Thus, we came to the capital of Laureldite—Bahal, the Scorching City. This was the first time any of us had been here.
Most people in Bahal wore the traditional Laureldite garment made of layers of white fabric. Women wore layers of flowy, thin fabric adorned with gold and silver chains that tinkled with charms. This glittering city in the desert seemed like a fun place to just stay for a while.
Water from the oasis flowed within the city walls, providing its denizens with ample water at all times. Still, the city was burning hot by day and freezing cold by night. A secret underground passage lay beneath it, which gave access to Underground Volcano while sheltering those who used it from the harsh elements. Knowledge of Underground Volcano also happened to be restricted to high-ranking adventurers and a select few within Laureldite’s government. On the dungeon’s surface stretched an ordinary road through the desert that led to the entrance to Undersea Tunnel, which connected Laureldite to its neighbor.
Everyone in my party was gazing around the city with palpable excitement.
“Wow. Arcadia was a sight to behold, but this city is something else. I know it’s hot, but...isn’t it too hot for those clothes?” Kent asked.
I laughed. “I know what you mean.” The traditional dress of Bahal made the women look like belly dancers, which might have been a little too stimulating for a teenage boy. Out in the desert, ladies covered up with a thick cloak to protect themselves from the sun, but many of them kept little skin covered here in the city. This fashion was a luxury afforded to them by a sort of sunscreen that lined the shelves of Bahal. Like other in-game items, the sunscreen came with healing properties that could heal even severe sunburns. That would have been really handy in the real world.
“Meowster, should we buy those outfits while we’re here?”
“That sounds fun, but...aren’t they a little embarrassing?” For some reason, I had reservations about wearing clothes that revealing. Not that I wasn’t confident in my body—warranted or not—since becoming Charlotte Cocoriara, and while there was nothing wrong with showing a little midriff, my fear of embarrassment was still winning out. Of course, Tarte, L’lyeh, and Cocoa would all look absolutely adorable dressed that way. In fact, I’d pay for all of their outfits just to see them decked out in them.
Cocoa laughed and kindly backed me up. “It would be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”
“But don’t you want to try it...?” I asked Cocoa, and leaned in to whisper, “So you can show Kent?”
Instantly, Cocoa’s face turned bright red. “I-I...” she began muttering under her breath, though she refused to deny it.
That’s it. I’m going to get her one later.
“Let’s book our rooms!” Kent suggested as he eyed us.
“Right—before the good inns are booked up,” I said.
“We should stay somewhere with tasty food,” Tarte purred.
“The most important criterion...” L’lyeh agreed and began to sniff the air. “Smell of good food from that inn over there...” L’lyeh would probably find a nice place for us to stay.
“Once we book our rooms, let’s find out more about the dungeon,” I said.
“Yes, purrlease!”
After securing our lodgings, I told them what I knew about Underground Volcano, and we all headed to the Adventurer’s Guild. Bahal’s branch was enormous because they rewarded adventurers not only for quests like hunting monsters in the desert outside the city but also for rescuing stranded civilians from the unforgiving terrain.
Apart from its size, the Guild was laid out much the same as the other branches I’d seen. Quests were posted on a board where adventurers could pick out ones that matched their rank. Several reception counters lined one wall, and there, quests could be accepted, completed, or offered. The second floor held dining rooms, archives, and meeting rooms that were accessible to anyone. The third floor must have been home to the offices of the Guildmaster and other employees.
To access the dungeon through the underground tunnel, we needed to request permission from either the Guild or the government. I’d chosen to approach the Guild.
When we went up to a counter to explain just that, the receptionist apologetically responded with something I hadn’t expected to hear. “I understand you are all high-level adventurers. Unfortunately, no one is allowed inside Underground Volcano at this time.”
“Why not? It’s a dungeon, isn’t it?” Kent asked. For the most part, dungeons were open to the public.
Restricting access to dangerous dungeons by granting permission only to those who could survive them was one thing, but it didn’t make sense to lock down a dungeon altogether. This didn’t happen when I obtained permission for the dungeon in the game. “Can you tell us a little bit more?” I asked.
“W-Well... I’m not supposed to give too much information to adventurers, but you already know about the underground corridor... This isn’t information we can share with the public, but strange things are happening down there,” said the receptionist.
“What kinds of strange things?” I asked. “We may be able to help.” If they’d locked up the dungeon because of a powerful monster or something like that, we could take care of it. Our first step to gaining access to the dungeon was figuring out why it’d been locked down.
“Yes... Allow me to explain in another room,” the receptionist offered.
“Thank you,” I said. She couldn’t very well talk about the underground tunnel and dungeon with all these other adventurers around.
