Chapter. 15. Can someone who has seen the end of the world plant an apple tree? (13)
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“Hmm. Dry Oasis A ship that travels between Kalashan territory and the desert. “If you travel to and from the inland, is the purpose of trade?”
“exactly. I have some acquaintance with the lord there. “I brought a few people along with some small items.”
“It’s just errands… you live hard. “I will take a moment to check the number of people on board.”
“However much.”
Before we arrived at our destination, the people who got off the boat that intercepted our boat began to check very thoroughly. From the cargo, personnel, and lifespan of the ship, I checked the usual navigation route in the captain’s navigation log and asked him why he arrived here through a route he did not normally take, and the captain answered the question without hesitation, as if he was familiar with this type of thing. .
“good night. No problem. With the superficial confirmation up to this point… how much did you plan for the bundle business? “Since I went to Naeji, there must have been a lot of things that I secretly brought in.”
“I plan to end this flight a little early. Here’s the list. “The quality of the arrowhead and spearhead harpoon is not that good, but I brought some raw iron.”
“Hehehehe. Then yes. Did you know that the bottom of the ship was mysteriously sinking under the sand? “I will purchase everything from here and the slaves over there from our guard.”
“slave?”
“okay. No need for a bitch with big ears, just a sturdy looking troll and that guy over there. “I’ve never used one or two slaves while working on a ship, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone as mischievous as that guy.”
The security guard, showing his yellow teeth, grinned and pointed in my direction.
A sailor who often sees sunlight even in the desert.
Among them, a man covered in scars with bronze skin whose skin was as tanned as that of a watchtower guard who was most exposed to the sun, and
who wore only shabby underwear, revealing a sturdy body that looked as if it might explode.
….Even if you think about it objectively, if there was a mirror in front of you, you would have thought that he looked like a sturdy slave being trained by labor while being whipped under the scorching sun.
“…You don’t really buy or sell people, do you?”
“Oh, I didn’t bring you here to sell, but are you a slave to be used on the ship? Instead of that, why don’t you sell it to us? My hands are running thin these days, but there are more than one or two places that would welcome such a sturdy slave with open hands. “I’ll give you 20% more than my market price.”
“Hmm. “Nothing to do.”
“30%.”
“No, look, if you’ve received everything, please help me-”
“Damn it! 50%! They say they give you 1.5 times the price! Don’t you know my situation! They tell me from above that if I can’t raise elite soldiers, I should do something to fill the number of heads! Everyone who can stand on the ship has already been taken! That guy will make enough for 5 people, so double it! I’ll give you a double hit! “This is enough, so just skip it and go in!”
Thanks to persistent questioning as to whether something was going on, the professor eventually came out and held the mercenary card in front of them, allowing the guards to open the path they had previously blocked. But why did you come? Is this your hometown? As he was asking me questions about where and how long I would be staying, it seemed like he was planning to incorporate me into the military by either persuading or kidnapping once I got inside.
“Military supplies? “Isn’t the country managing things like refined iron, arrowheads, spear blades, and armor?”
“Teldrat is a wealthy country, but the territories adjacent to the desert are especially rich. “It would be foolish to believe that wealth was achieved solely from high-quality wheat.”
“…Smuggling?”
“The desert is a place where battles never cease, so isn’t there a lot of demand?”
“Do transactions like this happen often?”
“It’s always there. Of course, it is common for those who block the road and set up fish traps like that to make a fuss in an attempt to reduce the price, but it is not common for them to ask you to give it all in exchange for a small amount like this.”
“It is clear that preparations for war are accelerating.”
I feel like I got a glimpse of one of the reasons Teldrat is wealthy. In places where there are no people, we fight with monsters, and in places where people can live, we fight with each other to take over that place. Since metal resources were not common in the desert, most military supplies were imported and the small but wealthy nation of Teldrat was responsible for that.
I wonder if this tastes like blood in the oasis.
“I need to get back to work soon. Is there somewhere to go? “We have unloaded all the goods, so we need to get paid and go buy some spices and luxury items.”
