Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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After finishing my conversation with Shahkan, I wandered the streets with him to buy food and water.

The combination of a madman chasing a legend that hadn’t existed for years, and a friend of Prince Kashin seemed rather peculiar.

Wherever Shahkan and I went, we caught everyone’s attention.

“Is Mr. Shahkan really that famous?”

“Uh, I think it’s more because of you…”

Was Shahkan feeling burdened by the gazes of the people? He was huddled up tightly, following me around like a lost puppy.

He was a completely different person than when he was talking about the Star Forge.

When explaining the dream he had pursued for a lifetime, he was rambling, yet proud and shining brightly.

“So, what else do we need?”

“Um… It would be good to get a few more swordsmen…”

“The desert must be dangerous, huh?”

“Yes, especially when the sun sets and night falls, dangerous monsters start to move.”

Shahkan rambled on about the desert monsters he had encountered.

Like an ant that looked like a bear, or a wolf with fur as hard as rock.

He specifically warned about quicksand, or the false whale phenomenon.

We secured all the necessary items.

Our outing for the day was coming to an end.

I spoke to the incessantly muttering Shahkan.

“See you tomorrow?”

“Ah, are you already leaving?”

“Yes, if we want to set off tomorrow, it’s best to get to bed early, right?”

“W-was I supposed to think about setting off later?”

I waved at Shahkan, who was blinking in confusion.

*

The next morning.

Having finished all my preparations, I stepped out of the inn, looking for Nightmare.

It seemed he didn’t like being in the stable for about a day because, as soon as he saw me, he barged out with complaints.

Every time he stomped his front legs on the ground, it felt like an earthquake was happening.

“Stop that…!”

Hee-ing-!

The commotion caused by Nightmare attracted the attention of the nearby guards.

But upon seeing the brooch hanging from my chest, they retreated.

If it weren’t for the brooch, I would have been forcibly taken by the guards.

I sighed and tried to soothe Nightmare.

With his massive size, his actions were reminiscent of a five-year-old brat.

“Shall we go?”

I tossed a huge load onto Nightmare’s back.

True to his strong nature, he moved well even with a considerable weight.

The clear sky above was as scorching as yesterday.

I was worried about Nightmare, who struggled with the heat. We’d have to wander through a vast desert ahead…

Flicking his tail back and forth, it seemed he was either oblivious to or happy about his future.

I led Nightmare towards the inn called Hot Tail at the east gate.

As I loitered with Nightmare in front, Shahkan, carrying a big bag from inside the inn, rushed out.

“Oh, you really came.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

Shahkan smiled bitterly at my question.

It seemed to be a smile full of stories.

“Come on, let’s get going. They’ll be waiting outside.”

“They?”

“The swordsmen we hired yesterday.”

Just as Shahkan said, outside the east gate, there stood two men and one woman armed with swords.

Each of them led a camel.

Shahkan approached them and mounted the largest camel, apparently intending to ride together.

“Alright, let’s set off. We can introduce ourselves along the way.”

That’s the leader’s opinion. I nodded and followed the train of camels.

The sound of platinum sand crunching underfoot echoed through the deep silence of our party.

At that moment, a man riding with Shahkan spoke up.

“I’m Sarya.”

With a brief introduction, Sarya tapped his sword once.

Next to introduce himself was the second male swordsman.

He was also an adventurer who had come from outside the desert.

“I’m Brian. A bronze-ranked swordsman.”

Following Brian, the last to introduce was the female swordsman.

“Shan.”

She unusually carried two short swords.

From her waist, each sword dangled, indicating she likely used dual swords instead of having an extra as a backup.

Was it my turn now?

Everyone looked at me, waiting for my introduction.

I lightly touched the sword on my back and opened my mouth.

“I’m Seris. A bronze-ranked swordsman.”

And that was the end of the conversation.

As everyone fell silent, Shahkan pulled out a small stone and started tapping it together.

It seemed he wanted to show the starlight he had demonstrated yesterday once again, but he ultimately couldn’t produce any.

In the end, he handed the stone to me.

Seeing this, Sarya asked.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the Guiding Star. It will guide us to the forgotten city, the Star Forge.”

Even though Shahkan spoke confidently, it didn’t seem like anyone took him seriously.

I sighed and concentrated mana into both my hands.

The mana rushing from my heart began to flow towards the stone in my palm.

At that moment, I swung both hands hard and struck the stone.

Bang-!

As the pleasant sound echoed, a faint starlight emerged and shot towards the desert beyond.

“W-wait, what was that…!”

Sarya was shocked, stammering at what he had just witnessed.

