For the people who live in Said, the Tatat Desert is undoubtedly of extraordinary significance: this desert that occupies the northern part of the continent is the birthplace of continental civilization, and in the era of the gods, it was once the richest and most beautiful place on the entire continent. However, overnight, the battle between two irrational gods completely changed the place, and the terrible divine power not only destroyed 90% of the life in this area, but also turned this place into a desert that was no longer suitable for the growth and life of any living being, and even today, the influence of divine power still remains—in this desert, except for a few places, there is almost no grass.

"It's a contradiction," Sarente said to Rhaegar beside him in a tone full of emotion, "The gods created the world and led us from the wilderness to civilization, and we worship them for this, but at this moment, they mercilessly wiped our civilization out of history. ”

The leader of the largest underground force in Rano City, the de facto master of the city on the edge of the desert, seemed to be completely immersed in his own feelings at the moment, "Maybe in the eyes of the gods, we are just toys made by their hands, and all their feelings for us stop there, or maybe we will do the same when we are strong enough to look down on other creatures." ”

A man who is good at disguising himself, this is what Rhaegar says about Salente. From the first time he saw him, this handsome and elegant *** master has been constantly changing his image, sometimes gentle, sometimes cold, sometimes like a decisive commander, and sometimes like a sentimental poet, all of which are performed for one purpose: to make people unable to see through the real him, and therefore remain in awe of him. It was clear that Salent had been extremely successful in doing so, and it was evident from the glances of his men how awe-inspiring the elusive leader was. College

"I beg your pardon for interrupting you," Kratt said, cautiously as he was the second person in the Brotherhood of Rano on the treasure hunt, "and we're about ten kilometers from the first water supply point, and according to the message from the eyeliner, a group of explorers have already arrived there before us. ”

Sarent didn't speak, but his eyes were full of what he was asking, which made a cold sweat break out on Klat's forehead - he should have said everything before the leader asked, which would most likely displease Sarent, and thus affect his position in the Brotherhood.

"According to the Eyeliner report and the information we have," Klatt said in the fastest voice, "it should be from the Taller family, their leader is a very powerful samurai, his team includes fifty 'elite' warriors and a mage, and they are only at the bottom of all the people we know are interested in treasures. ”

Sarent turned his head to look at Rhaegar who had been silent. "Thaler is the owner of another city on the edge of the desert, and his family has always been not very friendly with us, and it is clear that our encounter in such a situation will not be pleasant. He said to Rhaeggar, "There are obviously too many treasures shared by the two groups, would you like to go and see it with me?"

If it was before talking to Sarent, Rhaegar would not hesitate to make excuses to refuse the request. His intention was to get a topographical map of the desert and to disguise his identity with the help of the expedition, on the premise that he would minimize the number of attempts he would use to avoid being discovered by his target, and if the expedition team went in the opposite direction of his, he would leave the team immediately.

Now, however, the situation is a different story. From the mouth of the leader of the Brotherhood, Rhaegar learns what Kratt is referring to as "that thing": there has been a legend about a mysterious treasure in the surrounding area of the desert, but no one has been able to confirm its authenticity until two years ago, when the Rano Brotherhood obtained a treasure map that verifies the legend. In order to obtain the wealth that is said to be an enemy country, the Brotherhood has made a lot of preparations, but before they set off, at least hundreds of identical treasure maps appeared all over the mainland without warning, and thousands of treasure hunters flocked to it, including some powerful forces, which caught the leaders of the Brotherhood off guard, and it was precisely because of the pressure brought by these forces that the Brotherhood would rush to find Rhaegar without knowing anything about it.

However, this alone did not make Rhaegar change his mind. In order to show his sincerity, during a detailed discussion with him—and to find out the details—Salent went out of his way to show him the map he had obtained, and to Rhaegar's surprise, it was indistinguishable from the one he had found in the water demon's lair. This discovery intrigued Rhaegar, and led him to wonder if there were some secrets that were not yet known, but in any case, in order to better disguise his identity with the same destination, he had to get the expedition to the city marked on the treasure map.

"I'd do that willingly," Rhaegar said, "the mage is yours, and the rest is mine." ”

It's an oasis of less than a square kilometre, and one can easily see the other from one end of the way, but for those who walk in the Tatat Desert, this almost impossible place to find on the map is quite significant: it is the only source of water for nearly 500 kilometers after entering the desert from the Western Front.

Kurt sat on the grass, munching on his food slowly, and within a dozen meters of him, there were no other subordinates except Sora - in the eyes of this noble-born warrior, the importance of status and rank was more important than anything else, and even during the journey, those vulgar subordinates still had no right to sit with him.

"I don't understand," said the eldest son of Count Taller to one of the two mages in the family, and his best friend, "why did my father send me here when he already knew that there were many of the same maps circulating outside?" ”

"The Count thinks that's true," said Sora, "and that's enough." "He was an orphan, and if it had not been for the Count's father who had adopted him and found him a mage to be his teacher, he would have died in no known place, for whom any order from the master of the House of Thaler was an irrefutable truth.

"Actually, Renno and I have the same doubts," said Sora after a moment, after making sure no one else was paying attention to their conversation, "As far as I know, there are powerful mages who can control people's 'spirits', and they can apply magic to specific items and then affect the minds of those who come into contact with them. Kurt's eyes widened, "However, after our identification, it was just an ordinary map, and no magic had been applied to it. Sora continued.

"I'm still not optimistic about this operation. Kurt glanced at his men who were eating, "Look at them, fifty 'elite' warriors, plus a mage, this strength can even defeat an army of hundreds. But in this desert, as far as I know, there are at least a dozen teams that surpass us in strength, and other than that, I don't know how many strong people who act alone are hiding in the shadows, and even if we find the treasure, I am afraid that what awaits us will be a merciless attack from other teams. "Allowing his eldest son, who inherited the title, to come here and fight against enemies, both overt and covert, Kurt could not understand his father's approach, which may have been a form of trust in the latter's eyes, but it was undoubtedly an unnecessary adventure for him.

"This is the Earl's arrangement. Sola said.

"A wrong order," Kurt said without hesitation, "no matter what, I will not let these 'elite' subordinates suffer unnecessary casualties, and if the situation is unfavorable to us, I will order the evacuation of this ......desert as soon as possible."

A head-sized fireball flew in his face, interrupting him, and almost at the same moment, an invisible magic shield appeared in front of Kurt to block the fatal blow for him.

"Enemy attack!" Kurt was no slower to react than Sora, and in the rain of fire that splashed and 'shot' after the fireball collided with the magic shield, the warrior leapt from the ground, and the sword appeared in his hand at the same time, "Scatter and hide, they have mages!"

However, his order was too late, and just as the men were about to do as Kurt said, the grass beneath their feet suddenly grew wildly, and these seemingly flexible plants seemed to become the tentacles of terrible monsters, and the long leaves entangled their hands and feet in an instant, and then tore them apart.

"Sora!" Kurt was nervous by the sight of all his men flying in the flesh at the same moment, and he shouted the mage's name, hoping that the latter would come up with a solution.

But he was doomed to be disappointed, and the mage, who was busy fending off Kurt's attack, did not notice the attack from the other direction, and as the fireball hitting the former, a black 'colored' energy arrow exploded in his back.

"Who are you?" Kurt shouted into the air, and another fireball struck him the next moment, turning him into a pile of ashes.