“I have received a separate meeting location. “You may have to wander around a bit, but it would be better to move separately rather than crowding around.”
“I’m glad you know. “At times like this, the security forces have their eyes wide open, trying to catch the gunman in any way possible.”
And that prison will not be iron bars, but barracks for conscripts.
This is a common sight in a city in battle. If we gather together, outsiders will probably say they are acting suspiciously and will investigate, and since there is no one who is willing to shake it off, they will be captured and used as forced labor or conscripts.
Seeing the appearance that can be drawn just by looking at the atmosphere, the professor tightened his clothes and put on white desert clothes that looked like a combination of a turban and a cape.
“If nothing happens, hurry back to the ship. “We also plan to stay on the ship instead of finding accommodation in the city.”
“yes. See you later then.”
“Uhm. If you feel like you’re going to die, please die here so I can find out more. “If you die, there will be no violation of the taboo even if we leave on our own.”
“You are full of kindness.”
….they are interesting people. They say that if they die, they will sail away in peace, but to put it the other way around, it means that they will prepare to leave and wait on the ship until they hear the news that they have died.
Considering the hardships of a long life as a sailor, this is quite a big sacrifice. Wouldn’t those people have any desire to lie down in a comfortable and cool inn and get drunk? They couldn’t even tell me about the Rakshasha and the Moon Shadow, and they only listened to me saying, ‘I’ve become involved in a conflict in the Twelve Steps region,’ and agreed to it, thinking it would be dangerous.
‘I was in the same boat. Horses were created by water boaters, but only us sailors are the ones who use them properly!’
‘No matter what the desert is, it’s a place where there’s always something knocking on the outside! Whether they become monsters, Toho, bandits, or other trash. If you don’t want it to scatter like grains of sand, you have to stick it together tightly. So, if you’re in the same boat, they say you’re family. The guy I don’t like – I treat him like a cousin who ruined his family by gambling. The person I like is like a real brother or sister. There may be a difference in distance, but even if you die, you will still be within the boundaries of your family.’
‘Off-’ ‘
Hmm? Should I say that you are a different cousin who returned to my hometown after not being heard from for about 20 years? The kid came back taller, but I don’t know what he was doing. That’s it. Normally, customers don’t treat us like that, but since we were pulling ropes and scooping up sand together, I thought this was enough. Hehehe! Isn’t this just good? Just as we were held back by you, you will also be held back by us!’
‘Saladin Saladin? Are you listening? ‘He’s not dead yet, right?’
‘Don’t tell me to…’
‘Hehehehe! That won’t work! Wouldn’t it be boring to stare blankly at the desert from the watchtower? I’ve been wondering if you’re a saint or something, so I’ve been spending more time here because I don’t know when Taboo will come after me, so I need to at least talk to him! Oh, don’t feel burdened! Hey, die down there, the deck-cleaning bastard. He’s a new guy who came in the year before last, and he’s like a pig peeer who teamed up with some bad guys and sold our ship! Somehow, the crew got their money together and fought back with knives to get the ship back… but as you can see, they were in a position where they couldn’t refuse to burn their house, which seemed like a piece of taboo. Still, you gave that guy a ride again. He gets hit in the back of the head every day, to the point where the hair on the back of his head falls out, but he’s still our sailor, so this is it. We live like that. Hehehehe!’
‘Ah, the captain told me not to reveal this. ‘Pretend you didn’t hear me!’
‘Oooooh-’
Was it Naruka? The Watchtower sailor who roasted me like this. While I was hanging from the mast and getting a vicious tan in direct sunlight, he talked non-stop, which helped me learn a lot about desert ships.
Desert sailors who stay together until the ship sinks and all the crew members die. It is said that just as people gathered around an oasis to form a village, they gathered around a desert boat are one village and are like a family. Due to personal reasons, not everyone can go out to the port together every time, but the people who are left behind are so close-knit that they float water every night and pray for safety in the port.
‘It is said that the reason desert people are particularly harsh and cruel is in fact because they tend to take extreme care of their inner circle community, so they tend to not even treat people outside that circle as human beings.’
