act36side

Hurry up, Laios.

Look at this mushroom! Even the dungeon's walking mushrooms don't grow this big!

Wouldn't it be amazing to see a walking mushroom this size...? Thoughts on having it for lunch later?

Careful now. The Gourmet Guide says jungle mushrooms are basically all poisonous to some extent.

For example, they might give you full body rashes, thicken your blood, or make you throw up nonstop until every organ is down on the floor...

...I'd rather not think about what the guide's author must have been through to learn all that in such detail.

The orcs only taught me how to identify <i>dungeon</i> mushrooms, so we'd best leave these alone.

But there are some animals that eat them!

Still no. If only one or two critters consider it edible, it means it's probably toxic to everything else.

In other words, if we see lots of animals eating this, then it's likely to be edible for us, too.

Right...

(Low roar)

What was that?

(Piercing buzzing)

There's something flying towards us! Careful, everyone!

WAAAAAAHHHH!

(Knocks here and there)

Ha! Now that was an impressive explosion!

A good thing the test site was empty.

Let me see...

Chamber pressure, off the charts. Same goes for temperature readings, and load capacity too!

Seems like it'll need reinforcement to perform well.

Next, final adjustments to the previous configuration, loosen the belt, tighten the screws, and... done!

My newest masterpiece, the 'Invincible Cool Thing' will be fully operational. As long as I don't run into another accident!

Oh, I should get rid of all these explosives first.

Safety first! Avoid open flames...

(Knocks here and there)

*cough* *cough* That thing over there keeps blowing up...!

*cough* *cough*...!

You alright, Marcille?

I-I'm fine! Just a little dizzy...

(Low roar)

There's more...! Careful!

A golem? Maybe a gargoyle?!

Taste my magic—

BOOM—!!!

High Priest, High Priest? You there?

...What was that?

—Wagh!

A crocodile?! Or a beast-man with a crocodile head?!

Huh? What's a beast-man?

He can speak too!

Why wouldn't I be able to? Hey, you there, Durins, did you crawl up from the underground?

'Durins'?

Is he talking about us?

See any other short ones around here?

Are you saying me and Chilchuck look like the same race to you?

Don't you guys have 'Half-foot' here?

...What are you talking about? Is something wrong with you all?

Right, have you seen our High Priest here?

High Priest?

Old guy, shorter than me, wears glasses.

What's he doing in such a dangerous place?

Dunno. He thinks in mysterious ways.

Well, we haven't run into any old men.

He also moves in mysterious ways.

Guess I should just give up and get back to the tribe, then. Like all the times I went out and looked for him before.

Goodbye, strange tourists!

Wait! Could I ask if you've heard of Rhodes Island?

Heh. Lucky for you, but also unlucky. Because I feel like I have, but also not.

There's someone else in the tribe who I'm sure knows where this Whatever Island is though.

But that person happens to be...

That High Priest you're looking for?

Bingo.

How's this? Come back with me. We hardly ever find him when we go looking, but he always comes back sooner or later.

So basically, you guys were on an island with a huge dungeon, and somehow ended up here?

More or less. Do you know anything about it?

Uh... What's an island?

Huh? It's... a landmass completely surrounded by sea.

What's a sea?

Um... a large body of water?

You mean a lake? You really like to use strange words.

Well, is it because we're inland right now and you haven't heard of...

It's because your questions are so strange! I've never heard of a sea, an island, or a Merini Village. Were you swept here from the other side of Terra by someone's tail or something?

'Terra'?

It's what we're standing on right now.

Marcille tries to read the crocodile man's face for any sign he was pranking her.

Unfortunately, the only message she gets from his eyes is 'Am I talking to a fool?'

So in short, the one who calls the shots in this tribe of crocodiles—er, Archosauria—is the High Priest. The one Marcille blew up earlier was his...

His mech.

The 'Invincible Cool Thing.'

But if we blew up his 'mech'... would he still be willing to help us find Rhodes Island?

It's fine. It would've exploded with or without you.

Always manages to blow up somehow.

The High Priest is a friendly man. I'm sure he won't blame you if you just explain everything.

He's also a righteous man. He wouldn't leave a group of lost visitors stranded.

That's our High Priest!

Still, we should come up with a way to make amends.

Don't worry about it—wait, what's that good smell? Who's cooking today?

The Durin with the huge beard.

Terra, Acahualla, living paintings, the dungeon...

Ugh... I can't wrap my head around it all.

I can use magic here, so at the very least some of the laws of reality are shared...

Falin... I bet I'd be as excited as Laios if you were here.

*sigh* I miss our days back at the academy.

Back then...

Wait, the berries that those little birds are eating...

They look like that fruit Falin offered me back then...

Smells great. Are Durins good at cooking too?

For the last time, I'm not a Durin... *sigh* Never mind, suit yourself.