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[Sora, please go to the Castle portal room and meet some guests? They should be there within ten minutes and will have a lot of shopping they need to get done but can’t do for themselves.] Cain sends in Guild chat once the Elder confirms that she can indeed create a portal. 

“Now, once it’s connected, are there restrictions?”

“More than a few. But the most important ones are that only living creatures that have come from this side can return through it, so it can’t be used to abduct anyone, and the Youkai at the other end must welcome you before you can fully exit the portal. Until then, you must remain touching it. If they reject you, you’ll be sent back home.”

“So it’s limited to Youkai visiting friends? That explains why it never caught on for general purposes.” Laura giggles, and the Elder smiles. 

“But today, we will be able to use it to get supplies. We were banished from the Youkai settlements of the southern continent because of our ice Affinity. There are other places like this, hidden all around the world for affinities that weren’t compatible with the tropical climate of our homeland. Most Youkai don’t die of old age, but there were never many of us, and it’s only a dozen species with incompatible affinities, so a few islands were enough.”

Cain’s eyes light up at this news. “There are more species here?”

“Not that care to interact with others. If you’re in a ‘difficult situation,’ I’m sure that one of the ladies or the Harpies would be glad to help you.” Her insinuation makes Laura giggle.

“As cute as Miss Eri was, I’ve already been spoken for. She’s waiting for us back on the ship, Laura and I only came alone because we can fly and don’t mind the cold.”

The female Yeti elder looks confused at that announcement. “Humans can fly? But you don’t even have wings.”

“I can transform when I need to be in a nonhuman shape. I fly in Dragon form.” Cain explains, but it doesn’t change the expression on her face. That’s fine; she can figure it out later or ask someone to explain it privately. 

Eri comes in a few seconds later, her arrival with a large neutral cart breaking the tension in the room caused by the Yeti Elder’s confusion. “I’m ready to go whenever you need me, Chief. You said we’re meeting with a Tengu?”

“No, you’re meeting with a Tengu. I’m going nowhere near the desert. You’ve got the list of things we need, along with the items to trade. If they don’t want them, come back, and we’ll find other things.” The Chief explains to the younger woman.

“Might I ask, what does she have to trade? I can save trouble if it’s not something they will have a use for. 

“I brought Frost Iron and Icedrop Gems. They’re both excellent Ice Element materials that the island has in abundance. Will they suffice?” 

Materials of any sort are always in demand by the Guild crafters. Especially rare Elemental items. “Yes, I do believe they’ll want those. Tell Sora, who is the Tengu you’ll be meeting, to call for some of the crafters, and they’ll sort everything out.”

The Elder seems quite eager to open the portal, creating it right in the middle of the council hut. The portal itself is a shimmering surface, almost like a heat mirage, and right now the view through it shows the portal room in the castle. Cain moves a little, so he can see who is on the other side, and Sora waves to him as Eri pulls the cart through. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but Sora nods along then calls a Summon to get someone, returning moments later with Char and Ragnar.

They look startled to see Cain through the open portal that has appeared at the edge of the room they’re in, but get right to business and start loading up the cart, mostly with foodstuff plus some wood and other materials.

The Dwarf looks ecstatic about the Frost Iron, and Char tells someone Cain can’t see about the Gems, her hand gestures with no accompanying sound giving Laura a good laugh before Char and Ragnar collect both trade items and start loading more bags onto the hapless Snow Woman, as the cart can’t hold anymore. 

She’s passing them through to this side as fast as possible Cain can see Sora laughing as Char pulls out more and more. 

“You didn’t ask for the entire value of those hundred kilos of Frost Iron in food, did you?” Cain asks, and the Chief shakes her head. 

“No, see there’s those materials too, for upgrading the misdirection barrier that hides the island. With those, unfortunate souls like you shouldn’t happen upon us by accident.”

Rare metals by the kilo are already expensive, but to pay for a hundred, Char and Ragnar must have bought out a produce market or two. The stream of sacks just doesn’t end, they must have people buying items and placing them in the Guild Bank for them to transfer. 

“I hope you’ve got a lot of people here. Because that metal is quite valuable in the desert.” Cain laughs as the food bags start piling up, forcing the Yeti elders to begin moving it outside. 

