Thank you to everyone who provided comments and coupons. Chapter 191
60. The Magical Beasts and the Pleasures of the Desert
190 – The Magical Beasts and the Pleasures of the Desert #2
The city of Cairo, at the edge of the western lands, is a sprawling metropolis of one million inhabitants, nestled near the royal valley of the royal family, in the vast desert, and among the pyramids.
Unlike the human kingdoms that see the beasts of this world merely as easy prey to hunt and slaughter, the Stone Dwarves sought to coexist with various beasts and tribes.
Thus, in Cairo, one could witness humans, desert fairies, and various creatures coexisting in a bustling, colorful community.
━ Hey, where are the guards or the gatekeepers at the entrance?
As I passed through the enormous castle gates, I felt a pang of confusion at the lack of guards. When I thought of the Royal Capital Jerusalem, I remembered the overwhelming presence of soldiers everywhere.
“The ones who have crossed the Patience Desert are granted entry into this city, no matter who they are or how they arrived.”
━ So, anyone can just waltz in, huh? Sounds about right.
“Except for dragons, of course.”
Azidahaka wrapped a long robe, which he had bought from the Mole Mogu, around himself from head to tail. It wouldn’t be a great day to be discovered as a dragon in the city of Gryphons, so better safe than sorry.
━ So this is Cairo.
The towers resembling those of an Islamic mosque and the three-story buildings crammed together looked just like the desert city I had envisioned.
‘Pretty neat.’
I couldn’t help but admire the sandy-colored streets and buildings of the desert city, bustling with pedestrians busying about.
Creatures with more than four legs, bipedal beings, and critters with wings flitted about, spinning my head in delight.
━ Plenty of things to eat, at least I won’t starve.
“Don’t eat anything! If you do, the Gryphons will show up. It’s best to move quietly until we find Satan, to avoid any mishaps.”
Azidahaka pointed upward with his finger. At the tip of that finger were tall towers and several Gryphons perched on top, scanning the ground with sharp, hungry eyes. They looked quite intimidating, almost like overzealous security cameras.
━ So even without guards, the Gryphons are keeping watch around here.
━ Where to next?
In response to my question, Azidahaka dug into his chest and pulled out a makeshift compass. The needle, which had just been pointing in a specific direction, was now spinning wildly again.
“Maybe it’s because there are so many living things around, but the magical energy is all out of whack. Looks like we’ll have to do some legwork and explore the city ourselves. It’s clear that Satan has been here… if we just get close to where he went, we should be able to recalibrate the direction.”
━ Well, guess it’s time for a little sightseeing.
━ Guiying.
━ Yeah, I should also try to sell this thing.
Hearing Yingyi, I felt the leather pouch at my waist. Inside was a tightly compacted Desertling stone.
According to Mole Mogu, it’s common practice to release a Desertling back out into the desert when it’s no longer needed. However, I figured selling it somewhere would be better than just letting it go, especially since this was a bountiful food city, and the barren desert surrounding it would fetch a good price for that stone.
“Then let’s split up and look around. I’ll head east of the central tower, and White One can take the west. Let’s regroup in front of the tower when the sun sets.”
Azidahaka pointed at the tall tower above us. Then, he cut a piece of his hair, tied it to the needle of the compass, and voila, another makeshift magical detector was created.
“Just breathe on it, and it should work.”
I took the compass Azidahaka handed me and scratched my head with my claw.
━ I don’t know how to use magical energy or whatever.
“You’re already a massive chunk of magical energy. You just need to blow on it a little; no need to strain yourself.”
━ Hmm, okay.
I reluctantly blew towards the tip of the needle. The compass needle spun around in response.
━ Wow, it really works.
“It’ll keep spinning until you forcefully touch it to stop or detect Satan’s magical energy nearby.”
━ Alright then, I’ll see you back here when the sun sets.
*
I plopped Yingyi onto my shoulder and scuttled about the bustling streets of the city.
Having a large beast roaming the streets without a leash felt hilarious, but with so many other creatures around, it didn’t even seem strange anymore.
‘This is like the Ancient Nest.’
Creatures, like me, had belts around their waists, each carrying various pouches and tools.
They looked quite intelligent and seemed strong. It was clear that the ones who crossed the Patience Desert were no ordinary beasts.
━ What are you doing standing foolishly in the middle of the street?
━ A white one, huh? That’s my type. Hehe.
━ What are you looking at? Have you never seen a desert fox before!?
The sounds of beasts fighting and growling filled the busy city.
Perhaps due to Satan’s influence, there were not just ordinary beasts here, but many humanoid creatures with the limbs of humans and the faces of beasts, resembling characters straight out of a fantasy novel or game.
━ It’s so chaotic here. There are beasts everywhere, and fur is flying about.
━ Guiying.
━ Be careful not to get lost. I might be okay, but you seem like quite a famous creature; someone might snatch you up. Hold onto my shoulder tightly.
━ Yingyi!
━ So, what should we do first?
I dug my claws into a tall three-story building to climb up. Once at the top, the open view of the streets calmed my restless mind, allowing me to take in the sights of the entire city.
━ Wow, there sure is a lot of variety.
Peering down from the rooftop, I saw sights that were worlds apart from what I would’ve seen on the ground.
There were folks riding enormous elephants, turban-wearing Dark Fairies leading six foxes and wolves by leashes, and even snake-women resembling lamias dancing to the sound of a flute with onlookers clapping along. I surely wouldn’t get bored here.
