Oh no! After I Reincarnated, My Moms Became Son-cons! - Volume 7 - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

I seriously can’t say for certain . This place isn’t a mountain range or a forest . This place is a continuous path of dunes and sandstorms that come as the wind dictates . There was nothing here that could be examined . Furthermore, I’m clueless to how this sort of mine is distributed around in this world so I just looked at the desert blankly . Like an idiot, I watched Lorana and Tarak struggled through the desert on feet . They had dismounted to examine the sand under feet and would look up every now and then to see the dunes rise and fall . They also occasionally used a very long bit of metal to stab into the ground . I stood aside, afraid I’d get in the way of our two leaders .

I didn’t have a clue as to what the two of them were doing, but I assumed it wa the method for locating the metal . I’m just going to trust the two of them .

Since the two of them had dismounted to walk, our team’s speed slowed down significantly . I sent out a sufficient number of scouts, and organised guards to watch our back, front, left and right sides as per Lorana’s instructions . There’s nowhere to hide in the desert . As long as it’s another team, we’ll be able to instantly see them .

At the same time, it will be just as easy to discover us so we must locate others before they can locate us . Therefore, if we discover them, we need to take them out first instead of conversing with them . As they say, a long night is fraught with dreams . They might stick one in our back before we know it .

All the teams here have their own backers . They aren’t just here to fight for the mine . A better way to put it would be that several powers are playing a death game here; teams killing other teams for the sake of their power . The employer who hired the team are benefitting from it . And no nation can do anything if you kill their people in this area with no administration .

That’s why there won’t be any peace talks or alliances . This is basically a killing field, a place where you need to kill every living person you meet .

After walking for some distance, the two of them mounted their steeds again . I rode over to their sides and asked, “How is it?”

The two of them shook their heads and replied, “No discoveries, your majesty . Though we knew this already, it feels unfortunate to have to say it again . Very unfortunate we would say . Your majesty, let us head to another spot . We will not need to search this area again…… However, we found traces others left behind here which prove that people had searched this area already . ”

I nodded . I looked at them and responded, “That’s all right . If it could be found on the first attempt, it wouldn’t attract so many people here . But you said that you noticed traces of others being here before . So does that mean that it’s very likely that there’s a team up ahead of us or maybe even several teams?”

Tarak nodded and replied, “I cannot say for sure, but there are definitely people ahead . Your majesty, the scouts you sent out have not come back to report in . It might be traces left behind several days ago for all we know . Shall we try to chase them and kill them?”

“Uhm . ”

I nodded with a bit of concern . It’s not good news that there’s a team in front of us because if we’re not very far apart, the resting place we choose for tonight will definitely be the same spot . In other words, a bloody battle will break out for the resting spot .

What shall I do? Shall we continue searching at this pace or should we rush straight to the rest station to set up a defence line so that we have the advantage of choosing the time and place for battle?

Killing them won’t benefit my search for the mine in any way . At most, it’ll only count as just eliminating one competing team . They currently don’t affect my progress much either . If I covet speed, I could just split my team up to search .

“Don’t worry about them . Their lives have nothing to do with us . We came here for the mine . Let’s stick to the plan and search the areas instead . Whether they live or die doesn’t conflict with our objective . ”

“Understood . ”

The two of them nodded and then our team continued forward . To increase our chances of locating it, I split the entire region into sixteen sections and searched two sections per day . So we could basically complete our search in the entire region in around eight days . However, if the region is too big, I will still have enough time .

I’ve only got ten days left . If we don’t make progress these next ten days, I’ll need Luna to help me suck my mana out for me . While Luna said she could withstand the pain, Luna can’t keep up with Mommy Vyvyan’s pace . When Luna sucks my mana out, I still feel weak the entire next day . It’d be all right if I was in the royal capital, but if I’m in my weakened state in the desert, there’s no way we can travel fast . As a result, we must locate the mine within ten days . Otherwise I’ll have to stay another three days in the desert .

Even if I were to replenish our supplies one more time and make use of the Earth Dragon carriages – which have lots of storage place – my supplies would still only last around fifteen days in the desert . The Earth Dragons are excellent at pulling carriages . However, they require far more rations and water than horses . They’re not creatures that live in the desert after all . It’s ridiculous to ask them to perform like camels .

“Let’s go . ”

“…… Ah!”

I spun my head around and saw Luna wobble . From atop her horse, Luna shook her head and looked at me with a sick look . It was the first time I saw Luna’s condition look so poor . She squint her eyes . Her cheeks weren’t red due to heat stroke . Her face was white as a sheet as though she didn’t have a drip of blood in her . She couldn’t open her eyes because she was exhausted . Shusia who was keeping her steady turned pale from shock . She thought Luna who was leaning on her was just tired . She never realised Luna was in such a poor state .

“Luna! What’s wrong, Luna?!”

Lorana moved quicker than I did . She rushed over to Luna’s side and looked at her face . Lorana wore a particularly grim expression . She removed Luna’s cape and then carried her up . Luna lied lifelessly in Lorana’s arms like a corpse . Lorana carried her into an Earth Dragon carriage and then looked at me who ran after them . She took in a big breath and said, “Your majesty, I think this will be tough on you . ”

I looked at Luna breathing weakly inside the Earth Dragon carriage . In a panicked tone I asked, “My help is needed?! I’ll do anything as long as I can save Luna . I have new orders . Everyone march to the rest station as fast as you can and then set up a defence line! Big sis, how is Luna?!”

“Luna didn’t get heat stroke . She’s suffering from mana deficiency…… Her organs have been damaged which is why it’s difficult for her body to produce mana . There’s very little mana availability in the desert so that’s why she’s suffering from this sort of condition . This is a terminal disease for elves!”

“Mana deficiency……?”

“That’s right, your majesty . When we arrive at the rest stop, please make sure you get intimate with Luna . You must if you want her to live!”