Ch. 183
If I had to list a few features of the island nation of Heidrike, first would be that it had an overwhelming amount of water everywhere.
Lakes, ponds, and rivers were too numerous to count—and to begin with, it was a country surrounded by the sea on all sides.
Another notable feature was its unique naming convention; all of its place names sounded nearly identical.
Hirillike.
Helikke.
Hakrake.
Hashifuke.
Just looking at the map was enough to darken my mood.
Where am I! Who am I!
“Are we sure we’re in the right place?”
I asked, visibly annoyed.
We had crossed the ocean to get here. I might not have scoured the whole continent like the others, but by my standards, that still counted as a respectable amount of effort and sincerity.
So even if there wasn’t any treasure here, there should at least be a lake—the one we’d come for. There’s a limit to how much nonsense I’m willing to put up with!
“Lox? Answer me. According to that damned map of yours, there’s supposed to be a huge lake here, isn’t there?”
“Right…?”
“Then why am I standing in the middle of a barren wasteland full of ruins, under this blazing sun?”
My temper always shone brightest in the heat.
Ash was fanning me diligently at my side, but that wasn’t nearly enough to soothe me.
I grabbed Lox by the collar and shook him violently.
“Answer me! Why is that smug mouth of yours, that’s always lecturing people, suddenly so quiet? Huh? I’m asking you what happened!”
“Uh… let’s, let’s stay patient.”
“Huh?”
“These things happen all the time. Wrong maps are nothing new, right? Finding treasure is always about patience and perseverance….”
“Patience? Perseverance? Those two fought and killed each other ages ago, and you know what’s left in their place?”
“Madness…?”
This guy had the nerve to state the truth. Bold of him.
Even as I shook him roughly by the collar, Lox seemed used to it by now, just flopping limply like a rag doll.
Maybe the shock of discovering there was no lake had blown his sanity clean out.
He was saying things that he’d normally never say if he valued his life.
“I’m warning you—if you dragged me here for nothing, I’ll kill you myself! So hurry up and find that lake!”
“Did anyone ‘ask’ you to come along…?”
“What was that?”
“I never begged you to join us, did I?”
“You arrogant little—! Without me, you’d still be wandering around that canyon!”
“Well, if that were the case, I’d only have learned there was no lake here ‘a week later.’ So I’d have been happy for another week. Ha, ha, ha.”
Had he finally snapped from despair?
Laughing oddly, Lox stared blankly into the air and began muttering incoherently.
Like I’d touched something I shouldn’t have, I immediately let go of his collar.
He collapsed to the ground, sitting there and scribbling something into the dirt.
He’s lost it, hasn’t he?
“What the… what’s he doing? Ash, look at him!”
“Please understand. He had high hopes this time. He really believed we’d find it… so the disappointment must be enormous.”
Looking around, the others seemed just as deflated.
Enk, who had ridden east to scout, returned with the most depressed expression I’d ever seen on him.
“Nothing there either.”
“Knew it.”
“So what now?”
We’d reached Hirillike safely, but the thing keeping us wandering was the lake itself.
According to the map, there should’ve been one right here.
But there wasn’t even a shadow of water.
The foundations of old houses still remained—proof that there’d never been a lake here at all.
It didn’t take long to realize the map itself was simply wrong.
“I didn’t fully trust it, but still… damn it. If it’s not gone, it must be somewhere nearby.”
“Should we try heading southwest?”
“What about farther west?”
“We already checked that way.”
“But if we go a bit farther, we might find something. Southwest is mountains—there’s less chance of a lake behind those. Look here, the map shows the sea and lake quite close together.”
“That ‘close’ could mean several hours’ ride, that’s the problem.”
“It’s supposed to be the latest version… but the scale’s all messed up.”
We were, in short, lost. We’d reached our destination only to find the destination itself didn’t exist.
The party started to scatter—some riding south, others west, trying to find any hint of water.
But in this heat, endlessly repeating that hopeless search was exhausting.
The wide-open plain only made it harder to find direction.
‘If only we had navigation or something.’
I did like this world. But I couldn’t deny it had fatal inconveniences.
Because of the existence of magic, scientific progress was almost nonexistent. Machines were rare to find.
The closest thing to modern invention was probably the pulley at a well.
Everything was old-fashioned.
Maps were just rough sketches on paper, drawn by guesswork.
In cities with lots of people, they were somewhat detailed, but in remote wastelands like this, they were so crudely drawn it was almost comical.
Think about it—trying to cram an entire continent into a sheet of paper barely 120 centimeters wide. Of course it was a mess.
Mountains roughly drawn, cities vaguely placed. Isolated areas like this were always glossed over or omitted entirely.
Continental maps were meant to find cities, not details. The smallest scale was “city.”
