I'm awake. I slept well, I'm in a good mood. Getting dressed didn't seem so bad this evening. I'd say, I'm beginning to get good at this. It's been a long time since I first reincarnated into this world. It's been a hot minute. I feel like I've been painstakingly busy the entire time, but I've also gotten some good time to relax at a few points. I've met a ton of people, and for the most part; they've been pretty good people, man. Making my way to the Foyer, I found that breakfast had been served. Entering the Dining Hall, greeting everyone and preparing myself a serving of Fish; I made my way to my seat. While eating my Fish, I began to recall my past life.
In my past life, I was a pretty big movie junkie. Really, anything mass media and I'd be all over it. The latest gossip, the newest fashion trends, the biggest hit movie of the year, that awesome new music video, that up and coming vlogger, or even the number one anime of the season. I'd be invested. Underrated stuff is great, I liked it too... But I REALLY liked it when that underrated stuff stopped being underrated. I also enjoyed the classics, but I feel somewhat saddened to think that I'll probably never get to enjoy something new from that era ever again. I'm missing out on all of the new things that keep coming out without me being there to see them! I also enjoyed hitting up a good costume party every now and again, but there's absolutely no shortage of that around here.
When I was growing up, I enjoyed spending my spare time at the local arcade or going off and playing with the neighborhood kids. Sometimes, I would sit in front of the television and catch glimpses of movies, shows, music videos, and anime. Real wholesome stuff. As time went on, video games made their way further into homes of the common everyday people; and I eventually had attained a computer. I no longer needed to pay every time that I wanted play, and that's how I actually ended up getting into video games. Over time, streaming services came around and that's when I got into vloggers, further into anime, and further into music videos for that matter. I suppose that I can still go back and try some of that again. There's 6 Arcade games in Halloween Town, but they're all unique and I've never tried them before. I never even heard of them, so I'm assuming that they're special. I should play them some time. Try em out and stuff.
Later on in life, I worked as a party planner. Weddings, mostly. Sometimes, I would be asked to help coordinate something more fun, like a concert... But it was never involving any of the artists that I frequented. It was a great job, but I feel like I never got the chance to experience the true meaning to concert planning. You need to be excited about it. You need to have a connection with whoever's performing. I feel like I've finally gotten a chance to experience just a taste of that in this life, so I'm pretty happy. Even then, I really didn't do much to actually help plan the concert… But I still gave the opening speech, so that's something? I don't know. I might need to do something more if I hope to truly feel content with the experience.
On my way into becoming a party planner, I worked in clothing retail. It was okay. I did alright. I learned a decent bit about clothes, and that's when I started getting into fashion. I really had almost no interest in it beforehand, if I'm being frank. I genuinely just wanted the employee discount at the time, so that I could get a suit whenever I needed one. They sold nice clothes, they were kind of expensive compared to the wages; but I was able to score some really good prices whenever I aimed at discounts. Originally, I needed to purchase the clothes in order to work in a 'uniform', and due to the fact that I already wanted a suit just in case... But eventually, I just started buying more for fun. I never really knew what I was going to use my overly nice clothing for, but they looked sleek; and I looked good wearing them. There weren't a lot of shoppers coming in that actually had my build, so my sizes often went on clearance; making me want them even more. It was meant to be. I was a pretty slim build in my past life. I ate fine, I was kind of active... But I never really worked out on purpose.
I think that might be why I was slim. I don't really know. I enjoyed going to costume parties in my spare time, mainly around the month of October. At one point, I had gone to so many of them… That one of the friends I had made at one and encountered at a few others asked if I could help her with hosting her own. Her name was Anna. She was afraid that she would go all out, and do too much for the party to actually be enjoyable; or that she wouldn't do enough, causing it to be boring. I felt somewhat strange being asked, but I went along with it. She was a pretty cute girl, and besides; I had tons of contacts on my phone at that point whom I had met from previous costume parties. If it went bad, I could just send out a few texts and potentially bring in a ton of new, awesome people to help liven up the party. Actually, I ended up doing that very thing just because.
