Chapter. 15. Can a person who has seen the end of the world plant an apple tree? (8)
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Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssswkkkkkkt Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssswt-bts!
The sound of a boat cutting through the sand and hitting a small sand dune.
“Sale- Ho-! Turn to starboard!”
“Oooooh! “My belly and armpits are amazing!”
“I will personally hang that bastard who is just looking for shade on the figurehead!”
The sound of feet running across the boat and the helmsman’s commands. The voice of the deck captain wiping the crew in the crushing heat.
As the two helmsmen, with their eyes wide open under the hot sun, sweated profusely and turned the steering wheel with all their might, the large steering blade at the rear turned and the
grains of sand that bounced along the ship as it turned sharply in the wind were scattered on the gunwale like waves.
“Ugh! “Hot!”
“I’m going to cry! “I said if my wife comes back with her face entangled in sand one more time, I won’t sleep with her!”
“Hahaha! “If you don’t like sand marks, you shouldn’t live with a sailor!”
“Take care of your stomach!” please!”
“If you go gently, it’s going to be a sandbag!”
The screams of sailors covered in hot sand. Sand blowing in the wind.
As I breathe in the uncomfortable, rough air and the screams of the sailors echoing throughout the boat…
“Oh, it’s good.”
It felt like I was on quite a vacation.
———
– Jokass: ….Okay? That?
– takealook: Why on earth?
– professor: You guys don’t understand. Hmm~ the smell of the wasteland~
———
Okay. This feeling of a scratchy throat every time I breathe. The smell of dust and even a little motion sickness!
The professor completely ignored the chat room where people were saying things like, ‘The crazy guy can’t even hide his crazy anymore-‘ and his eyes focused on the vast desert and the ship stretching out in front of him.
This is very similar to the atmosphere of the wasteland. There are no waves in the wasteland where sandstorms blow all the time, but every time the boat collides with a small sand dune undulated in the shape of the wind, it shakes and shakes, making it feel like the battle maneuvers of a wasteland vehicle that repeats sudden stops and starts without fail, and you can hear the sound of whales and whales. At first glance, the voices of the people writing them sounded like the ferocious voices of scavengers.
….It sounds really crazy, but I liked the whole atmosphere.
For someone who just recently talked to me like that and realized that he wanted to go outside but couldn’t, this atmosphere is healing itself.
I didn’t know I would miss the wasteland either. More than 80% of my memories from there were on the edge of pain, and the rest were not very happy memories.
but.
Even though it has been a long time since I joined GG, it has been too long.
People say I left because of the Area 38 incident, but from my perspective, nothing like that happened.
I think the last time I went out and came back to reality was when I was camping at the entrance to Blue Line Elf Village, and that was around fall, when the wind was just starting to get cold.
From fall to winter, and until spring began to arrive, I was trapped inside GG.
“come! “It’s coming!!!”
“To the spearman’s position! Anyone who misses even one shot will be hung on the figurehead and used as a talisman on the ship until he dies! Galak! Aktique! “You guys go and get ready to drop anchor!”
“They say oh oh.”
In that sense, the professor was fully enjoying the unexpected vacation he had while on the move.
The atmosphere is good too~
Pusseuuuuuu!
Fuuuuuuu!
There’s a lot to see.
The moment the sailors completed their preparations, the sand dust approaching the ship at high speed quieted. After a moment of silence, an explosion struck the lower starboard side, and something breaking through the puffy sand hit the ship.
“Shoot! Fire the harpoon!!!!”
Boom! Tootong! Boom!
“anchor! The boat is being dragged! Anchor, what are you doing? “Put him down right away!!!”
This is my second time seeing this today. It was a creature called a sand shark, which was treated as a kind of hazing.
Thanks to the rugged helmsman’s arms breaking the boat, the sand shark’s huge maw narrowly grazed the gunwale, and the spearmen who did not miss the opportunity fired a ballista and drove a peg-sized spear into the shark’s side.
The moment when the thick rope connected to the spear was pulled taut and the anchor stuck in the sandbank at the right time stopped the boat that was being dragged by the turbulent shark.
Tadadat!
The sailors, who had been waiting for this moment, ran on a thick rope, jumped on the sand shark’s back, and skillfully cut off the giant sand creature’s life.
“Ugh. It’s spectacular. “You definitely have the skills to say you don’t need help from customers, right?”
“Uhm. It’s clear that they are very skilled sailors. Now I can see that the structure of the ship was made to be suitable for fighting such things. But can you help me with that? I saw you earlier and it seemed like you were friendly with the sailors…”
“He suddenly started to dislike me. There was some reason for that. Well, the captain told me to rest, so I should rest. Even if you are a guest, how can you use it if you disobey the captain’s words on the ship? “There is a certain order here.”
