Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 350

**Episode 350: The Salt Desert (3)**

After the attack of the desert specters, there were fortunately no more attacks. Some of the soldiers were starting to get exhausted, but thanks to Isaac watching from behind and making sure no one fell behind, no one was left behind. Falling behind would soon lead to death, so the soldiers gritted their teeth and pressed on. The endless landscape of the salt desert was tiring in and of itself, causing optical illusions. Isaac, suddenly curious, asked Aidan. “This might sound like a stupid question, but doesn’t salt dissolve in the ocean? But this salt desert is next to the ocean, so how does it not dissolve?” He had originally thought of it as simply ‘a miraculous act of God’s omnipotence’. But in the end, this was related to the question of ‘how will the Salt Parliament get the god out from under the desert’. The methods Isaac knew of involved holy water, rituals, and offerings, but he wondered if it wouldn’t be easier to just flood the salt desert with seawater and dissolve it all. Aidan made a slightly awkward expression before opening his mouth. “I’m not sure about the details, but when we came here, I observed the coastline and the seabed, and it seems that the sea in front of Mirumia originally formed a kind of basin.” “Ah, like a bowl shape?” “Yes. Then, when the lighthouse keeper raised the sun, the seawater in the bowl started to dry up. But as the water level started to go down, new seawater kept flowing in, and that seawater dried up too… I heard that this process happened very quickly, in an instant. The steam created at that time was said to have been cursed, creating the storms in the Strait of Nightmares.” Like that, the seawater seeped in and dried up, repeating with the tides and the waves, until finally the inflow started to slow down. As the boundary became higher, the speed at which the seawater dried up became faster than the speed at which it flowed in. As a result, a huge, hill-shaped salt wall blocked the inflow of seawater, and even if it did seep in, it dried up before it could go deep, becoming part of the wall. That was why even now, the terrain of the salt desert was lower than the average sea level. Isaac even wondered if this disaster had caused the sea levels around the world to drop slightly. *** If the environment had been normal, Mirumia would have started to be visible from beyond the horizon as the day came to an end. He wondered if it was a mirage, but when he checked again, it was definitely Mirumia. The ancient city that had been destroyed a thousand years ago was now an uninhabited ruin, but it still boasted an imposing grandeur. Just then, a group of warriors on horseback began to gallop from the direction of Mirumia. “Holy Knight!” The knight leading the horses was Liana Georg. A pleasant chill emanated from the holy sword Lumiad in her hand. Isaac immediately headed to the front of the line. “Are the Elilim troops alright?” “Ah, yes. We lost a few horses, but they’re gradually regaining their strength. There were no casualties.”

Isaac was relieved to think that the heatstroke countermeasures for the Elril army were working properly. He had been worried that the Elril knights, who came from the cool northern lands, would not be able to adapt to the heat, but they seemed to be tougher than he thought. It made sense, since they were the kind of people who could fight with guts even after being hit by swords dozens of times on the battlefield and die after the battle was over.

“As you said, the buildings are in pretty good condition for ruins. There are some who complain of anxiety, but it seems that there is no problem for the entire army to stay and leave. I have also found a well.”

Isaac nodded.

“Good. Lord Rottenhammer is leading the stragglers in the rear, so please help distribute their luggage.”

“I understand.”

Thanks to Liana’s rejoining, the movement speed of Isaac’s Dawn Army also became much faster. The soldiers, excited by the fact that they were now arriving in the legendary ancient city, whispered various legends, but as the scenery of Mir mia gradually came closer to their eyes, they gradually became speechless.

This ancient city, which had been abandoned for nearly a thousand years without rain or visitors, seemed to have become a mummy as it was when the disaster struck in the past.

Seen up close, the cursed sun was not as bright as the real sun far away and was reddish in color. The ominously blazing flames blazed like the whites of the eyes.

Thanks to the sea drying up due to that sun, the water level had dropped, so Mir mia, which was once a port, had become like a fortress built on a hill. In the harbor, which was once the center of the south, thousands of ships were half-buried in salt, completely dry. The landscape of the ship’s cemetery was eerie.

The city itself, as Liana said, was quite intact for a city that had been abandoned for a thousand years.

There were buildings that had collapsed or were buried in debris, but most of the buildings were intact as if people would come out soon. However, it was even more bizarre to think that there was not a single person in such a large city.

Liana asked as if she was shivering.

“Where did the people who lived here go?”

“They scattered all over the world. Those who remained in the city could not board the ship, so they fled to the desert, and those who were overseas heard of the disaster that had occurred in their hometown and tried to return, but sank… Those who could not do so settled in other ports.”

Aidan replied calmly.

The Salt Council is the successor to the faith that began in this land, Mir mia. The people of Mir mia, who worshiped the sea, became wanderers after the disaster and lived scattered around the world.

Anyway, among the people who were scattered like that, those who were relatively well-off were those who had ships and went out to the open sea. It was natural for the scattered people to eventually gather at the port again and seek refuge.

After a thousand years, it would be difficult to say that there is any meaning in that lineage, but the tradition still continues. Aidan may also be a distant descendant of them.

However, more than lineage, the sense of purpose that the gods buried under the salt desert should be taken out was the centripetal force that bound the Salt Council.

Aidan looked at the cursed sun floating in the sky above Mir mia with an expression of mixed emotions.

“But I’m back like this. The sun is still up.”

***

Elril’stroopshadsettheircampwell,justasIsaachhadappointed.

