"Land ahoy!" - Bloom

"Time to dock this ship!" - Mira

You two have read one too many pirate stories...

We landed on Little Wasteland and got off my speedboat-like ship, the one I used to travel from the destroyed Water-Knot to Velantas. Those guys working at the city dock are goddamn dedicated to their job. I half expected that this thing would have turned into a shipwreck after all the events in the city. Guess those gambler people didn't care about any transportation methods to and from the city.

The place we're at seems like an old western town. A town with lots of strange animals instead of horses, and swords and spears replacing guns and bullets. For some reason, there is a big demand for cowboy hats. Guess a Migrant must have introduced them to this place. Maybe it was the Migrant chef from a few days ago?

"Howdy, girlies. Can I help ya with somethin'?" - Dock guard

"Just point us at where the provision shop is." - Mira

"Then ya should take a look at the old map at the start of the main street. It ain't possible to miss it." - Dock guard

We did as the old guard said and found a pair of huge maps placed so that everyone could look at them. One showed the city, with the local branch of the Adventurers' Union and the various adventurer-business-related shops marked on it.

As for the other, it showed the island as a whole. This town, called the "Frontier Town" on the map, is placed at the bottom of the map, and if we wish to reach the northernmost part of the island, it would easily take 3 days if we walked the long stretch. Several areas marked with monster pictures told about the various nests and hunting grounds for said monsters.

"You need some 'laughing hyenas' for your necro-stuff?" - Mira

"Nah. I bet they'd wake me up every night." - Garami

We ignored the monster hunting areas and looked for our goal. A cave that is known as the "Knocker's Grotto". Several Fae-type monsters have been spotted there, so the cave got named after the famous Fae of the mines...or so the map says.

"But it seems that there are no Fae there now." - Bloom

"It would surprise me if there were. Faes are in short supply lately. Solomar, the country I lived in before moving to Velantas, didn't have much of a Fae population, but it's still plain as day that there are fewer of them even there." - Mira

Fae, as in fairies. And their numbers are starting to dwindle? Are there any green-clothed heroes who bottle them so they can be used as recovery items?

"Whatever the reason, it makes it easier to get to the cave." - Garami

"You wish! Can't you see how far it is between there and this town? Fighting in some trials will be our last problem! This wasteland is rumored to be a bargain sale of monsters. No way we'll have the stamina to keep on fighting after walking that monster-infested distance." - Mira

True. The cave is located somewhere northwest of the island. We would be forced to camp at least one night out in the wild if we went there on foot.

First, we went to the inn connected to the Adventurers' Union where we had pre-registered ourselves for some rooms before we had left the tower cities. The receptionist told us that carriages were the common method of getting across the Wasteland. They're living in the wild west, aren't they?

Oh, and it seems impossible to take the boat around the island. There are no other docks than the one close to town, so trying to dock anywhere else would make your boat prey for the mischievous monsters that live here and just love to crush stuff. Typical...

Turns out that the carriages are using tamed monsters to pull them. We saw some entering the town with several adventurers and their hunted game onboard. The draft ani..., the draft monsters are trained to accept anyone as their riders, so even amateurs shouldn't have a problem with them.

The most common choice of draft monsters is a type of yellow-sandish horse that thrives in the wasteland, but there are also overgrown hyenas one can choose from. The rarer choice is a bunch of yellow ostriches, which had like the horses adapted to the wasteland biome. The horse has higher stamina than the other two, but the hyenas come with an inbuilt monster-detecting nose, and the ostriches are the speed demons of the trio.

Since we only wished to reach the Knocker's Grotto without any problems, we decided on either the horse carriages since we didn't need either speed or help in finding monsters. However, as typical for my luck, there were no ponies available. PONIES!!

And that's not all! There are no laughing doggos or overgrown birdies in town either! They're all rented out or reserved for other adventurers. Seems like monster materials are in high demand now that people are starting to fix their boats and the cities now that the lake has returned. First, there was a drought of water, but now there will be a drought of monsters if the adventurers aren't careful out there!

"There is a new shop in town. Using a new type of monster you could try out." - Nth shop owner

Seeing as we had no other choice, we did as the shop owner suggested and went to the new place that was so new it wasn't on the map even.

When we reached the new place, I got the shock of a lifetime. They were keeping raptors! As in, the small dinosaur monsters that used to live in the Water-Knot! I think they were called "Sliprauses"...?

"Hey, this place is sus." - Mira

"Of course it..., hey. How did you know that?" - Garami

"How? It's the damn sign... You didn't look at the sign?" - Mira

"I didn't look at the sign. I looked at the dinosaur monsters that used to live in the Dungeon I squashed!" - Garami

"Dungeon...! Hold on, why are those dinos here?!" - Mira

"How should I know!? And what was that about some sign?" - Garami

"That sign!" said Mira as she pointed at the signboard above the shop's door. There was nothing suspicious about it...wait a minute...

I looked into my Storage and found a certain business card I'd been given some time ago. The card and the store had the same type of symbol on them. It looked like a stylized tower with folded bat wings at the bottom.

