After reaching Raven City, the adventurers are immediately presented with a range of lodging options—from the humble local inn to the luxurious Helton Hotel, a glittering monument built by Murican investor. For gear and supplies, they can browse the local blacksmith for handcrafted items or visit Wailmart for mass-produced adventuring essentials.
Wailmart even rents out Murican weapons like hunting rifles and shotguns, although it is strictly forbidden to buy them. At first, many adventurers tried to steal them, but they quickly gave up. The collateral fee for renting alone was outrageous, and ammo could only be bought inside Raven City. Stealing a gun without bullets was as useless as stealing a spoon to fight a dragon.
The Raven City Adventurers Guild office is also the most unique in Talvaris. Instead of the traditional never-ending line of impatient adventurers bothering the receptionists, the Muricans installed touch-screen kiosks throughout the lobby. With a few taps, adventurers could access quests, check bounties, book escort missions, report monster sightings, and even file complaints.
Guild staff adored the new system—mostly because they no longer had to replace the bulletin board every time some dramatic adventurer felt the need to "read" a posted quest by ripping it off the wall.
The guild executive once approached the Murican government to open a branch in Murica, but the request was politely rejected. Apparently, they feared adventurers wouldn't be able to distinguish between a wild demonic beast… and some demon child's pet.
Despite the revenue from inns, gear, and rented weapons, Raven City and its Murican partners weren't satisfied. Adventurers earned too much from dungeon loot, and the city saw none of the real profit.
So they built two establishments guaranteed to extract money from even the most disciplined professional:
A casino and a brothel.
It worked spectacularly. Adventurers returning from successful quests would celebrate straight into bankruptcy.
But fear not—Raven City had planned ahead.
Next to the establishments stood a convenient pawn shop where the adventurers could borrow money using their loot as collateral… so they could continue gambling or having fun.
Truly, a wholesome ecosystem.
Dawn City
Meanwhile, Dawn City had grown to twice its size in only a year. Hotels and resorts sprang up after the new airport connected them directly to Murica. Still, the city enforced strict architecture rules to preserve Dawn's charm—the same charm that attracted droves of demon tourists.
Demons in Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses filled the beaches and streets, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. Some hotels or resorts even featured Murican-style taverns, known locally as clubs. Complete with loud music and drinks with far too many colors.
Many Ravendawn citizens who visited returned with the same comment:
"I don't know about heaven, but hell is definitely the fun one."
The locals had also become quite entrepreneurial in extracting tourist money. Knowing demons loved the idea of killing other races—but were strangely polite about not actually doing it—they opened many photo studios where demons could pose for staged "victory photos" over other races. Prices varied depending on the "victim" type, and the cultist sacrifice package was by far the most popular.
Tourism was booming.
But the greatest revenue generator wasn't tourism at all.
Dawn New Port
The true gold mine came from the Canal, courtesy of the Vandoria Kingdom. It created a direct shipping route between the Wesroth and Esroth Seas. At first, Talvarians assumed only the bravest sailors would dare to use a canal operated jointly by demons and their ally. In reality, the earliest customers were the poorest sailors—because even with tolls and port fees, the route was dramatically cheaper than circling the entire Meridinian continent.
As word spread from port to port, the Canal became the new main shipping route.
---
At the newly built Dawn Port, a few kilometers from the city, Monny and Hannya stood alongside Murican-Ravendawn officials and a flock of reporters.
"…"
"…"
They both waited in silence, they were here to welcome the first shipment of goods from Dwargonia—the first major nation in Talvaris to sign a trade agreement with Murica and Ravendawn. The port had been chosen deliberately to help promote the canal.
"…"
"…"
Both Monny and Hannya still wait in silent, neither possesses the personality required to start idle chit-chat.
"Here they come!" shouted a reporter.
On the horizon, approaching from the eastern canal, a massive steampunk vessel emerged. At first glance it looked like a traditional sailing ship, with tall masts—but multiple chimneys belched dark smoke, revealing its true nature as a steamship. Built entirely of metal and painted brass, its hull featured giant spinning gears that churned rhythmically as it advanced.
"Hmm… it's big. Almost as big as our cargo ships," Monny remarked.
"The dwarves are proud of their mechanical civilization," Hannya replied. "Naturally, they sent The Atlas, their largest merchant ship, for the occasion."
"I wonder which one is more cost-efficient—ours or theirs. I should send pictures to Bub."
Monny patted himself down, trying to locate his phone.
"…you look like a human grandfather who keeps losing his belongings," Hannya commented.
"Oh, shut up. You've only been demons for a couple of centuries. Try living a few millennia like me… hmm?"
Monny froze, frowning.
"Hannya, do dwarves use large amounts of mana to power these ships?"
"As far as I know, no. They use mana on certain machines, but only minimally. Why?"
"Strange… I'm sensing mana building up inside that ship."
'It's still four kilometers away, sir."
"I may be a desk worker, but I'm still a demon duke, you k—"
BOOOOOOOM!
A deafening explosion ripped through the port side of the dwarven ship.
