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TL: ALT
Chapter 77 – Day 22 of Exploration
In the morning, we leave the cave after giving Hel and Sylvia a few warnings. The ban has been temporarily lifted. Chel and I carry the haze turtle’s shell, which contains food and magic tools we need to survive. Jennifer is tied up with a rope and follows us.
“If we don’t come back in a month, you should live as if we were dead.”
“Understood. I’ll call Chel’s spirit in a month.”
“D-d-don’t die!”
Hel and Sylvia saw us off, and the three of us ran straight south through the forest. Jennifer hasn’t said a word since, but she seems to be moving, so I think she’ll be okay.
We jumped over the rock crocodile river, passed the golden bat cave, and made our way through the forest full of insect monsters.
When we saw the desert, we covered ourselves with cloth to protect ourselves from the sun. Then, we lowered the shell of the haze turtle and entered the desert. This time, Chel had learned a spell from Hel to keep us from getting lost, so we didn’t need the leaf bird.
Chel and I took turns pulling the turtle shell. The shell slides easily on the sand, so it’s pretty hard to climb up when there are a lot of dunes. Our feet get buried in the sand, and our walking speed slows down. I tried to concentrate my magic power on my legs, but the shell just flew away. It’s hard to find the right balance.
Monsters also came out of the sand and tried to stop us. Before the monsters could attack, Chel used a spell called Fire Lance to impale them.
“I slept a lot, so I’m totally fine!”
She said proudly.
As we kept running without stopping, we could see the chains leading to Sky Island before nightfall. It was our first day, so we had plenty of energy.
“Okay, then we’ll separate from Jennifer here.”
“Yes.”
Jennifer, breathing heavily, looked up at the huge chain that stretched up to the clouds. I handed her a backpack with a water bag, two weeks’ worth of dried meat, and a piece of ice weasel fur tied to it.
“There’s an island at the top. Be careful of the cold.”
“Yes.”
“Leaving the demonic land without climbing up is also an option. Decide after consulting your body. See you.”
Jennifer bowed deeply to us and began to climb the chain.
“Well, let’s hurry on ahead.”
“Yes.”
Chel looked sad, but she seemed to understand the punishment and followed me.
After that, we ran south until the sun went down.
When the sun had completely set, Chel stuck a long, thin, rod-shaped magic tool into the sand dune like a fishing rod.
“Makyo, concentrate your magic power.”
“Yes.”
A water ball appeared at the tip of the rod and grew larger and larger until it reached the ground. It looked like a giant soap bubble, but there was no sign of it bursting.
“Did you make a tent with water magic?”
I had never seen this tent before as I had left the tent-making to Chel and Hel.
“Hel said it was inspired by the snow domes of the tribes living in the north.”
“Is that a thing?”
When I touched it, I could feel the water flowing from the top to the bottom like a waterfall.
“It’s hollow inside, so you can enter.”
With that, Chel entered the huge dome-shaped tent. I got wet for a moment, but it dried quickly. If anything, it felt good to have the sweat run off me. There was enough room for four adults to sleep inside.
“So you didn’t take any of the elves’ advice, did you?”
“Yes, we considered a lot of things, but in the end, I thought Hel and I knew more about magic than the elves, so we ignored them.”
“I see. But that means the sun will shine during the day, right? Won’t that cause a heat stroke?”
“Don’t worry. The water flows in a circular pattern around the sphere.”
When Chel said that, she sprinkled sand from the ground onto the tent, turning it a sandy color. When the sun is strong, she said, you can mix in more sand to make the water darker.
“The water flow also goes under the ground, so eventually it’ll turn muddy.”
“How long will it last?”
“It depends on the magic power, but I think it’ll last until morning.”
Basically, we would move in the morning and evening and rest by setting up a tent at noon and midnight.
“If there’s a sandstorm, we’ll rest there. We’ll bury the turtle shell in the ground.”
“Okay.”
“The disadvantage of this tent is that you can’t have a campfire inside.”
“That’s true, it’s sealed tight.”
“But you can control the temperature by using fire magic to warm up the water stream or ice magic to cool it down.”
“Then let’s eat outside. There’s only so much firewood we can use for a campfire, so we can’t do that much, and it’s a good tent, right?”
“Right?!”
Chel looks very proud.
“You’re a genius. The best in the world!”
“Don’t try to flatter me!”
She knows when she’s being praised too much.
“After we eat, we should take turns sleeping. We matched Jennifer’s running pace today, so I’m only slightly tired. Starting tomorrow, we’ll pick up the pace a little more.”
“You held back on the run, didn’t you?”
“We only have to deal with the monsters if we have to. Let’s conserve our magic.”
“Even if we can conserve our magic power, our stamina is not so good. We can’t run too fast. We need to take a complete rest at least once every three days. We might be on a long journey.”
“Okay, but if we run out of food, we’ll eat earthworm meat.”
“That’s the worst.”
Saying this, Chel got out of the tent, took some dried meat out of its shell, and bit into it.
“I want to make bread.”
We had brought hard bread for preservation.
“Didn’t you bring any flour?”
“No, I did. I just forgot the pot to bake it in.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to roll the dough into a stick and bake it. I’ve been thinking about it all day while I was walking.”
After replenishing our supplies of dried meat and bread, we decided to go to bed early.
I wrapped myself in the ice weasel’s fur and looked up at the sky. The tent was getting darker, and the stars were disappearing.
“I wonder if Jennifer is climbing the chain by now…”
Chel, lying on her back, murmured.
“The chain is quite high. She probably hasn’t reached the island yet. If she was alone, she might have collapsed mentally.”
“But Jennifer will be fine. She’s strong.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Hey, did you give her the work gloves?”
“No, I didn’t. She’ll manage somehow.”
“Makyo will be hated.”
“That is the duty of a lord.”
“I knew it was no good to become a noble.”
“Maybe so. But I don’t really realize it.”
Soon, Chel was fast asleep.
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