Chapter 370: Desert Experience Concluded
As I made my way through the desert, I realized that the temple I had just exited was actually a cool sanctuary, contrary to my initial thoughts about the heat.
“Isn’t Gene’s outfit a bit suspicious?”
“Oh my, oh my.”
At Dinoss’s words, Shiva looked at me with a hand on her cheek, smiling in a somewhat troubled manner.
A small Ice Spirit peeked out from the chest area of Shiva’s robe. Just like how Baylis had shrunk while in Kanum, the Ice Spirit weakened under the blazing midday sun of the desert. I wondered if it was being sustained by Shiva’s magic power. But I figured the inside of her robe must be cool.
“It’s comfortable since no sand gets in.”
I was equipped with gloves, leg covers tightly bound at the knees and ankles, arm guards, and a scarf that resembled a ninja’s hood, topped off with a hooded robe. I could really use some goggles right about now.
“I thought that if I just put on the robe, it wouldn’t look too different, but it does seem a bit suspicious. Still, before the wind picks up, I’ll imitate you.”
Retze said this as he unraveled the cloth wrapped around his mouth and neck, asking how to wear the hood.
I figured we should all become ninjas before the sand blew into our hoods and made our hair gritty.
“Oh, you should change how you wrap it depending on the weather and temperature, you know?”
Karn and Haulon quickly adjusted their turbans. Please don’t compare us to the true desert dwellers.
I learned a lot from Haulon and Karn. It was my first time discovering that there were quite a few places where water could be found by digging. Occasionally, I would dig and wet the cloth wrapped around my head as we moved forward.
By the way, the most useless piece of knowledge I gained was that when you need to relieve yourself, you should kneel to lower your body so that your urine doesn’t get carried away by the wind, which makes your backside look unnecessarily cool.
Thanks to Baylis’s presence or perhaps because he was merged with the King’s Branch, Karn seemed completely unfazed by the scorching desert. Dinoss, who was possessed by the Fire Spirit, also wore a cool expression, and Dean, with his fire lizard buddy, was sweating but otherwise seemed fine.
Well, I was going to pretend not to notice that the fire lizard was licking the sweat off Dean. It seemed bigger than when we were in Kanum.
“If you start feeling dizzy or nauseous, let me know, okay?”
Haulon also looked cool.
What’s the deal with having the king walk while he rides on a carpet? Plus, he was using the cloth to create shade over himself and Karn.
“Is the cloth the same as the carpet?”
“Yes, it is. While it doesn’t have the power to carry a person, it’s the same magic circle. Normally, the material and size of what you draw affect its capabilities!”
“I worked hard on it.”
“Just working hard doesn’t mean you can do it normally!”
Haulon was unnecessarily straining himself.
I knew that Haulon was sneakily stashing away the Chilling Plate I had made.
“You all seem lively…”
“Indeed.”
Retze, who had the Chilling Plate tucked away and was still drenched in sweat, and Ash, who seemed relatively relaxed.
Was Az circulating air inside Ash’s robe? The Butler, either having asked something of the Dark Spirit or using some mysterious Butler skill, looked cool without breaking a sweat.
Chris was quiet, so I checked on him and noticed he looked a bit pained. The Jaw Spirit was still present, but it seemed the Light Spirit was more about cleanliness, or perhaps it was in charge of the sparkle? Chris’s sweat was shining unnecessarily.
The ones who seemed to be struggling physically were the children, Retze, and Chris. I was hot too, but if things got bad, the [Healing] would activate automatically… Not that it changed the fact that it was still hot!
Karn, Dinoss, and occasionally Dean were taking care of the Demon Beasts. At first, I had been teaching the children how to sense the presence of Demon Beasts approaching through the sand and how to deal with them, but now that was no longer necessary.
“Tina, if you expose your skin, you’ll get burned.”
“I’m feeling a bit breathless.”
I fanned Tina with my hands and adjusted the cloth wrapped around her.
The children were already struggling just to walk.
“The sand makes it hard to brace yourself.”
“It feels like it takes twice the effort to walk.”
En and Baku exchanged words.
“Alright, shall we wrap this up? If we go any further, we’ll be bedridden for two or three days. You’ve all learned well about the dangers of the desert, right? Unlike Kanum, the sunlight is also an enemy here.”
“Yeah. Desert experience concluded! You all did well.”
Dinoss clapped his hands and declared the end to the children, echoing Haulon’s words.
“The basics are to set out in the cool evening and walk at night using the moon and stars as landmarks. Once you get used to it, you can memorize the positions of the unchanging sand dunes.”
Haulon explained.
I hadn’t known that either, or rather, I still couldn’t tell the difference, but the ground here wasn’t flat. The places where sand had settled were originally hills, unlike the sand dunes formed by the wind, which remained stationary.
“Let’s cool off and have a debrief. [Teleportation].”
Before getting everyone’s consent, I teleported us to the riverside of the Es River, under the shade of a date palm tree.
“Wow! So cool!”
“Water!”
“The river!”
“Stop! There are crocodiles!”
At Haulon’s words, the children froze in place. A few adults also stiffened up.
Me? I didn’t freeze! After all, I almost got bitten by a crocodile last time!