So, here I am again, Armveil's Smithy! I asked the old dwarf if he had any of those item upgrade facilities for sale. Unfortunately, there was bad news on the horizon, but I took them like a man.

"WHAAAAT?!" - Garami

"I keep telling ya, we don't have those fancy gizmos here. No one has." - Armveil

"Oh, COME OOOOON!!" - Garami

Okay, I lied. Plus, I'm a woman. Not to mention a demon...

According to the old, the specialized equipment needed for the upgrades to my Nightmare Items can't be obtained from even his shop. And worse, it seems even the local Alchemists' Union is in the same position. Heck, since they have a monopoly on those high-tech items, they're bound to escalate the prices for buying those facilities. According to Armveil, at least, but I trust him when it comes to business-related stuff.

And here I ran over the second after I had emptied the mansion's food storage! I'm still a little hungry despite having eaten for 10. Evolution, you can be scary sometimes...

Grr...if buying the stuff is not possible, let's settle on desert exploration items!!

It might seem like out of the blue, but this is a strategy I devised while filling my stomach after evolving. My Dungeon requires some time alone before I can promote it to the public, mostly for two reasons.

The first one is obvious: strengthening the Dungeon so it won't be defeated. When first created, a Dungeon is restricted to a single floor. Proper Dungeons, as opposed to the Water-Knot, Tir na Nog, or even the Chaos Dungeon where I won the Nightmare Item set form, have floors with a total areal of 5 kilometers, which means it would not be defeated by the first and best that decides to invade it even if it only has a single floor, but a proper adventurer party could clear it and crush the Dungeon Core without sweat. That's something I have to avoid.

As for the second reason, it can be considered an opposite to the first. While the first reason is to make life sour for the invaders by buffing up the security, the second is to ensure certain invaders won't meet their end. An adventurer-killing Dungeon is a sure-way ticket to getting a subjugation designation by the Union, so I want to install some of the "safety effects" that a Dungeon can be upgraded with. Such as the ability to kick invaders out of the Dungeon when their HP reaches 0 instead of allowing them to die.

To fulfill both these conditions, the desert in the southeastern part of the continent is the optimal location. That place is too challenging and unrewarding for people to walk around and look for treasures unless they have evidence that it's worth the time and items to do so. When it is ready, I can anonymously start spreading rumors about it and wait for invaders.

Choosing the desert has another meaning unique to that landscape. Dungeons that don't kill adventurers are valuable enough for the Union to prohibit their destruction, but just to be safe, I'm thinking about looking into preparing some oasis-like facilities as well. If the Dungeon goes down, so does the oh-so-valuable oasis, making the perpetrator public enemy nr.1 for the people living in the desert.

All that is good and all, but the problem is to survive that stupid hot desert for long enough until we can find a good place to set up camp, er, Dungeon. And to do that...

"In that case, do you have some desert-travel gear at hand?" - Garami

I'll be needing some spare equipment. The others too, but currently, the one weakest to the sunlight is moi, thanks to my albinoism. Even Iron can fare better in the sun now! Come to think about it, won't a ghost like him be invincible in the desert? He doesn't need water or food...

"I'm sorry to say this, but I can't help you there either, lassy." - Armveil

"WHAAAAT?!" - Garami

"Hey, no da capos." - Armveil

"Sorry..." - Garami

"That's my line. And while I hate being the one to bear bad news, you won't be able to get that kind of gear from anywhere in the city for the next month or so." - Armveil

"For the next month!? What is that good for!? Are all the stores sold out!?" - Garami

"Desert travel gears need to be customized, and right now, there are no smithy or clothing shop who can do that for ya." - Armveil

"If you are missing materials, just tell me what you need. At this point, going on a fetching quest or two won't do any harm." - Garami

"No good that will do. It's better to have you see for yourself." - Armveil

Saying that the old dwarf had me come with him to the smithy's workshop in the back...and there's a big shortage of anything smithing-related here. Heck, where did that big and heavy forge go!?

"We've been robbed. Instead of a serial killer, we have a serial burglar on the run." - Armveil

"Just typical..." - Garami

---

*BANG!*

I rushed into the Union Hall and looked for the people who should know anything about these mysterious robberies...but all I saw was a dust devil rolling over the floor. Even the skanks where people accept quests are empty.

"Hello?" - Garami

"Geh!? Garami!?" - ???

After trying to shout for some attention, a rather surprised voice responded to me. Over at one of the tables that were in a location that made it difficult to see when you were standing at the front entrance sat a group of adventurers, five of them to be exact, with several maps and documents spread over the table. Are they planning on a quest? But why the somewhat rude remark before?

