shrugged and said, "It is part of the deal after all. But, if you wish, you can have a free meal. On the house. Remorhaz legs are supposed to be delicious. And, if you wish to continue working for Prasadiv, a magic item may find itself into your hands, hmm?"

After a moment of silence, the lore bard replied, "I… guess? You can always continue sending requests to the guild."

He shrugged again, "Very well. Let us return to the Broken Stool and you can have a taste of the legs. A delicacy such as this is hard to come by. And if you still wish for a reward after that, Prasadiv is willing on parting with some gold."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 30

After the close calls they had that day, they decided to take the rest of the week off. The next couple of days were spent relaxing, taking their mind off blood and death. Thus, everyone pursued something they wanted to do after some time.

---

"Wow, the books are very detailed," commented Nene as she flipped through one.

"Well, of course," replied Rushia as she sat at the table.

"Where's your pet?" she asked, noticing the dog skeleton now absent.

The teacher sighed and said, "It got involved in an accident with one of the students. To be honest, I should have kept it at home. Less of a chance of getting broken apart." Glancing at the book she picked up, the necromancer continued, "I see you've taken a liking to advanced abjurations."

"Um… well, our requests are getting a little more dangerous. I was thinking of learning something to protect my friends," she explained.

The wizard nodded and suggested, "Makes sense. I recommend looking through countering a spell. Preventing a spell before it actually happens can be crucial sometimes. What else are you interested in reproducing?"

Nodding respectfully, she replied, "Ah, well, there were some spells I saw Artia using… but I can just ask her."

"I see… well as long as she doesn't spend so much time studying," muttered Rushia, "Really, she could use a few more requests or two. Knowing a lot is one thing but she needs to apply practical use as well."

"Ah… I guess?" Nene murmured hesitantly, as if stumbling on something private that she shouldn't know about.

"Anyway, I wish you luck in trying to fit this in your repertoire," continued the wizard, "I never had a bard approaching me, of all people, to ask for advice on spellcasting. Normally, you do what fits you and pick what you wish."

"Ah…yeah?"

"Right, right, I suppose you want to see Artia next," she concluded as she leaned back in her chair, "Go on ahead. I have other things to do."

"Thank you again, Rushia," said the bard gratefully before leaving the room, the necromancer smiling wistfully as the former closed the door behind her.

---

"Check."

Lamy furrowed her brow in concentration as she tried to find a way out. Eventually, she moved her hero piece to block.

"Huh, I never thought you knew how to play dragonchess, Miss Lamy," stated Leda as he took a seat next to Temma, her opponent.

"I only dabbled in it. I never could beat my father though," she admitted.

"Well, it is a game only played by the nobles and intellectuals, after all," stated the knight, "You don't see it played otherwise."

"I never knew you had one stashed away here," she said as she gestured around the side room, "If I knew, I would have asked for a game or two."

The blonde knight chuckled and replied, "One game is straining enough. There is no need for two."

"Especially if its dragonchess," quipped the lightning genasi, "Seriously, this looks very complicated."

"It is," his teammate stated, "Three boards signifying the three probably battlefields with units from each able to traverse between them. Some pieces won't be able to leave its field while others can. And the dragon can attack and capture a piece without even moving with the right conditions." He then moved a dwarf piece.

"I heard some army commanders play this to keep their minds fresh for tactics," she added after moving her hero piece to capture his warrior, "While my sense of tactics is not as great, it helps a little."

"Well, you do you. I'll leave the planning to Temma," said Leda with a grin.

"Ah-ha… right," muttered the knight as he observed the stacked boards in front of him. He then moved his warrior piece.

"Check," he declared.

"Urgh, again," muttered the half-snow elf as she pondered her next move.

---

A furtive figure crept through the underbrush. The target was a brown rabbit that was nibbling some grass. It crept closer… closer…

A snapping twig startled the target and the rabbit ran off. With a frustrated sigh, Botan stood up and stretched.

"Hng, I'm getting rusty," she muttered to herself. It has been a long while since she had actually hunted for something, let alone doing it alone. Tracking prey down, sneaking to an optimal place, and striking hard and fast to take it down.

The bushes rustled, putting her on edge. She aimed her shortbow and waited patiently. She let go of the breath she had been holding and glared at the squirrel girl's head that popped out of the bush.

"I almost shot you, Risu," she stated with a deadpan stare.

"Sorry," the druid replied with a cheeky grin as she emerged from the bushes, Baloo in tow, "What are you doing?"

"A bit of hunting. It's been a while since I did and I want to see if I lost anything," she admitted.

"Ah… you can help feed Baloo!" the squirrel girl exclaimed.

"...What?" she muttered incredulously.

"Yup! I was bringing Baloo around to search for something to eat," Risu explained as she hugged the young owlbear, "Maybe you can help."

"Well...sure, why not?" Botan agreed after a pause, thinking that some motivation to improve might do her some good.

With that settled, she went to where the rabbit was and knelt down. Quietly observing and touching its tracks, she saw its trail. She grinned and took off, intent on serving rabbit for lunch. Risu and Baloo moved as well, right behind her tail.

---

"Oof, no more...please, I'm tired," begged Polka as she lay on the grassy ground. Her whole body ached and was drenched in sweat. A towel was tossed onto her head.

"That's fine. Get some water then," stated Aruran as he gestured over to the table set up on his lawn. On it was a jug of water and two cups.

She picked herself up and walked over slowly, dragging her feet as she moved. She poured herself a cup and guzzled it thirstily.

"You really should slow down or you will choke," the lord said calmly as he slowly sipped his hot tea.

"...You are really something else, teacher," muttered the fennec fox girl after staring at him dumbfoundedly, "You're still drinking hot tea even though the day is this hot."

He chuckled and stated, "This is just my way of handling day-to-day affairs. Being calm and collected even during stressful times can make things quite bearable." Then, he placed the cup on its saucer and continued as he motioned to her, "You are quite the opposite. You revel in the chaos and find order within it. This is you, and the constant flow and movement of the drunken fist is a good fit for you."

"Scary..." she continued muttering with wide eyes. Then, she asked him as she flopped down on the ground to rest her legs, "Hey, teacher? Why did you sign me up for the tournament? Was it really to test me?"

"Hmm, it started as that," he reasoned, "It gave me a sense of how far you progressed. And I was satisfied with what you did. I had also hoped that it gave you the drive to improve yourself. So, are you?"

"Hmm, I don't know. On what you're teaching me at least," she stated as she stared at the grass, "It has opened my eyes, sure, but I still want to chase my dream of leading a circus of my own." She then looked at him with a big grin on her face, "That's my goal in life."

"...I have a feeling that your parents used to be part of one," he commented. Getting nods from her, he snapped his fingers and stated, "You simply want to see what it was like. Even if you should achieve it, there has to be more than that."

"I may have another goal later on, but this is the one I have right now," she replied, keeping that grin on.

"Hmph, right," he murmured with a smile of amusement. Then, he got to his feet and declared, "Alright, rest is over. Back to your training!"

"Ha!? After telling you all that, I still need training!? Let me rest a bit longer!" she shouted in aghast.

He only laughed.

---

"You've been here for a few days now. I thought you'd be spending time with your friends," commented Towa as she put her demonology books away.

Aloe sighed again. True… why was she cooping herself up here? It's been a few days already and she thought she'd be able to distract herself in the meantime. She wasn't as affected by the near-death situations the party got into as it was rather… commonplace in her home.

"I'm… giving them their space. Adventuring is a stressful thing and they need some time away from it," she stated.

"Huh… do you feel the same way?" asked the warlock, suddenly next to her with a notebook open. Where in the world did she get that?

"I… No? I'm kind of used to it," she replied, wondering where this was going.

"Hmm, perhaps while waiting for them to destress, maybe do something for yourself," the half-devil stated as she scribbled down some notes, "Learn a new skill… a new spell… something to pass the time. You are still learning too, after all, right?"

"That… makes sense..." she muttered. She really did think so. Learning something new that can help her friends, even a little, would be worth it.

"Could you teach me anything?" she then asked Towa.

"Aloe, I have many books here. Maybe… try and pick apart a few and figure something out," the half-devil stated as she gestured to her small library, "I'm sure there is a demonomicon that lists some spells somewhere. Look it up."

Staring at her in shock for a moment, the succubus got up and walked over to the nearest shelf to look it through. How in the Nine Hells did she get a demonomicon here?

---

"Hmm?" sounded Miyabi as he looked up from his paperwork, "What did you say?"

"I want to hire a team from the guild," stated a grinning Kiara, "I need at least six people."

"Why exactly?" asked the guild clerk, a frown forming on his face, "The last request almost ended in a failure. I rather not put the other members through that."

"That won't be a problem," stated the chef with a grin as she pointed a thumb to herself, "I was a decent fighter myself back in the day. They'll be safe with me."

"Not reassuring," he deadpanned but put out his hand, "But fine, give me your request."

The grinning lady handed over the piece of paper. He took it and looked it over. He then glanced at her and asked, "Where did you get this information?"

"Prasadiv. He got this story out from some explorers that went up north," she informed him.

"You do know second-hand information is suspect," he stated.

"Well... I believe them?" she replied with a shrug while waving her arms around.

"..."

"Please! I really, really, want to get a few people together and find him! Think of the chickens!" she pleaded.

"Huh...You and your chickens," he muttered after a sigh, "Fine. I will put this up."

"Put what up?"

Both of them looked to the doorway. Aloe was standing there with a puzzled look on her face. Miyabi sighed and stated, "She has another chicken request. If your party wants to take it, you are welcome to. At least she is offering to lead, so there's that."

"Umm, I'll have to talk with the others first. Give me a bit," stated the succubus before ducking into the side room.

He then turned his attention back to the excitable chef and asked, "I presume Roberu has agreed to let you take some time off."

"Yup!"

He sighed and muttered, "Fine… we'll wait until they get back to us."

---

"Kiara is out there? She has a new request for us?" questioned Nene with wide eyes.

"In Miyabi's words, another chicken request," affirmed Aloe with a nod.

"Do we even want to take this up?" asked Polka, her mind drifting back to the last one, "If we are fighting monster chickens again, no thanks."

"...Yeah, no monster chickens," agreed Botan, closing her eyes and crossing her arms.

"Perhaps we should give her a chance and let her state her case first," suggested Lamy in an attempt to relieve the mood.

""...I think I agree with Lamy," mused the bard, "It might be the same. It might be different. We won't know until she tells us. Let's go see her."

Leaving the room, they found the chef at the counter, already talking with another team; Temma, Leda, and Civia. The half-unicorn joined their duo team after her original team with Doris and Artia got broken up.

"Hello, Kiara! What's this about a new chicken request?" asked Nene as the party joined up.

"Ah! Hey, nice to see you again!" greeted the chef happily, "Yeah, gather around if you want to join up!"

As they huddled around her, she started to explain, "Alright, I have gotten some juicy info that a cloud giant has settled down in the northern mountain ranges. And that he has chickens the size of houses."

"And that's why she is asking for help," the bard thought with a bit of amusement.

"Now, all we have to do is journey over to his place and ask permission or maybe even get a trade deal with him to let me have a giant chicken every new moon," she continued with ecstatic glee, "Oh, think of the dishes I can make!"

"Ha… it sounds easy enough," Nene continued to think through the explanation, "But then we have to journey through the mountains to get there. It might turn out to be a long time before coming back to the city again." Her thoughts then turned to Doris, wondering how the mermaid princess was doing.

"It does sound enticing," murmured Leda, interrupting her train of thought.

"Yeah. I bet this would be an interesting journey," supported Civia.

"Indeed," agreed Temma, "But, we will have to make a lot of preparations for this. There will be a lot of walking. Unless everyone here gets some horses."

"Unless the guild can provide horses for us," stated Lamy.

The knight shook his head and stated, "No, they don't. Right, Miyabi?"

The guild clerk shook his head and explained, "We are still in talks about a contract with the stablemaster. Reviewing it will take time."

"Huh, then I wish it was done already," quipped Polka, "We could have traveled a lot faster for our requests."

"The more you know," added Botan as she shrugged.

"You weren't too against to walking before," pointed out Aloe.

"The cheaper thing to do," rebutted the fennec fox girl with a shrug, "If there's a discount, sure."

"So, is everyone on board with this?" Kiara asked everyone present.

"You can rely on my team and I," stated the knight, the two warlocks nodding in agreement.

"We're in," said the lore bard, getting support from her friends, "We took the first one. Why shouldn't we help with this one?"

"Alright!" cheered on the chef, "Now, I normally want to get going as soon as possible, but if you have any preparations to make, I'm fine waiting for you to be ready."

"Very well. I am sure everyone here needs to double-check their equipment before moving out," agreed the knight, "Perhaps we should reconvene here tomorrow morning. Is that acceptable, Kiara?"

"That's A-O-K with me!" she replied cheerfully.

"Alright, let's do our best, everyone!" declared Nene with determination.

AN: This time, two from Holostars and one from the dissolved HoloCN.

First up, Temma.

Temma Kishido

Variant Human Fighter

Cavalier

The knight of the guild. Former/lesser noble who wishes to regain the honor of his family name. He still has a few retainers who will not be coming along with them as he cares for them. He will bring his horse though. I named it Casa.

His friend, Leda.

Leda Astel

Lightning Genasi Warlock

Great Old One pact

Keeping with his supposed amnesia, he traded his memories for power with The Ancient One. The same One that Ina is under. Lightning since the guy has a lightning and sky theme going on. As for his mascot... I couldn't really find anything similar among the normal familiars, so I went with something out of the ordinary, a dybbuk.

And then, Civia.

Civia

Half-Unicorn Warlock

Celestial pact

A victim of a bandit raid similar to Rushia's backstory, but instead of meeting a necromancer, she was found by a unicorn. Originally, I had the unicorn give her some of its lifeblood to save her life. However, after some time and some looking into it, I found that it kinda doesn't make sense. So, she was rescued and then taken care of by it until she came of age, in the Feywild. And after some time, she decided that she was ready to set out on her own. It was then the unicorn gave her it's blessing as well as a pact that would forever tie her to it. Of course, to justify her unicorn-like appearance, pact magic and feywild influence make some strange bedfellows.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 31

It was a warm morning when they reconvened. Everyone was armed and ready. Kiara led the party to the north gate, to the hired cart and they went to the village. Everyone rode on the large cart save for Temma, who had his own personal riding horse named Casa. They reached the village without any trouble. Then, they headed north, sticking to the chef's directions. Temma took it to himself to scout ahead on horseback after asking Aloe to hover over the traveling party to spot for enemies. Thanks to the formation, Aloe warned them about a pride of hunting lions. Instead of trying to go around the hunting area, they set up camp for the night.

Much to their surprise, the chef had actually prepared some premade food that tasted quite delicious when cooked over the fire. Sleep was undisturbed thanks to the Tiny Hut Nene summoned. They still had to post watch but only to watch over the knight's horse.

When morning came, they packed up and continued on their journey. It was then they came across a large watering hole. They stopped by to refill the waterskins and to rest a little. Suddenly, two loud roars echoed through the air. They looked up and saw two… dragons? Their arms were fused to their wings and they had a long barbed tail. Distracted, they didn't notice two watery figures making their way towards them as they rose up from the watering hole. However, this didn't escape Lamy's awareness.

"Elementals?" she murmured in surprise. She then pointed at them, saying, "What are they doing here?"

"This cannot be good," muttered Temma aloud as he ran over and mounted his horse.

"...Better get ready," said Botan as she moved away from the watering hole and nocked an arrow. Meanwhile, the half-snow elf started chanting prayers and blessings on the party.

It was then the elementals surged forward in spite of getting peppered with attacks. They engulfed a few of them, Lamy, Aloe, and Leda, in their watery bodies. At the same time, the wyverns dove down and snapped at a few of them with their maws. Of the three, the succubus managed to release herself, bursting out of the body with the flap of her wings.

"Hurry! Get them out before they drown!" shouted Kiara as she slashed the watery body while Civia conjured a flaming sphere and rammed it into the nearest water elemental.

Botan and Nene sprang into action, trying to get Leda and Lamy out respectively. Meanwhile, the knight had quickly circled around and charged by on his horse, his glaive cutting through the tops of the elementals while making sure he didn't hit anyone still trapped inside. However, they were persistent and continued to engulf more people. The succubus was dragged in again along with the half-unicorn warlock and the fennec fox monk, who was battering the nearest elemental.

---

"Argh, out of the way," shouted Temma as the wyverns suddenly started targeting him as he finished his pass. He hissed as a stinger from one of the wyverns jabbed the back of his neck, injecting its poison load. The scratch was just that but the wound burned and was a little distracting. He had lashed out with his glaive and dealt a superficial blow, but it wasn't enough.

As the wyverns circled around in the sky, he powered through and reined Casa on. The horse neighed and burst into a gallop, bringing him around for another pass. He grit his teeth as he sliced through the head-like construct of the water elemental that was trying to drown two of the ladies. With half the party trying to free the engulfed ones while the other half tried destroying the elementals, he was confident that everyone would come out alright. Then, he ducked down to avoid another pass by the wyverns.

"Take that!" he roared inwardly as he lashed out at retreating wyverns, blood running down the side from one. From what he had noticed, Leda was busy shocking them with his lightning powers. Aloe and Kiara were keeping up with striking them while Nene and Botan were busy trying to pull the others out, who were also struggling to get out as well. Overall, making good progress in whittling down the elementals, in his opinion.

He then turned around to make another pass. This time, he had a wry grin as he was able to slice through a significant chunk of the water elemental he was targeting. However, fortune wasn't favoring him when the wyverns dived down for another pass. He bit back a cry of pain when he could feel their stingers make contact with his skin and pump him full of poison. It was like several red-hot metal bars were being shoved down his spine. It came very close to making him pass out from the pain but he held on.

"Damn it… keep it together, Temma. You can do this," he mentally urged, gripping his glaive tightly. Whipping the reins, Casa thundered down and he swung hard, his glaive dealing the final blow to one of the elementals. It's body burst as the water lost its shape and splashed all over, releasing its current captives. Nene and Lamy coughed and gulped down new air as they got to their feet.

"One down, one more, then we do something about these wyverns," he thought with renewed determination. This time, the diving wyverns didn't find purchase as he actively fended them off with his weapon, parrying their maws and batting away their tails. Feeling someone touch his leg, he looked and saw the cleric. He then felt the pain running wild down his back numbing down to a dull throb.

"Thank you, my lady," he stated politely, also full of gratitude. He noticed that a spectral sword had appeared and assumed that she summoned it. Reining his horse around, he then said, "Now that they are taken care of, let us settle these fake dragons."

"Let's do this!" cheered on Nene as magic, daggers, and darts battered the wyvern that was already injured. Not to be outdone, the spectral sword went sailing into that wyvern's throat as a blast of light lit up its bleeding head.

The second wyvern, ignorant of what happened to its hunting partner, still dive-bombed him. Letting a wry grin form on his visage, he twirled his glaive skillfully, turning aside its attack and drawing blood. As it rose up, it got bombarded by magic, darts, arrows. Apparently all that damage was too much for one, and it flew away instead of sticking around. As it did so, everyone cheered in victory. Glancing over at them, he blushed and quickly turned his horse around. As most of the fine ladies had spent time trying to survive their drowning attempts, the ones that had forgone wearing armor only had the clothes on their backs. It wouldn't do for a knight to stare. It wouldn't do at all.

---

After the battle, Temma pointed out that he spotted a village nearby and suggested going there. Everyone else agreed, wanting to rest a little before continuing their journey, so they headed towards it. The village itself was relatively new and was built over another village that had been razed by a marauding band of goblinoids a few years ago. As it was still new, they didn't have much, but being a small hunting village they at least have some amenities. They got some food and drink while they rested, with Nene deciding to sing a little ditty to help the food go down.

The village leader offered to house them but they politely declined as there was still some light and they could still journey on. Instead, after their meal, they helped to drag the wyvern they killed over from the watering hole. It was then presented to the village as a payment for the food and drink. This brought a smile to the village leader and he thanked them on behalf of the entire village.

"Alright, good luck in your travels," he wished them as they got ready to go, "If you head north without any deviations, you would come upon a former bandit camp. I heard that it used to be the base of the raiders that attacked the village before us and that it was the Smiter of Fear herself that destroyed them with her friends."

"Huh, I guess we'll head there next," stated Botan as they moved away from the village.

"We should not take that long to get there," stated Temma while Casa trotted beside them, "Right, spot for us Aloe. I will ride ahead."

After the fight at the watering hole, the party was thankful that nothing else decided to accost them. They reached the former bandit camp with the evening sun just about setting behind the mountains. Much to their surprise, the abandoned camp was deserted… as expected. The wooden doors were in disrepair and the wooden walls looked like they were going to fall apart any second. Inside, it was barren and desolate, as if nobody had ever lived here before.

"I think we should camp elsewhere," stated Lamy after the party went inside, "The place seems strange, like something evil lives here."

"Unless something is attacking us from above, I'm sure the place is perfectly safe," rebutted Leda.

"...I actually agree with her," Civia spoke up, "I feel uneasy here."

"I suppose being in a cul-de-sac is a bad idea right now," mused Temma as he looked around, "There does not seem to be anything resembling an escape route out of here should anything attack from the front."

"If this place doesn't feel right, then we should camp elsewhere," spoke up Botan, agreeing with her friend.

"Alright then, let's camp outside at the gates then," suggested Nene, "That way, we can see from all directions. I mean, we have to watch out for the horse anyway."

"That is certainly a good idea," agreed the knight, "Then, that is what we shall do."

With a decision agreed upon, they settled in for the night.

---

Lamy yawned as she kept herself awake by staring into the fire. Occasionally, she would look away and her eyes would dart around to observe for any sign of danger. The flickering embers crackled outside the shimmering dome of Nene's magical construct. Casa slept silently, standing stoically against the dark backdrop of the night. It was only the first watch and she had to stay up until it was time to wake Polka for her turn.

Suddenly, she noticed dark shapes moving towards them from the corner of her eye. Standing up and turning her gaze into their direction, her eyes narrowed. Several figures were moving towards the Tiny Hut at a slow pace. She could feel the lingering emptiness that emanated from them as they came nearer and nearer, step by step. Keeping her eyes on them, she went over to the monk and shook her awake.

"Uwah… is it time yet?" murmured the fennec fox girl as she yawned out her words.

"Something or some things are approaching us and I don't think they are friendly," she stated as the shapes slowly became clearer.

This woke her up and she scrambled to her feet to shake everyone awake. Meanwhile, the tattered armors and pallor skin of the approaching figures were very clear to her. Undead. Ugly reanimations of restless souls in her eyes. And it was her duty to protect the beauty of life from this perverseness. It was time to lay them back to rest.

---

"Gods damn it," swore Leda as he got out of his bedroll and got ready to fight, "There goes my sleep."

"We better finish them off quickly then," snarked Aloe as the knight rushed donning his armor and ran out of the dome to get on Casa.

"Alright, we go out and beat them down. No problem," quipped Kiara as she stepped outside.

"Nene, this dome can't be damaged right?" asked Botan. Getting a nod from the bard, she continued, "Alright, you, me, and the spellcasters can take cover in here. Polka, Lamy, Aloe, and Kiara go outside and make sure we don't get surrounded. Temma… well, he's outside already. Let's go."

One by one, the designated defenders stepped out of the dome. Upon noticing them, the undead increased the pace, the ghouls and zombies stretching out their hands to grab at them. Since they are faster, the ghouls reached them first and started clawing at them. As they were tied up, the ones in the dome would move out, cast their spells or in the archer's case, shoot, and then step back inside. The arrangement was doing well, as the ghouls and zombies were quickly cut down, with Temma making hit and run attacks to also whittle them down. However, instead of recklessly charging in with them, the wights had stopped moving.

"Fire! Kill the living fire!" shouted the lead wight from his horse. They shot arrows around Kiara, focussing on the fighter.

This didn't hinder her. As the arrows rained down, she ignored the scratches and pushed back against the last ghoul she was facing. Then, eldritch blasts from Civia sent it flying into the last zombie, causing them to tumble over each other.

"Yosh! Nice one!" she cheered on as the warlock stepped back into the dome.

"Fire! Kill the healer!" shouted the lead wight again. Arrows rained around Lamy.

To everyone's surprise, she didn't raise her shield higher and a few arrows punched through her armor and sent her falling over.

"Lamy!" yelled Nene in horror but was held back by Botan, who had just come back in.

"No! Don't go out. We need you to keep the dome up," she said as halted the bard by hooking her arm under her shoulder.

"But..."

"We are already handling it," she assured sternly, "Look."

And look she did. The ghouls and zombies were down, and the defenders were moving on to taking out the wights. Temma had started to hit their back end and threw them into disarray. Aloe was throwing daggers at the frontmost wight. Kiara had moved to shield the downed cleric while the half-unicorn girl knelt down, pulled out the arrows, and laid her hands on her barely moving chest. A soft, white glow washed over the half-snow elf as her breathing steadied. She then stood up and sent two more eldritch blasts at the lead wight, knocking him off his skeleton horse.

"Keep it together, Nene," the archer chided one last time as she went out and shot her arrows to help the others.

The bard stood there as she looked out from the dome. One by one, the wights and the skeletal warhorse fell. As the last undead fell, her unease did not abate. Until Botan came over to hug her.

"You feel that you could do more. It's fine to feel that way," she stated as she released the hug, "Let me tell you this. If you didn't have this dome up, those archers would have shot at Leda and Civia. Then, we would have more people down and we might not have survived this. You've already done a lot just by keeping it up."

A few moments of silence passed between them. Then, Nene let out a relieved sigh and replied, "Thanks. I needed that."

"Anytime."

AN: Alright, here is something about Kiara.

Kiara Takanashi

Half-Phoenix Fighter

Battle Master

Now, again with the half-phoenix but that's just a simplification as she is technically both human and phoenix. Phoenix as she was involved with a ritual that bound the soul of a phoenix to hers. They became one of the same and thus Kiara was created. Still following her HoloMyth lore, being that she still dies of natural causes and reincarnates as someone new every time, losing her memories as she does so. However, she can also have a Phoenix Rebirth to come back to life if she dies due to other causes. Of course, she loses her memories as well, but not as severe as her reincarnation. And since she also counts as human, this enables her to visit Calliope in the realm of the dead. Come to think of it, she is Hololive's very own Deadpool minus the 4th wall breaking.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 32

The party woke up late in the morning. After normal morning rituals, the party followed Kiara's lead. She led them to a wide dirt trail leading up to the mountains, saying that this was the path laid out by the exploratory expedition. She even got hold of a copy of a map the expedition drew out. The trail had a lot of twists and turns, slowly getting narrower the higher it went. They came across several branching paths but Kiara kept to the path.

