Chapter 52: Thou Shalt Get Sidetracked
After leaving the island Alora, Makoto and I debated on what we should do about our new discovery.
"We should go after it. Your grandfather needs tech like this."
"We don't have time for this. Those ships are two months away in the opposite direction. Besides, we don't even know if they survived. It's been over 400 years.
After we found out the location of the 6 ships we've been going back and forth on what to do.
"I'd rather not stay on this ship for longer than I have to."
"Even Alora agrees with me."
Makoto looked betrayed but there's nothing I can do about that. I'll admit this sounds tempting but we already have plans for rosary. Not to mention that Makoto plans on heading out to farther waters to trade with the natives.
"We can't get distracted by side quests Makoto."
Makoto looked aghast, "How dare you. How else are we going to defeat the final boss if we're sorely lacking in high level gear!?"
Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a child. A giant sword wielding demon child.
"Dad, nobody's fighting anyone. Especially not the king!"
The both of us just looked at Alora in bemusement. I forget she isn't from earth so she doesn't get the references.
"Regardless, we can't wait to get to Rosary in 4 months. By that time the place might be in a much better state. We need to sell all of our goods and buy as much cheap real estate while it's still affordable."
I have too many plans in place. I can't wait a little longer just so we can play adventurer. I need to offload all of my current gains, sell as much food and alcohol as I can and buy up some land in whatever they call a city so I can get rich and have a harem!
I'm in the land of elves, you bet I'm gonna get my hands on some beautiful elf babes. So I looked into Makoto's eyes and whispered the right words I knew he wanted to hear.
"Makoto. Think of the elf beauties. Think of the dark elves. The breast. The butts. The thighs. Are you really looking to wait around while our next future wife is waiting for us?"
Now I could see the temptation in Makoto's eyes. I can hear his blood pumping. If only I didn't have somebody to ruin it.
SMACK
"Ow! What the heck you brute!"
Alora was standing there looking at the both of us with pure fury, "Don't get me wrong. I love my mothers and siblings, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed watching my father gallivanting around other women like they were collectibles! I refuse to be part of anyone's harem and I will make sure my father doesn't pick up anymore floozies, and I'm sure my mothers would all agree!"
Crap.
I completely forgot about her.
"Alora. I am so sorry, I didn't realize you felt that way."
"It's fine dad. Mom told me that demon kind are especially lustful… although since I'm half demon I don't suffer from that problem."
I knew for a fact that that was a lie. Well it's not like I have the guts to say that out loud.
"As for you, Jess. So long as we're dating I forbid you from even thinking about other women! No harem!"
"Umm Lora we're not dating, and you can't tell me what to do. I'm sorry but I'm a one man army without an army. Just a bodyguard. This won't do. As soon as we get to shore I'm heading to the bar to pick up chi- Ka! F***!"
Before I could finish what I was going to say Alora kicked me right in the groin and stormed off.
"Wow. I'm a really bad father."
While Makoto was in an existential crisis I was on my knees trying not to throw up my guts. It was so hard to breathe and even harder to cast a healing spell.
…
After a few days of waiting around we were finally starting to see signs of activity. We saw a few fishing boats out at sea but we didn't really approach them. We already had a map and everything after all.
"So… where do we meet the UDE agent? We were told he's been here for a few years now. Do you know why?"
I looked over at Makoto in curiosity. He knew far more about the UDE than I did and personally I can't find a reason why anyone would stick around for so long in a foreign land just to do reconnaissance.
"He's been waiting for us. Him and his boys got here on a stealth ship a few years back to gather information and intelligence. They're here to teach you the native language, local politics and the law. It's your job to provide them with resources and manpower."
"That's news to me. It almost sounds like they're my personal spies."
Makoto just sighed and shook his head, "If only UDE were so generous. These agents don't belong to you. It's our job to get a foothold until the reinforcements arrive. UDE is hoping by that time you'll usurp the throne. If you don't they'll probably hire some local mercs to stir up trouble."
Whoa I didn't think they were so desperate to take over. I guess it's not surprising considering what the 'outside world' is like but I would've thought the United Dream Environment would stay closer to its name.
