Retire 497

497 Pursuit (1)

Desert.

It was the desert.

A landscape I had grown sick of seeing during my time in America.

“Ah, but at least this desert feels more humane. I like it,” Han Taekyung remarked.

It was a peculiar sort of appreciation for the scenery.

“Haven’t you seen deserts often yourself, Dr. Han?”

Han Taekyung’s main area of activity had been the Middle East. He must have seen enough deserts to last a lifetime.

“Of course. The problem is I’ve seen them far too often. Hahaha!”

I should have stopped him when I saw that exaggerated laugh.

“Over there, it’s nothing but sand. Sand. Sand… and more sand! I used to go to the Sahara sometimes too, you know. Did you know this?”

“Yes?”

“At least with the sea, you can see something. If something big is moving underneath, you can at least see a shadow.”

“Hmm…”

“But with sand, you can’t see anything! You never know what might suddenly pop out! If you ever find yourself in the desert, remember this, senior. Never sleep in the desert.”

His eyes gleamed behind his sunglasses. I nodded, my expression sour.

Let’s never bring up the subject of deserts with Han Taekyung again.

Han Taekyung pushed up his sunglasses and grinned slyly.

“Look at this place! There are roads, there are rocks, there are cacti, there are trees! There are even roads! Ah, this is what a desert should be. Daniel, you are living in a blessed country!”

“…Ah, yes. Thank you for the compliment, but could you please sit down? You’re making me nervous.”

“Haha, a man shouldn’t be so timid!”

“That’s not really the issue…”

“Sit down, Dr. Han. We’re not just out here for a drive.”

Still chuckling, Han Taekyung finally pulled his head back in through the sunroof and sat down.

Daniel let out a weary sigh, looking more tired than ever. I did feel a little sorry, but what could I do? Right now, the only members of Guild Mimi available to be dispatched from the city were us.

“I know, but what do you expect us to find like this? You said nothing was visible from the air, right?”

At Han Taekyung’s words, Daniel’s worry deepened.

And with good reason—the search for Moby’s dungeon gate was turning into a quagmire.

It was during a guild meeting that we thought about Moby’s blood falling in the desert. Which meant that until then, no one had considered the possibility. Understandable, perhaps. With something that size floating above the city, it was hard to think straight. The mages and healers were literally too busy to even breathe, and the hunters weren’t just standing around on guard duty either. They’d been preparing for the possibility of Moby turning hostile, checking on those who remained in the city, and dealing with lunatics trying to sneak in…. In short, everyone was busy.

To be fair, the US military had started searching for the gate before we did. It wasn’t as if we’d withheld information about the parasites, and everyone knew about the trouble caused by the blood that had fallen in the city. Yet no one had thought about the blood that must have fallen in the desert! We’d even used the risk of desert contamination as an argument to persuade them to supply water!

With so many people working, how could no one have known?

It wasn’t my fault.

“Well, you never know. Maybe Dr. Han or Dr. Kim will notice something.”

“Dr. Kim can’t even leave the city right now.”

The petals of Kim Chaemin’s magic, meant to restrain Moby, had become shackles…. This is why you always have to think ahead.

Let me say it again: it wasn’t my fault.

“Anyway, stop grumbling and keep your eyes open. We’re heading in the right direction.”

“This direction?”

“The opposite side of the lake. Avoiding water as much as possible. If it came all the way to Las Vegas looking for water, that means it didn’t encounter any until then.”

“But we’ve already searched this area once…”

“You never know. Like I said, there might be things you can see from the ground that you can’t from the air.”

This was the direction Moby had told Hope. It wasn’t wrong.

Somewhere in this waterless desert, it had to be.

Did Michel hide the gate? Or did he close the dungeon?

To find the dungeon, we’d have to find the blood. And while we were at it, we needed to prevent any parasites from hatching.

“Oh!”

“What is it?”

“…Maybe not?”

Han Taekyung tilted his head. I gestured to Daniel to stop the car.

“Dr. Han?”

“There’s something… something over there, isn’t there?”

“Yes?”

“It’s strange. I can’t see it well. I should be able to, but I can’t.”

Han Taekyung narrowed his eyes. It was off the road, toward a long line of mountains. The land, barren and uninhabited, looked desolate.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t see it. I should be able to.”

“……”

Han Taekyung fiddled with his sunglasses—a gesture meant for Daniel’s benefit, since Daniel thought those sunglasses were a dungeon item.

I didn’t correct his misconception, but instead looked carefully in the direction Han Taekyung indicated. Usually, Han Taekyung saw things I couldn’t. So if he couldn’t see it, shouldn’t I be able to, for fairness’ sake?

“…Hmm.”

It was just the same desert I’d grown so tired of seeing.

“Let’s go over there.”

At my words, Daniel quietly started driving again. Though it wasn’t a road, the military vehicle handled the desert without trouble.

After a few minutes of watching the road ahead—

“Wait! Stop!”

I realized what had been blocking Han Taekyung’s vision.

