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Thank you very much for helping me out with gathering herbs, Ms. Utage, Ms. Beanstalk.

There is no way I could've found nearly this many without the two of you...

Oh, it's no biggie. I don't go on field ops much. It's a great change of pace.

And, geez. Just call me Utage. We're a buncha girls on a trip! Let's make this a fun little get-together!

I mean, we're friends, aren't we? Don't be so stiff.

Oh, i-is that so?! Friends...? But I...

I... I don't know much about fashion, and I'm not very good at talking... Can I really be friends with you?

What're you talking about? Of course you can! You're on my contact list, and I can call you any time and go shopping with you. That makes us friends!

Look, your name is right here, Myrrh.

Whoa! Ms. Utage... I mean, Utage, you know a lot of people!

Huh? What's this list here?

Oh, 'Afternoon Nails Club?' Probably the list I added the most people to.

Uh...

What about this?

That's the 'Group Buy Coupon Club' list.

Um, how about this...?

The 'Peeps That Don't Do Events But Pay Up' list! Haha, all of them are like my besties!

(If she adds me to this list... I might end up... crying...)

(She wouldn't do that, right?)

Hey, that sounds like a great group. You gotta introduce me to some of those besties of yours!

Oh, Ms. Beanstalk! You're back!

Kept ya waiting, huh~?

I got caught up in the road up ahead. It's a little hard to get through.

By the way, Utage, which list did you add Myrrh and me to? It can't be that besties club, right?

Oh, relax. You wouldn't make it in even if you wanted to.

You're on the 'Gonna Treat Lunch Some Time' list. She's on 'Medical Department.'

Huh? Hold on, what's this supposed to mean? I've treated you to lunch more than a handful of times!

Besides, why is Myrrh on such a normal-sounding list?

Ahaha... I don't really mind...

She takes care of me when I'm sick or hurt. Gotta give respect where it's due.

(Quietly) Besides, am I gonna get on a doctor's bad side? How stupid do you think I am?

Ugh, can we not talk about this, please? You went up ahead to scout the area, right? How is it? Any more herbs around?

I think we already got plenty, so if there aren't more up ahead, maybe we can call it a day here and go home?

Hmph, I'm getting there! I'll get to the end of this contact list thing...

Ahem.

Anyway, let me get straight to the point—I did find something.

I had Trey look all around, and he found a spot a little further north that we haven't been to yet.

Oh, you mean those little pets you got with you? Way to go.

Of course! Hehe, this is nothing more than a walk in the park for my little buddies!

It's north of here... Going by the humidity, the amount of sunlight, and the terrain, it should be a perfect place for herbs to grow!

That sounds great! Let's head over there!

Hey, wait up! Let me finish!

Hm... Where's my map for this area...? Let's see... There we go! Take a look here.

I marked where we are in red, and that patch of grassland is over here.

Huh? This place...

Hm? Let's see.

Oh, are we really that far away from the ship? And what's this say over here...? Ibe... Ugh, it's way too small to read. Iberia?

Iberia, huh...?

I heard the nomadic cities there change color, and every place they cruise over turns to barren land where absolutely nothing can grow. Not sure if it's true, though.

Huh? No kidding?

It could be that there are technical problems with their Originium energy source, and that might have polluted all the places they drove through.

But absolutely nothing can grow there...? That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration.

Oh, that's hardly an exaggeration. There's more. I heard Iberia's cities can even change shape!

The city plates can all fly away and put themselves back together again! They can even turn into giant, limbless monsters that swallow everything whole!

T-They can turn into monsters?!

Um, that's not exactly how I heard it...

Why are we talking about this now? Shouldn't we figure out if we want to keep going?

Or what? Is it Iberia gossip time? Hm... Actually, why don't we do just that?

I mean, none of us dare say we know that much about Iberia, right? Let's talk about what we know, then. Maybe we'll figure out something helpful.

Well... I guess we can. We aren't in a rush anyway.

Well, I already told you what I know. Next up, Myrrh!

Huh? I need to say something too?

Of course~

O-Okay... I don't really think this is going to be very helpful, though...

Well, I heard that Iberia has a lot of ghost towns...

(Quietly) Uhh—This doesn't sound all that different than what I said...

(Quietly) Oh, hush, just let her talk.

I heard that people sometimes wander into these ghost towns when they get lost... It's cold and scary inside. There are blue rocks spread all over the roads, and there isn't a single person in any of the churches.

But... if you take a closer look, even though the buildings are all empty, there are jewels built into everything, and the plaza has all these gold statues without even the tiniest blemish!

Jewels! Gold!

Eh, sounds kinda like the City of Gold. My dad used to always sing that song. When I was a kid, I really liked that story!

I wish that kinda town really existed. A road paved with jewels and gold! I really wanna see that with my own eyes.

Ahaha... I don't think I'd be so thrilled to visit that place...

I heard that in those ghost towns, each and every night, there are things you can't see praying at the church, and sometimes you can even hear someone breathing into your ear!

On top of that, all the people who stray into those towns feel their bodies slowly turn harder and harder. They start to move slower, just like those old grandmoms and granddads. After that, they even start to talk slowly, and little by little, they lose their minds...

Whoa, that's sounds terrible.

In the end, they can't move, they can't talk, and they can't think... They freeze up like the golden statues on the streets. Those statues were people!

...That's so scary!

Y-You're kidding, right? How is that even possible... That sounds even more out there than what I just said.

It's gotta be fake. It's a good story, but think about it. How could anyone have spread the rumor in the first place if no one got out alive?

You're right...

That's why I told you it wasn't going to be very helpful.

This is a story I heard when I was still going around exploring with Harmonia... It's hardly reliable information.

Exploring?

Oh, actually... before I came to Rhodes Island, I used to be something of an explorer. I went to all kinds of places with my friends, and the more dangerous the place is, the rarer the herbs there are.

Eh, no kidding? That's amazing, Myrrh! I thought you were totally the kind of girl who, like, shut herself up in her room all day, brewing potions and whatever.

You're kinda wimpy too.

I'm not...

So, it's my turn now, right?

I thought about it a little, and this rumor just came to mind...

Ehh? We are still going with this?!

You seem really into it...

It's just a story. What's the harm?

Well, you girls know how Iberia has this festival they call the carnival? Now, the carnival itself isn't the rumor; it actually exists, and I read about it in books before.

I heard it's one of those decked out festivals, and lots of tourists used to visit just for that, but there hasn't been a whole lot of news about the carnival anymore. Some people even say it was canceled.

But... well... here's what I heard...

What have you heard? S-Stop it with that tone. It freaks me out...

Yeah, it's a little scary...

Alright, fine. I'll lay off.

It's nothing that scary, really. I heard it wasn't actually canceled. It's just you don't get any normal people going to the carnival anymore.