CHAPTER 1449: FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON RAINBOWDEN

[Oooh, this place looks and sounds popping!] Hurricroak commented. [Think we’ll get a chance to stretch our legs soon? If so, what do you think will be the cause?]

[Well...I was going to say that we could very easily just be on holiday until our Lord makes a move for the tomb,] Nepherage answered first. [But with our luck...I’m going to assume it involves orphans.]

[No...] Frosttusk disagreed. [It’ll... probably be...one of our old...enemies. Didn’t...you hear...the report from...the curators?]

[Man, it is weird hearing you speak at a pace that isn’t your usual cold slowness or burning hot normal speed,] Razorstella commented. [Also, I’m with Frosttusk on this. Our lord has made a weird amount of enemies that seemed to be gathering here for one reason or another.]

[Indeed,] Blazejudicator agreed.

[I have a better question,] Corpse Doll interjected. [Do you think I and my sister will finally get our own desire cores? I want to move more inde...inde...]

[Independently.]

[Yeah, that.]

[Maybe? You and Porcelain Doll are kind of a new case to us,] Screamira added. [Especially the latter...]

[Meh, worry about it later,] Hurricroak dismissed. [Help me figure out which places to hit up after we get off-loaded and the Maestro sends us out to soothe his paranoia.]

[Fair enough.]

...Enough for the peanuts, let’s focus on the main guy...

^I thank you both for escorting us here to Rainbowden,^ Jinju Ren said in an uncharacteristically proper voice. ^My regards to the Lovely Marionette Society.^

^Oh, it was nothing, your majesty.^

^If you ever get a chance, try to buy up one of our puppets on the auction house. We promise the highest quality possible.

At this moment in time, Zhen Liu, Zhen Xing, Zhen Tai, Jinju Ren, Rianna, Taurna, Leona, Lythero, Antonio, and Olstenna had all crossed the checkpoint guarding the entrance to Rainbowden and were taking the time to appreciate their new settings. Well, everyone but Jinju Ren, who was busy playing "demure princess."

Watching her act, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but think that Jinju Ren seemed a little too happy to play the role of a demure princess of a fallen royal family.

Rainbowden was unlike any other city they had been to up to this point because of one simple fact: the sheer number of artisan stores.

Where the average city would probably have two to three specialists in any particular craft, Rainbowden seemed to have easily double or triple that amount.

Most of the group couldn’t help but see all of these artisans and imagine themselves in fully tailor-made outfits complete with fully customized aether treasures that were perfectly suited to them.

Although, what they considered appropriate gear and priorities varied wildly from person to person.

...Case and point: Zhen Clan scions...

"Hey, Zhen Xing, you remember those masks we saw back in the boomtown?"

"Yeah, what about them, Xiao Tai?"

"Do you think we get those custom-made here? Maybe even see if we can get aether treasures that are those cool looking masks?"

"I...am not opposed to that...wait, shouldn’t we be trying to help our cousin finish up whatever business he has here?"

"With our luck, we’ll be probably get dragged into it by proxy. In other words, we can just wait for it to happen."

"I mean...fair."

...The Dozing Salamander warrior trio...

"So Lythero, now that we’re here, have you figured out exactly how you want Zhen Liu to fix up your swords? Or are you going to see if any of the local swordsmiths around here can provide you a different option?" Antonio asked.

"Honestly, I have this very crazy idea, but I have no idea if it’s even viable in the slightest," Lythero answered honestly before pivoting topics. "What about you, Olstenna? Do you have any ideas on what to do while we’re here?"

"Meh. Weapons were never really my thing. I suppose I could just use this time as a chance to see how my ex is doing. Well, see if she’s here anyways."

"Wait, you actually know what romance is?" Antonio asked with genuine surprise.

"That’s the exact same reaction I had."

"You knew?!"

"About less than an hour ago."

"Ah."

...The recently freed...

