By Zephyria 
It was the first morning in the desert.
As the sun, rising from behind, hung on the lowest sand dune, everything around appeared red. While the mercenaries busily prepared breakfast, the rest stood for a moment in front of the tents, savoring the sight of the rising sun.
“Even if you’re not on watch tonight, come out once. The sunrise is art, but the stars seen in the desert have a special flavor too,” Peter said, pausing his work of scratching a piece of wood to be used as tinder with one of the dozen daggers he wore hanging from his front and back.
The man, short in stature with small eyes and a perpetually smiling mouth, had a higher-pitched voice than most men, perhaps due to his small build. Because of this, his voice rang out clearly even when he didn’t speak loudly.
Ann, who was diligently and silently stacking magic firewood in a well-shaped pattern on the sand dune in front of him, also replied with a smile.
“That’s right. Yesterday, the clouds obscured the stars, but the sky is artistic from the morning, so it should be beautiful. Of course, near Dunmel Canyon, there are plenty of stars that seem to pour down, but the desert stars feel a bit more special.”
“How do they feel special?”
“Like being deeply buried in a giant cradle in the world?”
Should I call it romantic, or cute?
I simply smiled and nodded.
Leon, who had come over with Nadish, chopping ingredients for food with flair and placing them into a large pot, chuckled as he hung the pot over the newly lit firewood.
“Romance is good, but it would also be helpful to learn how to navigate the desert in advance.”
“How to navigate?”
“Well, we won’t be in the desert for just a day or two. If, by any chance, you get separated from the group, you need to know the direction to find your way back. During the day, you can roughly gauge it by the sun, but… sometimes the moon disappears in the desert.”
Not just one moon, but two, and they disappear?
If they can be hidden by clouds, then stars are useless too. As I pondered this, Elvin added.
“Sometimes, due to the whims of the Oasis.”
“…Does it manipulate the heavenly signs alone?”
“Hmm, that’s… No. It’s just…”
As Elvin struggled to find the right words, Nadish, standing beside him, gave a wry smile and chimed in.
“He wants to play with those who are lost. Only when they are within his domain, sometimes…”
“His domain… is it near the Oasis we’re about to reach?”
“No, he is in every Oasis where there is water in the desert.”
“…”
The more I heard, the more unpleasant it sounded. I felt a strong sense of aversion, but I couldn’t curse with such a devout follower of that god right beside me, so I held my tongue.
The stew, filled with well-cured meat, potatoes, and dried vegetables, was delicious. It was a wonderful dish, surprisingly so for Leon’s rough hands. Leon, flattered by the group’s exclamations, joked that he liked eating, so he was good at cooking too.
Everyone helped pack up the tents. Some people reminisced about how good it was during Marianne’s camping class, and we shared a few laughs. When the mercenaries asked about life at the Academy, I told them various things.
“So, I was given the assignment to fetch the Hand of Makrir, and Michael, without even using his hands, just went thump, thump, thump with his feet! It took him three seconds to climb three meters; I thought he wasn’t human. He was smaller than now, this big.”
“…Hmph.”
“He was really cute back then.”
“…”
Ruben tried to interject, but I stopped him with a hand gesture. The child opened and closed his mouth a few times before breaking into a shy smile. I didn’t have the energy to meet his gaze, so I looked far into the distance. The sun had risen high, bathing everything in golden light, a truly beautiful sight.
After waiting for the camels, which had been munching on hay and dates, to finish their meal, we loaded our belongings onto their backs. We set off into the desert again. Northwest, in the direction Nadish Haisan indicated.
❖ ❖ ❖
It was the third day since we reached the desert.
Thanks to the Sylph that hovered around Nadish Haisan, our group was spared from facing the sandstorm head-on. The fierce wind swept past us, about an arm’s length away. The sound of the wind was so strong and sharp that my ears felt deafened.
As I watched the wind blow, I found myself coveting the Sylph swirling in front of me. If I could have one with a gentler disposition, Ruben wouldn’t have to eat sand even when separated from Nadish.
Thump, thump. The sand piled high on either side flowed onto our path, causing even the camels, walking steadily, to lift their feet high several times to shake off the sand. Sitting atop the swaying camel backs, I indulged in various amusing thoughts.
I had thought so much about what I would say to the god, what I should ask first, that my head ached. I only hoped that the answers to my questions would be straightforward and the tasks assigned would not be arduous.
Then, very suddenly, the Sylph let out a giggle and shot upwards.
In an instant, a tremendous gust of wind swept through the group. Nadish’s hat, at the very front, was ripped off and rolled on the ground. Although none of us fell from our camels, being seasoned Martial artists, Marianne, who had quickly deployed her shield, screamed.
“What was that! What is it?”
“In front…”
Only then did everyone look ahead.