The other members of the party seemed to have noticed my existence. One of them, a cowboy with a rapier instead of a gun on his hip, left his seat and came over to me.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but are you the leader of the 'Nightmare Voyagers', Miss Garami?" - Cowboy fencer

"That depends on who's asking." - Garami

"Heh, good answer. The name's Brak, the leader of the 'Cheerful Hunters' party. And our two adventurer groups have a common friend." - Brak

Following the cowboy fencer's words, the orc-looking guy wearing enough armor to match Iron pulled out what looked like a bag of feathers from underneath the table. A bag of feathers I recognize.

"Ah, Gust. You survived." - Garami

"What is it with the obvious lack of concern for my well-being!?" - Gust

"Says the ball of feathers who acts as if the boogeyman came to play." - Garami

The talking raven that I rescued in the Water-Knot, Gust, started to complain the moment he saw me. It's not like I'm happy to see him safe and sound. It's just that he is a crow who survived being kidnapped and forced to act as a handy tool for a black knight of a Wild Hunt Lord before I met him. It would be stranger to think he wouldn't survive than the opposite.

"So what's your people's deal?" I asked the adventurer party consisting of the cowboy fencer, the orc tank, an elf scholar wearing a big robe and glasses who was currently clearing the books on the table, a goblin scout armed with a knife and leather armor, and a human priestess dressed in a pure white nun-outfit.

"Since I'm not a fan of long stories, let's just say we're working as bodyguards for Gust here until he can go home." - Brak

"Good job doing that, seeing that this guy's been in enough battles to evolve." - Garami

The last time I saw him, Gust was just a talking raven, but now he looks like a miniature Tengu, with feathery arms and talons for legs. He's dressed like a Western mage instead of an Eastern priest though. What a sham. As for how I recognized him, his voice is the same as before he evolved. The same goes for me, so it's no big surprise that he realized my identity even after the latest evolution.

"Ahahaha... You got us there..." - Brak

"Working as bodyguards ain't that big of a moneymaker, Miss Nightmare." - Goblin scout

Where did that nickname come from? I'll not refute it though.

"In that case, I got a Large Bronze to the one who can tell me where the people responsible for tracking the serial item shop facility-burglar are." - Garami

"You're looking at them." - Brak

"...Seriously?" - Garami

These guys? I've already visited the city guard only to hear that due to them being undermanned, they were forced to place the investigation of the thefts to the Union in the form of a quest but to allow these guys to take care of it is...

"Hey, what's with that look!?" - Goblin scout

"Can you blame her?" - Gust

"The crowd's tough today. Ahaha...ha..." - Brak

"You guys are struggling?" - Garami

"Yes..." - Human priestess

"We have located the culprits, but nobody is believing our theory." - Elf scholar

"Is the perp some high-ranking official?" - Garami

"Worse. They're those ****ing bastards from Iron Isle." - Goblin scout

Iron Isle... The Feral Goblins living there!?

When I was studying the main island in the country, Iron Isle came up at the top of my "do not want to visit" list. The island is one big mining field filled with rich veins that can give you high-quality ores, but despite this rich deposit of metals, nobody is willing to go there. The reason is because the island is infested with Feral Goblins.

Unlike the civilized scout sitting in front of me, Feral Goblins are pure monsters. It is written in their DNA to kill humanoids. As in, their trait automatically forces them to be [True Chaos] with "" as their disposition, as opposed to my "". Wild monsters might fight humans for food or protect their territory. Dungeon monsters fight for the latter reason as well. Feral monsters? They fight only for sadistic glee. If just half of what was written about them in the Union's monster encyclopedia is true, then this planet would be better off with all of them exterminated.

And worst of all, Ferals aren't limited to just goblins. Orcs, minotaurs, fiends, heck, there's even something called "Feral Humans" out there. The last one is something I don't wanna meet at all...

"Ain't that big news?! Why is the city guard not acting?" - Garami

"We have tried to warn them, but they do not believe in our testimony. Feral Goblins sneaking into the city is not impossible, but for them to steal artisan facilities without harming anyone..." - Elf scholar

That doesn't make sense. Ferals going the long way to avoid attacking any unsuspecting civilians over stealing is a little..., okay, it's COMPLETELY unbelievable. Even if I haven't met one in real life yet. The stories about them are THAT bad!

"They're telling the truth. They even found and defeated one of them while they were trying to flee the city." - Gust

To prove his point, Gust pointed at a handwritten document with the picture of a dead goblin in the streets. Compared to the goblin scout-

HOBgoblin scout.

Right, the HOBgoblin scout, the one in the picture is way much uglier. The "good" goblins have round ears and noses, while the one in the picture has sharper and more arrow-like ones. It matches the description of Feral Goblins in the library's books and the one in the Kigal-Note. I'm always trying to obtain info from multiple sources if I can so I can evade potential "misspellings".

