Ciara's PoV:

Okay, fourteen steps to the west...then seventeen to the north...then fourteen to the east...hey!

"Are we there yeeeeet?" - Lily

"I think the map's broken… Well, it's your turn. Sniff away." - Ciara

"Got it! *Sniff, sniff, sniff*... Excuse me, may I have ten boxes of takoyaki?" - Lily

"Ehm, sure. Just give me a while." - Takoyaki vendor

Keeping Lily's appetite in check. Check. Now we are ready to look for the spring of the vile god. Glad that this ancient map that leads to his temple is more readable than the map of all the good food stands in the city. Things were made better back then...except for the takoyaki. 

"Can I have one?" - Ciara

"That's fine. If I eat ten boxes, then it would be one box too much to be considered an appetizer." - Lily

...Keeping Lily's appetite in check. NOT checked. I am afraid of my potential contracted vile god.

"Move away, move away! The doctor's coming through!"

Sounds like a commotion. Is someone sick?

"Tsk, that must be those guys again..." - Takoyaki vendor

"Who's that?" - Lily

"What, you're visitors? Pains me to say it, but there's been a group of ruffians making trouble lately. The guards have tried to stop them, but they are like shadows! Impossible to get your hands on them." - Takoyaki vendor

"Sounds scary. What are they doing?" - Ciara

"Soliciting, if you want to sugarcoat it. Forcing people into joining their group or cult or whatever they are. trying to gather more members or" - Takoyaki vendor

"Okay, we are past scary and reaching the simply-a-pain area." - Ciara

"You got that right, lady. There's even a bounty on their heads now, but they somehow manage to sneak into the city anyway. Makes you wonder if they're trying to gather more members or they're simply picking a fight." - Takoyaki vendor

We got the boxes with the takoyaki and thanked him for the food and the info.

"Sure we're going to be alright? With those weirdoes running around, I mean." - Lily

"We aren't planning on staying in this town, so the odds are low. Let's gather the other equipment we need... and save those for later!" - Ciara

"No way! If I don't eat them now, I won't have space for the octopus!" - Lily

You're planning to eat it!? Wait, that god is rumored to be a vile god of deviant sexual urges... maybe just a taste is enough? I hope so.

---

Afterward, we went to the cliff by the beach. The vile god's shrine is supposed to be there...

"Who had the gore party?" - Ciara

"What a waste..." - Lily

The beach is filled with the remains of sea monsters. Did they go cannibalistic? Instead of white beaches, it's a field of bloody sand. 

"Looks like they've been killed only recently. The trail leads to the cave. The killer must have wanted to enter it, but the monsters attacked them. Maybe they were the shrine's protectors? There are a lot of octopi here..." - Ciara

"...You are bad with insects, but can stand this stench?" - Lily

Lily is standing further away from the mess while holding her nose. Oh yeah, her sense of smell must be too sensitive to endure the stench of dead octopi. I was taught by the sailors in my hometown after arriving on Terra Sol, so I'm fine though. Except with insects. *Brr*...

"No matter, the culprit must have entered the cave. Meaning, we are not." - Ciara

"We're giving up on the boss-octopus?" - Lily

"No, I just don't want to meet the one who could kill a small army of sea monsters." - Ciara

I moved to an un-bloodied patch of the sea and put my hand into the water. And... Marine Search.

Rings of blue light came from my hand and spread out over the sea like a sonar wave, creating a map in my head as it covered more and more undersea land...

"And there~." - Ciara

"What was that?" - Lily

"Just some [Ocean Magic]." - Ciara

No monsters were detected, and as I suspected, there is an underwater path to the cave. A god from the depths of the sea that does not have a shrine connected to the sea? Not likely. 

"I found a backdoor into the cave. With some luck, we should be able to sneak around this serial killer and reach the shrine." - Ciara

"...In the ocean?" - Lily

"Yes, in the ocean." - Ciara

"Sorry, but I can't go with you." - Lily

"That's sudden. Why not?" - Ciara

I asked her, but I can guess the answer. Her two feathery friends are occupied with pecking on the remains of the monsters, but even then, Lily is mature enough to worry about leaving them alone-

"It takes hours cleaning my hair and fur! Do you know how sticky seawater can be? It was a living hell after I tried swimming in the ocean-, hey, stop that! Figaro, don't peck me! Trip, don't burn me!" - Lily

"...Keep an eye on the cave for me, would you?" - Ciara

It seems she is preoccupied at the moment, so I'll enter the shrine on my own.

