Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

"Are anyone else starting to get seasick..., or better said, simply bored?" - Garami

"Do as the lazy bum and take a nap." - Mira

"Zzzzzz..." - Alf

After we returned to town, informed the local authorities about the bad waters, AND shacked the fiend shopkeeper at the rental shop for info about Blot, we took the first ship to the sus guy's location: the Plain Island. However...

"Why can't we just take my boat there?" I asked while slowly dying from the ferry's slowness. Stupid laws that prevent non-authorized vessels from making port at that stupid island...

"There's nothing we can do. Plain Island is the biggest contributor of farm goods in the country." - Mira

No wonder. Over 90% of this "country" is made outta lake water!

"Speaking of the bum, you think he's reliable?" - Garami

"For battle purposes, or for trusting in?" - Mira

"Both." - Garami

"We did get a taste of his combat abilities at the fishing spot, so there are no worries there. Too bad Alf can't make armors made out of ice as I first suggested." - Mira

Those things would be too cold to wear! Let's be happy he can make walls that we can hide behind.

"As for his trustworthiness... Rumors have it that he and Blot know each other from before either arrived in this country." - Mira

So they're both foreigners. Mira is one too, so it's not that weird, but for those two to know about each other is a twist.

"This is only hearsay again, but Alf was supposedly accused of some accident he had nothing to do with, then Blot stormed in and cleared the misunderstanding." - Mira

"Why did he do that? And why did people point fingers at Alf?" - Garami

"No clue about that accident. I couldn't find out what it was all about. Anyway, Alf left his hometown after that incident and arrived at Velantas. And he only met with Blot just recently as the latter arrived at Velantas again. Some people saw them celebrating their reunion at a pub around the time we met." - Mira

Hmm, so Alf and Blot are just acquaintances. I'll keep an eye open on Ice Boy anyway. He may be working for Blot without letting others know about it. Those rumors could be a hoax for all we know.

"We will soon arrive at Plain Island. Plain Island. Take care not to leave any belongings. We will soon-" - Announcer

Oh, we're finally there.

"Zzz-! Hmm?" - Alf

"Get your stuff ready. We're disembarking." - Mira

Alf nodded along as he sleepily picked up his bag...and that scary-looking weapon of his. It's a halberd, but with a hammer acting as a replacement for the hook part. It looks like it can cleave, stab, and smash with ease. And the axe blade looks way bigger than normal. Is that a customized weapon? Alf sure has some unique taste in weaponry.

We got off the ferry and were introduced to Plain Island.........which does not live up to its name!!

"Wow!" - Mira

"...Am I still sleeping?" - Alf

Sorry, Alf, but you're wide awake!

Plain Island is a huge island filled with grass plains and wheat fields...plus fields for whatever else they're farming here. The animals thrive on the grass plains while the fields give the people of Velantas their green needs.

HOWEVER! Now there are tons of mechanical constructs all over the place! ...Or not. They seem to be made outta wood, so they're not your typical machines, nor do they seem to run on electricity. I guess they're your woodland version of a steam-punk environment?

The wooden machinery seems to be using gear power and windmills to take produce, water, and any other kind of goods around the island. It's a clockwork made outta wood and wind. There are even moving walkways here for tourists and workers. Speaking of which...

"Excuse me." - Garami

"What's up, lady? You new here?" - Worker A

Some of the guys looked like they were working on the wooden mechanics, so I gave them a shout. Let's ignore the spirit woman who's crying for herself mumbling "they grow up so fast" in the background. I was just uncomfortable with people back then! I grew up in a monster-infested cave system, for Pete's sake!

"Yes. Can you tell me more about this here?" I asked as I pointed at the machinery.

"These are the results of a years-long delayed project that the major finally started on. They got their hands on lots of cheap wood recently from some outsider company." - Worker

"Outsiders?" - Garami

"Yup. They go by some strange name. I think it was...Nequitas! That's them." - Worker

Bingo. We've found Blot.

"That sure is a lot of wood. Where did they find it?" asked Alf as he joined the conversation.

"Probably from those 'instant forests' that have been appearing lately. Those Nequitas-fellows says they're a bodyguard company, but I'd mistaken them for lumberjacks if they hadn't said anything." - Worker

Instant forests?

---

"So, what are your thoughts?" - Garami

After some info-gathering, that did not give us anything about where Blot was, I might add, we gathered at a pub aimed at travelers visiting the island to pool our finds.

"There is no doubt about it. The Nequitas company on this island is the same as the one Blot is from." - Alf

"I second that statement. And I have some dirt on those forests they were talking about." - Mira

Turns out that the rumored "instant forests" are a bunch of plant-type monsters that drain nutrients from the ground to increase their numbers manyfold.

Well, it had to be something like that. Materials created from skills, such as Alf's ice walls, disappear after a while. And the wood used for all of this island's constructs does not look like they're disappearing soon.

