Chapter 9 (2/2)

“Moonstone?”

Izumi tilted her head.

The man furrowed his brows.

“It’s the stone embedded here. When you send vibrations through it, it gives out light.”

Even though this woman is the owner, why doesn’t she know this? That was what the man’s face seemed to say.

“Ahhhh, so that’s why it shone.”

Izumi glanced at his face.

A daunting man who gave a keen impression. But perhaps he mightn’t be a bad guy.

“If you want it, you can have it. It’s just a guess, but I think it was meant for you.”

Water ended up as an earring, an earring ended up as a fire stone, a fire stone ended up as frostsnow gra.s.s, frostsnow gra.s.s ended up as the Keropii Sword, the Keropii Sword ended up as dragon blood, dragon blood ended up as a bean bag, a bean bag ended up as a key, and a key ended up as a s.h.i.+ning helmet.

After all these connections, Izumi more or less understood. Even if she didn’t want to understand, she would be forced to.

The items she obtained would be useful for the next person.

She didn’t know what kind of karma was at play, but she probably had the role of being the bridge that connected the people beyond the window.

‘Please give me a break.’

The helmet span on the man’s finger.

“I’ve heard a certain story from the King. In the desert, a G.o.ddess appears, he said.”

“Huh?”

The people outside the window had called her all sorts of things. Was it G.o.ddess this time? That was quite a promotion from ‘witch’.

“We were having drinks when he said it so I was sure I was being teased, but… something like that is actually possible?”

“Uhm, even if you ask me… Or rather, what king? Is it Setsugen?”

The man frowned.

“No, it’s King Huuron, the descendant of Yohk’Zai’s  Founding King, the great Tenuhg. While he was in the desert, apparently a beautiful G.o.ddess saved his life.”

The man tilted his head a little. Izumi did not fail to hear him mutter “Though you’re a little different from what I heard…”.

“Well sorry, for not being beautiful.”

Perhaps he noticed Izumi’s anger, because the man averted his eyes.

“No, that’s not what I meant. The king mentioned that the G.o.ddess was like Harvest G.o.ddess Kohyoku, but…”

Glancing at her as though to confirm something, the man lowered his gaze again.

“And Harvest G.o.ddess Kohyoku is married to the cheating Land G.o.d Karan. She literally ‘dominates(JP: sits on)‘ him so people depict her with full hips. Maybe that’s why, but the statues of her that I see in Yohk’Zai are all voluptuous and… No, I mean, I’m not saying that I’m biased against your kind of body development or anything. And Kohyoku is the G.o.ddess of being blessed with many children as well, you see. And with how slender you are… Well, maybe it’s nothing more than my personal opinion, but…”

The man’s voice grew quieter and quieter as he continued to dig his own hole.

“If you ‘explain yourself’ any further, I’m going to pour water over your head.”

“…Sorry.”

The man bowed in apology.

“But well, I know who your king is now. He’s the person with the blue-stone earring, right?”

Looking carefully, she found that this man was wearing similar clothes to the earring man. His dark brown skin was a match as well, and to begin with, she only knew of one person lost in a desert.

It was the person that the Prime Minister Teo Keh had been frantically looking for. She knew that he was probably important to Yohk’Zai, but he was actually the king?

“That’s right. So you truly are the G.o.ddess that saved his life then.”

Izumi gave a vague smile. It was true that she had saved him, but she wasn’t a G.o.ddess. Only, explaining would just be a bother.

“Is the King well?”

“Yeah,” the man nodded, before casting his eyes down.

‘Oh?’

“Did something happen to the King?”

“The King received an invitation from Queen Akka, and left for Ii’Jibro two days ago.”

Izumi caught her breath. Ii’Jibro was the country that Prince Hinoki belonged to.

The man raised his head. His eyes were sharp, and seemed to be restraining his furious indignation.

“Last night, a secret messenger arrived. The invitation was a trap. The road that the Queen gave had a nest of terrifying insects. In exchange for the map with the nest location, the messenger appealed for us to save his nation’s prince.”

Izumi gripped the window frame.

“Hey! Has King Huuron received the map from the messenger? He left two days ago, right? It can’t be, it can’t be but, you’re not on the way to notifying him, are you?”

If he was, then it definitely wasn’t the time for a chat.

“Indeed I was. I was on the way to notifying the King.”

“Not ‘was’! You need to hurry and go!”

Izumi wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h the helmet out of his hands and smack him across the head with it.

“No need to worry. There are others on the way.”

“Heh?”

“Of course we wouldn’t have dispatched just the one person. Five people skilled with riding rubas are each on their own way with a copy of the Ii’Jibro map.”

The man produced from his pocket a folded piece of paper.

When Izumi reflexively held out her hand, he plopped it onto her palm.

It felt thicker and coa.r.s.er than the map in the tower. When she spread it open, she found various symbols that she didn’t understand. Between the symbols was a line like a wriggling snake. Was this line the safe route through the desert?

“Teo Keh-dono was worried that Queen Akka noticed the messenger and dispatched a.s.sa.s.sins, and it seems like he was right on the mark.”

The man kicked at the black-clothed one on the floor.

“Because of these guys’ poison arrow, my ruba is no use now. I’ll be waiting here with him until another squad arrives.”

“Eh? ‘These guys’?”

Izumi raised her eyes from the map.

She turned her gaze instead to the people behind the man.

There was no wind. The blue light of the moon illuminated the numerous sand mounds through the silent skies. And this wondrous scene seemed to be dotted with black spots here and there, like blotches of black ink.

The closest black dot seemed to be something like a long-necked horse, or maybe a camel with no humps.

And behind it, the black dots here and there were men wearing the same black garb as the one right below her.

With a trembling finger, Izumi pointed behind the man.

“Um, are the people laying there behind you, dead?”

“Yeah.”

Turning around, the man nodded.

The blue cloth hanging from his head swayed in the air.

“Well then, I’ll be going! The night seems cold, but do your best okay?”

Izumi closed the window with all her might.

<script>