Up to now, most of the people connected to Shane in his previous life were high-ranking but relatively obscure officers of Nameless.
But in the Nakar Desert, things are different.
That’s because the Nakar Desert was the stage where Shane had operated for a long time after joining Nameless in his previous life.
And among those now before him, the gray-furred cat beastkin with squinted eyes, the wolf-like female beastkin with dark brown hair, and the sturdy bovine beastkin….these were individuals Shane had deep ties with in his past life.
They were my teammates.
Especially the gray cat beastkin, who had introduced himself as Arbash, was Shane’s team leader in that previous life.
“Haha, now that we’re all here, why don’t we exchange names? I’m Arbash. I lead a mercenary group. These two are my members.”
“I’m Taira. Nice to meet you.”
“Like I said earlier, just call me Mitanos. Huhehe.”
The three of them sat down with friendly smiles and naturally placed their orders.
Even while they waited, Arbash, clearly the leader of the group, kept the conversation flowing.
“We’ve only been in this city for less than six months ourselves. Earning citizenship isn’t exactly easy, I’ll tell you. Haha.”
“Huh? But aren’t you a cat beastkin too? Don’t you already have citizenship then…?”
To Dilaila’s cautious question, Arbash responded with a bitter smile.
“That’s a common misconception. Strictly speaking, I’m a cat beastkin from another region. Born in a small village.”
“Ah… So that happens too.”
“It’s actually more common than you might think. Not everyone is content with tribal life. Same goes for these two.”
“Hey, don’t go spilling everyone’s life story just like that.”
“Huhehe, I don’t mind.”
“Well, I do.”
As the wolf beastkin Taira grumbled, Arbash offered a light smile and a quick apology.
“Sorry, sorry. Cut me some slack, will you? Anyway, we just happened to meet by chance and ended up working as mercenaries together. We’ve been getting ready to settle down here at the Argato Oasis since about six months ago. Things have been a bit tense lately…”
“Tense how?”
“Ah, I guess you haven’t heard the news yet since you’re outsiders. There’s been some conflict between tribes recently. Word is a Saintess has appeared, and it’s stirred up quite the commotion.”
At that, Dilaila looked like she was about to say something but closed her mouth after glancing at Shane.
Sensitive to others’ emotions, Dilaila had sensed that something about Shane’s demeanor had felt off for a while now.
Then Shane spoke up.
“The Saintess, huh… I’ve heard of her. They say she returned from the Holy Land carrying a relic, right?”
“Haha, so you’ve heard even that much.”
From there, the trio took turns keeping the conversation going.
Arbash mostly explained the current state of affairs in the Nakar Desert, while Mitanos and Taira would chime in or react to his comments.
Food arrived not long after, and soon enough, the three who were now flushed from the drinks they’d had with their comrades left the restaurant after bidding Shane and Dilaila farewell.
“Wow… I can’t believe they ate all that. I guess beastkin really do have huge appetites.”
“They’ve always been like that.”
“Huh? So you do know them?”
“They probably don’t remember me… but yeah, I knew them.”
“Hmm…”
But Shane didn’t look the least bit pleased, which made Dilaila mumble as she shoved the last of the food into her mouth.
“Are they… from that group?”
“They are.”
“Ah….seriously?”
“You’re the one who asked, so why are you the one surprised?”
“I was just taking a shot in the dark, honestly… ahem.”
So those people were connected to Shane in the past. Does that mean he really was a member of Nameless at one point?
As Dilaila reeled from the revelation, Shane stood up from his seat.
“They’ll probably keep approaching us like this. Under the guise of coincidence.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re outsiders. And for someone who’s supposedly been wandering the desert, we’re far too clean.”
“Aha… Didn’t the staff here also comment last time on how clean we looked? I guess people around here are more sensitive to that kind of thing than I thought. Maybe we should be a little more careful…”
“No, I did it on purpose. Just enough to look like outsiders with something suspicious going on. But not so much that it draws direct attention.”
At this point, Shane didn’t fully grasp the situation in the Nakar Desert.
Originally, by now, roughly half the desert should have already fallen into the hands of Nameless.
But in this life, things were different. Nameless’ plans had been unraveling even from the outside and unlike his past life, Shane and Dilaila were no longer part of the organization.
Back then, the information Shane had personally extracted from the desert had played a significant role for Nameless. Dilaila too had been a terrifying force beside the woman now referred to as the Saintess.
And so, Shane was now pretending to be an outsider. He was deliberately creating a profile suspicious enough to draw Nameless’ attention while waiting for their agents to reveal themselves.
And then, unexpectedly, who should show up but Arbash and his team… or rather Shane’s former comrades from the previous life.
“Ah… so that’s your strategy.”
With that, Dilaila found herself unsettled.
The people who’d just been chatting and eating with them as if they were old friends… were part of the organization responsible for the non-humans terror attacks?
Why would they target their own kind…?
By now, Dilaila no longer drew a clear line between humans and non-humans. But still, she couldn’t understand their behavior.
Wasn’t Nameless active in the Nakar Desert to absorb beastkin and other non-humans into their fighting forces?
And yet, the truth that they had used beastkin slaves as suicide bombers was nearly impossible to believe.
Shane, however, understood exactly why.
Nameless had operated in a very calculated and restrained way back then.
They had carried out their plans thoroughly so as never to leave a trace that could be traced back to them.
That also meant the organization had kept many of their darker deeds hidden even from within.
No need to explain all that.
Just from the grim look on Dilaila’s face, it was clear she didn’t have any fondness for Nameless.
