"...AAAAHH!!!" - Garami
"Enemies!? I'll get them!" - Mira
"That's not it, you idiot!!" - Garami
Not that I'm any better! We completely forgot about our original goal here!!
"It's Filyn! We forgot all about that we were chasing after Filyn!!" - Garami
"Oh... Isn't that fine? She seems capable of taking care of herself." - Mira
Kuh-! ...Now I'm starting to doubt why I'm so desperate to reign that wild demon samurai in. Maybe her company's big money caused my brain to go haywire.
Whatever the case, we ended up scoring a small fortune for ourselves after we dug up the whole graveyard. Literally..., almost. I'd say around 88% of it. A small mountain of Sol coins, primarily bronzes, silvers, and a few golds hidden here and there had been brought to the light of day (figuratively speaking. The night dome above us is still working).
And that's not all. We also discovered a few more Extra Medals. With an emphasis on "few". In addition to the two Zombie-type Medals we found at the start, we also dug up a pair of "Netherworld" Medals, a single "Serpent" Medal, one "Machine" Medal, and two "Fairy" Medals at the end.
...Strange. Considering the location, it's not strange for us to find Netherworld-related Medals. Speaking of which, the Zombie-Medals are technically also Netherworld-type Medals, but they're restricted to zombie-related Trials and rewards, but I digress.
What I found curious is the Serpent Medal and Machine variant that we unearthed. Come on, people! If you're going to have your Medals follow the scenery, at least stick to that decision to the end!! And why did one of them have to be the most hated (personal bias, because I hate snakes) Medal of them all!? I still think we should throw it to the moon, but Mira said "no", that killjoy...
The Fairy Medals are partly excused when you think about what this place is called. "Tir na Nog". I mean, if it's like the place in the legends from my old world, this island with many fairies around wouldn't be surprising.
Discovering those Fairy Medals made my day. We have three in total now, when you count the one I already own, so we could try a Trial on using that "danger mode". That way, we can cooperate while trying to qualify for new Extra Skills. The Fae are tricky, so I bet there's something there that'll fit my style.
Plus I've seen an example of skills from that category with Mira's "Airgetlám". A lot of examples. Mira has been spamming that skill for defeating the undead remains of Filyn's killing (un-killing? It's the undead after all) spree. Silver is strong against the walking dead, and the Silver Arm has demonstrated that big-time today. Enough to make me worried about the weakness to Gold that we demons are supposed to have...
"Besides, weren't you gushing over those necro-blueprints-thingies you said you found?" - Mira
"The blueprints for the zombie-type undead known as the 'Dead Flesh Golem' is completely unrelated to our current predicament. Let's get moving! We have an extremely rich and dangerous demon to catch!" - Garami
"You had me at 'rich'." - Mira
After that, we hightailed it out of the red graveyard area to the purple lake...spring... The purple district. We went to the purple district.
Unlike the graveyard, there are fewer traces of destruction here, making me wonder if Filyn got this far... Or maybe we're too used to the mess WE made back in the tombs. I don't know. But what I do know is that this place looks fabulous! It's like a water-themed fairyland, with fountains and rivers here and there. It's a lot gloomier than you would expect from a fairyland though, mostly because of the perpetual night sky and the bluish-purple lights. I've always liked those colors for some reason. Sweet.
"Now, where would I be if I was a hyperactive 'little' demoness?" - Mira
"Probably heading toward a hotel to stay for the night." - Garami
"Huh?" - Mira
"It's getting close to bedtime. Every little girl, even those who fake their age, needs to get their beauty nap." - Garami
"What do you mean by..." started Mira as she checked her watch. "Wow. It's late now."
"Yes, yes it is. When you live underground where the sun never shines as long as I have, you get pretty good at keeping track of time." - Garami
"No foolin'. And where did 'hotels' come into the equation? Did you see them on that map of yours?" - Mira
"Not 'my map', if you refer to the one in the mine cart station. I got it from that map," I replied, showing her the huge map in the center of the plaza we had just walked into.
