The Island of Wonder

The next couple of days were normal. To avoid straining Annie, she stayed home instead of joining Nicole and Mizirim at the lab. Rather than helping with experiments, she spent her time writing down useful knowledge, mainly in the field of physics. Among other things, she spent quite a while introducing and explaining how windmills worked in a way that would be understandable to the locals.

This way, the last day of Nicole's deal with the Voru'kai Queen finally came to an end. On her way back to the inn, Soi and Iloe joined her. Since Nicole was no longer employed by the Queen, they weren't sure whether the monarch would allow her friends to stay for much longer either.

"Ugh, finally I'm done with all of this." Nicole stretched her arms above her head as she walked.

"Come on, it was nice." Iloe commented. "And I learned new things too. The oil to increase the strength of your spear should work better now. More... stable."

"And I got some proper military training too." Soi's hand slid across the sheath of her shortsword. "I still prefer using my bow—or at least the crossbow—but I won't be as defenseless in close combat."

Nicole chuckled. "Yeah... And I didn't change at all, hah. I tried to buy that blue porcelain stuff, but he rejected every offer. Having something to purify water or clean wounds would be helpful."

The girls walked in silence for a while.

"So, what now?" Soi glanced at Nicole. "After your words at the party, I bet a few nobles will try to hire you. Maybe even invite you to the royal courts of other tribes..." The catgirl's imagination was already working overtime.

"Probably. Some already approached me, but eh. And don't forget—we still have one more thing to do here."

Reaching their room, Nicole stopped in the doorway. Annie was levitating in the middle of their place, her body covered in what looked like clumps of blue moss, especially around her legs.

"Hey, everyone. I realized nothing is stopping me from lifting myself with the spores." The girl slowly descended into her wheelchair, trying to maintain her balance.

Iloe stared at her with wide eyes. "Wow, not gonna lie, I had that idea too but wasn't sure it would be possible. That must be so cool." 

"Yeah. The only issue is that it takes so much focus and so many spores that it's hard to do anything else. Like, my mind gets a bit foggy and even basic math becomes hardcore."

Nicole giggled. "What you call 'basic math' is already hardcore for the rest of the world, me included. But that's great. Maybe with practice—and more spores—you'll get better at it."

"Y-yeah. After two weeks in bed and a wheelchair, being able to move on my own feels like a miracle."

Nicole glanced at her watch. "There's somewhere you need to be soon. Get ready and let's go."

"What do you mean?"

"Consider it a surprise. Don't ask questions until you see it for yourself." Nicole smiled mysteriously.

Annie quickly wheeled herself closer.

"Help me get down the stairs."

"One second." Soi moved behind the girl.

Annie freezed. "Wait. Let me test something." Using the spores to support herself when needed, she carefully made her way down the stairs on her own. "I can barely hold myself up, so flying with the chair is too much for now. But if I use the spores to assist me, it's manageable. Plus, I can make them turn the wheels." Blue spores gathered around the wheels, helping propel the chair forward.

Soon, the four girls were walking through the streets again. Remaining in the blue district, they took a short walk before arriving at a large building. Passing through the tall double doors, they found themselves in a spacious hall. Rows of tables and benches lined the side walls. At the far end stood a reception desk and a large board that was currently empty. To the right, a wide staircase led to the upper floor.

"I-Is this what I think it is?" Annie's eyes widened. "They actually did it?"

"Yep. Your idea for the adventurers' guild got approved. And Her Majesty allowed me to design the place, so I tried to make it look as close as possible to what you saw in your cartoons."

Annie was so overwhelmed that she completely ignored the jab.

"I-It's insane... I'm speechless."

They heard footsteps descending the stairs and soon saw a middle-aged Voru'kai woman wearing a tailored black suit and pencil skirt.

"Oh, Nicole." The woman approached with a polite smile. "And you must be Annie?"

"Y-Yes." Annie stammered.

"I was appointed as the guildmaster. It was your idea to create this place, wasn't it? Her Majesty personally chose me for this position, so I should thank you for helping me get this job."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it."

"The official opening will be soon, but it's fine if you and your friends sneak in a little early."

Annie took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's real. I'm like one of those isekai protagonists. If we somehow return home, I could write all this down... It would be funny if someone turned it into an anime." She muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, the rest of the staff came downstairs. Several attractive Voru'kai women in yellow-and-black suits and skirts chatted among themselves while the guildmaster joined them.

