Episode 175 Episode
58. A mirage in the Great Desert of Mitra (3)
Every time I exhaled, it tasted like sand was clogged in my lungs.
Walking during the day and shivering in the cold and loneliness like a lie in a blanket at night. When I woke up, the sandstorm had hardened the blanket that had turned into a cocoon.
Once, I was bitten on the ankle by a scorpion that didn’t even have a scientific name. Every life in the Great Desert of Mithra contains deadly poison. It would have been dangerous if he hadn’t obtained the Mandokju.
Scorpions were eaten to conserve food. They ate insects with unknown names similar to bees and snakes with two heads covered in black scales whenever they saw them.
Could it be because he swallowed too much sand? The magically cooked beasts tasted terrible along with the stench, but Jin didn’t notice much of it.
so-so-so-so.
The snake crumbled in the skinny cheek. Even the venom flowing out was only a substitute for water, so Jin felt grateful to Yona once again.
Three days had passed since the first mirage.
If the sun did not set and the moon did not set, I would not have known how much time had passed. As such, the Great Desert was the same scenery no matter where I went.
‘There really is no one… in this desert.’
that was the most painful
I’ve never had such a lonely moment in my life. The time that passed after leaving Tican was only about 10 days, but the time in the desert and the time outside were passing at completely different densities.
Another week passed.
No more snakes or scorpions. Jin was completely alone and just walked and walked on the vague sea of sand.
It might have been a little better if he had talked to himself, but he couldn’t even do that because his canteen was empty again.
And to make matters worse.
It was an expression that was so appropriate for the great Mitra desert of December 11, 1796.
‘Did the saved food… disappear?’
That day Jin couldn’t help but scream evil as soon as he woke up.
All of the food that had been stored in the bag where they slept and cuddled up all night had disappeared. Everything else was the same, but only the food was neatly gone.
Not a single piece of beef jerky or a handful of grain flour was left. Even when I put my head in the bag, there was not even a smell left. As if food wasn’t even in the bag from the beginning.
‘under.’
The nausea was intense. He threw an empty canteen and poured out a double curse at the sky. Do you want to ask why are you doing this to me?
Jin’s voice didn’t even have an echo, it just scattered into the desert air.
I still had to walk.
You have to stay still, because the only thing waiting for you is the death of a dog. Also, I felt that it couldn’t end like this even if it was unfair.
No matter how strong a person is.
We cannot survive without water and food. He exerted his superhuman will to move forward, but in fact there was no answer.
After a day, the sky turned yellow and did not return.
After two days, convulsions occurred intermittently in the body. It was nothing short of a miracle that they fought against the Great Desert for two days without being able to eat or drink.
For three days, there is no spring water, no oasis, no animals to eat.
Bumping….
I tripped and fell. The strength in the ankles and calves was lost for a moment.
A handful of sand comes in through the gaping mouth. My mouth was so dry that the sand did not stick to my tongue.
He had only fallen once, but a strong sense of exhaustion spread from deep within his bones. The urge to just take a nap came like a tidal wave.
Resisting the urge is not as easy as you might think. Especially in a hopeless situation like Jin now.
‘I’ve only fallen once. I only fell once…!’
Wow!
He frowned and spat out sand.
and got up again I felt dizzy from the sunlight reflecting off the sand, and my staggering legs didn’t seem to belong to me.
Then, out of nowhere, I saw the hand of the person holding the canteen.
Someone had come close to Jin’s side. Of course, there was not a single person like that in this desert.
‘Is it a mirage!’
Whether it’s a mirage or a real person.
It was important that he approached without a sign and held out a canteen. If he had swung a sword rather than a water bottle, he would have been hit without even realizing it.
Sreung!
He slashed the canteen with the pommel and drew out his sword. Then, without even checking his face, he spun around and grabbed his back, holding the blade close to the nape of his neck.
Tuk grabbed the opponent’s lifeline before the canteen even fell to the floor.
It was blazing fast. Her body reacted first to such an extent that even Jin herself could not understand where such power was left.
The owner of the canteen showed no signs of panic even though a knife had been inserted into his throat. And Jin realized that he was a woman in a robe.
In addition, the other hand that missed the canteen is holding a cane. It was clearly a staff made of silver pine, and for some reason it was a very familiar item.
The woman’s red hair was also familiar.
‘A silver pine staff with red hair…!?’
Jin’s eyes widened. In his memory, there was only one person with such gorgeous red hair and a silver pine wand.
“Valeria…?”
“Put away the knife. Unless you really want to poke.”
Jin slowly lowered the sword pointed at her neck.
