The Island of Wonder

With the help of Annie's spores and the combined strength of the three girls, they got the two dead Ironhides next to each other. As they finished, the other group was still on the other side of the clearing, two figures looking down at the Narakai girl, who's soul seemed to be gone by now. Nicole couldn't hear their hushed voices, but the looks on their faces were full of sorrow. The Torakai guy was clutching his bow with both hands, his knuckles white from tension.

"Hm, now that I think about it, how are we supposed to transport all of this back to the Hive?" Soi wondered, standing by the Ironhide's head, seemingly unbothered by the tragedy not that far away. "I mean, Nicole could store some of it, but didn't you say that the fur turns into thread inside your storage? I don't think they will appreciate that and pay us much. And carrying the whole body will take a while. We'll end up vulnerable in the middle of the forest while the sun is setting." She glanced at the orange sky.

The situation reminded Nicole of the times when she went to live in the forest for a while. "We could make a base here." Nicole looked around. "It would be better to be next to a source of water, but this place isn't too bad. Then we could split up—some will go back to get my wagon, and some will stay here to guard our prey and the base itself."

"Hm… This is actually not a bad idea." Soi looked up at her. "We could make a relatively safe spot in case we have to rest or something goes wrong. Also, going back and forth to the Hive to sell everything we hunt will take time, so we could gather it here before selling everything at once."

Nicole smiled to herself. I haven't built anything in a while. Time to get to work. "Alright. Then should we split into groups now or tomorrow? It will take me some time to make a proper base, probably days, so I'm staying here. Annie won't be able to carry much while flying, so she can stay and patrol the area. You, Soi, together with Iloe, can go to the Hive. I can make you a simple carriage to transport the Ironhides. The two can help with pulling it too." She nodded toward the Zunthari and Torakai guys.

"Hey, I want to stay too!" Iloe sighed. "What's the point of me going? I could help here!"

Nicole petted the catgirl's head. "Someone has to support Soi. The worst-case scenario would be one of you getting attacked while alone."

"But you said the other two will go too, no?"

"Sure, but they are strangers, after all. And they're emotionally devastated after their friend's death. Not reliable at all." Nicole smiled mischievously and leaned toward Iloe's cat ear, her proximity making it twitch. "If you go and the mission succeeds, then once the base is finished, I'll invite you to my room."

The catgirl's eyes sparkled and lit up immediately as she nodded eagerly. "Okay! Right!"

Soi nodded along. "Fine. But we'll go tomorrow morning. There's no way we'll reach the Hive before nightfall."

"Good. Now help me make our shelter."

Soon, the other two adventurers approached her.

"What are you doing? Not going back?" the Torakai asked.

"No time. Unless you want to navigate the dark forest while carrying the whole Ironhide by yourselves."

Nicole quickly explained the plan, and they agreed to help each other. After a few hours, a simple, large wooden box-shaped building stood in the middle of the clearing. It was already dark, and in the meantime they had made a campfire outside for light and warmth. Everyone sat around it, chewing on dried meat.

"Hey, uh, I just realized we never introduced ourselves properly," the Zunthari man said. "I'm Rakk, and this is Sart." The Torakai man nodded silently, his hollow gaze directed at the burning wood. "And, well... Lipa didn't get the chance to properly meet you girls. I think you would have gotten along well, despite the rough start." He glanced at Soi, who still seemed annoyed.

 The faces of her parents flashed before Nicole's eyes. "I-I'm sorry for your loss."

"This is what happens when you act so foolish..." Soi's bitter remark invited a silence that lasted for a couple of seconds.

"Soi!" Nicole frowned, tired of the catgirl's behavior. "Stop it! I don't care if we could have gotten more. It is what it is now, and this is just childish!"

"She... she is kind of right, though." Rakk sighed. "Lipa was reckless. She always wanted to be cool and seem stronger than she really was, smiling and brushing everything off until the very end. We really made things harder for you, huh?"

"It's okay. Don't worry about us." Nicole offered a small smile.

They spent the night in the cabin, and in the morning, after Nicole made a simple carriage and the Ironhides were loaded onto it, the group split up. Nicole got to work expanding the building while Annie either sat nearby or flew around, sometimes playing with Mignon whenever he wasn't sleeping.

No glass means no proper windows for now. Also, we need a basement to store stuff. How many floors?

Nicole's mind was overwhelmed with possibilities. She closed her eye, tried of imagining a house that would fit everything they might need.

If there will be more adventurers, some may accidentally find this place. I could make more rooms and charge rent for a night or two. An inn in the middle of a forest? If it ends up paying well, I could find someone to work here as an innkeeper. Then I could leave whenever needed and earn money passively... Stop. Back to Earth. Or rather, back to the island. One thing at a time. A cellar.

Using her ability, Nicole slowly absorbed the ground beneath the house, making the walls out of stone bricks so the whole building wouldn't collapse, and built a stone staircase leading up to the first floor. Then she made another staircase next to the first one leading to the second floor, where she built the first set of rooms, four in total. They were rather small but had enough space for a single bed and some furniture.

