Chapter 2280: Compass Fragments

Chapter 2280: Chapter 2280: Compass Fragments

The situation now is different from when we first arrived. Shard has specially prepared "toy reserves" for each time exploration that differ from normal outgoing trips, most of which are daily supplies needed by these ladies.

Miss Sander continues to care for the aging elf who is gradually regaining consciousness, while Miss Mister sits beside them watching Shard and Miss Nate categorize clothing, toiletries, bed linens, even teacups and saucers, and put them into boxes, without offering to help herself.

While sorting out these miscellaneous items, Shard also chatted a bit with the seemingly taciturn Lady Knight, who regards Shard as a "Special Witch" and thus uses honorifics with him.

"What kind of demons did your country encounter specifically? I actually have some experience in demon hunting."

"Sorry, we are not clear. It was the Witch Investigator sent by Her Majesty the Witch Empress to conclude this. The duchy I belong to is not very large... it only has one city."

"I see, it’s quite remarkable that you’re willing to come to such a dangerous place. Has your country considered other options? Rather than letting ordinary people venture into such places, relocating and selling off belongings might be more convenient."

Shard then asked, and Miss Nate pursed her lips, moving the box of fresh apples to the bench:

"This is Her Majesty the Queen’s command. I have given my loyalty to my queen. I will complete her command, rather than question it."

Everyone has their own life attitude, especially since this remarkable Lady Knight has come this far; maybe she’ll really succeed, so Shard didn’t ask further but continued speaking:

"Actually, I also hold a knight title, but I am loyal to my princess, a very beautiful red-haired lady."

He refers to Lecia here; though Shard also pledges loyalty to Margaret, it is in his "Gray Hawk II" identity, not as "Rejed’s Hamilton."

"Since you’re loyal to the princess, aren’t you supposed to execute all her commands and requests?"

The gray-haired Miss Knight couldn’t help but ask, and Shard thought for a moment:

"Well... as for orders, she generally doesn’t give me excessive requests, and even if there are any that I’m not fond of, we can discuss them, after all, we are family."

Listening to their conversation, Miss Mister covering her mouth burst out laughing, while Miss Nate blinked, not very surprised after understanding Shard’s words:

"So, you’ve become the princess’s knight in the capacity of the princess’s consort. But you must suit each other well, as it’s rare for a princess to choose her husband this way."

Once they’ve sorted out the large amounts of supplies provided by Shard, Old Lady Sianod could sit up with Miss Sander’s support.

Calculating the time, the back and forth just took Shard over twenty minutes, and along with initially understanding the situation, this time exploration is nearing its end.

"Although we encountered some unexpected situations on our return, fortunately, the harvest is there. What happened on the road, let Old Lady Sianod explain later concerning her privacy, now let’s take a look at these items."

Everyone gathered around, and Lady Knight Miss Nate proactively supported the aging elf.

Shard then displayed half of the stele, a roll of parchment, and a piece of strange metal brought from the ruins.

No one knew what the one-third disc-shaped metal object was... Miss Mister certainly knew but did not speak. However, the half-stele and the parchment roll can both be interpreted.

The contents of the two materials aren’t much, their texts belong to the Early Fifth Era, which Shard and Old Lady Sianod both can translate. As for the Mermaid Girl, she embarrassingly scratched her sleeve:

"Well... my ancient languages scores have always been poor."

Which is quite similar to Iluna.

Shard translated the parchment, and Old Lady Sianod translated the stele with fewer letters, understanding the content within two to three minutes:

"The stele tells the story of the ruins."

To prevent memory loss, while Old Lady Sianod dictated, Miss Nate took notes of the content:

"The temple ruins originally belonged to devotees of a deity without a given title. The temple was located inside an ancient country in the Western Continent, but on one day, when the Deity punished its believers and a divine punishment descended from heaven, the entire kingdom turned into a barren desert overnight.

Thus, most of the kingdom’s people left their homeland and began to wander, leaving only a few priests and temple officials remaining in the temple, praying for the Deity’s forgiveness.

They waited and waited, until after two generations, only the last temple official remained in the temple. He alone engraved this stone tablet, hoping their story wouldn’t be completely buried by the sand.

