After having a meal and taking a break, it was time to work again. The next task was working on the farm and the ranch, which was also basically tedious and required patience. However, I was told not to begrudge the effort, so I adhered to that teaching.
“Well, let’s get over the city wall again… hmm?”
Just as I was about to jump over the city wall and head to work, I noticed a sound coming from afar. I recognized those footsteps. Only one person could produce the sound of hooves so powerfully stomping on the ground. It was the horse demon Apao.
However, it was strange for Apao to be here. This was because he should be on his way to transport limestone from the foot of the Shumie Mountains by now.
Sieben had taught us various uses for limestone, so we were still collecting it even after the city’s construction had settled down. And now, Apao was in the midst of that collection. The fact that he hurried back undoubtedly meant trouble had arisen. I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Just when I was grateful for peaceful days… I feel like trouble loves me. It’s very troublesome.”
Although I was tired of the prospect of new conflicts, I leaped over the city walls and flew toward Apao. The latter seemed to notice me as well and increased his speed as he ran frantically.
“Boss! Boss!”
“Something happened, didn’t it? Calm down and tell me slowly.”
Apao was quite frantic, so I hugged his neck and patted him to calm him down. The copious sweat dripping down told me how urgently he had rushed back.
That alone meant the situation might be worse than I had imagined. While I told Apao to calm down, part of me was eager to hear what had happened as soon as possible. I suppressed that urge and waited for Apao to catch his breath.
“Hee, hee… Boss, people! We were attacked by people!”
“…What did you say?”
At first, I couldn’t comprehend what Apao was saying. I thought such a thing was impossible.
But once I understood the meaning, I couldn’t help but furrow my brows. Before I could say anything, Apao who was still out of breath managed to explain the situation briefly.
“Linardo and the others are probably fleeing! I came to call for help!”
“I see, they’re escaping while protecting the other cattle and horses. Understood. I’ll leave immediately. Someone will come soon, so tell Tigar to organize reinforcements. Got it?”
“Got it… hihiin…”
Exhausted to the point where standing was almost impossible, Apao collapsed to the ground. After I telepathically encouraged him to rest well, I dashed full speed through the gravel desert.
Originally, I had planned to work on the farm, so being unarmed made me a bit uneasy, but I was more worried about Linardo and the others. I had to get there as quickly as possible. Without returning to the city or looking back, I just kept running.
As I ran, I thought about the people Apao and the others had encountered. There were two possibilities about these attackers. The first was that they were people living south of the Shumie Mountains.
According to Aiwas, the destruction south of the Shumie Mountains was a result of a conflict between two deities. The gods fought long ago, and there is said to be an underground passage through the Shumie Mountains that leads south. It wouldn’t be surprising if settlers like us had moved in during that time.
However, one must not forget that imagination and reality can be vastly different. Having actually lived in this desert, I realized that surviving here is extremely difficult unless one has a particularly robust body like a demon.
The biggest problem, of course, was water. Most of us had been soldiers so we had many water spiritualists including Chris. Thanks to them, we never lacked water.
But in reality, most people cannot master spiritual arts. Without a spiritualist who can secure water for everyone, or an abundant water source like the pond created by the Great Spring Tree that was gifted to us by the Mountain Go, survival would be impossible.
When we arrived in the desert, we used sound to investigate the underground, but we couldn’t detect any signs of water. It didn’t seem like an environment where wells could be dug, and natural ponds were even less likely. Therefore, this possibility was considered low.
The other likely possibility was that the attackers came from the north of the Shumie Mountains. I knew there were people who used underground caves to come here instead of crossing the mountains like us. I thought it was most likely that we had run into those people.
“We won’t know for sure until we ask them.”
While thinking about the people who appeared, I ran through the desert day and night without taking any breaks. Thanks to this effort, just before dawn the next day, I spotted Linardo and the others fleeing from the foot of the mountains.
They appeared exhausted and smelled of blood, which meant they were injured, but fortunately, no one was missing… Wait. Not only was no one missing, but their numbers had increased. Even considering Apao’s absence, there were two additional people.
[I’m glad to see you’re all safe.]