After shrinking back into my original hand-sized shape, I dived into the ocean through an air bubble produced through [Ocean Magic]. Smaller passengers mean smaller bubbles~, which means less MP needed to keep the bubble~.

I ventured into the undersea tunnel in my bubble submarine. It is as I deduced from the Marine Search spell, there are no monsters for miles. 

I suspected it's because the beach and its surrounding areas are the nests of the vile god's followers, so other creatures stay clear of this area. It is a question of time before they notice that the guardians are all slaughtered, so I need to be quick with this.

The tunnel was no tourist attraction. Threatening rock-formations that looked like the jaws of sharks, the lack of light, and the remains of fishes and other unlucky creatures that the guardians must have feasted on over the years were littered around the tunnel. This place is as cheerful as an abandoned amusement park. 

Luckily for me, the trip through this gloomy place was uneventful. On the other hand, it means that whoever attacked the guardians was strong enough to wipe them out.

As the Search told me, I found the path to the inside of the cave. A huge room filled with dark-blue crystals illuminated the cave in dim light, revealing a huge shrine/palace-like construct. Fitting.

I exited the bubble and started looking around the place. And there's no one here. No invaders, no vile gods, no tentacle creatures that want to attack me... what a letdown. On so many levels.

Regardless, there is no other way but forward. I flew as silent as I could into the temple. The mighty doors decorated with carvings of horrifying monsters are quite the sight...maybe I should turn around...

Oh? I simply touched the door out of curiosity and it opened up. Did someone forget to lock it?

I peered into the building and saw a large open room, like the hall in a church. However, the walls are decorated with statues of vile creatures, preying on humanoids...in various ways. Only the most classic interpretation of "preying" is lacking. This place's owner must live up to their reputation.

Speaking of the devil...god, I think that is him over there. Let's say our greetings. The worst thing that could happen is something I'm fine with~.

"No, nonono, no! Don't do that! Don't you dare... they did it! F*ck!!" - Vile god?

The god is dressed in an old European gentleman outfit with a black, two-tailed waistcoat. He also wears a bowler hat and spectacles, and he has a black cane resting on the edge of the fountain that he kept on staring and swearing at. 

What's going...ah. The invaders. 

The sight shown on the water surface was a group of strange people advancing through what looks to be the cave tunnels leading to this shrine. They were of various races, but their common points were the prison uniform they were wearing and that they had large, matte-grey crystals lodged into their bodies.

Several horrifying monsters came to intercept the invaders, but when they came too close to the prisoners(?), the monsters stopped in their tracks before they started to bite themselves. They started laughing madly and do other outright crazy actions. Then they were ganged up by the invaders and ripped apart.

Ugh, disgusting. It's like watching a zombie movie where the human side is doomed. Gross...

"F*ck!! If I could take care of those thugs by my own hands!" - Vile god?

"Then why do you not do so?" - Ciara

"Believe me, I would if I...huh?" - Vile god?

The god looked up from the fountain and turned to me-whoa!? 

Th-that spooked me. The vile god's face is like a blob of black water. He got large, yellow eyes (four of them even!), no mouth, and sharp ears that I didn't notice from behind as they were hidden in his equally black hair.

"Who are you!?" - Vile god?

"Ciara Tritonia~. My last name's something I made up when I came to this world." - Ciara

"...A Migrant then. Geez, all these years have made me lose my touch..." - Vile god?

"And you are~?" - Ciara

"Glad you asked!! I am the patron of gentlemen and ladies. The dashing man in black. The one who accepts the love of anyone and anything! I am Baron Oshun! The Lesser God of sexuality and printed art!!" - Baron Oshun

Ooh. That's quite the performance. Wonder where the spotlights, smoke machines, and confetti came from.

"Alas...my hands are bound now. How can I face my followers if I fail here? How can I!? Hooooow!!?" - Baron Oshun

And the super-famous god (lol) went down on his knees, sobbing like a baby.

"Something wrong?" - Ciara

"You bet there is!! My chief god has limited the powers I'm allowed to use!! As if grounding me to this place where no beauties come to visit wasn't bad enough!!" - Baron Oshun

And now he's howling like a wolf towards the ceiling. Quite the expression-rich god.

