Chapter 72: Elves are not good in the desert

“Are you leaving already? You can stay longer, you know?”

“No. I’m glad for the offer but I’m in a hurry. I don’t know when the empire will start to move in full swing after all. It’s not the time to relax you see.”

We are currently riding on the unicorns at the entrance of the Royal Palace where the rising sun can be seen. The Beast King and the Queen are seeing us off.

The area is dyed in orange hue giving off an evening vibe.

“Shinichi is about to go to the Holy Kingdom, right?”

“Yeah. I also want to ask the winged race to help the kingdom.”

“Then, a piece of advice, those guys are extremely prideful. It will be hard to get their cooperation.”

“I know. Many winged man also hate humans, right?”

“Yes. And, there is a ferocious magical beast on the way to the Holy Kingdom. Watch out for that too.”

“I heard that already at the liquor table yesterday. Don’t worry, I’m the man who exchanged fist with the Beast King. I won’t die so easily.”

I waved to the surprisingly worried Beast King and then I urged the unicorn to move. We are going to the Kycilia Holy Kingdom. It is the kingdom of a race known as winged man. We ran through the city that had just awakened from the night’s sleep and then I finally saw the exit of Ganesha, the Beast Capital.

“Oiii- nya!”

Lena is waving at the exit. Only me and Erna stayed at the Royal Palace so it was our first reunion with Lena after a few hours. I guess she come all the way here to say goodbye. We made the unicorns stop in front of Lena.

“Are you leaving already nya? I’ll be very lonely nya.”

“We’ll see you again someday. Besides, you can always come to Mana City, we are adventurers there you see.”

“I’m sure I’m going to see you guys again nya! Both of you should also come back to this kingdom nya!”

We shake hands with Lena. It was a short meeting but the trip with her was a lot of fun. If there is a connection, we will meet again.

“See you again!”

We then made the unicorns gallop. Lena waved behind us.

◇

“So hot…”

Erna is sluggish on top of the unicorn. It’s already been three days since we left Ganesha, the Beast Capital. The temperature rises as we go south and the jungle scenery has turned into a wilderness. I heard that the Kycilia Holy Kingdom is in the desert so it seems that the destination is still far ahead.

“There are many stone statues around here huh.”

Looking around, stone statues are scattered about in the wilderness. Some are about 3 meters in size, while others are huge, over 10 meters in size. Although they are humanoid in shape, some have a crocodile faced and some have a bird face, bearing a close remembrance to ancient Egypt.

“Kishaaaaa!”

A large creature emerged from the shadow of a stone statue. It has a dark blue carapace with two large pincers. Its long tail draws an arc and hangs forward. A scorpion with a total length of about 5m begins to chase after us.

“Shinichi! They are also coming from over there!”

As Erna had said, scorpions appeared one after another from the shadow of the other stone statues. They go around in the direction of our travel and surround us. Their number totalled to ten. All of them are gargantuan monster scorpions.

【Analysis Result: Blue Scorpion: The needle at the tip of the tail is extremely poisonous and it quickly pierces the prey after catching it with its pincers. A variant of Violet Scorpion: Rarity (D): Overall Ability (D)】

【Status】 Name: Blue Scorpion Race: Blue Scorpion Magic Attribute: Earth Magic: Rock Wall Skills: Claw strengthening (Intermediate), Enemy Search (Advanced), Hardening (Intermediate), Sand Walking(Advanced) Evolution: Does not meet the conditions <Requirements: Claw Strengthening (Special), hardening (Special), Sand Walking (Special)>

It’s probably strong in its own way. However, the Danger Prediction skill is not responding to them. Given that, it only means that they are not my opponent. However, it is not possible for Erna to grow if I am always the one getting rid of it. Let’s have the future Great Mage do the clean up here.

“Erna, show me the results of your training.”

“Okay! It’s time to show the results of Moore’s hellish training!”

After Erna raised her staff, magical power was released from her body. And then it converged to the staff at once.

“Break Tornado!”

The surrounding air begins to swirl and a tornado occurs. The blue scorpions were pulled into the tornado and dances in the air like a leaf. The tornado disappears in a few minutes but the scorpions that were blown away struck to the ground and rocks, suffering great damage. Even so, probably because of their strong vitality, they start to twitch then they moved again.

“Air cutter!”

The scorpions were torn apart by the magic used as a finishing blow. Hoh-, I’m impressed with her performance.

“The magic of that tornado is awesome. Is it a special-grade wind magic?”

“Yeah. Break Tornado is not very effective against multiple enemies though. I feel like it’s a magic suitable in wide area.”

The special grade wind magic seems to be quite effective in wide and rugged rocky areas. However, it will not be reliable in the desert that is up ahead.

“Oops, I have to pick up that skill.”

Once I get off the unicorn, I approached a scorpion’s corpse and I acquired the Sand Walking skill. Perhaps this will make walking in the desert easier. After that, I tear off the scorpion’s legs and bake them on fire. The dark blue carapace gradually turned red.

“Oh-, this smells delicious. Hmm, which one should I try?”

When I put the scorpion meat in my mouth, it tastes like a crab. It’s like eating a giant king crab’s leg. It’s very delicious.

“Erna, try eating one too. It’s pretty good.”

“I’ll pass. I don’t have an appetite because of the heat…”

After saying that, Erna takes out the water canteen from her bosom and drinks water. It seems that she is completely exhausted by the heat on the wilderness. It’s not that hot, though. Well, I guess it’s a racial difference.