If he hadn’t said anything, and if we hadn’t come closer, I wouldn’t have noticed either.

Faint golden particles rolled along the ground. More like mist or dust than desert sand. They definitely glimmered gold, yet didn’t sparkle in the sunlight; only in shadow did they seem to shine, and even then, just barely.

I wondered if it was some kind of magical energy only I could see, but Daniel’s puzzled look suggested otherwise.

“…What is this? Is it some kind of magic?”

“It doesn’t look magical to me.”

This is why you should always bring a mage along.

Regretful, I examined it more closely.

The golden particles spread out faintly, like mist. If they sparkled, you’d expect to see them from the sky, but they were too faint for that. Maybe it would be different at night… Even in daylight, you had to get right up close to see them. And if Han Taekyung hadn’t noticed, we wouldn’t have come here at all.

The reason they seemed to shine in shadow was simply that the particles clustered together there.

What kind of phenomenon was this?

Had Noah Michel cast some sort of spell?

“Should we call Dr. Kim?”

Han Taekyung seemed to have the same thought and asked me.

“It’d be faster to check with a mage…”

I nodded slowly.

Aside from the glimmer, I couldn’t sense anything else.

“Let’s at least mark the location… Daniel?”

But Daniel, lost in thought, strode straight into the golden mist. It didn’t look dangerous, but did he know what it was…?

Daniel ignored my call and focused on his task.

That task… was to pull up a nearby plant. It was the most common plant we’d seen crossing the desert along the road. Honestly, it looked so dried out I couldn’t tell if it was alive or dead.

“Daniel? What are you doing?”

“……”

“Dani—what is that?”

Daniel shook the plant he’d pulled up. It looked ordinary enough, but not the roots. From the roots, a sticky liquid dripped onto the dry ground, as if they’d been soaked in water.

It was a viscous, muddy liquid. As if the golden particles seen in the shadow had been gathered and compressed. It looked like mud, but to be honest, it reminded me of something I’d seen before—like the blood shed by fairies, or the clots that Moby had dropped beneath the city.

It was thinner than those, and though it contained golden particles, the overall hue was blue, which was different.

That blue tint made it look even more dangerous. Was it toxic?

“……”

Daniel lifted the plant to eye level and studied it carefully, then reached out his hand.

“Daniel!!”

Ignoring both my and Han Taekyung’s calls, Daniel unhesitatingly touched the root, wet with the mysterious liquid.

“Do you even know what that is…?”

“If it’s toxic, I’ll just heal myself.”

“…,”

Are all healers like this? I have no basis for comparison.

I began to wonder if pairing Daniel with Yoo Hye-eun had been a good idea. I hoped he hadn’t picked up this kind of behavior from her.

Daniel rubbed his fingers together, examining the residue on his hand. Then he narrowed his eyes.

“…What is it, exactly?”

“No, it’s just…”

Daniel started to say something, then closed his mouth.

This time, he bent down and scooped up a handful of dirt.

“Daniel!”

Han Taekyung, finally out of patience, called Daniel’s name loudly. Only then did Daniel look at us and wave. Sighing, we approached him. Whatever this was, if the healer said it was safe, we probably wouldn’t die.

Still, I had no idea what Daniel was trying to do.

He pulled up a few more plants, checked the ground, and then… sliced open the largest cactus in the area.

Watching Daniel, I reflected on my past self. From now on, I should make sure to explain things properly when I do something.

But as far as I remember, I was always pretty good at explaining myself.

“Take a look at this.”

At last, Daniel spoke.

He pointed to the cross-section of the cactus.

I didn’t know much about cacti, but I’d bet my father’s entire fortune that the inside shouldn’t look like this.

The inside of the cactus was riddled with holes, like a lotus root. There are plants like that, so if that were all, I might not have noticed anything wrong. But around the edges of each hole was an ominous blue, and more ominously, a blue liquid containing the same golden particles we’d seen in the other plant roots. Thanks to Daniel slicing it open, the liquid beaded along the cut and then began to drip down the stem.

…Did it fall? The stuff from the roots had been thin, but this was much thicker. Rather than falling, it seemed to hang on by a thread.

Plop.

Eventually, it did fall. Splat. It burst like a water balloon. Even though it was viscous, it spread out on the ground like any ordinary liquid… or so I thought, until it began to squirm and take shape.

It wasn’t fully formed. It wobbled like melted jelly. It squirmed. Like a slime.

After a while, two black dots appeared on the golden particles.

“……”

Daniel, again without a word, watched for a moment, then drew his sword and stabbed it. The mysterious slime shuddered, then collapsed with a crack, like a broken egg.

This time, it didn’t re-form.

Han Taekyung and I looked at Daniel. Daniel looked at us.

His face was set and hard. I didn’t need to check to know that Han Taekyung and I wore the same expression.

“This… is it what I think it is?”

I didn’t want to hear the answer, but I asked.

“I think so.”

Daniel looked like he didn’t want to answer, either, but he did.

“It’s a parasite.”