I spent a couple weeks preparing that party with her. We went out to several different stores and even searched online to buy props to help decorate. We spent time watching Halloween Movies for ideas, and even went online trying to make a great playlist of songs for the party. It was a great time, we ended up becoming pretty good friends after that; and continued on to host the party together annually for 7 upcoming years. Every year, we would go back to our Halloween Movie playlist; and rewatched the entire thing from start to finish. It was like a two day marathon sleepover, we both needed to take time off work to complete it. Every year, the playlist got longer as new movies came out; it was great. Anna was my Halloween bestie.
At some point in time, we both decided that we wanted to take it a step further and began planning other themes of parties as well. Halloween always held a special place in our hearts though. It was where it all began. We started holding all kinds of parties, and eventually; we were offered to be paid for our work with helping to plan a wedding. It was pretty tough step up, as there were a lot of different things that needed to come together in order to make it happen; but we took the job anyways. After successfully planning our first wedding, we ended being asked to help plan another one for one of the couples who had been attending that very wedding. Over time, we started getting requests by phone from people who had previously attended the weddings until finally we got a gig for an actual concert. We became genuine party planners, simply because we enjoyed doing so.
The two of us worked as a duo literally until the day that I died. I don't remember what happened! I wonder how Anna is doing? I miss her terribly, but I doubt that my Space Magic is at the point where I can steal her or even go see her for that matter. I want her to know that I'm fine, but I lack the capabilities to do so. I doubt anyone around here knows about traveling worlds. It's out of my depths right now. It would be a dream come true if Anna could join me in planning even just one more party. Thinking such things, tears began to roll from my eyes as I ate my Fish. No one else dared to question the drops as they steadily accumulated on my side of the table. They had varying expressions, while some didn't notice; others pretended not to. I found it somewhat comical. After finishing my meal, I made my way to the waterfall, before I cancelled and re-cast my [Hallowed Gate]. Calling on Fred and Daphne (Tier 2 Scarecrows), I asked them to guard this gate and inform me should any non Fish monsters or Meglacommons enter or begin to attack it... Or themselves, for that matter. I made sure to thank them for their work.
My tears stopped falling when I was flying to the waterfall. There's something about flying fast which dries out your eyes. Making my way back to the Throne Room by Hallowed Gate combos, I began to create more pieces of clothes while aiming for level 10. Entering the Dining Hall once more, I decided that it was time for us to check back up on the Lost Kingdom populations. We just culled half of their alleged population, so we need to see if they're still at the correct census ratios. We have individuals now who can safely count out the correct populations. I don't think I can include the Bird races into the culling, or the Slime monsters simply due to how difficult they are to count. The Birds of the Lost Kingdom behave differently than the Birds of the Demon Kingdom. The Demon Kingdom Birds roamed in flocks and would attempt at facing enemies that way, while the Lost Kingdom Birds act more as if they're hiding from each other. The prairie slimes are all hiding in the tall grass, but they also jump around a lot making it difficult to even ascertain their numbers. I was thinking about such things before I began to make my announcement.
"Alright everyone, I believe that it's time. I'm aware that not all of us are currently present, so I ask that you each take the time to forward this message along to any Tier 3 or above individual within our domain. Recently, we culled half of what we acknowledged to make up the surface races in the Lost Kingdom. It is time for us to step back out into the Lost Kingdom and launch another mass scale investigation to ascertain the current populaces of those very races. This time, I would also like to determine the number of swampland Slime monsters; though it might be admittedly too difficult to determine the prairie Slime monsters due to their movements… So, we will continue to ignore them wholeheartedly. The birds of the Lost Kingdom are once again off limits to the census due to them being irrelevant to the aforementioned ecosystems and also being too difficult to count. I believe that the birds do not truly impact any of the other races due to their continued failures of Evolution and their choice to fight amidst themselves rather than the land roaming monsters. This time, due to our new arrivals; I would like to carry out the census differently. I would like to assign White Beef Lady and Wilson the Wolfenrine to conducting the census on the Wolves. I would like Vana and Hugo (male Flutterfairy) to conduct the census for the Caterpillars and the Butterflies. I would like Ben (Bear) to conduct the census on the Bears. I want Rustle (Rabbit) to handle counting the Rabbits, and Rita (Rifaleesi) to handle counting the Rifa races. I want Lora and Boris (Lamias) to handle counting the Snake races. Please inform Lillian (Leshi) and Kendra (Kitsune) to handle counting their appropriate races of Deer and Fox. If you are incapable of discerning the Tiers to your brethren, please request help from either Goblin Funk, or Cloaked Monk. I would like Cyclozard to handle trying to count the swampland Slime monsters. With your paralysis, and their choices to live separately... You may find it simply a trivial matter. Everyone else, I would like your help with remembering the past numbers of every race before the culling. I genuinely don't remember, so please talk amidst yourselves to help pinpoint the most accurate past counts that you can." [Nero] suddenly proclaimed after standing near the doorway into the Dining Hall for around a minute.
