Two days after I met up with the "Cheerful Hunters" party, the guys who are protecting Gust now, everyone was standing ready at the docks near the rented ship from the Union. It's the very same ship we were using when we traveled to the Tree Sea Isle and Isla de Mina. Is the Union under the assumption that we favor this ship over the others? Whatever.

"Is this everyone!?" - Brak

"I did send the word around, but people are too busy with Little Wasteland or whatever they are doing nowadays to respond." - Garami

The only ones who came to help with the assault on Iron Isle are our guild and the Cheerful Hunters' party, consisting of their leader Brak, the Hobgoblin scout Grubble, the Elf scholar Lester (who has the real [Scholar] class!), Terd the warthog-type Beastkin tank (guess he wasn't an orc. Sorry, Terd...), and Siris the female human who uses the [Cleric] class.

However, I suspect the last one doesn't appear as virtuous as she tries to look. Don't know why. My gut is refusing to say anything else. When I consulted with Mira, who seems to have joined the Hunters on a quest or two as a mercenary, she seemed to have had the same feeling as me. However, in the end, we both concluded that it wouldn't result in any problems. If there were any problems with the Cleric's identity, then that party should have fallen apart on its own, long before we ever got the chance to meet them.

Whatever naughty nun problems the Hunters might have, that's not our case to solve. Let them deal with that.

The real problem is that nobody else other than the 11 of us. Gust is left behind to wait at the Union Hall. This trip would be too dangerous to drag him with us. As I said before, I tried to ask for help from various sources, but nobody has replied yet. There could be some response if we waited a little longer, but time's of the essence.

"So...we have to face a whole ISLAND filled with vicious goblins!? Alone!!?" - Noire

"FERAL goblins, thank you very much!" - Grubble

"I did say 'vicious', did I not?" - Noire

"Oh, right. 'Scuse me, fallen angel lady." - Grubble

Right now, Noire's appearance definitely fits that nickname. Her halo-like thing has turned dark along with her wings, but other than that, evolving into this "Fallen Nehustan" species hasn't done much for her in the departments that caused my problems regarding the Nightmare Outfit. Picking on her for that is a one-way ticket to prolonging our departure, so let's save that for after we're done.

"Calm down. We don't have to fight ALL of Iron Isle." - Garami

"...? *Points at himself*." - Iron

"Not you, tin can!" - Grubble

"...*Sulking*." - Iron

"Hey, what are you doing to our black knight?" - Noire

"S-sorry. I didn't think he would take it that hard..." - Grubble

As for Iron, his new "Phantom Mail" species has given him the appearance fitting of a "black knight", just as Noire said. The dirty iron-colored armor has darkened to look a little closer to the armor used by that Wild Hunt Lord I defeated before. Overall, Iron's coolness factor has gone up by 120%, but that might just be me. On the inside, he's still the same do-gooder as before. Kids especially love following him. A few are hiding behind one of the crates here at the dock spying on him even now.

"Getting back to the point, we don't have to force ourselves to fight all of Iron Isle. Everyone on board again?" - Garami

"If you mind elaborating what you are trying to say, then yes." - Lester

"I have a contact within the city guard. If we can provide crucial evidence that the theft of the various equipment shops' tools was done by the Feral Goblins, my contact can force the other guards currently on Little Wasteland to do their job instead of trying to get their share of the newly discovered mines." - Garami

"Real, solid proof. That is one of the few possible factors to drag people who've caught the gold fever back to their senses and have them do their job." - Lester

"What sort of evidence are we talking about here? I doubt people would believe the statement of Ferals. I wouldn't. Rather, making those creeps have an intelligent conversation is close to impossible. I wouldn't dare try it. Those types are the worst..." - Mira

"If we can retrieve some of the tools, or provide physical evidence of there being a character on Iron Isle who could gather the Ferals together and have them perform this theft, then that's good enough. Or so says my contact." - Garami

"That is it?" - Noire

"Yes. My contact is the city guard's chief commander." - Garami

"Figures." - Alf

"Right... I think we met him during the incident with the Kodokumo Emperor in the sewers..." - Mira

Back then, Karion was the one to congratulate us right after we defeated that giant sewer spider, but the chief commander came to visit me after that to deliver his thanks for helping the city. We've been on good terms after that. He has no idea about "Nequitas" or that Mira and I once broke into that casino though...

