The next day the dragonkin patriarch Somei approached Allen.
"You're really going already then? Even though you only arrived yesterday?"
The patriarch's mansion did not have many rooms, so Allen's group ended up spending the night in a meeting room. The next morning they were getting ready to go hunting, which startled the patriarch, so he went to the room they spent the night in.
Allen replied, before glancing at Merle, who understood the sign and went to kick the dwarves awake. They had emptied all the barrels the night before, getting completely drunk.
"Yes, thank you very much for everything last night, we'll be heading out as soon as possible."
"I see. I'll write you a letter for the warden then."
Allen would have liked it if he had written that letter during the night, but he only started now.
While they left the meeting room, the letter was done and it was handed to them, and they were told what it said.
[To the Warden Leader Abigayle,
Some people have finally crossed the Gate of Judgement.
I want you to go with them and obtain Spirit Crystal Stones.
Show them the power of Shandar and dragonkin!!
Yours truly, Patriarch Somei.]
"...So is this Abigayle the warden of the ghost swarm?"
Allen felt like the letter was too pretentious.
"Yes, he is. Katakuchi will show you the way there, as it's a 10 day long trip."
"Don't worry about that, we have a golem with us."
The swarm seemed to be at least 300 kilometers away from the city.
There were multiple ghost swarms in this world, but that one was the closest.
Allen's group had golems, so riding on them would make the trip much faster.
Everyone said good-bye to the patriarch and boarded on Tam-Tam Mode Eagle.
Merle could fit 30 Stone Slabs in her Magic Cube, which let her make Tam-Tam 100 meters long, have the [Eagle] Stone Slab, and still have space left for Agility Stone Slabs.
Galara's party also had Stone Slabs to make flying golems, but they were slower.
Everyone boarded Tam-Tam and gathered in the cockpit. The screens there showed what Tam-Tam's eyes were seeing.
"So this is the right direction?"
The gatekeeper Katakuchi leaned over the map and verified they faced the right direction.
He knew the location of the ghost swarm, so he was in Tam-Tam as well.
(There's trees growing on the clouds…)
"There's some weird plants out there."
Kuena looked at the vegetation that looked like large broccoli and lettuce, some even forming forests. The vegetation of the divine realm looked different.
The screens showed the changing scenery. It looked like a vast paradise on top of clouds, really giving them the sense that they were in the divine realm.
Meanwhile Cecile thought of something.
"We're going really fast. Are you sure we'll need to borrow the Heavenly King's ship?"
They were gathering the Spirit Crystal Stones in hopes to travel to the Spirit Paradise.
"Hm? Well, maybe I guess."
"So what, are we just doing this to help people then?"
Cecile was unsure of Allen's objective by helping the patriarch. It was true that the dragonkin were relegated to lesser jobs compared to divine people, but Allen always said they had little time to prepare to fight the Demon King. Now Cecile was wondering if there were other ways to reach the Spirit Paradise without hunting ghosts, and even Kiel seemed to think the same.
"Some quests can be meaningless, but you'll never know until you complete them."
Allen continued talking about that while his party listened in. They understood the quests he always mentioned as God's Trials and similar terms.
There were quests necessary to complete a game, and sidequests that were worthless.
Allen mentioned how sometimes he would get a basic avatar, a strange pose or emote, which made it all feel like a waste of time.
But other times quests could give key items. He felt a lot more comfortable completing one that could take him to the Spirit Paradise. Then again, this was their second day in the divine realm, he was in no rush.
(And Merus seems to be in a bad mood and keeps giving me a cold shoulder too.)
'...That's not true at all. Ohh how fun it is to grow Heaven's Blessings.'
Merus could sense Allen's thoughts. He had served Elmea for 100000 years, but he did not know much about how dragonkin or divine people lived, or about the ghosts.
Allen did not care about the issues of the dragonkin, but quests could be important.
"I-I guess…"
Cecile still seemed confused.
"Hm? The fog is getting thicker, is it over there?"
"Yes, the ghost swarm is over there. We dragonkin are in charge of stopping it from spreading, so we built a wall around it. You should be able to find a fort with the warden around there too."
(So it's like the barriers against the Demon King's Army. Though they look less refined.)
The scenery gradually changed, a thick fog filling the space between the enormous trees.
The fort amongst the 100 meter tall trees came into view, with walls spanning on both sides circling around the forest. The dragonkin of the fort were moving quickly up and down.
(Hm? Did something happen?)
Allen had never seen it before, but it did not look like it was normally operated that way.
Some dragonkin noticed Tam-Tam and started shouting, but they landed nearby anyway.
A large group of dragonkin approached them as soon as they landed.
"Who are you?!!"
They pointed their spears at Allen's group, clearly having enough troubles to deal with more.
(So these are the dragonkin stopping the ghost swarm from spreading.)
"I'm sorry to disturb you at such a time, but the patriarch Somei sent me, my name is Allen. Is the Warden Leader Abigayle here?"
Allen decided to just mention his goal there.
"What?! Hm? Is that you Katakuchi?"
They had not been informed about this, but they did know Katakuchi, who took over by telling them about Allen's arrival through the Gate of Judgement and the request from the patriarch.
"Why would he ask for that now of all times?! Nestiad just started being active again!!"
"Wha-?! Nestiad?!! Was it near here?"
Katakuchi sounded surprised.
"We don't know, but the ghosts have gotten really annoying lately!!"
(What's Nestiad?)
'That's the leader of this swarm, a very powerful ghost so we shouldn't get anywhere close.'
Nestiad was the name of the leader of the ghost swarm.
"Anyway! The Warden Leader is on the fort so come with me."
The dragonkin told Allen's group to follow. They entered the fort and were led to the rooftop, where many dragonkin were moving around frantically.
"There's ghosts active nearby, they're heading this way!!"
"There's too many of them, we'll be overrun!!"
"We can't run! We're the wardens!!"
(Somehow I feel like I shouldn't bother them right now.)
But it was the patriarch's fault for sending them there.
"E-excuse me, is the Warden Leader Abigayle here!!"
(Is he serious? I guess Katakuchi is the type that puts his duty above everything else.)
Everyone's gaze focused on them after Katakuchi shouted in a loud voice.
"Hm? Who are you? But I'm Abigayle, the Warden Leader."
A large dragonkin, around as tall as Ignomas, approached Allen's group.
"Ohh, so you're Abigayle. I'm Allen, the patriarch entrusted me with this letter."
Allen hurried to not disturb them further, introducing himself, and giving him the letter.
"Hm? A letter?"
All the dragonkin looked as Abigayle read the letter.
(Hmm, his hands are starting to shake now.)
"I'm really sorry to disturb you when you're so busy."
Allen apologized again, but something else caught their attention.
'AAaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!'
An eerie shriek came from deep within the forest. A dragonkin came running from there then.
"Ruuuuuuuunnnn!! The ghosts are almost hereeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
The instant he was close enough the fort's door was open to let him enter. Many of the wardens looked pale, like the end of the world was about to happen.
Meanwhile Abigayle looked at Allen.
"I don't know why you arrived at this time in particular, but in a way this letter says you'll help us…correct?"
"Of course. We're here to hunt."
Allen replied instantly.
They were about to face off against the ghosts.
