A Reincarnated Demon’s Life of Wonder

Then, four days passed...

"So, no dice?" - Garami

"Not even a pair of snake-eyes." - Iron

"Iron, shut up." - Mira

"He was not talking about either you or your bad luck streak at the tabletop games table, Mira." - Noire

"Hah. Just give me what you've gathered." - Garami

It's our fourth afternoon meeting after I accepted the quest from the Life Champion's party, and we've advanced...NOTHING. Talk about failing at the start line.

The main trouble is that the Adventurers' Union doesn't seem keen on letting ANYONE enter the underground Haunts (which, FYI, is appropriately named "the Shaharin Underwoods") unless they work directly for the local Union branch. We outsiders aren't given the time of their day. I have been going over there to convince them to let us in, but they denied us every time, saying they had to go through some "procedures".

This time around, I sent only Iron to do the complaints while also trying to sniff out some leads on how to enter the Underwoods. Despite being part of the undead and all that, Iron is quite the nice character to chat with, so many people open up to him after the weird first impression he gives off, being all armor and all that.

Still, despite my hopes, he wasn't able to score us a permit to go down under. I'm not even asking for a koala or a kangaroo here. Just let me go down underneath the ground so I can escape this blasted heatwave... Oh. And to complete the quest, of course. Yes, of course. I didn't forget it. And even if I did, it's the heatwave's fault, not mine. I'm happy to admit any of my mistakes as long as the damn fireball in the sky doesn't have a say about anything about it!! Or if there's snakes involved, I guess.

"This is all I managed to gather," said Iron, ruining my line of digressing thoughts (thank god!) as he handed over a list of stuff he managed to talk out from the local adventurers. Hmm...reading...reading...

"There are some key points here that make one wonder," said Noire after skimming through her copy of the list. "For one, this point about the production of dyes and spices not having dropped despite the Haunt being quaranteed is suspicious."

"Some adventurers don't seem troubled for money..." said Revi after looking up from her list. "It's sus..."

Hmm, both are onto something. There isn't much monster hunting to do in this area. Get too close to the city and you get only shrimps. Sand Shrimps, to be exact. I've heard they taste nasty, hence making them worth zilch. And if you go too far into the desert, you're prey for the giant desert dwellers that hide underneath the sand. In short, only the Underwoods provide any good hunting grounds for adventurers, as the flora down there can be used both for dyes and fancy, magical spices. The latter ones are the reason why Jumbo's crew was heading for this city.

Yet, despite access to those plants being denied, both the foragers and the buyers continue to thrive. Maybe there's some secret path into the Haunt that the Union isn't aware of? Or they're trying to keep a monopoly and only send down adventurers that are in cahoots with the Union?

"This bit here about 'titles not being won' is weird," said Mira all of a sudden. Oh, she's right. A few people are complaining about not receiving their titles, despite having supposedly met all the conditions for the System Message to appear.

"Wait, how do they know...?" - Garami

"There are multiple veteran adventurers who live in the city who have the targeted titles already. Plus, several people take up [Identification] both for seeking out rare plant materials and concerning their work as magitech crafters." - Iron

Well, that makes sense. I'm talking from experience as both an adventurer and a crafter. Even without that, [Identification] is simply a goddamn cheat code. Maybe I'll think about evolving it sometime soon.

All the other stuff doesn't seem relevant to our case either. One Chaos Dungeon nearby has had a big decrease in monsters lately, the strange heatwave (I KNEW I wasn't the only one who thought that!!), some weird ogre-person defeated a nest of giant scorpion monsters singlehandedly, a large shadow was seen in the northen sky recently, and the prices for sweets have increased explosively (and it's not even restricted to just ice cream!) the last few days.

"When you look at them like this, Shaharin sure has its boatload of trouble." - Mira

"Stop it. You're going to make me feel camaraderie with a city." - Garami

"Not like you have the time to do that. None of this info tells us how we can enter the Haunt." - Noire

"What're you talking about?" - Garami

The fallen angel's question got me to raise my own, but the only response I got was more questioning gazes. Mira figured it out after a short moment, but it seems the others need more context. ...Meh, that's a bother. Let's just meet those guys and get the business done ASAP.

---

"Sure, I can help you get down to the Underwoods," replied Jumbo while Mira and I, the only ones who came to visit our steampunk friend, enjoyed his AC-cooled office.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"YES! I knew we could trust our master trader to have all the secret know-hows to succeed in his trade~." - Garami

"Ehm, sorry to say this, but...there's no big secret here." - Jumbo

"Say what?" - Garami

"Keep this between us, but there are rumors about the Chaos Church having set up shop somewhere down in the Underwoods." - Jumbo

Those guys again!? The annoyance must have been visible on our faces, cause Jumbo nodded and said "Yes, those guys," before continuing on with his explanation.

"Probably because of that, the Union can only allow sanctioned adventurers, as in people they know can't be part of the Church, access to the Underwoods." - Jumbo

"Aha. They're trying to keep them under siege." - Mira

"At least till they find their hideout, I think." - Jumbo

"Craaaaap... Our Guild's not looking good when it comes to Karma Values..." I muttered, causing the girls around me to look away in shame. Only Iron, our only non-True Karma achiever, didn't look bothered by my self-harming comment.