"Where do those go?" asked Botan as they avoided another branch.

"From what was told to me, a few dead ends, a few cave entrances," the chef informed her aloud so that the others could hear her, "They were explored of course and found nothing living there. Not sure about now. Eh, anyway, right now, we don't need to go to any of them. But, night time? Sure, we can. They should be safe places to sleep."

Eventually, the path started going across the range, with the trail narrowing enough to force them to travel in single file across the mountain range. At the same time, they came across multiple branches going off in different directions. Again, supposedly leading to dead ends and caverns. The wind was a lot more fierce up there as well as the danger of rock slides. Then, Kiara started talking about the animals and monsters living in the mountains. Territorial ones were the most troubling. Or at least that's how she talked about them.

"Ah, right, seems like the sun is going down," she stated, as the party took in the beautiful sunset, "The next branch should be… here."

She stuffed the map away and quickly led the party to a cave. It was a large one, enough to house them and Temma's horse with ease. As they set up camp for the night, they heard strange noises coming from further in.

"What was that?" asked Polka.

"I don't know..." murmured Nene, "Do we find out what's going on?"

"Hmm, it depends, I suppose," stated Temma, "Are the noises going to be disturbing our sleep?"

"I feel curious about it," said Leda suddenly, "I suddenly have the need to investigate."

The knight sighed and asked, "Are you sure about this?" Getting a nod from his friend, he muttered, "Right, and as usual, you won't let up until you find out."

"You know me too well," said the lightning genasi with a smile.

Shrugging, the knight took charge. Being that the ceiling was a little low, he was forced to leave Casa behind. After making sure that the reins were secure, they ventured in deeper into the cave. Polka helped with her driftglobe, lighting up the place so that everyone could see. It was surprising to a few of them that the cave went that far back. All manner of stalagmites and stalactites dotted the place, sometimes narrowing the cave in some places. After a while, a voice suddenly called out to them, "Stop."

"Eh? Who said that?" asked Civia aloud after the party stopped in their tracks.

"Leave now."

"Umm, so… Who is asking us to stop?" asked Nene with interest.

"No come. Go away."

"That kind of sounds like broken Common. Weird," said Civia, "That one sounded a little different too."

"Two somethings?" asked the fennec fox monk, "What are they, guards?"

"If they are guards… what are they guarding?" asked Kiara.

"Allow me to try," spoke up Leda as he stepped forward. Focussing his concentration, he reached out with his mind, "Did someone bring you here? Do you have a leader we can talk to?"

Silence. Then, the two voices spoke up in alternate sentences, "Speak with master? Do we bring them? We're guards, master's wishes. But they seek the master. I'll bring them. Yes, yes."

From behind a shadow of a large stalactite, a green, floating head with a large toothy mouth flew out, shocking and surprising them. It had four extra eyes attached to eye stalks growing out the side of the head.

"Follow," it rasped out before floating ahead of them. The party looked at each other for a moment and followed after it.

The cave was very straightforward and they ended up in a large, cavernous area. They could see one corner of the place illuminated by candlelight. As they were led closer, a few strange voices started addressing them.

"Saved by horse. Horse with horns."

"Fire, fire, bird. Dead and life."

"What in the world was that about?" questioned the bard as they got closer. The others were just as confused as the owners of the voices hid behind the stalactites.

A robed figure stood over a magic circle, which was glowing with flowing power. Another of those green floating heads was observing from above. Slowly, a medium-sized chunk of stone materialized in the center and the glow died down.

"Master, many guest want talk," the floating head rasped out.

The figure turned to face them and spoke, "Guests? I was not expecting guests."

"You!" shouted Aloe in surprise, "You're the guy that summoned me!"

The summoner narrowed his eyes and backed away in suspicion. "What!? How did you find me!?" he shouted as he glared at them, recognizing some of them, "Who sent you now!? I will not be disturbed when I am this close! Kill them! Kill them all!" His voice echoed through the cave.

"What!? Wait a minute!" exclaimed the succubus.

The ground then shuddered as the chunk of stone suddenly unfolded itself, becoming an earth elemental. She quickly clamped her mouth shut. The green head that led them joined its hovering brethren. Behind them, the third head made its appearance. Two more aberrations appeared, the owners of the voices. Strange, twisted humanoids with taloned feet and hands, brown spikes and protrusions running all over its back, and a singular green eye.

"My research will not be stopped!" declared the summoner as he teleported away.

"Damn it," swore the knight as they got ready for a fight, "To arms! Defend yourselves!"

---

Polka, being behind the front line, decided to take on the monsters at the back. One of those floating heads and the two muttering mini cyclops. At least that's how she sees it. As Botan and Civia tried shooting the floating head out of the air, she rushed towards the nearest muttering monster.

"Eat! Eat!" it shouted as an emerald beam suddenly shot out of its eye.

She tried cartwheeling around it and it almost missed, but it grazed against her side. She grit her teeth and swallowed down the cry of pain as she landed. She pushed herself forward and flew forward knee-first, her tattoos gleaming purple. The monster shrieked and covered its eye with both hands, her knee crashing against it. As she landed, she shifted her leg around into a sweep. As it jumped, she suddenly rose and landed a punch into its chest.

"Tch," she sounded as it landed on its feet, clutching its chest. It then suddenly turned and ran away.

"Hey! Get back here!" she shouted as she lashed out with a kick and caught it in the elbow.

"Never mind that!" called out Aloe as she landed nearby, green blood staining her claws, "Help the others!"

"Yosh!" she shouted in reply as she turned and ran like the wind, intent on joining Kiara, Nene, and Temma.

A flying kick that missed later, she landed next to the earth elemental and punched its leg, cracking it a little. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of Leda's eldritch blasts getting reflected back into his chest. She grimaced inwardly as the elemental shrugged off the bard's and the chef's attacks as it slammed its rocky fists into the knight. He blocked one with his glaive but failed to react in time to another slamming into his shoulder.

"Take this!" he roared as he fought back, his weapon chipping away at its natural armor. Then, he and the chef got their heads blasted by a multicolored beam fired by the eyestalks of the two floating heads. A translucent cloud of shifting colors covered their head and left them in a daze.

As shocked as she was, she continued to focus on the elemental, her rapid punches slowly chipping away at the rock. Her hands were getting a little sore though. Suddenly, Nene sang a high note. Her voice seemed to echo through the cave and even reverberate through her skull.

"Yikes, is she using magic to turn it up?" Polka groaned inwardly as her ears started to hurt a little. Suddenly, large chunks of the earth elemental crumbled and shattered to little pieces, falling off its animated body like rubble. It then started seeing the bard as a threat as it tried pummelling her instead of the knight.

Suddenly, Kiara stabbed her in the shoulder with her sword. "ARGH! Hey, what's the big idea!?" she shouted as the cloud dissipated over the chef's head.

"Oh, my gods! I'm so sorry!" yelped the chef as she leaped back in horror, "I thought I was hitting the rock."

"...It's fine… those heads must have messed with yours. I forgive you," the monk stated as Temma finished off the elemental.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the chef as she hugged her.

"OW!"

"Sorry!"

---

"Is everyone alright?" asked Nene aloud.

"We're fine here," said Leda while Civia waved.

"Worn out but nothing that some sleep could not remedy," stated Temma with a tired smile.

"Ah, some of us are injured but we'll live," replied Aloe with a smirk before saying seriously, "Although, those eye guys are still around." She then pointed to a cul-de-sac off to the side, "They went there."

"Any idea what they are?" asked Lamy as the party made their way over.

"Dunno," said the succubus with a shrug, "That summoner must have summoned them the same way he summoned me. They must be trapped here too."

"Then, maybe we can reason with them," stated the knight.

As they went nearer, they could hear them muttering non-stop.

"Hello?" called out Kiara.

"Fire bird? What fire bird want?"

"Will you stop calling me that?" asked the chef with a frown.

"Seen it! Seen it!" the speaker shouted.

"Now, now, we should calm down," stated Leda as he and Civia stepped forward, "Now, were you summoned here by your master?"

"Horn girl... but who you?"

"Hmm… in that case… let us talk mentally," stated the lightning genasi and fell silent.

The rest of the party looked on anxiously, keeping a firm grip on their weapons or foci. After a while, Leda announced, "Well, they have agreed to come with us."

"EH!?"

"Well, they, shall we say, are hungry for knowledge," he began to explain, "They want someone or maybe something that can cure them of their condition."

"They weren't like this before. It's… horrible," muttered Nene, pitying the tragic story that was being painted, "Both of them are searching for it?"

"Yes. And they are quite aware and have a sense of our capabilities," he continued, "After telling them about our quest, they became very interested."

"Oh? Why is that?" asked Kiara.

"One of them said something on spellcasters when I mentioned the cloud giant. Perhaps that was it," he mused and then he shrugged, "They might be useful to us… Anyway, let's get back to the entrance. I believe it's time to turn in for the night."

"I will say that I do not trust them," stated Temma as he looked at the aberrations, "I insist on maintaining the watch rotation while they keep their eyes on the entrance."

"I agree. They may have been people before but who knows how their mind has been twisted by their curse," agreed Lamy.

"Sure, we can do all those things," decided the chef, "Come on, we haven't even had our dinner yet. Let's go!"

---

The night passed without any complications. Those on watch didn't notice anything strange, other than the strange aberrations constantly taking turns looking back at them while they guarded the entrance. The morning was quite wet as it started raining the moment they left the cave to continue their journey. They didn't seem too bothered by the rain but the rest of the party felt quite cold when the wind picked up, except Kiara. The wind and rain soon stopped while the sun's rays grew stronger. It still felt very cold but that soon passed as well as the sun slowly moved to the highest point in the sky.

Suddenly, a shrill cry pierced the air, stopping the party in their tracks. They looked around, keeping their eyes open for sudden attacks. Another shrill cry and suddenly three griffons swooped down to attack them. They flew down and started harrying them.

"What the-!? Why are they attacking us!?" shouted Botan as she tried to fend off the swooping monsters, everyone joining in to try and fight back.

"Argh!" yelled Temma as he was knocked off Casa's saddle, who he had just gotten under control as the griffons spooked it. She was then grabbed by another griffon and they flew off.

"CASA!" the knight yelled as he scrambled to his feet and chased after them.

He skidded to a halt at the edge of the path and looked despairingly at his horse, who was struggling in the monster's claws. Spinning around, he walked up to Kiara and asked, "Are there any places on your map that show where they roost?"

"I don't know… let me see," muttered the chef as she scrutinized the large piece of parchment.

"You do know that it is unlikely that she would be alive if we do reach them, right?" asked Leda solemnly.

"...There is still a chance. A slim chance, I know, but… I must at least try," admitted the knight, "If I simply gave up like that… she has been with me since young, I have to try."

"Hmm, alright. Based on the direction of where they are flying… we may not make it in time," stated the chef, "We follow the path and take the right branch at the first junction. We should end up circling around a small plateau that could have housed their nesting site."

"Let's go," declared Temma resolutely as he went on ahead of the party.

"He seemed pretty torn up," muttered Polka.

"Well, since he must have grown up together with his horse since she was a foal," reasoned Botan as the party followed after him, "If anything, we should help him."

"We better pick up the pace," mused Nene. Turning to Aloe, she asked, "Can you fly on ahead? To make sure they are there?"

"Eyes in the sky again?" grumbled the succubus, "I guess… I could dry my wings faster, I suppose." Flicking her wings open, she took off and went on ahead.

It didn't take too long to reach the plateau. Temma picked up the pace the moment they reached the path circling upwards.

"Hey, wait! Slow down!" called out the lightning genasi but the knight threw caution to the wind and hurried on ahead.

"Damn it," swore the succubus as she met up with the rest of the party again, "We better chase after him. The griffons are already eating his horse. And there are actually four of them. Hurry!"

They quickly ran after him while taking care not to fall off the path. Unfortunately…

"NO! CASA!"

"Crap, he saw them," muttered Aloe as the rest caught up with him.

Four griffons surrounded the dead horse and were busy feasting on its flesh until the knight's cries drew their attention. A large nest made of sticks and branches was off to the far side, near to the edge. Two of the griffons looked larger than the other two and had duller plumage. All four of them screeched and screamed loudly as they moved to surround them. Meanwhile, the knight had fallen to his knees and was staring at the dead body of his mount, his glaive on the ground by his side.

"Er, Temma, snap out of it," stated Leda worriedly, "We're getting surrounded." It was then, the griffons surged forward and attacked.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 33

The griffon's beak crashed against her shield and the monster pulled back, the curve of the beak pulling down the ridges on the shield. Kiara stumbled forward and had to use her sword arm to protect her face. She hissed out her pain and swung wide, leaving a shallow cut on its paw. She then followed up with an overhead slash that gashed through its frontal shoulder.

Several crackling beams shot past her. The first slammed into its shoulder, creating a large blast. As it flinched, two more crashed into its chest. The blasts were smaller but they pushed the griffon off the plateau. However, with the flap of its wings, it stopped itself from falling and it rose up into the air. But, instead of coming back to attack her, it flew past them. Surprised, Kiara spun around and watched the griffon ram into Aloe.

"Argh! Get off!" the succubus yelled.

At the same time, she saw one of the larger griffons assaulting Temma and knocking him over.

"Kikiriki!" she cried shrilly as she charged towards it.

Forewarned, the larger griffon leaped back a little and dodged under her sword swings. Unfortunate for it, it let Temma get up and with a loud, "Die!", he picked up his glaive and thrusted, sending the blade through its chest. As it reared up and fell over to its side, he grabbed the shaft of the glaive and plunged it deeper, killing it.

The other larger griffon let out a loud scream as it noticed the other dying. Distracted, it wasn't able to dodge the other attacks sent its way. Leda's eldritch blasts to its neck. Botan's claws raking over its face. Stabbings from Lamy's spirit sword and Nene's rapier. A blinding flash of light to its eyes. It died unable to fight back from the onslaught. Meanwhile, Civia helped Aloe to kill off the last one.

Kiara slowly walked over to the heavily breathing knight and placed a hand on his shoulder, asking, "Feeling better now?"

"...No, but I, at least, avenged her," he admitted after a pause.

"Er, everyone? Better look at this," called out Civia, "We have a problem."

---

Everyone crowded around the large nest. There was worn armor and rusted, crumbling weapons right outside it. The inner part was lined with old feathers and old bones. Gold pieces were scattered everywhere. And in the center of the nest, was a lone egg.

"Umm, what do we do with this?" asked Nene, breaking the silence, "Do we take it with us?"

"If we are, we better take turns keeping it warm," stated Kiara, "Or if you want to cook it..."

"Come to think of it, maybe this is a blessing in disguise," interrupted Leda aloud, "Casa was getting old. While you may want to keep her around, wouldn't a griffon be better as a mount?"

"...I… it is not that the thought does not sound appealing… but I have no such training to handle a griffon," the knight replied after a long silence, "And I do not know anyone who knows how."

"Maybe we can ask Risu or her elders for advice?" suggested Polka with a grin, "Since they know a lot about the wilds, they can help."

"It does sound like a good idea," he mused. Then, he said, "Very well, we shall take it with us."

"I'll watch it first," declared the chef as she clambered in and picked it up, "Maybe try and pick out as many gold pieces as you can from the nest too."

"Hurry up and get on with it then," urged Aloe eagerly.

After Kiara got out, egg in hands, Polka and Botan went in to scavenge around for gold. They were able to pick up around a hundred pieces as well as a surprising amount of gemstones. The gems were handed to the team of five to keep while the knight kept the gold.

"Future expenses," advised the lightning genasi, "For the griffon."

They retraced their steps to the path, where they rejoined the one-eyed creatures and continued on their way. Thankfully, nothing else accosted them save cold winds and the sun's rays. Slowly, the sun went lower and lower. The party got a little worried as they hadn't found a branch in the path for quite a while now. They then came upon a rope bridge traversing over a sizable gorge.

"Huh, the expedition built this," stated the chef as she referred to the map, "Hmm, I think it should still be usable enough." She then motioned to follow, "C'mon, we can go two at a time. Follow me."

True enough, it was still usable. The rope has yet to fray and the wood has yet to break. But, by the time they had successfully crossed over, it was quite dark. Several torches were lit and passed around. It took another hour or so before they made their way to another cave and settled down for the night. They still kept watch, if only to make sure the one-eyed creatures didn't do any funny business. Once again, other than taking turns looking back at them while they guarded the entrance, they didn't do anything else.

Setting off in the morning, they continued on their way. The party followed Kiara's map diligently and they eventually reached another plateau, which seemed unnaturally made. On the opposite side was a big path going up another mountain… made of clouds. And it led up to a… huge house on a cloud. The party just stood there in awe at the sight.

"Woah," muttered Nene in awe, breaking the party's silence, "It looks amazing."

"This is the first time I've seen such a thing," added Civia as the party walked onto the plateau and looked around.

"I feel like I'm looking forward to meeting this cloud giant," stated Leda, "I wonder how he made this."

"Agreed. This will be a novel experience," affirmed Temma with a nod.

"...Does anyone hear that?" asked Lamy, her ears suddenly twitching.

Everyone looked around but not seeing anything. Then, Kiara looked up and shouted frantically, "Botan! Catch!"

The surprised lion girl caught the griffon egg while the chef ran and pushed Nene out of the way. A second later, a large boulder crashed into her body as she flopped on the ground.

"KIARA!" shouted the party in horror as they ran over to push the boulder away. They took a few seconds to collectively push the boulder away. It rolled off to one side, its point of impact… surprisingly devoid of blood. Instead of a body, they found ashes in the shape of the chef, her clothes, and equipment. There was a strange lump under her clothes. Nene stepped near it and reached inside to grab it. In her hand was a medium-sized, pulsating, egg-like thing. It was orange and red in color and emanated a blazing warmness from it.

"What in the world is this?" asked Nene as she held it in her hands.

"Fire bird! Fire bird!" shouted one of the one-eyed creatures, "Seen it! Seen it!"

"Fire bird… this strange egg-thing… you don't mean… is she a phoenix?" asked Civia in astonishment.

"...EH!?"

"Why are you here!?" bellowed out a voice.

They looked towards the house and saw a sky-blue skinned giant with smoothly-combed silvery hair and iridescent blue eyes. He was barefoot but wore a simple but finely made shirt and pants colored blue and green. He had a cloud-white cloak draped over his shoulders to complete his outfit.

"Leave. I have no interest in entertaining guests today," he continued to shout out.

"Wait! Please, we come seeking trade," called out the bard, the first thing coming to mind was what Kiara hired them for.

"Trade!? I see no goods anywhere!" he bellowed back, "If you wish to deceive me, you better come up with better lies!"

"Sir, please, if you would allow us to approach and explain better-"

"Enough, you will leave now or I shall shower you with rocks," the giant interrupted the knight.

"WAIT! Please, we need to help our friend! She is a phoenix!" shouted Civia, desperately not wanting the rest of the party to get into further trouble.

Silence.

"Fine, you can approach. But make any funny moves and you're getting booted off the mountain," he threatened as he gave them permission.

The party quickly picked up Kiara's things and immediately hurried over, Botan and Nene clutching their eggs carefully. As they approached, the giant raised an eyebrow at the one-eyed creatures following them.

"Why are these nothics following you?" he asked as he pointed at them, his voice rumbling like faint thunder.

"Ah… they were brought here by some mad summoner," replied Nene after some hesitation, "They decided to follow us after we mentioned we were trying to meet you."

"Hmph," he sounded with a frown. Then, he said sternly, "I am Svasdir. What is this trade you want?" Then, catching sight of the pulsating egg-thing in the bard's hands, he added, "And is this the phoenix you are talking about?"

"Er… well, she is that one that wanted to talk to you about trade," replied the lore bard.

"And of course things must be difficult," he grumbled. With a loud growl, he headed towards his house while saying, "If that is the case, come. We will have to keep it hot to bring her back."

The party quickly hurried after the giant. After he opened the door and allowed the party to go in, nothics included, he shut the door. They were amazed. While a little threadbare, it was still a little amazing. There were two other doors inside to two other rooms. A fireplace on one wall, logs crackling warmly. A huge sturdy chair and table set in front of it, with intricate carvings along the armrests and the table edge, inlaid with gold leaf. On the wall hung a huge tapestry woven with vibrantly colored threads depicting a scene of some sort of fight. There was also a large, ornately carved wooden mask. It reminded them of the performance masks that actors of plays used. It was half smiling, half frowning. It was gilded with silver with gold trimmings. On the table was a golden candelabra that bathed the room in its candlelight.

He pulled out the chair and stated while he sat down, "Go place the egg in the fireplace. It should be warm enough."

As Nene did so, he spied the griffon egg in Botan's hands and asked her, "You there. I see you found an interesting egg. Did you intend to find it or was it happenstance?"

"Er… well... " she sounded as she looked to the others. Turning back to the patient giant, she replied, "Well, they took Temma's horse and after chasing them… we had to fight them. They died. The horse died. And now we have this egg."

"We are going to raise them to replace Casa," spoke up the knight, "While I do not begrudge her death any longer, I still wish for recompense. Hopefully, they will serve me just as well as she did."

"I see. Have you any idea on how to raise such beasts?" the cloud giant asked as he lifted a large silver mug to drink from.

"I must be honest, I do not," he admitted. Meanwhile, Nene placed Kiara's egg in the fireplace itself, which began glowing and pulsating upon contact with the flames. Then, she hurried back to the group, who were listening intently to the giant.

"Hmph, I suppose I can bestow on you some information while waiting for the phoenix to revive," Svasdir mulled over, "I do not know when the egg was laid, but when it hatches and goes through the motions, you must spend at least six months with it. You must personally exercise and train it during that time for it to get used to you and the equipment you wish to use to ride it. This is to strengthen the bond between rider and mount. Then, when it is half-grown, there must be at least four months of intensive training with the same equipment on you riding it. It needs to get used to your weight and whatever armor you are intending to wear. A daily routine needs to be planned for those months and you must follow it to the letter or you may lose any progress you made in limiting its wild nature. Once at least two months of the training is complete, you can try and fly on the griffon as part of the training to get used to aerial mobility. Hmm, what else… ah, during that time of intense training should be when it would be needing a lot more meat than normal, perhaps even a horse. Best be ready to pay a lot of gold to have a steady supply unless of course, you know how to conjure some out of nothing."

"That is… a lot to take in," the knight stated before bowing, "Thank you for your advice. I shall endeavor to follow them the best of my ability."

"That's a lot to take in, sir," said Civia respectfully, "Have you reared griffons before?"

"Hmm, I have. Not anymore," the giant replied, suddenly looking a little somber.

"If you don't mind, what happened?" she continued to ask.

He took another drink from his mug and stated, "Ah… I lost a bet… well, several bets with my brothers. Thus, I am reduced to this. At the very least, I still have my tomes and knowledge." Then, he smirked as he continued, "But, I will surely win everything back with interest the next time we meet up again. Ho ho ho, I have several things up my sleeves for that. Hah!" He tapped the side of his head as he said so.

Their eyes blinked in response, not knowing what to say to this revelation. The giant noticed them doing so and said, "Hmph, anyway, I don't see why you'd care. My affairs are none of your business."

"Sorry, sir. Erm… how long do we need to wait for Kiara?" asked Polka.

"The phoenix? Hmm, give the egg a few hours and she'll be reborn," he informed them. After some thought, he asked, "Why does she want to talk to me? I cannot think of anything of the sort a phoenix would want to ask of me, trade or not."

"Well… she mentioned something about asking to trade for a giant chicken," Nene stated politely.

He barked out a laugh and finished his drink. Then, he replied, "Gods, I've never heard of such a thing in my long life. Hah! Phoenixes wanting my chickens." Seeing that none of them are laughing, he asked, "You are serious?"

"Unfortunately," confirmed Temma.

Svasdir shook his head in disbelief. Getting up, he then headed to one of the doors and went in. At a glance, they could see something of a storeroom with another door leading somewhere else before the door closed again. Not knowing what else to do, they headed to the fireplace and sat down in front of it. They savored the warmth of the fire, remaining that way for a few hours until they heard a crack coming from the fireplace.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Back to The Office

The dreary, eerie green lighting lit the dark surroundings outside. The inside of the office was no different. A simple wooden desk was the centerpiece of the room with a used candle holder on one side and a stack of papers on the other. Calliope raised the glass of wine to her lips and took a dainty sip. She breathed in deep as she swirled the red liquid around before letting the intoxicating drink flow down her throat. Placing the glass on her table, she let off a sigh of relief. She had finished her paperwork. Finally.

"Geez, thank goodness I'm done," she muttered as she glanced over to the smaller table next to the desk. Three other stacks, neatly arranged on it, she looked at it with disdain.

"I think that's the only thing I don't like about my job," she mumbled as she took another sip, "Fricking paperwork."

Suddenly, she felt a link forming in her mind.

"Mistress? Erm, we have a problem."

"...Please, no more paperwork for the day," she droned back mentally.

"No, of course not. It's just that..."

"Well, out with it then. I haven't got all evening," she retorted grumpily. Seriously, why can't those ghosts get to the point already?

"...The phoenix is here again. She is on her way up to your office."

"...What?"

"The phoenix-"

She immediately cut the connection. She got up from her desk and headed straight for the door in haste. She used up so much of her pay on repairing her door the last time that bird decided to die and visit her. She was not going to have a repeat of that. She immediately unlocked and flung the door open wide.

"CALLI!" shouted the phoenix as she sailed through the doorway in all her fiery glory... and landed face-first on the floor.

The apprentice reaper sighed and greeted, "Hello, shitty bird. Why are you dead again?"

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 34

A great flame erupted as the cracking sounds continued, the fire rising up the chimney. A plume of fire shot out and formed into the shape of a bird. The fiery figure flapped a few times and started flying a loop around the fireplace before landing. As it came in to land, it slowly transformed into Kiara. Temma immediately turned around, dragging Leda with him.

