Retire 469

469 Tumbleweed (1)

Las Vegas is a city in the desert.

Naturally, most of the nearby dungeons are desert terrain. The Mole Dungeon, too, was fundamentally a desert, though it was full of plants.

It wasn’t the kind of desert you’d find in Africa, with sand blowing everywhere. Instead, red-tinged rocks jutted out here and there, and weeds that looked for all the world like tumbleweeds rolled across the ground.

It was the quintessential American desert landscape.

Of course, the sand dunes you usually picture when you think of deserts weren’t entirely absent—they were just farther away. Bleached-white dunes, barren of even a single blade of grass, lay near the horizon. With nothing nearby to judge the distance, it was impossible to tell how far away they really were. Beyond the white dunes, jagged rocky hills rose up. They didn’t look very tall, but that could be a trick of the terrain; up close, they’d surely be much higher than they appeared.

Near the dunes, a glimmer of blue was visible. That must be a lake.

“Weren’t Mr. Hong and Daniel right next to us?” Kim Chaemin asked, checking the vines binding the unconscious Lawton.

“Normally, if you’re that close, you end up in the same area when a dungeon forms.”

“But this one was forced open.”

“I heard it was similar at the Forum.”

“There was an explosion that time, too. Maybe they stimulated the gate with mana or something… but honestly, I don’t know.”

“Me neither,” Kim Chaemin admitted frankly.

“If a gate could be opened just by a mana explosion, there’d be hundreds more dungeons all over the world.”

“True.”

“Alex said you have to know the location, right? Maybe Mr. Han would have figured something out?”

“We really should have brought him.”

“Not just because you’re annoyed he slipped away?”

“That too.”

Even in this situation, Kim Chaemin burst out laughing at my words.

Then, unable to completely wipe the smile from his face, he gestured toward Lawton.

“You okay? Is the handle comfortable?”

“This is the best we can do. We really should have brought Mr. Han.”

“To make him carry her instead?”

“Exactly.”

Kim Chaemin laughed again. I sighed and adjusted the handle he’d made for me.

What handle, you ask?

Obviously, it was a handle to make carrying Lawton easier.

Caught up in the formation of a dungeon, we couldn’t just sit around interrogating Lawton. But we couldn’t leave her behind, either, so Kim Chaemin had bound her up with painstakingly woven vines. He’d even been kind enough to fashion a handle for me.

Her severed arm had only been roughly bandaged to stop the bleeding. She was tough—she wouldn’t die. Still, if she had any grit, she might try to escape, so I’d been wondering what to do about that, but Kim Chaemin had taken care of it. He’d wrapped her in vines, worked some magic, and declared that she wouldn’t be able to use magic—or even move properly—for a while.

A grand mage really is like a multi-tool.

“By the way, how did you know she was a mage?”

“A feeling?”

“A feeling.”

I nodded.

“…You’re not going to ask more?”

For some reason, Kim Chaemin seemed flustered.

“You said it was a feeling.”

“Yes.”

“Sometimes I just get a hunch. And I was right this time, wasn’t I?”

“……”

Kim Chaemin nodded, looking a bit put out.

“I appreciate the trust, but it wasn’t just a feeling. Who was it that always said you can’t trust a hunter’s instincts?”

“I wondered if it was different for mages.”

“It’s all the same. Sometimes worse.”

He looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read, then started tightening the vines around Lawton again, as if for something to do. At this rate, she was going to end up looking like a mummy, wrapped in vines instead of bandages. Carrying something like that around would give anyone nightmares… But I wasn’t bold enough to say that to a grand mage’s face.

Let’s look on the bright side. With this much, even if Lawton’s arm were fine, she wouldn’t be running away on her own two feet.

“It’s just a habit of mine, but I don’t think hunters are any different.”

“Sorry?”

“You know, always checking your surroundings. I do it too.”

“Ah. Well, sure. You never know what might jump out.”

“And my magic attribute is… well, it makes me a bit sensitive, I guess?”

“I see.”

“Humans are animals, after all.”

When our eyes met, Kim Chaemin grinned.

…I had no idea what that had to do with his magic, but I just nodded. If the grand mage says so, then so it is. All I could think was that I should never get on Kim Chaemin’s bad side.

“Mages always carry a tree in their hearts.”

I stopped and looked at Kim Chaemin.

“Is that supposed to be a metaphor?”

“Well, maybe not a tree, but something like it. I explained about innate magic before, right?”

“About interpreting the mana dissolved in your blood?”

“So, basically, we all have mana. And a mage’s mana doesn’t blend well with other mana. If you push like this…”

He mimed pushing something with his palm.

“There’s resistance. That’s how I knew she was a mage.”

If a regular mage heard that, they’d probably faint. But having sat through the grand mage’s theory lectures and learned a little about magic, I couldn’t tell if this was a truly remarkable feat or if, as his calm tone suggested, it was nothing special.

