“This won’t move?”
Denif’s voice was filled with confusion. That actually made me feel relieved.
We had just obtained Mystic Power.
At first, I thought the intention was for us to escape this place using the newly acquired mystic while discovering its abilities.
That’s why I called Denif.
But the fact that even Denif couldn’t control it meant there was a high chance they simply wanted to let us out.
This must have been the extent of the test – they wouldn’t try to kill the participants right away.
“Don’t panic everyone! It seems they’re trying to let us out!”
“Yes, big brother!”
Aron responded energetically without a hint of doubt at my words. Denif asked again:“Are you sure?”
I figured he was probably a bit shocked that the Mystic Power he obtained wasn’t working.
“They gave us Mystic Power, they’re not going to kill us right away!”
“Is that so?”
Denif tilted his head doubtfully. I simply focused on protecting everyone with Winds.
Soon sand quickly covered us. My vision became constricted.
Though buried in sand, it wasn’t dark. Strangely, a soft sunlight could be seen.
It felt like looking at the sun with closed eyes.
After a few seconds like that, I felt the sand surrounding us surge upwards.
It was like riding an updraft. Whoosh- After a brief moment, my vision brightened first.
I could see the sun beginning to set on one side of the sky. And the golden sands below it. We had returned to the desert.
The sand that had shot up was falling, raising dust around us.
“Wow…”
Aron and Jofor had their mouths open in perfect circles. Their expressions were a mix of surprise and enjoyment.
“That was amazing, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. You two didn’t really do that, right?”
They asked me and Denif in wonder, as if thinking we might have played a trick on them.
I quietly nodded. Osten’s face looked half-dazed.
“I-Is it over?”
“Seems like it.”
“Look. You can see what big brother made over there.”
In the direction Jofor pointed, I could see the path I had dug.
It seemed we had emerged some distance from where we had entered, given how far we had moved underground.
“But it was fun. Even though I was scared for a moment.”
As Mary calmly spoke, Aron nodded.
At the kids’ words, Denif showed an uncharacteristic happiness while glancing at me.
As he raised his hand, the surrounding sand moved. It will take time to hone the mystic, as it requires training.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks, it’s all thanks to you.”
“It is indeed.”
When I spoke sincerely, Denif grinned widely. Aron expressed his disappointment a beat late.
“But we didn’t really get anything else. I thought there might be something since it was like ruins.”
Namir immediately shook his head.
“No. Mystic is priceless. It’s more valuable than any treasure. Just obtaining that is an incredible achievement.”
“That’s right. The deputy gaining Mystic Power alone is beyond imagination.”
Osten agreed. But he had a slightly regretful expression.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t bring that glowing stone though…”
Ah, I had forgotten about that.
Things had unfolded too rapidly. It would have been nice if we’d managed to grab one, even though it was going to collapse anyway.
I was too busy looking after everyone. I had to immediately deploy Winds after all.
Just then, Rina, who was standing next to me, rummaged through her pocket.
“You mean this?”
In Rina’s hand were two glowing stones about the size of a fist. They were shining even more brilliantly than before, probably because we were outside now.
“Wait, when did you get those?”
Suddenly the center of attention, Rina looked at the ground, conscious of her surroundings.
“Earlier, when the sand was pouring down.”
Even I had been momentarily flustered by the sand pouring in from all directions, yet she had managed to grab these then?
As expected of a great thief.
Seeing how she thought to steal items first in that situation, it seemed Rina wasn’t quite normal either.
Well, she did say stealing was fun. Perhaps she wanted to feel one last thrill even if she was going to die.
“Here.”
Rina handed me the two glowing stones without a moment’s hesitation. She didn’t seem to have any greed for them.
“Well done. I’ll make sure to compensate you separately for these.”
“It’s fine.”
“I’m fine with it too, so take it.”
“Really, it’s okay…”
When I looked at her firmly, Rina nodded.
“Alright.”
It was fascinating, by the way.
While the glowing stone itself wasn’t hot, a gentle warmth was emanating from it. Like the sun.
“Boss, doesn’t it seem a bit brighter?”
It was Osten’s question. It certainly did.
“Is it because it’s receiving sunlight?”
“Oh! How perceptive of you!”
I ignored Osten’s obvious flattery. We’ll need to be careful handling these. They sparkle even in complete darkness.
Since we don’t know how to extinguish the light yet, we should keep them well-wrapped. We don’t want to attract unwanted attention at night.
“Wouldn’t it be useful in cold places?”
I could regulate my body temperature with Winds, but it was certainly a valid point.
I tossed one to Osten.
“This one’s for research. Use it however you like.”
“No, Boss. Such a precious thing… Thank you.”
“We’ll keep an eye on the other one and either sell it on the black market once we’re settled or use it somewhere if needed.”
I said this, but selling it isn’t a good choice.
If an item of this caliber appears on the market, all sorts of people will try to trace us.
It’s better to wait for Osten to discover something, or just use it ourselves.
As we were talking, Denif, who had been controlling the sand, called out to me.
“Carlyn, look at this.”
I saw two sand soldiers that had just been created. Since he had only just obtained Mystic Power, the quality wasn’t that high.
The hands were a bit stubby and the movements were unnatural.
“You’ll need to refine it a bit to use it properly, huh?”
“That’s true. Hey, if I get good at this, couldn’t I become the king of this desert?”
With sand everywhere, this place would certainly be an ideal battlefield for Denif.
Even in the game, the Empire searched the southeastern desert when tracing Denif’s trail.
“Why don’t you talk to Father about it?”