"Kikiriki!" the phoenix exclaimed as she got surrounded by the girls, "Hello… why are all of you here?"

"You don't remember?" questioned Nene as the others returned the clothes.

"A little… I thought we were sleeping in a cave. When did we get here?" she asked as she got dressed.

"Er, today?" quipped Polka, "We already left the cave."

"Oh, they're still here too," she continued, noticing the nothics. They took one look at her and sniggered, muttering about fire birds.

"Ah, so you're awake."

The whole party looked up to the giant who had reseated himself on his chair.

"Well, what is this trade you wish to ask of me?" asked Svasdir.

The chef blinked and asked, "What trade?"

Silence reigned save for the crackle of the logs in the fire.

"Urgh… of all things, she forgot that?" muttered Aloe. The nothics started cackling to themselves.

"Wait… ah, yeah, I was wondering why I remember sleeping in a cave," exclaimed Kiara with a clap of her hands. Stepping forward she addressed the giant, who had raised an eyebrow at her antics, "Right, I have come to ask for a giant chicken." And the giant just laughed at her.

"Ah, it has been a long while since I laughed like that," he admitted as he composed himself, "Ahem, I'm afraid I don't have any chickens, giant or otherwise. I merely have a garden and a copse of trees I tend for myself. As for what they saw…"

He then pulled out a big chicken-shaped item from his pocket. It was also gilded gold and intricately made, looking quite life-like. He pressed a button on it and it showed a display they couldn't see as it was too far away. "This little thing helps to predict the weather for me whenever I feel lazy to do so," he informed them, "I got this from an interesting wizard I met on my travels. Smart feller." He then returned it to his pocket and turned to them, saying, "Well, as amusing as that was, you lot came here for nothing."

"What about them?" asked Civia as she pointed to the nothics.

"Hmm, I suppose they can stay. I don't know if I can do anything for them but I'll see what I can do," Svasdir mused as he stared at them.

He then got up and walked to the door. "Right, thank you for the laughs," he stated as he opened the door, "Now, get out of my house. I have things to do."

The crestfallen chef led the party outside. He noticed this and stated, "Look, you might have not found your chickens, but you learned something from this, yes?"

She nodded sadly.

"Hmph, alright. Goodbye," he wished them before shutting the door,

"...Are you alright?" asked Lamy, placing a hand on the phoenix's shoulder.

"...Let's just get a move on," she finally said after a moment's pause. She shrugged off the hand and walked on ahead.

They were concerned with the chef behaving the opposite of her normal nature, but nonetheless, they followed after her. The party made their way back down to the plateau in silence, with only the blowing wind accompanying them.

"Not sure if I need to ask this again, but are you alright, Kiara?" asked Nene, looking a little anxious, "Some of us here have worked with you before and I think I can say that we are concerned."

"...I'll be fine, I just need to work some things out in my head," the chef told her after a pause, "thanks for your concern, though."

"I just don't want… well, another Temma incident to happen again," she added.

"Hey, I wasn't that bad," protested the knight.

"You almost died trying to avenge Casa," stated Leda in deadpan.

"Erm… ah-ha..." he murmured embarrassedly.

"Anyhow, let's get going. I'm sure all of you would prefer beds over bedrolls," spoke up Kiara, prompting everyone to hurry along with her.

They reached the cave they used yesterday. As they made camp and started to settle in for the night, the chef suddenly said, "Maybe I should stop going for gimmicks."

"Hmm, what do you mean?" asked the half-snow elf as the bard started materializing the domed safe space. Instead of a full dome, the spell's area conformed to the cave in an oddly-shaped space instead.

"I mean, maybe I should be working on the taste of my chicken dishes," explained the phoenix as she sat on her bedroll, "I've tried cockatrices and now this failed search for giant chickens. I wanted something unique to identify my dishes. But maybe, I should be looking for the best blend of flavours instead of using a gimmick."

"That would probably be an interesting path to go," agreed the knight, "I can speak for my team that your cooking is quite delectable."

"He just means it's delicious," spoke up Leda to the confused chef.

"Oh! Thanks!" she replied with a grin.

"You know… I was wondering… how are you a phoenix?" asked Polka, her face scrunching up in puzzlement, "You aren't on fire. You don't look like a bird. You-" She stopped as the chef started giggling at her words.

"Ah, sorry. It's been a long time since anyone knew what I am," Kiara admitted with a grin after getting herself under control.

"Well, what can you tell us? I'm sure everyone wants to know," stated Civia, her eagerness, as well as the others, were very clear on their faces.

"I guess..." murmured the phoenix hesitantly, "Well, I don't remember when I became like this nor how many lives I lived through already..."

"Hah!? You lived this long already?" exclaimed the fennec fox girl.

"Shh, let her speak," said Botan, smacking the back of her head.

"Umm, anyway, I know that I used to be human," the chef continued, "The human and the phoenix merged their souls to make me. Hard to see where the human ends and the phoenix begins but that's why I look like this. So, I can die a normal death. Dying of old age is what happens for me. But, for sudden deaths like the boulder earlier? It isn't as permanent."

"So, you turn into that egg-thing we found earlier," spoke up Nene.

"Yup," she confirmed, "And normally, I need a long time to come back but apparently putting it near a fire makes it faster." She then chuckled at their incredulous looks, continuing, "Aww, don't be like that! I can't really remember everything, you know?"

"Ah, so that's why you are bird-brained at times," stated the lightning genasi.

"Don't I know it," she agreed with a smirk, "But in the kitchen, I am king. And I'm very sure I can come up with a unique flavour that will make my chicken dishes famous."

---

It rained that morning. Before they moved from the cave, they made sure the griffon egg was wrapped up warmly in a blanket from Lamy's backpack. The ground was wet and slick but they were still able to traverse through the mountain. The move across the bridge was a little riskier than normal due to the slipperiness but they made it with little to no trouble, even if they gripped the rope railings a little stronger. After that, the rest of the journey back was uneventful over the next two days, if you don't count the several times that they heard a griffon's cry and they pressed against the side of the mountain to avoid being seen. After the passing of Casa, it felt like the griffons stopped paying them attention. While it was a good thing, it made Temma morose from time to time.

On the second night of their journey back, they ended up in the summoner's cave. Aloe grimaced at the thought but joined them inside anyway.

"You really don't like him," stated Nene when most of the party had finished settling down.

"Hng… I was supposed to grant his wish and go back to finish my test," the succubus told her softly, "Then again, I wouldn't have been able to meet all of you. I've been… enjoying? My time here. Boring parts aside, it's been a nice time. Different from my time back home."

"What's your home like?" the bard asked in curiosity

"...Literally fire and brimstone. And the people... well, fiends, are very competitive and the rivalries between factions are very intense," she described hesitantly, "Very cutthroat. Violent. Nothing like this. It's… relaxing not having to watch your back fifteen hours a day."

"Well, then I'm glad you got out of that-"

"Ah, not so fast. Eventually, I will end up back there," she interrupted, "I just hope… after being with all of you, I don't want to go."

"No worries. You won't be going just yet. I'm sure we still have a long way to go before you go back," assured the bard.

"Hi, hi, right? No way I want to go back so fast," stated the succubus with a grin.

---

The morning started off swimmingly. It wasn't raining, but it was still a little cloudy. The party was thankful nothing interrupted their journey. They were quite relieved when they reached the end of the dirt trail and the wide-open grassland began.

"Ha… now all we need to do is get back to the city," muttered Polka tiredly.

"We'll get back soon enough," said Kiara, wanting to cheer up the fennec fox girl, "Meanwhile, we should visit the village to restock. I'm out of precook, so I'm looking to find out what sort of stuff we can get."

"Very well, let us head there now," decided Temma.

However, when they reached there that evening, the villagers seemed to be running around in a panic. The village leader then ran up to them with fear in his eyes and fell at their feet.

"You must help us! Our hunters discovered a raiding force coming to our village. Please help!" he pleaded desperately.

"And we will. Which day are they coming from?" asked the knight.

After getting frantic directions from the leader, the party headed out. After Aloe was asked to scout ahead, everyone got ready to fight the raid. Since there was a low hill off to the side, the party decided to set up an ambush there. With fighters front and the rest behind, they waited patiently for Aloe to return. That didn't take long to happen.

"They're on their way," she announced after she landed. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "There were hobgoblins on horses, a small group of goblins, and two ogres."

"Hmm, they have horses. That… unless we can spook them, they will overrun us the moment we attack," muttered Temma aloud with concern on his face.

"I… might have an idea," stated Leda, drawing everyone's attention to him. He smiled and turned to the side.

"Poruneu, time to come out."

A translucent, jellyfish-like thing suddenly appeared next to him. Along with it came a sense of… loss and grief. As if everyone could feel and understand what the knight felt several days ago.

"Now, now, try and reel it in," he told it in a chiding tone. Slowly, the feeling receded. It was still there but it was reduced and not as prominent.

"Alright, Poruneu will help us," stated the lightning genasi as he clapped his hands. Then, he directed, "Please Poruneu, go to the middle of the path there and lie flat on the earth, spreading yourself out."

As it floated away, he continued, "I can direct him remotely and cast my spells through him, so I should be able to do something to scare the horses."

"Just… just how in the world did you get that?" asked Aloe in disbelief.

"What is it?" asked Nene.

"A dybbuk."

"Oh so that's what it is," exclaimed Leda with a smile.

"More importantly, how in the world did you get it?" pressed the succubus, "It is supposed to be really difficult to bind one. And you have one."

"I don't really know. It was with me when I woke up with my memories gone," he stated as he shrugged, "Up to you if you don't believe me or not."

"Well, regardless, we do have a way to ambush the reading party now," said the knight as the succubus narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "Let us take our places and we wait for them to pass us. Then, we strike."

---

While everyone was waiting tensely, Leda was relaxed. The plan had been decided on and all they had to do is wait. It didn't take long for the raiding party to move past their hiding spot.

"Are you ready? Poruneu?" he asked mentally.

"Yes, master."

As the horses walked over the area his bound familiar was hiding in, he began to seep into its mind and linked his hands with its tentacles. He then began to chant softly as he splayed out his fingers while reaching out, "The power of my birthright, the lightning strikes and will be felt by all."

A loud zap ripped through the calm as his eyes flashed white. The shock emitted from its tentacles raced up the horses. Damage was minimal as it was dulled by the earth, but it successfully spooked the horses. They threw off all the hobgoblin riders and galloped off in fright. Meanwhile, the goblins and the ogres were looking at them and giving confused looks. That confusion ended when he noticed Civia gesturing and chanting softly to herself, causing a pillar of radiant light to rain down from the sky. Unfortunately, it missed its target and spurned them to decisive action. Almost immediately, the hobgoblins got to their feet and split up into two groups; one started shooting arrows at the party while the other got into formation and marched at them. The goblins also sprung into action and shot at them too.

"Well, this is a start," he muttered as arrows started pelting the front line consisting of Kiara, Aloe, Temma, and Polka.

---

"Inevitable frost of the north, beware its spread," chanted Lamy as an ice knife formed in her hand. She then flung it at the group of goblins. The knife and the resulting burst killed all but two of them.

"ELF!" roared out one of the hobgoblins, but his voice was drowned out by a loud note that rose up courtesy of Nene. Five of the advancing goblinoids keeled over dead as blood dripped out of their ears.

Suddenly, one of the dead hobgoblins rose up, its back bending at an unnatural position. It then jerked forward and let out a wail as it vomited blood on the ground. Leda sighed and facepalmed as he figured out what Puroneu was doing. Four of their party became terrified; Kiara and Civia let out squeaky sounds while Botan and Temma flinched at the sight. The archer was so disturbed she missed her shots.

"Shake it off. That was just Puroneu," stated the lightning genasi calmly as he sent out eldritch blasts on the advancing group of hobgoblins.

"Even if you say that..." muttered the phoenix with a shiver. But, she got herself together as the ogres began walking up to them. It got attacked as it got near but it shrugged it all off and slammed its greatclub on her shield. An audible crack made her wince as a lance of pain surged up her arm.

Thankfully, Civia's eldritch blasts were able to knock it back and get it away from their front line. She then yelped as two arrows grazed her arm as she and the cleric were showered with them.

Then, for some reason, Polka announced, "I'm going in."

"Wait-"

She didn't stay to hear out the knight, but charged straight at the blasted ogre, landing all her punches on its bare belly.

"Shoot the fox!" shouted one of the lead hobgoblins while the other cut down the possessed body. Puroneu escaped by sinking into the ground and disappearing out of sight.

Temma sighed and told everyone else, "Alright, let's go stop that from happening."

The frontline broke off. The knight charged into the goblins and took them out while the rest chipped down the ogres. Due to the unrelenting barrage of attacks, the ogres fell quickly.

Upon that happening, one hobgoblin captain shouted for a retreat. They shot the monk and retreated. She was able to fling back one arrow and bury it in one of their archer's skulls.

"Don't let them escape!" shouted the knight as he charged straight for them, the reach of his glaive ending their archers.

The hobgoblins fell one by one until only one of the captains was left.

"You're surrounded. Surrender now!" shouted the knight as he faced the badly injured hobgoblin.

"Go and die, human," he snarled back.

"Come, look into my eyes," said Aloe as she stepped up.

"What are you… yes, mistress?" he started to shout before replying blankly.

"So, why do you want him to surrender? Weren't you trying to kill them?" she asked as she turned to the knight.

He sighed and replied, "I was hoping we could find their base and maybe put a stop to their raids permanently. Yes, it may delay us from returning to Rivirapolis, but I would be remiss if this threat to the villages south of here is left unchecked." Turning to the charmed hobgoblin, he continued, "Now, let us see what he knows."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Back to The Office 2

Kiara quickly got up and tried grabbing Calliope's waist. The reaper quickly got out of the way and the phoenix flopped on the floor again.

"Aww, Calli! I want a hug!" groaned the chef as she got to her knees and just sat there.

"No. I want to relax and enjoy my wine, thank you very much," she stated as she moved over to the table to get another drink, "On another note, what did you do now? At least the last time you showed up here, you died of old age."

"A giant tossed a boulder on me."

She blinked. "What?" she asked as she turned to face the phoenix.

"A cloud giant tossed a boulder. I saved my friends and got killed," Kiara explained.

An exasperated tone escaped her throat as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes as she did so. She then downed the rest of her drink, setting the glass on her table, and then faced her friend as she opened her eyes.

"How in this world did a cloud giant show up at the capital city?" she asked seriously, wondering if she had to make an appearance in Rivirapolis.

"Oh, I gathered a party from the adventurers guild and went north to meet him," the chef stated with a proud grin.

Calliope stared at her friend with a most incredulous look. "You mean to tell me..." she started slowly as if talking to a child, "You went north... to search for this could giant, and you got flattened by a boulder he tossed."

"Er, yeah!"

"Ha... you shitty bird," groaned the reaper as she slapped her forehead and shook her head, "Why... just... why... fine, I guess this warrants a hug from-"

"Nice, nice, nice, nice, nice, nice, nice," the phoenix exclaimed cheerfully as she suddenly teleported over and started caressing Calliope's cheek and temple while nuzzling her cheek into the other side of the reaper's head.

She grit her teeth for a few seconds.

"Get off, shitty bird!" she shouted as a scythe appeared. Its blade swung through the phoenix's body and slammed her to the floor with the rotation. It was bloodless, as it was just her soul getting hooked, but she was groaning as she lay splayed on the floor. The reaper huffed in annoyance and muttered about clueless chickens as she dismissed her scythe. It was then, Kiara's body started dissipating.

"Ah, I'm going back now," she muttered out dizzyingly, "See you next time, Calli!"

The pinkette waited until her body disappeared, replying softly with a smile, "Til next time, Kiara."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 35

Through Aloe, they found out that the raiders were only recently formed after having come in from the north. Apparently, there were other paths going through the mountains that led to other places. They also got him to lead them to their base. It was in a small wooden fort built in front of a large cave. There was very little cover approaching it so they had to hug the mountain to get near it.

"Hmm, this will be difficult," muttered Temma as they observed from afar.

"Hmm, maybe we can trick them into letting us inside?" suggested Leda suddenly, a smile slowly forming on his face after a pause..

"How do we do that?" asked a curious Nene.

The lightning genasi's grin was in full form as he explained, "Right, you know how to create minor illusions?" Getting a nod, he continued as he gestured around, "You and me. We pretend to be hobgoblins with the illusions over us. Then, miss succubus here can get our friend here to lead us. Also, she can transform into a hobgoblin as well to complete the bluff."

"What about all of us?" asked Kiara.

"Well… you can pretend to be mercenaries that want to join the raiders," stated the genasi after musing over it, "We definitely look the part right now."

After everyone agreed with the plan, they prepared everything according to Leda's plan. Civia even healed the charmed hobgoblin captain to sell the illusion that he had won a fight and had successfully persuaded some mercs to join them. Once they were ready, the polymorphed Aloe ordered the charmed captain to lead them to the fort. There were a few hobgoblins on the walls looking at them as they approached.

They were stopped at the gate by two guards. After an exchange of words, they opened the gates. Inside, there were goblins milling around doing odd jobs, with a few hobgoblins standing at the firepit in the center of the fort speaking with another who was holding a quarterstaff with iron bands at the tips. However, once that one glanced over at them, he started shouting at everyone.

"I think they figured it out," stated Botan as the raiders scrambled to get or draw their weapons. As they drew their weapons as well, she quipped, "If that one saw through the illusion... is he a mage?"

"Might be, Take him out first. Quickly!" ordered Temma as the fight began, while the fake hobgoblins got ready to fight as well in spite of their transformations.

There was a sudden shout coming from the left side. A hobgoblin patrol, on the way back to the fort, also showed up and moved in to attack them too. Temma broke off to take on the patrol while Kiara moved up as backup for the fake hobgoblins. In the melee in front of the fort, the charm on the hobgoblin captain somehow broke. However, as he turned around to draw his sword, he got struck down almost immediately. An ear-shattering sound imploded in the mass of goblinoids crowding in the fort entrance. Meanwhile, the rest of the spellcasters as well as Botan rained their attacks from long range on the patrol and the hobgoblins on the walls, with Civia's blasts knocking them off the wall if they hit.

---

"Damn fools! Must I do everything myself!?" roared the hobgoblin devastator before he raised his hands and his quarterstaff up while chanting, "Hear my call, elements of-"

"The elements will not help you today!" shouted Nene as she hastily weaved her own song to disrupt his casting, the tune of her whistling piercing his ears and causing him to stumble on his words.

"You dare!?" he roared in rage as she darted off to the side. She had spotted one of the hobgoblin archers that was knocked off the wall trying to shoot her.

His aim was off and he missed, but this let her run up to him to stab. It didn't work too well as it glanced off his armor. Thankfully, before he could fight back, he was blasted onto his back by an eldritch blast. Leaving the unmoving goblinoid, she hurried back to the fort entrance. However, a badly injured goblin ran out frantically. A pillar of radiant light missed as he ran past it.

"Hurry, get it!" shouted Civia.

Nene wasted little time; she intercepted the goblin, who wasn't looking, and stabbed him in the side with her rapier. Withdrawing her blade from its body and flicking the blood off, she quickly headed into the fort. Looking inside, she saw a lot of dead goblins off to the side while the devastator that was shouting at her was lying down on the other side while Polka pulled out her darts from his eyes. It was… a bit too gruesome and she almost lost the contents of her stomach.

"Nene, we can change back now," Aloe told her, already having reverted back to her succubus form. Leda had already done so. The bard nodded and undid her illusion.

However, while Lamy and Civia took a moment to heal some of them, several figures stepped out of the cave. More hobgoblins, one with a longsword and a shield, three with greatswords, and one wielding a staff, and two ogres. Inwardly, she groaned. They didn't have that much time to rest up and they just showed up. Then again, she sort of expected this as this was the raider's base.

---

"You dare attack us!?" the presumed leader, clad in full plate, shouted at them angrily, "I will have you executed for this!"

"Who are you to tell us that!?" shouted Temma in reply, "We are here to defend our peoples."

"Pah! Know your place, fool! I am Warlord Maul and I answer your insults with death! Destroy them!" he roared his orders as he raised his javelin to point at them.

"It is you who will fall this day!" cried out the knight as he led the charge forward alongside Polka and Kiara.

"Under pressure, walls closing down on me, surrounding my life, looking down on me..."

"Enough! You'll be singing a different tune when we're done!" the warlord roared over her singing while the ogres groaned loudly.

Those words seemed to bolster the morale of his guard as they also charged forward to defend their leader. The phoenix was unexpectedly trashed and cut down, much to the horror of the others. In spite of that, spells, arrows, and Aloe's daggers began flying. A flaming sphere burst into life in the middle of the hobgoblins, slamming into the warlord while Nene diffused the fireball that was being formed by the hobgoblin devastator. Polka even baited an ogre's greatclub into hitting one of the guards, killing him in the process.

"Die, human!" the warlord growled as his shield crashed against the glaive, "Hurry! Finish this one off!"

"You're welcome to do so first," the knight retorted as he twirled his glaive, nicking the side of the warlord's head with his second swing. Then, he yelled when one of the guards stabbed him in the side after missing the first swing.

"Heal them, quick!" shouted Aloe as she threw another dagger at that same guard.

Botan's arrows, both real and copied, peppered one of the ogre's heads. It froze for a second before falling over onto its side. Beams of crackling energy steak across the fort's yard as eldritch blasts slammed into the hobgoblins, the warlord staggering backward and falling over Kiara's prone form, the chef getting some reprieve from danger thanks to the bard. The devastator then screamed as he got burned and frosted over at the same time. Meanwhile, the remaining ogre lumbered over to Temma and slammed its greatclub down on him, knocking him flat onto the ground, bleeding from his head.

"You are next!" declared the warlord as he got up and charged at the monk.

"Nope!" she jeered as she dodged out of the way, slamming her elbow into the nearest guard's face, breaking his nose. She tried using her other elbow, but it slammed into his half-plate, then followed with a flip kick, her heel crashing into his forehead. She then slammed the back of her fist into his half-plate, causing him to stagger into Kiara, who got up stabbing.

"Kill them, you fools," roared Warlord Maul.

The last hobgoblin guard standing answered his shout and stabbed the phoenix in the back while getting several arrows stuck in his arm. In turn, he got blasted apart by Leda.

"Yosh, keep it up, everyone! We can win this!" shouted Nene as she jumped back to avoid the ogre's swing.

"No! I will not let you!" roared the warlord furiously as he continued to tangle with Polka.

She avoided his first swing, leaning backward to take a swig of alcohol. She then lurched back up but stopped just in time to avoid getting a deeper slash on her chest. She yelled as she got stabbed in her leg and responded with a backhand to his face with the same hand that was holding her portable cask. She tried punching him another time but missed as he staggered back, reeling from the blow.

"Yah! This way!" shouted the bard as she continued to stab the remaining ogre before singing a stanza for Temma's health. Aloe got the final blow after flying down from the wall, clawing its throat and drawing blood. The large, hulking brute staggered before toppling over backward, blood flowing freely from its throat.

With the warlord remaining, both warlocks focussed on him, continuously blasting him with eldritch energies.

"Enough!" he shouted and made a desperate charge at the nearest person, Polka. The monk tried dodging out of the way, narrowly avoiding his stab. Unfortunately, he swung at her faster than she expected and slashed her stomach. Stunned, she couldn't do anything as she was stabbed in the same place.

"Get off her!" yelled out Temma as he suddenly charged and thrust his glaive, finding a gap in the warlord's armor under the shoulder.

His second thrust was deflected with the shield.

The third found the throat.

Warlord Maul sank to his knees, his hands grasping his gurgling throat, and he fell forward, dead.

"Hmph," the knight sounded off as he glared at the dead body. Turning away, he headed for the injured. "Is everyone alright?" he asked as Nene tended to Polka.

"O goddess, grant us your healing light that we may see the beauty of the dawn once more," prayed Lamy aloud. A few seconds later, almost the entire compound became bathed in soothing light that seemed to uplift the injured and ease them of their wounds.

"Temma, I think we should look around for information," stated Leda as the rest of the ranged party members joined up with them, "I find it strange that these raiders suddenly appear here. Perhaps we can find out where they are landing."

"And then, we can inform the relevant authorities in that region. Good idea, Leda," the knight agreed with a nod. Turning to the others, he continued, "Well, you heard him. Let us-"

"Not so fast. You are staying here," spoke up the cleric as she tugged him over to Kiara and Polka by the collar of his splint armor, "You still need healing."

"But-" he began protesting but clammed up when she glared at him, so he held up his hands and muttered, "Alright... Alright..."

Botan snorted and muttered something jokingly about a 'Mummy Lamy' before joining the others in searching the place.

---

"Oh? This looks interesting," muttered Polka, "Hng… but maybe Temma might make better sense of this..."

She had decided to drag Botan into the cave with her to explore while the others searched the tents outside. The large cave had some furniture set up; a desk and chair with a bed beside it. On the desk were scattered pieces of papers, a few of which looked like maps of some sort. Several stumps of candle wax were clumped on one of the corners. Opening the two drawers showed nothing.

"Hey, Polka! Come here!" called out her friend, her voice echoing a little.

She blinked for a moment before heading deeper in.

"This way," she heard as she came to a junction. Taking the right turn, she ran down the torchlit passage, which eventually opened up to a large dead-end space illuminated with a few more torches. Her eyes widened as she took in the number of crates, large ceramic pots, and chests in there.

"Look at this," the archer called out as she dragged a medium-sized chest to the center of the room. To their surprise, the chest was unlocked. She opened the chest and found several daggers buried in lots of gold pieces. It was pretty much full to the brim in gold. Both of them goggled at the sight, unable to speak for a while.

"...What did we just find here..." muttered the fennec fox girl in disbelief.

"...I should call the others, I think," replied the lion girl, also in disbelief but a lot more composed.

As Botan left the cave, Polka started checking all the other containers. The pots had various liquids, some had plain water while some had something that tasted fruity and alcoholic. The crates had various foodstuffs like grains, dried meats, and preserved vegetables. The other chests had varying amounts of gold and weapons. Further back in the cave had metal ingots and some blacksmithing tools.

"Hey!"

Her ears pricked up at the faint voice. She turned around and looked around. Nobody was there. The lion girl hasn't come back yet.

"Hey!"