"We have no real tasks this time?" [Budget Dragon] asked while tilting his head.
"Correct." [Nero] replied bluntly to which Cetilla and Wendel, the Weeping Angel, became visibly content.
"Not for this matter, anyways..." [Nero] added before continuing to which Cetilla and Wendel both groaned.
"I would like to make a trip to the Human Kingdom. I am seeking a fruit called an apple. I believe that Human Merchants may sell them, and so I would like for Cetilla, Rei, Milton, and Budget Dragon to help me with finding them. In the meantime, I would also like for Con (Tier 2 Crow), Connor (Tier 3 Crow), Benji (Tier 5 Bat), Vivian (Tier 2 Bat), Edward (Tier 2 Bat) and Robert (Tier 1 Bat) to go and explore while helping the Banshee locate her previous home... The Forsaken Isles. She knows of the general direction, but not the exact location." [Nero] declared. To which, everyone involved seemed appeased... Though most Clansmen mentioned weren't actually present to hear their instructions.
Well, they're going along with it. I suppose it's not so bad to ask others to do things for me every once in a while. I shouldn't make a habit of it, but I actually already made a habit of asking my Clansmen to do things for me. I don't ask them things very often though, so maybe it's still fine? I say it's for me, but it's genuinely for them. I want to get apples in order to help feed the poor Goblin Villagers and even potentially other nearby starving monsters. Doing this will also help me attain Goblin Hooch more quickly, resulting in potentially more festivals for me to host... More fun for them. I want to find the Forsaken Isles because they're currently a lost cause and in desperate need of saving. If the Crabs die off there, causing all of the Banshees and Phantasms to set off in random directions at the same time... It might just turn into a pandemic reaching everywhere. I wonder what the Skeletons would even do in that case? Well, I should still go ahead and try to save them all. The Crabs might be hopeless, though. They might have too low of a Tier to even survive adequately in the Ocean should they attempt to flee. I also want to help ensure that each race continues on with at least two powerful individuals to lead them into the future after I'm dead and gone. I intend to do the same thing for every single one of their races, so I should definitely check back in on the Chasms again soon as well. It truly is a shame that the Birds and Slimes are so troublesome.
I was thinking such things as I informed Cetilla, Rei, and Milton, that we would be acting in secret within the Human Kingdom. In order to fulfill that goal, we will be having Rei and Milton dress up in costumes which hide their fur completely. Yes. Catkin might not actually be very welcome within the Human Kingdom. Cetilla and I can just wear pompous hats to hide our ears. Be that as it may, Rei and Milton both appear to be more Cat than Human. We need to make sure that they won't be recognized, but I also don't want to force them into staying here considering they probably would like to at least get a glimpse of the Human Kingdom. Milton technically already has a costume which completely hides his fur, as he's dressed up as an astronaut. We should probably get him some kind of mask to go on underneath his helmet though. Rei is another story. Even with her alien costume, she's still very clearly a Cat. Even if she succeeded in becoming an alien, she might still not be very welcome. I guess none of us will be.
If only Disguise actually worked. Honestly, we're still going to be conspicuous no matter what we try... We can't just ditch the Disguise clothes due to them being our best form of armor and us being in potentially enemy territory. We can't just throw cheap Goblin Villager cloaks on over top of us, nor can we arrive in regular adventurer apparel. Either way, we're going to be conspicuous. This way just so happens to let us be the most eye catching that we can potentially be. If you're going to be noticed, you might as well grab all of the attention that you can while you're at it.
