Chapter 269- An Inspection

[Luna POV]

A day after locking Skadi and Ophidia away, Fenrir showed up at Tamamo’s place and asked me to send her and Mio somewhere for a little while.  I quickly agreed to her request and set up a domain on my floating island before bringing Mio there.  Fenrir showed up shortly after and I left them a letter box to let me know when to either pick Mio up or refresh the domain.  Once that was done, not much else happened for several more days.

Over those days I noticed an increase in the number of ships on the river which told me we were getting close to our destination.  I also noticed that Skadi and Ophidia were trying to get out of the domain, but I ignored them since I had a feeling that I shouldn’t do that until they are cleaned.  I quickly scribbled a letter to them and teleported it into the domain.

“I know I can’t really say anything, but I wish they would have held off until we go settled here.  I mean, I understand how they felt, but they could have teleported to the pirate island, though I can also see the problem with that.  Especially since Ophidia can’t teleport back to the ship since it’ll be in a different place than when she left.”

{How are you able to do that?}

“I can teleport into any domain no matter where it is even if it’s moved.  That’s why I never closed one until after I got back.”

{I see.  I had a feeling that was the case, but it’s nice to have confirmation.}

“Oh, and they’re gone.  Guess I’ll have to pick them up later.”

After finishing that thought, I noticed the mouth of a large cave a little way away from our current position.

“Our long voyage is about to come to an end.  SOLEIL, VELVET!  GET UP HERE!”

Shortly after my shout, the two of them climbed on deck.  They came up to me and stood at attention.

“Miss Soleil, reporting.” (Soleil)

“Miss Velvet, reporting.” (Velvet)

““What do you need, Captain?”” (Velvet and Soleil)

“Fufufu.  Our destination is ahead, get ret ready to disembark.” (Luna)

““Aye, aye, Captain.”” (Velvet and Soleil)

“Dismissed.” (Luna)

The two of them relaxed and we stood there for a minute before all bursting out into laughter.

“Fufufu.  Ahahahahahahahaha.  I love it when you guts play along.” (Luna)

“Hehehehehehehehe.  It’s surprisingly fun.” (Velvet)

“Hahahahahahaha.  It really is.” (Soleil)

We all laughed a bit more before the two of them went back below to take care of whatever they needed to.  I also quickchanged to my normal attire, much to Tamamo’s disappointment.

{Boo.  Change back.}

“Maybe some other time.  I’ll even play the part of a pirate that captures a fair maiden.”

{Only if that fair maiden has the chance to play the role of pirate the next time.}

“Of course.  That was the plan from the beginning.”

{Ufufufu.}

“Fufufufufu.”

While we both laughed at our plans for our next night together, the ship finally entered the cave.  Inside, it was unexpectedly bright from the sunlight that came in from outside, bioluminescent moss on the ceiling, and some kind of torches that lined the walls.

“Those aren’t normal torches.  I wonder what they are exactly.” (Luna)

“They are made from weak wind and fire magic ores.  Don’t ask me how they work though.” (Velvet)

“That’s all I wanted to know.” (Luna)

“Big sis, where are Skadi and Ophidia?” (Soleil)

“I told them to go and clean up.  I’ll pick them up later.” (Luna)

“Good call.” (Soleil)

“Yeah.” (Velvet)

Just then, I heard someone ringing a bell off the side of the ship.  I walked over to the side and looked down.  There was a small boat with several dwarves on it.

“AHOY!  PERMISSION TO BORD FOR INSPECTION!?”

“ALRIGHT.  I’LL DROP ANCHOR!” (Luna)

I made several illusions to fully close the sails and drop the anchor.  Once the ship came to a complete stop, I dropped a rope ladder and several of the dwarves climbed onto the ship.  The dwarf that was wearing the most official looking clothes of the few that climbed on my ship came up to me.

“Are you the one in charge of this vessel, lass?”

“I am.  I am the S-rank adventurer Luna of the Spectral Mists.  The two over there are some of my party members.  The rest of the crew aren’t important since they are just illusions.” (Luna)

“S-rank!?  Very well, we’ll finish our inspection as fast as possible.  Please show us any cargo you are carrying first and then we’ll move on to the next things.”

“Alright, follow me.  Soleil, Velvet, take the others around to anything else they need to check.” (Luna)

““Right.”” (Velvet and Soleil)

“You heard her, boys!”

““““SIR!””””

I brought the lead dwarf below deck to where I placed some things we were going to sell to the first guild we went to while in the dwarven country.  As the dwarf was inspecting things, I asked him about something I was curious about.

“Is this inspection thing normal, or has something happened recently?” (Luna)

“It’s a recent thing.  The king received word from the Demon Empire that there was a ship of slavers from the other continent and now we have to inspect any ship that come in or out of the country to make sure they aren’t affiliated with them.”

“Ah.  So word of that has already reached here.” (Luna)

“You knew about it, missy?”

“Yeah, I’m one of the people that rescued the ones captured, after all.” (Luna)

“That’s an S-rank adventurer for you.  And speaking of which, while I’ve never in my life seen materials like these, you’re clear here.  All that’s left for me to do is listen to my men, and we’ll be outa your hair.  All that’s left for you to do after this is to keep following the river until you see the city and find a dock that will be able to hold your ship.  There is also a guild branch near the docks, so if you plan on getting this stuff appraised and sold, go there and let the staff know.”

“Thanks for the information.” (Luna)

“No thanks are needed, lass.  I’m just doing my job.”

We went back up top and the dwarf leader went over to his men and discussed things whit them before turning around.

“We’re all done here.  Just follow what I said earlier and you’re all set.”

“Alright.  Keep up the good work.” (Luna)

The dwarves all saluted and then climbed back down the rope ladder.  They then rang the bell signaling that we could move again.  I made the ship start moving and about 15 minutes later the city came into view.

Chaos Realm:

Tamamo: Why would the Dwarven Country need ship inspections?  They are literally the farthest country from anything to do with that damnable place.

Atmos: I'm not completely sure, but it might be because people like those slavers normally have very large networks of people that spread out a lot farther than you might think.  I'm honestly surprised you didn't know at least some of that.

Tamamo: Atmos, you know I'm not omnipotent.

Atmos: True, but that seems like one of the more simple things.

Atmos, not everything you consider simple is simple for others.

Order: That's right.

Atmos: That's also true.  Now, where have you two been?

Inspecting something.  That's as much as I'm going to tell you for now.

Atmos: Tch.  Keep your secrets then.