Chapter 162: To the Desert
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/
Author: Hirukuma
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
“I want to keep rescuing people while we make our way to the ruins, what do you guys think?”
As evening fell, my friends gathered together in a room on the first floor of an inn. It was a meeting to determine future plans and directions.
The members present were Ramis, myself, Shui, Hevoy, and Mishael.
Ramis was doing her best to be the moderator of the meeting, but it looked like things were not quite going the way she wanted.
“The problem is travelling through the scorchingly hot desert. Even the poor Rikede [1] reacted negatively to the heat and refused to go out into the desert. If we want to travel through that, we’ll have to figure out something on our own.”
The ‘Rikede’ mentioned by Hevoy was a creature similar to a camel. Like camels on Earth, it also had a hump, but its hump grew close to the base of its tail, which served as a convenient backrest, making it a more comfortable ride.
“Walking would consume quite a lot of stamina, right? I think we should have some sort of transport or something,” said Shui.
“If we have a covered cart, it could block the sunlight and alleviate the heat a little. My armour blocks out heat, so I don’t have any issues with the temperature change,” said Mishael.
As expected, Mishael’s armour has a special temperature control feature. Somehow, he seems to have all kinds of special tools and equipment. I wonder whether he bought them from somewhere or if were they some kind of heirloom.
Judging from his noble and knightly way of speaking, the latter felt more likely.
“However, even if we do manage to get a carriage, won’t their wheels just sink into the sand? I have trouble pulling my feet out, won’t wheels be even more of a challenge-su?”
Now that she mentions it, I don’t think I have seen a single horse-drawn carriage in the desert. I guess, we’ll have to walk?
I could cover everyone’s food and drink, but we still need to think of a way to deal with the heat. Ramis would be fine since she would be within my <Air-conditioning> scope and Mishael had his special armour.
That still leaves Hevoy and Shui. It would be great if we had some sort of magic tool that could protect against sunburn and heat.
The locals here used turbans and cloaks, however, from their exhausted faces, the relief may not be enough, especially with the sudden temperature surge.
“I wonder if that magic tool shop has anything that we can use-”
“Looks like you’re all in trouble!”
The door suddenly slammed open, cutting off Ramis’ musings. There, standing tall and proud in the doorway was Hyurumi.
She must have been listening in on us, waiting for the perfect moment to make her entrance.
“Hyurumi’s here!” Ramis gasped.
“Ou, I just arrived,” said Hyurumi.
“Us too.”
Kikoyu, Botan and Kuroyata poked their heads out from behind Hyurumi.
Umm, could they stand the heat in this place?
As if anticipating my worries, Kikoyu entered the room to sit down next to me and gently touched my body.
“”Just because I’m a Snow Spirit doesn’t mean I will melt from the heat. In fact, since I can manipulate the air around me, I can ensure a layer of cold air surrounds me all the time. Don’t worry, it will be fine.””
So my worries were unfounded? I guess Kuroyata and Button probably aren’t the type to be defeated by mere heat either.
“Well, here you go. The most problematic issue has been solved,” said Hyurumi as she grandly pulled out a hooded cloak.
The cloak itself was black, I guess Hyurumi’s taste in clothes was reflected in her design choices too.
I heard that black absorbs more UV rays, so I guess black is a good defence against the sun? [2] I wondered if she had considered this when choosing black as the primary colour for the robes. If so, I owe Hyurumi an apology.
“This magic tool not only blocks heat but also cools the moisture trapped inside. It basically converts sweat and humidity inside the body into cool air,” explained Hyurumi.
“That’s incredible. With this, even the scorching desert’s heat would be bearable-su,”
“Right? Anyway, I made enough for everyone, so no worries,”
Well, looks like we have a solution to our heat issue.
“I guess this solves our problem, right?” said Ramis.
“There’s also the issue of what we should do about our luggage. It gets really cold at night, so we would need cold weather gear too. Also, even though we have Hakkon, everyone should carry some emergency rations.”
Since we can’t make use of Botan’s cart, how should we carry our luggage? Would everyone need to carry their own things? It would be a little cumbersome, but I guess we’ll have to if there’s no other choice.
“I believe it should be fine so long as we drastically reduce the amount of luggage we carry,” said Hevoy.
“I guess. Well then, shall we gather our things first thing tomorrow and set out after that?”
There were no objections to Hyurumi’s proposal, and thus today’s meeting was concluded.
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Later, I was placed in front of the inn we were staying at with a sign next to me. It read”
[Will be going on a rescue mission tomorrow. Please purchase your items by today]
I thought I wouldn’t get many customers this late at night, but it looked like most of the people who were incapacitated during the day emerged from their dens at nightfall.
I guess it makes sense to be active during the cooler hours, considering the swelteringly hot daytime temperatures.