Thankfully, it seemed that within a few days, a person had been popping up in a place I didn’t know about and was able to get a foot in the door of that strange community.
“Then, when you die, the city will scream at you to leave, so you will run away without looking back?”
“…If you can, do it.”
“Is that it?”
“I mean prayer, prayer. Divine power. “There will probably be such a commotion that it will startle you, so there will be time to get someone out.”
He even broke a taboo that scared me like that and said he would run away with me if I could somehow come out alive. How can I not like these people and be rude to them?
The professor was so taken aback by the sight of them busily moving around as they anchored the ship that he thought that if they made a mistake, he would have to force them to carry the ship out of the desert together.
‘Why not just make me convert at this point?’
It was truly a saintly thought.
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Twelve Steps Oasis. This place, also called the Giant’s Twelve Steps, is, as its name suggests, a place with oases lined up regularly as if a giant had walked through them.
The distance from Oasis to Oasis is approximately half a day. The fact that oases are connected like this means that this area has a water vein through which underground desert water flows. The fact that the water vein is so close to the surface that it can create multiple oases in succession
means that you can ‘walk’ between oases because the sand retains enough moisture? Qawladi succeeded in unifying this region, one of the few in the desert where land transportation is possible, and succeeded in creating an organic inland water line between the twelve oases, thereby standing tall as the number one figure in the desert?”
….As she said, this probably means that the circulation of resources between regions is taking place smoothly, and that a guy named Kauladi has amassed a huge amount of wealth and succeeded in expanding his power based on that.
History of the area where you intend to operate. background. A review of regional growth drivers and terrain. It’s good. It’s really useful knowledge, and to me who knows nothing about the desert, it’s like rain in a drought.
good night. Everything is good. But….
“Huhuhuhu.”
“Uh…. Rakshasha? Really… is this right? If I were to express my opinion as a strategist and a person known for being brilliant, there is absolutely no way such a ridiculous strategy would succeed-”
“Yes. You know deep down that this is a good strategy, right? I heard you heard that from the security guard too? Take my word for it. “You will be treated as the best ‘slave’.”
Why is that precious knowledge written on a bundle of parchment called ‘Qualifications of a High-Quality Slave’?
———
– Noru Drug: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
– Takealook: The power of someone with the size of 1 desert hahahaha cannot be compared with a human being hahahaha
– Heungan Dumplings: Daek-i He’s a saint, he’s a fool, and that’s just like in the inner world haha. Here, he’s the No. 1 slave with a good body and strength hahaha
– professor: Shut up before I fucking block everyone and turn off the broadcast.
———
[Hey shell. I’m really starting to like the person called Rakshasa, not just the female form.]
‘Shut up, you bastard.’
It was not difficult to meet a Rakshasa. As I was wandering around looking at the exotic scenery of a place called ‘Third Step’, an oasis village close to the city, a pickpocket caught up with our group, who looked like simpletons at first glance, and the boy who left a note instead of taking my wallet from my arms was chased by security guards. The damage disappeared in an instant. As I followed the secret guidance, I was able to come across a building with a faint sign of the shadow of the moon. The Rakshasha, who came first in the faster boat, finished evaluating my changed appearance by cheering loudly.
It suits you so well. They fit so well together that the range of choices has expanded.
From then on, Rakshasha and the people of the moon shadow began plotting against me.
The thought of selling me as a slave to Kauladi.
The origin of the incident is that the siblings Narea Shepsut and Kamalaho Shepsut, the Kingblood of the Desert Heart, who are worshiped by Rakshasha, are imprisoned right next to Kauladi’s residence.
“Imprisoned? Although he clearly has no power, it is clear that he is considered the most precious being in the desert…” “
So, he was moved to his residence guarded by Kauladi warriors, saying that he had to be kept in a safe place during these dangerous times. You may be receiving excellent food and hospitality in a nice room, but just because it is tied with beautiful silk doesn’t mean it is a restraint, right? “If they refused to take us there, it would be like advertising that we would leave this place, so we had no choice but to let them go with our eyes open.”