We'll be posing as wealthy Adventurers who just got back from the Beastkin Kingdom while purchasing fine clothing from the most high end establishment in Reygid. Yosh! We'll say that Rei is just one of our servants, and so we purchased the lowest grade of clothing for her. It will showcase how our clothes can be weak and still finely made. We'll be a walking advertisement for Clive's establishment, potentially increasing sales for the Cat's Costumery Clothing Brand from the Human Kingdom. If we can only suckle 12 Gold Coins from Reygid monthly, we just need to branch out and find more customers. It would be an absolute pain to establish business relations for two separate stores, so why not just try and increase traction for the one store? It's worth a try.
Now, when we go to find apples; we can hit two birds with one stone. I actually don't hurt the birds though, only land animals; thanks. I'm just not that kind of than*s, I suppose. I don't carry a Gauntlet, I carry a Lantern and a Broom; Sir. Rei and Milton weren't particularly enthused about the idea, but they understand the purpose in doing it. Apparently, Rei has actually already been to the Human Kingdom once before on a Quest. She was treated horribly. Yikes. I guess I was right to jump to conclusions of us being unwelcome. We'll just need to be quick about getting our work done there and leave before we get wrapped up in anything troublesome. It's a plan!
After explaining the situation to everyone, I asked Rei and Milton to go search for suitable pieces to help them hide their race among the pile currently in the Throne Room. I spent my time with Cetilla, Goddin Village Neith Sama, Goblin Funk, Wendel (Weeping Angel), Mr and Mrs Scarecrow, and Conrad (Crowli) by the fire. The four Bandsmen were practicing some of their original songs. Mr and Mrs Scarecrow were handling percussion by themselves, so the songs sounded unique; almost as if they were simplified versions. The four of us quietly watched together as they performed. It was a nice moment that we shared. Milton returned shortly after with two bandanas that he intended to cover his face with while he wore his helmet on over top.
After Rei returned, I found that she had decided upon a ghost outfit... Really? That's the best that you can do?! She's wearing bright red rubber boots which show from beneath the sheets. Her ears. They show beneath the sheets! HEY!
"Boo." [Rei] said flatly.
"Denied." [Nero] shot back equally as flat.
"Do I need to go?" [Rei] shot again with the same tone.
"Do you want to?" [Nero] shot again, effortlessly.
"...Not really." [Rei] shot back after spending three seconds to reload her vocal gun.
"Because Humans?" [Nero] continued to fire without needing to reload due to his vocal gun having 6 rounds.
"Yes because Humans." [Rei] shot again with the same tone.
"What about Cetilla?" [Nero] relentlessly fired yet again, knowing full well that Rei will need to reload a second time.
"...Cetilla is strong." [Rei] continued her defense after spending another three seconds to reload her vocal gun.
"I'm stronger." [Nero] continued to barrage the poor owner of the two round vocal shotgun without mercy.
"So what?" [Rei] fired again, unwilling to give in to the sheer magnitude of Nero's 6 round vocal pistol.
"Who will stop me, if not you?" [Nero] let off his final shot, without even bothering to attempt to reload; for he knew… He knew that he had finally landed the killing blow to his enemy. Just as he thought, proving him right... Rei fell to the ground and continued on to be dragged all the way back into the Throne Room by a nervous Goblin Funk.
Several minutes later, Rei appeared once more while wearing a full on inflatable sumo wrestling suit mixed with a rubber horse mask. That's more like it! That's the spirit! And like that, we went off to the Treasure Room and began to count out Silver Coins. Currently, I have 450 Silver Coins. I'll be needing 150 of them for the next shipment, leaving me with 300 to spare. We put 50 into one Candy bucket, left 150 in the chest, and then divided the additional 250 coins into 3 separate buckets. Currently, I have 25 buckets of Candy, with one only three quarters full. I had an additional 12 empty buckets, leaving me with only 8 remaining now that I've filled my Coins into them. I can't afford to go off losing any more buckets. We need to bring them all back after. Finding Budget Dragon, we set off.
We're currently travelling to Reygid. We aren't taking measures involving Hallowed Gates due to my gate currently being used as a Fishing Net. Rei is riding on Budget Dragon out of account for Milton's injury. It's probably a rough ride to venture long distances on Budget Dragon's back, so that's how it is. Milton and Cetilla are both on my Broom; and I'm in my smallest Cat form. Yep. I needed to kick everyone else from my Treasure Room to allot me time to hide my clothes under my blankets earlier as I changed. It couldn't be helped. I'm needed in this form in order to help us travel optimally. Due to this, Cetilla is going to be the one posing as the wealthy Adventurer. It's not far from the truth. We prepared an additional bandana specifically for me. We intend to cover my eyes and say that even pets can wear accessories.
