chapter 20
Sand and dust everywhere.
Can’t even see an inch ahead.
A sandstorm is blowing inward from the giant earthworms that attacked the raid.
“Where are you?”
It’s hard to find Louise and the others because of the hazy sand dust.
“Prince… town!”
Each time he shouted, a handful of sand came into his mouth.
I have to get away from the giant earthworm as quickly as possible, but if I do this, I might get caught up in it again.
“Kek, kek!!”
Spitting out the sand in my mouth, I gave up talking and focused as much as I could on the sound I heard.
After walking for a while, I heard someone’s voice.
“How can such a monster… … .”
“Keeck!! Wow! You should avoid it right away. Prince.”
“First inside… … .”
People’s voices are heard.
It was clearly the voice of Louise and the knights.
‘That’s it.’
ran as fast as possible.
The battle with the boss must have taken place, and the sandstorm from behind is getting stronger.
“Who are you! suck! Kek kek!”
“This is Ren! Decaine’s Grave Keeper!”
I closed my mouth with both hands to keep the sand from entering and shouted.
Fortunately, Louise and the others must have heard my voice, and the sword did not fly through the sand.
“wren? How are you?”
The knights recognized me and asked.
You may not understand why the gravekeeper is here all of a sudden.
“I have to wear a mask first.”
At the words of the mustache knight, they took out their masks and put them on.
I also remembered the mask in my bag and covered my mouth.
The fabric was rolled inside, making it difficult to breathe, but I couldn’t help it until the sandstorm stopped.
It was similar that it was difficult to breathe because of the sand anyway.
“Why are you here?”
the mustache knight asked.
Louise also had a slightly surprised face in her heart.
Why are you surprised when I’m your secret escort?
Wasn’t that trustworthy?
“Ah, I stopped coming here for the prince’s errand… … .”
“… … that’s right.”
Louise conceded to my excuse without noticing.
“Ren, you are pitiful too. Of course, the desert boss appeared at that time.”
The knights were mostly favorable to me.
That’s why the knights here didn’t feel particularly hostile when they looked at me.
There seemed to be a little bit of caution, but that was unavoidable.
“it’s okay. May I move with you?”
“okay.”
With Louise’s permission, a knight gave me a ride on a camel.
The number of people is Louise and 4 other knights and I.
Fortunately, they had combat camels, so they could move through the desert quite comfortably.
“First of all, I need to get as far away as possible. If I am attacked by him in this situation, it will be the end.”
“Wouldn’t it be more dangerous to get away from the main unit?”
“No, even if the main unit is nearby, it is dangerous as long as there is a boss. Camps are completely divided, it is better to avoid them in situations like this.”
The party judged the situation quite calmly and devised countermeasures.
I looked at the status windows of the 4 knights, and all of them had better abilities than Louise.
At this level, I might be able to get out of the desert safely.
“Rather, how about finding the graveyard of the Red Moon tribe?”
They harden their expression at my suggestion.
Louise was troubled and was rubbing her chin.
“Isn’t there a map that suggests the location of that place?”
“It is literally just a guess. You can get close, but it’s hard to find the exact location. I’ve been close by on previous expeditions, but I haven’t found anyone.”
“Isn’t your purpose to find their graves? I will find it for you.”
“… … How do you know its purpose?”
The mustachioed knight who was guarding Louise’s side drew out his sword and aimed it at me.
A chilly, subdued atmosphere.
Except for Louise, the rest of the knights were still wary of me.
‘Louis chose people well.’
All of them had a certain affinity for me.
But there are people I need to protect, so it’s only natural that I should be wary of myself.
Rather, trust in them increased.
“The prince told me.”
At those words, the knight looked at Louise with surprised eyes.
He looked at me with calm eyes and nodded slowly.
“I said.”
Only then did the knight with a mustache draw his sword.
“I’m sorry. This is my job.”
“it’s okay. It’s a natural thing.”
“What do you mean you are looking for? Is there a way?”
“Yes, don’t you know that my job is a graveyard keeper? If you go near the graveyard, I can find it.”
“hmm? Did the Gravekeeper even have that ability?”
“ha ha ha… … , I am a little special.”
Actually, I’m not as sure as I said.
However, how many tribe members must be buried in the graveyard of that great tribe?