"He's just as troubled by his subordinates' behavior as we are, so we swipe some clues that say those guys aren't doing their job properly, the chief gets the chance to chew those lazy gold diggers up, they get sent to finish off the Ferals and retrieve whatever gadgets we couldn't bring back with us." - Garami

"You mentioned something about there being someone left on Iron Isle? What about them?" - Alf

"I was coming to them. That person's still on the Isle after saving these idiots' butts," I said while looking judgingly at the 5 members of the (now anti-)Cheerful Hunters, "when they tried to invade the island without proper preparations. I doubt they're that easy to kill, so I suspect they're hiding somewhere on the island." - Garami

"Finding them will be our #1 priority?" - Mira

"Obviously. Not only for the common reason of 'leaving no man behind'," I said while glaring at the five idiots, who were busy sinking into the ground from pure shame, "but they might have the very evidence that the chief commander requires."

"Surviving a few days on an island filled with Ferals would give you some inside knowledge about the place." - Mira

"...Let's help them...who are they?" - Revi

The little dragon witch, who knows fully well how being trapped on an island filled with monsters after your blood, voiced her agreement despite being in the dark regarding who we're rescuing. I guess I only brought Alf with me to yesterday's strategy meeting, no wonder.

"They... It will be easier just to show you." - Garami

"Agreed!" - Cheerful Hunters

Our response evoked confusion in not only Revi but in the rest of the Voyagers as well, sans Alf who had been told about the "VIP" beforehand. Trying to explain them would be too much of an ordeal for me, plus we're short on...

"GEH!? It's this late already!?" I shouted after seeing the clock on the docks.

"...It is only 07:04." - Noire

"Honestly, it's too early..." - Alf

"Early my ass! We're going to spend most of our day on that island before we leave, so get ready! Speaking of getting ready, Noire, did you bring the items I asked for?" - Garami

"I managed to haggle down the price enough to buy three. And instead of these toys, should you not be more concerned about your own equipment?" - Noire

Figured she'd say that. Since the Nightmare Outfit isn't fitting me anymore, I had to settle for some easy-to-move-in leather armor from Armveil's shop. It's stuff that was still in the storage, but it should last.

"No worries there. But before we leave, is everyone aware of the traits of the Feral Goblins living on Iron Isle?" - Garami

"That they are greedy, arrogant, and ugly?" - Grumble

"And that they, along with the other creatures living on that island, all possess the Iron attribute in one way or another." - Lester

"...?" - Iron

"Sorry, but he's not talking about you." - Siris

"Those buggers always gang up on people. Numbers are their greatest, if not their only, power, so be aware of that." - Brak

"They also use traps." - Terd

"Yeah, and a lot of them! Fighting on their turf is going to be difficult if you have to deal with both the traps and those ugly abominations at the same time! A lot of them have Moon-type or Shadow-type skills to take advantage of the dark caves on Iron Isle." - Grumble

The Cheerful Hunters gladly shared their experience with the Ferals from their first trip to the island. Knowing what attributes the opponents have will make it easier to determine what skills and classes they might use. Then again, Ferals who only rely on quantity instead of quality might not have that many "experienced heroes" who have reached the point of getting their 3rd attribute focus. Some of them might only have 1.

"...? What is 'Iron attribute'?" - Revi

"Ah, right. It's something of a sibling to the Metal attribute. The one Iron uses. Metal is overall stronger, but Iron can hurt fairies more." - Garami

"Then there's Gold who hurts demons, Silver that hurts the undead, and Copper which is a pain for people like Noire." - Mira

"Copper is too cheap for the likes of me anyway." - Noire

Revi nodded to our explanation, but is that steam coming up from her head? Let's skip the explanation of Steel, which governs weaponry, and Mercury, which is a more metallic version of Poison. We need that head to do magic, not to cook vegetables.

"*Cough*, can we return to the topic now?" - Alf

"To be on our way to Velantas' greatest hell hole? Sure. We're all ecstatic. Let's go." - Garami

---

Later, a kilometer away from Iron Isle:

"Geh!? Those guys have spotted us!" - Grumble

Grumble called down to us from the bridge as several shadows left the primitive "port" over at Iron Isle. A quick peek into the binoculars revealed them to be badly designed warships, Viking-styled. I doubt there would be any Vikings with respect for themselves that would even think about using those rafts of driftwood.

