The Queen looks at us, obviously expecting us to be excited, as the rest of the Royals and Adventurers in the room seem to be, but when we barely react, she has a confused look on her face. Suddenly, her cheeks become flush with red, as she almost literally facepalms, shaking her head, and saying…what I assume is a very bad swear word by the way the ones from her world in the room react, before she continues.
"Of course, you wouldn't know. Cal Mira is a special location, one that belongs to our kingdom since time immemorial. It sees fewer monster attacks than most places, their rifts, the holes in the sky outside of a wave, being smaller, and very set in what they create, allowing the area to be one of relative peace and prosperity," she began, turning to the map and pointing to the four main islands.
"As the islands are small, they can be used for little in the way of agriculture or industry, so their best use has always been as a sort of 'vacation' hub, for nobles and those of lesser stations alike. However, the place comes with a unique phenomenon once every decade or so, one that sees it as a premier spot for Adventurers and our own knights to train at, when the holes in the sky turn from red to purple," she continued.
"The power of the Monsters, never great, grows, though still weak as such things go. But the experience you gain for each kill grows, doubling at least. Better, they reappear fast enough that every day the islands repopulate, allowing entire cadres of Knights to gain power there quickly. Enough so that many of our current crop were trained there, going from Level 1 all the way to 8 in many cases," she explained, which…well it explained a lot of why the knights here were randomly leveled, with some being mid thirties despite not looking old enough. They likely gained a leg up from the prior event.
"So it's like that island with all the penguins and stuff?" asked Motoyasu, getting a look from the three of us, while Raphtalia and Filo looked confused, mouthing the word penguin to themselves, obviously never having heard of it.
"The island quest chain with double EXP. You go there, and it's like a jungle, but with penguins freezing it over, and you help a big gorilla beat up their boss. It was a tie in to some kids game, and you could get magic bananas or something," he clarified, which didn't help us at all, though scratching my chin, I looked towards Ren, and nodded.
"I think I remember something like that from my version too. Except it was squirrels that were ninjas and the like. They had this annoying habit of exploding, but then it turned out their boss was some kind of weird skeleton clown pirate and you got a rubber nose from it," I mentioned, recalling an event like that. The description of the boss got me some looks, but I waved my hand in front of my face dismissively.
"I didn't make the event, don't look at me like that," I chided, and we turned to Ren and Naofumi, who looked at each other, and shrugged.
"I don't remember anything like that in my game, but I stuck to land based quests. The sea stuff was annoying…plus I get sea sick," admitted Ren, which seemed to make him annoyed by admitting weakness. Not that it was one. It was just an inner ear thing with his balance. It had nothing to do with him being weak, just something that happened.
"And I didn't see anything about it in my book," said Naofumi, which made sense, given he'd said he read only three pages before coming here.
"Regardless, it is true. The island is home to some strange beasts. Penguins and Squirrels are two such types, but there's also Dogs and Rabbits. Each tends to spawn on one of the four major islands of the chain, with the smaller ones mixing the types together, or even having unique fauna and flora of a monstrous nature," said Aultcray.
"It's also typically shared with the Guild, the event itself and the spoils, at some considerable cost to the Adventurers who go, as well as the Guild as a whole. The event tends to represent a major economic opportunity for the Kingdom of Melrocmarc," says Ray, and the Royals turn to her, a dark shadow passing over the King and Queen's faces for a moment, like they were annoyed with the reminder, but those shadows passed, and instead, the pair were back to looking exhausted.
"It is true, in the past, we have shared the bounty of Cal Mira, especially given its status. Formally, the islands were their own Kingdom, with an Hourglass and all. But their Hourglass was lost ages ago, and thus we, the nearest Kingdom to them, took their lands into our own," explained the Queen as she returned to her seat.
"Does the strangeness of the archipelago, the double EXP and the weaker than normal monsters, have something to do with the lost Hourglass?" asked, surprisingly, Naofumi, as he looked towards the Royals, who looked at each other questioningly, but when it was done, they all shrugged.