Big cities might have their own local maps, but Hirillike wasn’t the kind of place anyone would make a map of. It was an abandoned land, its name all that remained.
Even if you had a map, treasure hunting was still nearly impossible for reasons like this. That’s why they say explorers need perseverance more than courage.
I turned to Ash.
“What about the marker? No reaction?”
“None.”
“Did you try infusing mana?”
“Of course I did.”
Markers were supposed to make up for unreliable maps by pointing precisely to the target. When you got close, they reacted in some way—leaning toward the destination, glowing, making noise.
But ours did nothing. Either we were too far, or the device simply didn’t have that function to begin with.
Without finding the lake, we had no further clues.
Our treasure hunt had hit another dead end. The men sighed and sank into the nearest patches of shade.
With the sun at its highest, escaping the scorching heat was impossible.
I had a temperature-regulating cloak, but it didn’t cover my face.
Damn it. No sunscreen in this world, either.
My beautiful blonde hair and fair skin were everything to me! I liked my face the way it was!
As I scowled under the searing sunlight, a sudden shadow fell over me.
When I looked up, Ash was holding up his cloak to shade me. Maybe because I’d been complaining about the heat earlier.
“Would you like some water?”
“……”
“Geenie, if you’re tired, say so anytime. If we move toward the forest, there’s shade there—it’ll be cooler.”
Ash really did help me hold my temper sometimes.
Seeing those puppy-like eyes and his efforts to keep me comfortable… it made me feel a shred of compassion for humanity.
“Hey! What about worrying about ‘us’?”
“I can’t even watch this, it’s too much.”
“……Ah, come on, cheer up, everyone. Let’s rest and look again later. It’s got to be nearby.”
Heidrike was a hot country. Even the strongest men were wilting under the unfamiliar heat—maybe it was just exhaustion or lack of motivation.
“Sigh…… you think we’ll find it before nightfall?”
“If the god of luck isn’t too busy, maybe he’ll give us a hand.”
“And if he is, then we’re stuck combing this place for days.”
“Tell me about it. Searching’s not really my strong suit.”
Enk and Gale sat together in the shade, as usual, while Lox was still digging in the dirt.
Chad was missing for a bit, but then I saw him coming out of an abandoned house.
“Why are you rummaging through ruins?”
“Scouting out a place to sleep. Figured we could use it as a shelter when the sun goes down.”
“Mm.”
From the look of things, he’d already decided we wouldn’t find the lake today.
But actually—I could find it.
Or rather, ‘my spirits’ could.
Far faster and more accurately than humans trudging around blindly.
[Rai, check the area for any lakes nearby.]
The only problem was that I wasn’t the one who enjoyed adventure—I just liked ‘watching’ it. Doing it myself was bothersome.
After all, not that I’d planned it, but I’d already beaten the final boss, the Dragon.
It was hard to get motivated for these little side quests.
“Rai?”
Why wasn’t he answering?
When I glanced down, I saw him sitting with his back to me, deliberately facing the other way to show just how sulky he was.
“Oh, really? You’re ignoring me now?”
[…….]
Only his ears twitched slightly.
“So now you’re being disobedient too?”
“Geenie?”
“Ash, you saw that, right? He’s—”
“Apologize to Rai.”
Of all the absurd things I’d ever heard, that one took the cake.
Ash, watching our silent standoff, had said something I never could’ve expected.
I couldn’t hide my disbelief.
“Huh? Why would I?”
“You keep losing him, and you even left him behind across the canyon earlier. He’s smart, you know. I think he’s really hurt. If you sincerely apologize, he’ll understand.”
“Ash? I’m the master, and he’s… under my command. His job is to listen to me. Masters don’t apologize.”
“……No need to act like a noble right now, you know?”
“This has nothing to do with that.”
“Being able to admit when you’re wrong—that’s what truly makes someone worthy of respect. Go on, say you’re sorry. Rai’s a loyal and clever companion… but you treat him too harshly.”
[Well said, Ash!]
These insolent creatures! I spoil them a little and they start taking sides!
Rai peeked out from behind Ash, hiding behind him as if seizing the chance, even putting on a pitiful face.
Soon everyone would realize—he was ‘not’ an ordinary animal.
What kind of dog had such expressive features?
Ah, right. He was a wolf.
“Geenie?”
“What! Even if you say it, I’m still not doing it!”
“I know, I know. People say you’re cold, arrogant, dangerous, and to stay away from you, but…”
“Lox or Chad said that, didn’t they?”
“……But I think differently. I know you have a warm heart too—a will to protect others. You’re someone who can bleed for someone else. Just like you did for me before.”
His last words were softer than the sound of the wind. A cautious, secret whisper—one meant for me alone.