"Nequitas..." - Garami

The "Demonic security organization, Nequitas". The place where that guy we met in the magic store works at. That fellow who wanted to warn me about the bugged entry pass. What was his name...

"This place is connected to that Blot guy, isn't it?" - Mira

"Huh? Oh, right. That's him, alright. We gotta be on our toes." - Garami

Like, not forgetting what his name was, for one. Sure, Blot didn't do us any harm, but he's sus as a crime scene.

"Should we try a different place? Maybe share a ride with other adventurers?" - Bloom

"I don't want to walk my legs off." - Mira

"And I don't wanna group up with some strangers." - Garami

"You two are impossible!" - Bloom

Nope. We're true and undiluted chaos. It says so in our titles.

*Ding*

We entered the store and were greeted by a...seriously demonic-looking shopkeeper that was looking through some books from behind the desk. Is that a Fiend? First time I've seen one outside the pictures in the demonology bestiaries I've been reading in my spare time.

Other than him, there is one more fellow in the shop. They look humanoid, but I wouldn't bet on them.

I mean, the other guy, wearing a fancy suit that clashes with the Wild West theme of the rest of the whole town, is the very same Blot we talked about just now.

"Welcome." - Fiend shopkeeper

"My, what a coincidence." - Blot

"That's our line. Is this your crew's place?" - Mira

And Mira threw a straight ball at Blot! All while ignoring the shopkeeper! He didn't seem all that bothered by it, as he returned to his books.

"Yes. A security organization such as ours needs multiple income sources. And why does this local branch of the Nequitas carriage renter services have the honor of being visited by such lovely ladies as you two?" - Blot

"We need a ride, and there is nothing else in town. Is it that strange?" - Mira

"No, certainly not. There is a huge material demand in the region lately after all. Am I right in presuming that is the case for you two as well?" - Blot

"Meh. We're just going sightseeing on this dusty old rock. The city life turned out to be too exciting, so we needed a break from it." - Mira

"A reasonable decision. If that is the case, you have arrived at the right store. Our Sliprauses can take you anywhere you want on the island. They are loyal, strong, and can walk for hours without rest." - Blot

So they are the same species as the raptors in the Water-Knot...or maybe not? I did a stealthy Identification on one of the dinos, and there are no "Glavras" in its species name. Hmm?

"Then why isn't there more traffic in this store?" - Mira

"Alas, newcomers such as ourselves are never seen with kind eyes in the business market. But I can assure you that our scaly friends will satisfy your demands. Cheaply too." - Blot

"I've heard that before. Taming monsters are far from cheap." - Mira

"Normally, that is true. But our new business partners have a knack for being on these creatures' good side, and they are quite dutiful when it comes to contracts and agreements." - Blot

...Is he talking about who I am thinking he's talking about?

"Alrighty then. Hey, shopkeeper! Do you have some rodeo partners who can take us to the northwest part of the island?" - Mira

"...That's an easy request. What type of carriage do you want?" - Fiend shopkeeper

"Fast, but comfortable." - Garami

"A two-raptors then. When do you want it?" - Fiend shopkeeper

"It's getting late, so tomorrow would be okay." - Mira

"Good. I'll have them ready around 10 o'clock tomorrow." - Fiend shopkeeper

Alright. Now things are finally starting to go our way.

"Hold on," said Blot right before we were about to leave. "I just remembered that there have been rumors about another new monster species in the northeast of the island."

"Is there a 'new monster' boom going on?" - Mira

"Who can say for sure? All I have heard is that this new species seems like a type of tortoise monster with elongated necks, resembling snakes." - Blot

Uh-oh. I think I know the identity of those mystery monsters.

"We'll be careful in any case." - Garami

"That is good to hear. Ladies, may you have a good hunt." - Blot

We finally got to leave the shop after that and headed for the branch office of the Adventurers' Union. We wanted to pick up some quests we may potentially clear on our trip to the Knocker's Grotto. But our luck must have gone dry after the successful carriage ordering.

"...Nothing." - Garami

"All the good quests must have been taken by the larger adventurer parties." - Mira

It's not like there are zero quests left, but the ones that remain are asking for not-so-easy-to-find materials that you need to spend lots of time searching for, and honestly, we don't have either the time or the patience for either.

"...What about this one? The reward is a Magic Stone. How generous." - Bloom

For real!? ...No, this is impossible. "Help fortify a new village at the eastern side of the island from attacks of the new tortoise monster species"? None of us have any fortress-building skills. Plus, the magic stone is given as the reward for the people who manage to take out a certain hydra-like C-rank monster that's on the tortoises' side. Again, this sounds very familiar, so I'm gonna keep away from this.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, but what's your deal with Magic Stones?" - Mira

...I must have been showing too much interest in the subject...

"Let's wait for tomorrow when we're on the road. I'll talk about it then." - Garami

I don't want people to overhear what I have to say. It's not sure how people would react if they heard that I was planning on making a Dungeon for myself.

Mira? ...Yeah, she's not like normal people. Just like me.