novelraw Chapter 325 - 267 - Journey to Lontano Island
Chapter 325 - 267 - Journey to Lontano Island
It was March 9th, the final day of the Festival di Cappello. Morning rose much to the relief of those haunted by the terror caused by the cryptid nightwalker. Overnight, the PTRS roster grew by four--which did solve one of the guild's present problems, and even a problem they didn't know they had.
Holly taking over for Klein would be good.
The last conversation confirmed the hope they carried.
"Yes, yes, we'd love to join your guild!" Solana beamed when they met the next morning. None of them had slept too long given the events of the night prior. Regardless, the two quartets found one another at a park nearby. On the streets, various crews prepared for the day parade.
The chef's expression faltered. "We did lose a bunch of our cooking supplies when that cryptid attacked," she admitted.
"That's fine, we can re-build, we have plenty in the guild funds to help you with that--assuming you're accepting the mantle of guild chef?" Shouri spoke uneasily, with a hope that he didn't make a rash assumption.
The chef grinned coyly. "What would you have someone of my skill set do, besides cook?" wondered the woman,
"It will be wonderful to work with you all," Lee said with a warm smile.
"Will be nice to have an actual home instead of bouncing around for awhile," Vivi commented.
Taika was happy to have a fellow Resonator doctor to bounce ideas off of, and maybe even a study buddy.
Pacifica was relieved that the stress of finding a new financial manager was solved so cleanly.
Rebecca was ready to have another fire element to spar with.
All around, the group was pleased to have Solana's group join the guild. They were confident the rest of the guild back home would welcome the new quartet with open arms.
"Oh! I never read yesterday's story stuff," Pacifica realized.
"Story stuff?" Vivi raised a brow.
The otter lit up at the question and thrust her tuner in the linsang's face. "There's like an app that helps tell the story of the Paglia Pirates," the water element excitedly explained.
Vivi blinked, flinching at the sudden tuner being pushed at her. "There's a story?" she questioned quietly. Lee simply smiled and patted the girl's shoulder.
"Where's Vince, by the way?" asked Holly of Shouri.
The guildmaster paused for a moment before he answered. "He's sleeping in, last night took a lot out of him." From Vince's texts, Zephyr didn't get out of the Viva Unit until around five in the morning. After all the paperwork and waiting on doctors, they were freed from the hospital at about seven in the morning.
Miro and Mila stayed with Vince the entire time, so both of them were also wiped out.
Truthfully, if not for Taika, Pacifica, and Rebecca, Shouri himself would have stayed. Vince himself telling Shouri to go back to the hotel was the final straw that allowed him to relent. With those thoughts out of the way, Shouri paid his story-telling otter the attention she was paitently waited for.
Pacifica took a breath and began to recount the tale of the tenth Pagilia Pirate.
"Ricky was a man from the southern Sierra Islands. Outwardly, he appeared to be a Maestro, however, it is said that his large body was the result of experimentation performed on himself. Modern analysis believes Ricky may have worn prosthetic limbs imbued with sprites he harmonized with. His body was much larger than a normal human, and as a result, he was always treated as a Resonator, with he himself even identifying as a lightning element. One thing was certain however, Ricky loved to build, specifically ships, but he was an expert craftsman in his own right. His dream was to craft a ship that could sail any ocean. Rufus found him when they were in port, and Ricky was appalled by the state of their ship. While he initially refused to help the Paglia Pirates, he joined them after he realized how serious they were about sailing to Lontano Island."
Shouri hummed in thought. "It was said that Lontano Island was the end of the world--the last piece of land before you entered the domain of Lord Cievo, and Sage Luca waits for you there when you pass," the Maestro waxed poetic.
"Isn't it a real place?" Taika questioned.
"Sort of? The mythological Lontano Island, Sage Luca's home, doesn't really exist. However, an island far far away in the Desola Ocean was named Lontano Island due to how far away it was from land," Shouri told the group.
Pacifica looked to her tuner. "I wonder if they ever found it," she whispered to herself before she closed out the app.
"Fun story," Holly commented. "May have to give that a read later, since I only know one piece of it."
For a moment, the group allowed the conversation to lull, appreciating the ambiance of the building festivities around them. The group people watched in silence and allowed the crowds to go on with their day in peace and comfort. A Maestro couple shared a quick kiss. An elderly Maestro tried to corral her three excited puppy Resonators. A cat-girl in a flamboyant rainbow dress got help putting on a flowery headpiece.
Then there was the man in a suit who looked around, his head bobbing up and down between his surroundings and his tuner. His search locked onto the group seated at the picnic tables. The man looked between them and his tuner several times. Finally, he nodded, pocketed the device and approached.
Shouri and Solana both allowed a hand to rest on their respective tuners, while Holly reached into her seed bag at her side.
"Hello, are you with Pruned Trees Re-Sprout? The guild?" the man inquired.
The other seven looked to their guildmaster.
With a weary breath, Shouri spoke. "We are. Who's asking?"
"The mayor would like to speak with you."
The Resonators tensed, turning battle-ready scowls on the man. He quickly shook his hands in surrender. "It's nothing bad! I promise!" he exclaimed. "She just wanted to talk about the incident last night. You're not in trouble, I swear!" He continued when the six Resonators remained tense. "Your Resonators can come with," he added, hoping to placate the protective posturing of the six who glared him down.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Shouri motioned with his hand for the Resonators to calm down, which they heeded (they all kept a careful watch, regardless).