She sighed and turned around, making the same face that Jin missed so much.
Valeria Heister.
It was she who taught Jin magic in his previous life.
“How…”
No, not how.
It will be a mirage. What Jin is looking at now is 26-year-old Valeria. It was the same as the last I saw before parting from my previous life.
But is it because the exhausting days spent in the desert were hard to bear?
As soon as I saw her, the loneliness, sadness, and longing that I had been suppressing seemed to burst out all at once.
“The day I reached out to my disciple lying on the street three years ago was the same. Even then, the disciple reflexively pointed a knife at my throat. Although the workmanship was not as good as it is now.”
Jin three years ago was in the Garden of Swords.
But not three years before Valeria. In her memories, Jin had just been banished from Runcandel and was rolling around the world like a degenerate.
“…Valeria no. teacher. Are you the second mirage?”
“It seems so.”
“What is it? Are you aware that you are a mirage?”
“Yeah I know. I don’t know about the real me who will be 15 soon.”
“Then what I’m going to do is…”
“Kill me and pass by.”
cruel.
The first thought that came to mind. Jin could feel it intuitively.
The mirage of the great desert is neither magic nor authority. All the mirages that have come out so far are real people who exist deep inside him.
People who stood well inside and in memory. That’s why when I killed the Tona brothers, I felt like I had cut my real flesh and blood, and I couldn’t help but feel like I met my real teacher this time too.
“Even I… I didn’t want to reunite with the disciple like this. It would have been nice if we had met when it was a little more plausible.”
“Don’t do this, Master. Why is it you?”
Valeria picked up a canteen that had fallen on the ground and threw it towards the camp.
“If you drink and fight me in that state, you will die at the first chant.”
“Are there any other options?”
“You know better than anyone, don’t deny it. I heard that I became very strong after being reborn, but it seems that the disciple in my memory is better in terms of mental strength. I’m just saying something soft.”
With trembling hands, Jin picked up the canteen that had fallen at his feet.
For the past few days, walking through the desert, which had been like a living hell, the water I had been searching for so much was glistening.
But I didn’t want to drink. After drinking this water.
‘I have to kill you.’
It cannot be compared to killing the Tona brothers. How dare he cut her. Valeria Heister If it weren’t for her, Jean wouldn’t have gotten a second life.
He would have lived like a stray dog, pessimistic about his 25 years as Runkandel, and then died. Because she held out her hand, Jin shook off that hand and aimed a knife at his throat, but she came back again and again.
The current Jin could exist.
“You’ve become very arrogant since I didn’t see you, disciple.”
Valeria, recognizing Jin’s hesitation, raised her staff. As she unleashed her magic power, blue magic that raged like a storm wrapped around her silver pine staff.
“Seven-star magic. Don’t you think you’ve already surpassed me just because you’ve achieved that much? Drunk Runcandel. I am also the inner voice of the disciple. You will be ready to fight me.”
Click…
opened the canteen. If you hesitate one more time, she will unleash her magic. The wizard Jin remembered, Valeria Hester, was more like a sword than any other warrior.
So everything was certain. Even in joining and breaking up and fighting and backing down.
“What am I to you?”
“The only disciple. So please don’t let me down.”
“Would you really be like this too?”
“I would have loved you more than this. You probably hugged me at least once. Maybe he kissed you on the forehead.”
“It is no different from what I hear, and it is not comforting.”
“Then don’t ask me any more and break me and walk past. Do you still have one left? The mirage that the disciple must go through.”
Big boom!
I emptied the canteen at once. However, as if it was not ordinary water, I felt that my energy was quickly restored.
“It’s okay to use both the sword and the aura.”
Was the teacher in my memory so strong? To the point where you have to pour everything into yourself now.
It was not immediately judged. However, one thing is certain: the magical power gathered in Valeria’s staff is much stronger than her memory.
An insurmountable wall.
Valeria once felt that way. Even after signing a contract with Solderlet, I always doubted whether I could overcome Valeria’s magic.
It’s a wall I don’t want to cross now. At least right now.
Phew…!
Jean pinned Bradamante into the sand. Valeria just shrugged her shoulders and said:
“You will regret it.”
“I will regret it more if I use my sword to defeat you. You have been and always will be all my magic.”
“Well, the disciple didn’t look like that, so being reckless was the charm.”
Paji Jiji-!
Valeria’s magical power instantly took on the attribute of lightning. It was a magic that I often roasted gin when I was being trained by her.
“And that recklessness always got me scolded.”
Flash!
As soon as he finished speaking, five lines of lightning struck. Jin was unavoidably fast, and another magic was already forming in Valeria’s blazing wand.