And honestly, there was no need to change her mind.
“We should get going.”
“Ah…okay.”
With that, Shane and Dilaila stood up and headed back to their inn.
***
Roughly a week had passed since their arrival at the Argato Oasis.
In that time, Shane and Dilaila had steadily completed minor missions, earning just enough to cover their living expenses.
Along the way, they’d “coincidentally” run into Arbash and his comrades three more times, making today their fourth encounter.
“Haha, fancy meeting again like this. Must be fate, don’t you think?”
“Indeed. I assume you’ve just returned from a mission as well?”
“Ah, that’s right. We’ve just completed a mission escorting a merchant caravan, so we’re currently taking a bit of a break.”
“We’re hoping to start escorting caravans ourselves soon. That way, we could start racking up some points.”
“Oho… Sounds like you’ve got quite the appetite for points?”
“Isn’t that only natural? Gaining citizenship is something everyone who comes to the Argato Oasis must be after.”
At that, Arbash glanced around cautiously before speaking in a more careful tone.
“Actually, there’s a rumor going around in this line of work. Would you like to hear it?”
“A rumor, you say… What kind are we talking about?”
“There’s a condition, though.”
“Go ahead. No harm in at least hearing it.”
“In exchange, I want thirty percent of whatever profit you gain from the information I give you.”
“Hmm…”
Shane pretended to think it over, and Arbash quickly spoke again.
“This is time-sensitive information and it wasn’t easy to get, either. If I don’t ask for at least this much, it’s not worth it on my end.”
“But isn’t just mentioning this here already giving us quite a bit of information?”
“That may be true… In that case, I suppose I’ve simply misjudged the people I’m dealing with. Haha.”
“I see. Then let me ask you this….why us?”
At that question, Arbash seemed to fall into brief thought.
More thorough than I expected.
And indeed, even in Arbash’s own mind, it was reasonable to be suspicious if a fellow mercenary you hadn’t known for long suddenly made such a proposal.
“First, as I mentioned the day we met, it’s because of how clean the two of you looked. To stay at an inn here in Argato, you need temporary citizenship. But even though you and your companion hadn’t yet bathed at the inn, you both looked extremely clean. That suggested to me that you’re familiar with surviving in the desert.”
“That’s a fair point.”
“Second, it’s the time you return from your missions. For newcomers to Argato, you’re completing jobs faster than we are. That told me you have the combat skills necessary for what I’m about to offer. If just the two of you are capable of that much, then you should be more than enough.”
“Even so, there must be others more experienced than us.”
“Haha… And wouldn’t they be much more expensive?”
“Sounds plausible. Hmm…”
Shane paused, as if giving it serious thought, then slowly nodded.
He looked like a seasoned mercenary carefully weighing a contract offer, but in truth, Shane had already planned to accept the proposal.
No, he had already guessed what kind of information Arbash was holding.
“All right. I’ll take it.”
“Whew, I’m glad you accepted. Hmm… but this doesn’t seem like the best place to have this kind of conversation. Haha, what do you say? Let me treat you to a second round. I know a quiet restaurant.”
“Thanks for the offer. I won’t turn it down.”
“What, are you two done whispering secrets already?”
At that moment, in response to the beastkin Taira’s question, Arbash smiled with his eyes and gave a nod. After moving to a new location, they got straight to the point even before the food arrived.
“There’s information that a Mega Sandworm will soon appear in this area. It’s estimated to arrive in about three days.”
“A Mega Sandworm…?”
At that, Dilaila glanced at Shane, then quickly adjusted her expression as if she’d let something slip.
“I, uh, I heard it’s a really big sandworm.”
“Exactly. And it’s also considered the most powerful monster in the Nakar Desert. Normally, it never leaves its territory… but strangely enough, traces of it have been found near here.”
“Then a bounty mission to hunt the Mega Sandworm will probably be posted by tomorrow at the latest…”
At Shane’s comment, Arbash nodded exaggeratedly.
“Precisely. The problem is, we don’t know exactly when that bounty will go up.”
“If we happen to be out on another mission at that time, we could miss it entirely.”
“Haha, you catch on fast. You’re making me feel like I’ve got nothing left to say.”
Arbash said that with a scratch of the back of his head, and Shane let out a small chuckle.
“Good information. Considering the importance of the mission, the reward will likely be significant, and a lot of people will go for it. It’ll be a race against time.”
“It’s always a pleasure to meet someone who recognizes the value of good information. So, if I may make a careful suggestion. If a subjugation mission is posted tomorrow as I expect, would you consider teaming up with us? The reason is just as I explained earlier.”
“That sounds reasonable. Since you obtained the information yourself, you’ll earn credit for locating the target, and we can contribute our strength while paying a fair share of the commission. A balanced deal.”
“Well, I am a member of the Myo tribe, after all. I’m meticulous when it comes to profit and loss. Haha.”
Arbash’s narrow eyes gleamed faintly.
There were some tricky parts to all this, but he was satisfied that he had successfully drawn Shane and Dilaila into his plan.
“Hahaha! So fate brings us together yet again. The world really is full of surprises. I look forward to working with you.”
“Heh. Just don’t get in our way midway through, all right?”
“Come now, Miss Taira. Teammates are supposed to help one another. That attitude will only hurt our teamwork.”
“Who doesn’t know that? I was just saying.”
Their teammates, Mitanos and Taira, played along with Arbash’s act, secretly pleased with how smoothly things were going.
Of course, the one most pleased of all was none other than Shane.
You’re kindly choosing your own place to die.
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