3
“Say, Rose. You said something about it being like a picnic earlier,” Grimm comments. “Are you sure? Can you look at this and say the same thing? Whose mouth was going on about picnics? Was it this one?”
“Ow, ow! I’m thowwy! I’m thowwy!”
Our buggy is currently stuck in the jaws of a giant antlion.
“Can you two stop playing around and do something? What the hell is that thing?!”
Flashing a light out into the night reveals a giant grotesque bug.
Grabbing the seat in front of me as the buggy tilts to the side, I call out to Grimm, who is busily pinching Rose’s cheeks.
“That’s a huge antlion! It’s a deadly magical monster that makes its nests in the Tezan Desert, devouring passing animals! This is definitely the wrong kind of opponent for a delicate and frail Miss Grimm! In fact, I really can’t handle bugs at all!”
“Owfh! Ow!”
Grimm’s hands tighten their grip on Rose’s cheeks.
“S-so what are we going to do, Six?” Snow asks. “Kill it? That thing’s a pretty strong opponent! It’s true that given my recent demotion, I’d like to have some wins under my belt, but…”
“I’m pretty fond of resting on my laurels myself, but not enough to take on that thing…! I know! Bug spray! Let’s have Kisaragi send us enough of the powerful bug spray, Zap’em, to take out this bug…” I reach for my wrist teleporter in a panic.
Alice, who had been randomly shifting gears, turns to me and snaps me out of it. “Do you have any idea how much bug spray we’d need to kill something that big? Hold on, I’m going to floor it. Kisaragi Corporation vehicles have excellent performance. No mere bug is going to defeat one.”
As a fellow Kisaragi-manufactured machine, Alice apparently doesn’t want our buggy to lose. She revs up the buggy’s engine and accelerates.
The rapidly spinning tires eat away at the giant creature’s body. Unable to bear it for long, the antlion opens its jaws, letting us go.
As the buggy lands on the soft sand below and escapes, everyone inside lets out a sigh of relief.
“<Hey, Alice, don’t you think this planet’s got too much in the way of dangerous fauna? I mean, first the forest and now this. Are you sure our bosses want land crawling with these things? Why don’t we just abandon this place and head back to Earth?>”
“<However inhospitable it might seem, land is still land. If the population keeps growing at the current rate, we’ll run out of habitable land on Earth sometime in the next ten years. Dangerous life-forms can be exterminated. Desolate lands can be improved. There’s nothing we can’t do. Kisaragi’s technology is amazing. After all, it created me.>”
Alice replies to my remark in Japanese. Evidently, she’s got a lot of confidence and pride in the Kisaragi technology that created her. She’s not usually so assertive.
“<…Well, I suppose. Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know what this Sand King actually is, but for Kisaragi, it’s just another target. Besides, if we can get rid of it, our rivals will calm down a bit, right? In that case, killing it now is a pretty viable option. Kill it and force the demons to hand over some of their territory.>”
“<Good thinking, Six. I’m glad you haven’t forgotten our assignment. Let’s increase Kisaragi’s territory by the end of the month. All we’ve got right now is that tiny hideout. We need to fulfill our quota before Astaroth loses her patience.>”
Alice and I share a malicious grin.
A moon larger than the one seen from Earth quietly illuminates the desert sky. Thanks to the abundant light, we easily find the trees we’re looking for.
Dismounting from the buggy, we take a few steps to check the ground underfoot. I stomp hard enough that my footfalls ring out with audible thumps, but perhaps because of the root systems, the ground is as firm as stone.
“Huh, there’s actually trees growing in the middle of the desert. They don’t seem to have leaves. I wonder if they’re a type of cactus.”
“Could be there’s an aquifer below us. You guys start gathering the fruits. I’ll search underground.”
Leaving Alice to her surveying, I take a glance around. “It’s not just the animals on this planet that are weird. The plant life’s odd, too. Is there really water in this tiny fruit?” I pick a piece of fruit growing on one of the trees and stare intently at it.