The professor, who saw the ship, which had been rocking as if there had been an earthquake, stop and the sailors cheering while raising their blood-stained spears and swords, turned his head to Ottoman, who was admiring with a very satisfied expression next to him.
“Honestly, I didn’t know Otman would like the desert this much. “I thought you would be hanging out at the bottom of the dock like a dried jellyfish because it was completely environmentally incompatible.”
“I thought that too and made up my mind… but I feel more energized than when I was in the empire. It’s strange. It’s truly strange….”
“Well, good things are good things. Now that I think about it, the sea is the main magical image of Otman, right? “What… did he say?”
“okay. Ever since I first encountered the sea when I was young, I’ve been hooked and haven’t been able to get away from it even at this age. So, although the wizard’s name is the wizard of the river, his image has become a strange wizard whose image is directly connected to the sea.”
“Eh? River wizard? “Otman, was there anything like that?”
“Didn’t we talk about it in Tobrunn? what. “It doesn’t matter because it’s just a false name given to wizards.”
[Oh, I remember. It was definitely introduced that way in Tobrunn when we first met.]
When Hyde recalled the memory, I vaguely remembered it. Since you always say things like, “Ocean, my lover,” I thought it must be a nickname related to the ocean. I guess it wasn’t that long ago.
“Well, anyway. This place is also called the Great Desert, but if you look at the environment we face now, it is not that different from the sea, so… uh… feeling? I think it worked like a wizard or something. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Otman to be flying around like this, right?”
“I think it’s a little different than that… hmmm. I don’t know. In any case, it is clear that it is a very unique magical experience.”
Otman, who was more than just fine and was showing a lively appearance as if he had become 10 years younger, had just come out from taking care of Idrasil and Notum, who had collapsed under the dock. Hmm… that’s strange. In the great desert, where there is not even a drop of moisture to use in water-based magic, let alone water, Otman, a water-based magician to his core, is so energetic. Notum, who has great stamina, and Idrasil, who has never been in trouble until now, are suffering from seasickness.
“What is that in your hand? trash?”
“It’s dry vomit. “I never thought I would see an elf and a troll together in my lifetime.”
“Um… well. It’s even stranger that an elf has come to this land without a single blade of grass. Not to mention forest trolls. It’s not good. If the seasickness is that bad, you’ll quickly become dehydrated. Isn’t it true that only a certain amount of water is distributed per person? Hmm…. Even if there is just a little bit of humid air, how are we going to collect the water….”
“Oh, if it’s a dehydration problem, you don’t have to worry. “Because I gave it all back.”
“….yes?”
Give it back? what?
The professor was puzzled by Ottman’s words and then turned his attention to the bucket he was carrying.
What was a half-digested breakfast – dried up. Marlin?
“No, Ottoman. no way?”
“Uhm… it can’t be helped, right? This area is so dry that even a 5th level water wizard would have to do everything in his power to collect a handful of water. “You should use anything that has moisture.”
“…Keep it a secret from the kids.”
When the professor found out what terrible things Otman had done under the pretense of nursing, he snatched the bucket from Otman’s hands and scattered the contents into the desert.
“Umm. I think I have it all figured out now. Should we go down too?”
“yes. The captain said we could just rest in the back, but it would be a bit uncomfortable to just watch them struggle. “There are things I want to find out personally.”
“If you want to find out…”
“It’s suspicious, as always.”
Although it looks peaceful at first glance, it is a new area and monsters of a different level from those around Roderick are roaming around, so there must be some problem here.
Right from the beginning of the desert, I heard a lot of suspicious information in many ways, so I couldn’t just play around.
Ottman and the professor stepped out from the shadow of the steering wing and into the stifling sunlight.
****
Every time I took a breath, I went down to the deck through the air that felt like I was at a fire scene, and before I knew it, the crew members who had dragged the sand shark onto the ship were drawing its blood.
“He is a saint.”
“Ugh! Oh my, where did I put this alcohol… Tsk!”
“Ugh, don’t push, dude! If you have alcohol, give me a few drops too. Oh my…. Wow!”
It was a complete contrast to the atmosphere they had when they first met, where they complimented each other for being a sailor and laughed and chatted as if they had been friends for 10 years. The professor walked toward where the shark was hanging, looking suspiciously at the crew members who split off to the left and right as he walked.
“It was a great hunt, Captain.”
“Ah, you were a saint. Thank you. “Maybe because it’s a nice day today, a lot of these guys are running around.”
