Volume 1 Chapter 20 Crossing the Desert
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It’s been a month since the thing with Mr. Gregory happened.
The caravan is moving smoothly through the middle of the valley towards the royal capital.
The whole situation with Mr. Gregory seems to have really affected Puruun too, and ever since then, both of us have been feeling down.
To cheer us up, Ms. Sharlin has been telling some pretty bad jokes, but honestly, she’s not usually like this. I think even she’s still bothered by what happened with Mr. Gregory.
Seeing us like this, Mr. Agohige invited the 3 of us to have dinner together.
”We’ll be at the final hurdle, the Clay Desert, soon. If we can get through that, the rest to the royal capital shouldn’t be too hard, but we’ll need your help to cross the Clay Desert. You don’t have to write in your journals today, so just relax and recharge.”
With that, Mr. Agohige treated us to food and drinks.
I’ve been in this world for over 2 and a half years now, so I’m definitely over 20. Since it’s a special occasion, I decided to try some alcohol, but wow, this is what adults drink? I think I need to get used to it.
Puruun, being underage, is just having tea, while Ms. Sharlin is chatting away with Mr. Agohige. It seems like Mr. Agohige has never seen Ms. Sharlin so talkative before. Maybe she gets chatty when she drinks.
After a while, Ms. Sharlin’s eyes started to look a bit glazed over, and her gaze became sharper. Well, she didn’t seem like she was about to go wild or anything, but Mr. Agohige looked a bit nervous, so the party wrapped up, and Puruun and I took Ms. Sharlin’s hand to lead her back to my carriage.
”She’s okay, right? If she goes crazy, we won’t be able to handle it.”
”Well, she seems to have good self-control, so I think we’re fine… but just in case, I’ll be your shield.”
Puruun replied. Just then, Ms. Sharlin started speaking softly.
”Must be nice. Yuuta has… a family. Lots of friends. A wonderful partner… I’ve been all alone for so long…”
As she said this, Ms. Sharlin started to cry.
”Wait, what? Is she really crying because of the alcohol?”
Puruun looked shocked.
What should we do? I remembered Mr. Agohige saying that Ms. Sharlin, being a dark elf, must have gone through a lot of tough times.
”No, Ms. Sharlin. You’re not alone. Look, the two of us right here are at least your friends.”
”Really?”
”Yeah.”
”Then, Yuuta and Puruun, come sit next to me!”
With that, Ms. Sharlin pulled us both to sit beside her.
”Okay, now you two give me a big hug! And then, pat my head!”
Ms. Sharlin started sucking her thumb like a little kid.
”Hey, Yuuta. Isn’t Ms. Sharlin talking like a baby?”
”Haha, I think it’s fine. Sometimes it’s good to let her be pampered. She probably hasn’t had many chances like this.”
”Got it. So, hug time!”
”Ah, more, more…”
I kept patting Ms. Sharlin’s head, and after a while, she seemed to fall asleep.
The next morning, Ms. Sharlin was avoiding eye contact with us and looking away. I wondered if she remembered what happened last night.
Well, by the next day, her attitude towards us was back to normal.
* * *
The caravan finally entered the desert. Even though it’s a desert, there are oases, and the caravan has a set route to follow. The problem is that this year, it seems like there are way more sandworms than usual. Honestly, with goblins and sandworms, this world has a lot of strange creatures popping up.
I heard one of them can be about 3 meters long, but they’re too sandy to eat… actually, someone tried to eat one…
This thing moves through the sand, hits the carts from underground, flips them over, and attacks whatever is on top. It’s hard to completely stop this surprise attack, so a team goes ahead of the caravan and uses sound waves to scare off the bugs by hitting the ground with special hammers. When the bugs leave, the caravan can pass through safely.
”Well, their living area isn’t that big. It happens all the time, so we’ll manage. But honestly, I find bandits easier to deal with.”
Ms. Sharlin said, maybe because she doesn’t like bugs.
A few days after entering the desert, we finally reached the area where the Sandworms are a threat.
”Form a circle!”
The caravan leader ordered, and the line of carts that were in a straight line turned into a big circle. Ms. Sharlin, the Defense Force, and I got off the carts to stay alert for any sudden worm attacks. In the center of the circle, they hammered a bug-repelling tool into the ground.
”This means the area around us is safe.”
Ms. Sharlin explained.
Then, about a hundred meters ahead, they used another bug-repelling hammer, and with the command “Move forward!” the carts moved to that spot. I got it; we were moving like inchworms, slowly but surely.
So, the caravan moved through the dangerous desert area, and before sunset, we reached our target oasis.
”Phew. Now we can relax.”
Everyone thought. But the next moment, the last cart flipped over with a loud crash.
”Oh no! There was still one chasing us! Let’s go, everyone!”
Ms. Sharlin shouted as she ran to the back with the Defense Force mercenaries and adventurers, leaving me behind.
People from the back cart started running toward the oasis, and Puruun was among them.
”Puruun, are you okay?”
”Yeah, I’m fine. But what was that? Didn’t they say the Sandworm was about 3 meters (10ft) long? That thing looks like it’s 20 meters (65ft)!”
Mr. Agohige, who was nearby, started to panic.
”What?! It’s a 50-year-old one! This is bad; the caravan will be wiped out…”
”Mr. Agohige, what do you mean by 50-year-old?”
”Just what it sounds like. Rarely, some live that long, and they’re huge with super tough skin. Even the adventurers’ swords might not cut through… Mr. Yuuta, Ms. Puruun, you two are guests. Just get to the oasis for now!”
Even so, I’m Ms. Sharlin’s assistant. I have to help somehow…
Wait! Maybe I can do something! I told Puruun to guard Mr. Agohige while retreating to the oasis, then I went back to my cart. Up ahead, I could see Ms. Sharlin and the adventurers fighting, and it was clear they were struggling.
It’s like with Japanese swords; if you try to cut something hard, the blade often chips.
”But maybe with this…”
I grabbed Mr. Gregory’s military knife and headed to help Ms. Sharlin.
”The surface won’t work! Aim for the joints!”
Ms. Sharlin was directing her team, but the 50-year-old worm was moving fast, and everyone was having a hard time getting their swords in the right spots. Many swords were getting broken.
”Ms. Sharlin, I’m here to help!”
”Idiot! You won’t be able to do anything. Get back!”
”But with this!”
I said, and I stabbed the 50-year-old worm with Mr. Gregory’s knife.
With a sound, the knife easily pierced the worm’s tough skin, and cracks started to spread from there. Cheers erupted from the crowd.
Dodging the worm’s thrashing body, I managed to make a few more cracks.
”Now! Hit the cracked spots!”
”Okay, everyone! Focus on the spots Yuuta cracked!”
About 20 minutes later, the 50-year-old worm was completely silent.
”Wow, Mr. Yuuta. Thank you. I can’t thank you enough!”
Mr. Agohige said that to me, and it made me feel appreciated. Luckily, there weren’t many injuries, and the broken wagon can be fixed soon. Ms. Sharlin and the other adventurers praised me, but I felt a bit mixed about it.
If we hadn’t met Mr. Gregory back then… if we hadn’t killed Mr. Gregory… this knife wouldn’t be mine, and the caravan might have been wiped out.
Maybe Puruun sensed how I was feeling because she said,
”Yuuta. I think Mr. Gregory helped us this time. He wanted you to achieve the dream that he couldn’t. He wants you to return to your world.”
That makes sense. Thinking about it that way makes me feel a little better.
”Well then, I’m going to see how much bonus I can get from Mr. Agohige for this.”
Puruun said as she ran off toward Mr. Agohige.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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