The daybreak at the desert was quiet because there were no sounds of chirping birds.
The stars in the dark night sky disappeared one after the other. The sky was gradually finding its original color, and this was the only indication that signaled the approaching morning.
“… Um.”
Asleep, Nainiae was tossing and turning. Still looking sleepy, she opened her eyes.
‘Was I a sleep… for a moment?’
Her memory was blurry. Nainiae thought about what she did last before she fell asleep. She remembered that she gave her lap to Riley for him to lie on. Having remembered this, she had a vacant look on her face.
“Are you awake?”
“…”
For some reason, her back was comfortable. Nainiae was just lying there, but she saw Riley’s face that was looking down toward her. She slowly opened her sleepy eyes big.
“… Huh?”
“It’s morning, you rascal.”
“…?!”
It seemed she finally comprehended the situation. Nainiae, who was lying on Riley’s lap, quickly got up and fixed her hair and clothes that got out of shape.
“I am sorry, Young Master. I… for a bit…”
Embarrassed, she bit her lips and apologized immediately. Watching Nainiae, Riley struggled and got up. He stretched big and said,
“If you are awake, then we should slowly get going.”
Nainiae barely managed to get over the embarrassment. She looked at Riley and asked what they will be doing.
“Excuse me. Should I go get the map first?”
With just one gesture of her hand, she put all of the items they used last night in to the dimensional space. She let Riley know that she will go immediately to the Solia and get a map if he wanted.
“What about your eye? Can you use it?”
Nainiae touched the face around her right eye.
“… Um.”
Nainiae checked her condition as she touched her face around her eye. To try it out, she looked at Riley with her right eye, but she flinched her shoulders.
“Is it still not yet?”
“I am sorry. Even I… don’t know what’s causing this.”
The pain was so severe that it was impossible for her to even force herself to use the right eye. Nainiae wondered if it had something to do with her face being healed. She swallowed her worries inside and used magic.
“I don’t think this can be called a replacement for my right eye, but I’ll spread detection magic. If the man named Kabal is still in this desert, we should be able to notice him within time.”
She said it will not be as accurate as the right eye, but it will be able to help. Right after, she made a portal to Solia and said,
“While at it, I’ll also bring some food we could eat as breakfast. It might take a while… Would you like to come along?”
She suggested they should stop by at Solia and come back to desert. Riley looked around the dark sand and raised his right hand as if he was asking Nainiae to wait for a moment.
“Wait… Over there… Are those carriages?”
Riley was asking with his right hand raised. Nainiae closed the portal on the back. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the group of carriages on the move.
“Yes. I think… they are carriages.”
Using the detection magic that she used earlier, Nainiae was able to get close to the carriages to observe them. She explained what kind of carriages they were.
“I think they are…. Some kind of merchant group’s carriages.”
The carriages had loads of food and water, the crucial items for travel across desert.
“Would you like to see?”
She made a mirror-like thing in mid-air so Riley could also see the carriages and showed him the scene that she was observing through the detection magic.
“They have food and… water… and wooden boards? That’s no ordinary amount.”
There were numerous boxes on the carriage. Riley was checking the contents of the boxes. He found a box that had different color from the rest and looked at that one.
“Um?”
In the box, there were umbrellas.
‘Umbrellas?’
The umbrella looked familiar to him. Riley furrowed his brows and went over his fuzzy memories.
“Judging from the things on the carriages, it does not look like they have a business in the desert. Could they be trying to get out of Solia?”
Nainiae, who was observing the carriage, moved her gaze toward where Riley was looking at.
“Um? They are umbrellas?”
Nainiae learned that carriages didn’t just have food and drinks, but also boxes with umbrellas. She opened her eyes wide as if she just realized something.
“Ah, those umbrellas… I know those.”
“You know those umbrellas?”