Chapter 87 – First Hero and First Saint (3)
How many times have I lost consciousness?
Maybe it’s because I’ve lost it so much that I have a problem with my brain.
Otherwise, how would you explain the scene unfolding now?
I stared straight ahead.
I could see the endless horizon.
That’s the horizon!
Dozens of hooks rose above his head.
Guys, do you know that?
Under the royal palace, there are caves and horizons.
… Does that make sense?
Wouldn’t it be more correct to say that I moved in space?
Faced with such an unfamiliar situation, I don’t know what to do.
I looked up.
Above the horizon, there is a sky with clear colors, as if blue watercolor paint had been applied.
In the sky, there was a sun shining alone.
The sun was so bright that it naturally frowned.
He placed his left hand on his eyebrow to shade it.
A little better
As if he wanted to convey his heat to everyone, the heat he emits is fierce.
The intense scorching sun warmed the sand and gravel on the ground, and the radiant heat shook the air.
It looks insanely hot.
… The actual season is obviously winter.
Is it a dream or a hallucination?
I pinched my cheek hard.
I felt a sharp pain.
“… I am not dreaming.”
It is a desert.
I don’t know why, but I was in the middle of the desert.
Riding a bactrian camel.
“… Aww.”
Every time the camel walked, the body shook dizzy.
For a while, I had a hard time adjusting to the shaking.
The camel moved meekly in the direction where I held the reins, perhaps because it was better tamed than I thought.
When I was in Seongaekyo, I also learned how to ride a horse, so I wasn’t too scared.
If you ask me why I felt motion sick on the carriage while knowing how to ride a horse, I would tell you that there is a vast difference between moving on your own terms and moving on someone else’s will.
… The story has gone the other way.
“Is it a desert, after all?”
Actually, I’m a person who likes being cold rather than hot.
A desert to me?
You could call it a contradictory environment.
This sunlight was hard to bear with sober mind.
Do you know the sensation of being hit by a leather whip swung with all your might?
To be honest, I know.
Thanks to someone, I spent a dense year, so I tried all kinds of experiences.
If you weaken the pain by about 3 times there, you can see it as the heat I feel right now.
I don’t know why the sun is so hot.
Doesn’t this make it sizzling?
It’s terrible to see a saintess ripening to golden brown on a barren land.
“Whoa.”
He exhaled.
Every time the hot air passed through my airway, I felt a sharp pain.
Maybe it’s because it’s a desert, so there’s a lot of fine dust in the air.
It’s a space where you can’t breathe properly, I hate it.
I looked around while riding my camel.
It’s wide and wide, so it’s mind-boggling.
It’s like the land version of the open sea.
“… Am I the only one?”
“I’m behind you.”
It was the voice of a strange man.
Didn’t you look at the most important thing?
It is careless.
I was startled and turned around and looked back.
In the rear, there was a man riding a bactrian camel like me.
I guess I didn’t notice because I followed silently.
I looked at the man and tilted his head.
“… Are you Ain?”
Should I call him Ain?
Appearance is slightly different.
His black hair turned white as if it had snowed.
The iris is also bloody, not black.
Pigment deficiency patients.
He was outwardly reminiscent of an albino.
Other than that, he resembles Ain and twins.
“… Are you Arya?”
These were the words that a man who looked very similar to Ain gave me.
If you know my name, I’m sure it’s Ain.
Looks like something has changed in my appearance.
I wish I had a small hand mirror.
“Yes, this is Aria. Is my appearance in a strange state?”
“A little bit.”
“Even a little… It looks strange.”
“Me too?”
We explained each other’s appearance.
It was a common outfit for crossing the desert, so there was nothing to worry about.
The important thing is the color of the hair and iris.
I don’t know why, but the two of us got gray hair and red eyes.
It’s a thought that doesn’t fit the situation, but Ain with white hair is cool too.
While I was ecstatic, he looked melancholy in his eyes and was immersed in his thoughts.
“… Are you a test runner again?”
It is an assumption that cannot be readily denied.
I chimed in moderately.
“Maybe.”
“What kind of test are you going to do this time?”
“… What is certain is that it is not easy.”
After checking my gloomy face, he responded that he was aware.
“I hated the heat, Arya.”
“Ain hates the cold.”
