“…Yikes.”
Arisa saw the bug dishes for sale and flinched. These bugs were realistically sized, and that just made it worse.
I’d eaten a lot of weird things in labyrinths, but wasn’t exactly fond of dishes that were visibly insect laden. If they were as big as shrimp or crabs, I could dig right in, so I knew it was a bias/all in my head.
I’d had caterpillars at lunch with the Shiga Kingdom prime minister, and those had been great.
“Is this the local specialty?
“Doesn’t seem like they’re selling Mazuna at these stalls.”
From what I could tell via my map, that was a white-meat fish.
“Outsiders can’t handle the bugs, ribbit!” the frogfolk laughed, taking no offense at Arisa’s reaction. “But you like the Mazuna dishes, ribbit! Ours is cheap and plentiful, so buy a cup, ribbit!”
“People, if you’re after Mazuna, ours tastes the best, ribbit!”
The competition spotted us, and everyone started trying to hawk their fish.
“Ours is good, too, ribbit!”
“Ours is the original! It’s not like the other stalls, ribbit!”
“Hmph, we serve the real deal! Frauds, be silenced, ribbit!”
They seemed ready to throw down.
Most stalls were run by local frogfolk, but there were some run by dogfolk or ratfolk. Even a small number run by rhinos or weasels.
“Come quick, ribbit!”
“We’ll take twenty percent off, ribbit!”
“Then we’ll go as high as thirty, ribbit!”
Now they were competing over sales.
Every barker was too desperate—which made it hard to choose, but we picked the shop with the most satisfied looks on the faces of the diners.
“Hmm, so this is Mazuna. Based on the way they’re cooking it, it might be a kind of eel?”
I’d used Clairvoyance to sneak a peek, and the Mazuna had been a gruesome-looking fish—a bit like a snakehead. But it had a basic flavor that went very well with salt and citrus.
I found myself craving white rice, so I slipped an onigiri out of Storage and split it with Arisa when she asked.
“I like this! The more I chew this translucent dried thing, the more flavor comes out of it.”
“Oui, ouiii! The shellfish and giant prawns are good, too!”
“Pochi likes the white fish best, sir!”
The dried thing Liza had was a freshwater jellyfish called, imaginatively, a lake jellyfish.
“Good lotus root,” Mia said, happily munching away.
These grew to massive sizes in the muddy lakebed and were extra crunchy and flavorful.
“Yes, Mia, it’s not just the fish and dried seafood that is tasty here, I agree.”
“I like this ‘slippery’ lake jellyfish.”
That was a dessert involving fresh jellyfish in a sweet-and-sour sauce—a bit like agar. It had the chewy texture of squid noodles.
“Yo, madam! This slippery’s bitter!”
“Ach, sorry! Take another batch!”
A complaint from outside our room.
Using “Keen Hearing,” I heard the madam talking to the chef.
“Tono said it’s bitter.”
“Did I not soak it enough?”
“He’s got a sensitive tongue.”
“I think it’s the pollution in the lake… I’ll have to figure something out.”
“Please, chef.”
Did all frogs not end sentences in “ribbit”? Beside the point. It sounded like that broken device was affecting the local cuisine.
If I wanted to enjoy my gourmet tour, perhaps I’d better stick my nose in.
That evening, I visited the palace as Kuro.
“Do we still not have a Water Pearl big enough for the device, ribbit?”
I heard yelling in the king’s room.
“We received a report they’d left the hidden village three days ago. They should be here any day now, ribbit!”
“Then why aren’t they, ribbit?!”
“I couldn’t say…”
I took a peek, and a minister frog was being browbeaten by a frog in a crown—presumably the king.
“Your Majesty, bad news, ribbit! The transport team have been attacked, ribbit!”
A frog lady knight came bursting in.
This Water Pearl sounded important, so I did a map search for it and found an especially large one being transported by a batfolk possessed by a demon.
Just to be sure, I used the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance and found a dude with a mask covered in blood, who was very suspicious-looking, but, you know, being possessed was already a red flag.
I slipped away, “Flashrunning” across the sky until I was right up against the batfolk.
He didn’t try to fight, just attempted to fly right past me at speed, but I wasn’t standing for it. One handy-dandy Sticky Net spell, and I had him trussed up and on the ground.
He bounced off the soft ground, and I “Flashran” down. The impact had knocked the demon loose, and I grabbed it, peeling him away.
“Grabbing incorporeal demons isn’t fair, poo!”
This thing had wings growing out of its nose.
But also no mouth, so I had no clue how it was talking.
“Why’d you steal the Water Pearl?”
“I’m not telling, poo! Making trouble, of course, poo!”
So he was telling.
No use applying logic to demons.
“From the way you speak, you’re related to the greater demon that appeared in the fortress city?”
“Bwak-poo! Master’s famous, poo!”
The nose at the center of the thing started doing a jig, snorting.
“Did the greater demon order you to steal the pearl?”
“You don’t need to know, poo!”
Its nostrils flared distractingly, blowing so much air, it kicked up a dust cloud and blasted itself skyward.
I cast Sticky Net to prevent its escape, but before the spell landed, the demon itself burst into a shower of light and mincemeat.
“A self-destruct?”
The flesh chunks turned into a black mist and dissipated.
My log claimed I’d dispatched a lesser demon, so that was clearly not a fake self-destruct.
“So a signal to its allies?”
I checked the map, but there were no other demons or worshippers, and nothing that had turned to run at the sight of the light.
“And the pearl…shit, that’s what the blast was for.”
I searched for it but found only fragments.
It seemed the demon had blown itself up so I couldn’t get the pearl back.
“I can collect those fragments easy enough…”
I just had to lock on to the map info and use Magic Hand to stick them all in Storage.
A few larger lumps aside, most were basically dust.
And tiny particles were unstable, easily melting into the air on your palm.
That was close. If I hadn’t stuck them straight in Storage, most of those would have been lost for good. Still, now I couldn’t exactly take them out of Storage.
I considered this, then figured it was best to talk to someone who knew better.
“Hello, Ms. Aaze.”
“Satou!”
I’d used Telephone to call my beloved high elf in Bolenan Forest.
She responded with joy, but when I asked if there was any way to restore a shattered Water Pearl—
“Use Mana Section to partition off a space, then fill it with magic and take it back out. The magic will turn all the fragments into putty, so you’ll just need to knead them into a ball again.”
“Thank you, Ms. Aaze, I’ll give it a shot.”
“I’m glad I could be of assistance!”
We ended the chat reluctantly, and I attempted her technique.
I was scared to make the Water Pearl on my first attempt, so I first filled a Mana Section with magic, then tried bringing a shattered water stone back to a pearl shape.
…Tricky.
If I filled it with magic too quickly, it would just make a lot of water and burst.
I had to slowly add magic, coaxing it along, toeing the line.
> Title Acquired: Watermancer
> Title Acquired: Ruler of the Currents
> Skill Acquired: “Attribute Stone Craft”