The day after Glutton Kitchen was introduced to my as-of-yet-unnamed Dungeon, I found myself being scorched by my mortal enemy: the sun. Yet again...
[Are you doing okay? You look pale.] - Alf
"As if that's anything new," I snarked back to Alf through the Dungeon Terminal, a flat tablet-type computer-like magic item that allows me to keep control of the Dungeon even while away from it. And it also doubles as a communication tool with other Dungeon Terminals. This thing is pretty much a limited tablet, ain't it...
The other members of our expedition are Mira, the Marauder's captain for the day, Revi, and Iron. The last guy is currently looking at his shield with a worried expression. Don't ask me how I know. You get used to guessing the mood of faceless living armor after a while.
[What is new is Iron's shield's lack of durability. Was it not inhabited by a ghost or something? I thought that would improve its durability somehow.] - Alf
"Ectoplasm being good for a shield's defense seems to've been completely bogus. Armveil's going to blow a circuit when he hears our review of his creation." - Garami
We did bring along some emergency repair kits for everyone's equipment, but it seems the damage from the brawl with the Giant Skeleton turned out to be too much for what the simple kits could repair. We need a proper smith to take a look at the shield if we want to save it.
Seriously, what a pain common equipment is. I am glad all of my main gear is indestructible thanks to their "Extra" rarity nature. Even if I can't use any of my armor-type gear now. I did get lucky and obtained some fancy materials from the Underground Dome Quest, but I'm still not satisfied with just this. I want more, and I'm a demon, so I'll keep on going till I get more!!
As for my current hoard of materials, there's this weird lantern with a flame that can be used as a material. The flame, not the lantern itself. Weird, right? It came from the Quest's "Truthseeker" bonus, so it's fair for me to use it. Iron got his share of rewards thanks to that "Solo Fighter" bonus. He handed over the accessory reward (the one for clearing the Quest's basic requirements) to Mira, saying she could make better use of it than him.
[Sure...whatever that is. I will keep the fort while you're away, so try to make a good impression on the people in this village. Being on a good foot with one's neighbors never hurts. I will give you a call if we need more resources over here. Bye.] - Alf
And with that, Alf cut off the video stream. Was it my imagination, or did I hear the ruckus of a certain city girl of a fallen angel who had been left behind? It was still rude of our residential vampire to cut someone off like that. Only I have that privilege.
Just as I was fuming over Alf's behavior, the Marauder came to a halt. Are we there yet?
"Ehh...Garami? What was the name of the place we were going to again?" - Mira
"Palmtree Oasis. Not the most imaginative name, but it's easy to remember." - Garami
"Yeah, I'll have to give them that. But, er...were we supposed to visit a village, or the ruins of one?" - Mira
...Shrugging off my sun-induced doziness, I jumped up to the front of the Marauder where Mira was steering the ship. From there, I could see what had caused Mira to ask all these strange questions. The Palmtree Oasis was there...and so what the remains of countless destroyed houses and tents.
"...Let's go and ask what's happened," I said, pointing at the people running around like ants who had their anthill crushed. This can't be good...
---
Through some luck, we managed to get an audience with the mayor of these sorry remains of a budding civilization and had him explain the situation to us. And let me tell you, this might have been the most ludicrous thing I've heard as of yet.
"A...a giant crystal jackal came through your village and ruined everything???" - Garami
See? Ludicrous.
"Yes," said the mayor with a somber voice. "It came out of nowhere, ran through our prided city, then headed straight into the palm tree forest. Luckily, nobody where hurt by its charge, nor did the forest seem to have taken any great wounds..."
Let me explain: the Palmtree Oasis consists of a giant lake with a stone foundation that keeps the desert sands away. At one end of the lake is where the village has been built, while the other side is so filled with palm trees and tropical flora that it can safely be called a "forest". The source of the lake is hidden somewhere inside this forest, but nobody has managed to find it even today.
"...Excuse me if I'm sounding silly, but did that jackal have a golden mantis lamia friend?" - Garami
"Why, you're right. It does sound silly." - Mayor
Figures.
"Sir Mayor, please forgive my Guild Master. She had a bad experience recently with this silly-sounding monster. In this case, we all have had our problems with outrageous creatures." - Mira
"Please, Sir Mayor was my father. Call me Tomtom, oh young child of the spirits." - Mayor Tomtom
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It was a stroke of luck that Mira volunteered (read: forced herself) for this trip. The mayor is a Gnome, an Earth-type spirit that is practically a humanoid. He's short as a Dwarf, but not as wide and muscular, even if they're competing for the biggest beard reward. Mira, as a Sprite (read: human/spirit hybrid), has some sort of connection with the mayor through their species. Maybe the old Gnome's grandfather-class age has made him soft on us young people.
"...Ridiculousness aside, I am sorry to hear about your village..., Mayor Tomtom." - Garami
"Hmm, that will have to do. And it is nothing that your Guild has to feel bad about. it was just a stroke of bad luck from the god of the desert." - Mayor Tomtom
The god of the desert? Is there something like that too? Oh, hold on. Skvalv was practically the god of Velantas, so maybe regional gods are a thing? That weird goddess who made me her Apostle seems to be more of a concept-focused deity. As for the Ultimate Gods and Goddesses, I don't even wanna think about them. My brain will melt from the overload and run out from my nose.
"...Do you need...help?" asked Revi, looking up from her glass of water that she'd been given by the Mayor's secretary.
