Sailiiiing on the blue seaaaaaa... It's not the sea though.

Hello, and welcome back. This is Garami, the reincarnated demon who escaped the afterworld after impressing a goddess with a bad attitude...somehow.

So, what has happened? I defeated a Disaster of Water, who had planned to turn all physical material (even all the earth that makes up the planet) in the world into pure water, by using more than 2 years to gradually grind away his body (aka the Dungeon) before he could be "born" (essentially reborn using the Dungeon as his body) through the powers siphoned from some evil god (related to the Devil's Peak). Yay!

Then, a much, much, MUCH worse enemy arrived. Oh, you hated, vile creature...

"Master, for how long are you going to pout?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Until that ball of death is gone..." - Garami

"It is just the sun! Please get yourself together before we meet anyone! This is embarrassing!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

What a snappy skill I have...

But yes, it is the sun that's tormenting me. And don't come here and say "suck it up"!! I'm a demon! And I'm albino! And I've lived my 2-year long life underground!! Of course, those death UV-rays are gonna hurt! Like, literally!! I needed to buy [Blindness Resistance]! Like, for real! Then I felt guilty and bought [Jump] as I promised (myself, mentally, on a whim), but that's a different story.

And why am I tormenting myself by staying in plain view for that incarnation of evil? Because I wanna reach civilization. Even with a motorboat, it takes more than a day to reach the nearest island from Devil's Peak. Not a distance you can commute from and to daily.

Luckily, the physical rewards for defeating Glavras included a motorboat that runs on MP. A "magitech", according to the fairy. Some strange rations that don't taste good nor bad and a mug that creates drinking water when you feed it MP were also included, but I want real food! Not this tasteless paper mache!

"When are we there...?" - Garami

"It is still a few hours left. If you need a break, shall we do so on Tir na Nog?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

...some highly mythical name came up right now. The sun must be getting to me.

"Where's that supposed to be?" - Garami

"Just to your left. We can see it from here." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

We can!? ...oh, yes. We can. I can't believe I didn't notice until now.

On the port side was a gloomy island that consisted of a dirty and uninteresting beach, and a gigantic, dark wall. Is that a barrier on top of the wall? Whatever it is, it extends above the wall to create a dome. What a weird place.

"That's Tir na Nog?" - Garami

"Yes. It is named after the sealed city of the undead that makes up most of the island, but the beach should be safe. Probably." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

Okay, we're not making port there. And what the heck's a "sealed city of the undead"? That's too scary to be a joke! First the Water-Knot, now this place. Isn't there any decent place to live in this world!?

So, yeah. We're passing this place. Meeting the undead is not high on my to-do list. If it's written there at all-

*BOOOOM!!*

Hii! That came from the island! Some sorta amazing black energy sphere's been busted out on the beach! It's almost as big as the spider queen from the Water-Knot!

Listening closely, I could hear the sound of battle coming from the island. Around the same level as the battle between the Sahuagin and the Glavras forces. Eh? What's going on over there? An undead civil war? An army of adventurers? I think those are a thing. Some people were visiting the Water-Knot a few times.

"Should we investigate the ruckus?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"You wanna die?" - Garami

"...no, probably not." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

It's unanimous. Time to flee. PEDAL TO THE METAL!

---

After a hurried and panicked...I mean, a hurried and calm escape, I could finally see the goal of my trip. I mean, this place is way easier to spot than that gigantic fortress-island of death and despair from before. Still can't believe I didn't notice it until now.

Though, it would be difficult to not notice this place!

Allow me to introduce you: to the lake capital, Velantas! It shares the name with the region, the "lake country, Velantas".

For some background info: the lake country is as its name suggests, a country which is a lake. Like, the whole thing. The whole lake is what is considered the kingdom called "Velantas". That's right. We're talking about a country-sized lake. Way bigger than what you could find on Earth. And Glavras had dried this place almost to its dusty end...

Most of the "country" isn't populated for obvious reasons, except for a few islands and this "lake capital". I'll skip on explaining those islands, but they all have their respective biomes. Not sure if that holds for Tir na Nog, which is one of them. Can you call a biome filled with the undead a biome? "Bio" is life, right?