"We'll hear them out," Shouri told the man.
"Excellent, right this way, please."
Jenteri City Hall had the same blend of historical-meets-modern architecture the rest of the city had. It was a whitish building with yellowing stone that had withstood the test of time to the present day.
CITY HALL was carved into the stone above the door. The eight strong group of PTRS guildmembers walked up the steps and into the building. No eyes were on them, as everyone else prepped for the festival's final day.
This extended into the lobby, as very few worked that day, despite it being a weekday.
"This way." Their guide led the way up a flight of stairs and into the administrative wing of the building.
If the lobby was considered quiet, the winding hallways might as well have been a graveyard. Only the shuffle of the group of nine traveling down them broke the hushed veil cast across the corridor. They passed many different offices, all numerically labeled with people's names that adorned the closed doors. The lights were off in many of the offices despite it being so early in the morning.
Shouri figured the mayor probably gave the city employees the day off where she could--there was a festival going on outside, after all.
Finally, they reached Mayor Anne Read's office. Familiarity with her name came from the nameplate affixed to the side of her door.
The group's guide opened one of the twin wood doors and motioned for them to follow him.
"Mayor Read, Pruned Trees Re-Sprout is here to see you," said the man. He quickly took his leave before any further words were spoken.
Jenteri's mayor was admittedly quite the strong woman. The type of authority figure that Shouri might find himself hurling some choice words at if she gave him reason to. She looked up from her work and regarded the eight who stood before her.
She rose from her chair and stepped around her desk, offering a hand to the guildmaster. "Mister Tomoshibi, a pleasure to meet you."
He accepted the handshake and broke it off quickly. She stepped back, and leaned against her desk. Her gaze was focused on him, she didn't appear to mind the presence of the six Resonators. Not even Solana drew her curiosity--only Shouri had her undivided attention. "Mayor Read, how can we help you?" Shouri decided to stay cordial until she gave him a reason not to be.
The correct answer, as she smiled. "Thank you for protecting the citizens of my city. Your guild is welcome here if you ever wish for a change of pace from Dalliva. We'll make sure you're taken care of." The woman allowed herself a moment. "Please bill the city for your travel and stay here, it's the least we can do for your service."
It was nice to be recognized for the nonsense they had to put up with, but he didn't understand if the accolades were really worth what little he felt they did. "Mayor Read, I appreciate the recognition, but we didn't really do that much--"
She cut him off with a raised hand. "Is she part of your guild?" Mayor Read pointed to Solana.
"Y-yes ma'am, I am," answered the chef.
Mayor Read nodded, her finger swishing to Lee and Vivi's direction. "No casualties, thanks to that boy's timely treatments on the scene, and her carrying people away from where the battle broke out," the mayor stated. Before Shouri could interrupt, she continued. "Plus, I heard that your people also directly engaged the attackers. Am I mistaken?"
Shouri wasn't about to let Vince's efforts get swept under the rug because of modesty, it wasn't fair to him. "No ma'am. We just did what came naturally to us, we all came from hunter backgrounds," he replied quietly.
A satisfied smirk crossed the older woman's lips. "Then accept our small gift with pride."
"Thank you, ma'am," he mumbled. Taika's hand on his back kept him sane.
"Lastly, I would like for your guild to join me this evening."
Shouri looked around, his poor guild members were all just as confused as he was. "Join you for what?" he asked.
He didn't like the way the smirk rose on the older woman's lips, the chuckle that followed, even less.
Every day he woke up, Shouri Tomoshibi thanked god that he had the fortune to wake up next to Taika. Her exceedingly strong willpower helped him get through the day.
Tonight was no exception, as he stood next to the mayor of Jenteri on a parade float as it wheeled through the city. He waved, his face feeling numb from the smile he had to perpetually wear. His other hand sweated as he maintained a vice grip on his first's. If they didn't etude for even a second, he feared he might jump into the ocean.
Beads and other trinkets were tossed into the adoring crowds, many of whom dressed up as pirates themselves, with many more being inebriated. Everyone partied in good fun, as if last night's near tragedy never happened.
"Thanks, Shouri," said the Mayor.
"Any hunter would have done the same," he commented back.
"Yes, but would any guild have?"
"I hope they would."
"Keep that optimism--it'll take you far."
Shouri looked to Taika who giggled, he knew what she was thinking.
Truly, tonight was a wild night if Shouri was the optimist.
It grew wilder as the parade moved onto the various ships that patrolled the harbor all week long. The huge platoon of ships began to sail towards the setting sun, chasing it as fast as they could.
Dusk orange slowly faded into the dark blues and purples of night and once night had fully taken over, all but one ship returned to harbor. Taika continued to watch as the final ship grew smaller and smaller, before it finally disappeared over the horizon, out of sight.
"Why did that one boat keep going?" Taika wondered aloud.
"That's the tournament winner. They got a free pass to Selvica Nationals," Rebecca said.
"It's supposed to represent Rufus and his crew chasing their dreams and ultimately vanishing where no others dared to follow," Pacifica waxed poetic.
"Did they ever find it? Lontano Island, I mean?" asked Taika.
"No one knows. After their final voyage, they just kind of disappeared from public record. It's said Lybertera was named such because they found freedom and liberty from the world on their voyage," Shouri explained.
Taika looked out to the tranquil oceans where the final boat crossed. "Freedom," she whispered.