Nicole leaned closer to Annie, whispering. "At first I wanted to make them wear bunny suits, but then I realized it might cause problems with the bunny tribe. Would they see it the same way people on Earth see blackface?"

Annie giggled. "You could always make Iloe wear one. She'd do anything for you."

"H-Hey! I can hear you!" The catgirl blushed. "I-I don't know what a bunny suit is, but if you want me to wear it..."

The front door opened, and a head with cat ears cautiously peeked inside.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" the person asked someone outside.

"Yes, yes, it should be. Get in and stop standing there like an idiot!"

The Torakai man was pushed inside, followed by a Narakai woman and a Zunthari man.

The Narakai approached Nicole. "Hey, this is that new guild thing, right?"

She wore light leather armor and carried two swords at her hips.

Welp, here come our first adventurers. "Hello, yes. Come in."

As time passed, more and more people entered, gradually filling the hall. The staff lined up, with the guildmaster standing at the front. "Welcome, everyone, to the opening ceremony!" the Voru'kai woman announced. "I should thank you all for coming. I trust you've already heard about this place. It is a guild for skilled warriors to earn money, prove their strength, and, of course, rest between jobs. I am the manager of this establishment and will gladly answer any questions to the best of my abilities." She paused briefly. "Now, by the grace and wisdom of our Queen, I hereby officially declare the Adventurers' Guild open!" The woman bowed politely.

The gathered crowd immediately burst into conversation, exchanging thoughts and gossip about the new institution. The guildmaster spent the next several minutes explaining details and answering questions.

Annie looked up at Nicole. "Hey, this is great, just..." Her expression completely changed from the excitement she had shown earlier. "I won't be able to do any of this anyway, huh?" Her fingers traced the armrest of her wheelchair. "Not like this. I'll only hold everyone back. Even if I can move around by myself, I can't fight or help..."

I spent days trying to think of an answer to this and still have nothing.

"Maybe there's a way to fix your legs. Look at this place—you never would've believed any of this was real. Different races, strange powers, monsters... There has to be something."

Annie didn't look convinced. "If there was, we'd already know. You literally talked to two Queens not long ago. There were nobles and powerful politicians everywhere, and many of them wanted to recruit you. If fixing me was possible, someone would've at least tried to use that as leverage." She let her head rest against the back of the wheelchair.

"Anyway," Soi cut in. "You can still help us, right? Even if you don't fight, there's no harm in floating around and scouting from above or something."

"I-I don't know if that's safe enough. What if something goes wrong?" Nicole crossed her arms. "For now, we can stay in the Hive and avoid trouble."

"And how are you planning to keep living here without a job?" Soi glanced at Annie before looking back at Nicole. "I could go hunting alone, but I don't want to leave all of you behind. And don't forget, this is a dangerous world. Every time you go into the wilderness, something can go wrong. And if it does, I'd rather have my friends with me than deal with it alone."

"Ugh, but—"

"And you explored the forest by yourself not that long ago. What happened to Nicole who built a shelter and fought monsters just to prove she could survive on her own?" Soi frowned. "I say we go hunting together. All of us."

"Tsk." Nicole couldn't deny she had been reckless before. "J-Just... that encounter with the Lamia still worries me. I still don't know how we managed to escape."

"No Lamia would dare come this close to the Hive. Especially now, when there'll be plenty of people hunting."

Iloe joined in. "I know! The guild can accept requests from anyone, right? Why don't we announce that there's a Lamia around? Someone strong will kill her eventually."

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "And with what money do you plan to pay the bounty? People won't risk their lives for free."

The catgirl's ears drooped as she thought. "W-Well... couldn't it work like with other monsters? Sell her body to the guild for materials?"

"I'm not sure she'd be worth enough." Soi shook her head. "Well, we can save up some money first and then post the request. I'd suggest sex as a reward, but I doubt many people would agree to die for that."

"And now we're back where we started." Nicole sighed. "There's a wild Lamia somewhere out there. What if she remembers our scent and comes looking for us?"

Annie smiled. "I doubt she could smell anything through a mountain of corpses. And honestly? I agree with Soi. I vote that we go."

"Of course you do." Nicole rolled her eyes.

After a moment, she finally nodded. "Fine. But if we run into that snake again, I'm spending every coin we have to hire someone to kill her."

"Great!"

Annie and Soi high-fived—something Annie had taught the catgirls about during her free time.

"But first!" Nicole stopped them before they could get carried away. "We need to prepare. Then we sleep. Tomorrow morning, we leave."

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