TYBMB 16

Chapter 16: Stranded
2024.01.16

When I told Karl not to panic and to stand still, he looked even more flustered.

“…What?”

“It’s a monster. There’s a monster moving beneath the sand. Judging by the fact that it’s not hiding its presence, I don’t think it’s noticed us yet.”

Monsters that moved underground usually didn’t have good eyesight.

That’s why they sensed their prey not with sight but by detecting vibrations in the ground.

In other words, if we just stayed still and didn’t move, it might pass us by without noticing.

Rustle, rustle. Rustle, rustle.

The rustling sound was getting louder than before.

The monster was probably just five steps away.

It was practically right in front of us. If we could just endure a little longer, it would likely pass without incident.

Just then—

Screeeeech—!

The monster, which I expected to pass beneath our feet, suddenly let out a strange sound and poked its head above the ground.

It was a giant, worm-like monster with a body as thick as a human torso.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have noticed us. It had merely surfaced to breathe the air.

I whispered to Karl very quietly.

“It has poor eyesight. If we stay still, it won’t detect us. No matter how scared you are, don’t move.”

“Y-Yes, I won’t move a muscle.”

As we stood there bracing ourselves, the monster squirmed closer to us.

Now the distance was down to just three steps.

At that distance, if the monster decided to attack, we’d have no time to respond.

I debated whether I should just cut it down first.

But I didn’t have much time to decide.

Plop.

A drop of water, not yet dried from Karl’s clothes, fell onto the sand.

The monster didn’t miss the faint vibration that created.

SCREEEEEECH—!!!

“Karl! Duck!”

The monster had detected us and immediately lunged with its fangs bared.

Fortunately, Karl reacted quickly.

As soon as I gave the order, he ducked, and I swung my sword at the monster rushing toward us.

CRACK—!

The monster clamped down on my sword with its sharp teeth.

Despite looking like a worm, its bite strength was stronger than expected, and I couldn’t pull the sword free.

I gave up on retrieving it and immediately used my ability.

Crackle, crackle—

Frost spread from my sword, slowly freezing the monster from its mouth outward.

Perhaps startled by the unfamiliar cold in the desert, the monster twisted its enormous body violently.

And just my luck—that thrashing body happened to strike me directly.

WHAM—!

The impact of being struck by the massive worm’s body sent me flying.

As I rolled down a sand dune, disoriented, I could hear Karl shouting urgently.

“Deputy Commander!!”

At that moment, one thought crossed my mind—thank goodness.

Since I had frozen the monster’s head before getting hit, it wouldn’t be able to attack Karl with its fangs.

So Karl would be fine. But the problem was me.

My head throbbed badly.

I had landed on sand instead of solid ground, but the impact hadn’t been completely absorbed.

My head was ringing, and a high-pitched buzz echoed in my ears.

I barely managed to lift myself and looked toward Karl.

He was running toward me, holding the sword that had frozen along with the monster.

I needed to protect Karl before another monster showed up…

That was the last thought I had before I lost consciousness.

Tap tap tap tap.

Martin’s fingers drummed nervously on the desk.

As he tapped, his ears were strained for the faintest sound—perhaps hoofbeats in the distance.

But all he could hear was the sound of rain. No matter how long he waited, no horses arrived.

Lost in the silence, Martin muttered unconsciously.

“…She’s too late.”

Yulia had said it wasn’t a difficult rift and that she’d be back by morning.

But contrary to those words, dawn had long passed, and she still hadn’t returned.

Worry creased the corners of his eyes as another thought entered his mind.

She had promised to return by morning. So why hadn’t she?

And Karl had gone with her too…

Of course, definitions of “morning” vary. Maybe she meant 7 or 8 a.m., which was still a few hours away.

Trying to be rational, Martin told himself to wait a little longer—but the worry wouldn’t go away.

Tap tap, tap.

The drumming suddenly stopped.

A bad feeling had struck him out of nowhere.

What if something had happened inside the rift?

Something might’ve happened to Yulia and Karl.

There were all kinds of possible accidents in a rift.

They could’ve been injured by rough terrain, gotten lost—or even attacked by a monster.

As these possibilities piled up in his mind, Martin gritted his teeth and stood up from his chair.

He quickly grabbed his coat and weapon.

Karl and Yulia were both vital members of the Order.

He couldn’t let them die. He repeated that to himself as he mounted his horse.

Then, with the thunder of hooves, the silence of dawn was shattered.

When I came to, I found myself lying in an unfamiliar place.

There were stone pillars around me and what looked like an altar in the center—some kind of ancient ruin.

I spotted Karl nearby and immediately apologized.

“Sorry. I let my guard down. I should’ve cut that worm the moment it surfaced.”

“No, it’s my fault. I’m not sure, but I think I moved a little and alerted it… More importantly, how are you feeling?”

“I think I’m okay. But where are we?”

It felt like a ruin, but I had no idea where exactly we were.

Judging by Karl’s response, he didn’t know either.

“There was this structure not far from where the monster appeared, so I brought you here. I thought it’d be safer to wait for you to wake up first before moving.”

“I see.”

“I even tried healing you with my ability, but you wouldn’t wake up… I was so worried…”

“Wait, you said I wouldn’t wake up? How long was I unconscious?”

It had been broad daylight when we first entered the rift.

But the sky visible through the partially collapsed ceiling was now dark.

That seemed suspicious—and confirmed that quite a bit of time had passed while I was out.

“You were unconscious for about six hours.”

“What?!”

I held my forehead at his words.

Six hours.

That was double the time I had originally planned to defeat the Queen and close the rift—within three hours.

And now it was night. Monsters would be more aggressive.

We couldn’t head to the oasis right now. We’d have to stay hidden until daylight.

That meant we’d lose even more time.

At that moment, I could already imagine what would happen when I returned to base after closing the rift.

“I’m gonna get chewed out by the Commander…”

The Commander had told me directly.

He didn’t care what I did, as long as I didn’t endanger the other members.

And now I’d held up Karl, one of our key knights, for this long…

As I worried about the scolding I’d get, Karl tried to comfort me with a smile.

“He probably won’t say anything. He’ll just be relieved we made it back safely.”

“You think so…?”

“Even if he doesn’t show it, the Commander cares a lot about you, Deputy. He’s probably worried about you right now.”

I couldn’t agree.

The Commander had once said—right to my face—that he didn’t trust me.

There was no way someone like that would be worried about me.

So all I could do was smile awkwardly and stand up.

“Anyway, we should scout this place to see if it’s safe. It’s too dangerous to go outside now, with monsters active at night. Let’s just explore inside these ruins.”

“You just woke up—shouldn’t you rest a little more…?”

“I’m fine. Seriously, I feel perfectly fine. You know I’m sturdy.”

Even so, Karl’s expression remained tense.

What’s he so worried about? He knows how hard I am to kill.

Sometimes, Karl worries about me too much.

To reassure him, I put on an even more confident expression than usual.

“Come on, get up. Or should I go check alone?”