Though I said it jokingly, I thought it might not be a bad idea.
Haisen is still strong.
Thanks to me, the West and the Empire are relatively intact. The southwestern plains and archipelago are in the hands of my allies.
Even if the East falls to devil worshippers, the continent is divided differently from the game.
Of course, the fight won’t be easy even then…
With Haisen’s support, there’s a good chance Denif could gain control of this desert.
‘It would take quite a long time though.’
It’s impossible right away.
Justification is important for such things. He would need to appear like the avatar of a powerful desert kingdom from the distant past.
It will also take considerable time to refine Mystic Power. Having a lot of mana doesn’t mean you can use it well.
Since mystic is also an ability, it takes time to develop.
‘We can think about that later. Let’s clean this up first.’
The paths I had created in the desert were too unnatural.
Although this area is mostly uninhabited, if we leave them as is, there’s a high chance someone will see them.
Over time, Winds will flatten the sand, but since I dug quite deep and wide, it will take quite a while.
It’s not good to cause unnecessary rumors. Such anomalies spread quickly.
I moved towards the tent while activating Winds. It was an easier task than digging the paths.
Rather than lifting the sand, roughly pushing it caused it to slide down on its own.
‘Still, it will take some time.’
Evening is approaching. If we work late into the night, we should finish by tomorrow afternoon.
No, with Denif who has gained sand powers helping, it might go much faster?
***
With Denif’s help, we were able to erase the traces faster than expected. It was good for Denif too.
It was an opportunity for him to refine his Mystic Power.
Anyway, we returned to Sonora. The original reason for leaving was to find scorpion tails after all.
We rested for another day in Sonora, replenishing our depleted food and water supplies and getting new camels.
The night before departing, I gathered everyone. Jofor asked expectantly:
“Where are we going now?”
“As I mentioned before, we’re heading to Chenarus, the Imperial capital.”
Everyone looked at me with serious faces.
“We’ll create a base there and operate from it.”
“Ooh. A secret base!”
As expected, Jofor showed the most interest. The others were the same. Surprisingly, Denif was serious.
He’s had his face known in the Empire once and understands how frightening it can be.
Creating a base won’t be easy either. We have to do it under the Empire’s surveillance network.
Especially in the current situation, we’ll attract a lot of attention.
There are two options.
Pose as a mercenary group, or pose as a merchant group that fled from the West. I chose the former.
‘I did think about it for a while.’
A merchant group is more likely to get caught in cross-verification. The composition of our group doesn’t fit, and there’s more to worry about than with a mercenary group.
Of course, posing as mercenaries isn’t easy either.
We’ll have to be a new mercenary group, but it’s impossible for an unknown group to immediately set up a branch in Chenarus.
We have to start from scratch.
First, we’ll rent a cheap lodging rather than a proper base and use it as a temporary headquarters.
Then we can have the kids work on raising the mercenary group’s reputation.
‘We’ll probably get scouting offers from large mercenary groups.’
Leaving without reason could also raise suspicion. We need to create a tight story for our group.
We also need to be careful about how we gain reputation. We can’t suddenly appear like a comet.
I thought we could turn the group into mercenaries while I handle matters related to Erendil.
Of course, I’ll need to participate in mercenary work occasionally. I am the leader, after all.
“Phew.”
I could hear Aron and Jofor’s rough breathing. They were still walking in the desert without Winds’ protection.
But they didn’t seem as tired as before, perhaps having gotten used to it over time.
‘Hm?’
At that moment, a black dot appeared on the horizon. Against the golden desert, the black dot was clearly a person.
Since I hadn’t expanded Winds widely, I could confirm it with my eyes first.
The black dot didn’t increase in number. Meaning they were alone. The distance was slowly closing.
I could feel the other party looking in our direction too. I had an uneasy feeling.
‘Something…’
It’s not that there are no people traveling alone in the desert, but usually it means they’re confident in their skills.
The distance closed even more.
Now it was close enough to confirm with the naked eye. I thought the other party must be quite skilled.
I couldn’t sense any killing intent. Either they were a powerless commoner or a strong person beyond my comprehension.
Seeing them traveling alone, the latter was more likely.
With cloth covering up to their nose, all I could see were their eyes. Their gaze was quite sharp.
‘Feels like I’ve seen them somewhere before.’
Even though I could only see their eyes, I felt a vague sense of familiarity.
Usually when I get this feeling of déjà vu, it means it’s someone I know. Not always, but often.
Who could it be?
I pondered, but couldn’t guess someone just from their eyes. It could have been my imagination.
The other party also looked us over. As our gazes met, I raised both hands from the front.
It’s a desert greeting. Showing that we have no intention to harm each other. The other party also raised their hands lightly.
At the completely closed distance.
I realized the other party was quite old. Fifty? Maybe a little younger or older.
“Huh?”
Suddenly the man made a strange sound and looked at Aron. It wasn’t because we were walking.
His gaze was precisely directed at Aron’s waist. Then he abruptly stopped his camel.
“Is something wrong?”
The man looked at me with cold eyes.
“That sword.”
The man’s hand pointed at Aron’s sword.
“That belonged to my youngest disciple.”
After saying that, the man drew his sword without warning. A deep black sword. Only then did I realize the reason for my sense of déjà vu.
The jet-black sword Mondegreen. He was a Sword Master.
Author's ThoughtsHi everyone, I've completely translated this novel! So, for those who love this novel and wanted to binge read until the last advanced chapter, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. There, I have a product in which you can read them with discounted price (basically you get around free 40 advanced chapters) instead of buying them here with normal price. Thank you for the attention!
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter