Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Chapter 30. Cactus Desert (1)
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1.
The sight that greeted El Pam's party after crossing the portal was a forest.
An ordinary forest.
From an adventurer's standpoint, it was a welcome development.
Something that warranted a smile.
Yet not a single one of El Pam's companions cracked a smile upon facing that forest.
"Hey, Kiri."
He spoke with an expression even stiffer than the one he'd worn entering the prince's tomb.
"Do you know anything about Bayos?"
It was inevitable.
"One of Lord Oz's disciples."
Oz's disciple.
That meant something far from trivial in the Maple World.
"Oz—you mean that fire knight captain I know, right?"
One of the five knight captains of the Cygnus Knights, the formidable force safeguarding Empress Cygnus.
That fact carried implications beyond what anyone imagined.
"7th Circle, yeah?"
Right there on Oz's wrist gleamed no fewer than seven rings.
Among existing adventurers in the Maple World, those who'd reached the 7th Circle were exceedingly rare.
And that was hardly all.
"Correct. She's at the pinnacle of Flame Wizards."
The fire magic she wielded surpassed the power of her circles by a wide margin.
Naturally, her disciples were no ordinary folk either.
"And Bayos was the sixth disciple of Knight Captain Oz."
Which begged the question.
"Then why isn't his name known?"
"Yeah, first time I've heard it. Pirates like us might miss other news, but we're always plugged in on Cygnus Knights chatter."
Why had no one heard of a figure like that?
"A knight captain's disciple isn't revealed as such until three years have passed."
"Not revealed? Why?"
"For fairness."
Everyone nodded at Kiri's explanation, accepting it for now.
"Within the Cygnus Knights, everyone is equal. No special treatment for a knight captain's disciple."
That was the nature of the Cygnus Knights.
"Wait."
It was then that Dibo spoke up, as if realizing something.
"Three years before revealing? So he joined the Cygnus Knights less than three years ago?"
"Two years ago, if memory serves."
Only then did the others catch on.
"Reached 4th Circle in just two years?"
Bayos—a man of overflowing talent.
And yet he, along with the entire Cygnus Knights contingent, had perished here.
"What the hell could be here...?"
Everyone swallowed hard at the implications.
That was the moment.
"Huh?"
As El Pam's party moved through the forest, the scenery before them shifted in an instant.
The forest vanished, replaced by a world blanketed in golden sand.
And there it was.
"Cactus Desert?"
Giant cacti filling the desert.
2.
Adventurers tackling the Mystic Gate often say it.
"Swamps, snowbound worlds—they're all tough. But nothing beats the desert."
Among the environments beyond the Mystic Gate, the desert is inevitably the worst.
The reason it's the worst is simple.
"No matter how strong or survival-savvy an adventurer is, without water in that scorching desert, they die."
It's the most hostile place for survival.
In fact, when a desert appears in the Mystic Gate, adventurers' survival rate averages a mere 70 percent.
And of the 30 percent who die, more than half succumb not to monsters, but to dehydration or exhaustion.
A brutal place.
"Cacti!"
Worse, the ones El Pam's party faced were cactus monsters, Cacti, infesting that very desert.
It wasn't their first encounter.
Before coming to the Cygnus Knights' tomb, El Pam's party had already experienced a Cactus Desert.
That's why.
"Damn it!"
They knew all too well how terrifying Cacti could be.
"Boss, seems like more than last time?"
The Cacti charging at them now far outnumbered those from the previous Cactus Desert.
"They're bigger too!"
Their sizes were greater as well.
Not surprising.
The Cactus Desert in the Nihal Desert saw plenty of adventurers come and go.
It held valuable cacti worth harvesting.
Even aside from that, cacti were among the few resources in the barren desert.
Some were edible, others held substantial moisture.
Crucially, the Ariant Kingdom periodically hunted monsters in the Nihal Desert.
Defending their territory was only natural for a kingdom.
In other words, the Cactus Desert in Nihal had its population somewhat controlled.
But not here.
No population control whatsoever.
"Cacti multiply like mushrooms. Given the right conditions, they explode in numbers beyond belief."
That neglect meant the Cacti here had ballooned to enormous quantities.
Thud thud thud!
El Pam's party gritted their teeth at the sight of over a thousand Cacti charging like humans on legs and arms.
Of course, no one fell into despair.
"Damn, let's do this."
El Pam's party had conquered far from ordinary Mystic Gates thus far.
They simply steeled themselves.
'We might die.'
They resolved that deaths could occur in this Mystic Gate conquest.
"Everyone."
At that moment, El Pam addressed the group as they readied for battle.
"I'm sorry."
His unexpected words drew surprised looks from all.
El Pam apologizing like this was an exceedingly rare occurrence, unprecedented in memory.
But the surprise didn't linger.
'So it's that tough, huh.'
In other words, the situation was far from easy—enough to make even El Pam deviate from his norm.
So everyone smiled.
"Boss, what's there to apologize for?"