It was thanks to a conversation we had in the past that we knew each other’s likes and dislikes of the seasons.
It was a rather thorny conversation, that.
Looking back, that conversation was a thing of the past.
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the passing of time.
When I was in the church, I didn’t pass by.
You mean it’s not that painful?
Ain.
It’s all thanks to you
The corners of his lips curled arbitrarily.
Ain seemed to understand my laughter as an intention to make fun of him, so he made excuses.
“To excuse it belatedly, I didn’t mean to blindly criticize your opinion that you don’t like the heat. I hate being this hot.”
I gave off an air of despondency.
“Is that so? I still remember what Ain said. Well-to-do people like me are sure to hate summer. Isn’t it?”
“… I’m sorry for talking about you without thinking.”
“Huh. You are apologizing for being late!”
“Even if you have ten mouths, you have nothing to say.”
“But I guess it’s true that I’m well off.”
Ain wiggled his eyebrows.
“You?”
“I met Ain.”
Lol.
When I laughed like an idiot, Ain turned his head in embarrassment.
Ah, this is a precious scene.
Ain who is ashamed
I want to take a picture and leave it.
Not having a cell phone was one of the worst things.
“If you think about it that way, I am the one who is wealthy. Because I met you.”
The words gave me goosebumps and a shudder.
Do you know how glad I am to hear that from you?
Do you know how fulfilling it feels?
“That kind of word is shameful.”
Even though it’s hot, I feel like my body is burning up.
I rubbed my thighs.
Something itchy
It looks like this switch is on.
Let’s calm down.
Still, it’s kind of crazy to do crazy things like dehydrating in the desert.
Leaving behind regret and regret, I inquired about the whereabouts of one person, no, one person who was not here.
“By the way, what about Karelin?”
“Yes? Did you call me?”
The answer came right away.
I came right away…
Is the way you talk so strange?
Ain asked with a strange expression if he had the same opinion as me.
“Are you really Karelin?”
“Then, do you think it’s fake Karelin?”
A girl with blue hair.
Karelin Faniman said with an innocent expression.
“Anyway, it’s really too much. Are you going to ignore me and just whisper, Edris and Erin?”
Ain and I felt something strange about her words.
Who are Edris and Erine?
* * *
What I learned from talking with Karelin is that my name is Erine, and Ain’s name has become Edris.
And for some reason, Karelin didn’t use old-fashioned vocabulary, but used a girl’s accent that matched her appearance.
This led to an assumption.
The assumption that this may be an experience Karelin had in the past.
Maybe we have come to this state, isn’t it a way to show the ‘truth’ that Karelin said?
It was an approximate analogy.
Ain hurried, skillfully driving her camel.
“Karelin. Why are we crossing the desert?”
It was a very fundamental question.
I was also curious about this situation, so I waited for Karelin’s words.
She pursed her lips and twirled her index finger.
“Are you finally getting dementia? Edris was the one who said you had to run away.”
It was an empty word.
Ain’s expression softened.
“From what?”
“Didn’t I say fanatics? She said she had to protect her daughter.”
Daughter.
A man named Edris must have a daughter.
“… Where is the daughter?”
Karelin’s face twisted and turned to me.
Are you looking at me here to find something to complain about?
“Erin. I think your father’s taste has gone bad because of the heat. How good is it?”
“… Yes Yes?”
What is this?
Ain and I looked at Karelin in a dumbfounded state.
“Why are you both like that? Are you reacting as if you are hearing it for the first time?”
It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.
Apparently, Ain and I are in a father-daughter relationship.
Is there such a bizarre reality?
As if representing our feelings, the camel cried.
“Uhhhhh”
It’s a freaking monster
The sound vibrates low, but it feels like it rises sharply towards the end?
Karelin examined her camel curiously.
“A camel doesn’t cry very often, so why are you saying this?”
I don’t know.
I looked at Ain.
His eyes widened in an instant.
“Come.”
Coming, what is it?
The ground shook before I could even ask.
The vibration caused the sand to flow down from the sand dunes.
Quaaaaagh!
The sand flew in all directions, and the camel was terrified.
And appeared.
That is.
A shell as hard as a tortoise shell.
Sharp teeth like a lamprey.
And a heavy body that goes over 20m.
A monster that has been handed down in the imagination.
It was the Mongolian Death Worm.