A shiver ran down her spine. There was that voice again. And she still didn't see anyone. She quickly went around the cave, looking into every nook and cranny to make sure nobody else was around. That she was completely alone. And she was.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

A thought popped in her head. Maybe there was a ghost here? Is the cave haunted? Did the hobgoblins kill people here before getting the bright idea of storing their stuff here? Who died? Was it a man? A woman? Dare she say… a child? The voice sounded child-like. Was it a child? Please don't…

"Hellooo..."

She shrieked as she fell to her knees, shouting, "Please don't kill me!?"

"Polka? What are you going?"

She looked up and saw Botan, Nene, and Aloe standing there, looking at her incredulously. She hurriedly crawled over to them and hugged the lion girl's legs, saying in a freaked-out tone, "G-g-ghost..."

The three of them blinked in surprise. After looking at each other, they said in unison, "Eh?"

"Is anyone there?"

Silence.

"Who said that?" asked the succubus aloud and looked around. The other two did the same.

"Here I am."

The lion girl's ears twitched, attempting to figure out where the voice came from. "It sounded like it came from the center of the cave," she mused as her eyes observed her surroundings.

"I think… here?" added the lore bard as she went up to the open chest.

"Hi!"

Sifting through the coins, she picked up a dagger with a serpentine blade. The handle had a small guard and was plain, without any decorations and engravings.

"Hello. Nice to meet you," the dagger said in a sweet voice.

She blinked a few times in astonishment, almost dropping the dagger itself. After a moment, she gathered herself and said, "So… you were the one talking?"

"Yup!" it exclaimed as its blade hummed a faint blue glow, "Erm, I'm sorry if I scared anyone. It's just very… well, lonely in the chest."

"Eh? How did you get in there?" asked Botan.

"Well… my creator's shop got raided by these red-skinned meanies," it stated, "I've been with them ever since. I kept quiet because I didn't want to be used by them. Thank you for saving me."

"No problem," quipped the fennec fox girl, now getting over her fright. She then went on to introduce themselves, "My name is Polka. This is Botan and Aloe. The one holding you is Nene."

"Oh… hello… I guess I should introduce myself then," the dagger said in an embarrassed tone, "My name is Anya and I am lucky to meet you."

AN: Okay! So, HoloID 2nd generation, the sentient keris Anya Melfissa.

Int 13

Wis 13

Cha 13

Neutral Good Sentient Dagger

Languages: Common

Senses: Hearing and normal vision out to 30ft.

Right, so she is essentially a +1 dagger. However, since her creator was using her base model as an experiment platform, he also added an extra enchantment to it. Mechanic-wise, you can choose to re-roll one attack, one save, or one ability check. The second one must be used. Yeah, in simple terms, she got one luck dice attached to her, all because she plays FGO. This re-roll can only be used once per day. Her main motivation would be making friends. Later down the line, she could earn more enchantments, but debatable. Maybe we can let Pekora tinker with her.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 36

After the round of introductions, they left the cave to inform the rest. Anya was tucked snugly into Nene's belt. In the large cave at the entrance, they found Temma and Leda pouring over the papers at the desk.

"Hi, hi, Lamy finally let you go?" teased Polka.

"Yeah, laugh it up," he retorted good-naturedly. Turning back to the papers, he said to Leda, "We should get these to the head guard… maybe we might be able to persuade the king to create another knight squadron."

"If so, we should push that through Lord Aruran," suggested the lightning genasi.

"Hey, let's leave them to do their thing and intro Anya to the others," said Aloe as the succubus pulled the other two outside.

The rest were searching the tents. Lamy, Civia, and Kiara were busy hauling stuff out of the tents and placing them around the fire pit.

"Hey, come here. We found something cool inside," she announced as she pushed the bard to the forefront.

"Erm, okay..." said Nene hesitantly as she pulled out the sentient dagger, "Here. Introduce yourself."

"Hi!" it said as the bard held it up to show everyone else, "My name is Anya."

"Woah..." sounded off Civia in awe, the other two having eyes going wide.

"That's so cool," said Kiara, "Are you alive? Are you trapped inside? Are you a spirit? Are you-"

"Erm… n-no?" the dagger said hesitantly as it interrupted her, "I don't know how I became like this. I just… happened. I don't really remember anything else."

"Well… do you want to go back to see your creator?" asked Lamy.

The dagger fell silent. Then, a strange sound came out from it. "I apologize if I brought up something painful," the half-snow elf quickly apologized, having realized that she may have hurt its feelings.

"...No… it's fine..." it muttered after sniffling a little, "My creator passed away. I don't remember how long ago. I just… know." And then, its voice perked up a little, "But, I'll continue existing. I don't know why I was made, but at least, now, I'm with friendly people. I'm happy. You'll be my friends, right?"

"Sure!" said the bard with a smile.

"Yay!"

"Alright," said Temma, drawing everyone else's attention to the entrance of the cave, "Let us head back to the village and let them know about the base."

"But, not before we get to take some rewards for ourselves," chipped in Leda with a grin, "We took a peek in the storeroom you found. I think there's enough for us and the village."

The knight sighed and replied, "I suppose that is fair… but we are telling the village head of how much we took."

"Well, we can help the villagers carry everything in the storeroom back there. Then, we divide the stuff up," suggested the phoenix.

"Ah! I can agree with that," stated the blonde knight with a smile, "Let us do so."

---

The village leader was overjoyed to see their return. Then, he became astonished by the news of the spoils of the fight. He called everyone in the village together and told them the news. Then, every able-bodied person went with the party to the fort to help carry everything back to the village. It took several trips to transport everything, but they did it without any interruptions. By the time they were done, night had fallen and the party was invited to spend the night there. Everyone accepted and they had a feast in the middle of the village.

The next day, they decided to pick apart the spoils and see what they wanted. Temma traded his armor for a set of full-plate, which he took to the blacksmith to get fitted. Aloe got some replacement daggers. Botan got a new bundle of arrows. And everyone in the party took two hundred gold pieces each. After Temma's new armor was fitted properly, the party made their way back to the capital. It was quite the opposite from yesterday, as nothing disrupted their travel. Instead, they decided to quiz Anya on what she knew of the hobgoblins, which wasn't much to begin with. What she did reveal, however, was that her creator and former master was a mouse-folk.

With that fact out in the open, Botan suggested that she might have originated from Gekko, where she and Polka were from. She then suggested that maybe they should go back there someday to find out what happened to the dagger's creator.

"Really?" muttered out the dagger from her place on the bard's belt, "I didn't expect that. I do want to find out but… I have a feeling that they are already gone. But… yeah, it's nice of you to do that for me."

"We're friends now. Why not?" declared Nene with a smile as she glanced down at her belt.

"...Thank you..."

The party reached the last village before the city and Anya fell silent. The knight hired a cart and added a little extra to get the driver to pick up the pace as they continued on their way. How fortunate that nothing came in to disrupt their journey and they reached the capital without a problem. Thanking the driver, they headed straight for the guild house. Upon reaching there, Lamy's snow fairy flew down the stairs and threw themselves at her.

The cleric giggled and said as the fairy nuzzled her cheek, "Aw, I missed you too, my friend."

As the other girls cooed at how cute it was, Temma and Leda went straight for the counter and addressed Miyabi, "We need to speak with Lord Aruran."

The clerk looked at them for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll contact him for your request." He then picked up a smooth stone with a symbol carved on it and grasped it in his hand. Closing his eyes, he stood still for a moment. Then, he opened his eyes and said, "He will be here. If you would wait in the side room for him."

The guys then walked over to the ladies and the knight said, "Well, Lord Aruran is on his way. If you wish to stay, you can join us in the side room. If not, do as you may."

"Right, I should thank everyone for joining me for this weird trip to the mountains," stated Kiara, "Sorry that it wasn't really worth it for you all."

"Aww, don't worry," spoke up Nene, "Sure, we didn't really succeed but, I'd like to think we learned a lot about ourselves and each other during that time. The more you know, you know?"

The phoenix chef giggled and said, "Yeah, that's true. And… I better get back to Robel's and make sure my helpers didn't burn the kitchen down. Seeya!"

"Goodbye!" chorused the others.

---

"Ah, good morning, ladies," greeted Miyabi as the four girls came downstairs the next morning, "Lamy, a package came in for you today." He then pointed to a medium-sized crate under the bulletin board.

"Eh? Are you expecting anything?" asked Polka as they went over to examine the crate.

"I have no idea," replied the half-snow elf. Turning to the clerk, she asked, "Can you help us to open this? I do not have a crowbar with me."

"Alright, give me a moment," he said as he ducked under the counter to look for one. A moment later, he was pushing down on the crowbar to pry the top of the crate open, which popped off without any difficulty. All five of them peered inside and found a shield that seemed to be made of strange material. The cleric ran her hand over it and felt it strangely familiar.

"Actually, this feels like… oh, I think this is from Doris' captain friend," she stated in realization, "I believe he said something about sending me some armor." Carefully, she picked up the shield and turned it around. It looked well-made and well-shaped. Sturdy and protective. And when she picked it up, it started glowing blue.

"Eh?"

"Wow, where did you get that?" asked Aloe as she came in through the doors.

"Hey, Miyabi, why is it glowing?" asked Nene, turning to the clerk.

"Well, I'm not sure myself… but maybe you can bring it to the school to find out," he suggested.

They agreed that this was a good idea and brought the shield to the school. At first, they wanted to ask Rushia to introduce them, but she was busy in a class. Artia was in the same class so they couldn't ask her either. So, they waited outside the library while Nene went in to ask Rosalyn since she worked there. She found her easily as she manned the front desk at the time.

"Hello, welcome back, Nene," the librarian greeted.

"Hello, Rosalyn. I need a bit of help," she replied and quickly explained what was going on.

"Oh, alright. Then, you will need to see Professor Eriatta," the librarian explained and gave her directions to the classroom, adding, "Her class should be over by now."

Thanking the helpful lady, she rejoined her party and they went off to find the wizard's classroom. Finding it was not a problem. The wizard was a water genasi with blue-green skin and damp, slick blue hair tied up into a ponytail.

"Oh, hello there," she greeted warmly with a smile, "Do you require aid?"

"Yes. Sorry for disturbing, but can you help identify this shield?" asked Nene as Lamy brought over and placed the blue glowing shield on the teacher's table, "My friend received this as a gift and we're wondering why it was glowing blue in the first place."

"Hmm, do you know what it is made of?" the teacher asked as she gave the shield a once over.

"Umm, I believe it was made from chuul shells," replied the half-snow elf, "There was an incident during our travels and we ended up fighting a few. Then, it was mentioned that I would be sent a gift for our help."

"Ahhh, that makes so much more sense," the wizard said with understanding, "Right. What you need to know is that chuuls have a sixth sense concerning magical items. It is probably just reacting to any magical items present either on yourself or nearby."

"Ah… so, our amulets?" quipped Polka as she held up hers that was around her neck. The other four mirrored her actions.

"Indeed. So, perhaps once enough time has passed, the glow will die down and reset for detecting something else," reasoned Eriatta. Getting nods from the adventurers, she clapped her hands and asked, "Alright, is there anything else you need?"

"Well… how about this?" asked the bard as she produced Anya's body while Lamy took the shield off the table.

"Oh? Hmm, give me a moment," she stated before she went to a side table and picked out a pearl and an owl's feather. Coming back to the table, she requested, "If you would please place the dagger on the table."

Nene did so. The wizard placed both items on either side of the dagger. Then, she pulled a piece of parchment and a bottle of ink. She placed both items next to the feather. Taking a deep breath, she started chanting, placing one hand on the dagger while the other hovered a distance over the feather. As the chanting continued, a crack was heard and the pearl began turning into dust, swirling around the dagger making an arcane symbol. The feather then started levitating above the table. It dipped its tip into the ink bottle and started writing on the parchment. As the chant ended, the dust flashed and disappeared into the ether, the feather falling down lifelessly onto the piece of parchment.

Eriatta picked up the parchment and began reading off it aloud, "The enchantment on the dagger is strange and unknown. It is possible that the gods of luck have looked favorably on the enchanter and blessed it to bring some minor luck to their endeavors." She then looked at them and said as she placed the parchment on the table, "I must say, it seems Lady Luck has definitely smiled upon you if you actually found this."

"Woah, cool!" exclaimed Polka. By that time, the glow on the shield had died down and several students had made their way into the class.

"Ah, it seems my class is starting soon," the wizard stated.

"Thank you for your help," replied Nene with a grin, taking the dagger from the table and sliding it to her belt.

---

"Miyabi! Anything new!?" called out Polka loudly as the party of five entered the guild house.

"Other than the everyday stuff, check the board, Polka," stated the guild clerk, "You don't have to ask me. Unless there is an emergency request, everything will be on the board."

"Ah, okay then," she quipped in reply before the party went to peruse it.

While that was happening, someone else stepped into the guild house. She wore traditional religious clothes colored red and white. Her hair and her furry ears were snow white. She stepped up to the counter and asked, "Hello, are there any members present for help?"

"Ah, Miss Fubuki," greeted Miyabi politely, "Yes, there are. Over there." He motioned to the bulletin board, where the five of them are still looking through the requests.

She clapped her hands with a happy face and said, "Wonderful!" She approached them and asked, "Hello, everyone. Can you help me with something?"

"Oh? Help with what?" asked Aloe, a little puzzled by the sudden appearance of the fox girl.

Looking at the five members present, she frowned as she looked at the succubus, "Hmm, a problem. I need some help cleaning the shrine near the city… but I don't think you can get in."

"Ha? Another shrine..." muttered the fiend with a pout, "Looks like that's another place I can't get into."

"You are taking things much better than I expected," stated the fox cleric with a raised brow.

"Erm, you see, it was like this," started Nene as she proceeded to fill her in about the island shrine.

"Oh… right, right, right, that makes sense," she replied, her frown now absent. Turning to the succubus, she apologized, "Sorry you can't help, but rules are rules."

Aloe waved it off, trying to show unconcern about this, "This is fine. How long do you need to tidy up a shrine, anyway?"

"In any case, we should be done by evening, so you can reunite for dinner," assured the fox cleric with a gentle smile.

"Alright, let's get started," said Polka eagerly.

"Indeed. Let us settle this quickly," agreed Lamy.

Smiling all the way, Fubuki led the group of four out of the guild house, leaving Aloe and Miyabi behind.

"So, what will you be doing while they are helping Miss Fubuki?" asked the clerk behind the counter.

"Eh, I'll think of something."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 37

Aloe thought she would be able to figure something out… but she couldn't. Without her friends, she couldn't really feel safe in this mortal city. She couldn't help but feel judging stares from the ordinary folk. Hence, once it became a bit too unbearable, she ducked into an alley and stretched her wings. Taking to the air, she found a freeing feeling as she went across the roofs of the city. She could feel all her worries fall to the wayside as she soared through the air. Truly liberating.

"Stop, thief!"

The shout tore her out of her reverie. Steadying herself into a hover, she turned around to try and find the source of the voice. She spotted a cat girl, Okayu if she wasn't mistaken, chasing a cloaked figure with pink hair peeking out from below the hood. They nimbly jumped across the roofs of the buildings.

Making her decision, she flew over with intent on intercepting the fleeing thief. She flew above the chase scene, making sure she couldn't be spotted. Then, she suddenly swooped down and flew right at the runner, slamming into their stomach. With a groan, they got knocked onto the roof. The hood had slipped off, revealing Spade Echo.

"Ah! Thanks for the help," said the cat girl as she caught up with them. She immediately slapped a pair of manacles on Spade Echo's wrists.

"Uhm… no problem," the succubus muttered hesitantly. As the urban hunter hauled the thief away, she noticed a small pouch in the crack of the roof. Glancing at the leaving duo, she reached down and picked up the pouch. Making another glance, she flew off, intending to examine the pouch later.

---

"Huh, looks easy enough," muttered Polka as she hammered on a nail.

When Fubuki brought them to the shrine, it looked like it had seen better days. It was housed inside a simple hut with a wooden fence around it. Several wooden archways bordering the path through the forest leading up it. The fox girl then sent them around to help spruce up the place. The fennec fox girl was asked to help replace parts of the wooden fence. Lamy was asked to help clean the shrine and the hut itself. Botan and Nene were asked to repaint the archways, or gates as the fox girl called them. Some wood blocks, paint jugs, brushes, and buckets of soap water were prepared by some attendants and set beside the entrance of the shrine with some tools.

They quickly got down to work. Everyone had an attendant or two to help them with their tasks. The monk cut apart the blocks to fashion new posts for the fence. The cleric took time to use Mending on torn cloth, and the rice paper walls and doors. She then worked with her helpers to clean the hut, both the floors and the wooden parts of the walls getting wiped down with soapy water. Meanwhile, the archer and the bard painted the gates with their helpers making sure the ladders were steady.

And what was the fox girl doing at the same time? The snow-white girl had vanished elsewhere as after assigning the attendants to them, she disappeared. However, the party was busy with their respective tasks and didn't pay too much attention to her absence.

But, when they finished, it was a different story.

---

Aloe ran into the house and slammed the door. Towa glanced at her for a moment before going back to her book. The succubus slumped to her knees and produced the pouch she picked up. Undoing the strings, she poured out the contents. Her eyes shone when she found a few pearls and a gleaming diamond.

"Oh… this must have been Spade's stuff," she mused inwardly with glee. Then she frowned, "Hmm, did she put it in the crack on purpose? Sneaky thief. If she didn't have this on her, she could pretend to be innocent."

"I hope you didn't bring any guards here during your larceny," stated the half-devil as she continued to read.

"I didn't steal anything. I just picked this up after someone else stole it," she explained as she got to her feet.

"Well, I suppose it isn't stealing if you aren't caught," stated the warlock as the succubus made her way over and sat in the adjoining chair, "I just hope the thief you took that from didn't decide to find you."

"If she does..." she stated as her eyes gleamed an otherworldly glow, "I can just… use my charms to get out of it."

"Just don't get caught."

"I know, I know," she muttered before yawning. Flying, as free as it feels, is a little tiring after the rush fades away. She slowly drifts off to sleep after a while.

---

"Thank you for the assistance!" chorused the attendants as they bowed to the party of four.

"Thank you for your help!" they replied in unison.

Both parties then parted, waving as they did so.

"Where's Fubuki?" asked Polka as her head looked around, trying to see if she could spot the fox girl cleric.

"Hmm, she disappeared, didn't she?" mused Botan, "You know… I'm curious too. Where did she go?"

"Let's try and find out then," Nene declared as she stepped off the beaten path. Their interest peaked, the rest went after her.

After a few minutes of walking around, they heard the sounds of fighting. They quickly hurried forward and hid behind a large tree. In a very small clearing, they found four Fubuki's and of all people, Korone. It looked like they were sparring. The Fubuki's were all attacking at once while the dog girl was expertly fending them off with punches and kicks.

"Woah," sounded the fennec fox monk softly in awe. One Fubuki got punched through the chest and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Another got kicked in the face and disappeared in a similar way.

The remaining two Fubuki's dashed away, putting some distance between them and the bounty hunter. One of them then chanted, "Wind and shadow form around me. Obscure their sight with more to see."

"Not again!" shouted the dog girl as she charged at them. The non-chanting fox tried getting in the way but a punch and a kick later, became a puff of smoke.

To no avail. Three more Fubuki's puffed into existence. Two immediately threw punches, which were blocked by Korone. As they chased after her, she kicked both of them in the face, smoking them. She then flew forward, sending a flying kick into the third mirror image and dispelling it as well. Sidestepping the last Fubuki, she grabbed the kicking leg and threw her to the ground, followed by kicking her head. Strangely enough, the fox girl was uninjured.

"Bye bye," she said before shimmering out of existence.

The dog girl blinked a few times in disbelief, and then shouted, "Hey! Where did you go!?"

"So… why are you here?"

The party of four spun around and found the fox cleric standing behind them with a questioning look.

"Erm… ah-ha, you see, we were looking for you," stammered Nene in embarrassment, "We, er, we finished... cleaning up the shrine."

"Oooh, thank you for your help," she stated with a happy smile.

"There you are!" cheered Korone as she came round the tree, ready to fight. She then blinked when she caught sight of the party there. "Oh, hey guys. How's everything?" she greeted them with a big grin, "Oh, hi Polka,"

"Erm, hi..." replied the fennec fox girl as she waved hesitantly.

"Alright, Korone. I think we need to put our sparring on hold," stated Fubuki, "I need to check on the shrine. Please help them out of the forest."

"Okay! See you next time," she replied.

Waving goodbye to each other, they went their separate ways. It wasn't long before they found the path again, leading to the main road to the city.

"I have to go now, see you next time," said the bounty hunter cheerfully as she went the opposite way.

"Bye!" replied the party of four as they separated, heading back to the city.

---

"Ah, and done," declared Lamy before handing the report in to Miyabi, "Here it is."

"Thank you, Lamy. Well written as always," praised the clerk as he filed the piece of paper away.

After leaving the guild house, they headed straight for Robel's, meeting up with Aloe on the way and entering together.

"So, how was your day?" Aloe asked Nene as they sat down.

"Ah, a lot of painting for me and Botan," the bard started, as the half-snow elf told their usual orders to the waitress, "Polka replaced their fence while Lamy cleaned up the shrine. It wasn't as big as the one on the island though. I think you should have come along though. The area around the shrine might have been off-limits for you but you might have been allowed to paint the gates. They are these giant wooden arches that lead the way to the shrine."

"Huh… maybe," mused the succubus, who then shrugged, "Eh, doesn't matter much."

"Ah, what have you been doing then?" asked the fennec fox girl with interest.

"Well..." the former started hesitantly, not knowing if she should say anything. Eventually, she did, "I didn't do much. A bit of flying over the city… then I helped to stop a thief Okayu was chasing. It was Spade Echo."

"Ooh, nice!" stated the lion girl with a thumbs-up, "So she is finally going to be thrown in the goal?"

"Er… I hope so?" she replied as she moved her hands under the table.

"Enough talking about thieves. Let us eat," declared Lamy as their waitress came back with their food.

"Aye!" cheered the other four.

After a rather cheery dinner, Nene, Botan, and Aloe left, leaving Polka and Lamy at Robel's to continue drinking. The lion girl went back to her room to sleep while the bard accompanied the succubus back to Towa's house.

"You don't have to do this, you know?" the fiend asked, the both of them walking slowly as to let their food settle.

"I know. I was thinking of meeting this Towa person," her friend stated, "Maybe I can learn something new from her."

"Not sure if you want to once you meet her," muttered the succubus.

"That doesn't sound promising at all," quipped Anya.

"You be quiet," Aloe retorted.

Someone then bumped into her. "Hey!" she yelped as she steadied herself before walking away.

"Weird, why did they bump into you?" asked Nene as she looked behind them. A cloaked figure continued walking away..

"No idea… wait, where's my pouch?" she suddenly asked as she started patting around her belt.

The figure suddenly booked it.

"Stop thief!" shouted the bard and both of them chased after the fleeing figure, with the succubus using her running start to go airborne.

She went to the rooftop level and flew after the thief, who was leading the two on a merry chase across several streets. Suddenly, she turned into an alley two turns later, ran into a dead end.

"Hah! We got you now!" shouted Nene as she tried speeding up.

Much to their astonishment, the thief ran up the wall. After a few feet, the thief sunk their fingers into the cracks and started scaling upwards.

"Oh, no, you don't!" shouted Aloe angrily as she slammed into the thief's back and grabbed them by the neck.

"Argh! Get off damn it!" they yelled as their hood slipped off.

"Huh, you again," the fiend stated as she flew down to the lore bard and held Spade Echo against the nearest wall. She then ripped the pouch away with her free hand, saying, "Thank you, very much."

"Guah! Give that back! That isn't yours!" protested the thief as she struggled against her grip.

"Huh, funny, coming from a thief," snarked the succubus as she returned the pouch to her belt.

"I have a reason, stupid devil," the pink-haired thief retorted.

"Then, tell us why," stated the bard.

"Nene, I don't-"

"I want to know," she interrupted her friend as she came over and placed her hand over Aloe's shoulder, "Please. Let her say her piece."

After a few seconds, the succubus sighed and muttered, "Fine." Then, she released the thief.

Gingerly rubbing her neck, she started as she turned around and leaned against the wall, "I steal to help the place I used to live at. That orphanage you visited all those days ago? I'm an anonymous donor that helps to keep the place running. The people there are nice and really care for them. They never knew I got involved in bad company. After coming of age and striking out on my own, I decided to go up from pickpocketing and lost kid scams, I used what I learned to get into burgling. I'm pretty good if I do say so myself. I may enjoy being a thief, but I also remember where I came from. If anything, keeping the kids well off there means less future competition for me." She said the last sentence with a wry grin.

Silence.

"So, what are you two going to do now?" she asked further, "If anything, you two should give me that pouch back."

"No… I don't think we should," drawled out Aloe with a frown, "I 'found' that pouch by myself. Doesn't matter if you stole it or not. Finders keepers, little girl."

"Spade Echo… are you going to sell off whatever is inside the pouch and give it to the orphanage?" asked Nene.

The thief quickly nodded and replied, "Most of my money goes there… well, after paying my expenses of course, a girl's gotta eat."

"Aloe… return the pouch," the bard decided.

The succubus frowned. After her friend gestured to the thief, she made an exasperated sound and pulled off the pouch. Before handing it back, she pulled out the diamond and a pearl, and tossed the pouch at the thief.

"Aloe..."

"Look, I understand she is doing this for the orphanage and for herself," she said exasperatedly as she watched the thief run off with the rest of her goods, "This is me holding back from going fire and brimstone on her. Not to mention I know there are a few spells that need these kinds of things." Saying the last sentence, she holds up the two things she took from the pouch. "This way, I can at least satisfy my needs and actually help my friends that I rather not turn away to satisfy my needs," she ended, her face almost red during her tirade.

Silence.

"...You feel the need to do bad things?" Nene asked hesitantly.

Aloe sighed and said, "You do realize I'm a succubus summoned here without fulfilling my summoner's needs or wishes. And I am stuck here until I am killed or that idiot actually asks me to fulfill something. And while I'm here, I have needs too. So, I'm sorry if this… makes you dislike me, then I-"

Shocked by the interruption of Nene's hug, she asked, "What… are you doing?"