He wasn’t the only one startled. Both Brian and Shan looked equally surprised, unsure of what to say.

Of course, they would be astonished. A star had burst forth from two small collided stones and flew ahead.

“Come on, everyone, hurry up! We need to cover as much ground as possible before it gets dark!”

Shahkan hurried the dazed ones.

Unlike the initial silence, Sarya, Brian, and Shan began firing off questions left and right.

Was that star really guiding us to the Star Forge? And did that city truly exist?

Shahkan, looking happy, began telling them the ancient stories he knew.

*

On the second day after leaving the city.

Maybe it was because we were quite far away from the city? We started to face attacks from monsters frequently.

There were mostly desert wolves camouflaged to hide their appearances and insects as large as forearms that jumped up from the sand.

Since these creatures weren’t particularly strong, we could easily fend them off.

As time passed and our distance from the city grew, the frequency of monster attacks along the path marked by starlight increased.

Frequent shifts in the night watch and the anxiety about nighttime raids plagued the party with insomnia.

And so, a week passed by like this.

The group was silently walking along the path guided by starlight.

Suddenly, Nightmare came to an abrupt halt.

I tilted my head, thinking he was asking for ice water, but he wasn’t throwing a tantrum.

He adopted a stance to run at any moment and spread his mane wide.

Grrrr!

The noise filled with hostility was not typical for a horse.

Nightmare was glaring at the distant sand plains.

“What’s wrong?”

Grrr…

I frowned and peered at the sand plains.

A heat haze was rising over the platinum-colored sand, making it appear as though it were boiling.

No, wait. I rubbed my eyes and checked the sand again.

It indeed was boiling, not because of the heat haze.

Just like water.

As I stood there, gaping at the bizarre phenomenon, the leading Shahkan asked.

“Seris? Is something wrong?”

“Mr. Shahkan.”

“Huh?”

“The sand is boiling!”

“The sand is boiling…?”

“Yup.”

What’s worse, it seemed like the boiling sand was getting closer.

Shahkan, seemingly lost in thought for a moment due to my words, shifted his gaze toward where I was pointing.

In that instant, his face turned pale.

“H-hurry…!”

“Mr. Shahkan?”

“Everyone, run! Quickly! Run!”

Shahkan urged Sarya, who was sitting in front of him.

He, confused, began urging the camel into a run.

As the leader began to sprint, the rest of the party followed.

“Never stop! Quickly, find solid ground!”

The moment Shahkan’s words ended, the lethargic Nightmare suddenly picked up speed.

His powerful legs kicked the air as if he were moving like the wind.

And then it happened.

Sssssssss-!

The range of boiling sand began to widen suddenly, and something started to rise from beneath.

With a body larger than an ordinary inn and a round head, a glistening dark-skinned eye, larger than Nightmare’s, stared straight at me.

It looked like a whale leaping out of the deep sea.

No, not like a whale. What emerged from the sand was a gigantic whale.

“The false whale!”

As Shahkan’s scream came to an end, the false whale opened its massive mouth and swallowed Brian, who was running in the back along with his camel.

As the whale plummeted down into the sand with a loud splash, it didn’t stop moving despite having consumed a large prey.

“Never! Never stop!”

In an instant, I realized. There was no way to win against that thing.

How is one supposed to defeat a monster larger than an ogre?

Furthermore, it was swimming through this vast desert like it was in an ocean.

I gripped the reins of Nightmare tightly.

“W-what the! This is insane!”

Sarya and Shan, who were riding the camel, whipped their reins like a whip with pale faces.

The camel carrying them galloped vigorously, foaming at the mouth, as if it didn’t want to die.

They instinctively realized how dangerous the enormous whale chasing them was.

“Drop your packs! We need to drop everything!”

Seeing the approaching false whale behind him, Sarya hastily began throwing off the gear tied to his camel.

Food and blankets rescued from the village sank into the false whale’s depths.

And while we were running for a while…

I spotted a small rocky mountain rising in the distance.

I immediately pulled on Nightmare’s reins.

As his attention flicked to the side, Nightmare smartly started to run toward that direction.

I turned around and shouted.

“Everyone, come this way!”

After a swift sprint, we reached the foot of the rocky mountain.

Nightmare leaped high from his place, starting to skillfully climb the rocky mountain.

Since this rocky mountain was part of the Thunderbird Mountain Range where he lived, climbing it was no issue.

The problem lay with the other party members who had brought their camels.

Having run for all their worth, they had no choice but to leave their camels behind to climb the rocky mountain.

The moment everyone clung to the rocky mountain…

Splash-!

The enormous false whale emerged and swallowed the two camels left behind in one gulp.