Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Xi Wei understood Bryant’s meaning.
He didn’t comment on Bryant’s actions, but if he were that green dragon, he would have joined forces with the red dragon to beat up the blue dragon.
Speaking of which, the story splits into two threads.
(Player Name) (M) had already arrived near the Death Desert with his army.
This was the border area between the Andor Empire and the Orc Royal Court. Since all the Priests in his party had fallen, the soldiers could only rely on their own rest to recover. Thus, the time required to return to Winter City had increased exponentially.
Although Whirlwind Dunes sounded like just a sand dune, it was actually a massive market situated between the Orc Royal Court and the Andor Empire.
Not only from the Andor Empire, but many smugglers from other empires also brought their goods here to trade with the orcs.
In Whirlwind Dunes, human and goblin merchants would wear orc masks to conceal their identities, while the orcs did not need to hide their appearances. Those who came to buy goods were basically military forces from the Orc Royal Court.
Furthermore, with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Andor Empire and the Orc Royal Court, Whirlwind Dunes had become increasingly lively.
The force that managed Whirlwind Dunes had built a simple city wall around the oasis.
From a distance, Whirlwind Dunes looked like a city standing in the desert.
Initially, (Player Name) (M) did not intend to rest in the small city of Whirlwind Dunes.
However, Claudia’s condition was not good.
The Death Desert had a hot climate. Even though they only traveled after dusk each day, they were still exposed to the harsh conditions. Moreover, with no Priests to restore their status, Claudia, who was the most physically delicate, had finally reached her limit.
She had a high fever that had not subsided since last night.
(Player Name) (M) was helpless. He could no longer carry Claudia and live in caves. So, he risked it, disguised his army as a merchant caravan, and made some orc masks along the way before finally managing to sneak into Whirlwind Dunes.
However, getting in was only the first step. He still needed to find a way to resolve Claudia’s fever. As a modern person, he could guess Claudia’s condition. The temperature difference between day and night in the desert was too extreme, with fluctuations in heat and cold. Coupled with insufficient fluid intake and constant travel, Claudia had eventually caught a cold.
Under normal circumstances, mages’ bodies were much stronger than ordinary people’s and not easily prone to illness.
But the problem was that they had been injured before. He could refresh his status through death and resurrection, but Claudia couldn’t.
(Player Name) (M) rented a small room in Whirlwind Dunes for ten gold coins. Elsewhere, ten gold coins would have been enough to buy a decent house in an ordinary city. But in Whirlwind Dunes, ten gold coins could only rent a clean and tidy room for three days.
Merchants doing business here dealt with orders of thousands or tens of thousands of gold coins. They usually stayed in Whirlwind Dunes for about a week, so a fee of a few dozen gold coins was not a concern for them.
This room was actually snatched by (Player Name) (M). The goblin merchant, seeing that the subordinates under (Player Name) (M) looked intimidating, timidly offered the room to him.
“Back in the day, I was a handsome young man in Winter City. I never expected to fall to this state…”
(Player Name) (M) sighed, stroking his bird’s nest-like hair.
Usually, Claudia would help him manage his hair, tying it up and styling it into a handsome warrior’s cut. He had long grown accustomed to it.
Now that Claudia was sick, he felt like an idiot, incapable of doing anything.
However, this precisely showed how meticulous Claudia’s care for him was.
“Cough—”
Claudia, lying on the bed, coughed uncomfortably. Her eyelids fluttered, and her brow furrowed slightly. It was clear she wanted to wake up, but the physical discomfort and mental fatigue kept her in a deep sleep.
(Player Name) (M) walked to the bedside and tenderly touched Claudia’s hand. It was ice-cold, but her forehead was burning hot. He tucked the blanket in tighter.
“Little Ya, wait for me. I’ll go find medicine and a priest for you right now.”
He mumbled in Claudia’s ear, then turned and walked out of the room.
Outside the room, two Crusaders stood guard with stern expressions.
To conceal their identities, they had shed their armor and donned ordinary leather and linen clothing.
But even without their armor, they couldn’t hide their extraordinary presence.
“Two big brothers, please take care of Little Ya for me. I’ll be back soon.”
The two Crusaders glanced up at (Player Name) (M). They didn’t speak but nodded slightly. They remained in their previous posture, their right hands resting on their waists.
Passing by the Star Magus’s room, (Player Name) (M) glanced inside. This Star Magus seemed quite relaxed, sitting there meditating. Although both were mages, the Star Magus’s physical resilience was clearly much greater than Claudia’s. Facing the same hardships of traveling, the Star Magus was like someone unaffected.
Unfortunately, the Star Magus did not know healing magic.
(Player Name) (M) sighed.
The inn was located above a small tavern.
The tavern’s name was down-to-earth: “Desert Oasis.”
The first floor was large, and many orcs, goblins, and human merchants were drinking freely in the tavern at the moment.
They each had their own groups and generally didn’t chat casually, so the tavern was unusually quiet, with only the sounds of waiters moving around and customers ordering dishes.
(Player Name) (M) walked down the worn wooden stairs. The “creak-creak” sound was exceptionally noticeable throughout the tavern, and all eyes turned to him.
(Player Name) (M) tried his best to remain calm.
But he could still read the emotions in their gazes.
The gazes from the orcs were generally filled with unrestrained bloodlust and contempt.
The gazes from behind the human merchants’ masks were mostly filled with curiosity and ill intentions.
Goblins were the easiest to identify.
They were short, and their eyes held only greed and cunning.
From the perspective of a player, one-third of the HP bars in the tavern were yellow, and the rest were red, meaning two-thirds of the people in the tavern would attack him at any moment.
This was not a tavern at all.
It was practically a dungeon!
Claudia was sick now, and (Player Name) (M) dared not cause any trouble. He was afraid of implicating Claudia.
Whirlwind Dunes was a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers resided.
The Star Magus had told him to keep a low profile when they first arrived. He only needed to look at the Star Magus’s serious and solemn expression to know that there were definitely difficult characters in Whirlwind Dunes.
It was only seventy to eighty meters to the tavern entrance.
But (Player Name) (M)’s back was already covered in a cold sweat.
To come to Whirlwind Dunes.
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
But he still felt guilty.
Because he knew very well that the force that had looted all the supplies the Andor Empire had given to the Orc Royal Court was the Wintery Empire, where he was currently staying.