‘There seems to be a lot of people over there.’
As I browsed around, I spotted a large crowd of people and creatures gathering in what looked like an open market.
‘Is it a market?’
The tents, stalls, and the multitude of creatures calling out and haggling could only be described as a market scene.
━ Grilled desert snake eels for sale! Delicious! Perfect for adventure rations! Ah, thank you for five!
━ Selling trinkets obtained from ruins recently. Not sure of their abilities, but they must be magically imbued!
━ Three, how much?
━ You need to state the price first.
━ Shouldn’t the seller at least give a rough estimate?
━ Sorry, but that’s how it is. If you’re not happy, don’t buy it.
━ You scoundrel.
‘What a racket.’
I found myself mingling among various beasts as I perused the offerings in the market.
From vendors selling grilled scorpions and snakes to shady characters sprawled out over mats selling broken pottery from underground ruins, I finally understood why Cairo was reputed to have everything under the sun.
Wiggle, wiggle.
I felt the leather pouch at my waist stir. Was the Desertling inside awakening?
‘Should I try selling this thing? How much could I get for it?’
Watching the skewers and grilled meats on sale made my stomach gurgle. Maybe selling the Desertling would net me enough for a skewer or two.
Ahem.
I deliberately cleared my throat and shouted out, just like the other beasts.
━ Selling Desertlings! Buy now, and you get the leather pouch for free!
━ Huh?
━ What?
━ Hmm?
I could feel the eyes of those nearby turn towards me, curious about my call. Seeing the bewildered expressions on the beasts, I decided to give it another shot.
━ Uh, I, uh, sell Desertlings…
━ Puhahaha!
━ Hahaha!
━ Kha ha ha!
Before I could finish my sentence, the nearby beasts burst into laughter so loudly it drowned out my voice. My brow furrowed in confusion at this inexplicable situation.
‘What’s going on?’
━ Hey, did you hear? He’s selling a leather pouch with a Desertling!
━ Puhahaha, who would pay for that!
━ Look at that dumb expression…! It seems he doesn’t even know what he was trying to do!
As the beasts chuckled mockingly, I felt completely bewildered. Was selling a Desertling really that hilarious?
Just as I was starting to feel embarrassed, a large bipedal camel with a hefty hump approached me, wiping tears of laughter from its eyes.
━ Hey, buddy. Looks like you just came from the Patience Desert, huh? Have you ever looked inside that leather pouch?
I shrugged at the camel’s friendly query.
━ Nope, never looked.
━ You should take a peek. Then you’ll understand why we’re all laughing.
━ Hmm.
Taking the camel’s advice, I opened the top of the leather pouch that contained the Desertling and peeked inside.
‘What is this…?’
As I flipped it upside down, something heavy and solid tumbled out and hit the ground with a thud. It rolled like a rock and made a loud noise.
‘Was it this solid?’
Noticing my confusion, the camel chimed in.
━ Desertlings get all dried out and tough like a rock if they’re stuck in dark, cramped spaces for too long. The water you drank earlier was the moisture it expelled to become like that.
━ It’s really just a rock.
I grasped the black rock that had tumbled to the ground, the former Desertling, with my paw and stared in awe.
━ Is it dead?
Shaking its head, the camel replied.
━ No, not dead. It’s more like it’s been in a hibernation state for several decades; you could consider it dead, though.
━ Truly, it’s no different from a rock.
Now I understood the reason for all the laughter. Looking around, I noticed many rocks scattered about the desert that looked similar to the Desertling clutched in my paw.
Carefully, I placed the hardened Desertling down among the rocks. Noticing me, the camel continued to speak.
━ It’s understandable if it’s your first time. A merchant like that Mole Mogu from the Patience Desert wouldn’t go into such detail. Not knowing about the ecology of Desertlings probably means you aren’t from the West… are you a beast from the Eastern Ancient Nest?
━ Something like that.
As I responded, voices could be heard from around me.
━ That’s a Breed Ratel! Just look at its front claws and thick fur. Definitely a Ratel from the East!
━ But Rats don’t usually look that white, do they?
━ Must be a special variant. White-furred ones are born from time to time.
━ And look at those spikes on its back. Definitely a porcupine. I’ve seen rock-eating porcupines before—they had spikes like that too.
━ But do porcupines have tails that long?
The beasts babbled among themselves about my species, offering their theories and insights.
What had started as a simple plan to sell the Desertling to buy a snack turned into an unexpected shower of interest, leaving me a touch fatigued.
Is this the fate of someone who’s popular?
━ So you’re from the East; no wonder everyone’s so interested.
━ Right? To these Western folks, the East is an unknown realm. And I’ve heard the beasts from the Eastern Ancient Nest think of the West as a mystical land too, is that true?
At the camel’s question, I narrowed my eyes and replied vaguely, “Something like that.” It seemed that the fascination with what others have and what they don’t is a universal trait among the beasts in this world.
━ So, how did you end up in the West? Just sightseeing?
━ Well…
If I said I was searching for Satan and that wretched trinket he’s after, I would probably wind up embroiled in unnecessary troubles, so I hesitated and picked my words carefully.
━ I’m guessing you heard the news that the Second Pyramid was opened up, huh? That’s why everyone’s swarming into Cairo these days.
━ Second Pyramid?
[Author’s Note] If you enjoyed reading, please smash the recommendation button at the top of your mobile screen! With just a 2-second lead, you’ll give us writers a happy day! @worldfaker