“Are you making it sound like it’s a good thing?”
“It’s a good thing. The sailors will have a hard time, but they can drink this guy’s blood. The meat can be dried and eaten, and since it swims in hot sand, the heat blocking power of its leather is also amazing. “In many ways, he is a guy who has nothing to throw away.”
Captain Harrat Avery was a captain who had sailed with many noblemen, so he did not violate etiquette, but he greeted me with a look of reluctance similar to that of the sailors.
‘…That’s a very strange expression. A sailor or a captain.’
There is no hostility, but there is a lot of resistance. There’s even a sailor who looks a little sorry.
Rather than trying to fight me, it felt like it was natural to do that. Especially that strange gesture. As soon as I get close, he widens his distance, dips his fingertips in alcohol, applies it to his forehead, stomps his feet in place, spins three times, and then spits. If he was going to fight, he would have looked at the sword on his belt one more time instead of doing something so strange that it seemed ridiculous.
‘….Consciousness? Superstition? He looks like a sailor… but has the Gwangmyeong Church ever done any harm to the desert?’
The reason why the sailors’ behavior changed like this was because the captain came to look for the guests some time after the ship set off and said, ‘Saint!’ It was after I started shouting. Since I was right next to him, the shouts were probably not directed at me but at the crew, including some who were playing with me below deck.
‘I could not detect any signs of separate signals or whispers. So this means that this is a natural reaction and that this reluctance is so deep-rooted that it has become accustomed to the sailors’ bodies…’
When the sailors first started behaving strangely, they asked for an explanation, and then a voice was heard saying that they had discovered a sand shark on the main mast. I vaguely said I would tell you later.
‘I’ve had enough rest, so now I have to work.’
In my experience, these things are usually connected to some event or information.
“It doesn’t seem like we have a particularly hostile relationship… Do the sailors here hate priests?”
“hmm.”
A small wrinkle appeared between the captain’s eyebrows at the question that hit him straight at the head.
“…I guess you noticed.”
“No, I’m not particularly trying to threaten you. You may hate it. How can all the people in the world only believe in Haram? So which denomination are you believers in? Even with the Church of Mercy, with which they had the worst relationship, they recently made a dramatic reconciliation, and as far as I know, there is no one in particular who is against Gwangmyeong. courage? wisdom? Or… do you summon a devil by offering a sacrifice in a corner of the great desert?”
I put a little emphasis on the last sentence and gave him a serious look, and the captain looked even more troubled and opened his mouth.
“Ummmm. It seems there was some misunderstanding. “We have nothing to do with that-”
“Aren’t you acting in such a way that it can be assumed that you have nothing to do with it? In the great joint world, are there groups of people who hate and reject priests for no reason other than pursuing evil? “If there is such a thing, I would like to find out more.”
“The saint… has surpassed the imagination of people like us from the beginning… and even his personality is not ordinary.”
As the tension grew, the sailors who stepped back secretly reached out for swords and harpoons, and the blood on the boat dried and wet the feet of Otman, who was a little distance away.
“…I’m not pursuing anything particularly evil. “It’s not like you serve another denomination or have any ill feelings toward the god you serve.”
“then….?”
“Whoa whoa.” To be honest, I was avoiding answering as much as possible because it was obvious how someone in the priesthood would hear me if I said this.”
The captain raised his hand to calm the crew and opened his mouth with difficulty, as if he was uncomfortable even saying it out loud.
“In the desert… there is a taboo. Just as the sea bastards say that if you bring a woman on board a ship, you are unlucky, and if you bring a child on board, a krakan will attack you with the smell of milk, so even in the desert, there are desert laws.”
“It’s the law…”
“Hmm… If I say this out loud, we won’t be able to get on the ship for a while after this voyage, but we also have ears and know at least how Gwangmyeong treats heretics. I can’t help it. I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully. “In the desert… it’s a huge taboo to get involved with priests.”
“I said it!” “Damn, thank you so much, Captain! From the next port onwards, I’ll be on a different ship!”
Gossip and whisper!
It was nothing special to the professor, but the sailors were scared and took a step back, as if they had seen an animal boiling and eating a child.
“Is that… everything? Just a tradition in the great desert? Don’t be friends with priests? “Since when has anyone been saying things like that?”
“A time when grains of desert sand were huge rocks. It was a story that had been passed down by word of mouth as a taboo in the Great Desert for countless centuries. Do not look down on rules that outsiders cannot understand. “Those who break the taboo in the desert… will suffer terrible misfortune.”