The elf’s aged hand stroked the surface of the stele:

"The missing half of the stele should detail the final temple official’s personal experiences, but now it cannot be seen."

"Grandma, you said that temple ruins were originally in the Western Continent? How could it have come to this desert now? Could the strange desert we’re in now actually be in the Western Continent?"

The blue-haired Miss Sander asked curiously, Old Lady Sianod smiled and shook her head:

"I can’t directly tell you exactly what place we are in. Elves usually call this area ’borderlands,’ it does not exist in normal space, no need to delve into its exact position."

"Borderlands?"

Shard’s ears twitched, and he put down the parchment roll in his hand:

"I’ve figured out the contents here, it is not complicated. Although the group of priests and the priest left behind wanted to pray for the deity’s forgiveness, some people also thought about using other methods to transform the cursed barren land back to its original state."

"Is this related?"

Miss Mister pointed to the piece of metal, trying to engage herself, as Shard knew she was aware of everything from the beginning:

"Yes, through various channels, they eventually learned about this strange creation called the ’Heart of the Oasis’..."

Everyone looked expectantly at Shard, who hurriedly shook his head:

"No, no, this piece of metal is not the Heart of the Oasis, but one-third of the compass that can point towards the Heart of the Oasis.

Until the last priest passed away, they couldn’t find the remaining parts of the compass. The priest, worried that their attempt to bypass the deity and change the desert would provoke a more severe divine punishment, finally hid the parchment roll detailing this along with the one-third compass in a secluded spot in the temple."

Miss Nate quickly recorded as Shard recited the method of using the complete compass written below the parchment. It’s similar to a regular compass, only requiring some water and sunlight.

"This excursion was very fruitful. We should say that finding this fragment in the boundless desert was definitely not a coincidence."

Old Lady Sianod was very rational. Even after recovering, she remained the leader of the team, her eyes scanning everyone’s face:

"Given that an unexpected compass fragment appeared here, perhaps we can find the second and third pieces nearby."

"Grandmother, are there other ruins worth exploring nearby?"

So Shard asked, and the blue-haired Miss Sander answered in her stead:

"Before you appeared, not every exploration led us to valuable areas, but apart from the destination of your current trip, there are indeed at least four more areas worth exploring nearby. However, the other areas are not close, and we used to set out only after nightfall."

Looking at the sunlight outside, it’s clear Shard won’t experience the desert’s night conditions this time.

"Let’s go to that place first."

The lady with tan skin smiled, evidently guided by the deity:

"Grandmother, do you remember? It was the one time when Miss Sander, I, and Miss Nate all went out together."

The elderly elf smiled and nodded:

"I recall, yes, it was the only time the three of you went out together. I remember you found a tomb with a knight’s statue but couldn’t approach it? Indeed, this merits investigation."

"A tomb? What exactly happened back then? Why couldn’t you approach it?"

Shard asked, unexpectedly receiving a reply from Miss Knight:

"You had to wear armor to approach the statue. At the time, I wore the armor and discovered the other two ladies were blocked by an invisible barrier. When I gave them the armor, I was thrown back from the statue, but Miss Sander could approach wearing the armor."

"Because we didn’t understand the situation, we didn’t stay long nearby. Thinking back, that was one of the few places in the desert where we found with supernatural forces."

The blue-haired Mermaid Girl added, causing Shard to nod:

"Alright, next time I come, I’ll bring several extra sets of armor."

In fact, just bringing the set of Golden Knight Armor gifted by Miss Gawder at home would suffice, as Shard wouldn’t take everyone to visit the statue.

"Next time?"

The Mermaid Girl asked hesitantly:

"If I’m not mistaken, you mean..."

"Yes, I will be leaving for a while, my return timing is uncertain, but I will definitely come back."

Miss Sander wanted to inquire further but was stopped by Old Lady Sianod, who, after the illusion earlier, roughly understood the origin of the young man blessed by Tree Father:

"Next time you come, don’t worry about bringing more food and water. I’ve figured it out; this desert neither lets us live nor lets us die; it only bakes us in suffering. Your supplies this time are enough, but before you return, help investigate information about the ’Heart of the Oasis’."

She pointed at everyone here:

"Although we’re all here to find that thing, in reality, none of us know what the ’Heart of the Oasis’ truly is."