Arriving in Reygid was uneventful, and honestly didn't take very long. I needed to have Conrad (Crowli) carry Rei and Budget Dragon over the wall separating the Kingdoms though. We made our way to the Vellisroi Estate easily, and ended up needing to explain to Roy that I'm not actually a Catkin. I'm just a needlessly special Cat who can effortlessly talk in any form, has glowing orange flame eyes, and can make use of extremely rare and unique forms of magic. That's all. I was considerably surprised to find that a Goblin Chief had [Appraisal] while a noble blooded Catkin did not. Moving along~ We secured the rental carriage and were able to keep hold of our bucket.
We ended up needing Crowli's help again to carry the actual carriage over the wall. He laughed it off as if it were no problem, but I feel as though he flew relatively slowly. 20 AGI at max. It was probably a challenge to lift such a heavy object with all of us still inside. All of us except Budget Dragon, anyways. Budget Dragon was being lifted by Crowli's other arm. Yeah. He did it with one arm for each. He's a real man... By far, the most valuable player on the team these nights. The star of my show.
When we arrived at the Human Kingdom border and tied the bandana over my eyes, I remembered that this territory is also bordered with a wall. After testing the bandana, we found that I can actually slightly see through the bandana. With the bandana tied on my eyes, I can actually now see the flames that they emit. They're being trapped in the bandana, so I guess they're now everywhere within the bandana. It doesn't really make sense, but due to it; I see a lot of orange even if I manage to slightly see through it. We don't pay tolls for Kingdoms that we don't believe in. Actually, we just don't pay tolls because we don't believe in them at all. I wholeheartedly believe that this wall is unnecessary. Stop it with your ideals, this instant. We need to be more opening to each other if we hope to become a continent worth mentioning.
I feel like I could very well decide to smash down all of these walls guarding the borders to each territory in the name of equality on a drunken whim alone. These walls are impressive though. How long did it take to build these, anyways? I'm beginning to get fed up with this continent. I have yet to find a solid community of welcoming individuals. Even the Goblin Village needed to undergo significant change before they began to recognize me and my companions as beings worth trusting and putting faith into. That's unacceptable. It should have been like this right from the start, without me having felt the need to adequately prove my own good intentions. To be fair, I actually haven't spent enough time in the Elven City, Vanheim to be capable of actually judging their disposition towards outside races. I just know the good hearted Prince.
I know that if I help the aforementioned Elven Prince, then I can potentially ensure that Vanheim eventually becomes something similar to what I would prefer to see when first venturing to a new place. That's good enough for me. I don't know if they're a place worth praising at the current moment, but I feel as though that might change for the better in the somewhat near future. That's a passing grade. I can't really say the same for the Forest of Witches, Demon Kingdom, or Beastkin Kingdom.
Reygid may have stopped enslaving Scarecrow monsters due to it now being out of their hands, but they still enslave Humans and other monsters. Granted, due to the disappearance of the Crows... The Farmers no longer feel as much a need to enslave monsters in order to protect their farms. Be that as it may, they still enslave Humans to work their farms and they also still enslave monsters to help pull their carriages. I could always go and lead another crusade to free the additional slaves, but it won't solve the problem. More monsters and Humans will continue to be enslaved, and now that I think about it; it's highly unlikely that I will be able to convince Humans to go shop at Clive's store in Reygid. I need to convince Beastkin Farmers to start properly thinking of Farming as an occupation, instead of an enslavement practice. They need to pay their workers, and their workers need to be treated as peers. I'll also need to drastically revise their current educational program at their local school into teaching their children the value of other living beings. Jeez. The more that I think about it, the more helpless I feel. How can I really change that much of a Kingdom that I don't even live in? I have absolutely no say in the matter, my only real option is to handle it by force. I should definitely wait a long while before trying something of that magnitude.