“I’m told those fruits are sealed with magic, compressing the water inside. If you use dispelling magic and squeeze it, it’ll produce an enormous amount of water. If we grab all the fruit we see, it should be enough of an accomplishment to undo my demotion!”
At Snow’s excited talk, Alice twitches.
“Again with the magic. Every time I hear that ridiculous word, it’s like a direct insult to my very existence.”
“Does this brat still not believe magic is real?! I mean, you’ve seen me curse people. How do you explain the fact that my dolls and rings disappear as payment?”
These two can’t seem to let this subject drop. Every time magic comes up they get into an argument.
Alice raises her head slowly, as if not wanting to deal with the subject, and starts manipulating her teleporter. A few moments later, underground surveying equipment appears near her hands.
“See? I just produced tools out of thin air. This isn’t magic. Since I can do the same thing, Grimm’s sacrifices aren’t evidence of magic.”
“Wait a minute. That thing you two are always doing—it’s not magic?! How do you explain the fact that I can’t wear shoes as a price for one of my curses?”
I get that science and superstition are like oil and water, but given the fact there might be monsters nearby, I wish they’d argue a little more quietly.
“I keep telling you. Curses are just a form of hypnosis. As for these ‘costs’ when you fail. It’s just self-suggestion to strengthen the hypnotic effect.”
“What a stubborn little brat! Fine! If you’re going to insist, I’ll cast a curse on you! If you want to keep claiming it’s hypnosis then be my guest!”
Grimm clutches at a doll, glaring sharply at Alice—
“Hey, Six, go ahead and restrain Grimm for a bit. I’ll have Kisaragi send us some shoes, and we can force her to wear them. I’m tired of moving her around on a wheelchair. I’ll prove to her once and for all that there’s no such thing as curses or costs.”
“All right, leave it to me.”
“Noooooo! Stop! Don’t you dare! If you put shoes on me, my body will explode into a million pieces! You don’t want to see something that gory, do you?! You won’t be able to eat for at least three days!”
Seriously? She explodes if she ignores the cost of a curse?
“Self-destructing is the dream of every villain. If Grimm explodes, we’ll go ahead and promote her into a full Kisaragi operative. I’ll leave a Kisaragi badge on your grave.”
“Commander! Stop this child! Snow! Rose! Stop gathering fruit and help me!”
As Grimm struggles against my restraining hold, Alice begins working with her device—
Just then…
“Wh-whoa?! A-an earthquake?!”
At the sudden shaking under my feet, I can’t help but let go of Grimm.
The others lose their footing from the shaking and crouch down, while the newly released Grimm opens some distance between us.
“Now see! This is Lord Zenarith’s anger! Your disrespect toward me caused the ground to shake!”
She puffs out her chest and points her finger at Alice…
But Alice ignores both Grimm and the earthquake, starting her survey of the ground below.
“You little brat. You’ve been getting away with far too much blasphemy! Go on, apologize to Miss Grimm…” But before Grimm can finish speaking, the ground shakes again, as if reacting to the yelling. Everyone in the area goes quiet.
“…Guys, get in the buggy. Not another word. Just get in quietly. We’re leaving.”
Alice looks up from her survey and issues the instructions. I can’t shake the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I follow the instructions without complaint.
The others, feeling something is amiss, climb into the buggy without a sound. Once Alice confirms everyone’s here, she silently revs the engine—!
“Hey, Alice, I’m tired of this planet. Can we go home yet?”
“Don’t say things like that, partner. This planet’s got so many interesting things going for it!”
The ground shakes much more violently as the buggy darts ahead.
“The ground’s starting to bulge. What’s going on?!”
“Looks like we’re currently on the Sand King’s back. After checking the results of my scan, it seems this entire area registers as a life-form.”
Even as Alice explains, the trees receding in the distance begin to bulge upward. With it flows a torrent of sand.
The moonlight reveals a giant mole with trees growing on its back.