So, as always when Kim Chaemin talked about magic, I just nodded mechanically. Anyway, the important thing was that he’d figured out Lawton’s true identity.

“Then why did she suddenly go berserk after staying quiet?”

“I said there’s resistance, right? But what did I try to do?”

“Check for mana addiction… Ah. You mean the mana pushed back.”

“Yes. Another mage’s mana was about to enter her body. Of course her mana resisted. Mana explosions work on exactly that principle.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I’m a grand mage, remember?”

Kim Chaemin lifted his chin.

“I win.”

“…And if you win?”

“The loser can’t use mana for a while.”

“Ah. So that’s why you said Lawton wouldn’t be able to use magic for a while?”

“Right. If she were willing to endure the pain, she could force it, but… if she has that much of an opening, you or I could subdue her.”

Honestly, I couldn’t be more grateful to have Kim Chaemin around.

There’s a reason everyone calls him a grand mage. And considering that most grand mages aren’t nearly as sociable as Kim Chaemin…

He poked me playfully in the side.

“Didn’t I do well?”

“Yes. You did.”

“Amazing, right?”

“Yes. Amazing.”

“Say it like you mean it!”

“I truly admire you.”

Kim Chaemin chuckled, shoulders shaking, but soon grew quiet.

So did I.

He frowned.

“So, do you have any idea what to do next?”

I frowned, too.

“If I did, I wouldn’t be wandering around like this.”

“……”

“……”

We sighed at the same time.

---

The dungeon was silent.

Unless Kim Chaemin or I spoke, there was no sound at all. Occasionally, a pebble kicked by a stray foot would roll across the ground.

Like a real desert on Earth, this dungeon seemed endless. Maybe it was just the size, but even though we weren’t being particularly quiet, there was no sign of monsters or anything else.

And we weren’t the only ones in this dungeon. Grimes was… well, out of the picture, but Father and Daniel had definitely been caught up in the dungeon’s formation.

There could be others, too—people who worked in the same building as Cactus Mirage’s office, or even civilians passing by on the street.

The dungeon that formed at the Forum swallowed an entire hotel. Mont Saint-Michel had dragged every tourist present into the dungeon.

Father and Daniel had been only a few meters away from us. They should have been close by, at least.

…Unless this dungeon was absurdly large.

We’d been walking for quite some time, but the rocky hills, sand dunes, and lake didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

“Shall we take a break?”

I wasn’t physically tired, but I was mentally exhausted. I forced myself to relax a little. At least there were no monsters nearby.

Kim Chaemin stopped with me. He must have been just as worn out, because he sat down on the ground and drank some water.

Who would have thought that the rations we’d packed for recent dungeon conquests would come in handy like this?

After wetting his throat, Kim Chaemin groaned.

“All right.”

He glanced around the desert, then spoke as if he’d made up his mind.

“Let’s decide.”

“Decide what?”

“Whether we’re going to look for the gate, the core, or other people.”

“Is there any point? If we keep searching, we’ll find at least one of the three.”

“The last one’s a little different.”

Kim Chaemin kicked a pebble at his feet.

“This dungeon doesn’t have anything to block our view. If I use a few flashy spells, we’ll be visible from anywhere.”

I immediately understood what he was getting at.

“To monsters, too.”

“Honestly, I don’t want to do it.”

He was completely candid.

“Same here. Who knows what’s lurking here?”

When a gate first opens, there’s barely any toll. That’s why even non-awakened people get caught up in it.

But it’s hard to believe a dungeon this size would have no monsters. Especially since this one wasn’t formed naturally, but was forced open.

There’s no need to take unnecessary risks.

“Is it hard to do with your magic, Mr. Kim?”

“I did think about it…”

He shrugged.

“It’s just too big. It would be too conspicuous. In a forest, I could hide it, but in this terrain, it’s impossible.”

Kim Chaemin’s magic was nothing if not flashy. I stifled a groan.

“…Let’s keep going. There’s bound to be something at that lake or those hills. Maybe Mr. Hong will lose his temper and smash something along the way.”

“The core?”

“I wish. But…”

Kim Chaemin didn’t want to use magic and draw the attention of monsters.

From what I’d seen, Daniel would probably think the same way and try to move quietly. That wasn’t just an assessment of a secret agent; most hunters would reach the same conclusion.

But Father wasn’t most hunters.

Daniel wouldn’t be able to stop him.

If they were also wandering around looking for us, the core, or the gate…

…Thud!

Father’s patience would run out first.

A pillar of sand rose in the distance.

“Oh my.”

Kim Chaemin clicked his tongue.

“Gotta love that boldness.”

“…He’s not a kid.”

“He could be fighting monsters!”

“Maybe…”

I replied noncommittally.

The sound came only once, then faded. The sand hung in the air as if time had stopped, then slowly drifted apart.

I adjusted my grip on Lawton’s handle.

“Let’s go.”