"And the city guards didn't lift a finger after seeing this?" - Garami

"We did present a copy of this and the other pictures we took of the fleeing Feral Goblins to them along with the corpse, but they only responded by increasing the security with the few men they had left." - Elf scholar

"So they're skimping on..., no, wait, I remember now. The mess with Little Wasteland..." - Garami

After the battle with the former floor boss turtle from the Water-Knot on that island, the allied forces discovered a natural underground labyrinth filled with rich metal veins. The last attack against the turtle was so incredible that they destroyed the ground, leading to the surprising discovery. Maybe some kind-hearted god wished to reward the Sahuagins, who can now be called owners of one of the country's most valuable mines, for all their efforts.

"You hit the nail where it hurts. The guards were already too underhanded, so they can't visit the lair of the Ferals even if they want to." - Brak

"They'd be crazy if they wished to do so though!" - Gust

"Agreed." - Garami

"Crazy or no crazy, Ferals refusing to follow their instincts can be way worse than those who do so in situations like these." - Brak

"You think a leader character has appeared on Iron Isle?" - Garami

A high degree of leadership abilities. That is one of the few ways for Ferals to escape their instincts, albeit this method has been tried and failed by multiple countries in the past.

"That is what we wanted to know, so..." - Brak

The cowboy fencer trailed off as he tried to explain until he took a deep breath and whispered the problem into my ear... For real?

"You people..." - Garami

"I know, I KNOW! That is why we need help to clear this right away!" - Brak

"Geez... We'll meet here tomorrow. I'll bring my group here, and then we can plan a strategy." - Garami

"Th-thank you, Miss-!" - Brak

"HOWEVER! We will take the larger half of the reward for this!" - Garami

"WHA-!?" - Elf scholar

"Don't complain." - Orc tank

"Yes. We are in this pinch because of you and Leader's reckless actions." - Human priestess

"Even I knew it was a bad idea back then." - Hobgoblin scout

"Hmm? What's wrong?" - Gust

It seems Gust is the only one left out of the loop. Not even these guys would be that stupid to take their bodyguard target with them to do something that stupid.

After deciding when we would meet again tomorrow, I exited the Union Hall and started to prepare for this sudden emergency quest I had stumbled upon. Starting with going on a shopping spree with my AP.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You have consumed 6 AP to evolve skill: [Detect Monster Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Monster Radar Lv.1].

You have consumed 6 AP to evolve skill: [Sense of Direction Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Sense of Cardinal Direction Lv.1].

You have consumed 6 AP to evolve skill: [Darkness Bullet Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Darkness Trick Bullet Lv.1].

You have consumed 6 AP to evolve skill: [Aiming Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Sniping Lv.1].

You have consumed 6 AP to evolve skill: [Throwing Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Shooting Lv.1].

You have consumed 6 AP to evolve skill: [Parkour Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Acrobatics Lv.1].

You have consumed 8 AP to merge skills: [Prediction Lv.50 (Max)] + [Danger Sense Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Intuition Lv.1].

You have consumed 8 AP to merge skills: [Lurk Lv.50 (Max)] + [Camouflage Lv.50 (Max)] into skill: [Dark Espionage Lv.1].

You have consumed 3 AP to obtain the skill: [Infrared Sight Lv.1].

You have consumed 3 AP to obtain the skill: [Ultraviolet Sight Lv.1].

You have consumed 3 AP to obtain the skill: [Fall Resistance Lv.1].

You have consumed 3 AP to obtain the skill: [Venom Resistance Lv.1].

A total of 61 AP melted away to nothing, gifting me several new abilities that will come in handy.

All thanks to my talented fairy-*grab*-guh!?

"So it was YOU back there!?" - Garami

"S-sho shorry..." - Bloom

"Stop fooling around and start looking for the others. We don't have much time left!" - Garami

"Y-yesh. It's surprising to see Master so fired up." - Bloom

"Far from it," I said while feeling like my stomach was freezing over as opposed to what Bloom believed. Let's hope we're not too late...

---

Updated skill list:

