The Scorched Desert's Sand Mage (Novel) - Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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From early morning, the slum plaza had filled with a great many people.
“Waaah!”
“There are so many.”
Brielle and Levin gaped at the crowd gathered in the plaza. Today was the day the Pegasus Raid Force would depart. They had naturally thought many people would come out to watch the send-off, but the crowd gathered in the plaza far exceeded their expectations. This was an era with little entertainment. Even a send-off ceremony like this was entertainment to the people.
“There they come.”
“It’s the Pegasus Raid Force.”
Amid the people’s cheers, the Pegasus Raid Force appeared. Ten desert buggies and twenty large transport vehicles. It was an enormous force, accompanied by more than two hundred Awakened. There were many dungeon raid forces in Neo Seoul, but not many could mobilize this many people for a dungeon conquest. At the head of the Pegasus Raid Force was Lee Ji-ryeong.
“Waaah!”
At Lee Ji-ryeong’s appearance, the crowd let out a tremendous cheer. Even though he could have ridden in a buggy, the sight of Lee Ji-ryeong simply walking forward gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure, like a male lion. Lee Ji-ryeong stopped in the plaza and for a moment enjoyed the people’s cheers. Just then, the wind blew and tousled Lee Ji-ryeong’s hair. At the sight, like a lion shaking its mane, the people reacted even more fanatically.
“Lee Ji-ryeong! Lee Ji-ryeong!”
“Waaah!”
After enjoying the crowd’s reaction for a while, Lee Ji-ryeong walked over to Zeon.
He spoke to Zeon.
“You came.”
“We had an agreement.”
“Are your departure preparations complete?”
“As you can see.”
Zeon looked at Levin and Brielle.
Lee Ji-ryeong frowned slightly.
That was because the only luggage they had was the backpack slung over Levin’s back.
“Will that really be enough?”
“Everything we need is in there.”
“A subspace backpack? If so, then it doesn’t matter.”
Lee Ji-ryeong did not ask where they had obtained the subspace backpack.
He simply assumed that a man on Zeon’s level would naturally be able to acquire one.
At that moment, a woman in a gray robe walked over to Lee Ji-ryeong’s side.
Unusually, even her hair and irises were gray.
She asked Lee Ji-ryeong, “Is this Mr. Zeon?”
“That’s right. Neo Seoul’s only sand mage. Say hello.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Zeon. I am Keldara, rescue team leader of the Pegasus Raid Force.”
“The pleasure is mine as well, Ms. Keldara.”
Zeon lowered his head slightly in greeting.
Keldara studied Zeon carefully.
Perhaps because her irises were gray, almost no emotion showed in them.
They looked like gray glass beads.
“I look forward to working with you on the dungeon raid. If anything inconvenient arises while we’re traveling together, please tell me at any time. I can handle most matters on my end.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Then…”
After bowing her head in greeting, Keldara withdrew.
Lee Ji-ryeong said, “Then we should get moving as well. You can ride in the buggy at the very rear. We had it emptied out for you.”
“Thank you.”
It was then.
Levin, who had been quiet until now, raised his hand and spoke.
“Can I drive that vehicle?”
“You?”
“Yes. I’ve really wanted to try driving one. Would that be a problem?”
At Levin’s bold request, Lee Ji-ryeong frowned.
Within the Pegasus Raid Force, he was a god.
No one there dared object to or refute his decisions.
Once he decided something, that was the end of it.
Naturally, the vehicle Zeon would ride in already had a Pegasus Raid Force Awakened inside it.
That Awakened was both the buggy driver and a watcher.
But if Levin were to drive, that person would have to be taken out.
While Lee Ji-ryeong was considering it, Zeon spoke.
“I’d prefer it if the three of us rode alone too. It’s uncomfortable having someone else with us.”
“Can’t be helped, then. We’ll do that.”
“Thank you. We’ll be careful not to wreck the car.”
After thanking Lee Ji-ryeong, Levin ran toward the buggy.
Lee Ji-ryeong said to Zeon, “Then let’s meet again at the magic stone mine.”
“So we really are resupplying there.”
Zeon nodded.
The magic stone mine, located a hundred kilometers from Neo Seoul, was a major supply source.
Raid forces and caravans traveling far, like the Pegasus Raid Force, almost always stopped there to check their equipment and replenish lacking supplies.
Once they left the magic stone mine, no safe shelter existed anymore.
From that point on, it meant facing the desert heat and demonic beasts with nothing but their own bodies.
That was why, from time to time, people would appear saying they wanted to turn back at the mine.
Zeon boarded the buggy with Brielle.
Levin was already seated in the driver’s seat.
“Heh heh!”
Apparently delighted out of his mind, Levin kept touching the buggy’s steering wheel and giggling.
Looking at Levin, who was even drooling from excitement, Brielle muttered, “You look like a pervert.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“What?”
“A man’s heart.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Buggies are a man’s dream, that’s what I mean. Anyone would end up like me if they got to hold the wheel themselves.”
Levin stroked the steering wheel as if caressing a cherished treasure.
“Hopeless.”
In the end, Brielle turned her head away and ignored him, but Levin remained completely unbothered.
For a boy from the slums, getting a chance to drive a buggy was impossible.
No matter how sturdily cars were made, once they went out into the desert they broke down easily. Because of that, no one entrusted the wheel to just anyone.
It was only because this was an exceptional situation and they were traveling with Zeon that Levin had been allowed to drive. Under normal circumstances, he never would have been permitted to take the wheel.