“…. It’s really the boss! Everyone, the boss is here!”
Once they were within sight, I sent a telepathic message to Linardo. At first, I was very poor at telepathy, but by now, I was becoming as proficient at it as I was at manipulating sand.
As they realized it was me rushing toward them, the tense atmosphere around Linardo and the others immediately relaxed. To assess their condition, I hurried to them without slowing down until the last moment.
“It looks like you had a tough time. But you did well to hold out.”
“We were just barely managing to escape. We lost the limestone and the valuable cart we had dug up.”
Despite being covered in wounds, it was clear that Linardo and the others had skillfully protected the oxen and horses. However, they seemed to feel responsible for failing to bring back the cargo.
While we could dig up more limestone, abandoning the cart was indeed a significant loss. In this desert, where materials like wood were scarce, a wooden cart was extremely valuable.
But when weighing material goods against the lives of my comrades, the latter was overwhelmingly more important. If we lost the cart, we could somehow gather materials and build another one. But a comrade’s life was irreplaceable. Abandoning the cart was the right decision in this case. That was an undeniable fact.
“Even if I tell you not to worry, you probably can’t help it. All the more reason to rest now. Once your strength returns, we’ll go and retrieve what we lost.”
“…Yeah! Count on us when that time comes! We’ll redeem ourselves, you bastards!”
“”“Oooooh!”””
When I mentioned the counterattack, their spirits finally lifted and light returned to their eyes. If they had a strong sense of responsibility, it was best to give them a chance to redeem themselves. Since I had known Linardo for a long time, I understood how to deal with him to a certain extent.
“So… who are the two people over there?”
With Linardo and the others regaining their motivation, I asked about what had been bothering me. I had sensed the presence of two people I didn’t recognize even before arriving here. I couldn’t help but question why they had brought them along in a situation where they had to abandon their cargo.
The unfamiliar presences were sleeping and seemed to be protected by Linardo and the others. Perhaps to keep them from getting cold, Linardo’s cloak was draped over them. They seemed to be treating them with considerable care. Who exactly were they?
“About that, we thought we should seek the boss’s judgment and decided to help them.”
“Hmm…”
When Linardo and the others explained with serious expressions on their faces, one of the two sleeping individuals stirred and sat up. Although they appeared to be humans, they possessed physical traits that were unfamiliar even to me. Namely, a horn protruded from above each of their eyebrows.
As far as I knew, I was unaware of any race that possessed horns. The individual who woke up was likely a woman. With green skin, a skin color I had never seen before, and bright brown hair cascading down, she widened her eyes at me…… and then lightning shot from her horns.
“What are you doing?! This woman!”
“Stop it, Linardo. Something of this level doesn’t affect me.”
The lightning released from her two horns struck me directly, but I was not someone who would fall from a mere shock. I had been trained by Georg, after all.
An enraged Linardo skillfully used his spear to pin the woman’s neck to the ground, restraining her by pressing one foot against her back. She struggled to break free, but it was futile. Even if she were to break free, it would be pointless as my other comrades quickly drew their weapons and pointed the tips at the woman.
“Eek…?!”
“Look, the other one is scared too. Let her go…”
The other person, who had apparently awakened from the commotion, also seemed to be a woman. Her face was the spitting image of the first woman, only younger, so she was probably her sister. Three horns grew from the girl’s forehead, and the flames emitted from them threatened to engulf me.
This level of flame wouldn’t affect me, but it would be a shame if my clothes got burned. I quickly created a wall of sand to block the flames.
The girl widened her eyes in surprise that her flames hadn’t worked, but now was the time to communicate. I didn’t know if she would understand my words, so I decided to use telepathy.
[Calm down. We mean you no harm.]
[Eh?!]
[…Telepathy?]
My telepathy seemed to reach them, as the girl who was about to release the flames again stopped her spiritual art, and the woman held by Linardo stopped struggling. When Linardo realized that they no longer intended to fight, he released his grip.
The woman who was now free got up and embraced the girl, who seemed to be her sister. I wasn’t so rude as to interrupt their long embrace, which seemed to be a way of confirming each other’s safety. I decided to wait until their emotions settled.
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