Earth's SSS Pornstar to SSS Combat God in Another World-Chapter 22: Arrival at the Town of Lacrosse

"Human, why aren’t you surprised that I can talk?" the small goblin demanded, pouting like a child who had expected applause.

Joji barely looked back.

"I’ve seen talking fruit before. Oranges, pear, and grandpa lemon. I’ve also seen a stuffed toy take success in acting called Ted," he said flatly.

Lilina blinked, shocked. Her ears drooped.

Joji caught it and saw his opening. If he was going to own her, if he was going to keep her useful, he would need to feed her pride sometimes, the way you fed a flame.

"Prove your worth," he said. "If you do that, won’t that be more amazing than those figures?"

Her posture straightened as if he had pulled a string.

"I understand. I’ll work hard. My name is Lilina. How about you?"

"You can call me Joji," he said.

Alaric was already there, waving his hand like some protagonist in a slice of life show, grin bright enough to be stupid.

Joji let him have his moment. Lilina clutched Joji’s pants and hovered half behind his leg, shy all at once, eyes peeking out.

Joji looked down at her face and knew what was happening.

"Why are you suddenly acting shy?"

"He. He is so handsome," Lilina said, pointing at Alaric.

Joji rolled his eyes and did the introductions anyway.

Alaric introduced the two new hires. Kobto, a druid, slim and black furred with a serious demeanor and slick coat that caught moonlight.

Kobluk, a tamer, wolf eared with dark brown fur, a long muzzle, and a sly predatory grin, a pipe huffing between his teeth.

"No long range spell caster?" Joji asked.

Alaric gave a wry smile.

"They aren’t for hire."

Walter stood off to the side with a bag so large it was a man tall and a man wide.

Joji pointed at it.

"What’s inside?"

Walter did not answer right away. He set the bag down instead and opened it.

At a glance it was absurdly organized, folded and stacked like a shop display.

He handed Joji a leather jacket and leather gloves. Joji pulled them on. The night air stopped biting so sharply.

Then Walter produced a wig. It fit like a helmet, strapped under the jaw, and the edge ran down the neck in a skin colored band that made the hair look real.

Alaric got his own piece. A mask that covered his whole face, complete with an old man’s hair and neat openings for ears, nose, and mouth.

Joji laughed when Alaric put it on. It was too convincing and too ugly at the same time.

"Now you look handsome," Joji said.

"Really? I want to see by the river right now," Alaric said, completely serious in the way only an idiot could be.

Joji waved it off.

"Kidding aside. What’s the plan?"

"I hired this tamer so we can travel faster," Alaric said.

Joji understood at once. They needed to reach Lacrosse without delay.

After that, they would head for the County of Fellbarrow, to the Cutler Estate, and bring Walter home before the world changed again.

Joji’s curiosity got the better of him, so he peeked into Walter’s bag as they got moving.

Dried fish. Oats. Waterskins. A small pot. Practical things.

On the other side lay a folded sheet of gray leather, thicker and tougher, clearly from the cave ogre.

"What is this for?" Joji asked.

"A foldable tent," Walter replied, like it should have been obvious.

Joji gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright. Let’s go."

Kobluk led them to the river, then lifted a hand for them to wait.

He crouched at the bank and started talking to the alligators like they were herbivorous animals.

These were not small reptiles. Each one was six to seven meters, heavy as a wagon and just as mean looking.

The air in Primeria carried mana, and animals grew into monsters because of it.

Kobluk clicked his tongue and called, and the big bodies slid closer through the water.

"We will ride these alligators." he said.

Then he glanced at Kobto.

"Call the fishy for them to eat," Kobluk said, paws pointing toward the huge alligators.

Kobto nodded. He raised a flute and played a thin, coaxing tune.

Fish turned as one and swam toward the bank, then right into the open mouths waiting there.

Every so often an alligator simply opened wide and swallowed, satisfied and obedient in the way only a fed predator could be.

Three of the biggest were chosen.

Joji felt a ridiculous spark of excitement. Back on Earth, safaris kept you at a safe distance behind glass and rules.

Here he was about to ride a beast that could swallow him whole if it decided he smelled like fear.

He lifted Lilina by the waist and set her carefully on the nearest back. Alaric and Walter climbed onto another together.

Kobluk and Kobto took the lead. They pushed off.

The river carried them fast. Water hissed along scales. The alligators moved with steady power, tails sweeping like oars.

The current was calm enough that conversation did not get swallowed by spray, so Joji used the quiet.

"We’ll be investigating the disappearances in Lacrosse," he said. "All ideas are welcome."

"Can’t we just ask around," Alaric asked.

"We are in disguise for a reason," Joji replied. "If we start asking door to door, the suspect might get spooked."

Kobluk, riding ahead with that pipe huffing between his teeth, lifted his chin.

"I have a suggestion. We go first to the graveyard."

Joji and Alaric both looked at him, waiting. Kobluk took the silence as permission.

"If we can see the bodies of the deceased, we can at least ascertain what beast did the killing," he said.

"Bite marks, claw work, rot, poison. Dead flesh tells the truth faster than the living."

"Let’s do that," Joji and Alaric said in agreement.

By afternoon, they saw kitchen smoke in the distance, thin gray threads rising beyond the trees.

"We don’t gotta get too close to town," Joji said.

"We roll up with all these big-ass alligators, we’re gonna spook the locals. Let’s stop over there." He pointed to the right bank.

Kobluk tapped his alligator’s head and guided it in. The others followed.

Kobto played again, calling fish one more time as payment, and the reptiles fed before sliding back into deeper water.

The group pulled up their hoods and started walking.

After half an hour they reached the town gate. A large wooden gate set into cobblestone walls more than three meters high, sturdy enough that most beasts would have a hard time with it.

The town looked prosperous, the sort of place that had coin for stone and enough people to justify it.

Lacrosse lived on good fish trade and wide farmlands, fat enough that wagons came and went even in bad seasons.

Ten thousand population at least, maybe more.

In the report Joji had read, it said over fifty people had gone missing in the last two months.

Not a massacre. Not enough to start a war. Just enough to make the hairs on the back of a man’s neck rise, because people did not vanish like that without reason.

Now the six of them joined the queue to enter the town.