"Nah. It's more likely it's because you guys are strangers in this city." - Jumbo

"How rude!" - Garami

"That's where I come in. I have some good ties with the Union, so a good word or three should get you into that Haunt. However..." - Jumbo

"However, what? Don't forget you still owe us." - Garami

"My memory bank won't delete such a recent event. It's just that the lockdown isn't good for business. Even with the authorized adventurers, the Union's not getting enough materials. Not to mention the price increase thanks to the situation..." - Jumbo

"Let me guess, you need some hands of your own to forage materials? Sure, we're game." - Garami

Our original objective was to find plants in the first place. Adding some more entries to our shopping list won't do much harm.

"As expected of Miss Garami, you are a woman worthy of being called a Guild Master. And there's one more-*CRASH!!!*-...thing..." - Jumbo

What the-!? A loud and nasty sound came from below, cutting into Jumbo's speech and his happiness meter. The guy looks like he's got one heck of a migraine right now.

"What was that?" - Mira

"The other thing. Please help me." - Jumbo

Okay, that's not fair. How can a machine dude perform such a high-level puppy dog stare!?

---

Later that evening, at the entrance to the Underwoods:

"So, that is why you brought along this twerp?" asked Noire while looking at the newbie with contempt.

"Hey! I am not a twerp! I am an adventuring twerp!" replied the "twerp". Wait, so being a "twerp" doesn't face her?

"Listen, this is just a test trip. We only promised Jumbo to bring you with us so that we can examine if you have the guts to stick around and the ability to follow orders, so look sharp, Lily." - Garami

"Ah-, yes, I mean, sir, I mean, boss lady!!" shouted the Growth Chimera while saluting for reasons I can't imagine.

Sheesh, I understand why Jumbo had trouble keeping this girl in check. She's literally jumping with excitement even after I asked her to stay calm. And when did she find the time to put together that "adventuring outfit"? An orange vest, a black sleeveless shirt, and brown shorts. Not exactly top-quality goods, I'm afraid. The metal-enhanced gloves and boots do help a little, but still...

"(Iron, our top priority today is to protect that little firecracker)." - Mira

To Mira's whispering request, Iron silently nodded while keeping his gaze straight on Lily. Today's forage duty seems to be on me, Noire, and Revi, then. Ah, wait. Let's have Noire scout for possible hostiles that might be approaching us. I can be on the lookout for the more hidden threats as we make our way through the Haunt.

With everyone's roles set in stone in my mind, I started walking to the Union members standing guard in front of the giant...what should I call it? A "giant tree trunk made out of solid, rainbow-colored neon jelly"? Sorry, but I can't find any better way to explain this weird plant(?) in front of me. The areas we visited in Velantas never had this sort of weird front door. I guess it's a "case-by-case" deal.

Entering wasn't a problem. Jumbo's letter of recommendation worked like a charm. The difficulties arose after we entered this bizarre trunk of a fashion disaster tree.

"Who...had the bright...idea to not...allow people...to use...the ****ing elevator!?" - Mira

"I don't know. What the problem is, that is." - Noire

"Yeah, that's because you can freaking FLY!!" - Mira

"Wow. Full recovery through anger-power~." - Garami

Yup. There are two ways to descend to the Underwoods. One is the elevator, but it's being reserved for the adventurers who have finished their hunt and are returning with their loot. The other is a giant spiral staircase that swirls around the mentioned elevator. And as Mira can testify, it's not an easy trip. Unless you can use Summons as rides, can fly, or are part of the undead who don't know the first thing about "tiredness".

"We're here!! The Shaharin Underwoods!!" - Lily

Then under what miracle lies this girl's endless stamina? Lily's looking no worse despite refusing the Deadflesh Golem ride, unlike Revi. And yet she's the peppiest out of all of us. Eh, whatever. Let's focus on clearing the two quests we have to clear down here.

One thing is for sure: Lily's got all the rights to be excited over this Haunt. Despite being underground, the floor is as bright as day, yet without the sweltering heat that prevented us from entering the Haunt before the sun started to sink. The light mostly comes from large mushrooms glowing in pastel neon colors, but there are also large bits of moss glowing in the same fashion on the walls and on larger boulders.

That's not to say there's only mushrooms here. Gigantic trees like those from an ancient jungle, small ones that one could sell as bonsais, flowers large enough to make you think you've eaten something you shouldn't after falling down a rabbit hole, weird bushes with berries of all the rainbow's colors, cacti filled with lightsticks that you can break off and use instead of spines, and there are even large fires that large branches are growing out from.

All this and more make up this weird wonderland of flora. The only thing that's even reasonably normal is the rocks making up this underground jungle and the river that I can see in the distance... Screw that. Now I see the one river is divided into five: one with normal water, one with what appears to be ink, one with chili sauce (you can't fool my nose even from this distance), one that looks like milk, and the last one seems to be made out ot...bubbles? Now I wonder if soap makers also take a trip down here.

"Ehm, Princess? How are we going to find the...whatever-it-was down here? I mean, this cave is massive..." - Mira

"It sure beats the underground tunnels, volcanic or not, in Velantas, that's for sure." - Garami

Hmm, I was under the impression that those places were Haunts as well. It seems they're closer to "demi-Haunts" or "Haunts-in-development". In any case, this seems to turn out to be a bigger adventure than I first expected. Now I'm getting excited~.

"Alright, let's stop gwaking and move...? Where are Lily and Iron?" - Garami

"The twerp ran like she had rockets for legs towards the forest, then the ghost followed after." - Noire

......Did I say "excited"? I meant "exhausted"...