“We’ve got magic to store it, never you fear. But that’s an awful lot. I hope the cellar is big enough.”

They finish transferring the groceries, and Eri returns with the cart full of assorted nonfood items, back slumped in exhaustion from transferring all the foodstuffs. 

“That’s everything. Even the turnips for the Harpies.” The beaked Elder cheers in victory, and Cain laughs. Are turnips their favorite food? They’re definitely in luck trading with the Darklight Host, turnips are the easiest to grow crop around Montauk, so they’re cheap and plentiful year-round. The locals do their best to disguise them with spices and other ingredients, but they’re the staple food of the poor; even potatoes and rice are more valuable. 

“Do you have pickaxes? We’ll trade mammoth fur goods for them. Not many of us can stand the heat, so we’re very short on any Smithy workers.” The Yeti representative asks, and Cain checks his inventory before asking the others in the group. He’s got a bunch for the mining Golems, but nobody else has any. 

“I’ve got a bunch of Green Quality pickaxes. I could spare you forty or so if you need that many.” That’s about half the total number that Cain has. 

“Ten is enough to keep digging the Frost Iron to trade. Next time I will put them on the list of things we need.” 

They have a collection of hooded coats and boots covered in thick white fur, along with mittens in a softer hide that reminds Cain of rabbit fur. Cain gathers enough for the whole group and hands them the tools, happy with the exchange. 

“You must go now before it gets dark. The misdirection spells will move your ship, and if you’re not on it, you’ll be trapped here.” The Yeti Elder explains, looking happily at his new pickaxe. 

“It was a pleasure meeting you all. You know how to contact my Guild in the future, and if I get a Guild House built somewhere with a suitably cold climate, I’ll be sure to have Sora inform you.”

As soon as they step outside, Cain transforms back into the Golden Proto Dragon and takes to the sky. This time, he sees the Wooly Ice Dragons, or at least half a head that is poking out of the cave they’re hiding in. They look terrified of the three unfamiliar Dragons though, and he’s on a schedule, so Cain heads back to the ship and distributes the winter gear without stopping to record more than the one that he saw. 

In this cold, everyone has given up on the idea of using Merger, finding that the extra body heat matters more than the extra space. Despite the stove heating the cabin, Cain’s arrival with winter gear is enthusiastically welcomed. Everyone is eager to try on the warm furs, the Companions even going as far as having Nemu use [Troubadour’s Transformation] to put them all into forms that can wear a nice warm outfit.

Cain piles the the new winter gear on the floor of the cabin for everyone to pick from and soon the ship’s interior is full of fur-clad bodies and happy Companions. Prince Sven just looks like a big fluff ball, with his snowy white tails poking out from a white fur floor length coat. The effect is almost magnetic, he simply draws the fluff loving Laura to him, the Pixie sized Dragon snuggling in his warmth and causing him to give a resigned sigh.

As the Elders warned him, just after dark, they find that the ship is no longer anchored near the island, instead being somewhere in the open ocean with the anchor swinging freely beneath them. It’s quickly hauled back up, and the Giant Armored Octopus are Summoned to defend the ship against any attack. 

Dimnys finally sends a happy message about the Frost Iron just before dawn, having spent all night in the Demon King’s castle studying the Dwarven Smithing Book with the Dark Dwarven Masters there. She’s been staying in their new Keep in the Demon Capital, right next to the Smithing district which powers their forges from a river of hellfire that runs through the city. 

Dimnys explains that it was vacant because of its location. To the Dark Dwarves wealthy enough for a Keep in the city, it’s too far from the forges, almost a kilometer. To the Demons, it’s too close to the forges, where they’ll hear them the second they step out of the soundproof building or open a window. So it just sat empty since it came into the Demon King’s possession over a year ago.

It sounds like an exciting place, and Dimnys insists that he must visit to fully appreciate the architecture, leaving out any other details about the building itself. She certainly seems to be enjoying the gift of knowledge though, if she’s going to be up until dawn practicing. 

With the return of the morning light, Nila can finally get their bearings, finding that they’re less than a hundred Knots off the south coast of the Central Continent and should be under a hundred and fifty from one of the resorts they wanted to visit. With the speeds achievable through the combination of water and wind magic, they’ll be there by lunch.