"I won't dislike you or hate you or whatever. You're my friend and that's that," the bard stated with a grin, "So… if you absolutely have to do… something bad, I can keep a secret."

"You… you are… alright with this?" she muttered in disbelief but continued with a smile, "You are unbelievable."

"You can say that again," quipped Anya, "My new master has a real big heart it seems."

"Erm, 'master' doesn't sound appropriate," said Nene with a blush.

"Well, you are my new owner, why not call you master?" the dagger told her, sounding confused.

"That… nevermind, I guess you can call me what you want," she relented, suddenly feeling quite tired.

"Okay, master."

"Not in public, please."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 38

A twitch of her ears. The swing of her tail. The calm serene smile. The snow-white fox girl stepped into the guild house.

"Good morning, Miss Fubuki," greeted Miyabi with a welcoming smile, "What brings you here this morning?"

"Good morning, Mister Miyabi," she replied politely, "I want to meet the girls that helped me yesterday. Are they here?"

"Oh, well, luckily, they are at the bar right now, having their breakfast," he informed her, "Would you like to wait for them here or-"

"Ah, no worries," she assured him, "I'll be meeting them. Thank you, Mister Miyabi."

She hurriedly turned around and headed straight for Robel's. Inside, she found three of the party busy eating their breakfast while the other two were groaning face-first on the table, their breakfast untouched. Roberu then walked over to them and placed two colorful drinks in front of the two.

"Here," he stated as he pat their heads, "Two hangover cures."

"Thank you," moaned Polka as she moved painfully to gulp down the cure. Lamy mirrored her actions.

"Can I?" asked Botan as she pointed to the fennec fox girl's breakfast.

The monk waved her on but muttered, "I want the milk."

"This is horrible," muttered Lamy as she did her best to munch on some bread.

"Good morning!" greeted the fox girl cheerfully.

"Morning," replied the party at various tones of cheerfulness.

"Is everything alright with the shrine?" asked Nene with curiosity.

"Oh, everything is fine. Thank you for your help," she replied with a beaming smile. That smile dimmed as she continued, "I need to find someone. Can you help me?"

"Of course, we can," the lore bard agreed with a grin, "What do you need help with?"

"Well, you see, I have a friend that has gone missing," she started to explain, "Her name is Choco, a tiefling cleric. She was supposed to come visit me a few days ago but she has yet to turn up. I am worried. Last I saw her, she was heading to a shrine in the mountains, stopping by Dusktown on the way."

"Okay! We can definitely help!" Nene exclaimed cheerfully. After glancing at her two hungover friends, she added sheepishly, "Well, not right away. But we will help!"

"Thank you, friends. It is very comforting that this is in capable hands," replied Fubuki with a radiant smile.

---

After hiring a cart and paying for the trip, the party headed straight for Dusktown. A few of them noticed some shadows darting through the forest during their journey but nothing out of the ordinary happened. They reached the lakeside town in good time and they thanked the driver for bringing them.

"So… what do we do now?" asked Aloe.

"I suggest asking around for the tiefling. Perhaps someone has seen her passing through here," suggested Lamy.

"Good idea. Do we split up?" asked Nene.

"Why not? We can ask more people that way," agreed Botan.

"If we are, then maybe we should meet back up in the center of town," suggested Polka.

"Ah-ha! Then, it's decided," the lore bard declared with a grin, agreeing with both, "We split up and meet again in the center of town. Let's go!"

---

An hour later, they met up again to share what they have learned. Plus one guest.

"Who's this, Botan?" asked Polka.

"Everyone, meet Roboco. She's the local tracker and hunter," introduced the archer.

"Hello-bo! Welcome to Dusktown," greeted the strange-looking person. She had wooden limbs instead of normal, fleshy limbs, as well as a pair of wooden cat ears on her head. She wore dark brown leather armor and a welcoming smile.

"Thank you for having us," replied Nene with a mirrored smile, "Has Botan told you why we are here?"

"Yeah. I know the person you wish to find," she confirmed, and then her smile gave way to worry, "I want to find out what happened to her as well. I haven't seen her for a few days and normally, she wouldn't take that long to visit the shrine."

"Hmm, okay. Can you lead us to the shrine?" asked Lamy, "I am afraid we do not know the way."

"Sure, I can do that," replied the hunter with a nod, "If you want to, we can leave right now. It may take a while to get there, but we can reach there by... late evening, I think, and camp out there."

"That sounds great," stated Aloe, trying to sound cheerful, "But I'm not sure if I can go near a shrine."

"Oh, don't worry about that," assured Roboco with a smile, "If the shrine can accept Choco, the grounds can accept you… well, as long as you don't cause any amount of trouble, you should be fine."

"Alright, lead the way, Miss Roboco," requested the lore bard.

She led them away from the town, skirting around the edge of the lake. Soon, they were led away from the lake and headed due east.

"Where is the shrine exactly?" asked Botan curiously.

"Well, it's halfway up the mountain," Roboco explained, "Not to worry, we don't have to go all the way up. There is a single path leading up there so it should be easy to find. I've been up there before. You'd really like the view from up there."

"Just a single path?" asked Polka with mild trepidation.

"Hmm, I guess so." mused the hunter, "I never really strayed from it? I prefer to be in familiar places and I am most familiar in the forests near the town. I've only accompanied Choco to the shrine once."

"Does anyone live up there?" asked Nene this time, "It must be lonely up there."

"The attendants there take turns to come down to get supplies at the town, so they are known somewhat," she explained, "Most of the time, they keep to themselves. You can pick them out easily as they are hooded figures in full-bodied green robes. Never showed their faces. They must have taken some vow or something."

One lonely path later, they walked through a sparsely vegetated trail up the mountain. The party was relaxed; with very little place to hide, the thought of ambushes never occurred to them. True to Roboco's word, they reached the shrine in the evening. They were met outside by a hooded figure in green robes.

"Greetings… I am Krinko… What brings you here?" the figure asked. It sounded like a guy.

"Hello, we are here to ask about a cleric," stated Nene, "Have you seen Choco Yuzuki? We came here on behalf of her friend, who has been waiting for her in the capital."

"Most concerning… she has not… we have not seen her," he replied, with odd speechlessness in between, "Lost, perhaps?"

"Hmm, I guess," stated the hunter, "Umm, I want to… confer… with my friends for a bit."

"Please," he said as he gestured off to the side.

As they huddled together, she stated, "I'm not sure what to think. Choco has come here many times. Getting lost would be quite impossible unless she went off the path for some reason."

"Something is off about them," spoke up Aloe with a frown as she looked at the hooded figure, who was joined by a few more hooded figures, "There is something off about them."

---

As the hooded group went back into the shrine, Aloe decided to do something about it. She went after the group, crossing the threshold of the shrine. As she did so, she froze. She was a little surprised that she didn't feel anything. The island shrine had a very saturated feeling before she got blasted back. But here? There was nothing. It was like the shrine was devoid of any influence. Instead, there was a heavy sense of death that radiated from the main hall of the shrine.

"What is this?" she wondered with a sense of foreboding, "It feels like something is wrong..."

A hand was placed on her shoulder and Nene asked, "What's wrong?" Everyone else had joined her at the threshold.

The succubus shook her head and repeated what she thought, "Something is wrong here."

"Eh? Really?" questioned Polka.

Botan growled and muttered, "I can smell blood now."

Lamy then walked past them and headed straight for the hooded group, shouting, "What is the meaning of this!? Where is Choco!?"

Aloe blinked in surprise, wondering why the cleric was behaving like this.

The one that was speaking earlier cleared his throat and replied, "Afraid that you are mistaken… this is not the cleric you're looking for… eh?"

"I do not believe you," said the half-snow elf adamantly with a frown, crossing her arms in front.

"Why?"

"If even a succubus says something feels wrong here, you have to listen," she declared seriously.

Aloe blinked and for a moment, smiled. "Is this friendly acceptance?" she wondered to herself.

The group of hooded attendants looked to each other. A few more started approaching them from the main hall. Their leader then turned to them and spoke in a creepy voice.

"Curiosity killed the cat."

They then pulled their hoods down. Instead of humans, elves, or any other mixed-blood human, they found humanoid crows. As they pulled out their weapons, two suits of armor stepped out from behind the doorway of the main hall of the shrine. The red glow illuminating the insides were very prominent as the suits of armor leaped up, soared through the air, and landed near the others. Both were armed with a longsword and a big shield.

"Are you kidding me..." the succubus muttered in annoyance as she extended her claws, getting ready for a fight.

---

"Hands off Lamy!" shouted Polka as she jumped into the fight, slamming her heel into one of the kenku's throats. She then followed up the flying kick with a double kick, kicking that same kenku and his neighbor in his beak.

Squawking in surprise, they all converged on her. Swaying back, she nudged one into another, that same crow man screaming in pain as the other's blade injured them. Jumping back to avoid another slash, she felt something strike her from her side, the cleric's blessing flaring up in response. The aura then flickered out with the sound of breaking glass as another shortsword cut her arm. She then leaned back as she heard the sound of a whistling arrow coming her way. One missed but the other clipped her shoulder.

Meanwhile, an arrow slammed into a kenku's chest and sent their body crumpling to the ground. Then, to her surprise, Lamy slammed her mace into the nearest kenku, caving in their head.

"Woah, Mummy Lamy is angry!" she shouted cheekily as she slammed the back of her fist into a kenku's stomach. Then, she leaned back to strike another in the chest and the throat, only to flip forward and slam the first one into the ground with her heel. That pretty much finished them off.

"Will you not call me that?" chided the cleric before chanting. She fired a ray of frost at the helmed horrors, who had gone after Nene. "W-what?" she stammered as the ray missed. More importantly, the spirit weapon she summoned didn't seem to affect it. The spectral mace didn't seem to make a single dent when it hit.

Then, the monk as well as the rest of the party shouted in horror as the suits of armor rained their sword slashes on the lore bard, breaking the blessing and driving the blades into her.

"Get off her!" she yelled as she rushed up to the nearest horror and started punching its armor. Feeling that her drunken boxing might not work too well on this kind of enemy, she went with brute force instead. She seemed to be making headway as her punches seemed to be able to crack the metal armor.

At the same time, Roboco and Botan rained arrows on them, the distraction allowing Nene to grab her rapier and make a tactical retreat. Their prey gone, the helmed horrors turned to the nearest target, the monk. She yelled out in pain as her arm and leg was gashed open by one horror. She grit her teeth as she tried dodging out of the way, the other horror's longsword drawing blood from her other arm. She ducked the follow-up swing, the attack going wide and chipping the other's armor. Suddenly, that one staggered back, the hunter's arrow slamming into the glowing, emptiness occupying the inner space of its helm. A momentary reprieve, she took a hasty swig of her brew, excess spilling out over her arms. It stung, but she used the pain to drive her forward. The kick slammed into its shield, putting it off-balance. A punch to the helmet space caused it to seize up and flinch. A roundhouse kick sent the helmet flying away and the rest of the armor toppling over backward.

"Turn away now, soulless chunk of metal," Nene shouted at the remaining helmed horror in a halting, mocking tone.

It ignored her jeers, as well as the spectral weapon hammering on it uselessly. It weathered the ray of frost and the lion archer's arrows and continued to swing at the monk. She leaped back from the swings, though with a new gash on her thigh. Another miraculous shot from the hunter staggered it again and she capitalized on this. She landed a punch on its chest piece but subsequent blows were blocked as it took a few steps back to put its shield in the way.

"We fight with trash!" the lore bard mocked with more conviction.

The armor shuddered as it lowered its shield, allowing Botan a clear shot at its helm. The red glow died and the armor collapsed to a heap after her bullseye disrupted whatever was holding it together.

---

As Lamy hurried over to heal Polka and Nene, Roboco ran ahead to check the shrine. The main hall. The side buildings. Botan and Aloe kept an eye outward, making sure nothing else showed up behind them while the other two got healed. Soon, the hunter rejoined them, silent and frowning.

"She isn't here?" asked the archer.

The hunter shook her head, "No, but I found the attendants. It seems they died trying to protect the shrine. There were also several patches of melting frost around the main building as well. I can't really tell where it came from."

"Hng, who were those guys?" asked the succubus as she glanced over the slain crow people, "I wonder if someone hired them or something." Having said then, she went over to search the bodies.

The lion girl grimaced, but she went over and helped. Each crow person had nothing on them except the clothes on their backs, their weapons, and a strange symbol painted on their right arm. Motioning over the recently healed party members, they pointed it out.

"Hmm… I don't think I have seen this before," muttered Nene in thought, "Although, a similar-looking symbol has been seen on magic circles used to… enthrall people."

"This is very suspicious already," muttered Roboco, pausing to mull over what to do. Eventually, she said, "Right now… it's getting late and I think we should turn in for the night."

"What do we do about the bodies?" asked Botan.

"I know what to do. But, everyone has to help me," Lamy told them.

What she wanted them to help her do was build a funeral pyre for all the slain people, both good and bad. The shrine compound had a stack of logs that they used to build it. Then, they dragged the bodies over and piled it on the pyre, while the armor that the horrors animated was dragged over to the side of the pyre. After that was done, the lion girl lit it with her tinderbox. As the blaze of the fire burned brightly, the half-snow elf muttered prayers for the departed while the others paid their respects. Dinner was taken in silence, everyone having varying levels of worry either for Choco or for the condition of the party. They made use of the sleeping quarters, where they turned in for the night. The hunter volunteered to take the first watch.

Thus, she found herself outside the building, keeping her eyes peeled to the outside of the compound. Morning could not come quickly enough.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 39

It was almost time to wake up the next watch when haunting baying pierced through the still air. Roboco narrowed her eyes as she peered past the dying flames of the pyre into the darkness. Suddenly, multiple red eyes appeared in the darkness. She immediately jumped to her feet and unshouldered her longbow, her eyes narrowing in wariness. Two more howls were heard as well as something being dragged on the open ground. She also heard the faint sound of something tearing, something she couldn't identify.

She turned to fling the sliding door open and shouted, "Get up, we're under attack!"

Her breath hitched as she found a scarecrow with glowing red eyes looming over the stirring party. Behind it was a large hole in the wall, apparently torn open. Quickly, she drew her bow and fired two shots at it. As the party started moving and freaking out at the scarecrow, she gasped in pain as she felt arrows and teeth nipping on her legs and back. She spun around and saw a team of kenku with shortbows at the entrance to the shrine. She also spotted more scarecrows stepping forward under the faint moonlight. Yet, she also clearly felt something biting her as well. Thankful that her limbs were made of living wood and metal, she tried peering through the darkness to find the source but to no avail.

"Alright, what's going on?" asked Lamy as four of the party gathered around the hunter.

"We got animated scarecrows, more kenku's, and some invisible monsters… at least I think they are invisible," she informed them, noticing and assuming the absent monk was busy taking care of the scarecrow that showed up in the sleeping area.

Before more questions could be asked, one of the approaching scarecrows suddenly let out an unnatural shriek and directed its harshly glowing eyes at them. As it grew brighter, Roboco was suddenly assailed with horrid visions of everyone in the town dying around her, slain by a giant octopus-like thing that rose from the lake. She was going to shoot when a large tentacle wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her side and breaking her longbow to bits. She struggled to get out of its grip, but she was slammed onto the ground and tossed into a wrecked house. As she felt something piercing through her chest from behind, she blacked out.

---

"Roboco! Ah!" shouted Lamy as an arrow punched through her weapon hand, forcing her to drop her mace. Before she could retrieve it, the shadows suddenly coalesced and formed a large mastiff that bit her arm.

She screamed and shook her hand hastily in a terrified manner. It let go and dissipated into wisps of dark smoke. Another shadow mastiff appeared on her other side but she was thankfully still holding on to her shield and so it got nothing for its troubles.

"Shine on!" she heard Polka shouting behind her. Bright light shone out from behind her as if there was a sun in the sleeping area.

Three howls filled the air as the shadow mastiffs suddenly reappeared from the shadows, the bright light eating away their cloak of darkness.

"Good job, Polka!" she cheered on as she snapped the arrow in her hand and pulled out the shaft. She picked up her mace gingerly and proceeded to chant, "Raging storm of snow and ice, rain your hail down on my enemies!"

A clumped up formation of enemies suddenly got bombarded by snowballs raining down from on high. This was followed by a high-pitched note from Nene, causing one mastiff to break apart into black mist while one of the scarecrows burst open, its straw stuffing spilling all over the place. That left two scarecrows remaining; one shrieking and turning its terrifying gaze at them once more while the other swung its clawed arms at Aloe. For some unknown reason, she and the bard froze up after that moment.

"Aloe! Nene! Snap out of it!" shouted Botan as she took out another mastiff and caused the gazing scarecrow to stagger back as her arrow buried itself in its head.

The final mastiff shook itself out of its shock and bolted, running away from the bright light and thus the fight itself. Meanwhile, the kenku archers continued shooting at the cleric, who was getting quite annoyed by the nicks and scratches she was getting.

"A little help here!" she called out as she directed her spectral weapon at the scarecrows.

"Yahoo! Here I come!" shouted Polka as she charged down the scarecrows.

A flying kick and a punch later, the staggered scarecrow crumpling to the ground, its wooden skeleton breaking apart inside the straw body. She also lashed out with a kick against the remaining scarecrow, kicking it in the side and causing its attacks to miss the frozen succubus. Lamy added to this with a frost ray and her spectral mace after she helped to heal up Roboco.

The hunter in question shook her head as she got to her feet, saying, "Thanks, Lamy." She then shouted out, "Botan! Help with the crows!" She then raced ahead and shot at the kenku archers, downing two of the five.

"After you!" the lion girl shouted in reply as she ducked out of the building and shot at the archers as well. Two more fell while the last one got an arrow to the stomach. The remaining archer immediately ran off into the darkness.

After the last scarecrow fell to Polka and the ghostly mace, the tired party regrouped in the courtyard.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Lamy.

"I don't think I've ever been this badly injured before," stated Roboco, surprising everyone with her smile.

After taking a moment to look around, Nene said, "I think…we better go back to bed? But..."

"With my globe lighting up the place, Botan should have a better time watching over us," quipped the fennec fox monk.

"Yeah, I think I should be fine. Just turn down the light a bit," the lion girl agreed, "You all can go back to sleep."

"Alright. Thank you very much."

---

In the morning, the party decided to burn the fresh bodies from the night battle. After the burning and the prayers, Roboco informed them about something unexpected.

"I'm going back to the town. I have to inform the mayor about this," she informed them, "I'm sorry I can't help but this is much too important to ignore."

"We understand. Go on ahead. We'll try our best to find Choco," replied Nene.

"Yeah, wish us luck," added Botan.

After waving and saying their goodbyes, the lion girl got to work. There were barely any tracks for her to find but eventually, she found a faint blood trail that was dusted over. It led them off to the side, off the beaten path, and into a forested area. They headed inside and after an hour of walking, they found the kenku from last night, dead on the ground with several parts of him missing from their body. It seems they were eaten, either by the beasts of the forest or the mastiff that ran away. The bard looked a little ill, Aloe trying to calm her down. Another faint trail went off in one direction, with faint splatters of dried blood.

"This is getting harder to track," she muttered after a while as she looked around. Growling a little after making her observations, she continued, "Damn it, I lost the trail."

"Hey, Botan, I think we're nearing the mountainside," stated Polka as she peered through the brush, spotting the rock face of said place.

"Hng… I hope I can pick up the trail again..." she muttered as she continued onward, the rest following after her.

Lady Luck must have smiled on her as she found a paw print of dried blood leading up a rock path snaking upwards.

"Ow, nice," said Nene cheerfully, "We can continue following the trail."

"Feels a bit too easy, to be honest," stated Aloe, "Are we walking into a trap?"

"Maybe, but we aren't going to find Choco without going up," spoke up Anya suddenly, "You're just going to have to keep moving forward."

"Quite," Lamy agreed, "Let us get on with it."

The path was straightforward, much to their suspicion. After another hour, they came up to a large cave mouth. It looked like a literal fanged mouth, with strange sharpened pillars as the overtly large teeth.

"Abandon hope, ye who enter here," quipped the dagger in a spooky voice.

"Stop that. You're not helping," reprimanded the bard, tapping the hilt.

"Hmm, I do not see anything out of the ordinary," stated the half-snow elf as she peered through the darkness of the cave.

"Well, let's go in then," declared Polka as she stepped in first. The rest followed after her, making sure to keep together.

The deeper they went in the darker it went. However, when the mouth of the cave disappeared, the ceiling started being spotted with luminescent green moss, increasing in abundance the deeper they went. Strangely enough, there were plenty of spaces along the wall where the light was unable to penetrate. It made the trek inside a little… unnerving to the party.

"Are we there yet?" asked Anya cheekily.

"Shhh!" hushed the bard, tapping the hilt again.

Soon they reached the end, encountering a large cavern whose walls were mostly shrouded in shadow. Visible parts of the wall were decorated with bones and waxy deposits reminiscent of terrified faces. A large flat stone served as some sort of table with knick-knacks strewn over it. On one side was a bubbling cauldron over a fire pit emitting a creepy green glow, its contents boiling and giving off wispy green tendrils of smoke. The light from the moss has been reduced here quite a bit, but still enough to illuminate the cave dimly.

Before anyone could stop her, the fennec fox girl called out, "Hello? Is anyone home?"

"Why did you have to do that?" Aloe hissed out, "Now they know we're here. We could have-"

"Oh yes, I am," spoke out a suspiciously welcoming voice.

A figure stepped out from the shadows. Purple skin and short curved horns, dressed in an old brown dress. Shuffling over to the stone table, she brushed aside a few things and sat on it.

"Hello, little ones. I am Lola Darkmingler. What brings you to my humble abode?" she said as she smiled sweetly, a great contrast to her wrinkled, demonic looks.

"Do you know of the shrine just beyond the forest from here?" asked Nene, getting a nod from her, "We are looking for a cleric that usually visits there. Do you know where she is?"

For a moment, her smile broke into a scowl. But then, it went back to a smile pretty quickly. The monk and the archer noticed this little twitch, making them a little warier of her.

"Ah… I'm afraid that I don't know what you are talking about, dear," she told them as she smiled, "I normally keep to myself in my lonesome in my cave."

"Um... if you're sure..."

"How long have you been staying here?" asked Polka, interrupting the bard.

"Oh, we- I have been living here for quite some time now," she stated, "Occasionally, I would visit the town for my needs but that's all I do. Most of the time, I spend my time brewing my potions and the like." She then clapped her hands and asked, "Would you like to buy some?"

"I rather we do not buy stuff from a fiend," spoke up Lamy with suspicion, "Who knows what she put inside those things?"

"Oh, I assure you these are quite alright," she replied, her smile becoming a little strained, "I do not simply put anything in them. I always make them for a specific purpose. Our- I mean, my potions are perfectly potable."

"How about we skip the dancing around and get to the point?" retorted Aloe, deciding to get straight to the point, "I know you're lying. Who is this 'our' and 'we' you are talking about? Did you attack the shrine? Why did you kill them?"

She didn't answer those questions. Instead, she said, "Well, well, well, a succubus? What are you doing here? In the company of these little ones? Are you planning something, my dear?"

"Stop talking nonsense! We are asking you questions!" the succubus retorted again, more harshly this time.

"Hmm..."

"Don't tell me you're going to listen to her," complained the succubus as she turned to the cleric, who was looking at her suspiciously.

Lola started cackling randomly, bringing all the attention back to her.

"Oi, what are you laughing at?" Aloe shot back angrily.

"Oh, I don't know. How about the fact a succubus is traipsing around with four other mortals like she was one of them?" the night hag jeered, "It sounds quite hilarious to me."

"Answer the questions!" the infuriated succubus shouted, small orbs of water faintly forming on the tips of her eyes.

While this exchange was going on, the lion girl spotted something weird. "Nene… what's that?" whispered Botan as she pointed out a strangely gleaming stone sitting on the slab of stone. It looked nearly perfectly spherical… almost like an eyeball.

The bard's eyes widened a little. "I only heard of such things," she whispered back, "Supposedly hags like her can make those things out of eyeballs… but… only covens can make such things. Erm, a group of hags." She then tilted her head in confusion, muttering, "Wait... if this is a coven… where are the other two?"

"I'll ask her," stated the archer.

"What? Wait-"

"Hey, Lola. What's with that hag eye over there?" she asked aloud before the lore bard could fully protest.

"An eye? Oh, surely you must be mistaken," the hag replied with a strained smile.

"...So there were more here," growled out the succubus with a frown before she demanded, "What did you do to the tiefling?"

The hag's smile turned to a frown at a drop of a hat. "So… you are her friends, eh?" she ground out, "That damned girl tried to undo… ah, naughty, naughty." An evil grin graced her face, "I won't simply tell everything to you. No, no, no. You will have to pay for it, my dears."

"Eh, pay?" repeated Polka with a dumbfounded expression.

"Pay with what?" asked Botan in confusion.

"Why should we pay her anything?" muttered Aloe through gritted teeth.

"Erm, maybe we can barter or make a deal with her or something..." suggested Nene, trying to reason with the party.

"We refuse."

"Hmm?" sounded Lola in surprise. The rest of the party was just as surprised and they looked at the cleric.

"You, being a clearly demonic being, will not see a single copper piece from us," stated Lamy seriously, "Even if she is a succubus, I would trust Aloe a whole lot more than I trust you."

"Lamy..." muttered the succubus with a sob.

"Oh, you do, do you?" sneered the night hag before cackling out, "In that case, you'll never find your friend! Kill them, my-!"

"Surprise!" yelled Polka as she flew through the air, her foot connecting with the hag's chest. As she landed, she punched the hag's face twice, drawing first blood.

"Kill them!" shrieked the hag through her broken nose.

Two shadow mastiffs burst out of the dim light and lunged at the monk. She dodged one and shook off the other, the blessing upon her breaking to the sound of glass. As the mastiffs disappeared into the shadows again, she looked up and found the hag missing.

"Eh?"

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 40

"Heh… these guys again?" asked Botan as she shot at one of the scarecrows that stepped out of the darkened shadows along the walls. It creaked and shuddered as one of the arrows went through its eye.

As Nene sang and strummed her lute, Aloe got her throwing daggers ready. The two scarecrows began glaring at them with their glowing eyes. The bard was able to concentrate on her song while the succubus froze up.

