Chapter 123: Anomalies (2)
“Eh…Eh, eh, eh!”
Amon, with his robes wrapped around him, coughed loudly.
The desert is prone to extre weather.
Now that the unnecessarily hot sun had faded and night had fallen, as Sheddie played in the cold sand.
Aizel had cleaned up all the otherworldly creatures we t during the day.
‘Did Aizel have a grudge against them?’
Reaching out from under my robes, she swept them away as if they were a nuisance, partly because they weren’t up to our standards.
The humanoid aliens never showed themselves.
In fact, if she were to reveal her full power, she would be able to single-handedly defeat the humanoid alien species…but neither I nor Aizel had revealed our full power.
‘So there are monsters in the Academy,’ Ismir said, noting that humanoids would be perfect for your ‘joint battle’.
I already know they spoke English, and I really wanted to et them, but there was a reason they were rarer than the beasts.
“Well, shit… I’ll never get used to the desert.”
Amon snorted.
“…At least it’s warm in the tents, so we’ll put up with it while we stand guard.”
I said, gesturing roughly to the magical tent on the other side.
Inside, the won would be sleeping, except for Amon and .
Suddenly, Amon looks at longingly and I wonder what’s wrong with him.
“…Zetto, you have nothing but positive things to say. Do you think I can beco as strong as you if I live with that mindset?”
“…If you could just be a little less needy… Maybe you could be stronger?”
“I’m kidding. You can’t get stronger with your mind. It’s impossible. A man always speaks with his body.”
Amon balled his fists, checking his muscles.
“Amon you’re a mage, right?”
“Yeah, but we Caligus have long been trained in the art of manipulating mana through strength, though it doesn’t make sense to soone like you, who can twist mana and not feel a thing.”
“Haha, I’m curious about your manipulation of mana through strength training.”
“Unfortunately, it’s a family secret, so I can’t tell you.”
“I’m kidding. I’m actually not that curious.”
“”……””
There was a mont of silence, and then Amon and I burst out laughing.
I realize that Amon’s gotten a lot nicer than I thought he would, which ans I could easily try to lead him on a certain route in the future.
It wouldn’t hurt to sow the seeds at this point.
“Amon, if you ever have a problem, you can always co to .”
“Is that a joke?”
Amon asks, and I throw up my hands and smile.
“No, it’s not. I’m just saying that as a ‘friend’ because you have a strong tendency to do things on your own.”
“Well… I see. You have a lot to teach , so that wouldn’t be a bad option, though I doubt it’ll ever happen.”
No, it will always happen.
I turned my head away from him and held back the urge to spit out, ‘Demons are coming for you.’
anwhile, Sierra was floating in the sky, the moon dazzling the golden grains of sand in her eyes.
She seed to be watching Ismir all day but I haven’t spoken to her yet.
I’m sure she has a lot to tell her.
How she’s been, what happened to her eye, if everything’s been okay.
Is she eating well?
Is she feeling frustrated that she can’t even say a simple hello?
Or is she grateful to be able to catch up with an old acquaintance.
Not knowing what Ismir and Sierra’s relationship was like, I couldn’t tell.
‘Were they close enough to touch breasts…?’
If it was like that, I think they were close.
[Even so…]
Sierra, who was staring at the moon, muttered to herself.
I wonder if I can hear her feelings about Ismir now…Judging by her first words, I wonder if they have a history.
I glance up to give Sierra my full attention, and she continues.
[…How is it possible that a person hasn’t changed at all, or at least not in decades, except for the loss of an eye? A person becos an adult only when he grows older and his thoughts grow… Nothing has changed except the drinking and smoking. I’m even more confused because nothing has changed…]
Sierra gazed at the moon, her mind wandering.
…Maybe it’s best to let her have so ti to herself.
“Sand. Sand. Lots of it.”
I listened to Sierra’s not-so-subtle whine and watched as Sheddie pawed at the sand.
I was standing guard, but I didn’t need to pay attention. It was enough to use the waves from ti to ti.
It was at this mont that sothing strange touched the waves.
‘An otherworldly species.’
But there was sothing very different about them, unlike any other species I had ever encountered.
“…Amon, wake up the people.”
“What are you talking about?”
Amon, who was standing next to , frowned.
“It’s the alien species, I’m guessing ‘humanoid’. I’ll go first and stall for ti, and you bring everyone else.”
With those words, I pumped mana into my legs and sprinted up the steep dune.
Behind , I heard Amon call out, “Wait…! Zetto! …Damn it, I don’t know!” followed by the sound of him running toward the tent.
Sierra looks down from the sky in the direction of the otherworldly species at my sudden movent.
She seems to have spotted it too, cos up beside , running hard, and says to .
[Why are you going alone? I thought that was one of the dangerous humanoid aliens.]
Sierra was right, it was an assertive move.
It may not be too late to wake up those in the tents and deal with them.
But…
“…there’s sothing I’d like to check out.”
What exactly they’re after.
I need to figure out what’s causing the ‘anomaly’ beforehand.
After all, I wasn’t about to risk my life against a humanoid alien species.
I was approaching the creature at a fast pace when I stood on top of a huge sand dune.
I could see him now.
When he spotted , he halted with his legs, kicking up a huge cloud of sand and dust behind him.
Keeping my eyes peeled, I descended the dune and stepped in front of him.
The humanoid alien species is finally here.
…It was a hodgepodge of things, but it was a statuesque, well-crafted mass of tal, clanking and majestic.
He wore a tattered cloth over his shoulders like a cloak.
Is it mimicking humans?
Is he trying to be human?
With its cloak and armor fluttering in the air, it looked like a knight.
“…Ha.”
Standing in front of him, I let out a wry laugh.
He hadn’t made a move since he spotted .
Neither had I, but he hadn’t attacked in any way.
This was very odd, considering their habits to attack humans indiscriminately.
I couldn’t figure it out, but I had a bad feeling about it, and I chuckled to myself.
I wondered why I couldn’t be wrong.
‘Where is the king…?’
Their purpose is to find their king.
I don’t know if it’s because my presence can help them find the king, or if it’s because I am the king.
Either way, it’s not a good thing.
‘King of the Killing Machines,’ I can’t think of a more misleading title.
His eyes flashed, and red light poured from them.
It wasn’t an attack; he was slowly scanning from top to bottom.
‘Scanning…?’
The creature began to make sounds as it scanned my body.
I couldn’t see anything that could be called a mouth, but it was definitely making a sound.
It wasn’t one of those unintelligible noises I heard in the ga.
His voice was a low, low, chanical voice and the language was…English.
[What the hell is he mumbling?]
Sierra questioned as she crossed her arms and listened to him.
…The sad thing is, I was thinking the sa thing as her.
English wasn’t the only language I could understand.
Simple English was fine, but he was spouting off so very complex English words.
I was able to pick up a few easy words, but it didn’t help understand his “intentions”.
Soon, after a long string of English, he suddenly shuts up and goes quiet.
“……”
There’s a mont of silence.
I didn’t attack, and he didn’t attack.
This brief silence between alien and human is one for the history books.
Then, as if the power had gone out, the red glow from its eyeballs disappeared.
With no idea what to expect, I put my hand on Sierra and waited.
Ping!
It wasn’t long before he flashed the red light again then started talking again, aloud but this ti, I could understand what he was saying.
Because…
“Language scan complete. System restart confird. Data download for ‘Korean’ complete.”
…It started speaking Korean.
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