It's gonna take an eternity to make all this stuff... Maybe if hunting pays well, it'll be easier to buy everything in the Hive and bring it here. And I should have asked Soi and Iloe to buy that plant sponge material they stuff the mattresses with. For now, we'll have to stick to sleeping on cloth and makeshift beds like the ones in the village. At least the rainforest should stay more or less warm all year, and I won't have to bother with a heating system.

"Hey, um... Nicole? Can you come down here?" Annie shouted from somewhere outside.

"Yeah, one sec," Nicole said loudly enough to be heard, but on her way down, she stopped for a second.

She sounded strange. Something wrong?

Remembering that they were still in the middle of the wild forest, Nicole ran downstairs. Once past the front door, she looked around for Annie. The girl was sitting at the edge of the clearing, staring into the forest. Not seeing any immediate danger, Nicole slowed her pace.

"What's going on?"

Mignon is nowhere around. Did something happen to him?

As she stepped closer, something felt off. Except for the wind occasionally moving the treetops and bushes, everything around was dead silent.

"So..." Annie started as Nicole stopped next to her. Nicole glanced at her friend and saw sheer terror on her face. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't want this."

Before Nicole could crouch down and ask what was happening or what had scared Annie so much, a shadow moved beside them. Nicole jumped back, reaching for her spear. Her eye went wide when she saw a Lamia standing just a meter away. The same long violet hair with green tips and emerald eyes. Nicole could see the slit pupils fixed on her.

Fuck, the worst possible timing! How did she find us so quickly?!

Nicole tried to move, but her body felt like stone, heavy and unmoving. The Lamia slowly slithered closer. She licked her smiling lips with a long, forked tongue. Then the Lamia took a breath and exhaled a violet mist into Nicole's face.

Ew.

"Just to be cautious," the woman said. "Now you are infected with my venom. Be a bad girl, and I'll make you two die in agony."

I heard they can make their venom turn active and dangerous at will. Like detonating a bomb from a distance.

Nicole had a hard time swallowing nervously, still paralyzed. Speaking was even harder. "W-What... do you want...?"

The Lamia slid the spear from Nicole's hands. "It'll be easier if you can talk normally. So I'm going to remove the paralysis. But one wrong move, and both you and Annie will struggle to take another breath."

After those words, the Lamia blinked, and Nicole felt her body becoming less stiff. She barely avoided falling to the ground as her legs started working again. The girl placed a hand on her sword in a defensive stance.

"I still don't get what you want," Nicole growled. "I thought Lamias usually eat or rape whoever they manage to get their claws on."

Amused, the Lamia looked at her long, sharp nails. "They are a little long, but calling them claws?" She giggled. "And most of my kin would probably do those things, you're right. But I know something they don't."

"And that something is...?" Nicole was becoming more and more confused by the strange snake woman.

"I study you—humans. Or rather, before you appeared here, I studied ancient history. It's a long story, but you have to know this—you are not the first two humans to come here. It's such a rare occurrence that the previous case happened so long ago only ancient ruins still remember it." Nicole was speechless, and the Lamia continued. "I feel honored to be able to meet a living human during my lifetime." The Lamia smiled.

Nicole finally came to her senses and snapped. "Oh, and you were so honored that you decided to kill us back at the Zanokai village?! And kept Annie on the verge of death!" Her fingers trembled around her sword, using all her willpower not to attack.

The woman grinned. "Showing some teeth? I never said I was your ally. I do what I want. Be happy I didn't sell you to Them."

"W-Who?"

The Lamia winked. "Curious now? Afraid of an unknown threat? Good. Because if They want to, your fun little adventure will come to an end in an instant. Actually, I have no idea why you and your friend are still roaming the island freely."

Nicole frowned. The woman's words made a cold sweat appear on the back of her neck. "I'm asking again. Who are you talking about?"

"Hm... Not even a ‘please'? Why should I tell you anything?"

Nicole was growing more and more tired of the cryptic answers. "You came here yourself! You didn't kill me, so you obviously want to talk. So fucking talk!"

"So young and impatient." The Lamia sighed dramatically. "I heard you have something interesting. A black, curved knife."

H-how does she know?

"M-Maybe. What about it?"

"Give it to me and maybe—" The woman mimicked Nicole's voice on the last word. "Maybe I'll tell you more."

Giving something to a bloody monster that shredded a bunch of soldiers in a couple of seconds doesn't sound like a great idea. But what other option do I have? She could always kill me and take it from my corpse anyway.

Nicole reached behind her and took out the knife, holding it in her hand. "This one, right?"

The Lamia's eyes immediately snapped to the object. "Yes. Right." She raised a hand toward Nicole, palm open. "Give it to me."

Hesitantly, Nicole placed the strange weapon into the Lamia's hand. The woman looked at it closely, smiling. "Great. It will be safer here anyway."

"Now speak." Nicole reminded the woman of her promise.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!