"And people aren't angry that all the new wood materials are killing parts of their land?" - Garami

"That's the thing. Despite the number of trees cut down, the land itself does not seem to have taken any damage." - Mira

"Huh? Then how are those invasive species keeping up their numbers?" - Garami

"Invasive species?" - Alf

"Was I wrong? It sounded like those trees were new to the island, so I thought they were imported." - Garami

"...By Blot?" - Alf

"No clue." - Garami

"And whatever are or wherever they come from, there is one thing that's safe to bet on: those trees are probably influenced by something similar to what allowed the rapid growth of the sealife..., the lake life in Alf's secret fishing spot." - Mira

Yeah. A bunch of fish and plants suddenly growing at record speed, plus a bunch of plants doing the same? And Blot is conveniently connected to both places? If someone came and told me it's a coincidence, then they deserve a knuckle sandwich.

"And that would make people want to start investigating those plant monsters since it could lead us to Blot...is something that sounds too good to be true." - Garami

"Then this is all a trap of Blot's?" - Mira

"...I doubt that. Blot is not the kind willing to make enemies of random people for no good reason." - Alf

"We don't have anything like that, right?" - Garami

"How could we when we barely know the guy? And hunting down those plant monsters sounds like a good way to earn money." - Mira

That's music to my ears. Plus it would be interesting to see if my necromancy skills could work on the "corpse" of plant monsters.

"Alright, then we're putting our trust in Blot's goodwill and start looking into these plant monsters." - Garami

"Yes, ma'am!" - Alf

"...Where did that come from?" - Mira

"Sorry, old habit..." - Alf

Now that we had our goal planned, we left the store and started to find out how to join the lumberjacks in their quest for hunting down the instant forests. That's the fastest way to solve the mystery after all.

"...What in the..." - Alf

Alf suddenly paused and looked at something across the road, at the plains dedicated to some cow-like creatures (they got 6 horns).

"What's up?" - Garami

"No, isn't that over there a..." - Alf

He found Blot!? Already? That's..., I was wrong. It's far from that devil-minded Blot. It's a small girl with a halo and white wings on her back...

"NOW HOLD ON! A real angel!?" - Garami

"The correct term is 'Flugel', I think." - Alf

Wow, that's a first. Sure, I'm a demon and all, one that has a contract-like something with a self-proclaimed evil goddess, but seeing a real angel is a complete fantasy winner. The little girl can't be any older than 5, and she's so happy running around in the plains filled with cow monsters with no guardians at her side...

"Hey, isn't that bad?" - Garami

"I was thinking the same thing. Should we try to look for her parents?" - Alf

I think they would be quite visible if they were nearby. Angel girl = angel parents after all-

"*MOOOOOO*!!" - Cow monster

Aw, come on! What's up with that timing!? Suddenly, the cow monsters started to panic in the field. Did we jinx ourselves to this somehow?

"We have to save her!" said Alf as he jumped over the fence-, hey! That idiot, he's getting himself killed!

I was hot on Alf's tail. The cow monsters ran around as if blind, but one of them tried to tackle me with their (many) horns. I dodged them and threw a web bomb at its face. Another came at me, so I jumped over it...and saw that the first one stood as rooted at the place. Hmm?

Whatever. Priority #1 is the little girl, then the big idiot.

"Help!" - Angel girl

"Ice Wall!!" - Alf

Phew, too close. Alf managed to reach the girl and put up some solid cold between them and a cow that was clearly about to go past the line of social distance.

"Tally-ho!" - Garami

Having an idea, I jumped on one of the cows and started to throw web bombs at their faces. The bovines hit calmed down on the spot, just like the first one. Nice~. Maybe I should consider a career as a ranger.

I jumped on a calmed-down cow's back and started to give an aerial serving of web bombs at all bovines I could see. I'm also getting to use [Magic Eye of Blindess]. It's perfect for this kinda job! But even if the blinded cows aren't moving, that doesn't stop the others from crashing into us, so I'm forced to jump from cow to cow as I kept the web delivery going.

Soon, around 20 minutes after the rampage started, all the cows either had webs plastered on their faces, had big eyes that didn't reflect any light, or had collapsed face-down on the ground after a solid collision with Alf's Ice Wall. I also saw him sending spheres made of ice at the cows, using the hammer part of his weapon as a golf club. That's a clever usage of one's custom weapon.

"One more time!" - Angel girl

"No, we are not. Come, we need to find your parents." - Alf

Alf canceled the still-active ice walls as he guided the little girl out from the field. He looks a little hagged. Those things must drain a lot of MP.

"Good work there. Even if you were just acting as a fortress." - Garami

"Excuse me for not being able to jump around with backflips and somersaults while throwing goo at cows!" - Alf

"Too much?" - Garami

"A little!" - Alf

Hey, real combat is the best way to train skills. After all...

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You have acquired the title: [Light Technique User].

Acquired skill: [Lesser Light Element Lv.1].

Acquired skill: [Light Resistance Lv.1].

Calming down that herd was just what the doctor ordered to elevate [Magic Eyes of Blinding] to Lv.10! And with it, the 2nd Technique User title! All I need now is to continue juggling around Poison Balls until its level reaches 10. Man, I wanna advance~.

Some of the local guards who had a late start joining the fun helped us out of the field while thanking Alf and me for our fast contribution to resolving the situation without anyone getting harmed. And after we got out, we found...

"Nya-hahaha~! Good work out there. I knew you could do it!" - Mira

We found Mira, dragging around a bag of money...and a cow, for some reason. From what I can snap up from the grumbling of the non-combatant people around her, it seems she won the cash (and the cow) from betting on our safe returns. It feels nice that she believes we can handle ourselves, but seriously...