Chapter 295: On the North Side |
The day after we shared food with the small animals, we set out for the north, even though it was still before dawn. The temperature was still low enough that our breath turned white, but a scorching heat awaited us after sunrise. Departing now was just about right.
“Is everything ready?”
“Yes, all set.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Having prepared to some extent the night before, we quickly got ready and departed north. Yesterday, only Shuu had seen us off, but today, the small animals were also watching us.
“Lorentz, did you get some good material for your travelogue?”
“Yes, of course. The ecology that adapted to the desert was very interesting.”
Ever since he had first seen the small animals, Lorentz had been fascinated by intellectual curiosity. He observed the small animals, which had become less wary of us after being fed. It also provided excellent material for his travelogue.
Indeed, the sleeping habits of the small desert-dwelling animals were fascinating. The large-eared cat quickly dug a hole in the ground to make a den and slept with only its ears sticking out. The long-legged bird remained standing even as it slept, and the squirrel rolled around and used its long tail as a pillow. It seems that even the way they slept showed the uniqueness of each species.
“Let’s pull up any plant we haven’t seen before. It might have edible parts underground like the sweet potato.”
“Yes, sure.”
“This is something I haven’t seen… What is this?”
“What’s wrong?”
Having apparently discovered an unfamiliar plant, Chris casually grabbed it and pulled it out. The moment she did, she furrowed her well-shaped eyebrows and made a grimace. When I turned to see what had happened, it was immediately clear from the plant she was clutching in her prosthetic hand.
The plant she was holding was covered with long, sharp thorns along its stem. It was quite dangerous. Had it not been for my exoskeleton and Chris’s prosthetic hand, the thorns could have easily penetrated our skin.
Therefore, it seemed best that no one besides Chris and I touched the plants. After pointing out to Woodsorrel and Apao to be careful where they stepped, I also reminded Lorentz to be cautious not to injure himself when handling the plants. Lorentz nodded vigorously, then took out sturdy gloves and a leather bag to store the plants.
We continued north without stopping while pulling up every unfamiliar plant we encountered on the way. However, only Chris and I performed this task. Woodsorrel roamed freely while crouching on the ground to catch and snack on bugs found among the plants.
“When you look closely like this, there are quite a few bugs, aren’t there?”
“Indeed.”
“Yes.”
“…Neither of you are going to comment on her eating insects, huh?”
While I understood what Lorentz meant, Woodsorrel belonged to the demon fox race. She enjoyed the food of the human race because of her transformation, but to her, insects were just food as well. Eating them the way she did was natural for her.
The only reason why Lorentz was uncomfortable with this was likely because he was raised in a more privileged environment. He might have had his own struggles, but he probably never faced hardship concerning food. During the war, we would eat anything necessary, insects or worms alike, and Chris had a similar experience during her days as a slave.
“Hey, is there something over there?”
Leaving that aside, we continued our journey north when we discovered a strange area ahead of us. The terrain changed dramatically from the hard, dry ground we had seen so far to sandy soil reminiscent of a beach. It was littered with clusters of green, oval-shaped plants that looked bizarre with their surfaces covered in thorns.
However, Lorentz seemed to know these plants. He explained that they were cacti, which are quite common in arid areas.
“I’ve never seen cacti with that appearance before, but I’m pretty sure they’re the right ones.”
“Hmm… Just to confirm, these cacti are common in dry areas, right?”
“Yes, that’s what I’ve heard. That’s why it was strange we hadn’t found any water until now. Ah, seeing them in person is reassuring! I’ve heard that cacti store water in their stems and sometimes bear sweet fruits. We should definitely bring some back… What’s wrong?”
As Lorentz enthusiastically spoke of the wonders of cactus, I put my finger to my lips, signaling him to be quiet. Then, I silently pointed to a specific spot.
At the place where I was pointing, a creature that seemed to be some kind of rat was running toward the cactus. It reached the cactus, dodged the thorns, and began to nibble at the green parts. At that moment, a familiar-shaped tail sprang out from the sand.
“Antares, is that…!”
