In the early morning, the rising sun painted the entire Golden Sea in a warm, golden hue.
A caravan of eight camels moved slowly along the valley floor between the dunes.
However, there was no rider on the leading camel. It was simply led by a rope, following behind the figure at the very front.
The figure was not tall, looking like a youth of thirteen or fourteen. She wore a light brown, sand-resistant robe that was blown tightly against her body by the wind, outlining a slender silhouette.
Her exposed skin was a healthy wheat color, slightly roughened by days of trekking through wind and sand, which only served to make her exceptionally bright eyes stand out.
She had a firm gaze, carrying a composure that was highly unfitting for her age.
“Isha, do you want to rest for a bit?”
A crisp female voice came from behind. It was somewhat deep but not hoarse, carrying a hint of concern.
Hearing this, Isha Val did not turn around. She merely shook her head gently. “No need, Lena. We'll find a place to rest when it's noon.”
No exhaustion could be heard in her voice, nor was there a single hint of complaint. It was as if she had already grown accustomed to this life of hard toil.
Behind her, Lena knitted her brows and quickened her pace to catch up.
Her tall frame was a full head taller than Isha, standing at roughly one hundred and eighty-five centimeters. Yet, unlike Isha, even in the middle of the desert, she was still dressed in a maid uniform.
Her short black hair with straight bangs was slightly disheveled by the wind, and her sharp eyes never wandered far from Isha.
Furthermore, unlike Isha, her skin was exceptionally fair. It was clearly unnatural for the desert, but paired with her heroic and valiant temperament, it did not feel out of place at all.
“You haven't stopped once since we set out.”
Lena's tone carried a clear hint of complaint, but there was even more heartache in it. “If we squeeze the goods together, we can free up some space. Yet you insist on walking.”
“That might damage the goods, and I don't want that to happen.”
Isha turned her head and smiled at Lena. At the same time, she straightened her back and patted her flat chest. “See? My body is perfectly fine, so don't worry. As long as we can sell the goods as soon as possible, we can pay off our debts sooner.”
Isha's words made Lena purse her lips tightly, but she could not find any way to refute her.
Ever since Isha's father vanished three months ago for unknown reasons, this mere fourteen-year-old girl had shouldered the heavy burden of the entire merchant guild on her own.
Everyone had been waiting to see her make a fool of herself, waiting to watch her collapse and be ruined.
But Isha did not sit idly by. She locked herself in her study for three days and three nights. When she emerged, she had drawn up a brand-new plan. Then, leading the few remaining veteran workers, she used the funds obtained from selling her property to personally lead the caravan.
With just a few months of effort, she had forcefully dragged the merchant guild back from the brink of bankruptcy.
Yet, this was still far from enough.
The merchant guilds that relied on high nobles and the imperial family were still squeezing her survival space in every aspect.
Therefore, she needed an opportunity—an opportunity grand enough to turn the tide—so the Val Merchant Guild could truly gain a secure foothold.
And this opportunity lay with the Third Imperial Princess, who had just been exiled to the Golden Sea.
When she first told Lena about this idea, Lena had thought she was out of her mind. “Her Highness has been exiled, and everyone is avoiding her like the plague, terrified of being implicated. Yet here you are, actively rushing toward her?”
But Isha did not back down in the slightest. She flashed a confident smile and said, “Precisely because everyone else is avoiding her, I must go.”
“A helping hand extended when someone is in their greatest need will always be remembered far more than a gift given when everything is going smoothly.”
Unable to refute Isha's words, Lena could only let out a long sigh and look back at the caravan behind them. Aside from some long-lasting dry rations, clean waterskins, and some high-quality tent fabrics, there were also items that Isha had specially prepared for the princess.
Perhaps, just as Isha had said, the princess would be deeply impressed by her, thereby forming a connection with the Val Merchant Guild.
But...
“Miss Isha, look over there quickly!”
A companion's sudden shout interrupted her thoughts, forcing Isha and Lena to look into the distance.
This single glance instantly made Isha's heart tighten, her pupils contracting sharply.
On the ridge of a sand dune, a canine-like creature that appeared to be pieced together from dozens of bones stood there.
It was a skeletal hound. There was a necromancer!
The moment this thought arose, Isha felt a wave of icy cold wash over her entire body.
As a merchant from a family native to the Empire, she naturally knew of the existence of necromancers. She had even seen some registered with the Magical Council in the heart of the Empire.
But that was under the supervision of the Magical Council, in the heart of the Empire, where there were countless restrictions and guards to keep them in check.
But this was the Golden Sea, the Empire's place of exile, where the Empire's order could not reach.
Here, spotting the trace of a necromancer meant only one thing, and Isha did not need anyone to explain it to her.
“Everyone, on alert where you stand!”
Right after the order was given, Lena immediately shielded Isha, drawing a rapier from beneath her skirt and holding it across her chest, waiting for the undead to strike.
The other members of the caravan also sprang into action, drawing their weapons and staring uneasily at the skeletal hound on the dune.
However, the skeletal hound only stared at them for a brief moment before turning to leave.
This left everyone somewhat bewildered. “It... it's gone?”
“No, it went to call for backup.”
Isha did not believe for a second that a necromancer encountered in the wild would be so merciful, so she decisively ordered, “Everyone, speed up! Leave this area!”
Hearing the command, the caravan dared not delay. Shouts immediately rang out as they urged their camels to move faster.
Isha glanced once more in the direction where the skeletal hound had vanished. She knew a caravan laden with goods could not run fast, but abandoning this batch of supplies was no different from asking her to commit suicide.
Thus, she could only pray. Pray that those skeletal hounds would not reappear.
But things always had a way of heading in the direction one least desired. Sure enough, just a few minutes later, the silhouette of a skeletal hound appeared once more.
And this time, it had two companions with it, standing right on the sand dune ahead of them, blocking their path.
“Turn around!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Isha immediately issued an order, shouting toward the east where no skeletal hounds were in sight, “Go east! We'll bypass them from the east!”
“But Miss, the map doesn't show any water sources or routes to the east. If we rashly change course...”
“Escape from the necromancer first, then we can worry about other things!”
Isha interrupted her companion bluntly, her anxiety clear in her voice. “Getting lost in the desert is better than being captured and tortured by a necromancer!”
As if imagining the fate of being captured by a necromancer, the companion instinctively shuddered and began to drive the camels to adjust their direction.
Yet even so, the skeletal hounds repeatedly appeared in front of the caravan, blocking their way and forcing them to alter their route again and again.
Such bizarre behavior naturally aroused Isha's vigilance.
They are guiding us!
The moment this thought surfaced, Isha felt a chill run through her entire body. An immense dread gripped her heart, turning her face pale, and her body grew incredibly stiff from the fear.
Countless terrifying stories about necromancers she had heard in her childhood swirled in her mind. She could already picture the scene of being enslaved by a necromancer.
But just then, Lena's gasp rang in her ears, snapping Isha out of her fear. “Look, what is that?”
She looked up, and right at the bottom of a distant sand slope, an eye-catching patch of green suddenly burst into view.
Someone was planting trees in the desert?!
Rate on N.U.
