Chapter Twenty-Eight: Yellow Sands and Giant Lizards (Part One)
I sat for a moment in the earthen house outside the cellar while Old Mayor was busy organizing things. The girl named Betty remained near me, her little face a bit awkward.
Before long, someone delivered a cloth and a veil. Seeing me fumble with it, the little girl rushed over to do my hair, wrapping it up nicely. Once I put on the veil, my whole face was covered tight, leaving only my eyes visible.
With a quick prep done, the little girl and I stepped out of the earthen house. In the distance, I saw Old Mayor had summoned a Beast of Burden, hefty yet gentle-looking, being dragged right in front of me by a man with a silly grin. I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“We don’t need this.”
“But how can that be?!”
Upon hearing my words, Old Mayor hurried over, “Young Lady, dangers lurk everywhere in the desert, many of which you can’t even imagine! If you want to return to the town safely, you can’t do without this capable big guy…”
“I don’t need it.”
I reiterated firmly, my tone serious, “Just give me my backpack and plenty of water, that’s enough.”
To shut him up, I thought for a moment and added, “This way, we’ll actually be quicker.”
“Well…”
Old Mayor looked troubled, pondering, “But you must… need a guide, right?”
“Mm-hmm.” I nodded.
I had a plan in mind about that.
“Let her come with me.”
I pointed at the little girl who had been hiding behind Old Mayor, “Have her guide me. That’ll do.”
As for why…
I felt this little girl was a bit daft, probably the easiest to trick in this town.
If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t be confident in unleashing my Chaotic Power without them catching on.
From the contents of Ailna’s manual, this town might not be afraid of Infernal Fire, but they surely fear the Abyssal Power. They probably even know its origins well. Until I figured out what these folks were up to, I didn’t want to show any cards.
“Grandpa…”
Upon hearing me point at her, the little girl immediately turned pale, tugging at Old Mayor’s clothes and looking up at him with pleading eyes.
“Uh…”
Old Mayor’s face changed too. Of course, he didn’t want his little granddaughter to go risk her life with me. He was about to find an excuse to refuse, but I waved my hand and cut him off, “She’s been living here for ten years. Don’t tell me she doesn’t understand desert survival. All I need is someone passably decent to guide me. The rest, she won’t need to worry about, and there won’t be any danger. I’ll bring her back before the sun sets.”
That effectively silenced Old Mayor.
Seeing my firm attitude, with no room for negotiation, he sighed, grabbed the water bags and cloth pack from the Beast of Burden, slung the cloth pack over his shoulder, tossed both water bags into it, patted the little girl’s shoulders, and turned to leave.
In the end, Old Mayor let out a sigh, “Well, girl, just go with her…”
“Grandpa, I’m scared…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay… Young Lady isn’t a demon or a bad person… She won’t eat you…”
With Old Mayor comforting his granddaughter, I started walking toward the town’s exit. After a while, I heard the rustling footsteps following me.
“Y-Young Lady, ma’am…”
The little girl hurried to catch up, panting. I didn’t turn around but softly said, “You can call me, Queen.”
“Ah…”
The little girl ran beside me, and upon hearing that, looked a bit startled before glancing at me nervously, her deep blue eyes full of uncertainty.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
But she obediently called out.
Hiss…
Why does that sound so weird?
It’s not a strange title or anything; others call Victoria that…
Oh well, let’s keep it normal.
“I was joking.”
I winked at the little girl, “You can still call me Sister.”
“…Oh.”
The little girl understood I was teasing her and lowered her head, mumbling her response.
Hmm…
She seems like a little punching bag.
“By the way, lizard. You know where their nests are, right?”
“I-I know… My dad took me to a few…”
“Then take me to the one with the most.”
“Okay, okay…”
…………
The nests of the Lanie Giant Lizard are scattered throughout the desert. They are undoubtedly the biggest, fiercest, and most dangerous carnivores in the Eborista region.
According to the little girl, there’s a particularly large lizard cave on a sand peak about ten kilometers east of the town. The townsfolk discovered it a long time ago and even organized a hunt, but people died, so they regarded it as a danger zone and no one dared approach it since.
