The Quest To A New Home (2)

Hey, Shun here!

Nothing beats the helplessness that you would feel when faced against a seemingly insurmountable odd right off the bat. Like how you were unreasonably asked to beat a strong boss in a game right off the bat.

Unless you're extremely gifted or experienced, there's no way that's gonna happen.

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(Shun's POV)

The sun is just starting to rise from the horizon and I, along with my trusty bunny companion named Tsuka, are now fully ready for the upcoming quest which is about to take place in a few minutes' time.

Whilst we were waiting for the countdown to end, I decided to cook some breakfast for Mom and Miu before I leave. Since it seems like Mom have taken a special liking towards fried rice these days, I decided to copy the recipe that we ate back in that restaurant named [Nihao China].

"You guys ready for the next quest?" I said while continuing to slightly pound the rice using the ladle that I have on hand to create rice separation.

I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to the girls through video call. Some of them are still half asleep since they're not exactly good with mornings but, about more than half of us are already awake and are already ready for the quest.

One such example of someone who's still half asleep is Rinka-san, as well as Rikka.

✽✽[Group Chat]✽✽

Mutsuko: [Looks like everyone's ready for the quest except for Rinka! Heeey, Rinka~! Wake up!]

Satanichia: [Look at your appearance on the screen, Rikka! Kusu kusu kusu! Your hair is all over the place!]

Rikka: [Uhmm… Uh… I don't want to hear that from someone who still have drool on her face.]

Satanichia: [Eh!? I have!? Tte! There's none when I looked at the mirror! You're just trying to divert the conversation!]

Kaede: [Hai hai~! Please stop fighting, Satania-san, Rikka-san.]

Pochi: [They fight everyday, nanodesu~!]

Tama: [They get aloooong~?]

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Even when it's still so early in the morning, Satania-san and Rikka could still find ways to banter with each other. Each and everytime they do, Kaede-san would be the one to stop them.

After I finished cooking the fried rice, I looked at my screen and saw that Yukiko-san, Touka-san, and Rokuko are away from their phone screens like me earlier. Looks like Rokuko is having a conversation with Seiko and Koharu about something while Yukiko-san and Touka-san are busy preparing their luggage.

I already told them to carry as many luggage as they want since I could just store them inside my or Tsuka's [Storage] if they wanted to. It seems like this trip will take upwards of a week so, I told them to pack the necessities that they'd need.

"Tsuka, you go wake up Miu upstairs. I think Mom is up by now so you don't have to worry about waking her up…"

"Squeak~! Roger, Master~!"

Tsuka leapt out of my shoulders before disappearing like a whisp of wind. While she was gone, I placed the fried rice on a large bowl before picking up my smartphone and looking at the quest that we have on hand.

On the background, the girls were still talking amongst themselves.

✽✽[The City Above A Labyrinth ]✽✽

Type: Chain Quest

Status: Incomplete

Participant(s): (5/5)

Participation: Mandatory(Voting)

Time Limit: --

Description:

In a kingdom filled with prejudice against demi-humans, help Kanami and Shirayukineko arrive at and settle in at the Labyrinth City of Celivera.

Reward(s): 1,000 d-coins, 1x Random D-coins Chest, and 1x Random Reward Coupon.

Enter inside one of [Shiga Kingdom's] Cities: Ongoing

Reach an average Level of 20: Ongoing

Find the home of the Elves: Ongoing

Slay a [Great Demon]: Ongoing

Obtain the title of [Hero]: Ongoing

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The first time I saw this quest, I spaced out for a few seconds, thinking about its implications. First, there was the quest about something called a [Great Demon], then there's the quest about getting a title called a [Hero], and then there's the levels and the thing about the Elves.

I've already heard about the Shiga Kingdom from Pochi and Tama who apparently knew about it because Martha told them about it. So long as we could enter the territory on which Pochi and Tama lives in currently, that quest could be considered done.

Now, the problem arises from there. We don't know whether or not we would be permitted to enter inside that place. There's also the 'status' that Liza, Pochi and Tama's caretaker, often mention to them from time to time.

I have a feeling that it will be quite the action packed quest…

The same moment that Tsuka came back from upstairs, Ritsu's voice suddenly interrupted our conversation.

✽✽[Group Chat]✽✽

Ritsu: [The quest is now officially underway, everyone. For the participants of the quest, please point your smartphones at the nearest door and enter inside the portal that will appear. I will wait for all of you at the [Dimensional Train Station]!]

Tama: [Oooooooh! Quest startiiing~?]

Pochi: [Pochi and Tama will wait for everyone at our inn nanodesu!]

Rinka: [Eh? Ah!? The quest is already starting!?]

Touka: [Wait, Rinka. Don't tell me you… You forgot to prepare your things?]

Yukiko: [I think she didn't. I saw her at the supermarket yesterday and she told me that she prepared her things in advance.]

Rikka: [O-Oh, everyone's about to leave now huh. Good luck to you. My [Tyrant's Eye] could foresee that nothing bad would happen to you girls…!]

Satanichia: [Bring me dragon meat, [Admin] Shun!]

Shun: [For what, Satania-san?]

Satanichia: [I need it for Alexander. My pet at the underworld.]

Shun: [Alright. Gotcha.]

Mutsuko: [Good luck out there, everyone! Be careful of dragons and the like. Remember to read the guidebook I gave you yesterday if you get stuck, okay?]

Tama: [Okaaaay~.]

Pochi: [Pochi will do her best nanodesu!]