After munching on the scorpion’s meat for a while, I decided to store the rest in the bangle. I also like to eat crabs. And with this, I can taste it anytime.

“Hey, haven’t we arrived at the Holy Kingdom yet?”

“Hn? We haven’t even reached the desert yet. The Holy Kingdom is still farther ahead.”

“I heard that there is a lot of sand in the desert, but it’s not as hot as here, right?”

“Oh, I see… Erna is not familiar with the desert huh. Once you see it, you’ll understand. It will get even hotter once we get to the desert.”

“Eh!? It’s even hotter!? I don’t like it anymore! I want to go home!”

Erna protests while flailing on the horse. That being said, there is nothing I can do about it. Complain to the sun.

I immediately get on the unicorn and we start galloping along the road again. All we have to do is follow this leveled path to reach the Holy Kingdom so we won’t particularly get lost. Additionally, as I heard from the Beast King, there also seems to be a guide in the desert to reach the Holy Kingdom. He said that I could recognize it just by seeing it so we wouldn’t get lost for the time being.

There are cactus-like plants occasionally growing in the wilderness. Its surface is green and it has thorns, but when you touch it, it feels soft and flabby like a water balloon. It’s interesting as it’s comfortable to touch. The soft and moist feel is quite good. When I was absorbed in touching it, it was magically erased by Erna. She said that the shape is obscene. It looks like “that” indeed. Still, I wanted to say that she shouldn’t blow it away with Flame Bomb. I decided to come back to this wilderness someday.

“Uwaa! Amazing! So this is the desert huh!”

“Hmm, it’s a sandy desert like the Sahara Desert.”

We spent two days in the wilderness then we finally arrived in the desert. This pace is quite slow. Until now, thanks to the unicorn’s physical strength and ability, we travelled to the three kingdom earlier than planned, but in such harsh environment, the homeless unicorns also run out of breath.

Then again, the unicorn’s abilities are severely limited in the desert. Given that, I decided that we would just walk through the desert.

“Alright, I’ll store the unicorns.”

I stored the two unicorns inside the bangle. In fact, it is possible to put living creatures inside the bangle.

…..But I noticed it only recently.

After several trials of using insects and lizards as guinea pig, I found that the time for the creatures inside the bangle came to a stop. Originally, it was a tool that I did not understand well, but when it comes to this point, it may be comparable to Doraemon’s secret tool. In the future, I must consider whether to offer this bangle in the Kamidana.

Erna applauds as the unicorns disappeared in an instant.

“Shinichi can even overthrow those conjurers huh.”

“That’s gratifying, but it’s more surprising that there are conjurers in this world with mages.”

While having such enjoyable chat, we set foot in the desert. Our feet sank into the sand. It likely that we’ll be exhausted just by walking.

“So hot… I’m tired…”

Erna walks behind me, piercing her staff into the sand and moves forward step by step. Her way of walking is like an old man over 90 years old. On the other hand, I, who activated the Sand Walking skill, is different from before and I could now proceed easily. My feet step firmly on the sand. Apparently, I have acquired a good skill.

“Here-, I’ll lend you a hand.”

I extend my arm to Erna, who is stamping on a place that turned into a slope. Erna, who grabbed my hand, suddenly started climbing the slope easily.

“It’s easier to walk if I hold Shinichi’s hand! What’s going on!?”

“…I see, Sand Walking have an effect on people who are in close contact with the user huh.”

Then it would be more efficient to walk hand in hand.

“Alright, we will proceed like this.”

“Uh- Okay.…”

Erna had a red face. Probably because her body temperature is rising due to the heat.

A mountain of white sand extends far into the horizon. The sand flew due to the wind and the smooth slope gradually changed its shape. The air is heated by the intense sunlight and I can see the swaying heat haze. It doesn’t feel so hot to me but it’s a hellish heat for Erna.

“Hey Shinichi, isn’t that the way to go?”

A colossal statue, which could be several tens of meters long, stood in the direction Erna pointed out. Furthermore, a similar statue stands beyond it, extending to the horizon.

“Let’s be thankful for those.”

We approached the colossal statue while holding hands.

“Such a weird face…”

Erna mutters when we reached the feet of the colossal statue. The face of the humanoid statue had four eyes. It has wings on its back and holds a spear in its right hand.

Are the winged men a race with four eyes?  I’m a little thrilled.

We hurry forward as we move from statue to statue. I sometimes flew with Erna in the sky, but the sandstorm was terrible in the sky and there’s poor visibility. In the end, I went down to the ground and we just walked steadily. At night, the temperature dropped sharply and the cold struck us. Perhaps Erna couldn’t stand it as she was trembling and she curls to my side.

Then on the fourth day after we started walking in the desert, we finally saw something like a City on the horizon.

“We did it! We finally arrived!”

Erna forgets about me and starts running. With her feet sinking, she climbed up the dunes and from the top, she look on to the distance.

“That is Vinea, the Holy Capital!”

When I went up to the dunes, I could see the scenery that Erna was looking at. The reddish-brown outer wall encloses a vast forest inside and a rainbow-colored dome covers the sky on the city.

“What is that dome?”

“That’s a magical barrier made with ancient technology. It seems that everything was made by the founder dwarves for the winged race.”

“There used to be excellent technology long ago huh.”

Long ago dwarves seemed to have excellent knowledge and skills. But why there is no shadow of that now? I am excited to uncover such historical mystery.

“Let’s go”

Erna stretched out her right hand. I stretched my left hand and then we hold hands. The feel of her hands is very comfortable. Keeping pace with her, we then head for Vinea, the Holy Capital.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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