The Rakshasha, who was biting her lip as if she was uncharacteristically angry, looked at me and immediately smiled brightly and said,
“But that doesn’t mean no action was taken at all? “I was planning to use your power to take them out if we create an opening… But now we’ve come up with a way that’s much better than that dangerous method.”
“…Does that mean you’re selling me into slavery?”
No, no matter how much it doesn’t work here, he is a saint and one of the heroes of saving the country.
The professor sighed in sorrow as he looked at himself, his body polished like a bodybuilder by rubbing oil palm, clad in a shabby slave costume, and his hair pulled back tightly.
I really shouldn’t do anything like pray anymore. If Ro Haram spreads even a fragment of this scene to Archbishop Norman or Gregory, you will see angry knights of light running into the desert screaming for holy war.
The Rakshasha carefully pushed back my hair with her gentle hands and massaged my dazed shoulders as I pondered which gold earrings would be suitable for a slave warrior.
“Can’t you think of slaves the way you think of them from the outside? Do you feel like the desert slaves are not a race that can be used and discarded like other people, but rather a last bastion that can be kept closer than the most faithful subjects, with loyalty imprinted on them through magic and always by your side? “If the Empire has a Knight Guard, then in the desert there is a warrior slave corps armed with enforced loyalty?”
“You keep combat slaves that close?”
“yes! It’s a place where dozens of assassination attempts occur every day, so the rulers can’t trust anyone! So what was created – a group of warrior slaves who were created with a spell engraved in their brains so that they wouldn’t betray no matter what? Warrior slaves can never betray their masters, but other than that, there are no negative effects, so there are many cases where they start a family, are treated well, and become like their master’s family, right? So, among the outstanding warriors, there are those who take an oath of loyalty and receive the stamp of slaves, and want to be reborn as the limbs of a true master?”
So, instead of giving trust to those who might betray at any moment, they created a group of slave warriors who firmly blocked the possibility of betrayal through magic to protect their own lives – the trend among desert rulers was said to be.
This is also a fairly old tradition, and now it is said that collecting strong warrior slaves is a hobby suitable for the loser of the desert, and there has even been a trend of creating warrior slaves to the point of excessiveness, and Kauladi is a ruler with a particularly burning desire to collect them.
“Ego. Where should we draw a picture? Inland people sell many things to the desert. Weapons, food, precious metals and even people. Here, the mysterious old wizard Otman, one of the most welcome people in the desert, the water wizard Otman, came to the desert with elves and trolls that are not easily seen even though he is the greatest ruler of the desert. This mysterious old man is a magic slave dealer who captures and sells slaves using the brainwashing magic he developed, and as proof of this, he shows a talking troll with no wild nature and an elf who never goes to the desert. Well, it’s pretty reliable, right? The magic slave trader Otman, who gave such trust, visited the desert to research magic and decided to gift the great warrior slave he had captured to Kauladi, the most powerful master here, for a pleasant and comfortable study, and gave him his greatest masterpiece, Saladin. I give it to Kauladi. how is it? “Are you okay?”
“Ummmm….”
Really. I really want to deny it.
A picture… is drawn. It’s safe to say that they are the number one creature that will never enter the desert, and trolls are just as rare as elves. A water mage with a beard who even speaks and appears accompanied by a clever troll. Since no sane elf or troll would come here of their own volition, we can only assume that they were captured by something and forcibly brought here. If Idrasil and Notum add a little spice, anyone would be fooled.
Professor Park is presented to Kauladi as a gift from a mysterious magical slaver from a foreign country. Just as we cannot recognize desert magic because it is different from magic, people here will also not be able to recognize magic easily, so if Otman tamed it with his own special brainwashing magic, he would be able to overcome the basic boundary. To begin with, I was almost immune to mental magic and effects. Rakshasha is also skilled in desert magic, so he passed the slave branding part.
He became a slave warrior who served his master more closely than anyone else, saw an opportunity, and ran away carrying his royal blood brother and sister, who were well cared for. They board the waiting Dry Oasis and jump into the territory of another ruler who has decided to serve them.
