Chapter 127: Nyanjara Bay (Part 2)

Nyanjara Bay Town

The Beast Island was widely known as the birthplace of beastmen.

If Talvaris had an equivalent of Africa, this would be it—except someone had taken every possible biome and stacked them together without asking if that was a good idea. Rainforests bled into savannas. Savannas slammed directly into deserts. Deserts gave way to snow-capped mountains, which then fed into massive rivers that carved their way back to the coast.

The result was an island overflowing with diversity, and beastmen tribes that formed almost entirely along species lines.

The beastmen here were nothing like the ones in Ravendawn or the other continents. Those beastmen had interbred with humans for so many generations—how that happened was best left unexplored—that most of them looked almost human, with only the occasional ear or tail betraying their origins.

Beastmen of Beast Island were different.

They still had fur. A lot of it.

Their faces still carried unmistakable animal features. Muzzles, whiskers, sharp eyes, twitching ears. More importantly, they pretty much still lived according to instinct.

They wagged their tails when happy. Flicked their ears when annoyed. Growled, hissed, purred, stretched, groomed themselves in public—things that would have earned scandalized looks in more rigid, human-centered societies. Here, it was normal.

And in a place as mixed as Nyanjara Bay, the city ran on highly specialized… manpower.

The mayor was a lion.

Administration was handled by foxes and snakes.

Wolves ran security.

Cats dominated trade and commerce.

Bears and buffalos controlled craftsmanship and heavy labor.

Rabbits were everywhere—and chronically underpaid.

Dogs?

Dogs were usually the first to be exported as slaves. They were, unfortunately, too friendly and too obedient for their own good.

Ivy stood frozen in the middle of the street, her face slowly turning red. There was cuteness everywhere.

Soft fur.

Perky ears.

Tails wagging, flicking, swaying.

Even the most morally questionable members of the misfits would have struggled here. Ivy didn’t stand a chance.

“Onee-chan.”

A small voice tugged gently at her cape. Ivy looked down and instantly froze harder. A cat child with orange fur stared up at her, round eyes wide and shining.

“Y–Y–Yes?” Ivy stammered.

“Can you please buy my trinkets nya?” the cat child purred softly. “Please… nya”

He held up a handful of simple, hand-crafted trinkets. Nothing special. Nothing expensive.

“H–How much?” Ivy asked weakly.

“Only three golds nya,” the cat child pleaded. “Please buy it so I can buy food for dinner… for my six siblings and my pregnant mom nya.”

He tilted his head slightly.

His ears drooped just enough.

His tail stilled.

His eyes somehow got even bigger.

It was a masterclass.

Ivy’s face went bright red. Her hand moved on its own, already reaching into her purse.

“S–Sure,” she said. “Why not, little kitten—”

“Ivy, what are you doing?!”

Bella shouted, grabbing Ivy’s wrist just before the coins changed hands.

“That trinket wouldn’t even cost a silver!” Bella snapped.

“GAH! My stipend!” Ivy yelped, jerking her hand back and clutching her purse protectively.

Bella shoved Ivy behind her, physically removing her from the danger zone. The cat child hissed, fur standing on end as he glared at Bella.

Bella stuck out her tongue in reply–the cat hissed louder–Bella stuck her tongue longer.

Meanwhile, the same thing happened to Solo. He froze in the middle of the street.

The furries were cute, that much was undeniable. But what completely shut his brain down were the women.

A group of bunny girls passed by, dressed in medieval-style waitress outfits. The fabric was tight in all the wrong—and right—places, strings struggling bravely against physics. Cleavage existed. Proudly.

Then a fox girl walked past. Same problem. Plus a soft, swaying tail that somehow made it worse.

Then a cat girl. She didn’t even need clothes to try. Her posture alone was doing most of the work.

Then another bunny girl.

And another.

Solo stopped blinking.

“SIR!”

Irving’s face suddenly filled Solo’s vision.

“GAH! DON’T TELL LILITH!!” Solo shouted on pure reflex.

Silence.

They stared at each other.

Solo straightened immediately. “Ehem. Yes. What is it, soldier?”

“I’ve been calling you for a while,” Irving said flatly. “We’re going to gather information around town. Please follow us.”

“Ah—y–yes. That’s a good idea,” Solo said quickly. “Lead the way.”

He marched off as if nothing had happened. Behind them, Kovalski watched the entire exchange.

“…Aaah!”

He slammed his fist into his open palm as realization finally hit.

---

River Dock

Solo, Irving, and Kovalski stood at a river dock speaking with a lizardman who was fishing calmly, just like any conversation between a main character and an NPC.

“Yeah, the river boat’ll arrive in two days,” the lizardman said. “It’ll depart again on the third.”

“Is there any other way to reach this location?” Irving asked, pointing at the map with a red circle deep inside Beast Island.