Skill List: Ability Skills: [Extra Health Lv.9] [Health Auto-Recovery Lv.2] [Massive Mana Lv.24] [Minimized Mana Consumption Lv.22] [Mana Greater-Recovery Lv.11] [Increased Stamina Lv.17] [Reduced Stamina Consumption Lv.3] [Greater Strength Lv.15] [Tougher Vitality Lv.9] [Magic Lv.20] [Resistance Lv.41] [Swift Speed Lv.14] [Nimble Dexterity Lv.13] Attack Skills: [Assassination Arts Lv.5] [Guard Lv.17] [Parry Lv.18] [Hardlight Claw Lv.19] [Darkness Trick Bullet Lv.1] EVOLVED [Darkness Drain Lv.18] [Death Touch Lv.1] [Poison Ball Lv.19] [Rogue's Assault Lv.9] [Demon Claw Lv.21] [Guillotine Scissors Lv.1] [Assassination Threads Lv.13] [Web Bomb Lv.39] Magic Skills: [Darkness Magic Lv.12] [Healing Magic Lv.17] [Enfeeblement Magic Lv.1] NEW [Necromantic Rites Lv.39] [Create Undead: Skeleton Lv.31] [Create Undead: Zombie Lv.22] [Create Undead: Ghost Lv.13] [Magic Eye of Poison Lv.10] [Magic Eye of Blindness Lv.24] [Magic Eye of Weakness Lv.25] [Magic Eye of Fragility Lv.20] [Magic Eye of Slowness Lv.19] [Magic Eye of Deterioration Lv.16] [Summon Phantom: Undead Spiders Lv.5] [Summon Phantom: Ghast Spider Lv.12] [Apport: Scythe Lv.4] [Apport: Dagger Lv.5] Crafting Skills: [Weaving Lv.44] [Tailoring Lv.40] [Dyeing Lv.28] [Repair: Cloth Lv.16] [Fast Creation: Cloth Lv.12] [Alchemy Lv.32] [Synthesis Circle Lv.26] [Conversion Circle Lv.13] [Mana Circle Lv.12] [Reparing Alcemic Circle Lv.1] [Trap Creation Lv.26] [Web Creation Lv.14] Active Skills: [Liquid Control Lv.22] [Aura of Darkness Lv.41] [Flash Lv.5] [Optical Cover Lv.42] [Cleanse Poison Lv.19] [Shooting Lv.1] EVOLVED [Misdirection Lv.20] [Sticky Limbs Lv.38] [Thread Control Lv.26] [Web Wings Lv.18] [Dreadful Menace Lv.23] [Spatial Storage Lv.35] [Genocide Drive: Speed Lv.3] [Nature's Webbing] Passive Skills: [Dagger Proficiency Lv.33] [Scythe Proficiency Lv.41] [Rope Proficiency Lv.28] [Armor Proficiency Lv.19] [Grimoire Catalyst Lv.1] [Dark Espionage Lv.1] EVOLVED [Sniping Lv.1] EVOLVED [Evasion Lv.43] [Jump Lv.27] [Acrobatics Lv.1] EVOLVED [Balance Lv.5] [Ambush Lv.44] [Sadistic Constitution Lv.34] [Demonic Disguise Lv.19] [Climbing Lv.40] [Lockpicking Lv.3] [Riding Lv.18] [Slumber Lv.16] UP1 [Golden Ratio Lv.9] [Necromantic Harvest Lv.31] [Necromantic Knowledge Lv.22] [Fear Reinforcement Lv.39] [Destruction Reinforcement Lv.26] [Thought Acceleration Lv.5] [Parallel Calculation Lv.5] [Vital Point Knowledge Lv.46] [Killer's Composure Lv.15] [Ghost Chaser Lv.5] UP1 [Will of the Dead Lv.1] [Auto-Mapping Lv.6] [Gloom Hell Prison] [Language Adaptation] Perception Skills: [Gamemaster Lv.50 (Max)] [Intuition Lv.1] EVOLVED [Detect Poison Lv.35] [Monster Radar Lv.1] EVOLVED [Detect Trap Lv.23] [Treasure Radar Lv.14] [Vision Reinforcement Lv.50 (Max)] [Auditory Reinforcement Lv.50 (Max)] [Olfactory Reinforcement Lv.50 (Max)] [Tactile Reinforcement Lv.50 (Max)] [Taste Reinforcement Lv.45] [Infrared Sight Lv.1] NEW [Ultraviolet Sight Lv.1] NEW [Tracking Lv.37] [Sense of Cardinal Direction Lv.1] EVOLVED [Identification Lv.50 (Max)] [Evil Eye of Dark Sight Lv.20] Leadership Skills: [Leadership Lv.35] [Charisma Lv.26] [Party Lv.34] [Control Undead Lv.30] [Evil Royalty Lv.6] Resistance Skills: [Darkness Resistance Lv.24] [Light Resistance Lv.14] [Poison Resistance Lv.30] [Fall Resistance Lv.1] NEW [Blindness Resistance Lv.13] [Venom Resistance Lv.1] NEW Elements: [Darkness Element Lv.28] [Lesser Light Element Lv.41] [Lesser Poison Element Lv.42] Monster Skills: [Demon's Strong Muscle Lv.25] [Demon's Spiritual Arts Lv.29] [Demon's Nimble Legs Lv.33] [Succubus' Poison Lv.1] [Glow Web Lv.45] [Spider's Bite Lv.18] [Spider's Poison Lv.27] [Demon Spider's Thread Lv.29] Extra Skills: [Demon Lord Lv.1] [Darkness Dragon - Zahhak Lv.1]