Chapter 56
Hidden episode.
It was an event that could be found quite frequently when running the game.
It's easier to think of it as an Easter egg chapter hidden here and there by the developers.
Though it didn't greatly affect the official story line, it was possible to gain new information about the world setting or additional narratives about characters.
Sometimes powerful items came out as rewards.
'They were contents I studied quite hard.'
Because I had uploaded walkthrough videos multiple times.
I think I personally found over 20 episodes.
This one was the same.
[EP???. How to Cross the Desert]
-A Door Opening in the Sky, A Boy Spending the Night with Stars-
It was an event triggered when touching a specific item in a specific place.
An event that could only be participated in once per game play.
The stage difficulty was quite high, but considering the quality of the rewards, it was worth challenging.
Because there were items obtainable only here.
"Wh-Where on earth is this...?"
A voice heard quietly.
It was none other than Regia.
The girl who had been soaked in confusion until just now seemed to have come to her senses, as she was looking around.
Her green eyes seemed to be grasping the situation.
"Suddenly a desert... We were clearly looking around an old shop just a moment ago."
The scenery appearing in view was entirely golden.
An endless stretching sand desert.
The scene transitioned with a surreal gap.
As I was leisurely appreciating the scenery, the pilot who had been in a daze muttered.
"Are we perhaps seeing hallucinations...?"
"Well... There's nothing particularly feeling out of place. It seems likely to be reality."
"Th-That's impossible."
"This is quite a strange situation."
"If we're not caught in hallucinations, h-how should we explain this current scenery......"
"Hmm."
I spoke softly.
"It seems we've been caught up in an accident."
"Wh-What?"
"For now, it seems there was some problem with the book we touched... I don't know the details either."
"R-Right. It was such a sudden moment......"
"There may have been magic cast on the page."
"Uugh."
First we had to recognize the fact that we had met with an accident.
We had been walking in the academy until just before, then lost consciousness for a moment, and when we opened our eyes, we were stranded in the middle of a desert.
It was understandable to be flustered.
I waited for a moment until Regia calmed down.
The girl who seemed to be lost in thought like that soon stood up as if realizing something else.
"Huh?"
Regia extending her hand into the air.
The girl who had been waving in front of her eyes for a moment soon spoke with a hardened expression.
"Y-Young Master... Mana isn't gathering at my fingertips."
"Pardon?"
"The flow of air is strange. I can clearly feel mana, but when I try to manifest magic, it scatters right away."
"Is that so."
This was the core of this field.
A space where magic was completely neutralized. In this desert, the use of mana for realizing magic was not allowed at all.
It was truly poison to magicians.
Some traveler called it, 'The Land That Doesn't Shine'.
Unless one was a considerable expert, it was difficult to shake off the restrictions.
Therefore, the roles of other positions were important.
Swordsman, priest, shaman, summoner, etc... Cards to replace the firepower of magicians were needed.
This was the role Regia would take on this time.
"It feels like my abilities are being suppressed."
"How much...?"
"It seems impossible to use shadows as usual. At most, creating one sword seems to be the limit."
"N-No way."
Of course, this was a lie on my part.
I could shake off such temporary restrictions just by slightly revealing my power.
But I pretended to be unable to use my abilities.
Because I wasn't the one who needed to be active in this field.
We came in for Regia's growth, so if I did everything myself, it would be all for nothing.
Thanks to that, I smoothly recited lies.
"I'm a magician too after all."
"What should we do? We don't even know where this place is, and now we can't use communication magic......"
"That's really a big problem."
It should be about time for it to appear.
I glanced around subtly.
As I was looking around the desert with a troubled expression for a while, suddenly a faint voice was heard.
It was an old and sick echo.
-Get out of the way, you things! I can't die yet...!
It wasn't far.
It sounded like someone shouting nearby.
"Y-Young Master! Just now there was a sound from over there...?"
"I heard it too."
We immediately ran towards that point.
As we crossed over a hill blocking our view, the owner of the desperate cry came into sight.
An old man sitting on the ground in a hunched posture.
He seemed to have been injured on his arm.
The old man was swinging his arm while screaming.
"Get away...!"
Kieeek-!
A strange cry ringing out after.
Five black scorpions were stealthily approaching around the old man.
We involuntarily furrowed our brows.
"Oh my."
"Wh-What on earth is that...?"
Could those even be called just scorpions?
They were larger than the size of small cars.
Those things exuding a dangerous smell were raising their tails containing deadly poison sharply.
As if trying to hunt prey.
"I'll go right away, Miss Regia."
"Y-Yes...!"