"All according to plan...and holy ****, they got more ships than I expected." - Garami

"Is it going according to plan or not!?" - Grumble

"Stop complaining! You guys don't have to fight in a naval battle!" - Brak

"Isn't that the best part of the plan? Garami, we will take over from here. You go and find that missing person ASAP." - Alf

"Roger that, distraction team A leader." - Garami

As the goblin ships were starting to get closer, Grumble and I, members of the search team, jumped off the ship and landed on my speedboat, which Mira had been driving in the shadows of the Union's rented boat. The "sea" around Iron Isle is surprisingly shallow compared to the other islands and it is covered with high reefs here and there.

Using those reefs, along with [Optical Camouflage], we snuck around the island and headed for a hidden landing spot the Union had discovered in the past that the Ferals shouldn't have discovered. Since I had stuff like [Dark Espionage] and [Riding] under my belt, I had taken the rudder over for Mira, giving me the pleasure of having to stress over not being discovered by any lookouts. Luckily for us, the naval battle seems to have caught the attention of every non-friendly goblin in the area.

"They aren't even considering the idea that Alf's group is just a distraction." - Mira

"It would be stranger if they did. Those guys' stupidity is only matched by their sadism." - Garami

"...You know a lot about those freaks despite this being supposedly the first time you're facing 'em." - Grumble

"Once I started to read about them, I couldn't put down the book. They were described too unbelievably for me to accept what was written, so I reread it several times." - Garami

"That is one way to keep a steady reader base." - Mira

After some careful sailing (driving?), we discovered the hidden cave that acted as the Union's entrance point to the island in the past. After we landed, I took a quick look over the place, but no evidence says there have been people here for several years now.

"Now this is a wonder of nature!" said Mira as she looked at the sparkling blue cave. It seems to be a natural "mining spot" that generates low-quality blue quartz. The stuff is supposedly good to use for creating glass and lenses, more so than ordinary quartz.

"Hey, keep your voice down!" hissed Grumble in a voice as low as he could make. Mira made a fist and lightly hit her head while saying "Tee-hee~," in a joking manner to the cultured goblin's complaints.

"It is a wonder though. Like how the Ferals managed to miss this spot for so long." - Garami

"Maybe the Feral Goblins don't like the water? The reefs were also untouched, except for some arrows that could have been from target practice." - Grumble

"What if they just don't like to bathe?" - Mira

"THAT'S IT!" - Garami & Grumble

"Eh...? You guys were serious...?" - Mira

For some reason, Mira looked like a balloon that had let out all its air due to our reply. Allowing her to see the Ferals in real life should help her understand where Grumble and I are coming from, even if one part of me wished to never let her experience that meeting.

Alas, time waits for no one, and neither does our quest. We moved on to the entrance of the cave, which was blocked by a giant metal door. Using the periscope attached to it, as the past Union records advised me to, I looked at the outside and found no Ferals lurking around near the other side of the door.

"The coast looks clear. You two ready?" - Garami

"Just one question. Who's going to watch the boat while we're away?" - Mira

To answer Mira's question, I summoned a group of Gloom Skeletons through necromancy and loaded them with the best equipment I had left in my storage. The Iron Isle isn't undead-friendly, and the sun's shining at its strongest, so I can't use these guys anywhere outside this cave. Having them on guard duty is the best they can do.

"There. Does that satisfy?" - Garami

"Hmm, sure. Why not?" - Mira

"Don't ask me. Grumble and you will team up and take a stroll on the ground level. Meanwhile, I'll look from the rooftops." - Garami

"Rooftops?" - Grumble

"You'll get it when you see her in action." - Mira

Not wasting more time, I opened the door and snuck out of the cave before releasing a web line to the large rock formations above us. After reaching the top, I could get a good look at Iron Isle's geography. It is...sort of like a messy spiderweb of a labyrinth, crafted solely from rocks. Large pillars that twisted and turned everywhere made the place look like a giant rollercoaster, without the cart, rails, or safety measurements.

As suspected, the Ferals aren't active this high up, so I started to swing from rock monument to the other as I mapped the island through [Auto-Mapping]. Down below, I could hear a faint "See?", probably aimed at a goblin whose jaw had hit the floor. Let's hope he snaps out of it fast enough.