They looked at the lights that shone softly on the tunnel walls through the window . While it was  called a train, there were no rails, and the cars were pulled by horses . And the tunnels were not always the same width, as they spread out or became narrower as they continued .

“So, Grudo helped make this…”

“Oh? You two know Grudo?”

“Uh, no . Well, he is famous . ”

Maki had mumbled without thinking, and so the young dwarf had asked her quizzically . She lied frantically .

“He is famous . He spent so much effort on opening these tunnel and creating these trains . He’s developed many other things too, truly a hero for us dwarves . ”

Maki felt proud for some reason .

“Look, the tunnels widening . We are coming out to the first great hall . The train will slow down a little here, so you can take in the view . ”

Said the kindly dwarf who sat with them .

“I’m Kaider . That one is Nyran . ”

“Oh, I’m Norfe . My sister’s name is Chouze . ”

“Inlanders . ”

Maki chuckled awkwardly . When they had discussed which names they would use:

“It should be the names of people that we don’t care about, just in case we are caught and they are implicated . ”

Chiharu suggested, which led to this . Their new friends had even a.s.sumed that they were inland people because of it . Chiharu was still holding a grudge .

They looked back out the window as Kaider suggested, and saw that the train was now moving at a slower pace .

“Woow!” “Woow!”

It was a limestone cavern . Lanterns lit the chamber, and milky-white stalagmites covered the walls and floor . Past the field of stalagmites, they could see a great lake that glowed with a green hue . The ceiling was so high that they could not even see it . It was all shadow .

“The lake looks quite shallow, but it can become very deep . There are rumors that it connects to the sea . However, only the merpeople know the truth of this . And they like to keep their secrets . ”

“Merpeople?”

“Ah, you inlanders don’t see much, do you? Just as the birdfolk are in the sky, the merpeople love to play in the sea, and are a curious race of people . ”

“I don’t remember hearing about the merpeople when we studied about the beast lands . ”

Said Maki .

“They are too free to be able to manage . The sea is its own independent realm, unconnected to anywhere else . They will be selling souvenirs on the next island, so you can look forward to that . ”

He said . The free merpeople of the sea also came out and sold souvenirs on dry land, huh . It was hard to imagine . Just as they were pa.s.sing the lake, Chiharu felt something watching her . She looked up .

“An eye…”

“Eye?” “Eye?”

Kaider and Nyran said in unison .

“Eye, I locked eyes with something . Oh? It’s coming closer . ”

“What?”

Nyran stood up, just then, a large eye peered into the train window from outside .

“A Gazer! Why is it here!”

The two men immediately tried to grab their swords, but their weapons were with their baggage . The train conductor must have noticed the monster, because the speed suddenly increased, and the Gazer drifted away from the train .

Maki and Chiharu froze, the other pa.s.sengers were all talking at once, Kaider and Nyran wiped at the sweat on their brows .

“We let our guard down…”

“No, this isn’t a dungeon . There should be no monsters here . And the window was closed . There was nothing that we could do . ”

“Ohh, you two must have had quite the fright . Most people would never see such a monster in their whole lives, unless they are adventurers, you know?”

“Eye, our eyes locked…but it was just an eye…”

They looked at the shuddering Chiharu with much concern .

“These monsters come after you if you lock eyes . So you must not do that . But how could you know, eh?”

Of course, they couldn’t .

“You should remember it well, if you ever mean to become an adventurer, Norfe . ”

“Uh, I don’t…yes . ”

Maki just let it go . The Gazer could not keep up with the trains speed, and so it had just gone off somewhere .

“There are ways to handle them if you know that they are there . But the first thing to remember, is to not look them in the eye . ”

Chiharu nodded . But how could you not look at something that was staring at you?

Nyran then gave Maki and Chiharu some dried fruits to cheer them up . Chiharu nibbled the fruit, but could do little to hide how rattled she was . Nyran saw her and was reminded of ‘a small critter . ’ One that you wanted to feed many times . Was there a sign somewhere that said ‘don’t feed them too much’?

Maki and Chiharu were oblivious to the rude thoughts in his head, as they continued their ride to the merpeople island . While Nyran continued to feed them pieces of dried fruit, Kaider went to talk to the conductor .

“He said that they would recruit adventurers on the next train going in the opposite direction . Hopefully, one of them is an archer . Bah, this one wasn’t suited for us anyway . We should just continue on to the dwarf lands . ”

“Yeah . ”

The train was now going upwards . The lights started to become brighter, and when they were finally out of the tunnel, a vast sea spread out when you looked out of the window .

“Woah!” “Woah!”

It wasn’t like looking at the sea from the faraway castle, or even seeing it from the port . The sea took up the entire view from the window . If you looked back, you could see the human continent in the distance, and in the front, was the tall mountains of the dwarven continent . They were now in the merpeople island in the center .

The train came to a quiet stop . While it was a station, they only needed to step out of the car to be on the ground . There were several stores lined up here as if waiting just for them . They sold drinks and food . And at a short distance away, near the sh.o.r.e, were the merpeople .

“See, there they are . They sell accessories made of scales and coral and clam trinkets . You should go take a look if you have the coin to spare . But the train will leave in an hour, so be sure to come back with plenty of time left . ”

They promised Kaider that they would . It had somehow been decided that they would sit together again .

“Chih, uh, Chouze . I’m going to check that store over there . So you go and see the merpeople’s store first . ”

“Okay, Norfe . ”

Maki then went running off to the food stalls . Her sharp eyes scanned the different stores before targeting something .

“Mister, I’ll take one of those . ”

She pointed at a bottle . It was a type of light red hamanasu wine . There was nothing in the sea that was sweet enough to make wine with . And so the merpeople used the berries that grew near the coast to make wine . A certain clerk near the port had told Maki that this was a beautiful drink that warms your body, and was very popular among women . It was what the merpeople island was most famous for .

“Oh, my . How old are you, boy? I very much doubt that you are of drinking age . ”

“I may be small, but I’m almost 14 . But, it’s not me who is going to drink it . Look over there . Those guys asked me to buy it for them . ”

Maki pointed at Kaider and Nyran .

“They’re looking after my sister while I go and buy stuff for them . ”

“Hmm, you should be taller at fourteen . ”

“My father started to grow pretty late as well . I’m going to be huge very soon . ”

“Is that so . Well, alright . You just need one?”

“I’ll take two . ”

“Here you go . ”

Maki accepted the two bottles and put them in her bag . Now, off to the merpeople store . Huh? Kaider and Nyran were gone .

“Why are there so many?”

The old man said . He was looking at the merpeople store . Maki looked too and saw that there was a crowd of merpeople behind the store that Chiharu was standing at . Had something happened?

“Chiharu!”

Maki dashed towards her .

They looked at the lights that shone softly on the tunnel walls through the window . While it was  called a train, there were no rails, and the cars were pulled by horses . And the tunnels were not always the same width, as they spread out or became narrower as they continued

 .

“So, Grudo helped make this…”.

“Oh? You two know Grudo?”.

“Uh, no . Well, he is famous . ”.

 .

Maki had mumbled without thinking, and so the young dwarf had asked her quizzically . She lied frantically

 .

“He is famous . He spent so much effort on opening these tunnel and creating these trains . He’s developed many other things too, truly a hero for us dwarves . ”.

 .

Maki felt proud for some reason

 .

“Look, the tunnels widening . We are coming out to the first great hall . The train will slow down a little here, so you can take in the view . ”.

 .

Said the kindly dwarf who sat with them

 .

“I’m Kaider . That one is Nyran . ”.

“Oh, I’m Norfe . My sister’s name is Chouze . ”.

“Inlanders . ”.

 .

Maki chuckled awkwardly . When they had discussed which names they would use:.

 .

“It should be the names of people that we don’t care about, just in case we are caught and they are implicated . ”.

 .

Chiharu suggested, which led to this . Their new friends had even a.s.sumed that they were inland people because of it . Chiharu was still holding a grudge

 .

They looked back out the window as Kaider suggested, and saw that the train was now moving at a slower pace

 .

“Woow!” “Woow!”.

 .

It was a limestone cavern . Lanterns lit the chamber, and milky-white stalagmites covered the walls and floor . Past the field of stalagmites, they could see a great lake that glowed with a green hue . The ceiling was so high that they could not even see it . It was all shadow

 .

“The lake looks quite shallow, but it can become very deep . There are rumors that it connects to the sea . However, only the merpeople know the truth of this . And they like to keep their secrets . ”.

“Merpeople?”.

“Ah, you inlanders don’t see much, do you? Just as the birdfolk are in the sky, the merpeople love to play in the sea, and are a curious race of people . ”.

“I don’t remember hearing about the merpeople when we studied about the beast lands . ”.

 .

Said Maki

 .

“They are too free to be able to manage . The sea is its own independent realm, unconnected to anywhere else . They will be selling souvenirs on the next island, so you can look forward to that . ”.

 .

He said . The free merpeople of the sea also came out and sold souvenirs on dry land, huh . It was hard to imagine . Just as they were pa.s.sing the lake, Chiharu felt something watching her . She looked up

 .

“An eye…”.

“Eye?” “Eye?”.

 .

Kaider and Nyran said in unison

 .

“Eye, I locked eyes with something . Oh? It’s coming closer . ”.

“What?”.

 .

Nyran stood up, just then, a large eye peered into the train window from outside

 .

“A Gazer! Why is it here!”.

 .

The two men immediately tried to grab their swords, but their weapons were with their baggage . The train conductor must have noticed the monster, because the speed suddenly increased, and the Gazer drifted away from the train

 .

Maki and Chiharu froze, the other pa.s.sengers were all talking at once, Kaider and Nyran wiped at the sweat on their brows

 .

“We let our guard down…”.

“No, this isn’t a dungeon . There should be no monsters here . And the window was closed . There was nothing that we could do . ”.

“Ohh, you two must have had quite the fright . Most people would never see such a monster in their whole lives, unless they are adventurers, you know?”.

“Eye, our eyes locked…but it was just an eye…”.

They looked at the shuddering Chiharu with much concern

 .

“These monsters come after you if you lock eyes . So you must not do that . But how could you know, eh?”.

 .

Of course, they couldn’t

 .

“You should remember it well, if you ever mean to become an adventurer, Norfe . ”.

“Uh, I don’t…yes . ”.

 .

Maki just let it go . The Gazer could not keep up with the trains speed, and so it had just gone off somewhere

 .

“There are ways to handle them if you know that they are there . But the first thing to remember, is to not look them in the eye . ”.

 .

Chiharu nodded . But how could you not look at something that was staring at you?.

Nyran then gave Maki and Chiharu some dried fruits to cheer them up . Chiharu nibbled the fruit, but could do little to hide how rattled she was . Nyran saw her and was reminded of ‘a small critter . ’ One that you wanted to feed many times . Was there a sign somewhere that said ‘don’t feed them too much’?.

 .

Maki and Chiharu were oblivious to the rude thoughts in his head, as they continued their ride to the merpeople island . While Nyran continued to feed them pieces of dried fruit, Kaider went to talk to the conductor

 .

“He said that they would recruit adventurers on the next train going in the opposite direction . Hopefully, one of them is an archer . Bah, this one wasn’t suited for us anyway . We should just continue on to the dwarf lands . ”.

“Yeah . ”.

 .

The train was now going upwards . The lights started to become brighter, and when they were finally out of the tunnel, a vast sea spread out when you looked out of the window

 .

“Woah!” “Woah!”.

 .

It wasn’t like looking at the sea from the faraway castle, or even seeing it from the port . The sea took up the entire view from the window . If you looked back, you could see the human continent in the distance, and in the front, was the tall mountains of the dwarven continent . They were now in the merpeople island in the center

 .

The train came to a quiet stop . While it was a station, they only needed to step out of the car to be on the ground . There were several stores lined up here as if waiting just for them . They sold drinks and food . And at a short distance away, near the sh.o.r.e, were the merpeople

 .

“See, there they are . They sell accessories made of scales and coral and clam trinkets . You should go take a look if you have the coin to spare . But the train will leave in an hour, so be sure to come back with plenty of time left . ”.

 .

They promised Kaider that they would . It had somehow been decided that they would sit together again

 .

“Chih, uh, Chouze . I’m going to check that store over there . So you go and see the merpeople’s store first . ”.

“Okay, Norfe . ”.

 .

Maki then went running off to the food stalls . Her sharp eyes scanned the different stores before targeting something

 .

“Mister, I’ll take one of those . ”.

 .

She pointed at a bottle . It was a type of light red hamanasu wine . There was nothing in the sea that was sweet enough to make wine with . And so the merpeople used the berries that grew near the coast to make wine . A certain clerk near the port had told Maki that this was a beautiful drink that warms your body, and was very popular among women . It was what the merpeople island was most famous for

“Oh, my . How old are you, boy? I very much doubt that you are of drinking age . ”.

“I may be small, but I’m almost 14 . But, it’s not me who is going to drink it . Look over there . Those guys asked me to buy it for them . ”.

 .

Maki pointed at Kaider and Nyran

 .

“They’re looking after my sister while I go and buy stuff for them . ”.

“Hmm, you should be taller at fourteen . ”.

“My father started to grow pretty late as well . I’m going to be huge very soon . ”.

“Is that so . Well, alright . You just need one?”.

“I’ll take two . ”.

“Here you go . ”.

 .

Maki accepted the two bottles and put them in her bag . Now, off to the merpeople store . Huh? Kaider and Nyran were gone

 .

“Why are there so many?”.

 .

The old man said . He was looking at the merpeople store . Maki looked too and saw that there was a crowd of merpeople behind the store that Chiharu was standing at . Had something happened?.

 .

“Chiharu!”.

 .

Maki dashed towards her