"...How didn't I notice that before now?" - Mira
"You were probably looking for weird stuff, not a commonplace object in a weird area such as this water-themed undead town. Which is pretty weird, now that you think about it." - Garami
"Well, duh! Okay, where are the hotels on this thing... You think Filyn went to the 5-star hotel or the 6-star one?" - Mira
"I'd say the 6-star..., hey is that hotel even a real thing?" - Garami
"Sure it is. It says here: 'Hotel 6-star. Awarded 1 star for its poor hospitality'..., I think. My old Avalonian is a little rusty." - Mira
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..."6-star" is the name of the place? Confusing... And hold that thought!
"What did you say was a little rusty?" - Garami
"You mean, outside this whole town?" - Mira
"...Haha. Good one. But for real, did you say 'Avalonian'?" - Garami
"Yup. The old knights of yore had their writing system. But as you can see, it's obsolete and hard, so they swapped into modern Invidian like the rest of the continent as early as two centuries ago. Or so the Solomar scholars believe. You know, the whole 'human knights vs evil demons' hostility thing they have going?" - Mira
That would certainly make it difficult to check on stuff like historic facts.
"History aside, I don't think the station map was using this language." - Garami
"No big surprise there. They stopped using old Avalonian 2 centuries ago. FYI, the whole thing only lasted for 100 years." - Mira
Meaning that this place was made at least 2 centuries ago. And the guy who made the new map was at most 199 years old. And seeing as not that many people who lived in Velantas city don't know much about this place..., then living on the lake is a relatively new concept even for them. Wow, construction skills must be damn amazing around here if they could produce such a developed city on those 7 towers in just a few hundred years.
"Anywho, which of these star-material hotels have the REAL good stars? Filyn will end up there eventually after figuring that the names misled her." - Garami
"Oh, that's the 5-star hotel. They even have a swimming pool with a water slide!" - Mira
Yeah, good luck trying to swim in that century-old water.
---
...Okay, I didn't expect this.
The hotel that's named "5-star", despite only having four of them, is in tip-top shape! And manned! By ghouls, of course, but still...
"Welcome. How may I serve you today." - Receptionist Ghoul
"Err...is this place open for 'living' people?" - Garami
"Why, yes. Living, dead, and everything in between! We are not picky about our clientele. You two are our second group of guests in 2 centuries! And all on the same day! Wow, we must be in the rush season." - Receptionist Ghoul
"Just curious, but is the first guest a little demon girl carrying a pair of katanas?" - Garami
"Ooohh! Do you know Lady Filyn? She is quite generous. Asked for the biggest suite, and paid triple for extra service! A whole 30.000.000 Avalarian Dubloons!" - Receptionist
Dubloons!? Are these Avalarians supposed to be knights or pirates!?
"Quick question, how much is that in Sols?" - Garami
"3 silver Sols." - Receptionist Ghoul
"......I'll take the same as her, for 2 people. Tell us where Filyn is, and you'll get an extra half silver." - Garami
"Please, this way, madam!" - Receptionist Ghoul
...Yeah, the old Avalarians had some problems.
After the Ghouls stopped bowing to me with their most profound respect and awe, they brought me and Mira to the famous swimming pool... Daaaaaaaaaamn. They sure deserve a 5th star with this place in their repertoire. If I ever find the undead reviewer who graded this place, I'll send him back to the grave where he deserves to stay at.
"That is some water slide-BWHAAA!?" - Mira
Mira?! Why did you suddenly erupt into a massive nosebleed mid-sentence? That's...-BWHAAA!? O-okay..., I'm good. I didn't faint from excessive blood loss like Mira. I doubt healing spells can help her recover from blood loss, and those spell chants are honestly horrible. Why must magic require one to chant the spell before using it? Argh, I want a magic catalyst since last year. That would take care of the chanting for me!! But I digress. As usual...