"It is unknown, honestly. No nation would forgo the power of the Hourglass, even for a generation, and Cal Mira has been without one for many of those," said the Queen at last.
"Even were the nations of the world to agree to not create anymore individuals with the power of Levels, the monsters that roam this world are beyond the power of normal men and women to fight. Even those that we call weak on the island could fell a man in full armor with a single blow, after all," he said, and I nodded. I could recall, somewhere when we first arrived, that he'd claimed the Hourglass had indeed come second, though the various accounts of them were confused to say the least, like someone had deliberately muddled their history.
"Well, it was worth an ask at least," he said, and it was. Bringing the attention back to herself, Ray stood up and turned to the Queen.
"May I assume you won't be sharing this with the Guild this time, I take it?" asked Ray, bringing the discussion back to her, and Queen Mirellia looked put out, but only for a moment, before she shook her head.
"It is…useful, the funds the Guild provides for the pleasure of using the island during these times. It even funds much of the resorts on the main island of the archipelago, allowing us to offer their services at below what it costs to operate them," she admitted, before gesturing to the four of us, the Heroes, sitting at the table.
"This, however, is a far different moment than normal. The world would be best served by the Heroes being the ones to make use of the unique event in their entirety, especially given the new Follower system they unlocked. Or do you disagree, Ms. Ray?" she asked and the catwoman demi-human seemed to take a moment to consider, before shaking her head.
"I was just pointing it out, your highness, nothing more. It is my prerogative as a former Head of a Hall, after all," she said simply as she sat back down, and the Queen seemed to accept that as she pointed towards the island again. Over the next hour, she discussed what was on each, explaining that each of the major islands had some facilities on them, some small villages to help maintain them. The largest city, she explained, was on the island with the rabbit monsters, and contained a resort, amongst many other things.
"That one should probably go to Naofumi," said Ren the moment she paused, getting a questioning look from Motoyasu and the aforementioned Shield Hero, but before either could ask, he pointed a finger towards Filo.
"If it's got the largest city, it's got the largest civilian population. Considering monsters are always a threat to them, no matter how weak, the one on that island is going to need to sweep the area around it quickly. Filo allows that, and even lets him go back within a few minutes no matter where he is on the island, if what I've seen of her speed is any indication. It makes the most sense for him to take it," he explained, and Motoyasu, tapping his chin for a moment, nodded.
"Makes sense. Just don't get too comfortable being able to swim every day with the beautiful ladies on the beach, you hear Iwatani?" he chided with a smile that was just this side of lecherous. Luckily, Rishia whacked him on the back of the head, lightly, causing him to look at her like she'd betrayed him, and the mood softened, as she explained the next island, and largest, which was partially submerged caldera of a volcano, causing the island itself it be ring shaped, with the water sometimes separating them into smaller islands in a chain.
"Given Ren's sea sickness, that would probably be the best one for him then. Gives him plenty of room to move, without forcing him into a boat. You can even do a daily lap of the island, and with your minimap be assured of getting them all in one sweep. What sort of facilities are on the island?" I ask, and Mirallia looks towards the map for a moment, tapping her finger, obviously thinking, but Princess Melty stands up to draw our attention to her.
"The island is home to several natural hot springs thanks to the volcano at the center, and the monsters that spawn in the area are mostly demon dogs, if I recall my lessons correctly," she says, and her mothers smiles at her, nodding.
"Exactly, it has been some time since I've made use of any of Cal Mira's luxuries, with not just this crisis, but those that came before. Still, I know what lies on this island implicitly," she says, pointing towards another one, which is surrounded by smaller pieces of land.
"Sir Motoyasu mentioned penguins before, and this island, flat and chilly, is home to many of their kind at the best of times. There are no apes, sadly, to assist in the fighting of them, and they have proven a nuisance many times before. Still, it is here, with the sharp temperature gradients, that it gives a natural bonus to experience gained, one only multiplied by the doubling event," she said, and Motoyasu smiled at that one, pointing towards it.