"This is about those guys shown in that thing, right?" I asked while pointing at the TV fountain. 

"THAT'S JUST IT!! That damn goddess isn't letting go of her grudge from that small accident just because someone is aiming for my life!!" - Baron Oshun

"You sure about that last part?" - Ciara

I know who his boss is after all, so I know he's right there.

"There's no doubt about it. My familiars warned those guys several times before they were affected by that aura of madness, but those crystal-bastards never stopped. It's like a zombie attack." - Baron Oshun

"Ah, I was thinking of the same thing, kinda." - Ciara

"Great minds..., wait, why're you here? And how did you get in?" - Baron Oshun

"The backdoor through the sea was left unguarded." - Ciara

"Ahh, yeah, there are no guards there anymore..." - Baron Oshun

"As for why I am here... Baron Oshun, what would you give if I can break those chains of yours?" - Ciara

"...Mademoiselle, I love a lady with good humor, but come on-" - Baron Oshun

"Ah, by the way, my boss is someone named Garami~. She is the Champion of Alvatria, your chief goddess~." - Ciara

"*Gaaaaaaaasp*" - Baron Oshun

Hm-hm-hmm. You're not escaping from me~. I've planned this for quite a while~. Those prisoners were outside my calculations though. I should ask for the cavalry.

---

Garami's PoV:

I loooove~lazing arooooound~...

*Ring, ring*

Untiiiil~ the Dungeon Terminal riiiings~.

"Hello, this is me. Ciara? Yes...yes......you WHAT?!" - Garami

Come on... Skvalv's not the only unfortunate guy to work underneath that thing? Poor guy...he's proposing to take care of the costs for Ciara's Warlock class? Let's give him a hand~. 

The problem seems to be that madness-aura thing they were talking about. Do I have a guy on the roster that can withstand..., crap. I do. I didn't wanna remember that guy, but there's no one else...right? ...Nope! No one else!

Damn, that guy's the last monster I wanted to name...

---

Lily's PoV:

Barbeque~, barbeque~, grilling till I drop~. Lots of octo-jerks, ready to be fried~. Two pieces to me~, one to Figaro~, three to me~, one to Trip~, four to me~, one to the pelican~, five to me...

"Excuse me, but this is a private barbeque!" - Lily

I shouted to the seabird that had made itself comfortable by the table I had placed on the beach close to the grill. It's been though carrying this stuff around, especially since my Item Bags doesn't cancel out their weight, you know? And more importantly, I hate people trying to steal my food!

The pelican looked at me for a moment, then at the grill. After that, he opened up its beak and pulled out a fish from it. 

"...You want me to fry this?" - Lily

The pelican nodded. Huh, I thought it was only my birds that liked cooked food. 

I placed the fish alongside the octopus on the grill only to see the pelican throwing out tons of seafood from his beak. Even stuff like rocks and old swords was in the pile!

"Wait a sec! How did you do that?!" - Lily

The pile of sea trash is way bigger than the bird itself! And not as slimy as I had feared. 

"...Is this a skill?" I asked the pelican. The bird nodded and proceeded to lift the beach chair I had taken with me and put it into its mouth... how did it do that!? The pelican's just half the size of the chair!

"Oh, you're a Packer Pelican?" - Lily

I remember reading about them in the book of birds in Garami's library. They have something called [Beak Storage] that lets them store stuff in their beaks without being bothered by the items' size and weight. 

"...Hey, if you want more cooked food, how about coming along with me?" - Lily

The pelican made a happy dance after hearing that. Figaro and Trip joined the dance as well. Then it's determined.

"Okay~! Then I'll call you Store from now on~. Since you can store stuff in your beak~." - Lily

I patted the new member of our little group when a huge shadow covered us. Another bird!? Oh, it's Garn. Why's he here!?

The Volcanic Wyvern landed on the beach and something jumped off his back. Did the boss want to come anyway... oh no. Not this guy! Boss, what is it you've been using lately!?

"*Screeeech*!!" - Lesser-Nacha

The crazy spider let out a scream of...something... before it ran into the cave with its swords raised.

Let's give Garn something good to eat before he returns. Poor guy looks paler than a ghost. Having to carry that thing around, I agree with him. *Brr*. What is the boss thinking here? Letting that incarnation of madness loose...

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