A critical situation.
We kicked off the ground without even a moment's hesitation.
Faint afterimages remained behind our bodies shooting out quickly.
Kieeek! Grrrr-!
The monsters roaring chillingly.
I compressed the shadow drawn out long. Then I drew it as a sword.
A blade made of pitch black crossed the sand wind.
"Hup...!"
I let out a short breath.
I leapt towards the scorpion standing closest.
Kieeek-?!
Had it noticed our presence?
The creature belatedly turned its body.
But the sword strike I had shot out was already advancing drawing a splendid line.
I cut in an instant.
Slash-!
A clear cutting sound echoing.
The scorpion's tail that had been extended for defense was cut off just like that.
'I cut it.'
A tingling sensation dyed my fingertips.
The creature backing away in bewilderment.
I didn't miss the opportunity and butchered the opponent with my sword swung to the end.
Splat-!
The huge body was split in half.
Purple blood soaked the ground.
It was only 10 seconds.
A life cut off in a short moment.
However, there was no leisure to stop in place.
Kirruk-!
The gazes of the other creatures were fixed on me.
Three scorpions rushed in.
I lightly rotated my wrist as if flicking it.
Whirl-.
The blade rotated following the graceful hand gesture.
The long shadow soon broke into two branches, then each transformed into a short dagger.
A dagger grasped in each hand.
I jumped towards the monsters with my upper body bent.
Swoosh-!
A scorpion's tail fell towards my head.
I flowed it away with a smooth movement. The missed attack brushed the back of my sword.
Crack...!
Sparks flew.
I passed by the intense bursting sound. I slashed the two daggers horizontally.
Consecutive strikes crushing the hard shell.
Crunch-!
Right after, the scorpion's head was crushed.
I adjusted the distance for a moment and reorganized my disordered steps.
"Hmm."
Though I said I wasn't using magic, basic swordsmanship was enough for these small fry.
I steadily cleaned up the monsters.
"G-Get away!!"
Beside me, Regia was also struggling against the remaining one.
I was worried how she would fight when she couldn't even use basic magic, but she just swung her bag and hit its head.
Splat-!
I didn't know what was inside, but the sound was tremendous.
Perhaps it was because she was a Galimar student after all.
Her basic movements weren't bad.
Thanks to that, the scorpion extermination was smoothly wrapped up.
Kieeek-!
The last one fell with a single scream.
A pool of blood seeping between small grains of sand.
A moment of rest was given.
"Haa..."
A breath flowing out softly.
Fighting without using lies was indeed troublesome.
Perhaps because physical strength correction wasn't applied, hot breaths kept wanting to burst out.
This was unfamiliar.
Of course, due to the [Smiling Mask] trait, no signs of difficulty showed on the outside at all.
I was just smiling leisurely.
I stroked the head of Regia who was exhausted.
"Good work, Miss Regia."
"Hic, huu... What on earth were these huge scorpions?"
"I don't know either as it's my first time seeing them."
"They're too strong, to the point my arms are trembling......"
"They certainly didn't look like ordinary creatures."
"Haa... Young Master, you're really amazing. Even one was so overwhelming, but you handled four of them, and even leisurely at that."
"Thank you."
Corpses of scorpions rolling on the ground.
We passed by those fragments and moved our steps towards the old man sitting quietly to one side.
Fortunately, he didn't seem to be badly injured.
"Um... Are you alright?"
Regia approached carefully.
The old man who had been staring at us blankly soon came to his senses. A hoarse cough leaked from his wrinkled mouth.
"Cough cough! Thank you for saving me, young ones... Thanks to you I survived."
The old man was wearing tattered robes.
White hair, a beard covering his lower face, blue eyes blinking.
He was an elderly man with a gentle impression.
"D-Did you perhaps injure your left arm?"
"I sprained it by mistake."
"I'll treat you! I always carry medical supplies in my bag!"
"I'm so grateful I don't know what to do..."
Regia rummaging through her bag.
She took out bandages.
Meanwhile, I was staring at the white hair visible beyond the girl's back.
The old man receiving treatment in a hunched posture.
'As expected, we meet like this.'
The key character of this episode.
The man who would be our goal for the next few days and the key to leaving the field.
The mission the player takes on here was simple.
[Safely escort the character 'Josh Clacker' to the destination.]
It was to safely take the old man right in front of us to the destination.
As for the destination he spoke of.
"Young ones... I have a shameless request."
The transparent blue eyes spoke while grasping his arm.
"Could you perhaps take this old man to the stars?"
A sentence containing a strange request.
Just like in the original work, the episode started like that.