Over the Sand Storm!
“What a sand storm.”
Melk muttered as she stood on the bow of the airship, and looked at the spreading wall of dust that filled the horizon.
“Still, we have not been able to find Riise yet.”
Said Iria, and Mette nodded.
“And we haven’t received reports of the other airships finding her. The only place left to check is within the sand storm.”
In order to find Riise, the lost tigerfolk, we searched the western desert with several ships.
However, we could not find her within the area that the storm hadn’t reached.
And then Neia said,
“Everyone, thank you. But you have done enough. We will handle the rest.”
“We came this far. And so we will cooperate until Riise is found.”
“However, we cannot search inside of that…”
As Neia said, normally, one could not just enter a sand storm. However…
“We have Asuha. Asuha.”
“Leave it to me.”
Asuha nodded and then raised her staff as she stood on the bow.
Her staff began to glow. A moment after I registered a sudden wind shoot out, and a hole opened up in the wall of sand ahead.
“It pushed away the sand!?”
Neia was surprised, but Asuha did not even look tired.
“This is nothing for me!”
“Alright. Then let’s go in then.”
I said, and the airship thrusted into the sandstorm. Thanks to the Tengus’s skill with steering the ship, it remained steady, even when there was a sandstorm all around.
“In-incredible. This ship…”
Neia was in awe as she looked around.
“The problem starts from here. Melk. Can you smell Riise?”
“The scent is there. But it moves because of the storm.”
Melk answered while moving her nose.
So even the capabilities of Melk and the werewolves was not enough.
“Then I will have to use magic detection to find her. But this sand storm is…”
As Neia said, the sand here contained magic energy, and so it was like there was a wall of magic around us.
“We will need some other method. Heeeeey! Riiiiise!!”
Mette let out a thunderous roar.
It was so loud that, were it not for the storm, she would definitely be heard.
Asuha then answered.
“I thought about blowing it all somewhere else, but surely there is too much.”
“Then maybe Joshua could suck all of it up.”
Mette suggested, but Iria shook her head.
“What do you think Sir Joshua is?”
“We-well, I don’t know how long it will take, but I could try a little.”
So saying, I asked Asuha to blow some of the sandstorm in our direction.
And then I raised my hand towards it and absorbed the sand into my magic workshop.
“And while I do this…I’ll need to do something else.”
“You can do that with one hand…”
Neia was troubled, but then she seemed to have thought of something.
“…I know. Can you make a large desert bell?”
“Desert bell?”
Neia took out a bell from her pocket. It was large and filled up the palm of her hand.
“We use it during sandstorms so we don’t get separated. By ringing the bell, we can tell each other our positions. Also, by the way they ring, we can tell the distance from each other. However…it is not very helpful if you are too far away.”
Neia paused and then continued.
“However, they are very special in how they are made… Those in our tribe who knew how to craft them were all killed when our homeland was burned.”
“Ah, so that is where Joshua comes in.”
Said Melk. Indeed, if I took it apart once in magic workshop, I would be able to understand the structure.
“Can I borrow it?”
“Of course.”
And so Neia handed me the desert bell.
I absorbed it into magic workshop and disassembled it.
“There are unique grooves inside that are the source of the sound. The iron sphere…is hollow and also has grooves. There is a bell inside of the bell…and another bell inside of it. And the smallest bell is enchanted.”
“Will it be difficult?”
“No. And I have the materials. Just wait a moment…”
I made a bell with the same structure over the current one, so that it enveloped it. And then I made another one over that, and repeated the process until I had a giant bell.
“Alright, it’s finished.”
I passed a wooden plank between the masts of the airship and hung the massive desert bell on it.
Neia looked up at it and said,
“Y-you made that in less than a minute. Your production magic really is something…”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. But more importantly, we should try to ring it.”
“Aye.”
Neia held the rope that dangled from the bell, and rang it. And then a beautiful sound echoed from it.
“If it is this big, then it should reach Riise’s bell as well.”
“But even if she realizes it, will we be able to hear her?”
Melk asked, and then Neia nodded.
“The vibrations of the bell will tell you the distance. And so it should get stronger the closer we are.”
“I see. In that case, we should lower the ship and continue to ring it.”
Mette said, and Neia agreed.
And so we landed the airship in the desert.
Neia continued to ring the bell endlessly.
“Please… Oh!”
Our bell started to vibrate.
And then the virations grew stronger and…
“Over there.”
Melk turned her head, and from that direction, a girl with tiger ears jumped out.
“Sister!”
“Riise!”
Neia and Riise hugged each other.
Normally, Riise did not apologize when Neia scolded her, but…
“I’m sorry, sister.”
“No, it’s my fault. I should have been watching you closely. No matter how careful you are, the desert is a dangerous place.”
We sighed in relief to see the two together again. Both seemed to have grown a little more mature.
“Ahh, thank goodness. Well, now we can go home.”
Mette said with satisfaction. But then Riise said,
“Wait! Just a little up ahead, there is a great oasis that I’ve never seen before!”
“What? Is that true, Riise?”
“Yes! It’s so big, and there were lots of desert apple trees there. That way.”
We looked at each other.
“Alright. We can go if it’s by airship.”
And so we all boarded the airship, and headed towards the oasis that Riise spoke of.
Asuha blew away the sand with her wind magic, and within a few minutes, we were out under the sunlight once again.
I looked down at the ground below the blue sky, and saw…
“What? What is this oasis…!?”
There was a giant oasis sprawling out, with a lake so large that it looked like a sea.
Thanks for the treat.