Chereads / Senso No Gingetsu Volume 1: World War / Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: The longest journey

Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: The longest journey

Log that includes the day 19 to 21 September 1945.

Starting the day, we made our departure from the kingdom of Raion no Okoku. We make sure we have all the inventory ready, the map, and keep the queen's directions in mind. Unlike our previous route, the environment would be more hostile, we will have to cross through lands with extreme heat, on the one hand, cross the savannah and later a long journey in the desert; our rest would be somewhat limited to try to arrive in the estimated time in this race against time. Another thing that we do not know is if the mountain has some kind of trap or defense, which would be the most logical considering that this elderly person is in possession of the wind crystal.

Our horses galloped at a decent speed, thus crossing the savannah. The savanna of this world is not so different from ours, the vegetation in this Savanna also develops different resistance techniques to be able to withstand the climatic conditions. Either multiplying its roots, storing a lot of water, having resistant seeds or, its roots have a great underground development to absorb more nutrients and liquids. The environment was full of grasses, shrubs, bushes and very few trees, in which animals with long legs were found. The savannah offered us a beautiful landscape with a wide vision of all the diversity of fauna that lives there; not only that, as in our world, sunsets are unique and sunsets can be enjoyed in all their splendor.

From what I could see, according to the humidity of the environment, it had recently rained there. At the end of the day, we look for a nearby water formation to be able to supply ourselves and be away from more hostile environments to spend the night. We spent the night taking turns keeping watch all night. As we are four people, it was obviously two-person shifts, each couple would have the surveillance post for three and a half hours, making a total of seven hours, taking as a starting point twelve in the morning. On this occasion, I had to take the turn of surveillance with Takamoto, we took advantage several times to be able to talk and thus kill some time as usual.

Giorgio: So, Takamoto, what was it that made you become a heavy knight?

Shigeru: Personally, it was my desire to protect the kingdom, the people who welcomed me, to give a good return for the years that people dedicated to me.

Giorgio: The queen trusts you a lot, right?

Shigeru: She said that !? Well ... let's just say yes, I've been working for the queen for almost five years now and I've done my best to stay where I am.

Giorgio: Your parents must be very proud of you.

Shigeru: The truth is ... I don't have parents, I was an orphan.

Giorgio: Sorry, I had no idea.

Shigeru: It's okay. Well, yes, my parents abandoned me from the day I was born and left me at the gates of an orphanage, but this was specialized in girls ... so I lived most of my life as if I were a woman, I lived together very often with girls and my androgynous appearance didn't help at all ...

Giorgio: Don't worry, there are many cases similar to yours.

Shigeru: Thank you. Now that I think about it, I think my loyalty to the queen was caused because in her I see a mother figure, it sounds weird, I know.

Giorgio: Not at all, in my world there are people who lack a father and / or mother figure, but they are capable of finding it in close people; some in teachers, uncles, etcetera.

Shigeru: And you also had a high rank in your job right?

Giorgio: Yes, well, the title of commander was received more than anything by experience in combat and because the commander on duty had died, so I was chosen as his replacement.

Shigeru: This must be crazy for you, right?

Giorgio: What do you mean?

Shigeru: I mean this whole magic thing, demons, magic crystals, kingdoms, old people who live for many years, people with animal parts. Doesn't that seem strange to you?

Giorgio: Definitely, but by now I'm starting to get used to it ... at first I had no idea about the things that were happening here, how it got there and why, but Hekima explained certain things to me, these two weeks have been complete insanity if you allow me to say so...

Shigeru: And do you really think we have a chance against Behemoth?

Giorgio: We won't know until we try. If the silver moon crystals are supposed to be the ultimate weapons to defeat him then there is no choice but to collect them and test how well we are doing.

Shigeru: You're right, we can't lose to him.

Giorgio: Thank you... Well, our turn is over, let's change roles.

We changed shifts with Hekima and Tokage, who said that the early morning had passed normally and without any fights or problems.

The next day, we began to enter the desert. A desert is a biome with an arid climate, where rainfall is scarce, an aspect that in this world was the same as ours; These usually have little life, but that depends on the type of desert; in many there is abundant life, the vegetation adapts to the low humidity and the fauna usually takes shelter during the day to preserve humidity. In this case it was a sandy desert.

