In the desert, just as the morning came in an instant, so did the night.

Beth sat down, looking past the dunes at where she had just left a while ago. Still, the women had yet to leave.

It was rather unfortunate that Beth’s location was visible from the route that one would usually take when wanting to leave the desert. This was even more annoying for Beth than the women who were unwilling to follow her. If the women were to head in another direction—

‘How much longer will they be able to hold out?’

At least she had managed to moisten her lips thanks to a water bottle she found. However, it was a different situation for the women across from her. It must be exhausting for them, considering how they were hardly moving at all.

Beth laid on the sand, looking at the bright moon and the star-spangled night sky. It was at that moment she heard the sand rustling next to her. Turning her head, saw a snake quickly crawling past.

‘Anyway, there’s a source of food here…’

Beth thought, closing her eyes.

“I doubt that a city was built in such a faraway and deserted place. You didn’t build a building out of the sand, did you? You said you had a two-story house, is that a proper building? Don’t tell me you’re living in a cave?”

“…Which port did your ship depart from?”

“You mean the ship I came from? It’s from Filitton.”

“Well, Endeavour is twice the size of Filitton.”

“Lies.”

Filitton, where the ships leaving for Saul departed, was also considered a fairly large city back there. Yet, Endeavour is double its size?

There couldn’t have been such a city in a colony that has been part of history for only 30 years.

“I’ve never heard anything about the Governor of Endeavour being a good man. All I’ve heard of were from sailors who described him as being a nasty old man. Yet, you’re telling me that this was all the work of Baron Hamilton?”

“Ah-“

At Cinder’s words, Brian made a low noise, before turning to glance at her.

“You must’ve misheard something. The Governor of Endeavour now is not the Baron Hamilton that you’ve heard of.”

“If so, then who is it?”

“His son, Lachlan Hamilton. He’s now the Governor of Endeavour.”

“Lachlan?”

Cinder’s eyes widened upon hearing the name.

“The mixed-race man? The one who has been running at the front of the group? You’re saying he’s the Governor of Endeavour?”

She had thought that Brian, the general, was the one who was in charge of leading the soldiers. She did not think that the Governor himself was the one who was leading the group. Surprised, Cinder turned to look at the front of the group.

“Huh?”

Soon, he heard her embarrassed voice.

“Where’s that man?”

The spot that Lachlan usually occupied was now vacant with no sign of the person.

Then suddenly, an unpleasant smell wafted through her nose as she frowned. What was it? Beth felt the scent was strangely familiar. When she was young, her father brought back a dirty material that he claimed was leather from a distant place, yet it gave off a disgusting smell of decay, blood and oil.

“What…”

Beth could not say anything and was stunned into silence when she opened her eyes to see what exactly was causing this smell.

The stars that were once glimmering above her in the night sky before she closed her eyes were now burning brightly as they floated in front of her.

Grrr.

A harsh sound rang in Beth’s ear, to call it a person’s voice would be far too extreme. A wolf? No, it’s smaller than that. Maybe it’s a dog? The things that she saw in the dark were about the size of a wild dog.

Thinking so, Beth placed her hands into her pockets. Maybe they were attracted here by the smell of decayed flesh from the bodies.

“Good boy… Come over here…”

Beth murmured, throwing a large piece of dried meat in another direction. The meat should be able to keep them occupied for a while, during which she will have to quickly get out of here, possibly returning to the dunes where the other women are.

When they started to approach the meat that had fallen to the ground with a “Thud!”, Beth slowly got up to her feet and moved. The animals were following her silently.

Suddenly, one of them turned around, lunging towards her neck. Beth shook as she started violently crying out, her voice low, like the sound of an animal. Under the quiet night sky, the sound of bones breaking was vividly heard. Blood gushed out profusely from where she was bitten.

Beth the petty thief had died during the day and now a woman without a name died at night.

A large herd of such beasts soon approached the dunes, having caught the scent of blood from their most recent prey.

Deertes looked up to the sky.

The sky was so magnificent that she had forgotten how to breathe the moment she saw it. Or perhaps it was because she was in hell on earth. Either way, land uninhabited by humans is closer to the Gods, so the beautiful sky could be much better seen and appreciated.

As if to show that it was a completely different world up there, Deertes could see hues of purple, blue, brown and more beyond the stars. Every time she took a breath, there seemed to be more and more stars falling. Counting all of them, a mammoth task for Deertes.

It is said that every time a star falls, a person dies. It occurred to Deertes that her star might fall sometime tonight.

Deertes slipped the clothes off her shoulders. Even though it was such a simple move, her arm shook. The clothes that fell to the ground left a shoulder swollen with blue-black bruises. Ones that are easily seen even under the night sky.

