How to Cross the Desert (6)
The scorpion’s roar split the air—Kiiiiik—!
Right after, a colossal tail plummeted from the sky. A single stinger heavy with lethal venom came hurtling down, ready to pulverize the prey before it.
I answered with a lightning-fast strike.
Clang—!
The keen edge of my blade knocked the poisoned barb aside. Sparks exploded into the air along with the sharp, ringing impact. A heavy jolt traveled through my palm.
“They really are troublesome…!”
I swung my sword. A pitch-black line carved through space. The released darkness collided with the pincer that came flying in next.
The scorpion charged with ferocious abandon.
Clang!Crack…!Boom!!
The successive crashes dulled my ears. True to its nature as a mutant, its patterns were complicated. Its rock-hard shell made landing effective blows nearly impossible, so I had no choice but to fall into a defensive rhythm.
I poured strength into the tip of my blade.
Thud!Clang—!
I edged backward step by step. The frenzied scorpion followed. It didn’t even seem to realize it was being lured.
Once I had drawn it to the exact spot—
Twang—!Shweeeeee—!
The crossbow fired. An arrow brimming with mana tore through the air and buried itself precisely between the scorpion’s eyes, striking the single gap where its armor-like carapace did not reach.
Kiiiik…!
The enormous silhouette collapsed with a final shriek. An instant kill, beyond any doubt.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and gave a thumbs-up to the old man walking over from behind. His frail white hair danced in the sandy wind.
“Excellent strategy, sir.”
“You did all the hard work.”
“Hehe, it was nothing.”
“This one was especially difficult. I’m not sure we can even call it a normal monster.”
“There will be plenty more like it from here on.”
“Hmm? How do you know that?”
“Who knows… Let’s call it a hunch.”
After the battle we shared light conversation. While we rested, Legia, who had been waiting behind us, came running.
“Y-Young Master!”
“Miss Legia.”
“Are you hurt anywhere? I-I can heal you…!”
“Unfortunately I’m not injured at all.”
“Ah…”
The girl sighed, fidgeting. She clearly wanted to be useful but had found no chance to help, and the frustration showed.
I smiled softly and stroked her pink hair.
“Thank you for worrying.”
“……I’m sorry. I couldn’t help again.”
She looked utterly dejected. As I gently comforted the heroine, a sudden cough came from the side. It was the old man.
“Cough, cough…!”
He vomited blood as always. The bleeding had progressed beyond simple hemoptysis—it was closer to retching now.
“S-Sir…!”
“Are you all right?”
We rushed to support his staggering frame. It seemed that throwing himself into the mid-boss fight had overtaxed his already failing body.
“Cough… I’m fine.”
The old man waved his hand dismissively. Even with blood on his lips, his characteristic gentle smile never wavered. The mood remained strangely calm.
“Didn’t I tell you it’s a chronic illness? Nothing to be shocked about.”
“B-But…!”
“If you still can’t get used to it after seeing it for days, what are we going to do? Stop fussing and lend me a handkerchief.”
“I-I’ll wipe it for you……”
“Thank you.”
Legia’s hands trembled as she cleaned the red stains. Tears now shimmered at the corners of her eyes.
The old man smiled faintly at the girl, then suddenly turned to me.
“You really are a blessed man.”
“Hmm?”
“To have such a kind child as your lover. Don’t you think she’s far too good for you?”
“Oh?”
“E-Ehh…?”
It was a mischievous tease. Legia, who had been stunned into silence, finally processed the words and reacted.
Her pale face flushed crimson in an instant.
“W-W-W-What?!”
She even dropped the handkerchief. She had no defense against this sort of thing and short-circuited immediately. She really was fun to tease.
I answered in a low, suggestive voice, pouring oil on the fire the old man had started.
“You’re absolutely right. She is too good for someone like me.”
“Y-Young Master?!”
“I live every day thinking how lucky I am.”
“U-Uuu……”
As we continued to tease our heroine, the heavy atmosphere gradually lifted. The old man, having wiped the blood away cleanly, gazed at us with a warm, knowing smile. He had been aiming for this from the beginning.
“All right, enough chatter. Shall we get moving?”
“Sounds good.”
“Y-Yes……”
We finished resting and continued onward.
Step, step—.
The desert still stretched endlessly. As we walked across the sands in our own rhythms—
“U-Um… sir.”
The girl, now somewhat calmer, spoke up.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing special, but… while I was looking around earlier, I noticed something strange. I wondered if you might know what it was.”
“Hmm? What sort of strange thing?”
“Odd shapes kept poking out of the ground.”
“Odd shapes…?”
“They looked like rooftops of buildings? As if something large was buried beneath the sand… Do you happen to know what they are?”
“……”
The old man stopped abruptly. He even held his breath.
“S-Sir…?”
Legia tilted her head in confusion.
After a short silence, the old man offered his usual faint smile.
“……Well. I’m not sure myself.”
His eyes were trembling ever so slightly.
The journey continued for several more days. We endured the scorpions’ relentless assaults and advanced steadily.
Of course, the situation was far from ideal. The old man’s condition worsened with every passing hour. The intervals between his coughing fits grew shorter, until he began losing consciousness and collapsing outright.
Despite our worried protests, the old man stubbornly insisted on continuing. Since turning back was no longer an option, we simply did our best to care for him while moving. Our pace naturally slowed.
“This is embarrassing… I feel terrible for burdening you both.”
“We’re perfectly fine…!”
“We need your guidance to reach the city anyway. There’s no need to apologize.”
“Thank you. Both of you.”
The monster waves were growing fiercer as well. Perhaps because we were nearing our destination, even the common mobs had become formidable. Every one of them was at least mid-tier. This really was an episode worthy of the name “extreme.”