I’m sure I can see at least one wandering ghost.
“good night. As Ren said, it worked out better. Now that I can go to the graveyard without worrying about people staring at me.”
Louise’s consent was dropped.
“All right.”
The knights immediately made their next plan.
We got off the camel for a while and looked at the map.
“here… , This is the location of the main unit from which we just left. And we moved in their opposite direction. Maybe this is it.”
It was hard to know the exact location because it was all desert, but I guessed roughly.
“The place where the cemetery of the Red Moon tribe is expected to be is right next door.”
Pointing to the red moon drawn on the map, the knight said.
“If you wander around here, you might find it.”
“What do you think?”
Louise looked at me and asked.
“It’s not that far, and it doesn’t feel like the boss is chasing us, so it’s okay.”
“good. move.”
* * *
Awesome! Chew-!
Severing the body of a desert snake, I stole sweat.
Walking sideways through the desert was more than I thought it would be, which caused a lot of fatigue.
“Whoa… … .”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, it is fine.”
A knight with a long mustache asked me.
Seeing the grit on his mustache makes me want to remove it myself.
“Anyway, you fight better than I thought.”
“I also did swordsmanship training in my spare time.”
The mustachioed knight let out a low exclamation and nodded.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
“Excellent.”
“Ren, can’t you find it yet?”
Louise came over and asked.
“Let’s move a little more.”
“… … I will.”
The atmosphere started to deteriorate little by little.
If you wander aimlessly in the middle of this desert, you feel your mind go blank.
It wasn’t just moving, and I had to be alert and alert to the attack of the monsters, so my fatigue accumulated more quickly.
“… … I can’t even tell where we are now.”
“If you can’t find a graveyard, you need to quickly come up with a return plan.”
I told Louise if I was worried about the knights.
It seems like they don’t believe in my ability now that they’ve reached this point.
‘Even if it’s like me, I’m not trustworthy.’
They are wandering around the desert, shouting out loud that they can just find it without any basis.
“Ren, can’t you find it?”
He met eyes with Louise.
His calm eyes are shining blue as if demanding an answer.
Is Louise suspicious of me now? Or are you trying to believe one more time?
I can’t figure out what you’re thinking at all.
“Let’s move for one more day. If I can’t find it after the night, I’ll go back.”
“good. Continue searching.”
He ordered my answer without the slightest hesitation.
Even the knights had no doubts about Louise’s order.
As we continued our search, it became night.
The fatigue of the whole body has already accumulated.
The weather, which had been severely hot, turned chilly in an instant.
Now, to the extent that I have to light a fire to escape the cold.
I didn’t pack clothes for the night, and I didn’t have any equipment to make a fire, so I had to endure the cold all night.
“If you stay up all night like this, you may not be able to return properly tomorrow, so let’s take turns sleeping.”
“no. We’ll stand by ourselves during the vigil, so the prince, please go to bed first.”
“yes. You don’t have to wait until the prince.”
“No, I have to stand. Everyone must be tired.”
After a small scuffle between the knights and Louise, it was decided that Louise would be the first to stay vigil, followed by the rest.
My order is second, right after Louise.
I was tired and tried to get some sleep, but the knights didn’t think well.
It seemed quite uncomfortable for Louise to stay awake.
‘Tsk… … .’
I was forced to wake up.
“cadet! I can’t sleep very well.”
Then, muttering to himself, he approached Louise.
“Louise.”
“hmm? What happened?”
“that is… … .”
I whispered to him, ‘The knights can’t sleep because of you. So you’ll be second and I’ll be first.’
“… … My thoughts were short.”
“no.”
“i get it. Ren, you stand first. I’m going to get some sleep.”
When Louise stood up, I spoke so that the knights could hear.
“I couldn’t sleep, so thank you for being considerate.”
“… … no. Then I’ll sleep first, please.”
Louise glanced at the knights and immediately lay down and closed her eyes.
Only then did the knights who were paying attention smiled at me and fell asleep.
I must have been pretty tired.
“hmm… … .”
Where the hell is the graveyard of the Red Moon tribe?
I can’t see you even after walking around like this all day.
“… … uh?”
As I was looking around blankly, I saw something faint in the distance crawling on the ground.
‘no way?’