She had not felt a sliver of pain due to all the rush experienced in the day, however, all the pain came flooding in at once at night. Her fever rose as she let out a strained moan. Even though it was a cool night, tears blurred her vision.

“Haa…”

If only there was a forest… No, if there was just a single tree… Her wounds would have easily been healed.

Whenever Deertes was sick, the forest was the first place she would go to. There, she would lie down and listen to the forest’s sound, like the rustling of trees, in a place where no one is present. With which all her pain and injuries disappeared without a trace left behind.

“There must be forests in such a land, right?”

One of the many things that Serene collected from the continent of Saul caught Deertes’ attention. It was a small tree branch with very dark green leaves. The unique shape and curve of the stem were one Deertes had never seen before, which piqued her interest, but there was another reason why Deertes was interested in it.

This tree did not answer her calls, nor call out its name. That was the first time Deertes could not hear any voices from it.

As she was going through her memories, her ears picked up a strange sound.

“…?”

The unpleasant sound, albeit soft, rang clear. It was the sound of chewing and the breaking of something. Followed by a series of grunts and groans. Deertes turned her head in the direction the sounds came from. A distance away was Lucy, the one who had been whipped by Cassar’s whip, laying on her side.

“Ah…”

For a moment, Deertes paused, blinking as she questioned what she was looking at. Before long, her eyes met Lucy’s. As her legs slowly moved up the dunes, so did Lucy’s.

Lucy’s body was moving as if it were a broken wooden doll.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Forgetting about the pain, Deertes stood up screaming. Waking up the other surprised women who had heard the shout.

“What’s the problem?”

“What’s going on?”

Dazed, they rubbed their eyes before soon realising that around them were dozens of eyes. The eyes tracked every movement they made in the dark.

The surroundings were relatively quiet, aside from the low rumbling sound. Deertes might have fallen asleep if it weren’t for the sight of Lucy and her grotesque movements. The wind carried a terrible smell.

“Help me!”

“Lena!”

Of the women who had woken up, a woman named Lena quickly screamed and scrambled away. The eyes had moved to face her as soon as she started to make a run for it. The beasts did not make a sound, all that was heard were the screams of the woman. In an instant, the shrieks of terror were swallowed up by the sounds of waves breaking.

Then came the sound of beasts devouring the woman who had already lost her breath, the sound of clothes being ripped off, the skin being torn, before turning into a wet sound that one would not know nor want to know. Every now and then the sound of bones being broken can be heard.

It was then that the other three had realised. The only time they have left to have a chance at living is when the beasts are being absorbed with their prey.

The three ran, not caring who was behind or ahead of them. Each step they take is a second in which their life is extended. To stretch the length of their lives for as long as possible, they desperately ran.

In the end, the three of them ran in separate directions. A wise choice. One of the three can live longer than the unlucky two.

***

“Umm…”

Cinder blinked. Waking up with her body covered with clothes and shaking. Had she fallen asleep atop a Remu? She heard Brian’s voice behind her and she turned around to see him rubbing his eyes with bewilderment.

“Are you awake, Cinder?”

“Did you put these over me?”

“Of course. Who else would cover you with their clothes beside me?”

Cinder pulled away from Brian’s clothing. Sand that had piled on top of it was blown away by the movement.

“If you were planning to leave the area, why didn’t you wake me up? How many hours have I been out?”

“You don’t seem to remember… I had attempted waking you up numerous times to no avail. It’s been more than two days since then.”

“What?”

At Brian’s words, Cinder could not stop her astonished voice.

“Maybe you had not fallen asleep, but instead fainted.”

“…”

That explains why Cinder felt extremely hungry as soon as she woke up. When Brian heard Cinder’s stomach growling, he stuck his hands into his pockets and held up some food in front of Cinder, as if having expected such a circumstance.

Immediately receiving it from Brian’s hand, Cinder took a sip of water. Water that had spilled from her mouth dribbled past her neck and over her chest. Noticing this, Brian too took a sip of water.

Soon, the bottom of the water bottle could be seen.

“I’m glad you’re finally awake. I don’t believe we’ll be sleeping in the desert today, since we’ll be reaching Endeavour in a little while.”

“I can’t wait to get there. Is there any problem washing up in Endeavour? Do you have anything to eat there?”

Cinder asked while she played with the crumbs on her fingers. Hearing the questions, a few men who passed beside them answered, smirking.

“What kind of a place do you think Endeavour is? Endeavour has a church, a school, a bank, a bakery, and even a children’s candy store.”