Rokuko: [Everyone's about to leave now? Good luck, everyone! Also, Shun, when you go back to visit our dungeon, help me make the floors until the 10th basement floor! I wanna show it off to Haku!]

Shun: [Okay, I got it, Rokuko. I'll go visit our dungeon either way even if you didn't tell me that.]

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Saying our farewells to our friends, I walked towards the nearest door before immediately entering inside it. Mom is still upstairs so no one should see me entering inside this portal.

However, to be doubly sure, I entered inside the door before closing it and opening the portal from the other side.

"Well, we're off to another adventure, Tsuka. Are you excited?"

"Squeak! Tsuka, excited, Master!"

"Alrighty then. Let's go…"

Right after asking that to my spirit bonded familiar, Tsuka, I stopped into the portal with an excited smile plastered on my face. Another fantasy world adventure. I can't wait!

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"Everyone, welcome. The time should have been stopped in everyone's dimensions except for Pochi and Tama's dimension."

The moment I arrived at the [Dimensional Train Station], I was greeted by Ritsu who didn't waste time and immediately told us this very familiar line. She sounds especially bubbly and excited today.

"Now that everyone's here, I'm assuming that you're all ready for the quest? Or did you forget something else? Like the identity card, for example."

Speaking of identity cards, I already have mine. As for the others, they already bought their own yesterday, I'm pretty sure.

"Y-Yes! Uuu… I'm pretty nervous about going to a fantasy world. There's dragons there, right?" Kaede-san said, with nervousness clear in the tone of her voice.

To reassure her, I patted her on the shoulder before saying, "Don't worry about it, Kaede-san. I will protect you all if someone strong wants to harm us all. I have the [Divine Warp Feather] to bail us out if push comes to shove."

As if she remembered something, Kaede-san froze for a few seconds before her cheeks turned bright red out of nowhere, confusing the heck out of me.

"Y-Yeah, of course. [Admin] Shun-san could protect us, yeah."

Whilst I was trying to reassure Kaede-san even though I'm still confused as to why she's getting all embarrassed now, Ritsu was busy explaining things to our three new [Group Chat] members. This is their first quest and, although Ritsu already gave them a briefing on multiple occasions, I think it's still vital that she repeat it to them.

"…Any questions, everyone?" Ritsu asked while glancing at each and every single of us.

"No? Okay! Let's go, let's go! I'm excited to go to this quest with everyone!"

Thus, we all entered inside the futuristic train and got ready for take off… I mean, we wouldn't be taking literally but, you get the point.

Right after we boarded the train, we only really have to wait for a few minutes before Ritsu got up and told us that we already arrived. During that few minutes, we passed through clusters of stars, overwhelming all of us who witnessed all of it.

It was such a surreal sight.

I wonder why it took us so long to arrive though? Compared to our previous travel time on this train, this is quite odd.

I didn't even have to voice this out for Ritsu to answer the question that I have in mind.

"The reason why we arrived later was because I slowed down the travel time. You know, to make it seem like we're really off to an adventure!"

That makes absolute sense. I did feel like I wasn't traveling to another dimension at all when I first tried it out. This is a more than welcome change.

"Wow… That was a surreal experience…"

"Truly. Our previous travel using this train felt like a lie during this one."

While Kaede-san and Yukiko-san could still voice out their thoughts, it was different for Rinka-san and Touka-san who are still dumbfounded and are rooted to their seats.

Unfortunately for them, they didn't have the leisure to stay dumbfounded because of a certain overly excitable Ritsu. She dragged them along with her while the three of us have no choice but to follow along.

"Ah! Slow down, Ritsu!" Touka-san said in surprise.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

At Rinka-san's inquiry, Ritsu gave her an immediate answer, as if it's a matter of fact.

"That's of course because I want to meet Pochi and Tama faster!"

Didn't you just meet them yesterday?

Anyway, following Ritsu's lead, we excited the [Dimensional Train Station], finally reaching the outside of the portal. There, we were immediately greeted by the sight of a cliff and a beautiful overview of what seems to be a huge city from a distance.

When I glanced down, I couldn't even make out what's below us.

"Seriously? A cliff, of all places?"

The moment I said that, Tsuka, who was also peering down the abyss below us with me, suddenly twitched before speaking.

"Squeak! Enemy!"

"Enemy? Whe—?" Before I could even ask, I immediately got an answer.

Way up above, two huge winged creatures were diving down at immense speeds. After reaching a certain altitude, they came to a full stop, flapping their huge wings that are almost double their size intensely.

Because of this, a strong gust of wind blew towards us. This gust of wind was so strong that it could even make the strong-looking trees behind us to sway.

"The first thing I encountered when I crossed a fantasy world the first time was a god. Now, it's two dragon-looking things. Man, what luck."

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※~To be continued~※

Supporters:

Shout-out(naks) to Sam Morgan and Vero for resubbing! That really means a lot to me!

Of course, I would also like to thank NuA, Soulsmsher, Francisco, Holo, Ototsu_Yume, and GOOOOSE for supporting me as well! Bless you all!

Shameless Promotion:

Consider supporting me back on my ko-fi page: ko-fi.com/jadepanda0031! Read up to Chapter 236 at my ko-fi page, a good 26 chapters in advance(that won't be long since WN will soon catch up to the 20 advanced chapter like before…

Author's Remarks:

※ Owright! Death March World! It's time for me to do some review, for the next huge arc and for this one xD.