After a search of the building, Cain leads his group back out to make way for the influx of visitors intrigued by the shrine to the Laughing God. There has never been one that anyone remembers, but not because of some taboo. It was simply a case of nobody really knowing what the Laughing God would like, and a temple full of practical jokes just seemed tacky and irreverent.
After all, pranks are not the essence of the Laughing God, the ability to mock fate and laugh at others' designs for you is. It's not the easiest concept to put into a shrine, so there simply wasn't one ever built.
All through the walk back to the city, Cain is immersed in thoughts of Spell Crafting, and the possibilities that lay in store for him once he manages to master the basics. They are definitely going to need a bigger space though, because he is going to need room to work and study, and the one small chair in their room isn't going to cut it.
So, once they reach the Inn, Cain goes looking for the proprietress, who was cooking lunch in the back when they walked in.
"I don't suppose you know where we might find a house to rent or buy for a reasonable price do you? I need a lot of space for a project that I'm working on, more than a single room can provide." Cain asks politely.
"I recommend a rental. The only ones that buy in the awakened zones are staying in them for good since you cant use travel circles to come in or out of them. But there is a property manager just down the street. Look for the Tengu woman with bright pink hair. She's pretty hard to miss, and she likes to sit out front to call out to travelers who might want one of her short-term rentals.
"But first, what's for lunch? We got sidetracked this morning and missed breakfast." Laura asks, poking her head out from where she was napping in Cain's jacket.
"Grilled water buffalo sandwiches with spicy bean soup. Ready in fifteen more minutes." The lamia informs her, pointing to the soup pot that she's working on.
They aren't the only adventurers here today for a change. Some of the newer awakened only discovered this place yesterday after the Quest party, learning that they had been greatly overpaying for everything in the only slightly better-appointed districts where the rest of the hunters stay. So today they have returned to try the food, and decide if they are going to change their lodging arrangements the next time they come through the city.
That made the usually quiet lunchtime extra lively, much to the joy of their young server, who was glad to see all the extra business her family was getting. At first, Cain wondered why there were just the two of them, but then it dawned on him. There are no male Lamia, so whoever the girl's father is, he will be of a different species, so Cain might have totally overlooked him during the previous days.
"I don't suppose you guys know much about the Vortexes do you?" Cain asked the table of hunters seated next to them, trying to chat up Nemu and Evangeline. Cain had expected them to start with Vala, but it seemed that she was simply too intimidating for them.
"Vortexes? I've heard the legend, that they swallow unwary travelers who pass too close to the hidden points of power. But that's about all I know." Their leader, a lanky obsession demon with a ridge of spikes down the top of his head answered with a shrug.
It looked like he had painted them with nail polish, making them glitter and matching them to his outfit, which Cain thought was a pretty cool fashion statement, but he really stood out in a crowd, so it might not be the most tactical choice for a hunter.
"If you ask the Bog Witch she might know a thing or two." One of the others answered, making his companions shudder.
"Hooded old woman, lives in a river valley about twenty kilometers from the city?" Cain asked, and they all nodded in agreement.
"She's the one that told me about them in the first place. She's of the opinion that they can be forced to spit out the people that they have captured if you have the right skills. Since she seemed to know what she was talking about, I thought I'd ask around and see if there were any more clues." Cain explains.
"To most of us, it's just a legend about the Crazed that started just after the great war when the first of them appeared. I don't think anyone knows for sure what the truth is, or why they didn't appear before that." The hunters explain, not having much detail to add.
"Thanks for the help guys, this round is on me."
If nobody knows anything, and there aren't any rumors floating around about them, then there is a good chance that it is an extremely rare ability to be able to see them. Some mages might be able to, since Cain had heard rumors about the Ley Lines from mages before, but if any here have seen the vortexes, they either got trapped in them due to curiosity, or they never told anyone else.
"Once we find a larger place, we will need to examine more of them," Cain says softly to his companions, then mentally instructs the Echoes to look for more vortexes while they hunt. Perhaps the differences between them might lead Cain to some sort of discovery.
As promised, the property manager was extremely easy to find. In fact, they didn't even need to look for her, she found them the moment they came around the corner near her shop.
"Greetings, I hear you're looking for a larger place to stay? Maybe something out of town a little where you can make noise without disturbing the neighbors?" She greets them with a waggle of her eyebrows, her bulbous nose twitching in time with the movement.
"Where doesn't matter too much, but somewhere with a high roof, or a large storage barn would be the best. I will need to do some magical experiments, and they are best not done in extremely small spaces." Cain explains.
"I know just the place for you then. It's not one of my personal properties, but I know the owner, and they have been trying to rent it out for a while now. The problem is that it's outside the city, and you know how city dwellers are about the rural demons and beastkin." That they do, the disdain is mostly subtle, but Cain recognizes it as the same way people in his last life looked at addicts and the homeless as if they were less than those around them.
The tengu has rent to collect today, so she gives them a map to the property she has in mind, with directions to come back and tell her if it wasn't what they were looking for, so she can find them something more suitable.
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