Travelling through a place that I was once wanted in was very nerve-wracking.

It didn't help that there were a lot of people staring at me and the other vehicles I was travelling alongside.

I could help but take a look at the vehicle that muttered to itself that it'd be fine earlier. It was travelling quietly, moving as smoothly as all the others.

That really helped me steel myself. If it could calm itself, I could too.

In the end, the trip really was uneventful. I felt relief as the golems got off and started to talk to people before a town hall building thing.

As Gunhand and Xion got out of me, I got Radio to whisper something to them.

"Hey, can I go now?"

I really did not want to stay here any longer. Besides, it wasn't like I could go into the building.

Right now, what I wanted to do was to head straight for the snowy town to check on Jaxt. Not because Radio asked me to. Yeah, definitely not...

"..."

"Yeah, you can head off. Maybe you can even take this chance to get away if this turns out to be a trap." Gunhand gave us a thumbs up.

Please don't say something so ominous.

Xion gave a cold harrumph and grabbed Gunhand by the shoulder, dragging it away.

"Hey! What the hell?!" it yelped.

Well, that's probably my cue to go.

"You're not going to wait for your teammates?" I heard a familiar voice.

To my surprise, it was the 'it'll be fine vehicle' from before.

"Sorry, we've- I've got something to do!" Radio said.

"Oh. Good luck then?"

As much as I liked the idea of there being other 'self-acting' vehicles here, I didn't really have any obligation to continue staying. So I drove away as fast as I could, much to the displeasure of several dwarves who were driving unrelated vehicles.

"I hope you get fined for speeding!" one particularly hairy dwarf shouted from his 'car'.

I was very nervous as I neared the gates, but thankfully, they let me through. A guard raised an eyebrow at me, but that was it.

"I see..." Jaxt said.

After reaching the town, Radio just explained what happened earlier to it.

"So you're going to just stay here? Why not head outside and explore? The world is a big place!"

Jaxt shrugged.

"Staying."

I'm not very surprised, to be honest. Radio seemed a bit taken back though.

"I mean, I'm sure they won't mind if you take a break once in a..." it trailed off. "How about heading to the dwarven city to see Minnie at least?"

Jaxt shrugged again.

"I think it's best not to. I really don't want to drag him down, you know?" it said. "I know him very well. He might act all cold about it, but if he saw me here, that might make him decide to give up on his dreams and stay here with me."

"Why not just go with him? Wouldn't he be happier that way?"

I really have to agree with Radio on this one.

The golem shrugged yet again. Why is the heck is it shrugging so much?

"I guess I'm selfish in my own way too."

Radio sighed.

"There's no convincing you then. Well, uh, good luck?"

Jaxt smirked in an annoying manner.

"You too!"

The next moment, it vanished.

Out of impulse, I tried to grab it with telekinesis and managed to grab its arm.

"Hey! What the heck?" Jaxt yelled.

The sudden pull made it materialise and fall over.

Radio started laughing.

The golem gave me a weird look.

"You just had to ruin my exit, didn't you?"

Why the heck was it trying to act cool in the first place?

"Sorry, sorry!" Radio said, with a bit of laughter still in its voice.

This time Jaxt vanished before I could grab it again.

"You're surprisingly playful!" Radio said to me.

No, I'm not. I just felt like doing that for no reason.

"Yeah, yeah." it teased.

I felt slightly annoyed.

In any case, the other reason why I came here was for the bookshop. Thunder Hero turned out to be surprisingly good, so I wanted to get the later books in the series before I finished reading those I had on me.

By some insane coincidence, the same old man who helped me buy the pots was jogging by when I neared the bookstore.

"Hi!" I asked Radio to say to him.

"Hello!"

I filled him in.

"You're not treating this old man as you personal errand boy, are you! At least pick someone younger!" he said jokingly.

I ended up only getting the next twenty books only after realising the high cost... Exactly 30 silver to buy the books and to bribe the old man... Now I only had 28 silver. That's a long way off from the 1 gold I got from... dammit, I forgot his name- Galu's dad.

Oh wait, I recall now! Yueler. Yes, that was it.

I guess I really need to get my 'hands' on some money then...

"Cooo!"

I looked up and saw a pigeon flying towards me.

Hmm? Why was there a pigeon here of all places?

The pigeon landed on me. I could see it shiver in the cold.

"Cooo, cooo, coo, coo, coooo!" it said.

I swatted it off myself with telekinesis. Stupid bird. The last thing I needed was it to poop on me or scratch my paint.

Immediately, it began making very angry sounds that weren't very pigeon-like.

"Who the hell is swearing? I'm trying to sleep!" I heard Sheepy yell.

You can understand that bird?

"Huh? Of course!" the sheep said, indignantly. "Wait, you still need me to translate Rolgh! Ahahaha!"

Why in the world did it seem so happy about that? Did it somehow realise how much it loved translating?

Uh, sure. Translate.

Sheepy began to swear very loudly and enthusiastically in some of the most vulgar language I've ever heard.

If not for certain parts that made it clear it was the pigeon's words, I would have thought Sheepy was just venting its anger on me.

"-that again and you'll get it from us! Understand?" it said, still inside me.

I decided to deploy the sheep translator for real this time. It seemed really reluctant to stop lying on the ground but with some pushing, I finally managed to shove it out of me. Sheepy wobbled as it got up properly for the first time in days. I couldn't help but notice it had gained quite some weight now that it was out in the light again.

That lazy sheep... I should really get it to walk more in case those STR points go down the drain.

The pigeon and the sheep talked for quite a bit. The pigeon seemed really mad at first, but Sheepy calmed it down fairly quickly and before long, they were talking amiably. Birds of a feather flock together, I guess?

The pigeon turned to glare at me and gave Sheepy some sympathetic looks as it talked. Stupid sheep must be bad-mouthing me...

The pigeon took off shortly, nodding to Sheepy before flying off, who also nodded.

"He says he's from the pigeon mafia," it said.

Those were words I'd never thought I'd hear.

Sheepy explained to me afterwards that Gunhand asked the 'pigeon mafia' to search for me after some generous bribes. Hah, what did they ask for? Breadcrumbs?

"That golem guy wants to meet you back at the dwarven city for something. Minnie is there too."