The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet
Chapter 123: If Everywhere is a Dead End?

Chapter 123: If Everywhere is a Dead End?

Over my many searches, a constant truth kept haunting me. No matter where I looked, no matter when, everywhere I searched was nothing.

I could go for something to eat.

Not absorbing Starlight was more annoying than expected; it was a process I always did, and now that I hadn’t been doing it for over a week, it felt weird. There were times when I had reached similar lengths of time, but the fact there was none at all made the very fabric of this world mildly uncomfortable. Again, it wasn’t something I felt immediately, but over time it began to irritate me. I figured it was a side effect of having a large portion of my soul dedicated to using and storing Starlight.

At least I have my tweedle dee and tweedle dum working for me now.

The night had long since set, and the three of us were exploring the wasteland. Specifically, I was on my own while those two were working together. They seemed to feel safer together without me around. 

Of course, I had zero faith in them to find anything or to not be planning some sort of backstab. While that may sound a little ridiculous considering we were the only three humans here, still, I knew they didn’t trust me, and the moment we found an exit, I was expecting the Dominous idiot to try something. I was unsure if he wanted to keep his bunk buddy alive afterwards or not; that had to be seen, and I couldn’t wait for it.

Sun will be rising in two hours, I should see them start to return soon.

We did have a quick conversation about how this whole exploration trip was going to work out.

“Okay, now I do have some mana recovery items, but not too many are left,” I explained.

“So don’t expect to rely on them.” Hood idiot said.

“Yes.” I nodded. “The plan is that you must be back at the walls before the sun rises; otherwise, you are as good as dead.”

“Are you sure nothing else comes up at night?” The guard asked. 

“I am mostly sure. I haven’t found anything, and from the lizard folk who do travel outside the city, they say the night is safe, but if you are worried, treat your night trips as any other standard operation and be on alert.”

“Okay…” The guard muttered.

“Nervous?” I asked.

“Yeah, usually my work involves human affairs. Monsters are always so weird to deal with, so sporadic.”

“I usually have the opposite problem.”

The idiot asked, “You work as a hunter?”

I shrugged, “Monster Slayer has been my main pastime for the last few years. It makes good money if you are good at it.”

I pointed to the desert, “Now if you are ever out in the desert during the day. Try your best, I guess.” 

“Try our best?” The idiot got annoyed at my simple explanation. I was sure he was acting earlier, but my attitude was getting to him, so perfect for me honestly.

“Pretty much. Swarms of those sand undead creatures will appear everywhere, and their golden sand blood disrupts your mana, so if you get on you, you are really screwed.”

“So that is what happened…” The guard muttered. He held his helmet in his hands as his eyes shook, remembering something.

“Any other questions?” I asked for the final time.

As stated, I never had any hope of them actually finding anything. I’ve searched the same location and much further away. No, my purpose for freeing them was for an experiment that I needed other human dummies for. Plus, it gave me a chance to mess with the idiot before killing him.

Still, I had searched practically everywhere, including all the hiding spots in the meraimaka. Lu was quite knowledgeable on the structure of the place, so I had her help when it came to exploring. 

(“ I wonder, how much more effort has to be wasted for you to give up? ”)

How many more times of me telling you that you are annoying, to make you shut up? The answer for that is too many.

To give Espr some credit, things were looking worse.

My supply of mana recovery items has lessened, and I still haven’t found a way to absorb the mana even in this much more mana-dense atmosphere. Then there was the fact I still had found nothing throughout my journey through this world, and so from those angles, all hope was lost. So what if I learned a new trick when my soul was still under threat?

Though I didn’t believe I had searched everywhere. 

(“ Things will be a lot easier–  ”)

If I give up, jada jada jada, Espr you are really getting boring. I am quite disappointed.

(“ Well if you did, maybe your family would be in a safer place ”)

Taking my words to heart immediately. I am nearly impressed besides the fact you were threatening my family.

(“ I would no such thing, but I cannot control what your family does to themselves  ”)

Fuck sake…

I knew there was the possibility that Espoiramissa could be lying; despite how low the chance was, maybe it decided to change its ways and resort to more nefarious tricks to attack my psyche. However, based on everything I knew, it felt the more likely scenario was that it was telling the truth and something did happen to my family.

