Diary Entry 31

Today was a very long and exhausting day for me. It all started when I found a request to find a missing pet on a bulletin board in the town square. Normally I wouldn't even look at such a request as they usually left alone by us professionals so that kids have a way to earn some pocket money. But this time I found it a little interesting because the client list the reward as "???" reach always indicates two things, the reward is going to be somewhat random and the the client is rich enough to afford it to be random.

My guess on the client being wealthy turned out to be a bit of understatement. Instead of the mansion I was expecting, the address on the request turned out to be a large villa. The client was a rich woman of some advanced years. Judging from from the fact that she insisted I call her Señora, I think she was originally from the country of Inigo, on the Burning Continent. "My little Querida is a Ramidreju."

"A what?"

"A Ramidreju, it looks like a weasel or marten, but it is as long as a snake. Its green fur radiates a healing aura that speeds up healing and it has an unbelievable knack for encontrar tesoro enterrado."

"So I am looking for a green snake like weasel? Where do I need to start looking?"

"Cabarello, my little niño loves to play around in the garden behind the casa, but he's not there anymore!"

MC looks around for the pet

As I looked around her backyard, I noticed a tree branch that extended over the wall. Talk about a stereotypical escape scenario. I know what you are probably thinking, just turn into a Pyre Wolf and track it down. Two problems with that, one, I have no idea what a Ramidreju smells like, and two, for all I know, the creature will react very badly to a Pyre Wolf. So the best I can do is look for tracks and use a monster detection spell which is going to be a pain to maintain. Luckily I found some tracks that looked like they were made by either weasel or marten. Before you ask how I know what weasel tracks and marten tracks look like, may I remind you that my mother has a menagerie of critters and she has both to help with pest control.

A few hours of tracking (and a few Mana Potions) lead me to the only forest on Tortoise Island. Eventually the tracks I was following ended at a large Willow tree. According to the detection spell I was using, there was a monster nearby. Staying very still, I looked very carefully around me for anything that seemed long, green, and furry. I also listened closely for any noise. I heard... the sounds of snoring coming from a branch above me and to my left. Lying on the branch was a green weasel-like creature with a serpentine body.

This was going to be difficult. I couldn't use a spell to grab it since none of the ones I know that can do job are quiet. The branch was too small to hold my weight. There are some cage traps in my carpet bag but I didn't ask Señora about its diet so I don't know what to use as bait. It didn't matter though, because I made a bonehead mistake and tried to sit on what turned out to be a rotting hollow log. As the the log made a loud snap and crash as I sat down, the Ramidreju opened its eyes took one look at me, and fled. I barely managed to hit it with a improvised tracking spell before it ran out of sight. Cursing my stupidity, I managed to get myself unstuck from the log and followed after it.

followed pet through jungle to a dungeon

Thanks to my spell, I was able to follow it a lot faster this time. I followed the pet out of the forest as it headed to a cove. At the cove there seemed to be a dungeon. According to my spell, the target had fled inside. Naturally, I went in after it, after all, it's a dungeon, if I didn't go, who knows what would happen to it. The dungeon turned out to be full of crustacean type monsters of various sizes. An hour or so later as I was trying to navigate the place, deal with crustaceans, and find the Ramidreju, my spell started directed me to the exit. It dawned on me that the blasted thing had tried to trap me in here!

When I finally managed to get out of the cave/dungeon, I tracked my quarry back to the port. It was doing some sort of hopping dance or whatever when I had caught up to it. However, before I could grab it, first it saw me, then it fled me, running into Puffballo Road. As I trailed after it, I heard vendors shouting and customers screaming as it ran through, over, and under the stalls' merchandise. I had almost caught up to it when it slipped from my grasp by going down a hole!

The little monster had fled down sewer that was currently opened for maintenance! Quickly wrapping a cloth around my face to help me deal with the fumes, I descended after it. Ignoring the angry sewer workers, I ran after my prey as it turned corner after corner. Occasionally it would jump over some startled giant rat that would then turn and his at me. As I was in a hurry, I would just knock it into the sewage as I ran. Eventually, I followed the Ramidreju into a pipe that had daylight shining through.

Blasting a hole where the pipe used to be (what, I couldn't fit and I was a little pressed for time), it had turned out that I had chased it out of the sewers to the docks. Quickly gulping down a 5 Hourglass Stamina Potion, I continued after it. The little troublemaker ran through gaps in cargo crates, under the feet of dockworkers, and on the desks where customs were seated. I followed after it, changing into my Venomous Rat form (it's my fastest form) as I stayed hot on its tail. As we left the docks, the miserable creature ran into a nearby construction site.

By this time, I was irritated and determined to capture the pain in the bogdel, so of course I followed it in even though this is probably not going to end well. But first I changed back into a human. Not sure what they were building but it sure seemed tall. There was a spiraling ramp around a central core made of stone and it was just my luck that the Ramidreju was climbing it. I followed it up using the ramp. I didn't get too far before I had to dodge a slab of stone being lifted by a crane. I briefly turned around to look at the crane operator and wheel runner who turned out to be talking to each other instead of focusing on their job, making a mental note to blast them after this.

I continued on upwards but by now the pest noticed I was still hot on its tail. As such, it started knocking things down so that they would fall on my head. Dodging wheelbarrows of mortar, buckets of nails, and barrels of iron rods, I steadily made my way to the the top of of the ramp where I could get a decent shot at the pain in the bogdel. I used my magic to make a cage of stone out of the top of the central core around the Ramidreju.

As I came back down with the Ramidreju in tow, I didn't forget to send a lightning bolt at the crane operator and wheel runner who thought having a chat was more important than paying attention to where they swing their bloody crane load! I then left the construction site and returned to Señora's villa. We arrived just as the sun began to set, when I spied Señora catching a moth in a golden net. She was very, very happy to see us, "My little Querida! You have returned! Mamá was so worried about you!". She gave me a pass that would allow me to participate in the SOTA Annual Boat Race that is going to take place in the the fall. Before I left, she asked me to wait and examined her precious pet. I think I heard her muttering about "She's gotten even rounder, it should be any day now," (nah, I probably just imagined it) when she turned around asked me to come back in a month for an additional reward. I thanked her and agreed to visit her again in a month.