Once we walked beyond the town’s east, the wind and sand picked up visibly. The ground was nothing but soft yellow sand. I wrapped myself in a roomy robe, strapped on my Dragon Claw, covered my head tightly with a white cloth, and wore the veil. Even so, I could feel the fine sand constantly crawling into my clothes, which was particularly uncomfortable.
The little girl dressed similarly, with a small beast hide bag on her back. Perhaps due to our casual chit-chat along the way, she was no longer as tense. She sprinted ahead and stopped in front of a purple tree, looking up for a moment.
“Sister…”
She called out to me while rummaging in her bag for a small kn*fe, mumbling something that sounded like a prayer. Then she made a small cut in the trunk with the kn*fe, and a white, milky sap flowed out. The little girl quickly cupped her hands to catch it, applying the sap to her arms.
“What are you doing?”
I walked over, cocked my head, and asked in confusion.
“Preventing sunburn…”
The little girl explained while continuing to draw cuts, making more sap flow out, “This is the Purple Crown Tree. The white sap is its nectar. We often gather it like this… to protect our skin from burning and mask our scent to avoid those desert beasts, plus it can fend off bug bites… You should apply some too…”
Oh…
If it can protect my skin, then I’ll apply some.
So, I followed suit, applying the tree sap to my hands and neck; the white sap became transparent upon contact with my skin, feeling cool and refreshing.
“Is it very dangerous in the desert?”
After applying the skincare product, we continued on. I casually asked. The little girl walked beside me, pondered my question for a moment, then replied, “Hmm… There are many poisonous bugs in the desert, and the blazing sun can dry a person out, so you must drink water in moderation. We’re just outside the town for now. The eastern sand peaks make it easy to navigate, but if we wish to go far, into the flat yellow lands, we’ll need a star compass…”
As she spoke, she rummaged through her bag again, took out a palm-sized strange circular device, and held it up to me, “Here it is. If you don’t know it, you can’t survive here.”
I took the circle and examined it. There were intricate numbers and carvings on it, none of which I understood. It felt boring, so I handed it back.
“Just make sure to keep it safe.”
“Mm!” The little girl nodded eagerly, “But we don’t need it just yet…”
The morning sun was still mild, but I was starting to feel uncomfortable. The sand beneath my feet was soft and a pain to walk on, and my thirst was getting worse with every step. I dreaded how much hotter it would get by noon and felt like my head was swelling. I couldn’t help but want to drink water, even to the point of pouring it on my head, but the little girl stopped me.
“Water is precious; you can’t waste it like that. If it’s all gone, we’ll be in trouble…”
“I know, I’ll just take one more sip.”
I really should’ve brought a couple more water bags.
Sweaty and exhausted from walking, the robe I had on did a decent job of blocking the wind and sand, but it couldn’t handle the heat. My collar was soaked through with sweat, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable. I hadn’t felt like this in ages, and without being able to use the Frost Order, my body wasn’t as strong as before. The weakness of an ordinary person hit me in waves, and this feeling started to dampen my spirits.
If it were before, I’d just fly over…
No fuss required…
Lost in such thoughts, I craved restoring my powers even more.
After walking quite a bit longer, we encountered a nest of poisonous bugs. The sand dune, riddled with holes, rose over a person’s height, with countless black, centipede-like creepy crawlers scurrying around at the entrance. While they might be edible, I had absolutely zero interest in that, feeling a deep shiver run down my spine as I grabbed the little girl and fled in panic.
But afterwards, I caught some birds.
There exists a kind of long-beaked red bird in this desert that feeds on poisonous bugs. These birds are not social, but they can often be spotted where the bugs are. Every time they flew overhead, I’d have the little girl close her eyes and count to ten before reopening them. During that time, I would quickly release the Dead Smoke, snatching them up.
The little girl was always obedient.
She counted loudly, wanting to make sure I knew she was listening, fearing I’d think she wasn’t paying attention, and often opened her eyes before reaching ten.
As noon approached, and the sun grew increasingly fierce, we reached the foot of a sand peak. The little girl leaned on her knees to catch her breath and then pointed to the highest sand peak in the distance.
“That’s it… We’re almost there…”