"Alright, now I wished we tried harder in convincing Maggie to come with us," Taurna complained while nervously looking about. "The ability to suddenly buy items that truly belong to us is...daunting to say the least. Hell, the concept of trying to pick out our own clothes is enough to make skin crawl. Not that I dislike the clothes that Princess Ren gifted us, it just feels a little too fancy and delicate for someone like me."

"It’ll be fine, Taurna," Leona assured her sister. "I’m sure we’ll find clothes suitable for our new beginning in life. Besides, worse case scenario, we can use these designs that the curators gifted us before leaving."

"..."

"What?"

"I’ve seen those clothes, I think us wearing our old slave rags were somehow less revealing."

"Bah, you’re exaggerating," Leona dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Besides, you don’t think a certain snake boy will be able to keep his hands off you if wear something like—"

"ENOUGH ABOUT ME, HOW ARE YOUR ATTEMPTS IN SEDUCING—"

"TAURNA!"

...The first timers to the continent...

"Bleh, that took longer than anticipated," Jinju Ren complained after bidding the members of the Lovely Marionette Society farewell. "I swear, one of them was mentally taking notes about me to try and send kidnappers later."

"They probably wouldn’t do that if you just showcased your powers a bit more," Zhong Wei advisored his young student.

"Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?" Jinju Ren asked. "If I did that, they would merely grovel and do as I ask. Sometimes it’s fun pretending to be the lamb in order to eat the wolf."

"Ugh. Like father, like daughter..."

While Zhong Wei shook his head in annoyance at his charge’s lackadaisical nature, Jinju Ren went to go and see how Rianna was handling her new environment.

The two of them had gotten closer over the past few months, despite their incredibly different backgrounds. Then again, perhaps that’s precisely why they managed to get along so well.

That and Jinju Ren liked how weirdly blunt Rianna was.

"Hey, bugazon, what’re you up to? Trying to see if you could nail someone from a hundred paces with a bow and arrow while having it fly through several signs?"

"No, I’m still banned from doing that after I shot off that one’s guys hat...and most of his hair," Rianna seriously answered.

"I remember that guy, I think he actually embraced the bald look after that moment."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Huh...anyways, I’m actually scoping out the craftsmen to see if any of them works with chitin or make arrows. I recently got my hands on some choice beetle shells and want to see if anyone can make anything good out of them."

"Huh...did you see any that worked with dragon scales?"

"I saw two signs indicating as such."

"Figures."

...

’Hmmm. Good to know that everyone seems rather relaxed about us being here,’ Zhen Liu noted as he looked over both his friends and the surrounding city, ’but damn. I wasn’t expecting this much ambient [Chaos] in the air.’

Since Rainbowden was originally established by a former Kaijin Lord, Zhen Liu fully expected the place to be a little quirky in some regard.

Hell, he even figured that a city this large and well-inhabited was probably home to more of those Strangeblood guys.

Evidently, this place blew those expectations out of the water and then some.

Merely breathing in the atmosphere made Zhen Liu feel as if he was drinking water after spending several hours being dehydrated.

It was...an oddly refreshing feeling.

That stated, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but to notice that when he focused on this ambient [Chaos], that he could feel it originating from the underground portion of the city.

’I guess this [Chaos] has to do with the Rainbowsmith...oh heavens, I hope it’s not like his decaying body or anything like that.’

However, attempting to follow this thread to its origin point soon led to Zhen Liu’s senses getting scrambled like he was dealing with radio static.

In other words, he was going to have to go underground at some point if he wanted to really figure out how to inherit the Rainbowsmith’s legacy.

’And with my luck, I will probably run into someone who’s aiming for that exact same legacy,’ Zhen Liu sardonically noted. ’But the question is, who’s ass am I going to have to kick to get it this time?’

The Shadow Garden, Bellona’s ambitious cousins, those weirdos who attempted to jump him that one time with Olstenna, and even Buzza were all real possibilities.

However, if Zhen Liu had to choose who was the most likely people tn try and kill him at this point in time, it was probably Lord Smoking Mirror and Duke Diamoro.

After all, the personal soldiers of the latter were the ones Manning the checkpoint to the city.

’On the one hand, I feel bad about throwing the established order here into disarray, but...’