"What happened to the hag?" asked Lamy aloud as she summoned her spectral weapon, a sword this time, slashing the scarecrow that the archer tagged. She then followed up with her frost ray, caking its legs in ice.

Suddenly, two horrid-looking stone statues burst out of the shadowy wall and headed straight for them. Their targets were the archer and the bard, clamping their teeth on their arms and clawing on their arms.

"Argh, what are these things?" yelled Nene as she slammed the blade of her rapier on its face, forcing it to release. Botan did the same, except slapping the top of its head with her bow.

"Tch, they look like the temple gargoyles," said their cleric.

"Coming through!" shouted Polka as she ran straight at the tagged scarecrow and went on the attack. However, she got attacked from behind, the shadow mastiff biting her arm as she turned around. Its surprising weight suddenly brought her down to the ground before disappearing into the shadows again.

"We need to take these out first! Let's do this!" encouraged Nene as she put away her lute and drew out her sword. Then, she and Botan, who dropped her shortbow and triggered her transformation, started fighting back in melee. A moment later, Lamy joined in, helping the lion girl with her gargoyle. Unfortunately, Aloe was still frozen in place as the scarecrow that glared at her started approaching and attacking.

Flat on her back, she quickly dug into her pouch and pulled out the driftglobe. Closing her eyes, she raised the globe and shouted, "Shine on!"

As daylight filled the cave, the shadow mastiffs bayed and howled as their shadowing invisibility melted away. They immediately ran away into the shadowy walls, which surprisingly did not dissipate in the light.

"Hover."

The driftglobe then shot up to the ceiling.

"Damn fox!" shrieked the hag, who was revealed to have been standing further away from the party. She then began chanting, "Power of three, come to me, pain and suffering, released on thee!"

Three glowing darts of magical force appeared over her and shot straight at the monk. They struck her in the arm when she brought her arms up to shield herself.

Hissing in pain, she flipped to her feet and looked around. The hag was a bit too far away, so she ran over to the gargoyle that was attacking Nene and pummeled it from behind.

"Thanks for helping," said the bard as she focused down on the gargoyle, "Hey, you! You're as dumb as a pile of rocks."

All it did was snarl and continued to attack her.

"Eh!? But that was supposed to be a joke!" she exclaimed as she hastily dodged out of the way of its mouth and claws.

"But that didn't even make sense," muttered the monk as she punched downward several times, the gargoyle crumbling around her glowing tattoo.

"Yosh, let's help the others," encouraged Nene.

They split up, the bard helping the cleric and the archer while the monk headed to the succubus.

---

Aloe shook off the feeling of terror that continued to wash over her. The scarecrow's gaze and claws made her feel like curling up into a ball and hoping everything goes away. And she shouldn't be feeling this. She snarled at the construct as she got over it. She then gasped as a black beam slammed into her chest, courtesy of Lola. She hissed, glaring at her.

"Need any help?" asked Polka as she joined her side.

"Yeah, I have some payback I need to dish out," she growled as force darts started peppering her. She hissed in pain and suddenly ran past the scarecrow, who raked her side. She lunged and tried grabbing the hag, who shook her head while sporting a creepy grin. Suddenly, the fiend disappeared and she grabbed empty air, almost falling down on the ground before keeping her balance.

"Wha-?" the succubus muttered in surprise before figuring out what the hag did. She snarled out a curse in her native language and immediately jaunted to the Ethereal Plane after the hag. As the colors bled and gave way to black, white, and gray, she chased after the hag after catching sight of her skirting around the fight along the cave wall.

"Get back here!" she roared as she made another attempt to grab the corrupted fey.

"Try again, little girl," jeered Lola as she shifted back to the material plane.

"Damn it!" shouted the succubus in frustration as she shifted back after her.

As the color came back into her vision, she grinned wickedly as she spotted Polka's dart sticking out of the hag's neck. A flurry of arrows rained followed, with only one arrow striking its target. And then, something unexpected happened.

"Nene? What are you- no, no, no, no… AAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Anya's blade sank into the hag's shoulder.

"-AAAAHHHHHHHHHH. EW, WHY'D YOU DO THIS!?"

"Thanks for helping, Anya!" yelled out Aloe as she tried to grab onto anything. An arm. A leg. Anything. No purchase. She was pushed back and slammed into an uncovered wall. She was able to stop herself from going into it face first and turned back for another go. But, she didn't have to.

The fennec fox monk had run forward and grabbed a hold of Lola's arm, her own arm snaking around it to keep her in place. She drove her fist right into the hag's gut, causing the fiendish fey to double over.

"Hurry! Keep her from struggling!" called out the succubus.

"On it!" shouted Nene as she and Botan ran up to hold the hag down, pausing only to wrench Anya and Polka's dart out of her shoulder and neck respectively.

"Ew, ew, ew, why did you have to do that!?" complained the sentient dagger.

"She has a point," thought the succubus as she searched the hag, finding a pitch-black octahedron-shaped stone.

"What!? How dare you! Give it back!" shrieked the hag as she struggled to get out of their grip.

"If you want it back, tell us what happened to the tiefling," offered the succubus as she started throwing the stone up in the air with one hand.

"That is not a toy! Give that back!"

"First, the tiefling!" she fired back.

Lola growled and glowered for a few seconds before relenting loudly, "Bah! Fine!"

She confirmed the existence of the coven. Well, former coven. They had been trying to subvert the shrine for months. They had their minions waiting in the forest while they made their nightly visits. However, the tiefling cleric had shown up one day and somehow unearthed what they had been doing. Even after all their precautions. So one night, they had decided to send their minions in to attack them in order to draw the stronger ones out to fight while they sent others to sneak in to kill the weaker ones. At the same time, they were supposed to be waiting in the forest while they pooled their resources to blanket the place in darkness.

However, before they could cast the spell, they heard a loud, draconic roar. A white dragon had landed and blanketed the area in ice, freezing the defenders coming out of the shrine as well as most of the enthralled kenku. As the young-looking dragon ate its fill, it suddenly looked towards their hiding spot and a second later, she was running away, leaving her other two sisters behind. They were surely in the dragon's stomach by then. As she ran off with the rest of their forces, she could hear the dragon roaring loudly as it flew off towards the higher mountain range in the north. From afar, she could see someone clinging and hammering onto its back.

"Woah, Choco sounds bad-ass," spoke Polka in awe.

"Bah! I've told all I know. Now give back my heartstone!" said the night hag angrily.

"Fine. We got what we came here for," stated Aloe.

Then, Nene said, "I guess we can let her go now." She and Botan then released the hag and the succubus tossed the stone at her. "Let's go rescue our tiefling. I hope she's still safe," she said as she motioned the others to leave.

"I wish your friend dead," retorted the hag as she gathered herself together, "Leave and never return!"

"It's not like we want to be here, witch," the succubus retorted as the party left the cave and into the passage, the driftglobe hovering after the monk.

As they stepped out of the cave into the sunlight, Lamy commented, "You were quite… rough with that one, Aloe."

"I know," muttered the succubus, "But, that's how it is. If you don't have an advantage over people like that, you'll be backstabbed easily."

"Will she hold a grudge?" asked Botan.

"Maybe," she replied. She then shook her head and continued, "No, we have other things to worry about."

"Yeah. We still need to rescue Choco from a dragon," added Nene, "Let's go."

---

Crossing the small forest and ending up back at the shrine path, they headed in the opposite direction and found themselves at a rock cliff face that stretched out along the coast. It looked beautiful and peaceful, especially when you take a few steps back to fit the small waterfall in the view. After trying to search for a way to traverse the place, they discovered a goat's path going deep into the mountain range. It was a little unexpected but a welcome one. Even though they had to go in a single file.

Keeping in mind the dragon, they kept their eyes open for it, frequently looking skyward just in case. They had been walking for quite a while under the cloudy sky when they heard a roar coming from above. They looked up, the mountain blanketed in clouds. They clearly heard something roaring up there, but what?

"Do we climb up and check it out?" Nene asked the party.

"Hmm, I think we can make it? There's plenty of outcroppings for us to grab on to as we go higher," mused Botan, "I think we should try for it."

"Ah, if we are going to do that, we better tie this to our bodies," said Polka as she took the coiled rope from the side of her backpack, "Botan leads, then Lamy, then me, Nene, and Aloe as the last one. We won't have to worry about people falling."

"That is surely a good idea," agreed Lamy.

And so, they tied the rope to themselves according to the fennec fox girl's precautions. They tried their best to follow Botan's lead as the party climbed the mountainside. However, they weren't used to climbing mountains; the monk…

"Eep!"

"Got you! Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Aloe."

"Yeah. Watch yourself."

...and the cleric…

"Urgh, you're heavy in your armor."

"...Are you trying to say something?"

"No, I'm not! Come on, get a grip already."

"Alright. Alright. There is no need to tell me twice."

...almost fell a few times but thankfully, the rope held and the succubus was able to swoop in to hold them up until they got a better grip. Strangely, or thankfully, there were no wyverns or griffons, heard or otherwise.

The higher they went, the colder. Soon, they could see the signs of snow formation. The lion girl eventually reached a mountain path that was partially snowed up. The rocky way was still visible but visible frost was slowly forming in patches.

"Ah, there's a path here," called out the archer to the party behind her, "We can rest here."

"Nice!" exclaimed the monk cheerfully.

As she propped herself on the edge and pushed herself in, Botan got up and pulled on the rope to help them get up faster. As she was doing so, she became distracted and not aware of her surroundings. However, she did get a whiff of something strange. The smell of rotting meat. But by then, it was too late.

"What!?" she shouted in surprise as she was grabbed by the waist. She glanced behind her and saw a large, horned monster covered in snow-white fur except for its angry face, clawed hands, and feet exposed. She was then lifted over its head and thrown to the ground. Thankfully, she knew how to cushion herself from a fall, but she still landed on her back.

However, the rest were pulled up as well when she was grabbed, while Aloe carried Nene up the rest of the way when she noticed them getting pulled up roughly. Luckily, the two that were pulled up got to their feet quickly and prepared to save their friend. The yeti took one look at them and roared loudly, beating its chest at the same time. Two more jumped down from above to join it. All three of them roared and the battle was joined.

---

Polka was cold. They were not as prepared for the cold. Not like the previous adventure where they went around the mountains with Kiara. The sight of snow didn't help. But, the prospect of the fight warmed her enough that she hoped that it would be a good one. Also, the fact that a yeti had taken her friend unprepared and was getting ready to kill her made her fire burn hotter.

As a thrown dagger sank into the yeti's shoulder from the back, she yelled as she ran through the snow, "Oi! Your fight is with me!"

She started pummeling several punches on its leg as it turned to roar at her. A spectral sword appeared and it moved out of the way of its swing.

"What!? The ice does not affect them?" she heard Lamy exclaim in disbelief.

The yeti in front of her then turned back to Botan. "Oi! Fight me!" the monk shouted, trying to draw its attention back to her. However, she yelled as frost suddenly spread all over her back and her legs.

Stumbling as she turned around, the ice on her cracking and breaking, she found a very angry yeti staring back at her. As its razor-sharp claws fell on her, she muttered, "Ah." She couldn't move… more like barely move and she wouldn't be fast enough to dodge this. She tried raising up her arms and stifled a cry of pain as its ebony claws raked over her arms, coloring the ground red. She felt something stabbing her in the stomach and saw the same claws.

As she fell forward, the yeti caught her. She was a little surprised, but not much emotion as she was filled with pain. She could feel herself being picked up and roughly thrown on its shoulder, causing her to groan. She could feel the yeti moving up. A loud explosion followed and she could feel tiny bits of stone showering in her face. Then, she could hear the yeti roar followed by Aloe shouting. Suddenly, she felt her body falling. She felt someone's hands brushing against her waist. More of Aloe's shouting. It was like she was floating on air. Then, she felt her body being jerked all around the place and felt arms around her waist and back.

It was after all that, she heard Botan ask frantically, "Polka! Polka! Are you alright!?"

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 41

"Polka!"

"Hurry, get her back!" shouted Lamy as she finished off the yeti that was trying to take out Botan. Then, she turned to handle the other yeti that she tried and failed to frost over.

Nene's voice rose in crescendo as her pitch went higher and higher, the mountainside beside the climbing yeti exploding and shattering, pelting its entire body with a shower of rock and debris. Yet, its grip held strong and it didn't fall, nor did it let go of the fennec fox girl.

"Let her go!" shouted the archer as she peppered its behind with arrows.

With an angry cry, Aloe shot up and went after the fleeing yeti. Slashing her claws down its back, it roared in pain as it tried to continue climbing. Then, she took her dagger and jammed it into its neck. It gurgled as blood spurted out into the air as she ripped it out, raining down into a fine red mist. As it toppled backward and let go of the monk, she tried to grab her injured friend but she wasn't fast enough.

"No! Polka!" she shouted in horror as she watched the limp body fall.

"Got her!" shouted Botan, the fennec fox girl falling neatly in her arms. Her legs almost buckled under the sudden increase of weight but she held on. Then, she asked frantically, "Polka! Polka! Are you alright!?"

A green glow washed over her. The lion archer looked up. The cleric was still fending off the remaining yeti, her leg bleeding a little. It was the bard that sang the healing word before she moved in the help the cleric.

"You can let me down now," said Polka with a grin.

"Ah," the archer sounded as she let her go. She then picked up her bow and started shooting again.

The yeti roared loudly as her arrows started punching holes in its chest. With another cry, Aloe landed on its chest feet-first and jammed her claws into its throat. As its body crashed to the ground, she pulled her hand out, splattering the ground and its fur with blood.

"Overkill much?" asked Botan.

"Eheh, no kill like overkill," stated the succubus cheekily as she sensually licked her bloodied fingers.

"Now, now, tone it down," chided Nene as she went over and rubbed her friend on the shoulder, Lamy frowning in the background.

"Can we rest a bit before we try and find Choco?" asked Polka as she rubbed her arms.

"Not for long," stated the cleric, still frowning a little at the succubus, "Who knows what that dragon is doing to her. I can only pray that she is still doing her best to survive."

"Alright, let's follow the path," suggested Nene as the archer untied the rope and returned it to the monk, "Maybe we might find a cave or opening that may lead us there."

They agreed and after deciding to head north, they journeyed on while keeping an eye out. Soon, they came to a small path leading up into the range while the other continued on. The snow-swept path was large enough, strangely enough, for a yeti to walk single file. Deciding to take the path, their decision was confirmed when Aloe spotted a small tuft of hair sticking on a blunted rock spike.

Soon, they reached a large cave, the mouth of the cave looking wide enough for a few yeti to stand next to each other with some space remaining. Stepping inside, they traversed down the cavern tunnels. They came across several branching paths. Each time, they had Polka sneak ahead to check around. A few times, they found caves where there was either a sleeping yeti or an empty cave. A few others were openings in the mountain leading to ledges where she could see the path from. It wasn't very high and the yeti could climb down a bit before jumping down. At last, they found an empty cave. The bard set up her hut spell while the rest of the party rested, taking comfort in the warmth of the interior.

An hour later, the tiny ht was dispelled and they continued on their way. Or they would be if Botan suddenly told them to hide. As everyone backed off from the entrance and stayed still, the archer kept her ears peeled. Seconds ticked by and she finally let out a breath of relief.

"I heard something walking towards us. It might have been a yeti or two," she told them before going up the short tunnel and looked around. She then turned to the rest and motioned to follow.

They continued on their way, making it through the tunnels. There were a few close calls and one time the lion archer wondered aloud why there were so many yeti in this place. And the tunnels are getting larger but lesser, which confused the party a little. But, their questioning looks were answered when the tunnel they were following suddenly opened up to a gigantic cavern.

It had several holes in the ceiling that let light stream through, all aimed to a spot further in. There were large and small stalactites scattered around the top as well as four large pillars of stone. The whole place, save for a large area around the entrance to the cavern and the ceiling, was fogged up and difficult to see through.

Warily, they walked up to the clear area, making sure to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

"What in the world is going on?" muttered Nene.

"Hmm, I do not believe we have a way to remove the fog, do we?" asked Lamy in a low tone.

"I don't-"

"Who dares to enter my lair?" asked a loud, growling voice that cut off the bard.

"Who's asking?" called out Polka bravely.

The voice chuckled and said, "Now, why should I tell my name to prey? Prey that willingly come to my lair and serve themselves to me, all ready to eat."

"Please, great sir. There is no need for violence," spoke up the half-snow elf, "We are here for a tiefling cleric. Have you perhaps seen her?"

The voice laughed and replied, "My, what polite prey you are. Friends of that other one. I was keeping her for later. So, it seems that you can join her in my larder!" It then roared loudly... like a dragon.

"Damn it-" muttered Aloe before muttering a curse in her tongue.

Lamy started chanting prayers under her breath while everyone else got ready to attack the first thing that came out of the fog. Without warning, the fog seemed to be sucked in from the northern side before a blast of freezing cold air filled with shards of ice ripped through them. Polka fell, a large ice shard piercing her stomach.

"There!" shouted Botan as she shot at the fog before getting behind a pillar. Her arms and legs were bleeding from multiple cuts.

"Avoid the center!" called out Lamy in a groan as she sent her spectral weapon into the fog and swing blindly. She then ducked behind the nearest pillar.

Nene went near her pillar while throwing a dagger. At the same time, Aloe dragged Polka's bleeding body to the fourth pillar, shouting, "A little help here!"

A loud growl was heard coming from the northern side before moving away. For a moment… silence. Then, the fog started moving again, this time from the western side.

"Watch-aaahh!" shrieked Nene as she got knocked over by the blast of ice when the dragon suddenly showed its head. Meanwhile, the archer, even though she was the furthest away, was also affected as her body slowly frosted over. Unable to handle the extreme cold through the wounds she got from the first breath attack, she toppled over to the side and lay still on the ground.

Letting out a throaty chuckle, the dragon said, "Feed me-ARGH!"

It suddenly roared in pain when a column of radiant fire suddenly broke through the ceiling and slammed on its back. The ones that were still standing gasped when a tiefling with ebony horns and wings stepped out of the fog from the south side. She was holding her side with one arm as she hobbled over while she hugged her shield close with the other.

"You!"

It let out another roar as the spectral sword stabbed it in the shoulder. As it retreated back into the fog, a dagger bounced off its scaly hide. However, Nene, who was healed up by Lamy's healing, was able to stab Anya into the earlier wound before she was shaken off and the young dragon disappeared into the fog.

"Go! Heal your friend! I got this one!" the tiefling shouted out as she moved over to Polka.

"Choco Yuzuki, I presume?" asked the half-snow elf as she ran over to Botan.

"I am," she replied as she knelt down to heal the monk of her wounds.

As the both of them chanted, the bard called out, "Anya! Where are you!?"

"Look out!"

"Die out, overgrown lizard!" she mocked as the succubus' thrown dagger bounced off its scaly hide again as it lunged out of the fog.

It grabbed the tiefling in its mouth by the waist, causing her to scream in pain. She slammed her shield into its nose and it released her. As she staggered back, she blocked its clawed hand twice, the second time causing something to crack in her arm, all the while as it shouted, "Die! Die! Die!"

As it gave her a hungry grin, it roared in pain as the newly recovered archer and monk dished out their revenge on its snout. At the same time, Choco called down sacred flames from the heavens, coming through the hole that her spell made. It slammed into its head, burning and searing it greatly. It let loose an agonized roar, which became even louder as Aloe's dagger finally found purchase in its eye while Nene tried mocking it again.

"So, you dumb lizard, how do you feel getting beaten by prey?" she insulted it.

As it lay bleeding on the ground, it suddenly let out a raspy chuckle, saying, "Not… leaving… alive..."

"Tch, all that noise was calling the yeti," growled out the lion girl as Lamy moved to the center of the clearing to start praying.

"Oh, my goddess. I beseech you, grant this boon to your servant," she chanted as she extended her arms to the side, palms facing up with her eyes closed, "Lend us your aid and healing to your most beautiful protectors."

"Very nice, Lamy!" exclaimed Polka as she moved in to stand in front of the cleric to protect her.

Meanwhile, Botan smiled as she muttered out a chant as she nocked her arrow, the missile glowing faintly. Upon release, it surged straight at the emerging group of four yetis. It exploded the moment it bit yeti flesh with a loud crackle and boom.

As the two clerics sent flashes of bright light at the monsters, Nene hurriedly retrieved Anya from the dead dragon's body.

"Clever girl," quipped the dagger.

"Well, it was hiding, we needed a way to know where it is," the bard stated her reasoning as she ran to help the others.

The tunnel leading to the dragon's lair was not as wide, only enough for two yetis to squeeze through. The one in the front was Polka, who she was intending to help. One by one, they took out the yetis. However, after two of them were killed, the third had stepped forward and almost killed the monk.

"Polka!" shouted the bard in horror as another arrow burst in the middle of the remaining yetis, showering them with much force and wood splinters.

"None shall fall this day!" declared Choco as she raised her shield, her holy symbol glowing with power, "By the light of the moon, your wounds will be cured and your life be restored." A verdant wave of pale white akin to moonlight washed over everyone in the party.

With renewed vigor, they cut down the remaining two yetis. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"So, you've been looking for me?" asked the tiefling cleric as the party turned to face her.

"Yeah… we have," said Nene, "We can talk along the way out? We are injured and I rather get far away from this place."

"Ha… but with the dragon dead, we can just camp here for the rest of the day," suggested Botan with a gleam in her eye, "Plus, who knows how much stuff is here?"

"You just want the dragon head," accused Lamy.

"Er, eh heh..."

---

After muttering a prayer of healing for them, they explored around the lair. Or they tried. The fog seemed to be increasing, so they decided to set up camp for the night. After setting up the tiny hut, they ate what they could and went to sleep.

The next morning was bright and sunny, and more importantly, fog-free. They were very surprised and thankful that they didn't go into the fog to explore. A large gash in the earth almost cut the lair in two halves, leaving a short land bridge connecting the two halves. The other half had the dragon's small treasure trove. There was quite a lot for a young dragon to amass, at least from what they could see from their half. On their side was the dragon's 'larder'. Several frozen bodies of animals were around the clearing, formerly hidden in the fog.

"Did you wake up here?" asked Lamy, pointing at the dead bodies.

"No… do you see that?" replied Choco as she pointed to a set of natural stone steps leading up to an overhang.

"Up there?"

"Yeah, the dragon stored his more… human-like meals up there," she explained to the party, drawing out grimaces and frowns from the party. "We better go up there to get some disposable weapons," she then suggested, much to their confusion. "You'll see. If I guessed this correctly, we will need them," she said mysteriously as she headed up there. The party followed her without a word, wondering what she was on about.

They collected several worn daggers, a worn sword, and two worn maces. They carried them over the land bridge to the treasure trove. It was beautiful. The sunlight streaming through the holes in the lair bounced across the room, lighting up the diamonds, gold pieces, and silver pieces beautifully. And the majority of it was being held behind ice. Very thick ice.

"What..." muttered Aloe in disbelief.

"I knew it," stated the tiefling with a smirk, "Right, let's get started."

"How did you know?" asked Botan as they took a worn weapon each and started chipping at the ice.

"Mhm, that needs a bit of explanation," she told them as she started slamming her worn mace on the ice, "Firstly, I was with Subaru when the black dragon attacked."

"Eh!? You were there?" exclaimed Nene in surprise.

"I was," she confirmed, "It was after all that which led me to read up on dragons. I rather not get caught off-guard should I ever come across another one. Especially one that would be hunting me or whatever reason they might have. I even visited a friend of mine a few months ago to get a chance to read up more on the subject."

"To go to that extent is admirable, Miss Choco," stated the half-snow elf with awe.

"Things like this are important to know sometimes," she said humbly, "I'm just doing what you or your friends would be doing to keep yourselves safe. Now, let us focus on getting rid of this ice. I want some compensation for all the trouble that dragon put us through."

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 42

After meticulously chipping the ice away, they turned up a large haul of gold pieces, silver pieces, and several diamonds of varying value. Aloe managed to sneak in the diamond she took from Spade Echo into that pile without anyone noticing. After dividing up the loot between them, with the diamonds split up between the two clerics, Botan headed straight for the dragon's body. Much to their amazement, the archer borrowed Aloe's daggers and miraculously carved the dragon's body up.

"Woah, what are you going to do with all that?" asked Nene.

"Ah… I'm thinking of getting some stuff made," stated the lion girl as she struggled to try and remove the wing, unfortunately snapping the bone and breaking the wing's hide, "Ah, crap. Hng, I need to be a bit more gentle with the other wing then."

"We got a lot of stuff already," stated Polka, "We can use the gold we took to pay for it! Hi hi."

It took some time, but the archer managed to get most of the parts out of the dragon. Once she had everything packed and distributed to everyone in the party, they made their way out of the cave system. They made sure to go through as quietly but as quickly as they could. Thankfully, the place was a little emptier and they didn't have any problems leaving.

"So… which way do we go? Follow the path or climb down to that other path?" asked the monk as she peered over the edge, 'I'm thinking of climbing down.'

"It's a long way down," muttered the succubus, "Maybe… just follow the path."

"We still have the rope. Maybe we can risk it," said the lion girl archer.

"This is going to be a bit more difficult since we are carrying a lot more than before," reasoned the half-snow elf cleric, "Following the current path should be less risky."

"I'll go along with your decisions," added the tiefling cleric.

"Alright… I guess we can… climb down," decided the bard. With a grin, she explained, "We follow the same arrangement as before, with Aloe making sure we don't fall off. Miss Choco can be tied between me and Aloe."

"Yosh! Let's do this," cheered the fennec fox girl as she took the rope from her pack.

---

Things were a bit easier in some ways and more difficult in some ways. Once again, climbing was not their forte and they had to be very careful. Plus, they were carrying more stuff. However, going down is easier than going up. Plus, they had Aloe to catch or steady them should they look like they were losing their grip on the stone. It took them just as long to get down to the goat path compared to when the party was ascending yesterday. A few close calls but nothing the succubus couldn't handle.

"Phew… that was nerve-wracking," muttered Choco as she sat down, leaning against the mountain, "My heart is still beating very fast."

"I think we better take a short break to calm down, eh?" stated Nene with a grin.

After a few minutes, they got to their feet and headed back to the shrine. As they walked, they described what brought them to seek her out.

