“Phew. Just how much longer do we have to keep doing this annoying job?”
A certain inn within the Argato Oasis.
Taira grumbled as she brushed off the dust clinging to her fur.
“Until the great cause is accomplished.”
“That damn ‘great cause.’ I’m sick of it. How long are we supposed to keep cleaning up these nobodies?”
Arbash didn’t bother responding to Taira’s complaints.
In truth, he was just as frustrated with the current situation.
Still, as team leader, it was his job to manage morale.
“Can’t be helped. Things aren’t going smoothly on the outside. But we’re getting a lot of support on this end, so it shouldn’t be much longer now.”
At Arbash’s words, Taira clicked her tongue and nodded.
Just then, Mitanos, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
“So… what do you plan to do about the ones we’re currently handling?”
“Why are you asking again? We’ve already decided to take care of them. Outsiders showing up in a situation like this? That’s suspicious.”
Taira nodded in agreement, and Mitanos frowned slightly, clearly displeased.
“I agree they’re suspicious. But I’m not so sure it’s right for us to take them on by ourselves. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“A hunch, huh…”
Among beastkin, such hunches aren’t something to dismiss lightly.
“We just have to be more careful. I already had a feeling they weren’t ordinary. But that doesn’t mean we can back out now.”
After all, they were now part of an organization.
This wasn’t like their old mercenary days….reporting a bad feeling to higher-ups? That would just get them labeled as fools.
Mitanos knew that too and nodded with a heavy look on his face.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“First, we need to figure out how they got here. We’ve been around this area for a while now, and I’ve never seen those two before.”
The Nakar Desert was vast, but the number of beastkin who actually interacted and traveled through it wasn’t particularly large.
At the very least, among those gathering information on all sides under Nameless’s orders, Shane and Dilaila left an impression as complete unknowns.
“If you don’t remember them, perhaps they were born in nameless villages like us.”
“No way. That’s impossible. Have you ever seen anyone from our kind of background walking around dressed as neatly as they are?”
“Hmm… now that you mention it, you’re right.”
Come to think of it, when they themselves had first left their village, they’d looked like beggars.
There was even some evidence to support Arbash’s argument.
“That one with the sharp teeth, she’s probably not from around here.”
Beastkin with sharp teeth but almost no fur or scales, like Dilaila, had never been seen in the Nakar Desert.
“In other words, they came from outside the Nakar Desert.”
“In that case, shouldn’t we definitely report them to the higher-ups?”
“We could… but how long are we going to keep playing informants like this? You think we’ll ever get promoted to executive roles in the organization that way?”
“I’m all for it. That kid seems kind of dim. Looks like she’d be easy to manipulate. And the guy with her? If he were really strong, would he have taken that long to consider our offer?”
Then Arbash added something more.
“And here’s something the organization’s been keeping under wraps… Word is, the reason the operation outside fell apart was because of some suspicious guy wearing a mask.”
“A mask?”
“Yeah. Apparently, he mentioned the organization’s name in the outside human world. Because of that, several missions were scrapped, and troops are being pulled back to the Cradle. Now think about it. Outsiders showing up here in the Nakar Desert at a time like this? They might be connected to that masked guy.”
“Hoo…”
If things really played out like Arbash was saying, the organization wouldn’t overlook their contributions.
“If we’re recognized for this, we might even get placed directly under the Saintess.”
At those words, Mitanos and Taira nodded, and soon they began discussing the next phase of their operation.
Just then—
Knock knock knock.
At the sound coming from the tightly shut window, the discussion stopped, and Arbash stepped forward to open it.
Sitting there was a small desert bird, calmly perched.
“It’s information from the organization.”
Arbash carefully removed the tiny scroll tied to the desert bird’s foot and set a cup of water down for it.
While the little bird, worn out from its journey, drank deeply, Arbash unrolled the scroll and read its contents. His eyes started widening as he did.
“This might actually make our plan go even better.”
A gleam of ambition began to shine in Arbash’s eyes.
***
The next day.
As Arbash had suggested, Shane waited in front of the mission board, casually eating a light meal with Dilaila.
Just as they were finishing up, Dilaila hesitated for a moment, then carefully spoke while watching Shane’s expression.
“Um… there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask.”
In response, Shane quietly cast a sound-blocking spell over the area and replied,
“What is it?”
“You knew the Mega Sandworm was going to appear, didn’t you?”
Back when they had first arrived at the Argato Oasis, Shane had clearly mentioned that a major mission would be coming up soon.
Dilaila had remembered those words and now she was curious. How could Shane have known the Mega Sandworm would show up?
“Yes, I knew.”
“How did you know? I didn’t notice anything like that during our travels.”
Shane paused, briefly considering how best to explain, and then began to speak.
“The beastkin we met in the desert called Mirash. She’s the daughter of Parmash, the leader of this Argato Oasis and chieftain of the Myo tribe.”
“What?!”
“And her father, Parmash, has been deeply troubled lately due to the rumors of the Saintess. Up until now, he’d been managing trade and mediating between the tribes, but then suddenly this Saintess figure shows up.”
“Oh… yeah, I guess that would be pretty disruptive.”
Because of that, Parmash had begun a serious search for one of the relics he’d been pursuing for a long time.
That task likely fell to Mirash.
However, from what Shane recalled of his past life, Mirash had never made it back to the Argato Oasis. She died somewhere out in the desert.