"Urgh, it hurts my pride as an adult to request this from such young children...but yes. We are indeed in dire need of a helping hand. We'd accept even the help from a scorpion at this point." - Mayor Tomtom
"Mayor Tomtom, that's just going to hurt you, so don't accept any pincers. They'll just pinch and sting you." - Mira
"...True. Thank you, child of the spirits." - Mayor Tomtom
"*Cough*, as every adventurer with some degree of dignity, we are duty-bound by the Union's rules to not accept any quests without the proper payment." - Garami
"Ah, reality is a cruel mistress. But do not worry. We still have our share of gold and silver if that is your price." - Mayor Tomtom
"Actually..." I started, looking at Iron who was still carrying his shield, "We came here looking for a blacksmith..."
"I see," said the Mayor while examining the large scar on the shield's surface. "The Crafters should be nearly done reorganizing their work tools. Someone should have the time to look at your equipment."
"...Thank you, Mayor Tomtom." - Iron
Iron stood up and bowed to the short gnome. The Mayor replied with a laugh and said "No worries, young one of the living dead. Say, do you mind if I borrow this strong young fellow for a few days?" The latter half was aimed at me.
"What do you need him for?" - Garami
"To help rebuild our proud city, of course! We need every muscle we can find, even if we have to rent them from Guilds or Unions!" - Mayor Tomtom
"...So he says. You're getting recommended, Iron." - Garami
"...But I..., I have no talents outside of combat..." - Iron
Wow! Where did this tidal wave of negativity come from? Don't say it, I already know. Among us, only Iron is missing classes that could give him a unique role outside of combat. Sure, he has [Pathfinder], but compared to my scouting abilities, he's not all that hot.
Even so, I didn't imagine he was so conscious of the subject. So this is the real reason why he's been so down lately? Not that he failed to clear the Extra Quest, or that his tool of trade got crushed by that Giant Skeleton, but because of his lack of talents in fields other than combat? No, it might be a combination of them all.
"Hey, Iron? If you're that sad about not being of any help...how about trying to give Mayor Tomtom a hand?" - Garami
"...Should I?" - Iron
"Go for broke. Mira, if you're free, go and give the guy a hand." - Garami
"So now I've got to help turn a living armor into a proper member of society... Eh, why not?" - Mira
"...If you say so..." - Iron
"And that's that, Mayor. You won't mind having two rental knights on your team?" - Garami
"Ohohoho~. By all means~. If you have more hidden in your sleeve, please take them out. Our Palmtree City may be down on its knees right now, but we have enough funding to hire a whole battalion of these great knights if we could!" - Mayor Tomtom
That many?! Is living in the desert this profitable?
"We might not have any more knights, but we have a little dragon witch here," said Mira while lifting Revi out of her seat, despite the dragon girl's confusion.
"So true~! Our cute Revi here is not only a talented magician with a draconic lineage, she's even capable of feeding an army on her own~-" - Garami
"Hmm? Hmm!? HMMM!??" - Revi
"She is a cook? Great, we need more of those too. The Palmtree Forest has many blessings we can take from, but alas, most of our men are muscleheads who cannot cook an egg even if their lives depended on it. In short, our temporary soup kitchens have too many mouths to feed and not enough hands to cook!" - Mayor Tomtom
"In that case, mind hiring our cute little prodigy? She would need some training to get used to the local dishes..." - Garami
"Oho~." said the Mayor while stroking his beard. So much for keeping the cat in the bag. He's undoubtedly caught on that improving Revi's cooking skills is our goal here.
"Well, why not? Our chefs will be more than happy about teaching such a cute little angel their tricks of trade." - Mayor Tomtom
"Ehh...ehh...??" - Revi
Revi looked up at me with tears in the corner of her eyes. She's still not completely used to these rapid developments. How cute.
"Relax. Just take one thing at a time. I'll come and look for you later to see how you're doing." - Garami
"...If you say so..." - Revi
These Tir na Nog-ians. Their reactions are identical at a microscopic level.
---
The day after:
"We're going, boss-lady. Keep the ship clean for us~." - Mira
"Who am I? Your wife?" - Garami
I rubbed sleep out of my eyes while giving my complaints to Mira as she and the other two went off to work... Now I really feel like a housewife. Geez...
While stretching, I started to ponder what to do myself. I didn't recommend myself to the village's workforce because it was a pain..., I mean, because somebody had to be free so they could react in case something crazy happened back at the Dungeon. Yeah, let's go with that.
Anyway, what to do? No inns were survived when the rumored jackal passed by the town, so we were forced to camp on the Marauder last night. Maybe I should keep the place clean and tidy for when the three return? ...Get those housewife ideas out of your head, Garami!!
WHATEVER!! Since there's nothing else to do, I'll go and gather some info about the locals. If I'm lucky(?), I could even obtain some clues about the second group that had camped in the underground dome...
*Cla-cla-clank*...
That idiot Iron. He forgot to take his shield with him. Then again, there are few uses for a shield if you're going to help rebuild some houses, so he could have left it behind deliberately.
Sweet. Let's use this piece of scrap metal as an excuse to get out and stretch my legs. The mayor mentioned that the village's Crafters had their gear up and running again. Some should have the time to fix this thing.
Ah, as expected, indestructible Extra-rarity items are indeed the best. No need to worry about durability or having to send it to the smith every other time. Things would have been better if we had a blacksmith on the team, but recruiting someone at the moment would be difficult. Mostly because of something that starts with a "D" and ends with "ungeon".
Speaking of which, I should find a weaving-type facility to add to the Dungeon ASAP so I can refit my outfit soon. I'm tired of having to dress like a desert-traveling bandit all the time. This outfit is so not my style. It's too baggy...