“Yes.”
A warrior who received orders from the chief went outside and brought in a prisoner covered in blood. Judging by his appearance, it is probably Mr. Beaten-to-pulp. His face was even more disfigured than the day he was beaten by Lacius. But since he was the one who tried to attack me, I don’t feel any pity for him. Because I’m not nice like Daphne.
“Hey, wake up.”
“Keug!”
Kun’s chief woke Mr. Beaten-to-pulp up by ruthlessly picking at his wounds.
“Recite. Exactly what you said. How can we find Fata-Morgana?”
Contrary to my expectations of a few missing teeth, the inside of Mr. González’s mouth was intact. His mouth must have been shown mercy because he needed to speak.
“Take fifty steps forward through the invisible sand fog. Dig up the sand tomb and go one hundred fifty steps below the stone floor. Then… one thousand five hundred steps to the sacred ground—if you can remain sane for that long, that is!!”
Hahaha! An unpleasant sound echoed throughout the meeting room. One of the Kun warriors grimaced and stuffed the dirty cloth back into Mr. Beaten-to-pulp’s mouth. Meanwhile, the chief of Kun added an explanation.
“It appears that there is probably a spell that drives people crazy at their base.”
“… ….”
“It’s a dangerous road, and you may not be able to return. Cowards can back out now.”
The chief of Kun laughed fiercely with a proud face. His gaze directed at Lacius is probably a provocation. He had a look in his eyes as if he would run out at any moment, wander around, looking for sand fog or something, and kill anything that would get in his way.
However, there was one crucial point to consider before the expedition. It seemed I was the only one thinking about it, so I cautiously raised my hand.
“Um, everything sounds good, but…”
“What is it?”
“Is it possible that someone from the desert clan is joining hands with Fata-Morgana?”
“What? Are you doubting our noble warriors…?!”
“No, it’s reasonable suspicion.”
Lacius stopped the fuming chief of Kun. Thanks to that, I calmly voiced my thoughts.
“Think about it. Suppose a small clan allied with Fata-Morgana and intentionally started the fire. Then they sent that guy, Mr. Beaten-to-pulp, to be deliberately captured.”
“… ….”
“And what if they were planning to make all of Kun’s warriors leave, leaving this place completely empty?”
Silence flows. The real Kun Geisha frowned, as if he had never considered this possibility. I shrugged and continued.
“We need more people.”
Warriors are special. That means there are few of them. Especially since it’s been less than 20 years since the last war. The positions of the warriors who died then wouldn’t have been fully filled.
“And Fata-Morgana is like a nation. It seems that they call themselves a country, so they must have a symbol. If we find out what it is, we can locate their base faster.”
“Symbol?”
“If they use canaries as minions, they might have a canary in their flag. Or since they only obsessively kidnap wizards, something related to them?”
“Hmm.”
“If it’s neither, we can just track them by following the canaries, right?”
Mr. Beaten-to-pulp’s eyes widened as I continued my words. He then began to look slightly uneasy. Perhaps he didn’t expect anyone to think this far. Surprisingly, the facial expressions of the men except the princess and Lacius were the same. Especially the chief of Kun, who gave me an unnervingly suspicious look.
“I didn’t know you were capable of such thoughts.”
“… What does that mean?”
“It means that you are clever enough to turn a mountain of sand into a forest.”
“That does not sound like a compliment.”
“And cunning enough to dry up a desert oasis overnight.”
“… Is that an insult?”’
Although I was angry about something, I couldn’t just shout or speak informally to the chief of Kun, so I swallowed my words. His face looks so similar to the Kun Geisha that I know that I keep having trouble finding words to use. At first, I used a lot of honorifics because I was afraid that I would sound friendly, even though we are not close acquaintances. And now that it’s gone and we’re talking informally to each other, I have to be even more careful.
“Then I guess we already know who we can trust, right?”
At that time, princess-unnie lightly interjected in an amused tone.
“Call Ram Hertiti, and her husband too.”
“Are you suggesting we ally with the Ram tribe? We have enough of our own.”
“Be quiet. Didn’t you just hear what Titania said? If they were all wizards, you should know that the power of one tribe alone won’t be enough.”
The chief of Kun immediately flared up at the mention of ‘Ram’. But princess-unnie mercilessly suppressed him.
“Don’t waste Kun’s lives with pointless stubbornness.”
“No one in Kun fears death.”
“I know that, which is why I’m telling you not to waste them.”
Ah, princess-unnie. Am I imagining things, or does her statement seem to imply, ‘They will soon be my subjects’? I chuckled to myself as I continued listening.
A heated discussion ensued over symbols and hints, and finally the seven paths were decided upon. That was the end of the meeting. Before leaving the room, the chief of Kun blurted out.
“Everyone, make sure you prepare your wedding presents tomorrow night.”
Everyone’s steps stopped at the sudden words. And on behalf of the entire group, the princess asked back.
“Isn’t it a week from now?”
“It was, but we might have to prepare for war, so we’ll have to hold a ceremony tomorrow. Spread the word.”
Yes, it would be a good idea to calm the nerves and boost the morale of the people after the fire incident.
Everyone nodded, and the meeting truly ended. Although war might break out, it was still a very peaceful afternoon.
* * *
“Ahhh, why!!!”
A place thousands of steps further away from the Kun clan’s meeting room. On a mound of dirt near an oasis that was a bit damper than sand, a woman was seen kneeling down, hitting the ground.
You can now sponsor a chapter by buying me a Kofi! 1 Kofi = 1 extra chapter