However, the establishment of social groups in deserts is complicated and requires an important adaptation to the extreme conditions that prevail in them. The queen of Raion no Okoku pointed out on the map the places where there were sources of water such as the oasis. This terrain was a little later to cross than the savannah, since the horses dehydrated with some ease. Fortunately, we had collected some water from the savannah for the horses, which, although it ran out quickly, gave them enough hydration to reach the first oasis.

The day felt very long, the suffocating heat and the low humidity in the environment generated a sensation of unparalleled death, during the trip we found people who transported products, livestock and minerals. These people corroborated the existence of said oases. In my wartime I had never been to a desert, so this feeling of heat was new and unpleasant to me. As for the rest of the team, Takamoto took off his armor so as not to cook alive in it, Hekima still had to make certain arrangements in her clothes so as not to suffocate and because she did not have any spell to regulate the temperature, and Tokage seemed to be the person with greater resistance to heat her argument was that she was part dragon and therefore had a natural resistance to fire and heat.

An oasis is a place in a desert in which water and vegetation can be found, they constitute more or less extensive portions of land fertilized by a water source in the middle of the sandy areas. We found one in the middle of the desert, there were palm trees, a few bushes and a large lake in the center, we decided to tie the horses close so that they would consume some water but not go far. We also took the opportunity to reduce the heat and cool off a bit, dusk had already fallen by that time, so it was advisable to spend the night there, but be very vigilant in case a bandit appeared out of nowhere.

The nights in the desert are definitely the coldest, the temperature began to drop rapidly, to the point where we had to be close to others, even the horses, to get warm. Even under these conditions we decided to carry out night surveillance, the sky was starry and completely clear; Something else in common of the two worlds is undoubtedly the stars of the sky, the same constellations, it was surprising. This time my turn to watch was with Hekima.

Hekima: I feel like I'm freezing...

Giorgio: Definitely, I never had to go through something like this, I would be very lucky not to catch any disease due to the sudden change in weather.

Hekima: At least the night is very quiet, there are no sandstorms or something that could cause us more problems.

Giorgio: Yes.

Hekima: So, are you ready to meet Hisao Tenshi?

Giorgio: Even if I wasn't, I would have to meet him anyway, although... yes, I'm ready.

Hekima: Every day our enemy grows stronger, but I am sure that we will defeat him, we will not let him leave with victory.

Giorgio: We certainly can't let him win, but we still have several things to accomplish in order to succeed. We don't know when Behemoth's allies will attack us again.

Hekima: Time will tell.

Giorgio: And tell me, what are your convictions to fight?

Hekima: Didn't I tell you already? Well, I'll do it again in case I haven't. I do this because I know it is the right thing to do, to preserve life everywhere, to fulfill the role that has been given to me.

Giorgio: You certainly have very correct ideals.

Hekima: The same goes for you, Mr. Lombardi.

Giorgio: Thank you.

Hekima leaned back and looked deeply at the sky, her green eyes reflected the image of the moon, her face reflected a certain inspiration in such a serene night.

Hekima: Between the rabbit and the Moon there is also a very close relationship. Not only is the animal stamped on the star: both are associated with fertility.

Giorgio: I feel like I've heard that before.

Hekima: Really? That is very impressive, although feasible due to the bond that our worlds have. Personally, since I was a child I heard that, and every time I see the moon I feel an inexplicable tranquility. First, by the legends of the crystals of the silver moon and second, by this established relationship.

Giorgio: That explains your determination to want to collect the crystals.

Hekima: I suppose it does, but I can't help it...

The morning of September 21 would eventually arrive and with it, the continuation of our journey. The horses, who had had enough rest, galloped at an admirable speed as if they could see the light at the end of the tunnel, in this sense, the exit from the desert was getting closer and closer.

We drove through the desert without stopping until at dusk we managed to cover three-quarters of the east. Again we stopped at an oasis to resupply ourselves and mainly the horses, which had been of great help so far. Along the way we have not encountered so many dangers thanks to the recommendations of the queen of Raion no Okoku, on one occasion or another we had to accelerate to escape snakes and some desert arachnids, but they are not so problematic. We have also found scorpions but Tokage is in charge of crushing them.

Before the day was over we had already left the desert; Although, I have heard from comrades, a trip in the desert takes approximately five to six days, this trip lasted two days in the desert so I came to the conclusion that this desert was not as big as I thought. After a few additional hours of travel, we managed to reach the foot of the mountain, we called this one day and proceeded to rest; who knows what kind of challenge is waiting for us on the mountain steps.

End of the log.

To be continued...