"Yeah, since I got the penguins in my game, I think I should get dibs on that one. Doesn't quite look like the island from the game, but still," he said, and I looked like I was considering it, though in reality, I had no objection to him using it. Especially since Rishia, while leveled enough, was still below most of our other party members, so she could make the best use of the extra bonus there.
"The remaining island then will be for Sir Bard and his group," she said, pointing her finger towards one that looked less like an island, and more like spits of land that happened to be close together.
"This is not a single island in truth, but a set of five smaller ones in close enough proximity to allow swimming between them if no ship is available. The entire chain is known as the Ashen Isles, because when the isles erupted long ago, it is said that heaps of them settled here. From them a great bounty grew, however, as each island is home to many strange and unusual plants, with the herbs gathered by the locals prized for the flavors they add to various dishes throughout the land," she explained, which sounded lovely, given I hadn't found much to enjoy in the food department of late, save maybe that stew Naofumi had made.
"Let me guess, squirrels?" I asked, and she nodded.
"Indeed, thus it is appropriate as you mentioned them. I will, however, say nothing has ever been seen of them having a leader, nor do they explode to cause damage. They are simply monsters that bite, gnash, and claw their prey," she explained, which was interesting to me, given the other things that were the same, but we moved on past that, onto things like transport.
At first a vessel is suggested, which made sense Motoyasu revealing his (Town Gate) couldn't bring us there, no large fountain in the center of town for it to lock onto, and Ren's own (Traveler) skill requiring 'roads' between his stops, so he couldn't cross water. And obviously, I'd never been there, so I couldn't have placed a fast travel point. Naofumi revealed his own (Fast Travel) was a sort of thing where he could travel to people, not places, called (Instant Transmission) so that was out.
I was just about to suggest using Filo, a speed boost, and myself to cover the water, when Lucia reminded the four of us that her Replica Weapon allowed her to use the (Gate) skill, which could easily take us all to the central island, and from there to our individual locations. While Naofumi's was the only one with permanent housing for guests, each island had at least a small local outpost for us to stay at during our time there, the Queen assured us, even saying her man on the central island, Count Habenburg, would already be aware of our coming, and would have the others make ready for us.
"Still, the days until the event begins are unknown. It will happen before the next Wave strikes, given the rifts turning purple come no more than three weeks in advance, but that still gives any time between tomorrow and a week to prepare. I have informed the good Count to make his facilities fully available to you AND your parties until then. My suggestion would be to use them, while you scout your locations, so you can make the best use of each," she said, and with that, she rose, motioning for all of us to do the same.
"Now, my husband and I, even with the assistance of the drinks, will retire for the day. I would advise the four of you to continue speaking with each other, and plan your strategies well, before leaving tomorrow morning for Cal Mira," she said, bowing her head to us, with myself, and most everyone but Ren and Naofumi doing the same, the last being forced to bow when they looked to their parties, and taking their cues from them.
"I hope, brave Heroes, that this will be ample reward for you this month, and that you will find it in you to continue defending this Kingdom, and our world, from the Calamities that assail it," she said in a very regal tone, before she, the King, and eventually their daughter, all moved to the doors, which swung wide, and allowed them to exit, leaving the small groups of us alone in the room, to continue going over our gameplan.
(A/N: A few references in this chapter, nothing important.
Motoyasu's double EXP event is modeled after Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Bard's is Zero: The Kamikaze Squirrel
Both fun platformers, with some interesting designs to the enemies and areas that I decided to put here because they were my first thoughts when hearing about tropical islands with those animals on them when I saw the anime.
Meanwhile, the islands Bard will be on, the set of five, are from the Geneforge cRPG series, specifically game 3's setting of the Ashen Islands.
Again, these aren't really important details, just having fun with the setting since Cal Mira especially has little in the way of details on how its setup, save there are groups of islands, some of which sank, and there's a beach resort on the only island with a large population.)