Roughly the size of a school gymnasium, this is the giant monster known as the Sand King.
“Wow, that’s the first time I’ve seen the Sand King. I heard it was big, but I had no idea it was that big…”
Rose observes rather casually as Snow gazes intently at the gathered fruit. “Say, Six. Does that mean this fruit is the Sand King’s…?”
“It’s probably an organ for storing water, yeah. Not sure running off with them was a good idea.”
As if in response, the Sand King finishes its leisurely process of standing and glances at our buggy. To be honest, it’s kinda cute, and it twitches its nose just before—
“Six! The Sand King’s following us! Wh-wh-what do we do? It’s really fast for its size! It’s going to catch us!”
Despite its enormous size, it races after the buggy.
“Alice! Can’t this thing go any faster?! You said Kisaragi’s technology is awesome! Didn’t you say there’s nothing we couldn’t do?!”
“Calm down, Six. Kisaragi’s save and load technology is peerless. I’ll do better next time.”
“You’re the only one who can make use of it! Screw it! Let’s play whack-a-mole!”
With a body that big, I doubt even a rifle will do much to it. But if I can get close enough to slash a vital organ with my R-Buzzsaw…!
“Hold on, Six. When I give the signal, jump out of the car. Don’t make a sound. Also, no movement of any kind, no matter what happens.”
After issuing some odd instructions, Alice unlocks the doors, then suddenly turns the wheel, sending the buggy skidding into a wide arc.
“Now!”
I jump out of the buggy at Alice’s command, rolling onto the desert sands.
Instead of attacking me, the Sand King chases after the buggy heading off in the opposite direction.
The buggy and Sand King recede into the distance.
I guess the Sand King eventually caught up to the buggy and attacked it, given the distant sounds of an explosion…
“We should be far enough away now.”
With the buggy destroyed by the Sand King, we’ve started our walk back to town.
Lit by the shimmering moon’s glow, Alice leads the way without so much as stumbling on the sand. “Doesn’t seem it’s nearby for the time being. Moles have poor eyesight, but they can find their prey through sound and vibrations.”
“Dammit! Trudging across the desert on foot?! This is torture! And of course we lost the buggy. All those points down the drain…”
It’s been several hours since the Sand King started chasing us. We’ve been walking the whole time.
“Hey, Six, what’s your point count?”
“I’ve only got ten right now. Having them send us a tent will clean me out. I was still in the negatives until last month. Yet, I managed to save up a pretty impressive amount by diligently doing acts of villainy…”
“J-just what are d-diligent acts of villainy…?”
It costs about three hundred points to secure a buggy, and I spent most of my points ordering a buggy for our trip to Toris and buying equipment to fight the past few skirmishes.
I want to get some sort of vehicle to cross this damn desert, but I can’t do that with the points on hand.
“So, Rose… You’re gonna get a lot of meat and sweets when we get back to town, right? I’ll buy you lots of veggies if you carry me on your back. The cold sands at night are pretty harsh on bare feet. And I left my wheels at my room.”
“Why did you try a curse that would make it impossible to wear shoes? Wasn’t there a better curse to try?”
Behind us, Grimm is begging for Rose to carry her.
“That’s a long story. A very long story… The story begins…years ago…”
“Wait, how many years ago…? I think I missed a word…”
It’s a peaceful conversation. Makes it pretty hard to believe we were being chased by the Sand King a few hours ago.
Snow furrows her brow, smiling ruefully. “I dropped most of the fruits while running away and only kept one, but…” She holds up the small fruit. “Look, Six. We took water from the Sand King and got away without losing anyone. That’s plenty to be proud of… You agree, right?”
Illuminated by the glow of the incredibly large moon, she smiles happily.
Snow’s smile is infectious as the others all relax with the realization we’ve escaped the Sand King’s wrath.
Far from Earth on this moonlit desert…
“…Yeah, agreed.”
…I couldn’t help but smile as well.
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