MTM 64

Leon and Zed each briefly complained, but since they knew there was no other choice, the group finally loaded all the luggage and got on the carriage.

Clatter.

Before Harto, the last to climb in, took his seat, he looked through the crack of the door at the golden desert stretching before him. The endless sand glittered under the sunlight like a vast lake. As Harto looked at the dazzling gold that resembled Zed’s hair, he asked.

“Zed, what’s this desert called?”

“You want to know the desert’s name?”

“Yes… does the desert not have a name?”

“It does.”

Zed followed Harto’s gaze outside for a moment before he spoke.

“There’s only one desert this big, so people don’t bother calling it by name.”

“What’s its name?”

Zed removed silent for a while, then spoke.

“…Arcanis. It was named after Ares Carseon’s mother.”

Arcanis Carseon.

When the name left Zed’s lips, the story from the novel returned to Harto’s mind. Ares Carseon’s mother was a woman with long, smooth golden hair. The Emperor of Regnovar, who admired her beautiful hair, had given her name to the golden desert that had no name.

Perhaps it was because of her noble birth. Or perhaps it was because people mourned the tragic end of her life. For one reason or another, people hesitated to speak the true name of the desert aloud.

“That’s it! So, on the day Arcanis Carseon died, Ares Carseon ran to the desert and cried day and night. They say his tears gathered and formed an oasis. Isn’t that amazing? An oasis born from the tears of a holy prince!”

“What, that’s… ridiculous…”

At the absurd story that the person himself didn’t even know, Zed was dumbfounded. But Harto, who was sitting beside him, shook his head in denial.

“No. Ares is strong. On the night his mother passed away, he tried to leave the empire not from grief but because of bitterness. But he was too kind… so he couldn’t go through with it in the end…”

“……”

Zed looked at Harto, whose face now held a sorrowful expression as if he had actually been there, and this time he wasn’t dumbfounded but confused. He even found himself wondering.

‘Did I… ever tell Harto that story…?’

The thought crossed his mind, but before he could ask, the carriage began moving deeper into the desert. Allen started talking excitedly, as if he had been waiting for this moment, and the opportunity to question it slipped away.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

He had once read in a storybook that the desert was beautiful because somewhere within it, a well lay hidden.

Harto recalled that line from his previous life and looked out through the carriage window at the desert.

When he imagined the endless sand, the burning sun, and the soft dunes holding a beautiful oasis somewhere among them, his heart began to race. Perhaps, like in that storybook, he wanted to dream of a kind of hope.

But the real desert was different.

“Ugh, hah…! I can’t… I can’t breathe…!”

Allen, who had been slumped inside the carriage like a crumpled shoe, suddenly threw open the door, unable to endure the heat. His face was red, and sweat poured down as he cried out. A rush of scorching sand wind swept inside. The driver holding the camels’ reins spoke in a calm voice, suggesting they close the door.

“Haah… hey, is this normal…? It’s like an oven in here! Cough, cough!”

Allen wheezed after taking the sandstorm full in the face, and the driver leaned toward the carriage and pulled down the hood covering his face.

“This kind of heat is bearable in winter. If you cross the desert in summer, you’ll dry up to the bone.”

“Ugh…”

The driver joked, but Allen couldn’t even force himself to laugh. A wave of hot wind had swept into the carriage again. Stories were stories, but the real desert was nothing like he imagined; even breathing was a struggle.

The three camels trudged slowly across the sand. The wheels didn’t sink but slid strangely smoothly, thanks to magic. When black snail extract was mixed with magic and applied to the wheel rims, it created a thin, mystical layer that allowed traction even over sand. The same magic protected them from the fierce sandstorms.

But it did nothing against the heat. Especially inside the carriage where the four rode, the air wouldn’t circulate at all, and it quickly turned humid from their sweat and body heat as the temperature continued rising. They wanted to open the door, but the blowing sand made that impossible, and they endured it until Allen finally lost control.

“Allen… I think you should close the door now…”

Leon mumbled in a half-asleep voice beside him, his eyes half open, as if he was drifting between waking and sleep.

“It’s too hot, I can’t breathe! Can’t you do something with magic… ah, doesn’t it work?”

Allen’s voice trembled as he shook Leon’s shoulder several times.

“Good grief. If you needed a spell to cool the air, you should’ve said so before we left…”

When Allen found out such a magic tool actually existed, he frowned even more. Leon waved his hand carelessly.

“If it’s hot with the door closed and hot with it open, then it’s better without the sandstorm, don’t you think?”

Even having four men in that narrow space already made it hard to breathe, but opening the door brought in sand too fierce to endure. Under the stifling heat, Allen shouted that it made no difference either way, but no one answered him. Everyone was in bad shape.

Harto couldn’t handle the heat and lost strength, drooping in his monster form. Zed remained quiet and covered Harto’s body with a wet outer garment.

“It feels… quite pleasant though…”

Leon’s eyes, blurred by sleep and heat, lingered on the soft, dark slime that Harto had become. Whenever he found a chance, he poked at Harto’s squishy hand or pressed his hot cheek against it.

Each time, Zed’s eyes sparkled with a wary twinkle, but maybe because of the heat, Leon’s body sagged toward Harto’s side.

“If… Harto doesn’t mind, could I use him as a pillow for a bit…?”

“Huh…?”

Harto hesitated. He thought it might be fine if it was only for a pillow, but Zed’s firm voice came first.

“No.”

“I was asking for Harto’s opinion.”

Leon narrowed his eyes as he spoke. Zed said nothing, but he turned to Harto. It was as if he was saying, ‘Refuse him.’

“…Mm.”

In the end, Harto nodded softly.

Leon clicked his tongue and gave up, lying down on the opposite side. Soon, his breathing sounded like he had fallen asleep.

“Zed, are you all right…?”

Harto asked as he looked at Zed, who seemed far more composed than Allen, who looked ready to jump off the carriage, and Leon, who was half-conscious.

“It’s bearable. I endured heat like this all the time in the Regnovar Empire.”

The Regnovar Empire had few mountains and was shaped like a basin. The continent’s heat gathered in its center, so the climate was generally warm, and in summer, people suffered under heavy heat.

“Ah, then maybe it’s like Af…frica?”

“What’s that?”

“Mm… something like that.”

Harto gave a small smile as he pictured something in his head. Seeing Harto’s smile, Zed placed a finger against his lips out of mild annoyance. Harto let out a muffled hum.

For a moment, Zed wanted to see Harto’s face in his human form smiling again. But with this heat, he couldn’t force it.

“Harto, do you know something?”

“Whaaat?”

Harto blinked with his lips still caught under Zed’s finger.

“You… sometimes seem like you came from another world.”

Thump.

At that precise remark, Harto’s heart dropped. But Zed didn’t mean anything deep by it. He stroked Harto’s head gently and whispered.

“You must be tired. You can close your eyes for a bit.”

“Mm…”

Harto steadied his pounding heart and closed his eyes. He couldn’t fall asleep, but resting in Zed’s arms made him feel calm.

After that, the carriage was quiet except for Leon’s mumbling in his sleep. Even Allen, who had been lively that morning, was now half-unconscious under the desert’s scorching heat.

Clack.

After what felt like an endless stretch of endurance, the carriage suddenly stopped, breaking the stillness as if waking them from a dream.

Knock, knock, knock.

“You can get out now. We’ve arrived.”

The driver knocked on the door as he spoke. The first to react at the word “arrived” was Allen.

“Oh, the oasis…!!”

Excited to finally see the oasis he had longed for, he jumped up and threw open the door. His loud voice echoed across the desert.