The translucent spirit had its head exposed from the ground.
‘Clearly there were no tombs anywhere around here.’
That means there is a tomb hidden somewhere… … .
Intuition is telling. That must be the specter of the Red Moon tribe.
I peeked behind me, and meanwhile everyone was soundly asleep.
I quietly approached the specter.
“hey.”
– What are you? are you looking at me
The specter asked, bobbing its head from side to side as if it were curious.
“Yes, are you a member of the Red Moon Clan?”
– Oh, you know us?
‘found… … !’
I called for joy in my heart.
I never thought I’d find it during my night shift.
“Do you know where the graveyards of your tribe are buried?”
– Our graveyard? down here?
“this… under?”
You mean buried under the sand?
– Oh, since you’re alive, you can’t come in from anywhere. Shall I tell you?
“yes!”
– Then follow me.
“ah! Wait, wait.”
I hurriedly approached the sleeping Louise and the others and woke them up.
“hmm… … , what? Is it my turn already?”
“Is it still night? Aren’t I the last one?”
“Uh uh uh… … , meat, meat… … .”
The restless knights look at me in a daze.
Louise, slightly frowning, rose from her seat.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s not a problem, I found the graveyard.”
“what… … ?”
The eyes of Louise and the knights widened wide.
“You found the graveyard of the Red Moon tribe?”
For the first time, Louise raised her voice in exasperation.
“yes. Please follow me.”
I walked towards the ghost with a confident smile.
Those behind them followed, sending half-suspicion and half-expectation in their eyes.
The Red Moon Clan member who was leading the way stopped and pointed down.
-Here, if you dig here, there will be stairs leading to our graveyard.
I nodded and looked at the knights.
“Does everyone know how to sell land?”
“What about the land?”
“Down here is the graveyard of the Red Moon tribe.”
“Are you sure?”
It was a face Louise and the other knights couldn’t trust.
what… … , I was sleeping, but suddenly woke up and told me to dig sand, I thought it might be possible.
“I am sure.”
I tried to say ‘If you don’t have it, you can kill me!’, but I held back.
just in case.
“But what are you digging with?”
“You don’t even have a shovel?”
“What are you digging with? Do you have hands?”
After saying that, I squatted down and dug the sand like a dog.
The other knights hesitated at the sight.
Louise also looked a little flustered this time, but soon he sat down and started digging with his hands.
“Buy quickly.”
“The prince is-”
“green onion.”
“All right.”
“Hurry!”
So the six of us dug the sand with our hands for a long time.
cook.
“uh? What’s going on here?”
The mustache knight said as if he had discovered something.
When I pushed the sand away, there was an old stone door in it.
“Really… … ?”
“Hurry up and open it.”
At Louise’s urging, the mustachioed knight grabbed the handle and lifted the stone door.
Then, a staircase leading to the basement appeared below it.
“Wow, you really are.”
“Ren, how the hell did you find it?”
“ha ha ha. It is the sense of the gravekeeper. persimmon.”
I just made an excuse and laughed it off.
“Go in.”
we went inside
At the end of the stairs, there were blue jewels that illuminated the inside, and a huge graveyard was located inside.
“and… … .”
“You’re crazy.”
The knights exclaimed in admiration.
A long hallway in the middle and hundreds of cemeteries lining either side.
At the end of the corridor was a large royal tomb.
– The tomb of our chieftain.
The ghost who told me the location of this place earlier approached and said.
‘this… … , Graveyard of the Red Moon tribe?’
The tomb of the legendary chieftain who was said to have united more than half of the desert tribes.
finally found the place
As if possessed by something, I approached the tribal chief’s grave.
And he swept the tombstone erected there.
It was written in an unknown language, so I couldn’t interpret it, but it seemed like the name of the chief of the tribe was written there.
[Using spiritual power to awaken the sleeping ghosts of the graveyard.]
‘hmm?’
[The specter wakes up.]
When you are making a puzzled face at a sudden system message.
– Who are you?
A translucent specter with a solemn atmosphere emerges from within the tomb.
A red moon painted on his bulging muscles and chest.
And even the molars protruding ferociously.
The tribal chief, with his long black hair roughly tied back, glared at me with red eyes.
– Is it you who woke me up?
Facing him face to face, I felt like my heart sank.