Chapter 72.1
Chapter 72.1. Lancelot’s Adventure (1) Part 1
A month and a half before Arelia’s birthday ball, the end of July.
After exchanging money in Warrant, Lancelot and his group left the Olympus Forest and headed to the capital to persuade the runaway Denburg Blade. At least, that was supposed to be the plan.
"Where are we!?" Leisha shrieked while pulling at her head.
No matter how many times you looked around, all you could see were sand dunes and the clear sky. The temperature was too high to be called the beginning of summer. The experience of the harsh desert, which she had previously only read about in books, left Leisha desolate.
"Sor, sorry," Lancelot apologized timidly.
Leisha sighed, "No, you haven’t done anything wrong. Isn’t. That. Right? Vice-captain, sir!"
Leisha glared at Mac with eyes as fiery as the burning sun of the desert.
"Hmm! That’s right. Sir Diplomat has done nothing wrong. Well, of course." Mac dodged Leisha’s gaze and gave a fake cough.
To start with, it was because of Mac that they made a wrong turn and ended up all the way south in the desert rather than going southwest to the capital. Despite Lancelot’s suggestion to hire a guide from Warrant and take a train once they were halfway to the capital, Mac was confident that they didn’t need a guide.
Lancelot shouldn’t have believed Mac when he began to beat his chest. Mac started telling him to believe in the skills of the former division vice-captain who had experience traveling through Olympus Forest.
Unlike the time in the forest, Mac didn’t know how to orient himself in the grassland and gradually turned southward from the original southwest direction without even realizing it.
However, Mac also had something to say, "But Miss can’t say that you’re innocent either.”
"Well, that was an unavoidable accident. Yes, let’s call it an accident." Leisha became red as if she felt guilty about something and turned away.
Yes, Leisha had a hand in them being adrift in the desert now.
After visiting the first village coming out of the grassland, the group realized they had gone astray from the original path.
To be specific, Lancelot realized it, but the other two did not. Lancelot explained their situation and once again proposed his desire to hire a guide to travel back northward. Once that was done, they would try to get a carriage from a city and travel to a more bustling area where a train was located.
Yet, when Leisha saw the merchants stopped by the village, she said it would be safer to move with the traveling merchants and offered a gold coin. Lancelot was worried about the display of such a significant sum, but he comforted and convinced himself into thinking he was being naive and that nothing would happen.
He believed it would be more reliable to have traveling merchants as a guide than a person who did not leave the village often. However, he should not have hidden his worries this time.
Instead of guiding them northwest where the capital was, the traveling merchants took Lancelot and the group south to the desert. Filled with greed at the sight of the bouncing coin purse that Leisha and Mac carelessly tied to their waist, the merchants immediately turned into bandits when they arrived in the middle of the desert.
It was a small mistake made by two people born and raised in the forest solely because they didn’t realize the value of money. The bandits picked on the wrong group, and every one of them had their graves dug there with Mac’s fists.
Mac was not good at controlling his strength, but he cautiously planned on leaving one alive to serve as a guide. However, he did not imagine they would die so easily. From this, you could tell how well Denburg managed to control his strength when he first fought the gangsters after leaving the village.
The punks ended up surviving.
Leisha pointed out that Mac didn’t even leave one person alive, while Mac claimed that it wasn’t all his fault. This was the situation just moments ago.
"If only I had spoken a little more clearly...” Lancelot said critically.
Leisha and Mac became flustered and consoled him, "No! You did a good job!"
"Yes! Without Lancelot, I’m afraid I’d cry thinking of the grim future!"
Leisha looked disapprovingly at Mac, "No, a grown-up crying is a little...”
"Ay, I’m just saying,” Mac gave a peculiar sly smile, and Lancelot quietly burst out laughing at the sight of it.
"It’s nice to see you laugh like that.”
"Yes, yes, they say good luck comes when you laugh. Now let’s listen to Sir Diplomat’s valuable advice on how we should move forward."
Lancelot blushed in embarrassment, "It’s, it’s not very valuable advice, but I think it would be better to find a nearby town."
“That’s a good idea!”
“That’s right!”
Feeling a bit guilty, Leisha and Mac tried to encourage Lancelot.
"Since Leisha noona is a magician, how about she tries to get a better view up in the sky?” Mac suggested.
Leisha looked around awkwardly before declining, "Well, it’s a good method, but there are two problems.”
"What is it?” Mac asked.
"First of all, because it’s a desert, even if I saw a village while flying, we may not end up heading in the right direction due to mirages created from differences in temperature," Leisha explained.
"I can just go there myself and find it,” Mac stated.
Leisha shook her head at Mac. "It would be different if we were familiar with this desert terrain, but I think that once you leave this spot, you won’t be able to find the group again."
Since villages were large, she would be able to find one quickly, but there was no way Leisha could find the two of them again in this desert where everything looked the same.
"Then what if you took us in the air with you?" Lancelot asked.
Leisha lowered her head towards Lancelot and muttered in a very small voice, "Sorry, I’ve never actually used flying magic before.”
