4
Two hours after leaving Mirula, they began their attempt to cross the Auguria Dunes.
Another dozen or so miles east of the town and all green disappeared from the surroundings. It was just desert as far as the eye could see, and a wind thick with dry sand and miasma.
“ ”
They were challenging the dunes with one large carriage and Patlash running alongside on her own.
The new land dragon was slow and steady. It couldn’t gain much speed, but there was a reliability to its pacing to make up for it. Patlash was a bit put off at the sudden change in partner at first, but after a couple of hours together, she seemed to find the good points of her new partner and had magnanimously accepted the change.
“If anything, this dragon’s unhappiness has more to do with Betty.”
Beatrice was snuggled neatly into Subaru’s arms. He was controlling Patlash’s reins while hugging her tight as he shook his head.
“No way, you’re just imagining things. Patlash isn’t that small-minded a dragon.”
“…You would do well to foster a better understanding of your surroundings…”
Beatrice shifted her legs to ride sidesaddle as she held her skirt.
Compared to before, Subaru’s riding skills had improved significantly, and it had become normal for the two of them to ride together. That was why he thought Beatrice was off the mark, but…
“Well, it’s not like I really know why Patlash likes me in the first place.”
“Indeed. In the first place, it’s not like you are handsome enough to receive that sort of attention without any other reason.”
“So then you have some sort of firm reason for loving me.”
“Of course… Wait, what are you trying to get Betty to say?!”
Because they were in close proximity riding the dragon, there was no escaping Beatrice’s red-faced tantrum. Subaru could only let her weak slaps rain on him as he soothed her ruffled feathers.
“—It is quite pleasant to see your harmonious exchange, but we are about to actually enter the sea of sand now.”
Julius’s voice called out to them from the driver’s bench of the carriage being pulled alongside them.
Holding the reins of the carriage and able to connect effortlessly with a land dragon he had just met was to be expected of Julius. But seeing him driving a carriage instead of riding his own dragon really felt out of place.
And adding to that unbalanced image was the girl sitting next to him.
“Right. It’s fine that you two get along so well, but if you can’t control yourselves, I’ll be upset.”
Meili gave Subaru a sidelong glance that didn’t really fit her age.
With the party finally facing the start of the real challenge, it was time for Meili to step into her element.
With the power of her blessing, the odds of them being attacked by demon beasts were dramatically decreased. In theory at least.
That was why Meili was sitting on the driver’s bench and looking around their surroundings. And Julius beside her was the partner chosen in order to keep her from getting too bored.
“You know the nice knight sitting next to you is your escort for the day, right? He’s chic, swanky, and way more posh than I am.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I don’t have any complaints about Mister Knight, but you’re the one who brought me along, mister. Doesn’t that mean you have a responsibility to accompany me?”
“Don’t be unreasonable. I’ve already got Beako taking up that slot.”
“Mrgh!”
Beatrice started pummeling his chest again in anger, but Subaru just let her have at it as he looked over at Meili.
“I know how much you want to be fawned over, and I’d be happy to do it, but if you’re going to talk about rights or responsibilities, then it will have to wait until you’ve done your job first.”
“Fiiine. Even though you’re already spoiling Beatrice. You big meanie.”
He wasn’t actually being particularly mean about it, but there was no helping that she might take it that way.
Beatrice seemed somehow satisfied with herself as Subaru tickled her neck and then raised his hand to Julius. Seeing that, Julius quietly nodded.
It was best to have someone who was an expert at dealing with proper young ladies take over.
But also—
“Subaru—the sand time seems to be starting.”
Beatrice warned him, and Patlash looking straight ahead and whinnying slightly confirmed it.
The enormous tower that was impossible to miss even from back in Mirula soared into the sky before them. A yellow sand blew from the tower.
The Auguria Dunes’s baptism, a sandstorm swirling with miasma—the sand time had arrived.