Umm…..that’s done. I think this damn plan will work. Umm….
Even the security guard I saw for the first time asked, ‘Are they slaves?’ Even the exterior was perfect.
A fierce face and a sculpted body that can only be achieved by overcoming almost torturous training.
A large body with harsh scars engraved across its wide area.
In addition, the enormous accumulation of hero points covers the characteristic [pale color], and although it is different from the traditional beauty standards of thick lines and hollow eyes, it also has a bronze face with a sufficiently mysterious charm.
It’s a slave dealer that seems to sell very well. hmm. Shit.
“hmm. I like this. Come on~ tingling~”
Chagak!
After adding heavy eye makeup to the large golden earrings chosen by the Rakshasha after careful consideration, there was a desert warrior slave in the mirror, wondering where the saintly professor had gone.
“Then you agree? Of course, I have no intention of forcing you if you don’t like it. Even if the warriors of Kauladi are extremely powerful people gathered from all over the desert and they create an opening, if they go back to the original strategy of a frontal breakthrough, our people, whose main focus is assassination and intelligence, will be hurt a lot… Is that our situation?”
“….okay. “You can do it if you do it.”
“thank you!”
Wow!
At the professor’s sighing nod, the Rakshasha, who had been adjusting his clothes to make them look more naturally worn, jumped into his arms.
“I’m just sorry… just once. “I’ll give you whatever you want?”
“Whatever?”
“Yeah, whatever you imagine. “As much as you want.”
[Huh!]
Kudangtang-
The professor’s heart is sitting down, and at the same time, I can hear anyone rolling from the couch.
The Rakshasha, who wrapped her arms around the professor’s neck as if embracing him and placed a large desert-style gold necklace around his neck, slipped out of the professor’s arms like a mirage and turned her gaze to the parchment she was reading.
“Then the appearance is so good that even the sun god would say it is perfect. Shall we refine our knowledge a little more? Literature Military Art Music. If you know even one more thing, you can become a better slave, right? Oh, wizard, please listen too. “It’s okay if you don’t know someone to create a sense of mystery, but it’s also good if you know them enough to not be rude, right?”
“Umm. “Please.”
“Oh, do you have a magic wand or something? “When you think of a wizard, that kind of image is strong.”
“Uhm… Our school doesn’t really have a wand…”
“Then I’ll make it for you? “Appropriate ones?”
“So…”
Just like that. Under the Rakshasha’s active guidance, the ‘Warriors of Light Party’ began to rapidly transform into ‘a party of wizard slavers from the inland’.
And the next morning.
Thump-thump-
“That stop! I will no longer allow you to roam the city with monsters! Identify yourself and follow the guards’ instructions!”
“Uhm…. You bugs…. If you don’t know etiquette, you should at least know topics…!”
Sloshing-!
“Wow! O oasis has arisen!”
“The wizard I’ve only heard of… the shaman! “Call the shaman!”
“Aaaah!”
The third of the giant’s twelve steps. The largest oasis, ruled directly by Kauladi, welcomed a wizard wielding a magic wand on the troll’s shoulder.
“Make the oats a little more powerful! Like trampling on a lowly insect! If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right!”
“Professor Iboge. I never thought I would have to do something like this-”
“Shh! Someone even had the Reed Flow School brand stamped on their back, and they do that with something like this!”
“Keep your voice down Otman. “As an elf, I came to learn about human affairs, but I don’t want to do this again.”
“Ahhh. I don’t have the courage to meet my godmother…”
“Geuuu. That has long since disappeared. “If you want to do that, do it.”
[Um… everyone? It’s less shocking than I thought. Would Notum roar at least once?]
“That’s it!”
“Aaaah!”
“Monsters are running rampant!”
“The security guard was attacked! Warriors! “Bring in the warriors!!!”
[Yes~ Very good?]
“Geuuuu…”
Of course. Their identity was the ‘Ottoman Magic Slave Merchant’ who received everything from desert history to acting instruction overnight, and the Night Shadow people who supported them in real time through magic. .
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