Chapter CXXXVIII Meeting Mizu (Patreon)

Misaki woke to the sun already up in the sky. Phyllis smiled, when she noticed her stirring. “Nice to see you are finally up. How was the temple? You were there longer than I expected.”

Misaki sighed, “Yeah, Dewari had a lot to say. It seems the Dwarf we are looking for is a young woman named Mizu, and she has a few problems we might want to take care of.”

“That sounds like it might be troublesome. Can you give me the short versions?”

“Yeah we don’t have time for the long version. As I am sure you guessed. To make it short, Mizu apparently was in a relationship with an adventurer whose party left on a quest about half a year ago. To make things more interesting, that adventurer got her pregnant the day before he left, and he was supposed to be back two months ago. He isn’t, neither is his party.”

Phyllis interjected, “I think I have heard this story before. His party had a run of bad luck, and got wiped. They're likely all dead, but until someone finds their corpses or guild tags Mizu won’t get closure.”

“Actually Dewari mentioned that one of them escaped whatever happened only to be captured by Kobolds.”

“Kobolds? Can’t say I dealt with them often. I do know a bit. Not much of a threat to even rookies on their own, at least unevolved. They can get quite powerful if allowed to evolve. However they’re also quite dangerous in groups. I also recall that they tend to nest in areas not far from dragon nests. I believe I heard mention that they tend to worship dragons.”

Misaki shifted positions and frowned, “I guess I can see why you didn’t often deal with them. What with them nesting near dragons and all. Afterall you didn’t deal much with dragons either.”

Phyllis shrugged, “Well, we all have our specialties, and dragon quests are a category all their own.”

“I guess we do. Anyway, I think we should go ahead, and meet Mizu.”

Phyllis nodded, “Sure let's go,” then she cutely tilted her head, “Wait. Misaki. Didn’t you have a book on Kobolds in your library?”

Misaki, standing at the door nodded, and replied, “I do, but I haven’t read it. Not more than the first couple of pages anyway. If I had known I would need it, I would have brought it along.”

“I take it that means you can’t access your library from here?”

Misaki shook her head. “There is a skill for that. I just don’t have it yet.”

“A skill?”

Misaki nodded.

“Hmm, do you happen to know the requirements for it? Or are we going to have to wait until you just acquire it automatically?”

Misaki opened the door and shook her head, “I am afraid I don’t know the requirements. I don’t even know if there is an automatic acquire for it.”

They slipped out the door, and continued some idle chatter on their way to meet the young woman they had come to meet.

An hour later they arrived outside the home of the young woman they were looking for. It was a quaint little one-story stone house with a clay tile roof. The stones of the building seemed to have been precisely cut and fitted to form a solid structure. The roof tiles overlapped with exquisite perfection. The whole building was a testament to dwarven engineering. Misaki could easily see how it was far superior to the structures she had seen back in Bordertown. Then again, most of those buildings had been built quickly so as to fill an immediate need.

Misaki took a moment to really look at the structure, taking mental notes. As she had of every other building they had passed in this town. She figured they might be useful for a later floor or something. After all, she was still growing as a dungeon.

The pair walked up to the solid wood door. They had come here without the others. Jesse was watching the five little ones, and some of the adventurers they had brought had gone shopping. Misaki figured that was a good idea, as the dwarves seemed to make good equipment. Perhaps their habit of making metal clothes contributed to them being better metal workers? Or maybe that habit came about because they were inherently better at working metal than cloth? Unfortunately, Misaki had not thought to ask the goddess, so she might never know the answer to those questions.

They knocked on the door. Each rap of a fist produced a solid thunk. After a moment, they heard a clinking sound, and the door swung open. Giving Misaki her first look at Mizu. The most striking thing about her was that she was currently naked, not a scrap of clothing on her. She had an almost hopeful look on her cute rounded face. Golden brown hair fell in waves to just below her breasts. She had modest perky swells that rested upon a belly heavy with child. Her legs and pussy however were hidden behind the door, clumsily. Misaki could still see a glimpse of the bare pink folds below.

Before either of them could introduce themselves, Mizu inquired, “Are you two here on Madam Thalna’s behalf?”

