["When I was still just a stone, I personally witnessed King Deshret with my own eyes and lived through the prosperity of that nation—Ormazd, Ferigees, Liloupar, Gurabad… Back then, with the power of the Jinn, the splendor of King Deshret's realm was beyond your imagination. And now… sigh… I only hope that your conscience hasn't been lost along with that kingdom."]
Little Wen flew alone at the very front, confronting Rahman with rhetoric Victor Wang had taught it, while Dehya slipped over to Victor Wang's side from behind and whispered softly, "Hey… this is a really big deal, you know?"
Victor Wang understood what Dehya meant and replied at a normal volume, "When we split up during the day, I went to that place to take a look. There really is a ruin there, and inside were some memorial books written in ancient script. I couldn't read them, but it should be accurate."
"So, it's actually real… If that's the case, then that means…" Even though she didn't particularly worship King Deshret and didn't feel strongly about the Dendro Archon either, Dehya had grown up in the desert, under the 'Spine of Ahmar.''Ahmar' was King Deshret's name, so she could fully imagine the impact this revelation would have on King Deshret's followers.
Victor Wang affirmed it once more and, facing Rahman, spoke loudly, "That means King Deshret's followers have been treating their savior as an enemy, harboring hatred for hundreds—no, thousands—of years."
Provoked head-on again and again, Rahman instead grew calmer. "I see… You're playing me. You must have set up an ambush there. Don't blame me for not warning you—if anything happens to us, not a single one of those mad scholars will live."
"Don't do this, Rahman." After glancing at the resolute Victor Wang, Dehya made her decision. "Listen to me for once. These people are my friends. You have your reasons not to trust them, but do I count as someone whose word carries weight?"
"We've known each other for many years. Your name, I recognize."
"Then fine. I'll use my right arm as a guarantee for them."
"..."
"Rahman, find your courage. If this really is a misunderstanding, then it's all the more reason to correct it as soon as possible. Don't let mistaken hatred keep spreading."
"Dehya, the Lioness of the Blazing Mane. Outsiders always judge mercenaries by their looks, thinking we're all muscle and no brains—but we both know most mercenaries are smart, because the stupid ones died long ago. And yet you… how could you believe this kid's words?"
Filled with regret toward Dehya and glaring hostilely at Victor Wang, Rahman continued, "Our people have roamed near King Deshret's Mausoleum and across the entire desert for generations. If there really were ruins, how could we not know?"
"Enough already. Is it really that hard to convince you to make one trip?" Victor Wang said impatiently.
"Then do it my way… Leave behind one right arm, as proof of your resolve."
Dehya fell silent.
"You can't agree to that! This isn't negotiation at all—it's just forcing you!" Paimon shouted.
Lumine couldn't stop shaking her head. Alhaitham frowned, and Cyno's gaze had already turned dangerous, ready to strike at any moment.
So, it still comes to this… Victor Wang sighed inwardly. The rift between them was simply too deep. No amount of normal reasoning would work, and even provocation had failed.
After a long silence, Dehya raised her right arm. "Using one arm to dissolve a thousand years of hatred—no matter how you look at it, that's a bargain. Rahman, I accept your condition. Don't disappoint me."
"Very well." Rahman gestured to one of his men. "Go. Cut off her right arm and bring it to me."
But the man stopped after taking barely two steps, because Victor Wang shook his head and pressed Dehya's right arm back down. The Eremites instantly went on full alert.
Rahman sneered. "Kid, you've betrayed Dehya's resolve."
Dehya whispered an explanation to Victor Wang. "I guessed they wouldn't really do it."
"Even if there's only a one-in-ten-thousand chance they would, I still have to stop it."
This was a chance to dissolve a thousand-year feud between the desert and Sumeru, and also a chance to save the Lesser Lord Kusanali. For something this important, losing an arm might not have been too high a price… Yet the firmness in Victor Wang's words made Dehya pause. The rebuttal she wanted to give never left her lips, and she fell silent instead.