"Ah, dear Fubuki. This, I am truly grateful for," she exclaimed softly as they reached the shrine, "Also, it is good that you helped the attendants rest in peace. Thank you."

"It was the right thing to do," stated Lamy with a smile.

Then, the tiefling frowned, "Still, the night hag. Even if her coven has been taken apart, I don't feel comfortable knowing she is living nearby. I will have to get some friends and pay her a visit."

"Do we need to come along with you?" asked Aloe with an overly eager smile.

"...It's fine. I can try and contact them later," she replied. Then, she asked, "So… what brings a succubus out to the world?"

"It's a long story, but..." started the bard before she went in to tell the tiefling cleric about how the succubus ended up in their party. It took them quite a while, but the whole story came out as they retraced their steps back to Dusktown.

"Well, that was an... interesting tale," Choco said hesitantly as they walked up to the gates of the town, "I'll go check in with the mayor. Why not drop by the inn to grab something to eat?"

"Hmm, can we sell the dragon meat to them?" wondered Botan as the tiefling walked off.

"Wouldn't hurt to try. I bet they never got this kind of meat before," stated Nene as she led the party to the inn.

Unfortunately, the owner doesn't know how to serve dragon meat. After the refusal, they decided to settle down for something to fill their stomachs.

"Hng… where can I sell this..." muttered the lion girl as she picked at her stew.

"Why not sell it to that restaurant in Rivirapolis?" suggested the fennec fox girl, "You know, the one we got the toad legs for."

"Oh! Nice!" exclaimed the former in surprise.

"Hello, how is your food?" asked the tiefling as she rejoined them.

"Hi! Ready to go?" greeted the bard with a wave.

"Yes."

Quickly scarfing down their food, they headed straight for the stables to hire a cart. The trip took many hours as somehow they got the cart with an old stubborn horse and shaking it awake from its narcolepsy took a long time. While they waited, they asked Choco for stories about her travels. She was a traveling herbalist and had been all over the place, from Merkath to Huan Tuo to Viridis and back again. The party was amazed by the stories; how she met with Subaru and Rushia, how she got to meet Roboco, and of a strange encounter with a sentient mimic.

"And it was from Lord Wilford that I got my mace," she finished her tale, patting the weapon on her belt.

"What does it do?" asked Lamy as she looked over the interesting-looking weapon. It had four flanges with gold trim arranged in the four cardinal directions, a symbol of the sun on top of the head, and a symbol of the moon at the center of the head.

"The ultimate weapon against fiends and undead," declared the tiefling with a smile.

"No wonder it feels prickly," shuddered Aloe, who had opted to sit far away from the tiefling.

"I wonder what the hero was like?" wondered Nene.

"Subaru?" asked the tiefling cleric with a chuckle, "A humble girl who wanted to explore the world. It was a joy to look at her amazement and wonder every time she visited a new place. She made a lot of new friends too." Then, she sighed, "In the end, after the dragon battle, she felt tired and decided to go back home. Funny, she never intended to become known as a hero but she became one anyway."

"Hey, Nene. If you want to talk to her, maybe we can find out where she is and we can go together," spoke up a grinning Polka.

"If you want, you can follow me there," offered Choco.

"EH!?"

"After I meet Fubuki and settle some affairs, I'll be going to visit her," she explained.

"Yes!" said the bard eagerly.

The tiefling just laughed, "Alright, I'll find you at the guild house after a few days."

It was at this moment that another cart was nearing them. As the two came close, one could hear bickering voices in the opposite cart. Choco raised a brow when she saw the two passengers.

"Stop arguing! Maybe you'd be paid better," she called out. The bickering voices stopped in surprise.

"Hi! It's been a long time, hasn't it," exclaimed the one with white hair, She wore a witch's hat and purple dress with a short skirt and a midriff window.

"Huh, we actually agree on something for once," muttered the other with purple hair with blue highlights worn in twin, spiral ponytails tied with blue ribbon. It was reminiscent of an onion. She wore leather armor with dark-blue highlights.

The tiefling cleric chuckled and replied, "Good to see you too, Shion, Aqua. I see Roboco hired you. Glad to see she has good help."

"Yup! Wish us luck!" the former said cheerfully.

"I'll say. You better not mess up like last time," snarked the latter.

"You shut up! It wasn't me that..."

And the duo went back to bickering as the carts pulled away from each other. The tiefling just chuckled and said, "I pity their driver. I sure hope Roboco knows how to manage them properly."

"Do you know them?" asked Nene curiously.

"Ah-ha, I do. It was when I was roaming around with Subaru," she replied, and that went into the story about the search for Ayame's swords.

By the time they reached the city, it was already twilight. After saying goodbye to the tiefling, they headed straight for the guild house. After waiting patiently for Lamy to write up the report, they went to relax at Robel.

---

The next few days, they took it easy while waiting for Choco to show up. Polka made another batch of her alcohol. Then, she spent most of her time trying to learn how to juggle from Camryn with a bit of monastic training on the side with Lord Aruran. Aloe mentioned wanting to learn how to fight with a dagger, so she and Nene decided to ask Yogiri to teach them. They had to pay for it but after it was done, the succubus was happy with the results. Lamy made a donation to the temple and then went around with Botan to help her to haggle prices for the dragon parts. They went to several places, a different place every day.

First, they stopped by the blacksmith to sell off the fangs and the claws. Then, they went to the leatherworkers next door. The archer commissioned a set of armor and a cloak from the dragon scale hide and wings.

"Are you making those for someone?" asked the half-snow elf after they left. They took quite a while to set the price since it required both the leatherworker and the blacksmith to craft the armor she requested.

"Well, I want to go home and visit the tribe one of these days," she admitted with a slight smile, "They are a gift for my family. Imagine getting something made from dragons. I'd like to think my parents and my tribe will be proud of me."

The next day, they stopped by the fancy restaurant to sell off the dragon meat. The chef there was extremely happy to be able to work on dragon meat again. Another delicacy for them to prepare. They were then offered a chance to sample the dish for dinner. Just the dish. Drinks still need to be paid for. They accepted. Lamy had fancy clothes but Botan didn't, so Nene lent her glamoured armor to her. The dish was delicious. They polished off one bottle of fine wine. The half-snow elf bought two more and brought them back with her.

"That's a lot of wine," commented the lion girl as they walked back to the guild house.

"Hu, hu, it tasted delicious and complimented the dish well," stated the half-snow elf with a red face, "I will definitely be drinking it a bit more when we get back."

"Just don't let it go overboard," chided the former, "I rather not come into your room and suddenly find you face-first in a pool of wine."

"Shush! I am not so crass as to do that," the latter retorted with a pout as she leaned onto the other's shoulder.

"Huh, forward," muttered the lion girl.

"Hush, you."

On the third easy day, they went to do their own thing. Lamy went to spend time at the healing temple. Botan went to visit Risu and Baloo. After that, she went to check up on Temma and the griffon, who he had named Haruto.

"He's looking healthy," she commented as the young griffon peeked out from under a blanket.

The knight chuckled and said, "Yes, he is. I try to take Svasdir's advice to heart. I spend most of my time with him. In return, I am restricted to easier requests for the time being, as is my team."

"Maybe they can do other stuff with other teams," she suggested.

"I know. I suggested that myself," he replied with a smile, "So far, they have been doing alright." He then picked up the warbling young griffon out of its pile of blankets.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it. Goodbye, Haruto," she said as she gave the little monster a few pats.

---

On the morning of the fourth day, they met up with Fubuki and Choco at the guild house.

"Hello, friends! Thank you for rescuing Choco," the fox girl said as she bowed with a smile.

"Ah, no problem. We were glad to help," replied Nene, the party mirroring her smile.

"As expected of the up-and-coming team in the guild," quipped Miyabi proudly.

"Are they now?" said the tiefling with an appraising eye, "That's quite impressive."

"Hi, hi, it's nothing, really," stated the bard bashfully, "We are just doing what we should, that's all."

"Indeed, it was simply the right thing to do," spoke up Lamy.

"Too bad we didn't get the dragon head," muttered Botan to herself, and she got elbowed in the sides by Polka and the half-snow elf.

"Humble as well. Cute," the tiefling cleric continued, "Anyway, I believe I offered a spot with me to visit a good friend of mine."

"Yeah. Nene would really like that," quipped Aloe with a teasing grin, "I mean, she got to meet that bard group the other day. Meeting a hero would be another thing off her list."

"Hey, stop saying such things," retorted the bard, already bright red with embarrassment.

"Alright, alright, no need to bicker like Shion and Aqua now," chided Choco to calm them down. Turning to Fubuki, "Well, thank you for having me. I shall see you next time."

"It was my pleasure, friend Choco," replied the snow-white fox girl as she bowed.

"Right, everyone needs to have some packing to do," announced the tiefling as she focused on them, her friend leaving the guild house, "Make all the preparations you need. We will be leaving tomorrow morning. Meet me at the school for further instructions."

"Eh? Why the school?" asked Polka, speaking for the party's confusion.

"Ah, ah, ah, now that would be telling," she stated with a wink before she upped and left the guild house as well.

The party looked at each other for a moment.

"Well, let's get on restocking our stuff," stated Botan, "We have a lot to do."

They went to the general store, followed by the herbalist. Rations. Healing Potions. A bedroll for Aloe. More darts for Polka. Then, they went to the hunting shop and tannery to get more arrows for Botan. After that, to the blacksmith to sell off Lamy's old shield.

"Ah, there you are," the grizzled man said, "Your stuff is done, lion girl."

"Oh, you mean from next door?" she asked excitedly.

"Aye, my brother's done with it," he confirmed as he began to ramble, "I shaped the metal pieces myself before I handed it off to him. He looked like you right now. Heh, such rare material like that. I think the only time we got to work on such things was after the black dragon died. The few smiths around the city got together to make something out of its corpse for the king. Heh, wanted to give it to the hero but she declined. Oh, well. Make what you will of it."

"Thank you for telling such a tale, sir," thanked the bard as the party moved on next door.

"Haha, any time, girly. Any time," replied the blacksmith as he waved them goodbye.

"Welcome! Welcome!" greeted the leatherworker happily as they entered his shop.

"Er, hi?" said Botan in surprise.

"Thank you for the chance to work with such rare materials," exclaimed the smith's brother with a grin, "Here, take a look." He placed the two items on the counter.

The armor was a set consisting of a coat and leggings made of the white dragonhide. Large steel plates in the shape of scales were sewn around the outside of the coat, mimicking dragon scales. Over the left shoulder was a single metal pauldron of gleaming steel.

The cloak was made of white dragonhide taken from one of the wings. It was elegant and beautiful, the skin seemingly glittering as the sunbeams bounced off the tiny scales on the hide.

"Woah, cool!" exclaimed Polka in awe.

"Huh, such wonderful craftsmanship," stated Lamy with approval.

The lion girl had the biggest grin ever.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 43

The party meets up at the school the next day. Choco was awaiting them at the entrance.

"Good morning," greeted the tiefling, "Is everyone ready?"

"As we'll ever be," replied Nene with a smile.

"Alright, let's go then," she said as she led the way in.

She led them straight to the dungeon level, where Master Conjurer Hirto was awaiting them with a teleportation circle. She then handed a bag of gold to the smiling wizard.

"Thank you for your donation, Miss Choco," he thanked her as he slipped the bag into his robes.

Nodding, she turned to the others as he started casting the spell and said, "Alright, we are heading straight for Huan Tuo and catch a boat to a little town called Isshoudai. That's where she lives, by the way."

"Is that where you met her?" asked the bard.

She chuckled a little and replied, "Ah… the town was a little way out, you see. They rarely get any visitors save for the supply ships. I think the last time I was there, I saw some smaller trade ships there as well. Anyway, I was there to look for new kinds of herbs that I might be able to use. No such luck. The town has never seen a tiefling before and thought I was a demon. I ran away onto the ship I had a ticket for and somehow got onto the same ship as hers. Keep in mind, this was the very first time she left her small port town. So-"

"It is done," announced the wizard. A shimmering blue portal was in the center of the circle.

"Thank you, master conjurer," she stated before turning to the others, "Let's go."

The portal led to a medium-sized room. A wizened old man grumbled a little as they stepped out of it, "More of Hirto's customers I see."

"Good to see you too, master enchanter," greeted Choco politely.

The old man harrumphed and waved them away. They exited the shop to a bustling port. Huan Tuo's market was in full swing, though it was close to a time where it should be dwindling down and closing up. The tiefling then asked them to wait for her as she went to buy tickets from the harbormaster's office.

"You look very eager," commented Lamy as she glanced over to the bard.

"We are going to meet the Smiter of Fear, the black dragon slayer. How can I not?" Nene stated excitedly.

"Hmm, who is she talking to?" asked Botan as she noticed the tiefling cleric walking and talking with someone. The newcomer had blonde hair styled in twin ponytails that trail from the back of her head and green eyes. Clad in studded leather that had fine black engravings along the trimming and a red heart patch over the left side of her chest, she had a rapier hanging from her belt.

"I'm just saying... when you're starving, anything would taste appetizing," she stated with finality.

"And yet you are asking your servants to fry scorpions and spiders as snacks for you. When you are not in want for anything. Don't you see how… weird and scary it would seem to other people," chided Choco.

"Nothing wrong with trying something new," she defended her stand.

"Hello! Who's this?" called out Polka with a wave.

The tiefling sighed and said, "This… is Haato Akai of the Red Hearts mercenary group. One of the first people who met us after we came to the town."

"Hello," she greeted as she waved.

"Ooh, do you have any stories about Subaru?" asked the bard immediately.

"You can ask her when we get back," said the tiefling cleric as she tapped the bard's head, "Our boat is leaving soon. Let's go or you'll miss your chance."

Saying their goodbyes, they headed straight for the boat.

---

During their journey, Choco regaled them with other stories of her travels with Subaru. Fighting giant scorpions. Fighting bandits with rabbit girls and crazy pink warlocks. Exploring ruins and stuffing lichs into flasks. Finding Rushia and her first-time greetings to Subaru. She was busy talking about finding Roboco by the roadside when the captain of the ship let them know that they were docking at the harbor.

The group walked down the harbor into the town, surprised by the busy town. It was not as packed as Huan Tuo would be, but there were still plenty of people walking around, visiting shops and the like. One of the buildings seemed to be busier than the others and the tiefling led them there. They waited outside for a while before a table was free. As they sat down, a waiter came up to take their order for food. After he went, a waitress came to serve them tea.

"Huh? This is a first," muttered Botan in surprise.

"Hng… no ale?" asked Lamy softly, a bit taken aback.

"This is a teahouse and inn, not a tavern, my dear girl," spoke up a motherly voice, "Besides, it isn't night time just yet."

Grinning, Choco got to her feet and greeted, "Mio! Nice to see you again!"

"Oh, you again? Are you here to break another of my doors down?" the wolf lady asked, matching her friend's grin as the both of them hugged.

"You'll never let that go, will you?" the former teased as she let go. Turning to the party, she stated, "Everyone, this is Mio, owner of the Jolly Tuna and used to travel with me and Subaru."

"Woah..." sounded Nene in awe.

The wolf lady laughed and said, "It wasn't very long. But, she is a good girl, for the short time I've been with them." She then looked around and hummed, "I think… right, why not all of you stay for the night? I have enough rooms to put you in for a few days."

"Oh, you're too kind, Miss Mio," stated the bard with a smile, "We accept."

The owner of the teahouse laughed again and replied, "Then it's settled. I'll take your particulars down when you've finished your food. Oh, and sometimes, Subaru would stop by after her guard shift ends before she goes home for the night, so you might bump into her."

"Truly!?" exclaimed Nene eagerly, "Sounds wonderful."

"Hey, calm down, or you'll scare your hero away," teased Aloe with a grin.

"Nah, she wouldn't," disagreed Botan with a smirk, "If Subaru does show up, she'd more likely be speechless and go all blushy-blushy."

"Alright, alright, enough with the teasing," chided Lamy, "She will be fine."

"...Yeah, I'll be fine," the bard agreed after a pause, "I just need to do things… calmly. Yeah, that."

"Well, I suppose I shall let you be for now," stated Mio as the dishes started coming in, "Do send someone to the counter to register the six of you." Then, she bowed a little before leaving them.

The dishes served at the teahouse were mainly seafood. On the table itself were two fish dishes and one shrimp dish. There was also a vegetable dish and an egg dish. Asking Choco about this, she explained that local vegetables were grown in personal plots around the town with excess being sold to the teahouse while other produce was brought in by supply ships. Then, she continued with more tales about her travels with Subaru. Meeting Aki. Taking out bandits that were threatening Dusktown. Discovering why Roboco was the way she was. Meeting Shion, Aqua, and later on, a half-oni named Ayame. Getting Ayame's swords back. As the food on the table slowly dwindled down to scraps, the tiefling stood up.

"Well, I need to go now," she told them, "Originally, I came here to search for new herbs and I intend to do this as soon as possible."

Saying their goodbyes, she left the teahouse, but not before bumping into someone outside. Polka could hear them from inside.

"Woah, Choco, good to see you again! Going up the mountains again?"

"Same here. Yes, I am. I have yet to see the whole place. Who knows what I could find? Oh, hello, Ayame."

"Hello. How about I accompany you? I'm searching for something in the mountains too."

"Eh? What about your dinner?"

"Haha, I still have my rations. I'm sure I'll be able to survive out there with Miss Choco's help."

"Well, I won't turn down some company. Let's be off then."

"See you two later then."

"Bye. Good to see you again, Subaru."

The fennec fox girl's ears shot up the moment she heard that name. "Hey, Nene," she said as she nudged the bard in the ribs, "I think your hero is here."

The lore bard immediately got to her feet and looked at the entrance. A short-haired young lady clad in a well-made leather shirt with some gleaming chain-link rings peeking out from the edges. Her guard uniform was worn over it. A sword with beautiful engravings on its guard and its sheath hung from her belt and a shield was strapped to her back. She headed straight for the counter manned by Mio and chatted with her.

The bard sat down, her nervousness coming out in full force. Palms were sweaty, knees weak, and arms heavy.

"Hello! I heard you're looking for me," greeted tomboy cheerfully as she stepped up to their table.

"Ah! The Smiter of Fear!" exclaimed Nene the moment she heard her.

Subaru blinked. "Eh? Who's that?" she asked in confusion.

Silence.

"Er, that's what they call you," stated Botan, the first to speak.

The guard blinked and then scrunched up her face, trying to figure out what they were talking about. Eventually, as if a lightbulb went off, she said, "Oh, you mean those villages north of Port Viridis?"

"...Not sure? I do not think we ever went to Port Viridis," replied Lamy.

"Well, that's where we fought that fear demon all that time ago," the tomboy explained before she shrugged, "Oh well, I'm just surprised that they still remember me."

"But you led the party that slew the dragon," quipped up Polka in surprise.

The former then frowned, "Honestly, I barely did anything. Rushia did more than me in the fight. I just helped to protect her."

"...Oh," murmured the lore bard, "The stories always said differently."

"Ha, so I'm the one that killed the dragon?" asked Subaru as her brow scrunched up, "Eh, never mind that. All those stories don't really matter to me. I was just a girl who wanted to see the world. I never intended to become a hero." She sighed and continued, "I met so many people and became friends with a lot of them. Some of them even visit me from time to time. I pray that the ones that don't are doing well."

"Well… can you tell me your story? Where you went? What you fought and seen?" asked Nene, her eagerness started to rise up again.

The guard chuckled and replied, "Sure. I don't mind."

---

The next morning was a welcome thing after the previous night. It was quite eventful for Nene. Getting a retelling of Subaru's travels from the person herself was exciting. Traveling through the swamp with Matsuri and Fubuki. Going through the network of villages. Hunting and being hunted by the fear demon. Meeting Flare and Noel and the events leading up to that. Getting tricked by Marine. The were-people village. Around that time, the teahouse portion of the building had closed down and she had to go back home. She promised to continue her tale the next day.

So, it was expected to have a very excited and happy Nene who was quite eager to listen to the tale of Subaru the adventurer rather than Subaru the Smiter of Fear. Perhaps she could put all this down to writing. Maybe sell it. Maybe…

"You seem to be happy this morning," stated Mio, her kind voice derailing the bard's thoughts.

"Erm, ah-ha, sorry. I was just thinking back to what I heard last night," she stated with a sheepish laugh.

"Ah, sounds nice," the wolf lady replied with a smile, "Where did she leave off?"

"Oh, at… the journey back to the capital. After the were-people village," she told the innkeeper.

"Ah, that… hmm, since there aren't that many people here right now, I think I can continue that. I heard everything from her, you know?" the former disclosed with a wink.

And so, the bard got another earful of stories as the others woke up, came downstairs, and slowly sat at the table she was sitting at. Going to the kobold base and rescuing Towa. Escaping and ending up in Merkath. Meeting with the mimic on the way back to the capital again, which Nene mentioned they heard before from Choco. However, by that time, there were more people at the teahouse and Mio had to step away to manage the place.

"Wow, that was amazing to listen to," stated Nene with a satisfied sigh.

"Huh, never knew Towa was like that," said Aloe with a smirk, "This is some good blackmail."

"Is it possible to meet Lord Wilford, I wonder..." mused Polka with a starry glimmer in her eyes.

"You want mimics in your circus?" asked Botan.

"Yup!"

"I find myself curious as well," added Lamy in thought, "Maybe we can try when we get back."

It was then Subaru came in. The guard went up to the counter and started talking to Mio in low voices. Curious, the party got up and approached them.

"Is something wrong?" asked the lore bard.

The two at each other and then at the party. The tomboy sighed and told them, "Follow me please."

The party and surprisingly, the innkeeper, followed her to the harbor. As they walked, she explained, "We have fish people at the docks, threatening the town with raids if we don't meet their demands."

The old harbormaster and several guards were standing at the pier, staring at something. The five were startled by the three figures at the end of the pier. Three sahuagin stood there, scowling at the sailors that were managing the docked ships. Two were warriors; more muscular and were armed with spears. They were quite protective of the other one, who wore a striking purple robe and a coral necklace with a roughly carved-out shark. It was also the only one with a yellow frill on its tail.

"So, you wish to fight against us? Chosen of He Who Hunts?" snarled the robed sahuagin.

"We never even agreed to this," retorted Subaru, "If you wish to try and raid my town, be my guest. We'll be sure to send all of you running."

"You dare challenge the chosen people of He Who Hunts?" rasped out the robed one with a toothy smile and they cackled amusedly, "We'll be sure to shower your streets with blood."

"Hey, this town is protected by another power," shouted out Nene suddenly.

"Oh, pray tell, who? What lies will you spout out to run away from us?" they sneered.

"Urm… did that seaweed man ever tell us who he follows?" the lore bard asked as she turned to her friends.

Polka blinked at her in disbelief. Botan and Lamy looked at her incredulously, not believing she just said that. Aloe slapped her hand to her face while groaning.

"What?"

"I expected Polka to pull this kind of thing, not you," deadpanned the succubus.

"Hey!"

The robed one cackled, "Lies, lies, lie all you want. All useless. You will-"

"Oh, great merciful goddess, bring my guardian to life," the others heard Mio muttering, "Awaken, Hatotaurus!"

A shimmering outline shone into existence above her, forming a ten-foot-tall humanoid shape. As it formed and filled out, it crossed its beefy arms and glared at the sahuagin with its gleaming red eyes. It had the head of a pigeon with goat-like horns, the body of a minotaur, and the legs and tail of a wolf.

Shocked, the sahuagin took a few steps back as they stared at the large amalgamation. They then glared at the group at the pier, the robed one saying, "This is not over." The trio turned around and dived into the sea.

"Mio, did you always have this… thing?" asked Subaru as the others turned to look at the innkeeper and her… summon.

"Ah, I always had him," the wolf lady said mysteriously with a nod and a smile.

"Oh well, that almost got out of hand," stated the guard as she turned to the party, "So... who is this seaweed man you're talking about, and do I need to be worried about it?"

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 44

"I see," muttered Subaru as she got the story out of the party, "He might be some sort of priest of some sea god."

"Ah, makes sense," agreed Botan.

"But, what do we do about those sahuagin?" asked Lamy with concern in her voice, "I highly doubt they will be willing to let this go."

"Hmm, where is the island of Colch from here?" asked Nene suddenly.

"Don't know, but I can ask Old Man Saru if you'd like," suggested the guard.

"The harbormaster," explained Mio to the confused faces of the party.

After sounding off their understanding and agreeing with the suggestion, Subaru went to talk with the old man.

"Why did you ask that, Nene?" asked Polka.

"I was thinking that… maybe we can get Doris to help out," explained the lore bard, "That way, they can extend their protection to this island as well."

"But will we have time to leave the town to ask for help?" asked the half-snow elf, "We won't know if they are going to attack or not."

"Maybe we can… split up?" suggested Aloe, "Nene and one more can go to Colch to try and make contact with Doris or someone who can help to figure out if this island is within its borders. The rest can help keep watch or even help to improve its defenses."

"I am surprised that you would even think that through," stated Lamy in shock.

"Hey! I can think up good stuff too," the succubus retorted with a frown.

"Alright, calm down," chided the bard, "So, if I'm the one going to ask for help, who's going with me?"

"I shall join you," declared the half-snow elf.

"Hmm, if Lamy and Nene are going, I guess we have to keep our eyes peeled to the sea and the surroundings," mused Botan, "I guess we can take turns to keep watch."

"I guess I'm the eye in the sky again," muttered the succubus.

"Like I said, we will take turns," assured the archer.

"Alright, Old Saru says that Colch is about three-thirds of a day from here," stated Subaru as she rejoined them and they proceeded to fill her in on their plan. "Oh, in that case, we can ask Old Man Saru and see if anyone can bring you there."

---

After making arrangements, Nene and Lamy were on their way to Colch Island in a fisherman's boat. By the time they reached the island, it was nightfall and they had to check into the inn. Thankfully, they were recognized and allowed to use their former room at a discount. The next day, they got one of the mermen to deliver an urgent message from the island down to the underwater palace.

As they waited at the pier, the bard mentioned, "You know, I was feeling a little inspired by the stories I've been hearing about Subaru. I've been trying to make up a new song to channel the fear that Subaru's party must have felt when fighting that demon."

"Oh? That sounds interesting. Can I hear it?" asked the half-snow elf in admiration.