As soon as they arrived, Isaac ordered everyone to rest, except for the minimum number of guards. Isaac’s order to rest applied to everyone, regardless of rank or position.

The Elril army was not only skilled at fighting, but also at setting up camp, so the soldiers were able to rest right away without any trouble.

“Sir Isaac, would it be alright if I looked around the city?”

There was one person who refused to rest. Of course, it was Aidan, the captain of the Salt Council and an archaeologist.

Isaac looked at him in disbelief. He had gotten up without resting much, even though his stamina was lower than the knights’.

“Why don’t you rest a little longer?”

Aidan scratched his head in embarrassment as he replied.

“I can’t sleep. I can’t stop thinking about what kind of place this is.”

His heart, which was beating with excitement as a member of the Salt Council and as an archaeologist, refused to rest.

Aidan looked around with a sense of awe.

“To be honest, I’m not that attached to the Salt Council. I’m more interested in the ruins. At first, I thought it would be interesting to come to Mir mia, but… It’s different when I actually see it.”

“It’s different?”

“Yes. It’s different from other ruins because it feels like the lives of our ancestors are still alive here. The disaster struck suddenly, and there was no time to pack or organize their belongings. Even a single abandoned spoon or a fallen door tells the story of what happened… I’d like to look around a little before the soldiers ruin this environment.”

Isaac understood Aidan’s feelings.

Of course, it wasn’t as if everything had been preserved exactly as it was at the time, but it would be ruined in an instant if a large number of people started moving around and touching things. It was natural to want to look around a little before that happened.

Isaac thought for a moment and then nodded.

“I promised to break the Salt Desert and asked for your cooperation, but there’s nothing I can do right now, so I’ll allow you to do this.”

“Oh, no. That’s not what I meant. But if I search this place, I might be able to find some clues that could help us.”

Isaac didn’t think so, but he decided to let it go, thinking that it was his own arrogance.

There was more than one way to declare victory in this game. Isaac had only found one way to clear the game, but there could be other ways that were faster and more efficient.

“Just in case, I’ll assign you an escort knight. However, if you find anything dangerous or suspicious, run away immediately and let me know.”

“I will definitely do that.”

Aidan understood Isaac’s concerns and nodded.

Aidan was not weak, as he was the captain of the Salt Council and knew how to perform miracles. He had also willingly joined the Dawn Army. However, he couldn’t be sent alone.

This was because, even though it was an empty city, there was a sense of sense of dissonance(discomfort) in the air.

‘Is it that guy who was watching us from the Salt Desert?’

For the time being, he had told Tuhallin and Liana about the guy. They had also felt his presence, but they had come to the similar conclusion that he was not a major threat.

However, they still hadn’t figured out his identity, so Isaac was not comfortable sending Aidan alone.

Apart from the unidentified existence, there was something else that felt out of place about the entirety of Mirumia.

‘Who should I send with Aidan to keep him safe?’

***

“I’m Reina Hilde! You can call me Reina!”

“U-Uhm, I’m Aidan. Nice to meet you…”

The person Isaac chose was Reina Hilde, one of the Elysian knights who had gotten some rest. The reason was because he thought that she, being simple-minded and violent, would focus on the mission without thinking of anything else. However, Aidan, who was relatively introverted, found her violent energy somewhat burdensome.

“I heard that you’re going to uncover the ancient secrets hidden in Mirumia. Who do I get to kill?”

“Huh? No, I’m just planning to look at old spoons and pillar designs. Who should I kill?”

“Isn’t it common sense to kill something when you’re going through a dungeon?”

Aidan realized the difference in perception between himself and Reina.

While he thought of the old ruins as ‘historical sites containing the wisdom of the ancients’, Reina thought of them as ‘dungeons teeming with treasures and monsters’. Aidan wondered where to start correcting her common sense, then realized that most Elysian knights probably thought that way.

“J-Just follow me without touching anything. If there’s something to fight, that’s when you step in.”

“Yes, sir!”

Reina answered vigorously and followed Aidan.

Aidan began to look at the relics and ruins left all over Mirumia. Every step he took, he would stop every three steps because there were ruins everywhere he stepped, and relics popped out if he just brushed away the dust.

Reina, who had been watching with great enthusiasm at first and sometimes even held her sword fiercely just by flicking away the dust, began to show signs of boredom as time passed.

It was clear that this was different from the ‘dungeon exploration’ she had expected.

“Captain Aidan, I understand that what you’re doing is important, but can we start with something more plausible?”

“Huh? Looking at the lifestyles of the ancients is also important.”

“Well, I don’t know much about that, but as you know, our goal is to reclaim the Holy Land. We may stay here for a while, but I don’t think we’ll stay long in this difficult supply situation. We’ll probably set out again in two days. I don’t know if you’ll be able to find all the spoons you want by then. You’re not thinking of staying here alone, are you?”

Aidan was somewhat surprised by Reina’s insight, but to her, it was a matter of common sense. Reina may have been ignorant of things like relics and ruins, but she knew more about supplies, routes, and tactics than Aidan.

In fact, Aidan’s destination as a member of the Salt Council was closer to Mirumia than to the Holy Land of Rua. Thanks to this, Aidan had been under the illusion that he would be staying here for a long time without realizing it.

In the end, Aidan decided that it would be better to prioritize.

“Hmm, I see what you mean.”

Aidan said as he turned his head. His gaze was directed towards a large temple that had caught his eye ever since he first arrived in Mirumia.

A pyramid-shaped temple floating right below the cursed sun.

“Then let’s go check that out first today.”