The Butcher of Sargon (Renekton, The Butcher of The Sand in Arknight)

“Saria, Carnelian, let me introduce you to this child. Her name is Raya. Let’s see… she just turned eight.”

Upon seeing the young lizard girl, Garde led her over to Saria and Carnelian for introductions.

“Raya, say hello to the sisters.”

Following Garde’s words, the lizard girl, Raya, immediately and obediently greeted, “Hello, Sister Saria, Hello, Sister Carnelian.”

She spoke in the Sargon language, but because she wasn’t familiar with it, she spoke a bit haltingly.

However, both Saria and Carnelian understood her.

Even though Saria couldn’t understand what Raya was saying, she recognized her own name within the words, realizing that Raya was speaking to her. Saria smiled slightly and nodded in response.

As for Carnelian, things were simpler.

Upon hearing Raya’s greeting, her expression immediately became serious, and she patted her chest, saying, “Raya, don’t worry. Since you called me sister, you’re now my little sister, and I will protect you!”

Carnelian spoke so quickly that Raya didn’t quite catch what she was saying.

She looked at Garde with a pleading expression.

Garde patted her head and explained, “Carnelian is saying she likes you very much and is willing to be your friend.”

Upon hearing this, the lizard girl’s eyes lit up instantly.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Garde nodded, not noticing the strange looks the others were giving him, as if he were some sort of oddity.

“What’s wrong with you all?”

“Garde, were you speaking the language of the Hotlands!?”

Saria wasn’t stupid.

After all the hardships they had endured to reach this place from the outskirts of the Hotlands, how could a lone Savra make it here?

And not only did this person know Garde, but they had even specifically sought him out.

A bold speculation formed in Saria’s mind.

Could it be that this lizard girl is actually a native of the Hotlands?

More importantly, this lizard girl clearly wasn’t from Sargon.

What kind of Sargon native stumbles over their own language?

The language Garde and the lizard girl were speaking clearly wasn’t any kind of Sargon dialect.

Otherwise, Carnelian wouldn’t be as confused as Saria was.

Saria soon got her answer.

“Yes, we were just speaking the language of the Hotlands. I met this child, a native, while in the Hotlands. You can consider her one of the Savra ancestors.”

The so-called Savra are actually lizard people, and among them, the ancestors make up a significant proportion.

In fact, there are several Savra members among the Rhine Lab operators, though they’ve all chosen not to enter the Hotlands.

“An ancestor of the Savra, huh?”

Saria muttered to herself as she looked at the lizard girl, Raya.

Her gaze made the lizard girl feel a little scared, but also curious because she noticed that everyone else around her looked different from her and were all quite ugly.

However, these people were Garde’s friends, so even if they were ugly, she wouldn’t discriminate against them!

With the introductions done, Garde, noticing the short sword and small round shield in Raya’s hands, curiously asked, “Raya, what are you doing here? I remember your tribe is far from here, and how did you find me?”

“Ah?”

Raya suddenly panicked when Garde asked this.

“Garde, I-I forgot… I’m now a guard for the Rumama caravan. I came to check on the situation here, but when I smelled your scent, I couldn’t help but come find you.”

As she spoke, the lizard girl lowered her head, looking as if she’d done something wrong.

“There’s a caravan nearby?”

Hearing this, Garde’s eyes lit up.

There are many creatures living in the Hotlands, but few possess intelligence.

Raya’s tribe gave Garde a feeling of being home.

But there’s no denying that as natives of the Hotlands, no one knows the environment better than Raya and her people.

“Raya, can I go with you to your caravan? I want to make a trade with them. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down.”

“Okay.”

Raya nodded without the slightest hesitation.

Because she knew Garde wasn’t a bad person, and there were others in the caravan who knew him, Raya wasn’t worried about any conflicts or disagreements.

After Raya agreed, Garde turned to Saria and said, “Saria, Raya and her people are natives living in the central region of the Hotlands. According to Raya, there’s a caravan nearby. If we can hitch a ride with them, we can safely reach the central Hotlands, which is close to our destination.”

Hearing this, Saria perked up. “Really? What are these Hotlands natives like? Will it be dangerous to interact with them?”

Although Saria was excited by the good news, she cautiously asked, “What will this cost us?”

“Cost? Let me think,” Garde said, glancing at the side mirror of a sand buggy nearby.

He suddenly knew what they could trade.

“The residents of the Hotlands would probably like mirrors.”

Garde remembered that during his stay in Raya’s tribe, he had seen a mirror in the tribe leader’s room, made by melting sand.

Although it was full of impurities, it was considered extremely valuable, not something you could touch casually.

Garde broke off a side mirror from the sand buggy and showed it to Raya, asking, “Raya, can we trade this mirror?”

“Eek!”

As soon as Raya saw her own reflection in the mirror, she immediately crouched down, shyly hiding her face.

After a while, she cautiously peeked at the mirror in Garde’s hand.