Informing the others that our plan of convincing Humans to venture into Reygid was a failed whim, and that we would simply continue forth while looking for apples and trying to go unnoticed... We continued on our way through the Human Kingdom. I'm seeing a lot of farms in this Kingdom. It's reminding me a lot of the Beastkin Kingdom, but I feel as though the farms here are a lot larger. They probably don't have as good of soil as Reygid, or anyone who owns a farm is just immensely wealthy. Far more wealthy than anyone I have ever met before. After a good while of travelling, we were met with a forked road with a Lake directly ahead. On our left, it appears as though farm lands continue and lead to a small Town. On our right, it appears as though the road continues to wind with tree farms to the right of it until the road ends reaching a massive city. We're heading right.
Cetilla gained plenty of strange looks, and appeared visibly uncomfortable to be the one needing to take the spotlight. She's never needed to pull a carriage by herself. It's like that, I guess. She has a Cat with her, but Rei and Milton are both hiding in the back. We made our way on forward, and to my right I was able to see them. Apple trees~ I think. They might be apples? I wasn't sure, so I asked Cetilla what color they were. Just what I had been hoping for! Thank you, Hunky Beefcake for answering this one's prayers! Apparently, they're red. They just might be the fruit we need~ Regardless, they grow on trees so it's probably fine. We need fruit trees. That's the bottom line. I asked Cetilla to stop near the farm. If we can procure apples straight from the supplier, then we don't even need to go through the hassle of visiting the potential enemy City. Pointing a paw at the remaining 250 Silver Coins, I explained my plan to her. She's all in. Heh~ I guess she really wanted to avoid getting caught. If even one knowledgeable person possessing [Appraisal] noticed that she was a Sorceress lacking the capabilities to even tame the Tier 5 Drake who is clearly not bound in any given way, I guess we would have lost... Or they could have just [Appraised] the blindfolded Cat. Now that I think about it, we lucked out on finding an apple farm before reaching the City itself. Yay~
Cetilla handled talking to the Farmer by herself. She went in his house with Coins, came out with a smile, and three empty Candy buckets. Success! His house was made of wood. It wasn't shabby by any means though. It was nicely painted, had glass windows, and even rooftop shingles. It was a really cute house if I must say. It definitely sold off the fantasy vibe. The top of the house was curved so that the front and back of the roof would be higher than the middle. It was pretty cool. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of the color involved with it due to my covered eyes, but it's fine. In my eyes, the top of the roof appears painted a seriously dark purple. It's probably blue. The wood making up the walls appears to be painted orange. It's probably white.
She returned and told me that she was given the right to go and grab 30 apples from the fields. Yay! They are indeed, apples! I apologetically replied that she was going to need to be the one to fetch them. Sorry, hun. We're currently pretending that you are alone. You can't expect the Cat in a bandana to go and fetch 30 apples, now can you? She was more dejected than ever, but she handled it. Returning back on the way we came, we left without ever really having a chance to fully experience the Human Kingdom. It's probably for the best. I didn't really see any slaves working on the farms though, so that's good news. I saw a few people farming with proper clothing on, so it's looking up. Even so, they still don't treat Beastkin well according to Rei; so I'm not about to stay and chat. None of us really want to be here right now, I guess.
Returning was uneventful unless you want to count Conrad, the Crowli lifting us yet again. It was actually past dawn, so he did it in two separate trips. I needed to use [Daily Candy] and cancel my [Hallowed Gate] while we were still in the carriage so that I wouldn't be late for it the next night. I realized that I had totally taken the carriage for longer than intended, so I made the decision to tip Roy nicely next time. I would have used [Hallowed Gate] after cancelling it, but I genuinely didn't want to cast it in the middle of the Human Kingdom. After we had finished passing over their gate wall was a different story though. We used that bad boy. It might have been taller than their wall, henceforth still visible... But that's besides the point. It all went fine as far as I could tell.
We took the carriage back into Halloween, everyone else returned to their appropriate rooms through the combo gate; and I began to fly as fast as I could to Reygid after closing the aforementioned gate. Reaching the Vellisroi Estate, I cast [Hallowed Gate] on the road in front of their home and pulled the carriage from it myself before leaving it near their others and departing back through the gate. Arriving at the Wailing Keep, I cancelled and recast the gate before heading to the Treasure Room. Getting undressed, I went to bed. Good morning~