Chapter 37: Colony, the City in the Desert (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 37: Colony, the City in the Desert (2)
It had been exactly two weeks and three days since Alon left Teria, the capital of the Asteria Kingdom.
He was currently traversing the Southern Desert, a region one had to cross to reach the Colony.
"Whew—"
Alon glanced up at the scorching sun. Even a single breath felt like it was cooking his lungs.
"It’s damn hot."
At the sound of Evan’s voice, Alon gave a strained nod.
No matter how high-quality a carriage was, it couldn't fully block out this level of heat.
"Ugh—if only I had an Ice Spirit Stone—"
Evan lamented, mentioning an artifact that would cost the price of several mansions just to acquire one.
With his tongue hanging out like a dog's from the heat, Evan looked quite ridiculous, but Alon couldn't bring himself to laugh.
The desert was just too damn hot.
I should have arrived by now. I should have moved a bit faster...
A faint sigh escaped Alon as thoughts drifted through his mind.
In truth, Alon had reached the edge of the desert a little over a week after setting out for the Colony. Had he entered the desert immediately, he might have arrived by now.
However, there were two reasons why he was still wandering the sands.
The first was that he had detoured to another territory to prepare a gift for Seolrang, who was in the Colony.
It’s our first time meeting face-to-face. Even if she doesn't help me, it’s only common courtesy to bring a gift.
Regardless, because of that, Alon was still trekking through the desert under the blazing sun long after he should have reached his destination.
...Thinking coldly, the distance across the desert remained the same whether he started early or late, so his departure time didn't actually change the duration of the heat. Still, feeling the sun's rays, Alon felt a strange sense of injustice.
"Whew—"
How much time had passed since those irrational thoughts?
"We’re camping here!"
As the boiling sun began to dip, turning into a sunset, a voice called out from outside. Alon stepped out of the carriage.
Dozens of carriages were lined up across the darkening land, each hanging a small lantern.
This was the second reason Alon had been delayed.
"It’s been five days, but the more I see it, the more secure it feels," Evan remarked.
Alon nodded.
He was traveling with a merchant group crossing the desert. He knew all too well that crossing such a vast distance alone was not a good idea.
"Count," Evan spoke up as they watched the merchants begin their camp preparations under the leader's orders.
"What is it?"
"Are you not going to practice your magic?"
Evan asked with an expectant look he tried poorly to hide.
Alon was puzzled for a moment before realizing what Evan was referring to.
"I plan to, but it will be different from the magic I’ve been researching until now."
"Ah."
Evan looked disappointed, but Alon had no intention of changing his mind.
After months of research, practicing magic he had already mastered held little meaning for him now.
"...Can't you just practice it once?"
"No."
"Tsk..."
Alon watched Evan sigh in regret for a moment before his attention was drawn elsewhere.
"Wow, look at him... he’s practically groveling. Someone might mistake him for a bug."
Alon had started a campfire to ward off the chill that came as the sun vanished. He followed Evan’s clicking tongue and gaze.
There were five people where Evan was looking.
One was a man in wealthy-looking clothes, and another was a woman with hair as red as a flickering flame. Behind them stood mercenaries, each holding their respective weapons.
The merchant leader and a mage from the Red Magic Tower. They never miss a day.
Alon knew them. In fact, it was impossible not to.
The man groveling and rubbing his hands together in front of the red-haired mage was Rad, the head of the Golden Foot Merchant Group. The mage was the one who had been picking fights with Alon lately.
"Wow, he stuffs them with food every single day. Does he have no pride?"
Evan shook his head as he watched the merchant leader provide high-quality wine and food while bowing incessantly.
However, both Evan and Alon knew exactly why the merchant leader was being so subservient.
For a merchant, befriending a mage from a Magic Tower was always beneficial, but more importantly, he was bowing because she was the daughter of the Red Tower Master.
Furthermore, though she hadn't reached the position of Vice Tower Master yet, she had attained the 4th Tier at the young age of twenty-three.
To a merchant leader whose lifeblood was business savvy and connections, she was someone to be served with the utmost devotion.
...Of course, objectively speaking, Alon was not in a position to be looked down upon in terms of connections. Unfortunately, the merchant leader seemed unaware of the recent news that Alon had become the head of a faction, or perhaps he had simply decided to give up on befriending him.
More accurately, he likely wanted to befriend both, but since the mage had made herself Alon’s adversary, the merchant had made a decisive choice to focus his efforts on her.
"..."
As Alon watched the merchant leader bow his head, he realized the woman was staring at him. He turned his gaze away.
"Hmph. What are you looking at?"
Rian Argulus, quick to catch his gaze and look for a fight, approached him.
"Just happened to look," Alon replied.
"Is peeping a hobby of yours?"
Rian began her provocation without hesitation. Her voice was laced with clear contempt and accusation.
"I have no such hobby."
"Is that so? My apologies. I thought someone who works so hard to manufacture rumors would certainly have a hobby like peeping."
Alon sighed at her blatant hostility.
She’s being a nuisance.
He didn't know exactly why Rian was so antagonistic. However, he could guess a few reasons, one of which was the rumors.
The rumors—spread mainly by the mages of Calliban and the Blue Magic Tower—claimed Alon had made a massive contribution to defeating an Outer God using magic.
Ironically, Alon had never said a word about it, yet she seemed convinced he had spread the rumors himself.
And the other reason she picked on him...
"I’ve told you several times, I didn't spread those rumors."
"Your feigned innocence is just like the Blue Magic Tower’s."
It seemed she harbored a deep hatred for the Blue Magic Tower.
"..."
Alon let out a hollow laugh behind his expressionless face.
Even if he looked suspicious to her, picking fights so blatantly wasn't exactly standard behavior in this world.