They had gotten a general grasp of the comings and goings for the sand times from their information gathering in Mirula.
Three times a day—morning, midday, and in the middle of the night—a powerful sandstorm would blow through these lands. That was what the locals called sand time. Considering what the owner of the tavern said about the miasma, it was almost like sidling up nice and close to a toxic waste dump site.
Particularly during the night sand time, which lasted for several hours, it was difficult if not impossible to move. Because of that, they would be moving during the day and largely trying to avoid the morning and midday sand times.
The grains of sand on the ground were fine, and just like they had been warned, the footing was terrible. Their procession was forced to go at an extremely slow pace, and their irritation just increased like sand in an hourglass piling up.
But because of that situation, Subaru was also feeling a little let down.
Because—
“It’s harder to walk with the wind blowing, but…it’s not nearly as bad as I was imagining.”
Turning his head away from the strong winds, he held his hand over his mouth, taking a couple of ginger breaths through the cloth blocking the sand. He could feel a little bit of sand in his mouth, but that was hardly any different from how it had been in town.
The world was a yellowish-brown color from all the sand flying, and it was annoying to have sand get into all the crevices of his clothes, but—
“That’s all really. I was expecting it to be stupidly hot when I heard we were going to the sand dunes.”
“The reason this area is a desert is because the intense miasma kills off all foliage. But it rains here, and it’s not as if the temperature suddenly spikes or anything.”
In Subaru’s mind, a desert was a blazing hot sort of hell. But apparently in this world, desertification was caused by something other than what Subaru imagined, countering the image of burning sands that he had gotten from games and manga. If anything, the real thing was a lot easier to bear than what he had imagined.
“I guess considering how it felt in Mirula, it would be strange if it suddenly started burning up when we crossed into the dunes, too.”
“Indeed. It’s different from the Giral red dunes at the western edge of the world.”
“What are they like then?”
“All the grains of sands making them up are fragments of magic stones. It is a land that is constantly exploding all year round.”
“There’s someplace as crazy as that?!”
His opinion of the Auguria Dunes jumped up at learning there was someplace as insane as that in this world.
If the Sage had just built the tower there, no one would ever reach it.
“Meanwhile here, all there is to be careful of is the wind and miasma—and also the demon beasts.”
“And also not losing sight of the tower and getting lost.”
“Even if you say be careful not to get lost…”
Beatrice leaned against his chest, trying to get him to focus. Subaru supported her weight while looking at the grand and imposing tower directly in front of them.
“Don’t get lost and all, but if you ask me, wouldn’t the harder feat be somehow losing track of that?”
“Betty agrees. But anything might happen. There is no telling what sort of cunning person the Sage is, but there is no denying the fact that there is no evidence of anyone ever reaching it.”
Of course Subaru had no intention of underestimating the dunes.
But thinking about it realistically, there was no way anyone should be able to lose track of such a massive marker. But that was surely what every other person who challenged the dunes and failed must have thought.
So then Beatrice was probably right. It was a place where anything could happen.
“—Should we really just keep going straight forward, Anastasia?”
“You’re awful dubious, Natsuki.”
Guiding Patlash toward the carriage, he checked with Anastasia through the window. Hearing her response, he winked.
“Obviously, right? This whole thing depends on you, so I’ll be counting on you for some detailed navigation.”
“Of course, it’s not just someone else’s business to me, either, so I won’t cut corners. We’re both in the same boat here, so just have a little faith.”
“…Trusting a fox is easier said than done.”
“ ”
Anastasia’s, or rather Foxidna’s, eyes narrowed at Beatrice’s murmur.
Beatrice was the only other person on the journey whom Subaru had told about Foxidna, and she was incredibly suspicious of her fellow artificial spirit who was hiding her identity.
But there wasn’t a thing to be gained from just being suspicious forever, either. Like Anastasia said, the moment they entered the Auguria Dunes, they were in the same boat. All that was left was to trust each other to carry out their respective roles.