“This is like Grandma Nanali’s treasure!”

Seeing her face reflected in the mirror, the young girl’s natural love for beauty soon overcame her fear of the unknown.

She sneaked a glance at Garde, then focused on the mirror, carefully cleaning her face, which had gotten dirty from being buried in the sand.

Her heart pounded as she caught Garde’s scent.

Initially, she approached the strange building, which looked like a house, just to try her luck.

But to her surprise, Garde was really inside.

A long time ago, Garde had left, and after many sunrises and sunsets, Raya had thought she’d never see him again.

Yet here she was, meeting Garde once more.

Could this be the guidance of the god Nanani?

Raya glanced around, but she didn’t see any of her people who looked as beautiful and strong as Garde.

In her eyes, if Garde were to marry, he would surely choose a wife who was tall and strong like him.

The people around her seemed short and thin.

Had they not eaten in a long time? How pitiful!

Raya believed that Garde must be the warrior spoken of in the prophecies of the god Nanani, destined to lead all the tribes out of hardship.

These people around him must be the “refugees” Garde was trying to save.

With that thought, Raya pushed the mirror back toward Garde. “Garde, such a precious treasure—I can’t accept it!”

The lizard girl spoke earnestly. “I’ll convince the others in the caravan to help you, Garde. Because you once said that to live a good life, people must help each other.”

“Thanks to you, Garde, the children in the tribe are surviving now.”

Raya’s sincere gaze made Garde feel warm inside, but he still placed the mirror in her hands. “Raya, we have more treasures like this. We can’t let your caravan take all of us without giving something in return.”

Raya wanted to refuse again, but when she saw more and more “refugees” gathering around, she reluctantly accepted the mirror.

If it were just Garde and the two other women, the caravan would surely agree to take them along, even without any trade.

Garde was strong, and anyone who knew him understood that having Garde along guaranteed the caravan’s safety.

But taking so many “refugees” along was a different matter, one that a mere caravan guard like her couldn’t decide.

There were too many people, and the cost of feeding and sheltering them might overwhelm the caravan.

However, with such a valuable treasure, things would be different.

If they could trade it for more food and resources, everyone in the caravan would be willing to endure some hunger until they reached the main tribe.

Clearly, Raya misunderstood Garde’s reason for wanting the caravan to take the Rhine Lab group along.

She secretly glanced at Saria’s tail.

It was so thin!

Only someone with a thick and strong tail like Garde’s could be considered well-nourished and strong.

Then she noticed the small piece missing from Garde’s tail. “G-Garde, what happened to your tail?”

“Ugh, don’t ask. Some creature had a bite at it, and now it’ll take some time to grow back,” Garde sighed. But Raya breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as it could grow back, that was fine. “Oh, by the way, do you want any of that meat outside? It’s been drying in the sun for a while now, so I’m not sure if it’s still good.”

As if suddenly remembering something, Garde led Raya to another area.

The dunes had blocked her view earlier, so she hadn’t noticed.

When Garde brought her over, Raya saw a massive dragon carcass on the other side of the sand fortress.

Just this one dragon alone could feed them for who knows how long.

“G-Garde, is all this meat for us?”

“Yes,” Garde replied, shaking his head. “Eating too much of it isn’t good for us.”

Though Garde could handle the meat, the Rhine Lab operators likely couldn’t.

The toxins within the dragon meat weren’t something to take lightly.

“I-I’ll go call the others in the caravan!” Raya exclaimed, seeing a future where her tribe wouldn’t lack food for many days.

“I’ll come with you,” Garde said, instructing the operators to stay alert as he followed Raya toward the caravan.

“Oh, right,” Raya suddenly remembered something, her tone still tinged with excitement. “Garde, our caravan found a strange person on the road, someone who looks just like the people you’re leading—short and thin.”

She had originally wanted to describe the person as short, thin, and ugly, but in the end, she chose different words.

“Someone like Saria and the others?” Knowing the Hotlands natives’ aesthetic preferences, Garde wouldn’t have been surprised if Raya thought Saria and Carnelian were ugly.

After all, different races have different standards.

If not for Garde retaining a human sense of beauty, he might have easily integrated into the Hotlands tribes.

You know, in the Hotlands, he was considered quite the handsome guy!

But the Hotlands’ environment is not meant for humans.

Only natives like Raya could endure such harsh conditions.

Garde followed Raya and soon, at the bottom of a small dune, he saw the caravan she had mentioned.

He also spotted the person Raya had described as similar to Saria and the others.

The girl had short, fiery red hair, was dressed in tattered clothes, and had a face that seemed difficult to approach.

She was carrying a sword taller than she was and stood alone in the corner.

“We don’t understand her language, and we don’t know why she’s here. She might have gotten separated from her people,” Raya whispered.

“But she did say something that sounded like her name.”

“S-Surtr…”

“That’s what she said.”