The magician lost consciousness for an hour after the fire. Despite being slapped several times by a middle-aged woman who urged him to wake up, he couldn't open his eyes at all.
"Poor thing..."
The woman sighed. It felt more pitiful not being able to get up after a slap ceremony.
"Ouch...." It was a painful voice that seemed to instinctively open his eyes just to avoid getting hit more.
"Ah, finally, I can relax now! I'll call the village doctor to take a look. Stay still," the woman said as she left to fetch the village doctor.
The magician, with swollen and even bleeding cheeks, murmured repeatedly,
"Why does it hurt so much? Ouch...."
Sitting next to me, he propped himself up with a walking stick, I discreetly greeted him.
"Hello, magician. I'm the one who requested the teleportation circle today."
"Eh?"
The magician opened his eyes narrowly and shifted his gaze towards me. His hazy brown eyes seemed to wander in the air for a moment, then cleared up as if remembering something.
"Ah, three times the fee!"
He vividly remembered the promise of receiving three times the fee.
"Hmm, you're later than I expected. I've been waiting for quite a while!" The magician scolded me with a hoarse voice.
"I'm sorry. Various things happened on the way.... But what about the fire? Can I still teleport today?"
It was the most crucial question. Despite feeling deeply uncomfortable about bringing up my business to a pitiful man who had lost his home and endured a merciless hour of slaps, I had no choice considering my safety and the urgency of my situation.
The magician paused for a moment at my question but soon provided an answer. "My experiment went wrong... I didn't expect it to explode right in front of me! Well, I had drawn the teleportation discreetly, but with the house in such a state, I'll have to redraw them."
"How long will it take to redraw it?"
Please, please don't take too long. It was already past midnight. If it took ten hours, all hope would vanish.
"About three hours?"
As soon as I heard the magician's answer, the tension in my body eased. It wasn't as bad as I had feared. A sigh of relief escaped me naturally.
"That'll do. Thank you."
"Now, I need to replenish my energy, but... I'll redraw it quickly."
"Don't forget the 150 silver, though."
The magician bent his thumb and forefinger to form a circle. He was a funny magician. However, there was no thought of blame. I enthusiastically nodded and made a circle with my fingers.
Hold on, male protagonists! I'm coming!
***
The magician and I moved away from the fire scene to a distance. Regardless of my urgent situation, I asked the magician if it was okay for him to draw the teleportation circle so calmly, given that his house burned down and he lost his property. He winked and shouted.
"Well, I still need to earn a little more!"
There was nothing to say to that.
The magician began to carve the teleportation circle with a stick on the clean ground. Originally, he would draw it with ink on a large paper or a surface like a wall or floor, but for now, this was the best option, he said. As long as magic worked, I didn't mind.
The magician, with a cooling spell on his swollen cheek, continuously muttered about the pain as he drew the teleportation circle. At some point, he even asked me why his cheek hurt so much, but I pretended not to know. If he found out that the village woman hit him to wake him up, the magician might get angry and abandon the spell to go fight.
In the meantime, I fetched water for him and applied the medicine given by the doctor, playing the role of an assistant. Once the magician learned that I was an apprentice of a great magician, he started lecturing me, starting with "Back in my day." Still, I didn't mind at all. No matter what he said, his hands were diligently drawing the teleportation circle.
And finally, the teleportation circle was completed. It took two hours longer than promised, and even though it was drawn on the ground with twigs, the magician, despite his aching body, meticulously crafted it. With about five hours remaining until 10 AM, any anxiety had vanished as I observed the magician's thoroughness and dedication.
"Thank you, magician!"
"Yeah, sure. Don't forget to transfer 150 silver to Taria Bank!"
"Of course! And please take it as collateral!"
Without any guilt or hesitation, I entrusted the promised Alexis Ducal Watch to serve as collateral. Smiling broadly, I bowed to the magician, who also smiled and shook my hand.