"Isn't that kinda messed up? I wasn't expecting them to be so callous and war hungry."
I briefly looked over to Alora thinking she would back me up but she just had this dead cold look in her eyes. It was kinda creepy.
Instead it was Makoto who spoke up, "I can't speak on the UDE's plans or why they do what they do. All I know is that they've put a few eggs in our basket, and they're still expecting us to break them. Don't expect much support from them. If anything they're closer to stabbing us in the back."
As odd of an analogy as that is, what he didn't mention is that if we let those eggs hatch we expect to see plenty of benefits in return.
The problem is that spooks have a bad reputation no matter where you go. I can't expect any of them to be very trustworthy or reliable anytime soon. How should I treat these guys when I see them?
"Do you think they're dangerous?"
"All spooks are dangerous Jess. Fortunately these guys are normies… Don't feel relieved. That's just the information we've been given. It's possible that that's a lie. Although I doubt it. Normies can be dangerous in their own way after all. Especially so since they are largely underestimated by those in power"
I understood what he meant, spies were never meant to be trusted. Especially if they didn't belong to you. Still it would be a good idea if I could recruit some spies of my own.
I looked at Makoto hoping to get a good answer.
"Is there a possibility of recruiting them? From what we've gathered of these guys, it's likely that they've been traveling for years just to get here. Surely they're bitter about that."
Makoto had to think about it for a minute before he spoke up, "I don't think the odds are in your favor. It's possible they're bitter about their long journey and it's very common for offworlders to desert. The problem is… Why would they choose to join you?"
I felt a bit bitter about that but he had a point. There was no solid reason for a group of people to just abandon their duties for some no name prince.
Although that did make me wonder…
"What about gramps?"
When Makoto heard that he just scoffed, "King likes to show off how great he is but truth be told, the only thing that's special about him is his sword arm and his portals. We take this for granted all the time but in reality the UDE just tolerates him because he goes out of his way to explore the unknown, and once he's taken everything of worth he throws them the scraps."
So wait, doesn't that make him a glorified scout? No, that's not right. He does way more than scouting after all. From wiping out enemies, to stealing their stuff. No scout would ever do that.
I asked Makoto a few more questions but one thing struck my curiosity.
"I forgot to mention, you'll probably have to hire some mercs and healers. The place we're heading to is not just dangerous but also slightly toxic. Just existing there for too long will get you sick. So it's best to have a few healers on you at all times."
Well this is news to me!
"What the heck?! What do you mean toxic?! Why is the place toxic?!"
Makoto talked for a while about the history of Rosary. Basically, 30-40 years ago the natives were mostly wiped out by a bunch of creatures called the Depth Dwellers. I've heard about these creatures. Appearance wise they look a lot like wendigos. Tall lanky humanoids that mostly crawl around looking for rotting corpses and just like wendigos they have nothing against turning you or anyone into said corpse.
So what makes them so different? Well for starters, wendigos are in fact, human. They also can't breed and make more of themselves. Wendigos are also incredibly strong, intelligent and resilient to most forms of physical damage. The best way to kill them is with fire, and even a normie can do that.
The problem is that Depth Crawlers are different. The only thing that makes them special is that they can breed… A lot. People have discovered entire hives filled to the brim with these things. All of them are just living under their own homes, waiting to attack. Worst part about them is that they can be anywhere, on any continent.
Alora looked a little worried when she heard this, "I've heard stories that their life force is contaminated. So if you kill them and absorb their life force you could end up like them. The best ways to kill them is to grab a suicide squad and have them wipe them out."
Or be far enough away that it's impossible to collect all that life energy. That's why it's not very common to use weapons of mass destruction. Life force is a universal currency and the only way to pay is with your life. Why waste all that energy on antimatter bombs from space when you can just get up close and personal.
The problem is that a group of a couple dozen people just isn't enough to wipe out millions of Dwellers. The only people who can wipe them out are true power houses.
"The only way to wipe them out is to get a few people at rank A and higher. Only they can completely wipe them out and avoid getting contaminated."