Are they safe?

(“ Who knows ”)

Were any of them killed or injured?

(“ Who knows ”)

Did they proactively get themselves into danger or did something go after them?

(“ Who knows ”)

Did they leave me everything in their will?

(“ Who knows ”)

From my questioning it was looking like Espr was going for the full I won’t tell you anything approach. Which was good and bad. The bad was it likely did mean something happened, but I didn’t know how bad or if it was actually bad or someone just stubbed their toe. The good… the fact it hadn’t said anyone was injured was at least a hopeful sign. 

You are a nasty one today. Remember this conversation because I will get some revenge for it later.

(“ … ”)

I returned to the wall and climbed back up it, upon reaching the top, I ran into Lu again, but accompanied by C-Eal.

“Hello Lu, long time C-Eal.” I waved.

C-Eal turned to look down at Lu. “Was that a greeting?” 

Translations again…

“Umm.” Lu mumbled.

“It was supposed to be.” I shrugged. 

I looked back off the wall to the vast space of land below.

“So, where are the other two?” Lu asked.

“They should be returning now.” 

“Isn’t that dangerous? Shouldn’t you three travel together if you can communicate?” Lu asked. 

“It should be fine, they know the dangers. If they choose to stay behind, then they can fall to the fate they chose.”

“Isn’t that a little bit mean?” Lu asked, “They have been giving life, it is best if they do not waste it.”

“Because they have a life, they get to choose what they do with it. We can give them warnings, but the final decision will be on them.” It was like I was talking about children instead of two grown men.

Lu twiddled her fingers. “Hmm… maybe it would be best if you go check on them.” 

I laughed, “Sure, I will do that an hour before sunrise. Just because you asked.”

Thankfully I didn’t need to do that trip, as both men made it back to the city before the sun rose. Neither had a helmet, which helped the Nelatta think we were similar but different species. My lie’s usefulness was low now that the two of them were running about, but I wasn’t going to break it yet. However, I was curious if the Nelatta saw my female face with my horns and would even know we were the same race or not.

The fake light of the world came, and undead life erupted from the ground.

“There are so many…” Said the guard.

I said, “Wait around a bit longer, and maybe a Kelrara will appear.”

“Kelrara?” The idiot asked. 

“Yeah, massive undead crocodile thing; its body is about as long as the wall is tall. Whenever you heard a big banging, it was when one of them was attacking.”

“My revelation was a point of concern for both of them, as I didn’t inform them before, but I just forgot to, I had other more important things to do.”

You know Espr, I haven’t searched everywhere.

(“ Oh you haven’t covered every speck of this world? Be my guest and spend multiple days and nights going back and forth from the border ”)

It was true I could spend days travelling across the entire surface of the world, but I didn’t want to do that. Even I knew that was a waste of time. There was of course the small minute chance that there was an entrance to the core somewhere I didn’t look, but based on everything I had seen and even Espr’s comments, that was unlikely.

Great idea, but that is not what I meant.

No, I had somewhere else I wanted to look.

I watched as the monster erupted from the ground. 

It is simple, Espr; the whole world is a sand pit, every monster is born and returns to the golden sand. So the question is, what is hiding down there?

(“ That is just how the world creates its monsters ”)

That may be true, but it could also be how it hides its secrets. The tunnels in the meraimaka don’t go below the bottom of the wall, but checking out the stone, they clearly could build deeper, and when I asked the elder, they simply said they were warned by the elders not to, but they never gave a reason for the warning.

(“ That is how folklore works, you don’t always have clear meaning and answer when it passed down for generations ”)

You’re getting desperate.

This world is old and has gone through changes.

It simply means what was left behind has been covered up.

By the same golden sand that plagues the people, mana, and the world.

(“ Your curiosity will get you killed one day? ”)

Now it is a danger? Espr, you were always the one who liked those aspects about me the most, but now it is a concern?

I smiled.

You should be careful with your words.

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