Monster Girl Ranching in Another World

"What do you know about the caves?" I asked, and Gloria spoke up but wasn't helpful.

"They are off limits. King James has been using them to power the town, but no one knows where he's getting them from," she said, and I frowned. So, they didn't know anything about the caves?

I sighed and rubbed my temples; this was getting me nowhere. I needed to talk to someone who knew something about what was going on, and it didn't seem like these three were going to be any help at all.

"Do you have any idea where I could find someone who would know more about the caves?" I asked, and they all looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"No, sorry," Gloria said with a shake of her head, and I sighed again before standing up.

"I'll just have to figure it out on my own then," I muttered before turning and walking away from them, leaving the room without another word as frustration bubbled up inside of me once more.

I needed to find the girls and see if they had heard anything. I headed back down the hall, but the door that I had just left opened behind me, so I stopped and looked back.

"I still need to take you to go see Chana, the Mud Elemental!" Gloria said as she came running to catch up to me.

"Mud Elemental? Now that sounds dirty," I said with a small huff of a laugh, still pretty frustrated, but this was interesting. "Sure, lead the way, but I want you to start telling me about what you know that might be of importance."

"The King is a lot stronger than he looks, and he is covered in magical items and weapons. Three summon monstrous serpents, and the other gives him control over the elements. You look pretty strong, but I would not try to attack him. At least not until you learn a bit more about him," Gloria explained as we started walking again and headed down the stairs and out of the town hall. I was starting to think that I wasn't going to get out of there anytime soon, so I closed my eyes.

I opened them again inside my head, but only Harold was there pacing, but he looked up at me in surprise.

"About goddamn time you came and checked in! What the hell happened to you?!" Harold nearly shouted at me as he rushed over to shake me by the shoulders.

"Chill out, Spaz. Nothing is wrong other than some stupid fucking king wasting my time. That is what I came in here to talk to you about," I said, but Harold shook me again.

"What, King? Where are you?! I was busy healing that crabby eel, and then I tried to check on you, but I got nothing. I thought something bad had happened, shit heat!" Harold growled, but I shoved him away to stop him from rattling my brain around.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know. Anyways, I am at Fishbar. It's kind of like Atlantis, but with semi-human blueish fish people. The problem is the king is pretty strong, but the main problem is that he is planting demons to grow crystals. They are using them not only to power their city but also for weapons and vehicles. Pretty much Atlantis with fish people, but I think the king is up to something. I came here to tell you that I was going to be a bit," I explained, and Harold sighed.

"That is fine, just as long as you are okay. Should I expect any more guests?" Harold asked as he sat down at the table, and I joined him. The girls force Mex to stop at an island of snake people to explore, but they are all really friendly, and they know Mex."

"I am going to pick up a Mud Elemental right now. I don't know if she is going to come, but I am pretty sure she will. She has a pretty name; Chana. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know where I was and what was going on. Hopefully, I will be able to find out more about these crystals and figure out what is going on," I said as I stood up again.

"Be careful," Harold warned me before fading away, and my eyes opened back up in the real world to see Gloria staring at me with a weird look on her face.

"You were talking to someone just now, weren't you?" She asked me curiously as we started walking again towards who knows where.

"No, I just blinked," I said casually, but Gloria narrowed her eyes at me and then pushed me into a back alley.

"I know that is what it looked like, but you instantly relax when you open your eyes. Blinking does not do that, so my only guess is that you were talking to someone!" Gloria almost hissed at me. This woman was far too perceptive for her own good, but she had shared something with me. I could do the same.

"Alright, I will share with you if you do the same," I finally relented, and Gloria frowned at me for a second before sighing and nodding her head. "I was talking to Harold, my pet rock that has been following me since I woke up on this beach."

Gloria's eyes went wide at that, but then she regained her composure before speaking again. "You are bonded with a rock… that can talk?" Gloria asked skeptically as we started walking again, but slower this time, as we both fell into step beside each other.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy when you think about it too much," I lied as we turned a corner and started heading down another street of shops. This one seemed more like a market street than anything else, as people were haggling over prices left and right while others just walked around looking at stuff.

There was even someone playing music off to the side of the road with some strange instrument; it looked like two long tubes connected together somehow, and they were blowing air into them from their mouths while running their fingers down them in different patterns to make different notes come out.