Chapter 610: 【Adventurer Mitran】Night, at the Oasis

“Achoo!”

The desert at night is cold.

I sneezed, wiped my nose, wrapped myself in a blanket, held my hands over the bonfire, and waited for the… sea urchins to cook in the shadow of a nearby rock.

…Yes, sea urchins.

There’s no sea nearby in this great desert, but there are sea urchins.

These sea urchins, adapted to life in a hot, dry region, live on land.

The wonders of a different world, huh…?

By the way, although they’re not eaten raw, they taste the same as sea urchins eaten on Earth.

Delicious.

…While waiting for the sea urchins to cook, I looked around at the scenery.

Above me is a cloudless, star-filled sky.

The starlight pouring down faintly illuminates the endless desert in a pale blue light…

“Achoo!”

I sneezed again, here.

“Are you catching a cold?”

Leseida-san, sitting next to me, lowered her eyebrows worriedly, approached me, and pressed her forehead against mine.

Geez… Please stop, I’m not a little kid!

“Hahhaa! Even though you’re so strong against magical creatures, you still look like just a cute girl when you do that!”

Across the bonfire, Harishurap-san laughed heartily as he devoured the meat of the Sandworm I defeated during the day.

Next to him, the wandering mage Nenesane was pondering about something with her hand on her chin.

“I-I don’t have a cold! I was just a little cold! And I’m not a girl! I’m a boy!”

“Hahhaa! Alright, alright! That’s the story, right?”

“Kyururuppiii!!”

“No, it’s not a story or anything… Seriously, why won’t anyone believe me…?”

Besides us, there’s no one else on the banks of this beautiful oasis.

After shaking off the Sunrise Triangle, the Sandworm, and many other magical creatures, we finally arrived at today’s campsite.

In contrast to the noisy daytime, a peaceful time flowed here.

* * *

“Now that our stomachs are full, let’s confirm tomorrow’s schedule!”

Now, after dinner, it’s time for a meeting.

We all gathered around Harishurap-san and looked at the map he spread out.

It’s a valuable map that Harishurap-san made while traveling around various settlements as a transporter, showing the entire area of the Lasanaskiros Desert.

“We’re currently in this ‘Camel Village’… which should normally be inhabited by Camel beastmen.”

Saying that, Harishurap-san pointed to a small dot slightly to the right of the center of the map.

“A village… but there are no houses or anything?”

“Hahhaa! They live in tents! With the signs of a stampede, they’ve packed up all their household goods, food, and the elderly, and are evacuating to the eastern capital.”

Harishurap-san, laughing heartily, slid his finger to the right side of the map, in response to my question as I looked around the oasis.

There’s a large circle there, marked “Capital”.

“…Stampede.”

I gulped and muttered.

…Yes, a stampede.

Currently, abnormal behavior of magical creatures has been observed in this Lasanaskiros Desert.

It all started a month ago.

It snowed in this great desert.

And then, the behavior of the magical creatures became strange.

A large number of magical creatures, supposedly lurking in the uninhabited area on the west side of the Great Desert, known as the ‘Lair of Magical Creatures’… for some reason, started appearing in the eastern area, where we are now, where people live.

It’s suspected that this is a sign of an impending stampede, where a large number of magical creatures will surge from their lair into the human realm.

Therefore, the people living in the settlements scattered throughout the desert… mostly beastmen adapted to desert life, I hear… have all started to evacuate to the capital.

Historically, stampedes have occurred repeatedly, so the fact that each settlement was quick to evacuate was a small mercy.

So far, there have been almost no casualties caused by the magical creatures.

According to Harishurap-san, that Sandworm I defeated during the day is also a magical creature that isn’t normally seen around here.

“However, a stampede… although this phenomenon is dangerous, it’s also a tailwind for our purpose! After all, the ‘Golden Pyramid’ we’re looking for… is most likely located in the Lair of Magical Creatures! With the density of magical creatures in their lair lower than usual… we can explore the western desert more safely!”

Harishurap-san, grinning, nodded, and we all nodded back with serious expressions.

The Golden Pyramid… is a ruin said to exist in this Lasanaskiros Desert.

True to its name, it’s a pyramid-shaped ruin, shining golden, but its location is unknown.

According to the few witnesses… the pyramid was apparently moving across the surface, near the horizon.