"Yeah, nothing to be sorry about."
"Hey, a leader whining? Come on? Don't worry—we got this."
"It's fine. Skip the sorry and pay us in meso later."
They smiled readily at El Pam's words.
Seeing that, El Pam tilted his head.
"I don't get it."
"Huh? But you said you were sorry?"
Dibo tilted his head too.
"Isn't the sorry because you're putting us in danger?"
"No."
"Then what is it?"
"This conquest is all about time. That's why I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"You're missing out on a chance to grow stronger because of it."
With that, El Pam continued.
"Fire Arrow."
3.
"Cheryl, you must be tired from the long journey."
Cheryl shook her head at Sejan, executive of the Sand Mirage Group.
"I'm here asking for a favor—fatigue's irrelevant. I'm the one grateful for granting such an impudent request."
Sejan and Cheryl.
Their bond ran deep.
"So, how's Gerector doing?"
"He's well."
"I'm always thankful to him. Without him, the Sand Mirage Group wouldn't even exist."
Gerector, leader of the Cross Hunters, had bolstered the group's shaky, modest beginnings.
It wasn't unusual.
For the Cross Hunters, who mobilized every means to thwart the Black Mage's schemes, the Sand Mirage Group's role in checking the fallen Ariant Kingdom under the Black Mage's sway was vital.
By now, their alliance had grown so intertwined that one side's collapse would doom the other.
That's why.
"Thank you again. For indulging my impudent request."
Sejan had lent his aid to Cheryl's sudden plea without a moment's hesitation.
In truth, it was an extraordinary act.
Within the Sand Mirage Group, dedicated to saving Ariant's suffering people with its noble cause, for an executive like Sejan—no one else—to act on personal motives was no small thing.
Far from easy for someone like Sejan, who'd devoted his life to the group.
Yet he'd done it.
Because it was a request from the Cross Hunters, of all people.
"It was necessary for me too. To buy time to convince Ereska."
And for Sejan, it was a moment requiring someone's sacrifice.
"Thanks to El Pam's party's sacrifice, Ereska will wait five days."
A sacrifice in the literal sense.
"I'm sorry to them."
Meaning Sejan held zero expectation of El Pam's party returning alive.
"You think El Pam's party will die?"
"Naturally. Knowing what that place is."
It was justified.
"The Cygnus Knights died there. And we've sent countless Sand Mirage comrades to retrieve their remains."
A place plenty dangerous.
"Five people going in alone? Expecting success would be the strange thing."
El Pam's party, entering solo?
Foolish to anticipate a good outcome.
So Sejan was puzzled instead.
"You know that better than anyone, Cheryl."
Cheryl had said El Pam's party was needed—that they should open the path for the party to survive.
"Why fan the flames instead?"
Yet when El Pam's party headed into peril, Cheryl had pushed them onward.
Incomprehensible.
"Because I know their capabilities."
Cheryl answered.
"They'll come back alive."
A declaration brimming with unprecedented confidence.
And truthfully, Cheryl believed it.
"El Pam's party has pulled off the impossible time and again. Besides, this Mystic Gate allows fewer than a hundred entrants. Tough, sure—but not tougher than ones with over a hundred."
Confidence backed by sound reasoning.
"Above all, they're the best at finding exits and getting out."
Sejan's face hardened at her overflowing assurance, and Cheryl smiled at his expression.
"You don't believe it, do you? I get it. First time seeing El Pam's party and all."
A fully understanding smile.
Sejan shook his head at her smile.
"No. It's not that I doubt you, Cheryl."
Her smile vanished at his response.
If Sejan said that, it meant something beyond her expectations.
"What do you mean?"
"I've never underestimated El Pam's party's abilities. If I had, I wouldn't have proposed it to him in the first place."
"Then is there something else I don't know?"
"You know the Cygnus Knights who died there included Bayos, disciple of the Flame Knight Captain Oz?"
"Yes, I do. And I think that's still within El Pam's party's reach."
"Then do you know what item Bayos possessed?"
Cheryl's expression stiffened there.
An adventurer's skill mattered, of course.
But the items they carried could render that skill irrelevant in importance.
Normally, no need to factor such things in.
Ordinary adventurers' gear had inherent limits.
Owning even one Unique was impressive.
The issue was that this wasn't just any Cygnus Knight—but a disciple of Flame Knight Captain Oz.
"He'd naturally have a Unique item."
Cheryl had accounted for that much, gauging El Pam's chances accordingly.
At least, she had.
But now was different.
"Is there more?"
If Sejan spoke this way, something unforeseen lingered.
To her question, Sejan answered—and Cheryl's face went pale white upon hearing it.
Inevitably so.
"The necklace of Flame Knight Captain Oz. Bayos had it."
Something far beyond expectations had surfaced.
"That's why I don't rate El Pam's party's chances highly."
Sejan spoke to the now-stony-faced Cheryl with unyielding firmness, more than ever.
"El Pam's party can't have more than a handful of Unique items. Isn't that right?"