Screaming metal echoed as thick, black smoke billowed upward. The ship lurched forward, bow dipping dangerously.
Port alarms blared across the port as emergency crews scrambled. Reporters snapped photos like mad.
"Oh, fuck! " Monny panicked and searched for his phone again. After finding it in his back pocket, he frantically unlocked it.
"Sir, you don't need to call emergency services," Hannya said calmly. "The port authority and the Murican coast guard are already responding." She pointed at the coast guard vessel speeding toward the sinking ship.
"I'm not calling for help!" Monny barked while scrolling through a document.
"Ah! Thank goodness… whew."
"What is it, sir?"
"We haven't paid for any of the goods on that ship yet."
"Oh. Good for you, sir."
"Thank you. Can't say the same for your office though, Miss Ambassador."
"No. No sir, you cannot."
The Atlas groaned as its hull cracked, splitting cleanly in two—eerily reminiscent of the Titanic movie—before sinking beneath the waves.
"There will be mountains of paperwork because of this," Hannya sighed.
Bashington DC, The Black House
The next day, Solo held an emergency meeting about the Dwargonian ship disaster. Lilith, Stan, and Mo sat at the table.
"So explain to me," Solo began, "why the fuck a Dwargonian ship that WE invited, carrying the precious minerals that WE ordered, is now sitting a thousand meters deep in the canal that WE are promoting?"
His frustration was palpable. It had taken a year to convince the stubborn Dwargonians to sign a trade agreement—and on the very day they were supposed to celebrate, their ambassador and flagship were swimming with the fishes.
Lilith sighed, "We still have no idea what caused it."
"What about survivors?"
"Our coast guard and Ravendawn navy rescued 52. The other 92 are still missing… presumably dead."
"…And the ambassador?"
"He's among the 92."
"Tch. What about Dwargonia's reaction?"
"They're furious," Lilith said. "We guaranteed safe passage. Now their biggest cargo ship and their ambassador are on the ocean floor. Levi is already on a plane to help Ambassador Mara calm them down."
Solo rubbed his temples. "Do we know what caused the explosion?"
"There's no sign of external attack," Stan said. "So we believe it originated inside the ship."
"Ugh, what a terrible timing to have an accident," Solo muttered.
"Our navy salvage teams are en route to Dawn," Stan added. "Three days until arrival. Then we can begin investigating."
"Hehehe… it was no accident," Mo said.
Solo eyed him. "…What makes you so sure? "
"Because this is exactly what I would do if I wanted to mess with someone. Kukuku."
"You're telling me someone managed to execute a sabotage operation?" Lilith asks. "Right under your nose?"
"That's right." Mo stood and straightened his coat. "Excuse me—I'll be working to find who is our new player. Stan, stay available. I might need to borrow some toys."
The kind-faced old man walked out, leaking murderous intent.
"…He's pissed, isn't he?" Solo asked.
"Oh yeah. He only laughs like that when he's really pissed," Lilith replied.
"I'd be the same if someone used my own playbook against me," Stan added.
Langley-BICH Headquarters
Later that day, in a small meeting room with shuttered windows, Mo convened with several agents. Senior agents Megan and Janet had spent all night gathering a list of suspects.
"Let's begin," Mo said. "Who do we have?"
"Suspect number one: the Vandorian second prince," Janet began, displaying his face on the screen. "He's winning the civil war against his younger brother and is courting the Celes Church for support. Sabotaging the Murica-Dwargonia relationship could strengthen his position."
"And he'd gain credibility with the Church," Megan added.
"What about his younger brother? " Mo asked.
"No motive," Janet replied. "He's waiting on a major weapon shipment from us. Sabotaging us now would be idiotic."
Mo twirled his pen thoughtfully. "But the second prince lacks the means to infiltrate a dwarven ship."
"Are we assuming the attack happened from inside?" Megan asked.
"Monny sensed mana building inside the ship—not approaching it. That's our biggest clue. Continue."
"Next suspect: Dwordoug Axebreaker, leader of the Axebreaker clan," Janet said, pulling up his profile. "Direct descendant of the last Hero Party, and he strongly opposes Dwargonia cooperating with Murica. He's also the reason the trade agreement negotiations dragged on for a year."
"And he absolutely has the access to sabotage the ship," Megan added.
Mo nodded slowly. "He does…"
"Next, we have the Meridinian Alliance," Janet said, showing a map. "They profit heavily from being the major transit hub for merchants between Dwargonia, East Meridinia, and Wesroth. Our Canal threatens that income."
"But they likely lack the means to infiltrate a dwarven vessel," Megan said.
"What about the Celeste Empire and their church?" Mo asked.
"Besides preaching that demons are evil and anyone cooperating with us will burn in hell… they've been quiet," Janet said.
Mo nodded. "In three days, the salvaging operation begins. Megan, go to Dawn and look for clues. Bring the extraction teams. Janet, continue profiling suspects and keep space open for new ones."
"Yes, sir," the two succubi replied.
"And…"
Mo stood. His calm, kindly face remained unchanged—but his demonic aura seeped out violently.
"You both have a blank check. Don't hold back."