The receptionist led the way upstairs, and we followed close behind.
Something strange... Something strange... What could be going on here? I racked my brain for an event or quest that might have caused this—there were plenty of quests that could be triggered around or under Bahal. Maybe one of them was triggered?
While I pondered the possibilities, we were led to a meeting room and even served iced herbal tea that smelled delightfully refreshing. The room we’d been shown to was on the third floor, and it held a table large enough to sit ten. Maps of the area hung on the walls, leading me to assume that this room was often used for tactical meetings.
Finally, the receptionist faced us, her brows lowered apologetically. “Most likely, nothing can be done about this,” she declared, a tone of finality weighing down her words.
“You can’t know that before we’ve even tried...!” Kent protested, leaning forward from the very edge of his seat upon a sofa.
The receptionist just shook her head. “No human can do anything about it.” She sounded hopeless.
Kent sat back and scratched his head. “Is it difficult—or impossible—to even enter the dungeon?”
“Not impossible, but there is constant extreme danger,” said the receptionist.
“Constant extreme danger...” Tarte repeated, her shoulders sagging at the same time Kent’s did.
The receptionist’s choice of words was enough to give me a good idea as to what was going on. There had been an event in Reas that occurred at random called “Stop Underground Volcano from Erupting!” If an eruption seemed imminent, it made sense that no one was allowed into the volcano. Stopping the eruption was a simple process. You had to bring Ifrit from Ifrit’s Oasis and have the NPC quell the volcano.
So, if we wanted to beat Underground Volcano, we’d first have to defeat the boss of Ifrit’s Oasis. Once Ifrit was defeated, we could bring the boss-turned-NPC to Underground Volcano to stop the eruption and make it safe enough for us to enter. However, both Ifrit’s Oasis and Underground Volcano were dangerous dungeons, making this a particularly arduous quest to complete. It would be a lot of work, but that also meant it would be a lot of adventure!
“What?!” the rest of my party suddenly exclaimed, interrupting my thoughts. I’d vaguely picked up the word “eruption” while lost in my own musings, so the receptionist must have explained what was going on with Underground Volcano.
“Yeah, there’s nothing we can do about an eruption...” Kent groaned.
“It doesn’t matter how many levels we have...” Cocoa murmured.
Both of them lowered their heads in disappointment before giving me a look—it would be my call.
The eruption event had been a recurring one in Reas, so there was a chance the Guild knew how it could be resolved. Whether or not they expected anyone to pull it off was a different story. Compared to the game, people in this world had much lower levels—so much so that no one else would have been capable of defeating Ifrit. Not even Frey could have done it...if she hadn’t met me and skyrocketed her level, that was.
I cleared my throat and turned to face the receptionist. “Could we take on the quest to stop Underground Volcano’s eruption?”
“What? No, no, no, no, no... Were you listening to a word I just said? There’s no way you can stop a volcano from erupting, unless you’re a Fire Spirit in human skin,” the receptionist protested, staring at me like I was insane. Even Kent was looking at me like I had suggested lassoing the moon.
“You’re right. No human can stop it,” I agreed. “Ifrit will be the one to do that.”
The receptionist inhaled sharply. “Ifrit is the protector of this country. As a Fire Spirit, the god should be able to calm a volcano... But how will you get Ifrit to do that?”
“I’ll bring them over from Ifrit’s Oasis, of course!”
“No! It’s not possible to make it through that dungeon!” The receptionist still sounded incredulous, but the other members of my party were gazing at me with light bulbs going off above their heads. Seeing their reactions, the receptionist turned to the files in her hand. Surprise twisted her face. “What?! Y-You’re a H-H-Holy Maiden?! I didn’t even know such a job existed...!”
Apparently, she hadn’t read our files very thoroughly. Maybe she’d granted us this private meeting because she’d been impressed that Kent was a Dragonrider.
“I thought you were a party led by a Dragonrider. One of you is a Lyrical Sorcerer too?! Oh, but Lulu is a Novice... Why do you have a Novice in the midst of a party like this?! Tarte is an Alchemist, but at such a high level...! I’ve never met a party like yours before!” Having reviewed our profiles more closely, she had gone into a little bit of a tizzy. I couldn’t blame her when our party had to be one of the strongest in the world.
I laughed and then pushed for the quest again. “Can you trust us to stop the volcano?”
“I can’t make that decision on my own. I’ll bring the Guildmaster now,” the receptionist said.
“I understand,” I replied. I would have preferred to take the quest and go at once, but I knew she had to follow the proper procedure. I watched as she rushed off to summon her boss.