Therefore, despite it being late at night, the village was much livelier with its many lights and noise compared to other floors. I had thought that craftsmen were the only ones awake now, but it looked like I was wrong. It was charming how each floor had its own unique characteristics.
My goods were selling well. Even the warm drinks I had put up as a joke were going fast. Not a single person was out in short sleeves at night, so, I guess the nights here must be as chilly as the autumn season.
By the time my internal clock reached 4 am, the flow of customers stopped. Having nothing to do, I killed time by calculating today’s sales.
The hot sellers during the day were sports drinks and mineral water, while corn soup and hot milk tea were popular at night. I think it’s great that products got sold in a well-balanced way depending on temperature difference.
“Hakkon, could I have some hot tea, too?”
I had no idea when he arrived, but Hevoy was suddenly in front of me and in the middle of purchasing some hot milk tea.
He opened the bottle of tea with familiar ease and took a sip, before letting out a satisfied sigh.
“I’ve caused quite a bit of fuss, haven’t I?”
I’m guessing he’s talking about the exchange with Shui. I thought he was a more carefree person, but today’s incident completely changed that impression.
Even though he was playing the role of a fool, he had a purpose to fulfil.
“Ye-es”
“I truly had no thoughts of ever telling anyone, but… thanks to Shui…”
It looked like he did not regret speaking up. His expression now showed a smile that was more natural than one that I had ever seen.
Perhaps he was able to shed, if only a little, the burden he had been carrying alone all along.
“I do not expect to have everything resolved in this instance, but, if we could achieve some breakthrough… I could at least dispel some uncertainties.”
Indeed, even if we meet the person who sold those shoes, the odds of finding the robber who took them are slim.
What would Hevoy do if he happened to stumble upon the thief by luck? As a lawful Japanese citizen, I cannot condone murder. Not that I wish to sound pretentious but I believe that revenge only begets revenge.
Even so, back when we finally tracked down the culprits who had attacked Ramis’ village, I would have wanted her to take revenge against them… If we had not needed to shake that person down for information.
The main culprit had been imprisoned and just once, Ramis, Hyurumi and I went down to meet with him. The man was dressed in incredibly tattered clothes and was actually trembling with fear at the sight of us. Seeing him in such a pathetic state made the two lose their will to kill him.
Don’t get me wrong, their anger and resentment against these evildoers most likely haven’t vanished even now. Though they don’t really show it, and probably believe they have let go of their feelings, they probably still want to kill him.
Even now, I wonder whether it was the right thing to defend him with my <Barrier> or not. Am I just deceiving myself by not wanting Ramis to kill someone and become a murderer?
I wanted her to take her revenge, but I didn’t want her to become a murderer. Both of these feelings were real, which was why it was even more troublesome…
Still, there was no real way to get an answer now by going over and over past events. I told myself this, but doubts and regrets still swirled inside of me.
“Is something troubling you?” asked Hevoy.
Goodness, while Hevoy had been telling me his story, I had been thinking about my own issues and wondering what I should have done about things that had already passed me by.
Well, if that’s the case, I am determined not to intervene next time. Back then, I did not quite understand this world and just did not want her to kill an opponent who had lost their will to fight out of fear. Right, let’s just go with that
“Welcome”
“I don’t quite understand, but I guess you’re fine now, hm?”
Why are you worrying on my behalf?
For now, the priority is finding the hunter Tasite. We can think about everything else later. Since I can’t move my body, my mind developed the habit of wandering off on odd tangents.
“Go we-ll ”
“Ho-pe”
It was not quite what I would like to say, but it’s the best I can do under the circumstances.
“That’s right. It would be good if we could gather some information from him.
I looked at Hevoy who was gazing up the night sky and an inexplicable thought struck me.
That Tasite fellow may be connected to a bunch of thieves. One of the information we managed to get out of the nervous tool shopkeeper was Tasite’s answer to ‘Where did you get this magic tool?’.
According to the girl, he said something like ‘This old thing? The guy got it brand new from a magic tool shop and liked it so much that he used it regularly. However, now that he’s retired, he got a bit hard up and asked me to sell it.”
Apparently, he was there with a friend. A delicate-looking man, but his foot size did not match the shoes.
What’s more, his story about having purchased them as ‘brand new’ seems a little fishy. While it was possible that the shop that sold these shoes to them had lied to them about the newness of the shoes to sell them for a higher price, it was still something worth looking into.
[Gumihou: Much introspection]
[1] Deleted the ‘camel-like creature’ explanation from Hevoy’s dialogue since it reappears again in the next paragraph. Also, by saying ‘camel-like’ creature, it implied that regular camels exist in this world
[2] Black clothes in the desert – actually, the type of cloth is more important than the colour
https://sand-boarding.com/best-color-to-wear-in-the-desert/
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