“Yes. A Hades Scorpion. Likely one of my kin.”
From beneath the sand emerged a dark brown tail. It belonged to one of my kind, the Hades Scorpion. It seemed to be lurking at the base of the cactus and preying on small animals that ventured too close.
The rat, struck from behind by the poisonous stinger convulsed violently before stopping to move altogether. Then, the pincers that had emerged from the sand firmly grasped the rat and dragged it down below. By now, it would be slowly consuming its catch.
“So, it’s using the cactus as bait, right? Isn’t that kind of evil?”
“Evil… Call it efficient.”
“If it gets a meal, it won’t need to eat again for a while, so the number of victims isn’t that high. Besides, it doesn’t always succeed.”
In this sandy terrain, rats similar to the one just preyed upon were leaping at the cacti. Some of them would sense the tail and make large jumps to avoid it, while others would see no tail emerge despite it being right below.
The rats, with their well-developed legs, were able to jump and avoid the tails. Since they were light eaters, they didn’t have to eat again for a long time once they got their hands on something, so they weren’t attacked unless they were hungry.
Moreover, the cacti seemed to hold enough value for the rats to risk death to eat them. Making use of their small bodies, they slipped between the thorns, climbed up the cacti, and bit into the thin yet soft stems at the top.
Just like Lorenz had mentioned, the stems appeared to be rich in stored water, and drops of water trickled from where the rats had gnawed. After stuffing their cheek pouches until they bulged, the rats left the sandy area around the cacti.
“Well then, shall we go gather some cacti?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous.”
Although we were observing the activities of life in the desert, we must not forget our original purpose. I stepped into the cactus-filled sandy area to collect plants, which was one of my objectives.
My kin must have noticed me walking unreservedly across the sandy terrain. However, I was unlikely to be attacked. The reason was that I was heading towards the cacti where my kin had just caught a rat, and it was highly likely that they were still preoccupied with their meal.
Even if I were to be attacked, my legs were protected by thick boots and an exoskeleton. Even my own kind would hardly be able to penetrate that. There was absolutely no need to worry.
“Let’s take what we need.”
Even though I knew they couldn’t understand me, the fact that they were originally my kin made me naturally apologize as I cut a part of the cactus. The rats had eaten only the softest parts at the tips, but I gathered a bit more than that.
But Lorenz emphasized to me that cactus was a useful plant. Then it would be better to collect others. I also collected cacti from another plant.
During this time, I wasn’t stung by my kin. More precisely, there were instances where tails burst from the sand toward me, but they retracted as if sensing something before they could sting me.
Perhaps they recognized me as kin despite our different appearances. When I realized this, I felt a slight joy, but I also noticed that I wasn’t very pleased by this recognition. Deep down, I seemed to consider the scorpions not so much kin but rather a closely related species. To me, kin and brothers meant my comrades.
“What’s wrong? Are you smiling?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
I’ve been told that my facial expressions were difficult to read because the lower half of my face was wrapped in an exoskeleton. However, Chris still noticed that I was smiling. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I brushed it off with a vague response.
So after collecting the cacti, we decided to go further north. Then Woodsorrel started sniffing around. The smell of the ground seemed to have changed a bit, but it wasn’t noticeable. What was bothering her?
“The smell is very faint, but it’s the same as where we found that rock salt!”
“Is that so? Then…”
I kicked the ground like I did when I was looking for limestone, trying to feel any vibrations. Then I realized that there was a layer of something hard stretching from north to south almost directly beneath me.
When I turned the ground beneath me into sand and continued digging, I reached the hard layer detected by the vibrations. The slightly peach-colored rock appeared to be the rock salt we were looking for. I struck the rock salt with my fist, broke the layer, and handed a fragment to Lorenz.
“Excuse me then … Hmm, this is definitely rock salt. It’s not particularly high quality, but if it’s as you say, we shouldn’t have to worry about salt for the next few centuries.”
“We’ve achieved another goal. It’s getting hot; time to head back.”
And just like that, we had secured another source of useful materials. As the temperature was rising, we decided to return to our temporary base for the sake of our health.