Zeon yielded the front seat to Brielle and sat in the back.
At that moment, the vehicles ahead began to move. Levin hurriedly shifted gears.
Then, as he pressed the accelerator, the buggy jolted and began to move.
Levin shouted excitedly, “We’re off!”
“You really do know how to drive, right?”
“Of course. Just trust your big brother.”
“I need a reason to trust you first.”
Brielle muttered with an uneasy expression.
Several years had already passed since she had been captured by human hunters and brought into Neo Seoul.
At first, she had thought this place was like hell.
So she had waited only for the day she could escape.
And yet now that she was actually leaving Neo Seoul, even if only for a while, she felt strangely unsettled.
She was not leaving for good, only temporarily vacating her place in order to raid a dungeon.
Even so, she already missed the home where she now lived.
“Tch! This feels weird.”
Brielle pouted.
***
The Pegasus Raid Force was divided broadly into four teams.
The first was the scouting team.
Their mission was exactly what the name implied: scouting dungeons.
Finding hidden dungeons and determining their scale and information was their main role.
The dungeon discovered this time had also been found by them.
The second was the base team.
They built bases inside dungeons so the raid force could conduct raids more comfortably.
The third was the assault team.
They were the very core of the dungeon raid force.
Using the information gathered by the scouting team, they formed raid plans and carried them out.
The fourth and last was the rescue team.
They waited at the base and moved in to save the assault team if it ever fell into danger.
Naturally, it was made up of outstanding Awakened.
The one leading the rescue team was Keldara, the gray-haired woman.
Within the Pegasus Raid Force, her nickname was the Gray Witch.
Keldara sat beside Lee Ji-ryeong.
She was not only the rescue team leader, but also Lee Ji-ryeong’s secretary.
In truth, her role as secretary was her main duty more than her title as rescue team leader.
That was why whenever they set out on dungeon raids, she always sat beside Lee Ji-ryeong like this.
In a calm voice, she said, “The total number of Awakened mobilized for this mission is three hundred. Of those, two hundred belong to Pegasus, and the remaining hundred are mercenaries. The mercenaries have all been loaded into the transport vehicles.”
Even transport vehicles had grades.
Better transport vehicles had facilities where one could prepare simple food and even take showers.
The Pegasus Raid Force Awakened had been assigned to those vehicles.
The shabby transport vehicles naturally went to the mercenaries.
Since those vehicles were meant for carrying dungeon byproducts, they naturally had no comfort facilities, and the ride quality was poor as well.
Even so, the mercenaries could not utter a single complaint.
That was because opportunities to raid large dungeons like this were almost never given to mercenaries.
Even participating in a dungeon raid like this immediately counted as career experience.
By accumulating experience like this, later they would be given chances to raid even larger dungeons.
That was why they endured being crammed into transport wagons without complaint.
“We’ve loaded provisions for ten days, and we plan to purchase another ten days’ worth at the magic stone mine.”
“So enough for twenty days in total?”
“Yes. We’ve never used more than ten days on a dungeon raid before, but this time, considering the dungeon’s difficulty, we’ve prepared twice that amount.”
“Was the food stored in subspace?”
“Yes. It was split between two subspace items, and the food we purchase at the magic stone mine will be stored in another item.”
“Perfect.”
Lee Ji-ryeong smiled in satisfaction.
Keldara’s work was always flawless, which made him deeply trust her.
As if something had suddenly occurred to him, Lee Ji-ryeong asked, “Why don’t I see the West District Awakened?”
“They said they would join us at the magic stone mine.”
“So they’re already there?”
“Yes. The Supervisors dispatched by City Hall are also supposed to join us at the magic stone mine.”
“They’re all doing as they please.”
Lee Ji-ryeong frowned.
Even in a case like this, where one discovered and raided the dungeon, none of the excavated items ever became the complete property of the raid force alone.
To raid a dungeon, one absolutely had to obtain City Hall’s permission.
If one raided without City Hall’s authorization and got caught, one was thrown out of Neo Seoul altogether.
Nor could City Hall be deceived.
To raid a large dungeon, numerous Awakened and vast quantities of supplies were needed.
Moving all of that naturally required enormous sums of money.
City Hall had a firm grasp on the flow of every bit of that capital, as if looking at it in the palm of its hand.
That was why deceiving City Hall was impossible from the start.
Once a dungeon raid application was submitted, City Hall dispatched Supervisors.
The Supervisors watched the progress of the raid and checked whether any items or goods were being siphoned away.
Avoiding their eyes and pilfering things was virtually impossible.
The Supervisors investigated the items excavated by the raid force and reported them to City Hall, and based on that, City Hall imposed taxes.
So the Supervisors dispatched to dungeons were, in a sense, tax collectors.
Naturally, there was no raid force that liked Supervisors.
“Have you identified the Supervisors’ identities yet?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll identify them as soon as they join us and find out whether they can be drawn to our side.”
“Handle that issue yourself.”
“Yes. And about Zeon.”
“What about Zeon?”
Lee Ji-ryeong looked at Keldara.
“He is that person, isn’t he? The one who killed your younger brother…”
“That’s right.”
“And yet you’re traveling with him?”
“Why do you think I haven’t killed him?”
“You promised, didn’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“That you would not forget your grudge against the one who killed that bastard.”
“Do you intend to keep that promise?”
“What do you think?”
Lee Ji-ryeong shot the question back at Keldara.