A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Each person's package contained a large amount of compressed food, enough to last them a year.

However, after traveling for so long, they no longer know how much longer they have.

Perhaps... it will take much longer than a year.

The only good news is that they can drink water freely.

"Does the will of the world truly exist?" A person stopped in their tracks and posed this question.

"Did the 'prophet' really not deceiving us?" another person asked.

"The will of the world exists, we all know that."

These ten craftsmen had all experienced the will of the world, which is why they came here to seek Him.

But will something that can't be seen or touched really be found?

"I give up." One person placed the package on the ground.

"We have no way out," someone advised him.

"So, I've decided to wait to die. I've given you all the food." The craftsman lay down on the ground and closed his eyes.

He was tired and didn't want to keep striving for that elusive existence.

The remaining people remained silent for a very long time.

The nine craftsmen looked at each other, and finally chose to leave the package to the person who had given up, and then continued on their way.

The craftsman stared blankly at the crimson moon, lost in thought.

In this world, there is only the moon, not the sun.

But this crimson moon fulfilled the functions of the sun and moon in the outside world.

When its light shines brightly, it is daytime here; when its light dims, it is nighttime here.

They weren't originally on this red rocky land.

Ten craftsmen walked across the shallows, traversed the dense forest of translucent plants, and crossed the eerie, enormous cave...

I wonder what lies beyond this place?

After that, are there still difficulties to overcome?

Thinking of this, the craftsman who had given up felt a sense of bewilderment.

He gave up everything to seek the will of the world, and now he has given up seeking the will of the world again.

What did he have left? Nothing at all.

Life... seems to have become dispensable.

He didn't understand why his companions would leave food for him, even though many of his other companions also had doubts, yet they still kept moving forward.

Perhaps they had no choice but to keep moving forward.

Because they came here, but had no way to go back, they completely cut off their own escape route.

Looking back now, it was incredibly foolish.

He's so tired, all he wants to do now is lie down and do nothing until the end of his life.

---

"Buzz buzz buzz—" A discordant sound echoed through the Red Rock Mountains.

That's the sound of an engine.

Bray rested his hand on the steering wheel, a cigarette and candy dangling from his lips, enjoying the thrill of driving at full speed.

The tire that he and Dorothea caught earlier came in handy.

After Dorothea skillfully changed the tires, the magic vehicle that had previously suffered a flat tire was able to run again.

Running a magic car in another world felt surprisingly good.

The surrounding scenery and life were somewhat primitive.

The magic chariot, a product of advanced civilization, is completely out of place here.

But that's precisely why it's so exciting to drive.

Didn't you see that Bray even had a cigarette candy in his mouth?

Dorothea, behind the car seat, leaned on the railing, observing the translucent creatures.

How should I put it? It looks a bit like a ghost.

However, these things are certainly much more advanced than ghosts.

She tilted her head and looked at a butterfly outside the car that was moving as fast as the car itself.

Butterflies are usually thought of as light and airy, but the butterflies here seem different.

It wasn't light and airy at all; it was frighteningly fast.

Dorothea straightened her hair, closed her eyes, and wondered what she would encounter next.

She decided to put aside her aversion to the "prophet" and begin to look forward to what would happen next.

"Screech—!!!!" But just as Dorothea was about to enjoy her leisurely time, the car suddenly braked.

"..." Dorothea braced herself by pushing one foot into the seat.

She crossed her arms and looked at Bray's back with displeasure.

"Why did you suddenly brake?" Dorothea kicked Bray with her boot as she did so.

But Bray simply dodged to the side; he had no interest in being stepped on by beautiful women.

"Because there are people in front," Bray said helplessly; he didn't want to brake suddenly either.

When Bray himself was enjoying driving, the sudden stop made the experience lose its appeal.

However, if you see a living person here, and not even a semi-transparent one, shouldn't you at least stop the car?

"A person?" Dorothea was taken aback. She casually sensed the presence of a living person and found that there was indeed a living person's aura.

She stood up and saw a person lying motionless on the ground.

Since there hadn't been any truly perceptible living beings throughout the entire journey, Dorothea hadn't bothered to perceive her surroundings.

I never expected to encounter a living person on the road.

The fact that it's not translucent proves that this person, like them, comes from outside.

Although the guy was quiet, both Bray and Dorothea knew that he was not dead.