Victor Wang's gaze slowly swept over the dozen or so Eremites opposite him before settling on Rahman. He asked bluntly, "What exactly are you afraid of? Are you really afraid of an ambush? Everyone on our side has a Vision. If you were scared, you'd have run long ago. Honestly, dealing with numbers like yours wouldn't even require a trap—you know that very well."
"All you need to do is go there openly. Or are you afraid of the truth you're about to see?"
Rahman narrowed his eyes. "Kid, are you serious?"
"You pride yourself on being smart, don't you? Then tell me—what benefit do I gain from lying to you?"
Rahman fell silent for a moment, his gaze wavering, before answering, "You wouldn't gain any benefit. But if it's false, there would definitely be consequences."
Victor Wang pressed, "Does that count as agreement?"
"Hmph. Just don't let me find out you're playing tricks."
"Then we can depart at any time."
"You said the ruins are west of King Deshret's Mausoleum, right? That's not a short distance. We'll need to rest first."
"Then set a time."
"Tomorrow at noon. But you must tell us the exact location now."
"About one more King Deshret's Mausoleum west of the main one. That spot is buried under deep sand. Just to be safe, I dug it out and filled it back in. It'll feel more ceremonial once both the Eremites and Sumeru folk are present."
Victor Wang shrugged and added, "Of course, if you want to dig it out overnight, I don't mind either."
Rahman neither confirmed nor denied this and instead asked, "And that talking sword of yours—what exactly is it?"
"A sword spirit. If you've never heard of it, you can think of it like a Jinn."
"It really saw King Deshret?"
"It did. Even though I didn't exist in that era, it truly went from a chunk of ore to a sword billet, and then into this sword. In terms of age, it might even be older than the most ancient Jinn."
["One hundred thousand years! Not 'might'—those Jinn are all little sisters compared to me!"]
Victor Wang hurriedly shoved Little Wen firmly back into its scabbard, but everyone had already heard that line, and their expressions turned a bit strange.
"Little sisters…?" someone muttered softly.
"Move it, move it!" Rahman shouted, drowning out the awkward murmurs as he led his men away. Then he seemed to recall something and turned back. "Oh, right—Dehya, you're a child of the desert too. That was just a test earlier. I never intended to actually cripple your arm. Don't hold it against me. I can only say that kid of yours protects people a bit too diligently."
"Too much talk. If you're leaving, then hurry up and go," Dehya waved him off casually.
After the Eremites had gone far away, she hesitated before asking Victor Wang, "Earlier… if you hadn't been able to convince Rahman, what would you have done?"
"Then we'd have had to resort to force. Power isn't always useful, but most of the time it is. We have Visions—dragging him to that ruin wouldn't have been difficult."
"Ahahaha… I see. That makes sense…"
"Mm." Victor Wang nodded, then addressed the curious and questioning looks of his companions. "The conversation with Rahman laid everything out clearly. I wasn't sure about the truth of Little Wen's information before, so I didn't tell you. By the time it was confirmed, there was no time left to bring it up."
"This resolves the conflict between the desert folk and the Dendro Archon's people at the root. Once the hatred is gone, proper communication becomes possible. The rumors of King Deshret's revival and the Akademiya exploiting King Deshret's followers can then be explained clearly, and the village keepers will no longer have any value as kidnapping targets," Alhaitham commented.
"The premise being…" Cyno paused. "No, never mind."
The premise being that all of this was true.
Cyno almost raised the issue of trust again, but instead chose to try trusting Victor Wang, a stranger he had only met recently.
This team, assembled only two days ago, was finally beginning to fall into step.
Victor Wang sighed with relief. "Once we see those ruins tomorrow, we'll have found allies to strike back against the Akademiya."
"Strike back against the Akademiya?" Alhaitham and Cyno were both baffled.
"We're going to deal with the Akademiya, deal with The Doctor, deal with The Balladeer, and save Lesser Lord Kusanali. Lumine didn't tell you?" Victor Wang asked.
Lumine subtly avoided his gaze. Paimon was the one who explained, "Ehehe… we weren't that familiar with Cyno and Alhaitham before, so we only told Dehya our true objective."
"…I see. It's not too late to say it now."
===BREAK===
Like the story and want more chapters?
Join and support me by joining my Patreon!
[email protected]/SiRoasa