The First Legendary Beast Master

There were stalls with sweets and street foods every few metres down the boardwalk, restaurants and cafés in behind them, and a number of more specialized shops spread among them.

Lotus quickly pointed to a spot further up the walk, where Karl could see the picture of a twin tailed Nekomata on the sign, next to a slice of cake on a tray.

"Did we just find a cat café on another continent?" Dana asked as they followed the Nature Priestess to the shop.

"Possibly." Tessa agreed.

But the shop was not what they expected at all.

It was the Nekomata Bakery, but there were no cats roaming the dining room. Instead, it was a maid café stocked with catgirl employees.

"Bonus." Karl laughed as he realized the baker was actually an Ascended Rank Nekomata using a humanoid transformation skill.

But the food smelled delicious, and Lotus was a sucker for the sales pitch. She had been ushered in to a table so fast that the staff hadn't even realized she was part of a group.

Tessa sighed. "It's like being back in school. Every new thing gets her sidetracked."

The hostess welcomed them into the restaurant, where Lotus was already beginning to order for everyone. A different flavour for each, so that she could steal a taste and sample them all.

The staff slid an extra table together with the one Lotus was at to make room, and started to bring out cakes, croissants, puffs and other treats, along with various flavoured coffees.

Now Karl knew why the Cleric had been in a hurry. If she hadn't ordered first, Tessa would have never let her have caffeine. But she wouldn't humiliate her friend by taking her drink away once Lotus had started.

"Are you new in town? We welcome all lovers of sweets to our shop." The fluffy eared server in a frilly maid outfit asked.

Lotus nodded happily. "Yeah, we're on an adventure. They sent us to a random city to start over, and here we are."

The maid looked confused for a moment, then realization hit her.

"Wait, you were exiled from your home island, weren't you? That's wild. You're so cute, who would have thought that you were that sort of badass?"

Lotus smiled at the compliment, not realizing that the woman thought they were criminals from another one of the Dragon Isles.

"Technically, Karl was exiled, and we all chose to go with him on an adventure. But they said we can come back when he reaches Totem Rank, so it's not like it's permanent." Lotus happily explained, then winced as Tessa thumped her on the head.

"The short one misunderstood your words, I think. We weren't exiled as criminals, but for political reasons." Tessa explained.

"Oh, so it's like that. Well, welcome to Drodh. We have some of the best baked goods in the city, and you've only seen half the menu." The server replied quickly.

But the Nekomata baking in the back laughed quietly to itself, but just loud enough for Karl's sensitive hearing and the catgirls standing by the kitchen to pick up. "With an aura like his, the definition of crime might be somewhat different from usual. Treat his friends well, that man is dangerous."

One matcha latte later, Lotus was wired, and ready to explore the city. Fortunately, there was a whole boardwalk full of interesting things to see, and then Karl would lead them through the shopping streets to get more of the Mana Jade jewellery.

They certainly wouldn't be short on sweets for a while, as Lotus had brought them to a dozen different street food stalls, and the proceeds had been saved in the ladies' inventory for later.

With the exception of a caramel apple, which Lotus was now using as a half-eaten conductor's wand for their adventure on the boardwalk.

The boardwalk ended a hundred metres from the outlet to the ocean, with a heavy industrial section of warehouses and one large bridge between them and the docks that lined the bay side of the city.

"Where next?" Lotus asked, now that they had seen a lot of the things she had hoped to explore today.

"To the shopping district. Rae was interested in the fashions and needs models. Then I want to get more of the bracelets and rings like the ones I bought yesterday. After that, we can return to the Inn, or find a spot for dinner. We did do quite a bit of walking, so I'm sure we will be hungry again soon." Karl offered.

Those were magic words, and Rae appeared from her space to lead the way. The money making schemes could wait. There were new ways to decorate her team waiting.

She was more demanding and less flighty than Lotus as a leader, and Rae deftly guided them through the streets to the start of the shopping road by the Castle.

Rae even did her best tour guide impression, using Remi's information for the others.

"And here we are. The Castle. The City Governor as well as the Lord, as people here call the leader of the nation, both live here. The Lord has new triplets at home and is on Paternity leave, so he's not visible today.

But the Governor is standing on the upper balcony outside the working offices right now, if you can see that from here." She explained.

A few passersby turned to look, and realized that yes, they could faintly see him in his official robes, taking a smoke break on the balcony.

As a Totem, he didn't really fear surprise assassinations. Anyone below his Rank did so much less damage to him that their efforts would be in vain.

Rae turned the corner onto the shopping street and led them into a custom dressmaker, before being picked up by the shoulders and brought back to the door by Ophelia.

"Understand this much. I'm not wearing a dress around all day without a good reason." The Berserker insisted, her black eyes intently on Rae's face, searching for a sign of understanding.

"Not even a nice skirt? It's easy to move in, you can wear armour under it, and it's extra armour if I make it." Rae bargained.

It was a trick question. Normal armour usually already had a hanging loincloth or long shirt that fit like a skirt to protect the hips. If Ophelia tried to reject the idea, Rae could use her current armour against her.