The only reason Alon put up with her provocations was that they felt so childish they didn't even register as insults.
...Actually, that was only one reason. The real reason was her status.
Unlike Penia, Rian didn't hold an official rank in the Red Magic Tower. However, she had something more fearsome: she was the daughter of the Red Tower Master.
In the game, the Red Tower Master wasn't a major character; he was a supporting role who died spectacularly after charging alone at one of the Five Great Sins because the Red Magic Tower had been destroyed.
In other words, the Red Tower Master possessed a fiery temperament that didn't fear death.
...To put it more bluntly, he was a madman.
Seeing the caliber of the mercenaries sticking to her side—even though a 4th Tier mage was hardly someone who would get beaten up easily—it was clear how much the Red Tower Master doted on her.
Well, I won't have to see her again once we finish the crossing.
He continued to ignore her provocations as best he could.
"Hmph..."
Sensing that Alon was merely humoring her, Rian scowled and turned on her heel to return to her carriage. Alon shook his head.
* * *
The next day.
Rad, the head of the Golden Foot Merchant Group—which traveled throughout the kingdoms, excluding the Empire where entry with over thirty carriages was impossible—smiled as he looked up at the brilliant sunlight.
Sweat dripped from his portly frame, signaling how much his body was screaming from the heat, but a smile remained on his lips.
And for good reason: he had gained an opportunity to build a connection with the daughter of the Red Tower Master.
Furthermore, there was a chance he could secure distribution rights to regularly supply goods to the Red Magic Tower in the city they were heading to. He felt happy despite the sweltering heat.
...It would have been nice to build a connection with the Count as well.
Rad looked back with a trace of regret.
Count Palatio’s carriage was traveling at the tail end of the group, but Rad felt little beyond that slight regret.
He knew from long years of trading that one couldn't catch two rabbits at once.
Besides...
...A 3rd Tier magic level... those rumors really are a bit nonsensical.
Having heard Rian Argulus mention Alon’s mana levels several times while accusing him of spreading false rumors, Rad didn't find it too regrettable that he hadn't befriended the Count.
Of course, if Rad had heard the most recent news, the story might have been different, but unfortunately, he only knew that Alon had a connection with one of Calliban’s Master Knights.
Regardless, Rad was enjoying his journey through the heat without much worry.
...Until a moment ago.
"Everyone, prepare for battle—!"
His face contorted at the sudden shout from a mercenary at the front of the line.
In a desert like this, there was only one reason for mercenaries to shout such a command.
Tsk, bandits...
Rad sighed, thinking of the bandit groups that targeted merchant caravans in this vast desert, but he didn't look particularly panicked.
The Golden Foot Merchant Group currently had dozens of hired mercenaries, plus over ten B-rank or higher mercenaries hired specifically to guard the Red Tower Master’s daughter.
In other words, an ordinary bandit group wouldn't be able to damage the caravan. Rad maintained a calm expression.
However, the moment he saw the massive flag in the distance, Rad’s eyes widened in terror.
The flag approaching through the dust clouds was one that merchants should never, ever encounter.
"Blood Sand...!"
Rad’s face paled as the name of the bandit group came to mind. Even at a glance, there were dozens of them, and every single member was a knight-level combatant.
Slash—!
As soon as Rad’s thought ended, one of the bandits at the front threw a chain sickle at a lead mercenary, claiming his life.
The battle began.
No, it was a massacre.
As if they had no intention of negotiating from the start, the bandits charged in and began slaughtering the mercenaries guarding the carriages.
And so.
"Now, that’s enough—"
In less than two minutes, most of the mercenaries had been killed. A man stepped out from among the Blood Sand Bandits.
Wearing an eyepatch and carrying double-curved swords on both hips, the man looked around the scene of the gruesome massacre.
"Oh."
He gave a twisted smile as he spotted the mage, Rian, who was filled with fear and tension amidst the few remaining elite mercenaries.
"Oh, you really are here. I’ve hit the jackpot."
His voice sounded delighted.
"Who... who are you?"
When Rian asked with a scowl, the man drew the curved swords from his waist.
"You’ll find out once you come with me."
He gave a twisted grin and infused his blades with mana.
Rian grimaced at the blue mana burning like flames on his swords, but internally, she was filled with despair.
She realized the moment she saw the aura on his blades—it was of a level far beyond other knights.
She wouldn't be able to escape.
...She might face a fate more miserable than death.
"..."
At that thought, past traumas began to flash through Rian’s mind. Her eyes filled with an excessive amount of terror.
The moment she felt the suffocating trauma begin to eat away at her mind, making her whole body tremble.
"..."
What brought Rian back to her senses—
"—?"
—was the air.
The hyperventilation brought on by her trauma stopped for an instant, followed by a slow exhale.
With it, Rian saw a clear white mist.
In that moment, Rian suddenly realized. The air that had been hot enough to cook her lungs just moments ago was now filled with a biting chill.
"What—"
Rian stared blankly ahead. She saw the twisted smile on the man’s face turn into a look of confusion.
The ground, which had been scorching just moments ago, was not only cooling down but was being covered in frost over the sand.
And then.
Step.
The sound of a footstep echoed in the silence.
The bandits turned their heads.
The mercenaries, who had been tense just a moment ago.
The man with the two curved swords, who had been targeting Rian.
And Rian, who had been drowning in trauma.
They all looked toward the source.
A man was walking forward.
Step.
Neither fast nor slow.
Step.
Expressionless, as if he felt no particular emotion regarding the situation.
Step.
Letting the ash-colored mana from his bracelet flow into the cold air, the man finally stopped—
"Instant."
—Count Palatio muttered a Phrase.