Mac heard the voice that was as soft as the sound from an ant and thought that Leisha was just joking. "What? The youngest son has been flying around the village since he was a kid.”
Mac leaned over to see Leisha’s face, who was keeping her head down. When Mac made eye contact with her, Leisha screamed as if she was ashamed of her skills.
"That’s because he’s a genius! I had a hard time just floating off the ground while I was in the village!" Leisha was partially crying and began to lament her distress.
"In the first place, people aren’t supposed to fly! People have to live on the ground! It’s odder that a person can even fly in the sky!" Leisha continued.
"Miss, it couldn’t be-" When Mac began speaking with astonishment, Leisha turned her head away.
"Yes! I’m afraid of heights! I’ve never used flying magic since I fell from a height of 20 meters while learning flying magic when I was young!"
Only then did Mac realize why Leisha did not fly the same way that Denburg did to chase him when he ran away from home. It wasn’t that she didn’t fly, but that she couldn’t fly.
Of course, she might be able to fly if she closed her eyes and used the flying magic. Unlike the time when she was young in the Olympus Forest, the current location was not a place where mana was chaotic. In addition, Leisha’s magic skills were obviously among the ranks of great magicians.
However, Leisha, who had a fear of flying, felt unsteady just from lifting off the ground.
Listening to Leisha’s lament, Mac stopped looking at her face and leaned back, smiling, “Then there’s nothing we can do. Everyone has something that they’re afraid of."
Mac’s abruptly sincere eyes combined with his handsome face made Leisha’s heart race slightly. However, after seeing him starting laughing slyly once more while stroking his goatee, all of her feelings dissipated.
Still, perhaps due to a few lingering feelings, her face was a little red as she asked Mac, "Is there anything Oppa is afraid of?"
Mac thought for a moment before he winked and brought his index finger to his mouth. "Huhu, it’s a secret.”
As Mac’s smile grew even more sly, a strong urge to punch him grew in Leisha’s mind. However, her opponent was also one of the most powerful men in the Crow Tribe village. He was one of the most talented individuals in the younger generation of Crows. With such a strong physique, he could dodge a punch from a 10-year-old Leisha with his eyes closed.
Leisha had no choice but to tolerate him, "What shall we do then?"
As Leisha sighed, Lancelot was sent lost in his thoughts again.
"Well, didn’t Den use magic to find a vein of water back then? Can you use that magic?" He asked.
Leisha quickly understood what Lancelot was trying to say, "Water vein? Ah! You’re looking for an oasis village! You’re smart."
Leisha ruffled Lancelot’s hair while praising him as if she was proud.
"Hehe, no. I just remembered what Den once said." Lancelot said.
"What did Den say?”
Lancelot answered Leisha’s question with a bright smile. "In the past, Den said that if we were ever lost in a remote place alone, we needed first to secure water then food.”
Pondering on how they would get water, Lancelot recalled the existence of the oasis village, which he had learned about at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among the magical materials that Elder Mirpa asked for, there were some that could only be acquired in the desert, so luckily, he learned about them.
"Really?"
"Yes! And, and! Den also once taught me how to survive in the desert!"
As Lancelot became excited and showed signs of going on a long-lasting ramble, Mac naturally interrupted him. "Then let’s look for it! Miss!"
Seemingly not wanting to hear Lancelot’s admiration for Denburg either, Leisha replied in an exasperated voice, "Shall we?"
There was no stopping Lancelot when he started going on about his admiration for Denburg. It was amazing how his skillset was nothing like Denburg’s, even though he talked about him so much. Both Mac and Leisha knew that the gap between Lancelot and the Denburg was too wide.
Lancelot looked regretful as Leisha focused on her magic, choosing to wait for her to complete her work. Even if they couldn’t find a village, securing water in the desert was a matter of considerable importance.
"I found it," Leisha said.
"Oh! Where?”
Leisha pointed south and spoke, "That way."
Before heading for the oasis, they dealt with the former traveling merchant’s belongings. They put the bandit’s items into Leisha’s pocket space at Lancelot’s suggestion. Leisha felt uncomfortable, but she followed along because she was guilty.
"Do we have to take it?” Leisha asked.
When Leisha spoke again after putting all the belongings into the pocket space, Lancelot nodded as if praising the question.
"Den says that every action has a purpose, and if it has a purpose, the means-"
"Now! Shall we head off before it gets dark?" Leisha interjected.
Mac agreed with Leisha, who quickly cut Lancelot off.
"Good idea!"
Leisha and Mac held Lancelot’s arms as if they were arresting him, walking quickly in the direction of the oasis.
"Huh? Uhh?"
Lancelot was confused as he matched their quick pace, not understanding why Leisha and Mac were walking so fast. The desert sky was so clear that the North Star seemed to be visible already.
Lancelot believed that every single one of Den’s words could serve as a guide, just like the Northern Star in the sky. Then he realized that the reason the group was walking so fast was to arrive at the oasis before nightfall.
Of course, only Lancelot came upon this realization.