"Filyn! Are you trying to kill us!?" - Garami
I yelled at the prime suspect of this nosebleeding-to-death crime, Filyn...something-something. I'm not sure anymore what she wants her last name to be. Anywho, Filyn's thrown away that "innocent little girl" (lol) disguise...or whatever she was using to hide that ****ing incredible dynamite body!!
I mean, Mira was already "top-heavy", but Filyn rocks that look even better now. Especially with that super-skimpy swimsuit she got from who knows where..., no, I can't. Trying to explain it any further would break some laws. Must...resist...R-18...thoughts...!!
"Garami~, sweetie~. ...Are you okay? Why're you pinching your nose like that? Not to mention all that blood on your chest. It's more gross than hot, just so you know." - Filyn
"Take a look at yourself and-, BWHAAA!!" - Garami
"Whoops. I forgot to turn off that old [Sultry Demon's Aura] skill. Sorry about that." - Filyn
"...Do I even wanna know what that skill does? Or why you are using it?" - Garami
"First, it makes people [Charm]ed enough for a super-fun night. Second, I use it to soften these undead Ghouls so they won't resist when I try to incorporate them into Nequitas. And have them turn sexier by introducing male-to-female and bust expansion potions to them." - Filyn
"......You mind giving me some of those potions?" - Garami
"No can do. These things are extremely expensive. There's only one person capable of mixing these cocktails of dreams, and they are in hiding in the Avalar region. The shipping cost alone forces me to buy gallons per sending to make it profitable!" - Filyn
TCH!! The gender-bender ain't my thing, but if I could convince Noire into eternal servitude with that other potion... And it would be interesting if those things only work for a limited amount of time. Transformation skills are so hard to obtain. The AP cost for those guys is through the roof!
...Speaking of which, why is Filyn capable of using them? Or maybe those potions aren't as expensive as she says, but she wants to keep a personal stock for herself and only for her? Eh, whatever. Some things are better left unknown. I feel like my SAN points would drop to the bottom of the sea if I got too involved with her.
"Now, what is your plan here?" I asked the sex demoness after that pink aura around her (finally noticed it when my attention wasn't glued to other parts of her) faded away.
"To recruit tons of sexy undead super-babes?" - Filyn
"Not that! What are your plans for traveling through this island like a small berserker?!" - Garami
"Oh, that. The graveyard dudes were too stinky. Ghouls are pretty much humans with lower body temperature, so I could recruit..., oooooh. You meant WHY I went all this way throughout the island. Yeah, that makes much more sense." - Filyn
The big bad understood my intentions after I removed my blindfold to give her the glare of a lifetime while I was busy fanning Mira, who had been helped onto a sunchair by the lifeguard Ghouls. ...I am not going to question why they seem like they fit right in an erotic visual novel. Note to self: Filyn works FAST.
"I was planning on plundering that giant castle for all their valuables." - Filyn
Hmm, yeah, just as we figured.
"Then why're you not pillaging already?" - Garami
"Have you seen those giant walls around the castle? They're just as tough as the ones surrounding the whole island, and I can't cut them. And if there's something more durable than a literal underworld, I'm not going to risk chipping my blade in a futile attempt of brute-forcing my way in." - Filyn
...How does she know how hard an "underworld"... Stop thinking about it, Garami. Show concern for your SAN points. Show. Concern. For. Your. SAN. Points.
"So you're planning on going the legal way in?" - Garami
"Nope! You are. Then I'll gracefully ride on your coattail and get all the jewels for myself." - Filyn
......I sometimes forget, but this girl is a self-proclaimed leader of an evil organization. Not anymore.
"And why shouldn't I try to get those treasures for myself?" - Garami
"As for why you will do that, I will explain tomorrow. But for now, let's head up to my suite for the night." - Filyn
"...Your suite?" - Garami
"It has a king-sized bed, duh~? And bring your swordswoman girlfriend with you." - Filyn
Oh boy.