As soon as the captain began to talk about taboos in earnest, all of the sailors fled below deck. The sound of stamping feet can be heard from below, so it looks like they are performing some strange ritual.
“Here in the desert kingdom, where we endure the wrath of the old gods and spend the years of atonement, those who join the squire of a foreign god are no different from running away from the punishment of sin and betraying him… The most gentle death will come to the traitor…. ”
“Hey captain….”
“Stop that! If anything, don’t pray for me! If divine power were to be unleashed on this ship, a taboo judgment would come upon everyone on board! Danna has not yet encountered divine power, but there is a possibility, so please… just stop using sacred power….”
He tried hard to appear resolute, but from the moment he uttered the taboo, the captain was trembling with fear. .
holiness. A taboo against associating with any clergy regardless of denomination.
A taboo against revealing it to others.
As a sacred practitioner, I can confidently say that there is no curse or black magic, and that the rules of the Great Desert have been passed down orally since long before March World’s history.
‘An old god. The sun god mentioned by the butler. The old god that the captain said was the master of the taboo. It is a desert kingdom that atones for the ancient gods and the ancient gods who reject the divine power of the land…’
Although it is famous that sailors are prone to superstitions. It doesn’t just seem like a superstition to see sailors running away from a sand shark going crazy at a single word from the captain.
.
.
.
.
Wow!
The professor, who brightened the mood with a round of applause, shook his head as if he had no choice and spoke to the captain.
“great. Since you say so, I will refrain from using divine power.”
“Are you sure? For squires of foreign gods like you, sharing power with God is like breathing. How much more so when you, the highest among them…” “
As an instrument of Haram, I swear before God’s name. “Professor Saint swears that he will not use sacred power for any reason here in the Great Desert.”
[Why can’t I use it anyway?]
‘I thought the captain would cry if I didn’t do this at least.’
After he swore, even mentioning God’s name, the captain seemed to feel at ease and staggered down to sit on the deck steps.
“Captain Seo!”
“Captain Avery! “You for us…!”
“River Khayam. Thank you so much for this. Once this voyage is over, you, the first mate, will have to drive the ship…”
“Ugh! For some reason, the Baron, that bug-like bastard, just said that the customer was a precious person! “I told you not to accept this customer!”
“I can’t help it. The last time we sailed was a failure, so if we didn’t receive customers this time, we were on the verge of selling the ship and leaving everyone to live on the streets. I finished it on my own and completed the port safely. “This was the only way for everyone to be happy.”
“Ugh! Captain Seo!”
The sailors who had escaped below deck, as if they had heard the oath, jumped out one by one, hugged the captain, and began to dab alcohol on his forehead.
Otman, who was preparing for a possible battle, looked dumbfounded as to how this had all happened.
“What did you say again that made the captain, who seemed so tough, end up like that? “Why are the sailors doing that again?”
“Uh… I didn’t do anything in particular. If you talk to me in the desert, you’ll die. “A god so old that his existence has even been forgotten sends some kind of soft death to take him away.”
Otman’s complexion turned pale as he was thinking about something at those words, and the old man’s dry finger covered his mouth. The professor was rolling around in his mouth the big pieces of information that were pouring out like sweet potato stalks from Teldrat to here.
Old God. Or the sun god.
Strange desert environment.
taboo. The phenomenon of clergy avoidance. And…
sniff.
“Hmm… Has anyone’s hand touched sand shark blood?”
“….”
“Eup….”
“If there is no answer, I will unleash my divine power so that it can be clearly seen throughout the great desert-”
“I am me!”
“me too! Because it is a precious drink, we tried to keep it from flowing as much as possible, but it does splash a little…”
“Okay, there you two. “Stay still and don’t move.”
The professor, who slightly tore his finger and bled, said as he snapped his finger and sprayed a drop of blood at the two sailors.
“Maybe you have a fever. “Anyone who starts to feel numb starting from the toes should come to us immediately.”
“Is that… like the curse of foreign media?”
While the two sailors who had unknowingly touched the priest’s blood cried loudly, saying that they too had now been branded with the taboo, the professor frowned and answered the terrified sailor’s question.
“It’s not a curse, it’s a cure.”
“Treatment. I’ve been drinking sand shark blood as a sailor, but I haven’t had any problems…”
“It’s been like that until now. It won’t be like that again.”
A faint but disgusting sweetness mixed in the sand shark’s blood.
The professor smiled brightly as he looked at the frightened sailors in the scent that seemed to give them strength just by smelling it.
“It looks like it will be a very fun voyage.”
The smell was that there was no significant activity in the Empire or on the Roderick front.
It was the smell of Mutation Blood.
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