Chapter 145: Ireas letter (1/2)

”I can see it,” Layn announced an hour barely after his party reached the shore. While it came mostly to the luck for them to find the place so quickly, the archmage still couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

”Isn't that place a little... deserted?” Sitra asked, turning her eyes towards the leader of the group.

”Huh?” Layn shrugged before moving his eyes on the girl. ”What do you mean?” he asked before moving his eyes back at the few buildings visible in the distance.

For some reason, though, despite his body being constructed anew after he used the gran arcana, his eyesight was far from the likes of Sitra or Irea... Or literally anyone else of the current time.

”While I can't see the details, something you appear to believe I could, there is no smoke coming out from those buildings,” Sitra explained. ”No smoke, no dust. There are no signs of the area being inhabited at all,” she added in an explanatory voice as if she was some kind of teacher at the academy.

”Oh,” Layn sighed, finally understanding just how everyone around him appeared to have way better eyesight. ”For a moment, I was worried I was slowly going blind,” he added in hopes of masking the real reason for his worry.

”But you still didn't respond to my observation from before,” Sitra noticed before pointing it out. ”Come on, are the people you left there so weak they could be wiped out in just a few...” she clearly attempted to say something smart, yet before she could finish her words, the hateful look of Layn made her lips stop moving.

”I don't know what happened to them ever since that big fight concluded. But I doubt they could be wiped out that easily,” Layn said in a serious tone, unwilling to even let such a possibility into his mind as an option.

”Well, no point arguing over it now,” Stira said as she shook her head. ”While it only looks as if it was close by, it will actually be easier to spend some time and get there. Who knows, maybe they just went off somewhere?” she suggested before turning silent.

From then on, the party once again turned silent. For the same reasons as before, Layn had no other choice but to limit the expenditure of his mana in any manner possible. Yet, as the group continued to approach the camp, he couldn't help but get his focus shaken by the worry.

'If the camp is really empty... Just what could've happened to all of them?' he thought, sending anxious glances towards the buildings in the distance.

Even though the camp itself was small, thanks to being located not only by the coast but also on an extremely flat plain, they could stop it from far away. But as great as it was for finding the correct direction to follow, the wait necessary for their horses to bring them to that place was akin to torture.

”HELLO!” After roughly two more hours, something that Layn could only judge by the distance the sun covered on the skydome, the group finally reached the shouting distance away from the camp. And as soon as they did, Sitra was the first to shout.

Yet, there was no response whatsoever.

”Just like I...” Sitra said, only to purse her lips mid-sentence. Just a single glance at Layn's face was enough for the girl to understand that it wasn't the best time to act superior over her guess coming true.

”Give me a moment,” Layn ignored her attempt at the rude and victorious remark, jumping down the horse instead. With his body now in good shape, he ran the remaining distance to the buildings.

”They really are gone,” Layn muttered when he came between the buildings. While all of them were closed down, just the fact that no one was working in the open indicated that the place was really empty.

That, or his people somehow decided to ignore his lessons and just slack away.

Yet, even after checking every single building in the camp, the number of which increased by quite a few when compared to how he left the camp a few days ago, Layn didn't find a single soul.

That, or literally everyone was waiting in the kitchen he constructed in an attempt to give him a hearty surprise.

”What are you going to do now?” Sitra asked, ignoring the fact of how troubled Layn was.  ”While this place is good enough for a few people to settle, it won't work as a base of operation for any bigger group,” she added, clearly thinking about the future potential of this location.

”This was the best place that we found within the limitations of our supplies,” Layn explained as he approached the only building that didn't have a perfect geometrical shape. ”Well, nothing good will come from just waiting around,” he muttered before pushing the doors open.