I could endure not taking the motion sickness potion. Enduring a moment of brief pain is fine as long as, I can avoid penalties like memory loss, illness, baldness, insomnia, and aphasia! It was a penalty that should be avoided at all costs.
I closed my eyes as I stood in the teleportation circle. The magician started infusing mana from behind.
"Hiyap... Ugh, cough! Cough-cough-hack!"
Huh?
I turned to look at the magician as I heard an unusual coughing sound, and I saw him coughing up blood. It seemed like casting magic in his weakened state after the fire took a toll on him. About to ask if he was okay, a bright light emitted from the teleportation circle.
The magician's expression changed drastically as he saw it.
"No way!!"
The magician shouted in despair while looking at some part of the floor. What's happening? Why is he acting like that? What went wrong?
At that moment, my eyes fell on the spot the magician was looking at. There was blood from the magician on one corner of the teleportation circle.
"The teleportation circle is like a very delicate and intricate formula. If even one part is wrong, the destination can change."
The words of the teleportation station employee flashed through my mind.
"Get out of there! Come out!"
The magician urgently shouted, but before I could lift my foot, the light of the teleportation circle swallowed me. And then, terrible pain came.
***
A moment later, I found myself standing in the middle of a desert. The chilly dawn desert wind blew fiercely, and there wasn't a single soul, not even an ant, around. It was all sand, sand, and more sand.
There was an error in the teleportation circle.
Whether it was due to the shocking realization or the aftermath of teleportation, severe dizziness set in. I collapsed right there. The dunes made of sand were soft even when I fell. Amidst the confusion and dizziness, an inner voice was heard.
What are you doing? Get up. You need to go back. There's still time. Do you want to live as a bald man who can't speak, forgetting everything and moaning in pain? Get up, Del Narcissus! If that's the case, you should have just dealt a clean blow to any male protagonist and gone home!
However, on the other hand, I also had thoughts like.
Even if I go back, I'll be caught by someone, forced into unwanted sex against my will, and live in fear until the system logs me out. Do I really have to go back?
The vast night sky was shimmering with a deep navy blue. The stars, like embedded gems, were truly spectacular. Just before sunrise, the darkness and silence felt thick and heavy.
I couldn't even think about getting up. I lay flat, gazing blankly at the sky. In my mind, two voices kept arguing. Yet, unexpectedly, a word popped out from the abyss.
"Just do what you want."
Andrea had said that.
Maybe. Regardless of the benefits of going back, and the losses of escaping, just do what I want. Regret will remain no matter what choice I make, but if I choose what I truly want, I will rise without hesitation after overcoming that regret.
Then, what do I want?
After a while, I got up, the sand beneath my feet pressed down with my weight. The desert before the sunrise had a comforting feeling.
Let's go back. I want to go back. How to handle it, what to say to whom, let's think about it when the time comes. Right now, I just want to go back.
This is probably the only largest desert connecting the Southern Continent, where the Melian Empire is located, and the neighboring Northern Continent. Near the Desert, there is the prosperous desert city and tourist destination, Deserent. By using a teleportation circle there, you can return to the area of the Magic Tower in an instant. I have about five hours left. It's not too late.
I briskly walked while surveying the surroundings. In the distance, I could see what looked like a towering sand tower or pillar, reaching up to the sky. From a distance, the Magic Tower looked similar to that. What kind of structure is it? At least, I might encounter people if I head in that direction.
However, shortly after, I found myself standing there with my mouth agape, unable to move. At first, I thought it was a mistake, but the sand tower was moving slowly. And as I got closer to the sand tower, the strength of the wind intensified.
"Crazy... is that a... sandstorm?"
The notion that the desert is safe during the day was nothing more than nonsense from someone unfamiliar with the desert. A destructive sandstorm was quietly approaching me. As I got closer to the sand tower, the strength of the wind became stronger.
[Error!]
[Remaining time: 4:32:16]