Boring details aside, let's return to the main topic. The "lake capital" is built on 7 pillars that are so big that they stick out of the lake with ease. Many panels are built on six of these giant pillars, creating several floors for cities to flourish on. There are also many bridges and roads built to connect these cities, which creates a ring around the 7th pillar. It's reserved for some sorta person in charge of the place. I didn't catch on to what the fairy said there. My brain was...is boiling due to the sun.

Since my almost vampire-like self is at its limit, I fed the motorboat with way more MP. Potential damage due to overloads? Who cares?! I'm the one in danger here!

---

"-you got that!?" - Guard A

"...yes..." - Garami

He didn't need to scold me for a full hour. Just because I rushed into the port a little too fast and close for comfort. Nobody got hurt...there was nobody there from the beginning...

"Bud, think the girl's learned her lesson. Don't traumatize our first customer in over 15 years." - Guard B

Nameless goon #2...you're a good guy...

"Sorry about that, girlie. But you're a little lucky. The mayors of each city have decided to grant the first 100 visitors a free access pass to the city to celebrate the return of Grand Lake Velantas. Here," said the unnamed goon #2 as he handed me a piece of wood. Oh, a pass. Now I get it. Sorry, been too far away from civilization to connect the dots.

And is even the lake called "Velantas"?! Who's the lazy bum who named all these places? I'll give him a knuckle sandwich for the trouble!

...ah! Mustn't forget the pass. I tend to disappear into my own world too often. A demerit of having lived alone for so long.

"When did they decide on giving out free passes?" - Guard A

"Yesterday. And miss, if you're free later-" - Guard B

"No." - Garami

I quickly wrapped up the conversation and entered the city with my new pass, leaving my boat docked at the port all alone. The other guards did that job while I was busy getting my ears broken underneath the afternoon sun. They're good guys, except that jerk (goon #1). Even the pervert (goon #2) is better than him!

I entered the streets, which looked way more normal than what the city's architecture would suggest. It feels like walking through a somewhat old-fashioned London street.

There were a large crowd of people all over the place, busy preparing and cleaning the old buildings with incredible eagerness. If you guys love cleaning that much, why did you wait until today? Now I can't get anywhere! Large crowds are surprisingly scary!

The sudden difficulty spike for my lonely self forced me to take back streets and empty roads to evade the crowd. Soon, I managed to find a decent-looking inn.

"Welcome. A night will cost 1 silver. Another half silver if you want dinner with dessert." - Inn owner

I opened the moneybag I got alongside the Glavras-quest rewards and handed over two silver coins for a night and the dinner, and got a smaller silver back.

After I got the key to my room, I hurried up to my given room. The place is...kinda simple. The furniture is either made outta wood or metal. Mostly metal. I bet it's difficult to acquire wood in the middle of a lake, so maybe wooden items are a luxury in this city?

In any case, a real bed!! Yahoo!!

...hmm? ...oh, come oooon...

Ah, it's not like the bed's bad or anything. Compared to fantasy novels that take place in the European Middle Ages, this place is damn good. The bed is of great quality as well. However...I can make better ones with my webs...maybe I should consider a career as a bedmaker?

It's still some time before dinner, but I'll be spending the rest of the day here until then. I'm exhausted...

Okay, the walls are good and soundproof. The door's locked, and the keyhole blocked. Same with the windows.

"Fairy, get out." - Garami

"Yes, yes, yes~. The honorable avatar of [Gamemaster] is-ugh!?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

I slapped the fairy before she could finish her intro.

"That's for leaving me hanging with the jerk's sermon." - Garami

"So sorry..." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Now, can you tell me more about this?" I asked the fairy after taking out the final reward item from the Glavras quest.

It's a crystal-ish sphere around the size of a basketball. It's purple except for two rings of different varieties of blue. Both the purple part and the blue rings seem to be moving inside the crystal sphere, giving it a mysterious atmosphere.

And it is sorta mandatory that it has that. I mean, this sphere, the reward for defeating that snake-turned-Dungeon-turned-Disaster, is a Dungeon Core after all. My plans for the future depend on what this thing can do...

---

"Yes, sir. This one is certain to be a great find. She didn't emit any powerful aura, but she has enough MP to run a boat-type magitech with extreme speed. Not to mention she's from the outside, just as you planned. Nobody will notice if she dies a dog's death. ...yes, I understand. I will look for more sacrifices..." - ???