To the south-east of the Central Island where the Tree was, there were three continents around the size of Australia.
Two large countries and five small ones occupied the landmasses. Despite their Saplings being discovered quite a bit earlier than the City of Pleasure’s, they weren’t all that developed. They had nice, comfortable climates, but that was it. They had no special industries. The only thing they had going for them were the isolated ecosystems, which attracted adventurers coming to hunt subspecies monsters.
According to the newest guidebook I bought last time, the large country Quasix always had 400,000 people inside it at any given time, but their actual citizen population was only 150,000. The rest were composed of adventurers of wilder leanings, plus the merchants buying monster materials from them. Tourists were recommended to be careful.
…they were being way too loose with their information. Had the people of this world gotten complacent from the long-lasting peace?
“Well then, let’s go.”
*boing*
“Ook!”
Blobsy jumped on my shoulder, while Panda clung to my calf. Panda’s spot was normally my arm when I wasn’t wearing the cloak, or my hips or legs when I was. The locations themselves weren’t a problem, but Panda eating bananas and littering the peels while clinging to me was.
Stop that. You’re setting a bad example for Blobsy.
My destination this time was the southern continent of the group of continents I mentioned, the one with two countries on it. Xontdix and Quarrevingts, a large and small country, respectively.
I did think attacking two large countries in a row was dangerous, to be honest. All the same, I still chose this region, mainly because they had more adventurers than citizens. Which meant public order there wouldn’t be very good.
Xontdix’s ruler was also called the Mercenary King. Over a hundred years ago, a mercenary had exterminated the lizardmen there and taken the Sapling, and the country had gone into the hands of their descendants thereafter. Even until now, the country still had a meathead for a king. It was an awesome country.
It had quite a lot of powerful soldiers and adventurers, apparently. Of course, I got much stronger myself too, so unless something unexpected happened, I was confident there wouldn’t be a problem.
The lack of public order stemmed from the fact that a large part of the population was composed of thugs and ruffians, and these people tended to solve problems by themselves. It hinted at the fragility of their police force.
The country had a lot of adventurers, true, and I did pick a bit of a fight with the players back then. Still, it was just a small group of players. I thought it was about time the mess was forgotten.
As always, I bounced off the barrier. My landing spot was a dense forest with absolutely zero signs of human civilization.
Before, I would’ve had problems orienting myself. Now, I could vaguely sense the direction of the World Tree at all time. I wondered if it was because I had gained more power, or because I leveled up.
All the same, if I didn’t know where I was, that sense of direction wouldn’t really mean anything. I didn’t know if I should go west or east. West would be the right choice if I had landed in the middle of the continent, but if I landed on the edge, I would have no idea where I’d end up.
“…where do you think I should go?”
*boing*
“Ook.”
The two pointed to the east. No, Panda, I don’t need a banana. I had thought I should go west, but well, they pointed east, so let’s go there.
I put my two Kins into [Inventory], dispersed into mist, and got moving.
One whole day of high-speed flying later, I saw a farming village and patrolling watcher drones nearby. I turned human and followed along the road, hiding in what cover I could find and ignoring the farming village. After a while, a decently large town showed up in my view.
I had no idea what country this was. And as this small continent only had two countries, asking for the name would make me look too shady.
I found a railway track on the way and used it to sneak inside the town. At the station, I finally learned where I was.