A moving ruin is unprecedented!

Usually, those testimonies are laughed off as lies, and no serious investigation has ever been conducted.

But Leseida-san was different.

She speculated that the Golden Pyramid… the moving ruin, might be a ruin of the Super-Ancient Magic Civilization.

The Super-Ancient Magic Civilization is the subject of Leseida-san’s research, a mysterious civilization said to have possessed technology far superior to the present.

Perhaps that Super-Ancient Magic Civilization… could have created a ruin that continues to move even after thousands of years since its destruction.

That’s what Leseida-san thought.

And as her next research theme… she set her sights on the Golden Pyramid, and decided to explore it.

I was brought along as a bodyguard on that expedition.

“So, tomorrow we’ll finally enter the Lair of Magical Creatures! Our route is… we’ll detour around the Great Canyon running north-south through the center of the desert, from the north.”

Harishurap-san traced the map with his finger as he spoke.

From Camel Village, near the center of the map, we’ll head west.

Once we hit the Great Canyon, we’ll follow it north.

And then, from the edge of the canyon, we’ll cross over to the western part of the Great Desert… and into the Lair of Magical Creatures.

“Hahhaa! If we encounter any magical creatures, I’ll leave them to you, Miss! Lady and I are fast, but we’re not good at fighting!”

On the map, the large blank area between the Great Canyon and the ‘Great Wall’… the boundary between the westernmost part of the Lasanaskiros Desert and the neighboring area to the west.

That’s the Lair of Magical Creatures.

Although it’s expected that the density of magical creatures will be lower than usual due to the signs of a stampede… it’s still a dangerous area, where attacks from dangerous magical creatures are likely to occur.

Harishurap-san, tracing a large circle over that area with his finger, pushed up his sunglasses with his other hand, revealing his sharp eyes.

Although he’s still smiling… his eyes are completely serious.

“…Leave it to me!”

I looked straight back into his eyes… and replied, my voice a little tense.

“…Can I ask you one thing?”

Here.

Although everyone had been silently listening to the crackling of the bonfire for a while.

Leseida-san raised her hand slightly and asked Harishurap-san a question.

“What is it?”

“This expedition is a very dangerous journey. Although I’m the one who asked you to ‘transport’ us… why did you accept our request?”

It’s a question we’ve been unable to ask until now, because we ended up working together in a haphazard way, due to the madmen of the Sunrise Triangle.

Of course, we’re paying Harishurap-san a considerable amount of money.

Even so, why did he agree to cooperate in this exploration, which carries the risk of death?

What’s the reason?

That’s the question.

“…………”

“Ah, no, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry…”

Seeing Harishurap-san’s sudden silence, Leseida-san hurriedly tried to withdraw her question.

But.

“Hah… No, it’s fine. It’s not like I’m hiding anything.”

Harishurap-san, looking at the bonfire… smiled quietly, and started talking.

“My old man… was a transporter, just like me… but he was a damn scumbag. Quick to fight… with a big cross-shaped scar on his forehead. Anyway, he was a scary bastard to a kid.”

A scumbag.

Harishurap-san called him that.

But although he covered his eyes with his sunglasses again… he’s still smiling.

“That scumbag… apparently saw something while he was working.”

“What did he see?”

“The Golden Pyramid.”

The bonfire crackled loudly.

“After that, he changed. All he could talk about was the Golden Pyramid, the Golden Pyramid, like a mantra. In the end, he abandoned us, his family, and went off to search for it on his own. He caused my mom a lot of trouble.”

“…Did you ever meet your father… after that?”

“Never met him again. I don’t even hear rumors about him anymore, so he’s probably dead somewhere. Hah!”

‘Good riddance’—

Harishurap-san continued, saying that.

But my cheat… my 【Super Intuition】 is telling me.

The tremor in Harishurap-san’s voice.

Isn’t just from anger or hatred.

“…I want to stand before that damn scumbag’s empty grave, and brag. ‘Hey, you scumbag. I found what you threw everything away to search for.’ If I do that… maybe my… aimless emotions… will be a little better…”

Finally.

Harishurap-san’s voice was tinged with loneliness.

“That’s my… revenge and memorial service for that scumbag… Well, that’s… what I think. It’ll give me some closure.”

Saying that, he sighed softly.