narant

Narantuya stands up with unsteady legs.

Damn, how could this stuff be so strong?

Narantuya takes a few wobbly steps forward and steps into a musbeast hole, causing her to fall and roll down the slopes.

Ow! My head!

I'm never drinking fake liquor again!

...My head hurts!

Where am I... why does it feel so wet... is it raining?

Narantuya opens her eyes and sees a familiar burdenbeast licking her face excitedly.

What's going on?!

I found the burdenbeast! Hey, aren't you that girl who sold it to me?

What happened to me...

Oh no, the map!

Narantuya frantically searches herself and is relieved to find that the creased map is still there.

Phew... you didn't touch my stuff, did you?

We just arrived, following the burdenbeast's tracks. Did you fall from the hill? Look at all the bruises on you...

You're not thinking of buying it back, are you? It'll cost you at least three thousand dinars.

No, I'm not...

Wait, that's double the price, isn't it?

We're counting on this old burdenbeast to find water for us! Well, it found you first.

Maybe it just smelled a familiar liquor... Are you guys heading this way too?

Are you passing by Fountain Town? The place marked on this map...

...You call this a 'map'?

I bought it with the money I sold the burdenbeast for. Maybe I'm holding it upside down. This is the place where Fountain Town should be...

Hah, you got scammed, lady. This is just a bunch of scribbles!

I got scammed?!

Now I remember. Fountain Town was a really wealthy place.

But it fell on hard times a few decades ago, and everyone moved away. There's only a Fountain Village now, which happens to be in the same direction we're headed.

(But the golden lamp said 'Fountain Town'. Are people just used to the old name?)

If it's the same direction, can you take me along on the way? I'll pay you once we get there.

We don't do credit. Small business.

Then... how about I guard your caravan? You won't need to pay me.

You see those thirty big, burly, armed men over there? They're our guards.

I can feed your burdenbeasts?

We have dedicated keepers that work around the clock in shifts.

What DO you need then?

Hm... we could use someone to collect the burdenbeast dung behind us. It's useful as fuel. But you'll have to walk behind the caravan all day. Not the sort of work most people are willing to do.

...I'll do it!

(I'll just pick a strong and healthy burdenbeast and run away with it when we're near the place!)

(He wanted to sell it back for twice the price! That's highway robbery! Someone should teach you a lesson!)

Hey, thanks. Must be hard work, eating sand and dust all day in the rear.

There's more than just sand... What the hell are you feeding these burdenbeasts?

You got any water? I want to wash my face and hands.

You know how precious water is in the desert. Bear with it.

I'm just here to collect what you picked up today... Wait, you filled this whole cart with the stuff?!

...I just want to know when we get to Fountain Village.

We're almost there.

Are we there yet?

Almost—

Are the there yet?!

Almost, really!

We're not there yet... Oh, screw this. Call over your thirty guards.

What for?

Because next time you say 'almost', I'm putting my fist in your face. But I need your guards there so you can't say I'm bullying you.

We'll be there soon! Trust me!

Look, right over there! You see those dozen houses on the bank of the river? We've been going around it, but this time we're really almost there!

Going around it? What d'you mean?

We're running a business here! All the caravans go around that poor, backwater place.

(Poor, backwater place? If you knew there was treasure there...)

So you never intended to take me to Fountain Village?

Our deal was just to take you along on the way.

'Take me along'? You had me shoveling dung behind the caravan!

I'd beat you to a pulp if I wasn't so tired... Fine, I'll go there myself! You can pick up this stuff yourself!

Don't throw it at me!

Now my silk tunic's all dirty! I'm deducting this from your pay!

You're not paying me anything!

Don't care. Any damage is to be paid back at three times the original price. Right now, you owe me 2700 dinars, plus a ten percent handling fee if you pay in gold certificates.

...I don't have any money on me.

I can loan you some. The interest-rate per day is...

What's that sound... why are you grinding your teeth like that?

Now, now, no need to get violent. You have something pretty valuable on your belt, don't you?

Narantuya looks down at her belt. The golden lamp, which she had wrapped in a tattered piece of cloth. The handle has become exposed, and its golden glow shines brightly.

...Not this.

...I have thirty guards.

And I have four blades. You're welcome to try.

Come on! You're being as unreasonable as a sand bandit! We've done business before, haven't we?

Unreasonable? I... I AM a sand bandit!

Well, even sand bandits have to buy food and sell their stolen wares. I can at least give you a price for your trinket. You might even end up selling it to me anyway.

Narantuya angrily takes out the lamp and presses it against the caravan leader's nose.

You think I care about your money? You see this? Made of solid gold! It's enough to buy all your burdenbeasts with change to spare!

Solid gold? Doesn't look that way to me.

The caravan leader scratches the side of the golden lamp lightly with his fingernail, revealing the dull color underneath.

See? It's copper on the inside with a layer of golden paint... Hah, got scammed by someone else, didn't you?

Though it's good craftsmanship, I'll give it that. Might have fooled me, if I were a little less knowledgeable.

But if I knew you were this gullible, I'd have struck a harder bargain when I bought your burdenbeast... haha....

Every word from the caravan leader makes Narantuya's expression grow darker. She clutches the 'golden' lamp so hard it is almost as if she is trying to crush it.

She looks up at the caravan leader, whose mouth continues to move, babbling words that she is not listening to. All she knows that they irritate her.

She raises her fist.

Y-You hit me! Guards! Where are my thirty guards? Help!

Narantuya is tired, thirsty, hungry, and angry.

She reaches towards her belt and finds her empty coin bag. She is also poor.

Then, she finds the lamp, and she angrily tosses it towards the sky.

*Sargon expletive*!

This is all your fault!

The lamp spins in the air a few times, then falls straight back down, almost hitting her in the face.

It falls on the sand, the engraved side facing up. Narantuya remembers the words without having to look.

'...it will illuminate all the treasures I left for you.'

...Some damned treasure.

Narantuya drags her exhausted hide forward. She is not sure where she is going, as long as it is away from the lamp.

But then, she recalls the other line etched on it—

'To Asaf of Fountain Town. Happy eighth birthday. Love, Mother.'