Misaki didn’t know who that was and shook her head. Mizu’s expression instantly shifted to a clear look of disappointment. Misaki took the chance to introduce herself, and Phyllis. And Mizu responded by confirming who they knew she was. Then she inquired, “If you aren’t here for the Madam, may ask why?”

Misaki nodded, and began, “We came from Bordertown. Goddess Dewari indicated that you might be able to help us.” Misaki paused, and pulled an object out of her inventory. It was a piece of the mech she had gotten from Milith. Before she could continue, Mizu had snatched it from her fingers. The small dwarf excitedly examining, the item. Misaki even noticed her pussy growing wet, as she examined it.

Breathily, she asked, “WHERE!? WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?”

Misaki stepped back, and Phyllis seemed a bit taken back by the intensity of her excitement. Catching herself, she moved forward again. Already trying to calm the Dwarf, while answering her question. She left a few details out, but she tried to stick to the truth. In the end she explained that it was part of a larger vehicle that she had back home. That it was given to her as a gift. Although she did leave out important details, but they weren’t needed yet.

Still seeming somewhat excited, the dwarf invited them in. “There is more? Come in and we can discuss it, and please forgive my attire. Due to my condition I find myself lacking in suitable clothing. In regards to your problem, perhaps if you brought it here, I could take a look?”

As polite as she sounded, Misaki caught the unspoken. Mizu was practically dripping in anticipation at getting to work on it. It seemed Dewari hadn’t been much exaggerating how she would react. Putting that aside, she accepted the invitation, and Phyllis followed her in. As they entered, she commented, “You honestly wouldn’t be too out of place back home. Speaking of home, we were hoping you would come back with us. It would be easier for you to come see the machine in question then for us to lug it all the way back here.”

She frowned, “I’d really rather not go far from my home right now. As much as I would like to drop everything just to look at this machine of yours, I can’t. I need to be here.”

Misaki could see she was being honest, and that not going with them was hard for her. However, she really did need to be here as well. She sighed, she had a feeling it had to do with what Goddess Dewari had told her. However, she also knew that she could not outright reveal that knowledge. She had asked why during their talk. It turned out the reason was that she wasn’t one of Dewari’s oracles. Only the oracle of a god or goddess was supposed to know things like that. Something about the role of Oracles and what not. Dewari didn’t, however, reveal why she had bent the rules for her. Although she did have suspicions, not that she cared to voice them.

Misaki was about to prompt her when Phyllis inquired, “I think it’s plainly obvious how much you want to help us with our problem. May I ask what is keeping you here? Maybe it is something we can help with?”

Mizu sank into a chair, and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Perhaps you can.” She patted her belly, “It has to do with this one’s father. He left around when I must have conceived. He should have been back by now. I suspect he is no longer of this world, but until I know for sure I would rather not leave.”

Phyllis settled into a chair opposite, “Is he an adventurer?

She nodded, while Misaki found another chair, and sat down. Misaki interjected, “In that case. Do you know what his quest was?”

Mizu shifted with a slightly worried look on her face, “I do. It was a subjugation quest, something about a Lizarna Serpent.”

Phyllis exclaimed, while shooting forward, “Lizarna Serpent? Are you sure about that?”

Misaki glanced at Phyllis confused, “Why do you sound worried about that?”

Phyllis looked towards Misaki, a bit of surprise on her face, “You don’t know?”

She shook her head, and Phyllis then elaborated, “The Lizarna Serpent is also known as the ‘Child Eating Serpent.’” Misaki felt her expression darken at that mention, but didn’t interrupt. “It is an S-Rank monster, most well-known for its habit of eating children. However they are also very dangerous creatures, especially due to their extremely high affinity for mind magic.”

Misaki finally interjected, “What mad fool would create something like that? I know for sure no dungeon would birth one of those.”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know much beyond what I have read. Luckily I have never had to deal with them before. They are very rare, rarer than dragons. I do know, however, that all dungeons, even the normally non-lethal variety, would kill them on sight, and that dragons tend to eat them. Hence their being rare.”

Mizu interjected, “I did some reading myself. After my boyfriend didn’t return, and some of it worries me.”

Phyllis glanced at Misaki. Misaki knew what was being asked, and gestured no. She had not known that this was what they were going after, but now she really did want to chase after. However, first they needed more information on this creature, and perhaps they should visit the local guild. “You said you did some reading on it, do you perchance still have the book you were reading on it?”