But in this life, because she’d met Shane, she was able to return safely to the oasis.
“Mirash told us, remember? Even though she circled around the Mega Sandworm’s habitat, it still attacked her. The reason was the relic she was carrying.”
“A relic…?”
“The Dragon Scale.”
“D-Dragon Scale?”
“It’s not that surprising. On the surface, it just looks like a useless scale. But because it contains the dragon’s aura, it agitated the Mega Sandworm.”
“That’s strange. Nothing happened when we were around it, though.”
“That’s because I suppressed its aura.”
“What?”
Can something like that even be suppressed?
Dilaila wondered that for a moment, but Shane had the power of two absolute beings within him, so it was possible.
One was the Dragon’s Reverse Scale, and the other was the Divine Power of the Mountain King.
Using the Mountain King’s divinity, Shane was able to block the aura emitted by the Dragon Scale, and as a result, the Mega Sandworm failed to detect Shane and his group at the time.
“In any case, ever since we got here, we’ve been apart, so I had no way to suppress it.”
“Oh… so that’s how you knew.”
As if her curiosity had finally been resolved, Dilaila took a sip of water and rinsed her mouth with a relaxed expression.
Meanwhile, having finished his explanation, Shane recalled the man he’d mentioned earlier….Parmash.
If possible, I’d like to use this opportunity to establish a connection with him.
Parmash, the master of Argato Oasis and the chieftain of the Myo tribe, was a cautious and wary man.
But precisely because of that, once his trust was earned, he could become a powerful ally.
And to fight against the two legions stationed in the Nakar Desert, cooperation with Parmash was absolutely essential.
“Still… it feels like you’re being more careful this time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Back then, you just went around assassinating people and all that, right? But now, you’re going out of your way to stick with those Nameless people.”
Indeed, the Shane Dilaila had seen until now had always handled matters through assassination.
However—
“This time, that won’t work. I can’t afford to be exposed here.”
If Shane had followed his instincts, he would have done exactly what he did before. He would have worn his mask, eliminated the trio including Arbash, and gone straight to Parmash to force an alliance.
But this time, there was no need to act so hastily.
“The reason I could move freely before was because Nameless had a lot of restrictions on their movements. They’ve planted countless spies throughout human society, but they never used them recklessly.”
That’s how wary Nameless were of humans discovering their existence.
“But things are different here. Right now, they’re holding back only because they’re busy trying to win over the desert tribes of Nakar. But what do you think would happen if a masked man suddenly showed up? Or if they found even the slightest trace of one?”
“Ah…”
Nameless would surely take action to kill Shane, even at the cost of worsening the situation in the Nakar Desert.
To them, the masked man was a thorn in their side. Someone who constantly disrupted their plans and, worse, had even killed the Commander of Pride’s Legion.
There was no reason to dismiss the possibility of two legions mobilizing as mere paranoia.
“We haven’t even found a place for the orcs to settle yet. There’s no need to take that kind of risk right now.”
After hearing that explanation, Dilaila nodded.
“Still… what about my face? They probably know me too, don’t they?”
“You think too highly of yourself.”
“Ugh.”
“The inner and outer circles of the Cradle aren’t that deeply connected. Even among the Legion Commanders, most don’t know the specifics of what the others are doing. At most, they have a general idea of who’s operating in which region.”
So there was no reason to think Dilaila’s face would be widely known here.
“Well… that’s a relief, then.”
If nothing happened, then all the better.
With a slightly deflated expression, Dilaila turned her gaze to the mission board.
Just then, one of the staff members walked toward the board with a grim look, and the gazes of the beastkin gathered in the tavern all turned toward it at once.
***
The Mega Sandworm is such a dangerous monster that it’s known as the Great Reaper of the Nakar Desert.
Its size is one thing, but above all, the Mega Sandworm moves silently beneath the desert sands, so most people don’t realize it’s there until that massive maw is already right beneath their feet.
On top of that, it’s not just big, it’s enormous. So killing it in a single blow is impossible. Because of this, the desert tribes make extensive preparations when hunting a Mega Sandworm.
“Our role is reconnaissance.”
Given how dangerous the monster is, Arbash’s eyes carried a sense of gravity, and the group began listening intently to his explanation.
“Our main tasks are to search for traces of the Mega Sandworm or to identify any other potential threats in the area.”
Among the many roles, reconnaissance was especially critical, as it enabled the preparation phase to proceed safely.
But as mentioned earlier, tracking the stealthy Mega Sandworm was no easy feat.
That made the danger level of the mission particularly high. But even so, Arbash had personally volunteered for the role.
“Sounds like it’ll be pretty dangerous.”
“Haha… Well, the more dangerous the job, the greater the reward. Out here in the desert, safety alone doesn’t get you very far.”
“You’re right about that. So, what’s the reconnaissance area?”
“Thank you for understanding. Our search zone starts north of the Argato Oasis, runs eastward, and then down to the south. Thankfully, our assigned sector is in the northeast.”
The last known sighting of the Mega Sandworm had been much farther south, so the chances of encountering it during their mission were relatively low.
Instead, their reconnaissance team would likely have to deal with any unexpected threats, like wandering spirits or monsters from neighboring zones. So there was still a fair amount of work to be done.
It was a mission with just the right amount of risk and reward, and once the operation was over, they could expect to earn a good number of points.
“Our mission begins right now, so we’d best start preparing to move out.”
And so, the hunt for the Mega Sandworm began.
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