“Breclas, how do you think he got in?” Dorothea asked.

“Who knows?” Bray shrugged, got out of the car, and walked towards the person lying down. Bray looked down at the man whose eyes were slightly closed.

The man had a long beard and messy hair, but he didn't smell bad.

Although she seems to wash herself frequently, she doesn't seem to take care of her appearance.

"Hey, hey, hey." Bray pushed the man's shoulder and shook him a few times.

If the person is actually sleeping, Bray might consider waiting for them to wake up.

Unfortunately, the guy wasn't asleep, so Bray felt no remorse for his actions.

Since I wasn't asleep anyway, shaking me a few times wouldn't matter.

"..." Although the person lying down hadn't fallen asleep, their consciousness was already somewhat blurred.

He had been lying there for half a day and hadn't eaten much.

"Have you started hallucinating?" the craftsman mumbled in a daze.

He simply couldn't believe that there were anyone else in this wretched place besides the ten craftsmen.

"Heh... Perfect, this means I'm about to die."

"..." Bray's expression was a little strange; it was the first time he had ever been mistaken for a hallucination.

“Let me do it.” Dorothea walked over gracefully, showing some interest in this person who was not herself or Bray.

In response, she lifted her foot and placed her boot on the man's stomach.

Of course, Dorothea was very careful with her strength; if she had kicked him with all her might, not only would the person have been crushed, but even a stone would have shattered.

"Cough cough..." The craftsman, whose stomach was being stepped on by Dorothea, did not feel any enjoyment at all. Instead, he started coughing and even gagged a little.

"It's time to wake up. We're not some illusion you're having." Dorothea's cold voice rang out.

Despite her cold demeanor, her voice is still very pleasant, making you want to listen to it a second time.

Of course, this craftsman is not a masochist.

"Not an illusion...?" The craftsman struggled to lift his eyelids; the crimson moon in the sky seemed to be a lie.

He looked up from below, but he couldn't see any benefits because Dorothea was wearing trousers.

"You are..." After being stepped on by Dorothea, his consciousness finally returned somewhat.

He looked at Bray and Dorothea with a mixture of surprise and confusion in his eyes.

What's surprising is that there are people here, and what's puzzling is that there are people here.

“Traveler.” Bray crouched down, scrutinizing the other man with dead fish eyes, and spoke.

"A traveler?" The craftsman almost laughed after hearing Bray's words.

Because this place is not a good travel destination.

"What are you talking about? This is no fun place." He struggled to get up from the ground, his body covered in red mud.

"Although I don't know how you got here, if you can leave, you should leave as soon as possible," he said earnestly.

Perhaps because he had seen too much, he found that he was only slightly surprised by the existence of Bray and Dorothea at the very beginning.

He wasn't even particularly curious about how or why the two of them came.

The craftsman's curiosity may have been worn away during these months of aimless searching.

“There is no way to leave.” Bray shook his head.

"Is that so..." The craftsman pondered for a long time. Like the other ten craftsmen, the other party also had no way to leave.

It's a real pity; in that case, they couldn't escape their fate of death.

However, death itself is not particularly frightening; what is frightening is the torment of waiting for death and the despair of not being able to see the way forward.

"Here's some food for you," he said to Bray after looking around and finding his own pack.

"This food is enough for you to eat for several months."

"I hope you can hold on," the craftsman said.

These foods were even more useful to the two people whose eyes still burned with fire.

As for myself, I might as well just wait to die.

But to be honest, he felt that he wasn't so unlucky as to be able to see the others at the end.

"Then what are you going to do?" Bray asked, without taking away the other person's food.

"Me?" After being asked by Bray, he was momentarily dazed. "Just wait to die like this."

"Why wait to die?" Bray still didn't understand what the other person was thinking.

It's like watching someone who wants to commit suicide; no one else can understand what they're thinking.

"There's no reason why." He was too lazy to answer Bray's question and planned to lie down again, looking at the moon and waiting for death.

"Hmph." Dorothea kicked the craftsman up.

"Ah!" The craftsman screamed as he was kicked by the Queen.

He glared at Dorothea; no one would be happy to be kicked.

"Don't lie down yet, tell us where we are first." Dorothea didn't want this demoralized guy to lie down and never get up again.

“A place with no future,” he said dejectedly.

Unfortunately, this is not the answer that Bray and Dorothea want to know.