“Isn’t that right, Anastasia?”
“That’s right—you don’t need to worry. I keep my promises.”
The last bit was soft enough that only Subaru could hear it.
Nodding, Subaru swung Patlash around toward the driver’s bench, where he saw Julius looking completely serious while Meili was rolling around a bit, seemingly enjoying herself.
“Oh? Looks like you’re having fun, Meili. Are you still doing your work?”
“Are you really asking me that? We haven’t run into a demon beast once since entering the dunes, have we? That’s proof I’m working, isn’t it?”
“But it doesn’t really look like you’re trying very hard, either? It’s not like I can tell whether us not being attacked is because of you or just that we’re in an area without any?”
“—Hmph. In that case…”
Meili’s eyes narrowed, and she raised her arms as Subaru started to get a bad feeling.
“Wait! I’m sorry, that was a stupid thing for me to say! It just slipped out because other than the sandstorms, this hasn’t seemed nearly as bad as everyone kept saying!”
“Mm, I’m not mad. I just want to teach you to show a little gratitude for what I’m doing.”
Ignoring Subaru’s excuses, Meili smiled while saying something incredibly disturbing. Catching his breath, Subaru started to apologize again—but before he could say anything…
“Wh—?!”
It was about fifty yards to the side from the line they were riding along.
There was a faint tremble, and then suddenly the sand exploded up into the air. The massive body that had been hiding beneath the sand appeared aboveground.
“ ”
It didn’t have any limbs. The long, thick body twisting almost resembled a snake. But between its sandy coloration, the stench it gave off, and the fact that it didn’t have any eyes, Subaru realized what it was.
Not a snake—it’s a worm.
The almost twenty-yard-long worm burst out from underground, turning its massive mouth toward them. For a split second, Subaru readied himself to die.
“Ooookay! That’s enough. You stink, so run along somewhere else.”
“ ”
As Subaru shuddered in terror, Meili’s disinterested tone brought him back to his senses.
The worm’s enormous body shuddered, and it returned back underground again. It heeded the girl’s instructions, and in a few seconds, the monster had disappeared from sight again.
The demonstration was so intense that Subaru couldn’t really say anything in response.
“…That was a demon beast called a sandworm. They burrow under the sand, but that one was a little bigger than the ones I’ve seen before.”
“How much is a little bigger?”
“From what I remember, the biggest they normally become is about the length of a grown man’s arm.”
A worm that size was already grotesque and menacing enough. But the sandworm that had just appeared was tens of times larger still than the ones Julius knew. Subaru had heard that the native species of demon beasts in Auguria were supposedly frenzied, but apparently even their size had grown like crazy, too.
Either way, what could be said for sure was—
“Well? What do you think of me now?”
“Seriously, I can’t begin to thank you enough, Miss Meili!”
Unfrozen by Meili’s words, Subaru spared nothing in his heartfelt praise.
“Really? Are you grateful now, mister?”
“Yeah, I got nothing but mad respect. I get now just how dangerous this place would be without you. This place is scary! Really scary!”
He could understand one of the reasons why so many reckless adventurers who had taken the challenge had never returned. And why the tavern owner would try to stop them, too. He had been a fool for thinking that the dunes were not all they were cracked up to be.
“Three cheers for peace. Long live peace. Let’s keep this a super boring trip all the way to the end!”
“Such a glib flip-flopper as always. It is enough to make even Betty feel exasperated.”
“Don’t try to act tough. You wet yourself a little there, just like I did, right? I know.”
“What did you say?!”
They started in again, but for now, there was no one blaming them.
Getting noisy would just provoke the demon beasts, but they had also just proved the effectiveness of their ability to deal with them. So Julius didn’t try to stop their argument.
But everyone refocused themselves, realizing just how thin the ice they had been skating by on really was.
The fact that they could live to reflect on that was valuable enough for their first day in the dunes.
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