On a dune full of golden sand, something of a similar ochre hue was swaying. I focused my Eye Force to examine it and clicked my tongue.
It was an Orc.
This was the first time I had seen an Orc with skin this pale, like sand, but its tusks, its build, and its gait were identical to the Orcs I had seen before.
Not just me, but everyone else had spotted the Orcs. The ones charging towards us numbered about thirty, appearing to be hunters from a small tribe. Unlike the Orcs in the canyon, they wore scraps of cloth around their bodies to shield themselves from the hot sun, but the fabric was torn in places, likely taken from humans.
One by one, we dismounted our camels.
The five mercenaries, who had been escorting us from the front and back, stepped forward to stand before the group.
“Since you are our employers, you should see our skills, shouldn’t you?”
“…Hmm.”
“Orcs are easy to take down. You can watch from here.”
Leon’s sly suggestion sounded reasonable. After all, it’s easier to trust someone with your back if you know their skills and fighting style. So, seven of us, including Nadish, stood guard, protecting the camels.
Positioning themselves two on each side of Leon, they charged forward like arrows simultaneously.
The mercenaries divided the front into five sections, each taking responsibility for a specific area. Even though they didn’t maintain excessive distance from each other, their skills were so good that their weapons didn’t clash.
Giselle, whose height was comparable to that of the men, swung her sword with powerful, sweeping blows, utilizing her long limbs.
Among the five, she used the most conventional Sword Art, which seemed like a rough adaptation of the sword techniques of the Owen royal family, seen in a previous class. The amount of aura she contained was not large, but her efficient use of Sword energy, which she manifested just before her sword touched the opponent and quickly concealed, was excellent.
Ann, who was also quite thin, used a longsword, though she clearly lacked Giselle’s strength.
She held the sword’s hilt not close but far away. Each swing of her sword created a luminous arc that was unusually long. Her strategy was to use wrist strength rather than brute force to generate centrifugal force. Her sharp technique, targeting only the most vulnerable points between bones and joints, was particularly striking.
Peter fought in a manner similar to Hugh Benson.
He lowered his body, weaving through the monsters, leaping in to strike at their eyes or throats, and then quickly withdrawing. He didn’t attack deeply, but used the monsters’ frenzied state to his advantage, targeting the tendons in their ankles or wrists to disable them, patiently and without haste.
John handled his massive morning star with great skill, befitting his large build.
It looked like a living snake coiled around his wrist. He unleashed the morning star, gripping one of the weights and swinging the other around with a whoosh. He used both weights effectively at the right moments. Each time a heavy weight fell, it crushed a monster’s head before he moved on to the next, his skill truly astonishing.
He controlled the angle of the chain with just his fingertips, the chain wrapped around his wrist. Any ordinary person wielding a morning star like that would have lost their own arm, let alone attack. His skill in firmly coating his wrist with aura was so remarkable that I watched him for a long time. I wondered how he wielded such a weapon before becoming a Sword Master.
And Leon, their leader.
Surprisingly, he fought the dirtiest.
“Hiyah!”
“…Wow. That’s truly incredible.”
Marianne was right. It was incredible. His heavy axe, covering half his broad back, didn’t just crush the Orcs’ skulls; it split them in half at the waist. He wasn’t aiming for the joints either. He simply tore them apart with brute force.
Benjamin’s admiring voice beside me was irritating, so I said something.
“If you wield an axe like that, your body will break first. Don’t even think about imitating it.”
“…No, I’m not thinking of imitating it. It’s just…”
“Just?”
“Because it looks like I could do it, I was curious.”
I squeezed Benjamin’s forearm and slowly shook my head from side to side, dissuading him. He grumbled a little more like a drowned rat before settling down. That was enough. I wanted Benjamin to not admire such dangerous and reckless acts. I would have to keep a close eye on him to prevent him from getting any wild ideas in the future.
It took them just over twenty minutes to defeat all thirty Orcs.
This was more than enough. Satisfied, I nodded and clapped.
The mercenaries laughed heartily and plunged their weapons into the hot sand, then pulled them out to wipe off the blood. Giselle and Ann, who took the shortest time to clean their weapons, dragged the Orc corpses blocking our path and placed them to the sides, clearing a path for the camels.
Thump, thump. As they piled the Orc corpses on the sand.
Everyone in the group suddenly looked up.
From far away, a group of Goblins was running towards us. Like the Orcs that had just appeared, they wore torn pieces of cloth wrapped around their heads and bodies. Among them, I saw two holding long staffs, suggesting they were a significant force.
It was a little suspicious, but not something to shy away from. This time, the children, including myself, stepped forward.
“Looks like it’s our turn to show our skills.”
“Don’t approach first, I’ll cast Chain Lightning.”
“Alright.”
I waited without drawing my sword. Then, soon, lightning struck the desert.