"Okay. No melody yet but I have the words out," she stated as she repeated the words she had written down in her mind, "Welcome to your silent tomb, Where all your darkest fears are gonna come for you, Come for you."

"Oh… sounds creepy. It fits," commented the cleric.

"Hi, hi, thanks," said the bard with a smile.

---

Meanwhile, in Isshoudai, arrangements were made to keep an eye seaward. While Subaru and Botan took the day shift of keeping an eye on the sea, Aloe, Polka, and Mio took over the watch shift during nighttime. So far, nothing out of the ordinary happened, something that they were thankful for. The next day, they were ecstatic when Choco and Ayame returned from their exploration. Everyone gathered at the teahouse for breakfast.

"Really? Sometimes, I think things just happen around you, Subaru," the tiefling teased after they got filled in with what happened yesterday.

"Hey! Things have been quiet the past year, so that's wrong," the guard protested while the others giggled.

"Well, so far, we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary," said the archer as she tried to get everything back on track.

"I hope it stays that way," the guard muttered.

"Hmm, makes me wonder why they are making a move," stated the half-oni samurai, "Then again, your town is doing well for itself."

"Ha, anyway, let's get back to keeping watch," decided Subaru as she got up from the table, "You can join us, Ayame, while Choco can join the night shift. Hopefully, nothing happens again today."

---

"Hi!"

Lamy and Nene almost jumped out of their armor when a familiar shark triton suddenly shot out of the water and landed in front of them.

"What!?" they exclaimed in surprise.

"Hi, nice to meet again," greeted Gura with a cheeky smile.

"Ah… while it's nice to see you again… erm, do you have a message for us?" asked the lore bard.

"Yup!" she replied.

Silence.

"And what is the message?" asked the cleric.

"The island is halfway," started the tracker. She proceeded to explain that the island Isshoudai was on technically was right on the border of their territory. However, the seas beyond was a place the tritons refused to go through.

"Strange. What do they say about the place?" asked Nene.

"People say big evil squid live there," replied Gura with a shrug, "Don't know if that true or not. Never been there before."

"What about the sahuagin?" questioned Lamy.

"Ah, Princess says that they are suspicious," stated the tracker, "Hard to believe sahuagin go all the way there outside their territory. But when shark priest is mentioned, it became more suspicious. Unheard off to have territory in evil squid place."

"Hmm… that actually gives me an idea..." muttered the bard with a grin, "We can have someone pretend to be the seaweed priest who follows some sea god. Since it is near this evil squid place, a priest of the squid."

"Again, I expected this from Polka, not you," spoke up the cleric in deadpan.

"Hey!"

"Can I come too?" the shark triton asked.

"Hmm?" sounded the both of them.

"Princess says I can help set up outpost near island, so no need for pretending. Others will come and take turns patrolling," she explained, "Also learn to speak better Common."

"Good idea. Sure you can come with us," replied Nene with a smile.

"Yay!"

---

"Still nothing?" asked Choco as they reconvened at the teahouse in the evening. Mio had closed early that day to try and get some sleep before night watch.

"No," confirmed Subaru as she sat down at the table with a sigh, "Funny, waiting for a fight is way more stressful than getting into one."

Botan and Ayame groaned and nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry," said Polka, trying to cheer them up as she tried juggling with the teacups, "Nene and Lamy will be back with good news. I'm sure of it."

"Can you not play around with the cups?" asked Aloe with a bored tone, "You'll get into trouble..."

"I'm good at this, okay?" retorted the monk. With a flourish, she caught the first two and the last one landed on her outstretched foot. "Ta-dah!" she exclaimed with a grin.

"And now you need to wash it," snarked the succubus.

"Eh?"

"Yes, you are going to wash it," said the tiefling as she cuffed the fennec fox girl by the ear and dragged her to the kitchen. The half-oni giggled tiredly.

"Hng, I guess I'll go home. Hopefully, nothing happens tonight," spoke up the guard as she stood up, "At least I get to eat Mama's home-cooked food."

After wishing her goodbye, the rest waited around for Mio to show up again. The wolf lady walked down the stairs mid-yawn and looked at them. She blinked and blushed, hurrying on her way to the kitchen. Choco and Polka were kicked out post-haste and soon the sound of cooking could be heard. Half an hour later, piping hot food was served.

"Wah! Nice!" exclaimed the monk as she dug in.

"Well, dig in everyone," encouraged the innkeeper, "You'll need a lot of energy for tonight."

"Thank you for the food," said the rest as they dug in as well.

---

The boat came to moor at the pier that evening, very close to nighttime. Nene and Lamy got out while Gura clambered onto the pier with her trident in tow.

"Hello, welcome back," greeted Mio as both sides waved at each other.

"We have good news," stated the bard with a smile as Lamy thanked the fisherman for help and gave him a few silver coins as a reward. She then waved Gura over and said, "So this is Gura. She is the first one here, but a few other tritons will be here as well to help with patrolling around the island and the surrounding sea."

"Hi! I'm Gura. I follow Shaaaak," greeted the shark triton as she introduced herself.

"Well, what a cute shark you are," stated the wolf lady as she rubbed the tracker's head, who was squirming happily under the head pats.

"Anyhow, please rest up at the inn. I'm sure it has been a tiring day," she invited as she gestured them to head there,

"Thanks, Mio," said the lore bard as they headed towards the inn.

Meanwhile, Gura waved at the wolf lady and dived back into the sea. Swimming a bit off and deciding on a flat area with a minor coral formation, she starts marking the place. Then, the coral shapers can grow a shelter with the growing coral as a base. Having done her part, she went to the surface once more and climbed onto the pier again.

"Welcome back, little one," greeted Mio, who then gave the young shark triton directions to her teahouse and inn.

Thanking her for the help, the shark triton headed there straight away, her seaweed sole wraps squelching as she walked. At the entrance, she found three other people in bedrolls, two of them she recognized. Wondering what they were doing there, she stepped into the teahouse section of the building. There, she found her two companions busily eating cooked fish. Curious, she sat at the table and the cleric served her a bit of fish. Taking a nibble, she gasped and devoured the whole serving.

Giggling, the bard said, "First time?"

The tracker nodded rapidly and said, "Can have some more?"

Now laughing, she replied, "Sure." And gave her another serving.

---

The next day, they reconvened at the teahouse with the rest of the party overjoyed to see Gura again.

"Alright, since the tritons are sending some help, I think we can relax a bit now," stated Subaru with a relieved look, "Thanks for your help, Nene, Lamy."

"We're glad to help," replied the bard with a grin, the half-snow elf nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Choco. Remember that place we found here?" asked Ayame.

"What place?" asked Polka.

"Oh… you see, we came across a strange stone structure built into the hill," explained the tiefling as she munched on her bread bun, "It looked like the front door was sealed up. And before you ask, it was nowhere near the shrine on the island."

"Ha… never heard of it… but… maybe we can get Mel here?" suggested the guard.

The tiefling made a face and replied, "Not sure about that. If she comes here without any research done, she'll end up unprepared again."

"Do this splitting up again."

Everyone looked at the half-oni, who continued, "Choco can go and get this Mel you're talking about while I bring the rest with me to the stone door. Maybe we can open it up and remove any threats inside."

"Do we get a say in this?" asked Aloe in deadpan.

"I'm interested," spoke up Botan.

"Heh, of course, you are," sniggered the succubus.

"Anyway, back to the topic," stated Lamy. Turning to the others, "I highly doubt we have the expertise to jump into mysterious buildings."

"Doesn't hurt to try though," said Nene as she got up, "I think we'll be following Ayame's lead on this."

"Then it's settled," added the tiefling, "I'll be leaving for Huan Tuo later then… Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." She then rummaged in her pack and pulled out a book. "Here, a present for you," she stated as she handed it to Subaru, "I bought it off a strange lizardman salesman."

"Eh?" muttered the guard as she glanced down at the book. Her brow furrowed and she got an annoyed look on her face. "Wha- YOU!" she shouted, sounding of a mix of embarrassment and anger, "What is this?" The book was slammed on the table and it had a strange title, The Secret Language of Ducks.

Giggling slowly devolved into laughter as the party realized what just happened, their thoughts going back to the story where Subaru and her friends were going to rescue Towa. The guard shook her head in acceptance, muttering something about never living it down as she stomped off.

"Will she be alright?" asked the half-oni with concern as a smiling wolf lady picked up the book for safekeeping.

"She'll be fine. Just needs to cool off," assured Choco as she glanced over at the party, "Get them ready. Who knows what will show up at that stone place."

---

"So… this is the place?" asked Nene as they looked at the structure.

It was a simple stone archway jutting out of the hillside reminiscent of a hut or a shack. A large stone slab acted as a door. There were no handles to pull and it can't be pushed or moved in any way.

"Yeah, last time I was here with Choco, we couldn't see any way to get it open," stated the half-oni samurai, "We ended up skipping past this as we had other things to do."

Lamy ran her fingers around the doorway as Botan said, "Something feels off about this house."

"Ah, a bit tingly, but maybe just me," added Polka.

"Really?" asked the bard, her curiosity growing, "I don't feel anything. Strange."

"No, I sense something too," spoke Aloe with a frown, and then thumbed at the other two, "What I don't get is why they are feeling it too."

"Hmm, give me a moment," stated Lamy as she got to her knees in front of the stone door and closed her eyes. They let her be and soon, they could hear her muttering chants and prayers to the divine.

This went on for ten minutes. Slowly, a magic circle mysteriously became inscribed around her. It shone and then vanished as she ended her chant with an audible, "May I be granted arcane sight." She opened her eyes, which had gained a bright blue glow that seemed to trail out from the corner.

Stepping near the stone door, she started tracing her hand around something on the slab. "Strange," she muttered, "There is magic here. Nothing malevolent. A strange mix of enchantment and conjuration. I have never seen something like this before. Hmm..."

Suddenly, the sound of an electrical charge came from the slab, which was now glowing with arcane sigils. The smell of ozone was palpable when a glimmering green portal swirled into existence, covering the stone slab but still within the stone archway. Everyone was very surprised.

"Wha-what is happening?" stammered Ayame in shock, "Is this safe?"

"I think I saw something before it appeared," muttered Botan as she stepped forward. Before anyone could say anything, she dipped her hand inside. "Huh, safe," she stated.

"But it could have been dangerous!" shouted the half-snow elf cleric in disbelief.

"One of the signs on the stone that lit up," she continued to mutter, "I think… we can get to Gekko from here."

"I don't believe that," denied Polka, crossing her arms in front, "Not possible."

"Maybe, but I think it does," the archer insisted as she swirled her hand around inside the portal, looking a little entranced by it, "And… I think it goes through the Feywild. If you want, I can lead you there."

"Umm, as much as I'd like to go in, shouldn't we tell someone first? We are still tied to the guild, you know?" spoke up Nene with uncertainty in her voice.

The lion girl fell silent. After a moment, she sighed and said, "Alright. I just thought, maybe we could… go home for a bit." Her sad-looking face broke them a little.

"Well… maybe we can get our stuff first before stepping in, we can?" the bard suggested in the spirit of compromise.

"We also need to let the others know too," added Ayame, who had fallen silent when the archer dipped her hand into the portal.

"...Okay, thank you," the lion girl replied gratefully.

 

[IroiGamiya]

That Which Is Missing

"Hng, doesn't look like much," muttered Shion as she looked at the fanged cave mouth.

"According to the message, this is it," informed Roboco as she looked around as well, "The hag should still be here. Not that many days yet, so she shouldn't have that many minions around."

"Alright, you let me go ahead, yeah?" suggested Aqua, "The shadows are my natural place, after all."

After a few minutes, the other two followed. The glowing moss provided enough light for them to make their way inside. No odd-looking shadows anywhere. As if this was a normal cave system. A sentiment that was echoed by the thief that reappeared from their front.

"Is something wrong?" asked the hunter in surprise.

"I went all the way to the end," she informed them, "There's nothing there. As if nothing lived here. I think the hag cleared out."

The other two blinked, and with a burst of speed, all three headed to the end of the cave system. True enough, the only thing at the last cave was stalactites, stalagmites, and a mossy ceiling.

"...This could be a problem," muttered the wizard as she scanned the area, "She must have magicked everything away. It could be days or weeks before we can find out where she went."

"As unfortunate as it is, at least she isn't near the town anymore," stated Roboco with a little more relief in her voice.

"It'd be better if we defeated the hag," grumbled the thief, "Gods damn it, so much for our fame. Where in the Nine Hells did she go?"

---

The cart driver sat there patiently by the forest. His master left him specific instructions and what would happen to him if he failed to do so. A snap of a twig broke him out of his daydreaming. Glancing to the side, he noticed his master coming out of the forest with a shrouded person in tow.

The nobleman then gestured to the cart and said, "If you would please get on the cart."

"What a polite man you are," stated the shrouded figure that sounded like an old woman. She quickly got up on the cart with a strange spryness and his master followed suit.

"To the capital, driver," he ordered.

The driver quickly whipped the horses into a trot and canter.

"So, what do you think of my proposal, Miss Lola?" he heard his master ask politely.

"I admit I am interested. But surely, your master and teacher could do better than little old me," she replied humbly.

His master laughed and said, "Regardless, you are one of the, ahem, victims of these incidents. Two of your sisters have been called on too."

"Oh, are you doing what I think you're doing?" asked the old one eagerly.

"Exactly that."

The laughter of both persons filled the cart as the driver guided the cart back to Rivirapolis.

 

[IroiGamiya]

Chapter 45

After getting their things and letting the others know about the portal, they gathered at the entrance to say goodbye. Except for Subaru, Mio, and Gura, since they have other responsibilities.

"Are you sure about this? I've heard some horrifying stories about the Feywild," said Choco as she gave each of them a hug.

"Well, Botan seems confident about guiding us, so we're going to trust her on that," replied Nene, the archer grinning behind her.

"I just hope we don't get lost," muttered Aloe.

"I'm sure they are capable enough, Choco," stated Ayame as she gave them a look over, nodding in approval, "They are certainly looking prepared."

Then, Lamy handed a sealed envelope to the tiefling and said, "Here is the message. Please drop it off at the guild as soon as possible."

"Of course," she nodded as she accepted it.

"Botan, do we need to look out for anything in the Feywild?" asked Polka.

"Keep calm and stick together," stated the archer, "Things tend to appear when the opposite happens. Oh, and if I get anything to guide us, please listen. Don't go off doing your own thing." The last piece of advice, she pretty much zoomed in on the fennec fox girl.

"Hey, I can listen just as well as anyone else," retorted the monk as she pouted.

"Anyway, let's get a move on," the lion girl said eagerly as she stepped near the portal, which had reappeared.

Botan went in first, stepping through and leaving ripples on its surface. Polka headed in next, followed by Aloe, Nene, and Lamy.

"Stay safe, my friends," wished the tiefling cleric as the portal closed.

---

The party stepped out into a large forest with trees that seemed endlessly reaching for the sky. The four who had never been here before looked around in awe. Meanwhile, Botan looked around for something familiar.

"Hmm, no landmarks," she muttered after a while, "Difficult… well, let's go. We need to find something or someone to guide us."

"Can't you?" questioned Polka.

"I don't think I've been around here before. I don't recognize the place," stated the archer, "But… I think we can head in this direction for a start."

She then led them northward or what she assumed was north. A path slowly appeared mysteriously as they made their way through the forest. The whole time, the normal sounds of the forest that was previously muted, slowly came back to normal levels of the hearing range. There was also increased rustling in the underbrush as if someone or something was following them.

"...What was that?" asked Polka, the rustling unnerving her a little.

"Keep calm and carry on," Botan advised, keeping her face straight.

Suddenly, a sprite flew out of a bush and exclaimed, "Hi! Welcome back, Botan!" The little fey then flew up and around the lion girl's head, finally settling to hug her ears. She wore a simple leaf dress, her wings were like transparent silk, and had blonde hair in a pixie-cut style with bright yellow eyes.

"Eh? Hello, Fu," she greeted with a relieved smile, "Are we near the circle?"

"Nope! You're not. But… a group of satyrs is having a drinking party around here, so do keep an ear out for that," the sprite informed her.

"A drinking party?" repeated Lamy with interest.

"Hmm, say, Fu, can you lead us to the Gekko portal?" asked the archer as she glanced up to her ears.

"Sure," she said as she nuzzled the furry appendage, "One moment." She then made very ecstatic squeals as she hugged the lion girl's ear intensely.

"Please don't," the archer said in deadpan, amidst the snickering of Aloe and Nene.

"I wonder what kind of drinks they have," murmured Polka in curiosity.

"All done! Come, follow me!" the sprite exclaimed cheerfully as she launched off the lion girl's head and flew ahead.

And so, they continued on their way, the sprite slowly leading them through the forest. The rustling that accompanied them before had lessened but did not go away. However, it stopped bothering them and they were focused on their journey. Eventually, they came to a crossroad of two paths, one left and one right. The forest seemed to hem them in, knitting together as if transforming into a wall.

"Eh? What?" muttered Polka in surprise as the four looked at the lion girl and the sprite.

"Normal stuff. Things like this sometimes happen," Fu explained with a shrug, "The forest is alive, after all."

"More like drunk thanks to the satyrs," muttered Botan with an annoyed tone, "Who knows where they lead now?"

"I can make a pretty good guess," declared the sprite as she flew over to the right branch, "Come on! This should be the general direction. We should be able to reach the portal you want this way."

"If you're sure..." muttered the succubus, not believing the fey in the slightest.

They spent the rest of the time walking. However, the forest seemed to be getting darker the further they went. It took a long time, but it was Polka that pointed it out.

"Hey, haven't we seen that tree before?" she asked as she stopped to point at a moss-covered tree.

"Eh? Have we?" asked Aloe.

"Botan, Fu, have we been going around in circles?" asked Lamy as she narrowed her eyes.

"...Are we trapped here?" asked Nene worriedly.

"Erm..."

"Fu, what happened?" asked Botan with a frown.

The sprite started poking her index fingers together, avoiding their gazes while looking down at the ground, "I… may have forgotten about this?"

As the others started groaning in exasperation, she hurriedly said, "I mean, this was supposed to be a repeating trap for any meenlocks so that they don't trouble anyone."

"Can you undo it? At least to let us out?" asked the lion girl.

"No? I didn't set this up," muttered the sprite. But then, she stated brightly, "But I know who did."

"Get them please," she requested as politely as she could muster.

As the sprite flew off, the party sat around a tree and looked around in silence.

"Huh, why can she fly through this while we are stuck here?" asked the succubus in annoyance.

"Feywild things. Don't think too hard on it," the archer replied.

"Botan, what are meenlocks?" asked the bard.

"Well, simply put, fey born from great fear," she explained, "And… they can create more by driving others to despair and terror, changing them into meenlocks."

"That… sounds quite terrifying," muttered the cleric.

"Well, I hope we don't bump into one here," muttered the fennec fox girl.

"After you jumped into my trap, I certainly hope not."

The party looked up and saw a strangely-dressed elf. Leather armor with a golden yellow shimmer. His frowning face glared at them with fully golden eyes framed by burnished yellow hair. After touching the ground in front of them and muttering something, he got up and motioned them to get out. The party hurried behind him and he repeated the motions.

Turning to face them, he took a deep breath and the golden shimmer became bronze yellow, his hair turning to a dark red. The now calmer elf said, "It seems the silly sprite forgot about this. Apologies."

"Well, it was unexpected but..."

"If you insist, sir," Lamy interrupted Botan, "If you could please guide us to the Gekko portal, we would be very grateful."

"Mmm, of course. Please, follow me," he replied politely and motioned them to follow.

Things progressed a lot more smoothly. The mysterious rustling in the underbrush was strangely absent when he was around, but it was a welcome change. The forest also seemed to lose its gloomy atmosphere and serene calmness returned to the air. They then suddenly stopped, their new guide holding up his hand in a familiar motion.

"Apologies. We are meeting someone here. She wishes to go back to your plane after visiting," he replied with a peaceful smile.

"Thank you for waiting for me, my friend."

She was a blonde elf wearing a leaf-green dress and was holding a staff. She had a radiant smile and greeted the party as she approached.

"My name is Aki Rosenthal. Well met," she wished them as she waved.

"Alright, let's get a move on," stated the trapper as the second eldarin joined the group, "We still have a ways to go before we reach the portal."

As they continued on, Nene proceeded to try and find out more about the mysterious druid. She recognized the name as one of Subaru's friends and from what she was described doing, was probably a druid of sorts.

---

They stood in front of the gleaming portal that slowly swirled into existence. The eldarin trapper stood next to it and said, "Here we are." Glancing over the party, he then said, "Well, I'll have to warn you, some of you may not remember what happened in the wild when you return." When asked why, he shrugged and said, "The magic here reacts differently to those who do not live here."

"But, I still remember my time here," Botan spoke up with a frown, wondering what was going on.

He scrutinized her for a moment, and then stated, "You learned how to use the magic of the wild. More than likely have a better chance of remembering."

"I believe the better you understand the wild, the lesser the effects on you will be," added Aki as she moved to the portal, "I believe we have disturbed him enough. Let us go through, my friends."

One by one, they stepped through the portal and exited into another forest. As the last person stepped through, the portal closed. The party then blinked and looked around.

"Eh? How did we get here?" asked Botan.

"Oh, my," the eldarin druid sounded with a smile.

"You don't remember?" asked Lamy in slight surprise.

After the cleric and the druid filled in the blanks of the memories of the others, they took a good look around the forest. The lion girl's eyes were practically shining when she faced them to say excitedly, "I know this place. Follow me!"

"Wha-? Wait, slow down!" called out the bard as the archer suddenly ran off through the forest.

"Let's go after her!" exclaimed Polka as she ran past the bard.

Shrugging, the rest ran after them. The fennec fox girl made sure to keep the lion girl in her sights while moving slow enough for the others to catch up. The forest slowly thinned and eventually gave way to an open plain whose yellows and browns stretched as far as the eye can see. The archer was standing at the edge of the forest, staring at a little collection of domed tents.

"Botan, what's the big idea?" asked Nene as the others came up, huffing and puffing, behind her.

"Everyone, this is Dankimba, my tribe," she stated proudly.

"EH!?" shouted the other four.

Aki giggled and said, "This is a pleasant surprise. Let's go and see your village, Miss Botan."

"This is way too much of a coincidence," muttered Aloe, getting over her shock.

"This is the way of the wild. You get used to it," the druid replied with a shrug, "Now, let's go to the village. I'm sure there are some very happy people to see."

With the lion girl in the lead, the group headed towards the village. On the approach, the village gave off a pleasant air of peacefulness. There wasn't a wall or even a palisade, indicating a nomadic lifestyle. The village consisted of large animal-skin tents, each one arranged around a fire pit. They counted five pits in total. One was bigger than the others and it was near the largest tent in the village. There were several villagers about, mostly women and children. One of the playing children spotted the party and called out to the others. Several tent flaps were pushed aside and several men came out armed with bows and short swords. However, the villagers approached them with smiles and cheers, all of them focused on Botan.

"Hello, everyone! I'm back!" called out the lion girl as the others surrounded her. The children cheered on to the big sister while one of the women hugged her and started kissing her cheeks.

"Mama, stop. I'm fine," she pleaded with a smile but made no move to make her stop.

"Hush, you. I am your mother and you will accept this," the older woman playfully scolded her scion as she ushered her over to the family tent.

"Ma, wait a bit," she protested as she patted her mother's arm. Gesturing over to her friends, she introduced each one to the crowd.

"Well, at least our little runt made some good friends," declared a lion man as he and another smirked at them.

"Good to see you too, Hiron, Kirov," called out the archer in reply.

A closer look showed that they indeed bore a resemblance to her, being older than she was but younger than the proclaimed mother. Both were sporting leather armor with their weapons kept sheathed and slung. Their beards were not as long nor as large but framed their faces quite well, giving them a rugged handsomeness.

"Ha, welcome back, daughter," a deep voice sounded.

A large lion man, a bit taller than the other two and more heavyset, stepped through the crowd as it parted to make way. He wore similar equipment to his sons though he sported dual shortswords instead of just one.

"Father, I'm back," the lion girl spoke proudly as she stood her tallest as she faced him.

He nodded sternly and glazed at the rest of the party. Nene and Aloe looked nervous. Polka waved and grinned. Lamy stood still, trying to look as stoic and regal as she could. Aki just stood there and smiled serenely.

"What strange friends you have made, daughter," he commented as he turned back to her.

"Yeah… but I couldn't ask for better," she declared with a smile.

He chuckled and replied, "Very well. Come, we had better explain to Elder Leon what the commotion was about." And after glazing over the arty again, he added, "Bring your friends too."

The crowd then dispersed and went back to their routines. Except for the children, who followed after them inquisitively for a moment before running off to play, and her brothers, who brought up the rear. They walked up to the main fire pit in front of the big tent, where someone had already seated on a large chair. He was decked in clothes made of rich skins with chainlinks peeking out from under them. He also wore a fur hat and an eye patch.

Next to him was a much older person. She also wore animal skin clothes and wore her hair in a ponytail with the front part of her head shaved. On the shaved part were vibrant tribal tattoos that Nene suspected held a magical significance. Beside her was a staff with all manner of feathers and animal's teeth hanging off it.

The man then stood up and extended his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Welcome, travelers. I am Elder Leon," greeted the elder as he gestured to take a seat, and addressed Botan, "It is good to see one of ours return to their roots. What brings you back here, young Botan?"

"I wanted to see my family again," she replied, "It has been a few moons already and I wanted to know what has been happening."

"She is fey-touched," the old lady stated as she pointed at the lion girl, "What have you been doing, girl?"

"Umm..." she sounded as she scratched her ear, "Well, it started out when we were checking something out for a guild mission."

She then told the story about the werewolf fight during the mission where they met Aloe, her subsequent treatment, and being brought to the druidic circle where she got introduced to the Feywild.

"Wonderful tale you have, young Botan," stated the elder with a chuckle, and then declared, "All of your friends are welcome to stay with us until you wish to leave again."

"Thank you, elder," said the lion girl gratefully while the rest of the party just grinned excitedly. Then, she exclaimed, "Ah, I have a gift for you elder." She then produced the dragonhide cloak from her pack and presented it to him.

"Ho, ho, this is truly a wonderful gift, young Botan," the elder exclaimed happily as he threw the cloak around his shoulders.

The lion girl just grinned.