“Young Master! They’re swarming from behind!”
“I see them.”
“Lure them like last time and I’ll handle the rest.”
“Will you be all right?”
“No problem.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Every battle grew increasingly desperate. We were reaching the limits of our tactics. It was a situation I had intentionally orchestrated. I moved only enough to keep the balance on a knife’s edge.
The old man’s health continued to deteriorate, and the strain kept pushing the heroine deeper into hardship.
“I-I’ll take on at least one more…!”
Legia seemed to feel the weight of responsibility. She was desperately trying to fill the gaps created by her lack of combat ability.
Of course, effort alone could not solve everything. The crises kept escalating.
The situation had reached its breaking point. Fortunately the attacks were designed not to exceed six per day, so we could still catch our breath and recover in the intervals.
It had now been over a week since we first set foot in the desert.
“……”
Whoooosh—.
A gentle wind blew. Beneath a night sky holding nothing but brilliant starlight, I stood watch alone. A softly glowing magic lantern kept me company. It was the end of another exhausting day. Even the scorching desert seemed to have fallen asleep; only the chill remained.
As I held the hazy silence between my lips like a cigarette, an unfamiliar sound reached my ears. Footsteps on sand.
Step—.
I lifted my head. When I turned, white hair stood outlined against the stars.
“……Sir?”
“It’s me.”
The old man stood with the stars at his back. When our eyes met he smiled softly, then walked over and sat beside me. I had noticed him tossing earlier; it seemed sleep had eluded him. Perhaps the pain in his body refused to let him rest.
I asked quietly, “Are you all right?”
“Haven’t I told you multiple times? There is no problem.”
“You barely touched your food today, from what I saw.”
“Scorpion tails have grown rather tiresome.”
“A perfectly understandable reason.”
“They’re terribly bland.”
“Especially after eating the same thing for an entire week.”
“At this point I’d rather chew cactus.”
“I completely agree.”
Our voices drifted back and forth without purpose. For a while it seemed we were simply chatting, but soon both of us fell silent. The mood between us had grown heavy.
“……”
“……”
We sank together into the quiet. The night slowly deepened. The snake and the old man sat side by side. What finally broke the silence that seemed endless was the old man’s hoarse voice.
“I’m sorry.”
A calm, quiet apology.
“I know I’m being greedy. I know I’m becoming a burden to you both.”
“Not at all.”
“You say that, but.”
Even to my denial the old man only smiled. His eyes shone with transparent clarity.
“Still… I really want to see her.”
“You mean your friend?”
“She is still my entire world.”
“How romantic.”
“Well, Rosalyn always said she hated when I acted like this.”
“She probably liked it deep down.”
“I think so too. Rosalyn was quite the shy one.”
There are things you only understand after you lose them. That was true for the two of them. They hadn’t realized it while together, but the pain of separation was agonizing. Only then did they become aware of each other and fall into a love that came too late.
It was written that way in the official setting book.
“I… have never forgotten her. Not once.”
Not during his lonely life in a distant land. Not when he was conscripted into war. Not while racing across the front lines. Not even after the war ended and he finally found peace. Not even when a mysterious letter arrived from the hometown he had lost contact with for so long.
The old man had lived thinking only of that girl.
“Isn’t it pathetic?”
“……”
“The promise that we would meet again. I’ve lived fifty full years believing only in that single vow.”
Even though the person who made it might have forgotten.
The old man muttered bitterly. His white hair fluttered in the wind. I watched in silence.
“It’s foolish.”
Adults do not remember their childhood. But if someone has grown old and still remembers it, what should we call them?
A type of person I had never encountered before. The old man was an adult, yet at the same time he was still a boy.
“It isn’t foolish at all.”
I answered with sincere respect. The words came from the heart. Sensing that, the old man smiled with his eyes.
“Hehe… Thank you for saying so, even if it’s only words.”
Someone once said the desert is beautiful because it hides an oasis. The most precious things are usually invisible. Life is the same.
The reason the old man’s life could move people was probably the earnest longing he held for a single flower. A rose like living flame shone within his heart.
“What about you?”
“Hmm?”
“When I look at you, I see myself from those days. You always smile as though everything is pleasant, yet you never reveal your true heart to anyone.”
It must have been because you were afraid.
“You must carry similar wounds, don’t you?”
“……”
I could say nothing. I simply froze, as if he had struck the exact center of my heart.
The old man continued in a relaxed tone.
“How could a life without regrets exist?”
Child or adult, it makes no difference. Everyone lives accumulating regrets. But just as dawn follows night, happiness finds us only because painful days exist. That is why life is beautiful.
“Even within those regrets, we must keep dreaming of a better tomorrow.”
A wrinkled hand gently stroked my head. The gesture felt awkward. When was the last time someone had comforted me like this? I couldn’t even remember. Perhaps counting both this life and the previous one, the instances would still be few enough to count on one hand.
“You’ll do well.”
“……”
I had always been the one offering comfort. Receiving it instead felt strangely fresh. As I savored that new sensation, a single sentence slipped thoughtlessly from my lips.
“You said it the first time we met.”
The single request the old man had made.
—Can you take this old man to the stars?
Remembering that moment, I answered.
“I will definitely… take you to the stars.”
The old man looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. A small laugh escaped his aged lips.
“Puhuh… Those are truly encouraging words!”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
“Then I’ll do my best to guide you both safely to the city!”
“A perfect symbiosis.”
“Hahaha!”
One day remained until the episode’s end.
Keeping the approaching conclusion in mind, I exchanged a few more words with the old man. It was a night when the desert shone more beautifully than ever.