“Well, you can walk,” the lizardman said, scratching his head. “But the forest here is thick. Real thick. You’d be lucky to get there in a month.”

“Sigh…” Solo muttered. “Looks like we don’t have much choice but to wait.”

Nearby, Ivy and Bella sat on another section of the dock.

“So,” Bella said casually, “you actually find the cats and other beastmen irresistible?”

Ivy looked traumatized. Almost getting scammed had felt like a near-death experience—for a professional scammer.

“Yes…” she shivered. “This town is so dangerous. So scary…”

“I can’t really tell which one is cuter,” Bella said thoughtfully, a bit of saliva forming at the corner of her mouth, “but I can tell which one looks more delicious.”

“They’re not animals anymore,” Ivy snapped. “Remember the goddess virus.”

“…Ugh. Right,” Bella sighed.

“HEY! You guys!” Kovalski suddenly shouted over. “Let’s move! We’re finding an inn and some food!”

“Comiiing!” Bella replied cheerfully.

---

Inn, The Misfits’ Room

Later that night, the Misfits held an internal meeting. They squatted on the floor, forming a perfect circle like a ritual that absolutely did not summon anything useful. Just bad ideas.

“Are you sure?” Irving asked.

“Yes! I’m positive!” Kovalski said immediately. “I know that look. That was a horny look.”

“…Hmm,” Bella thinking deeply. “If Kovalski’s the one saying it, then I guess it’s verified.”

“Thank you,” Kovalski replied, then pointed at her, “and screw you.”

“So,” Bella said, folding her arms, “how exactly is that intel supposed to help us?”

Ivy grinned. The kind of grin that meant she’d already simulated several crimes in her head before the question was finished.

“Captain,” she said sweetly, turning toward Irving, “am I thinking what you're thinking?”

“Huh?” Irving blinked. “What am I thinking?”

“You’re thinking about a honeytrap operation,” Ivy said brightly. “You know. The one the BICH likes to do.”

“Did I?” Irving tilted his head.

“Yes!” Ivy said instantly. “You’re thinking about recruiting a cute beast girl around here to seduce the prime minister.”

“Oooh…” Bella and Kovalski exhaled in unison, staring at Irving with newfound respect.

“And then!” Ivy continued, warming up. “While the beast girl and the prime minister are just about to get steamy—”

“Aaah…” Bella and Kovalski breathed again, eyes still locked on Irving.

“—some thugs break in!” Ivy said, hands waving dramatically. “Except they’re actually working with the beast girl, and they try to rob the prime minister blind!”

“Mmhh…” Bella and Kovalski nodded slowly, deeply impressed.

“And then,” Ivy went on, “his four trusted bodyguards burst in! They rescue the prime minister, beat the thugs senseless, and save the day!”

Bella and Kovalski turned to Irving again, expectantly.

“…Making the prime minister owe us,” Irving muttered, eyes unfocusing as the idea fully assembled itself, “while we hold his embarrassing secret.”

He paused.

“…Yeah. That is what I’m thinking. I guess.”

Bella and Kovalski immediately clapped.

“Such a great idea, Captain!” Ivy said cheerfully—

—successfully transferring all future blame to Irving.

Again.

“So we need to recruit some cute beast girl first, then?” Bella said.

“Well, I can handle that part,” Kovalski replied smugly. “Besides, we’ve got plenty of time until the river boat arrives for us to continue our trip.”

“Yeah,” Ivy added. “The local map we bought today shows there won’t be any more towns beyond this point. This is our only chance.”

“Kukuku,” Irving chuckled. “Having the Murican Prime Minister in the palm of our hand… can’t think of a better achievement than that.”

“Hahaha,” Ivy laughed.

“Hahaha,” Kovalski followed.

“Hahaha,” Bella joined in.

“HUAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The four Misfits erupted into their usual evil laughter, fully convinced they were geniuses.

---

Inn, Solo’s Room

Meanwhile, in Solo’s room. He sat at the table, calmly enjoying a mug of ale.

An earpiece rested in his ear.

“HUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The Misfits’ laughter echoed from his earpiece. Solo grinned as he listened to their entire plan unfold.

“Kukuku,” he muttered to himself. “You think me and Mo didn’t take precautions before taking you all in?”

Several translucent tabs floated in front of him, projected by his Earth-internet skill. Each displayed a screenshot of each Misfit face, along with Solo’s personal notes—roles, tendencies, behavioral quirks, and far too many red flags.

“Four of you think you can scheme against me?” Solo scoffed. “Against the man who outschemed every demon duke in the Demon Kingdom?”

He leaned back.

“Well then—bring it on. MUHAHAHAHA!”

And so, on the very first day the Muricans arrived outside friendly territory—

They all decided to fight.

Each other.