The survey team was formed quickly.
With so much to do at the base, David did not come along.
Instead, the Latino man, Carlo, was put in command of the survey team.
The members were Magreta, the Black young man who had been on the expedition team, Park Osu, and me.
Five in total, including Carlo.
On top of that, while Park Osu was technically our guide, he was half a burden.
Perhaps because it was reconnaissance, there were fewer members than during the expedition.
This time, too, Magreta was given no official post.
David had instructed her to keep an eye on Park Osu separately, but she was still only an ordinary member.
Even so, the advance team members taking part in the survey did not look down on her.
They did not really know what kind of person she was.
But after seeing how David treated her, no one dared handle her carelessly.
“Then let’s go. If we mess this up, we’ll have to spend the night outside. We do have a box carrier this time, but nights being more dangerous is no different from Earth.”
I had spent the night inside the ruins, but I had never spent a night outdoors.
Of course, we had prepared properly for it.
Several leather blankets, meat, seasonings, even combat rations.
All of it had been packed into the box.
At Carlo’s words, the survey members immediately followed after him.
Every member leaving the base carried a new spear.
Unlike before, these spears were metal from spearhead to shaft.
All of them were new products forged at the smithy today.
They were weapons made by recycling the junk I had brought back.
I had wondered what the later team members who did not go hunting were doing at the base, and seeing the spears, it seemed those people had been working hard as well.
“So we’ve finally climbed up to an Iron Age civilization. The energy seems to conduct well too. I really like these.”
At the Black young man’s words, Carlo shrugged.
“It might be Bronze Age, not Iron Age. We don’t know what metal that is.”
It certainly did not seem to be iron.
Still, this planet was not in another dimension. It had to be a metal we knew.
At their conversation, Magreta casually added,
“We’ll know soon enough.”
When they went back to Earth, they had taken samples of these metals too.
We would probably know the results on the next transfer.
“Mr. Hyeon, aren’t you changing your spear?”
“I changed the head too.”
At the words of the Black team member, Tom, I shook my spear to show him.
The staff I was using as the shaft was the same as before, but I had changed the spearhead as well.
Even if I had brought back a lot of broken weapons and armor, it was not enough to replace everyone’s spears.
Besides, even if it was a light metal, it was hard for ordinary people to fight while carrying a metal pole.
The plan at the smithy was to make solid spears for those who had gained energy, and spearheads only for the rest.
Thanks to that, I had also obtained a metal spearhead and could fit it onto my staff.
“Guess the metal shaft was too heavy for you.”
Seeing that I had only changed the spearhead, Park Osu picked a fight.
He picked it in English, clearly intending for the others to hear.
It was an absurd provocation, but I did not get angry.
I only felt sorry for him.
“I must be the only person he can pick a fight with.”
Aside from me, everyone was an American advance team member.
On top of that, he was under suspicion.
He had to find some way out.
“And the method he came up with was picking a fight with me.”
It was easy to tell what he was thinking.
He thought of me as nothing more than a box carrier.
“Besides, since he came under suspicion because of another Korean’s testimony, he’s probably trying to create a favorable situation for himself by picking a fight with me, a Korean.”
It was a simple and narrow-minded thought, but for someone cornered at the end, it would be hard to think of anything else.
I had seen plenty of people who thought in such foolish ways.
At any other time, I would have settled it quickly, but with people watching, it was hard to do anything.
Instead, I held out my spear to him.
“This isn’t that light either. Would you like to try holding it?”
It looked like a wooden pole, but this too was a pole made of metal.
“You think I don’t know how much it weighs?”
He snorted and grabbed the pole I offered him.
As if determined not to make the slightest mistake, he took the spear with his arm fully tensed.
It must have been heavier than he expected, but his expression did not change.
“It’s nothing but light— uuuugh!”
But that expression quickly changed.
His body shuddered, and he hurriedly dropped the spear.
I snatched the falling spear out of the air, then apologized to him.
“Did I polish it too hard this morning? There must have been some static electricity left.”
At my words, Soph grumbled.
[I do not much like using magic for pranks like this… but I will let it pass this once.]
As Soph said, it was only a light prank.
Park Osu glared at me, but I only shrugged.
If there had been anyone on Park Osu’s side in the survey team, someone would have said something to me.
But everyone was silent. They only glanced at us, then hurried along the path.
Park Osu realized the situation and bit his lip.
He no longer picked a fight with me.
After things ended that way, Magreta came up beside me and whispered quietly.
“How did you do that?”
“Static electricity.”
“There’s no way that was static… But is that really a wooden shaft? The material seems a little different.”
Even Park Osu, who had been electrocuted, had not noticed that the shaft’s material was different.
Magreta truly had sharp eyes.
[It is not that she has sharp eyes. She must have been watching it the whole time.]
Soph once again said something that could easily be misunderstood.
I ignored him and answered Magreta.
“You noticed. It’s a metal staff I found in the ruins. There was an intact one among the junk, so I took it. You’ll let it slide, won’t you?”
When I raised the end of my sentence slightly, Magreta’s eyes widened.
Her lips curved into an arc.
“Hmm. Depends on how you behave.”
She smiled and returned to her place.
[You were capable of saying things like that? Don’t tell me the army was what broke you.]
Soph’s barbs could no longer ruin my mood.
With lighter steps, I hurried on.
**
Park Osu did not guide us down another path.
On the contrary, he tried to take us to the destination as quickly as possible.
A few hours later, when we arrived, we could understand why.
After climbing a rise right in front of the destination, Park Osu pointed ahead, his face flushed red.
“Now, look over there! Look at that sandstorm! The storm is still raging like that, and you expect me to find the people who went inside? I only did my job properly!”
A sandstorm was soaring into the sky.
It was a massive sandstorm that blocked a third of our field of vision.
A giant whirlwind that dragged up the sand from the ground and scoured the entire area.
As Park Osu passionately declared while pointing at the sandstorm, it was impossible to go inside that.
Magreta tilted her head and asked,
“Was there anyone who told you to go in? I heard they said to wait a little longer.”
“N-no, waiting is the same thing!”
At her words, Park Osu burst into anger.
His words were not exactly wrong.
But no one listened to him seriously.
Only Magreta, who was responsible for managing him, paid any attention to him.
Everyone else was busy checking the sandstorm.
This survey team had two objectives.
If the first objective was to confirm what had happened to the people who had gone into the sandstorm, the second was to investigate the sandstorm itself.
To the others, the second objective was more important.
In truth, to the others, the lives of the people inside the storm were not important.
They had already half given up.
David had wanted to dispatch a survey team not to rescue the people, but to verify whether Park Osu had lied.
The only person here thinking of saving them was me.
Leaving the bewildered Park Osu aside, the others observed the sandstorm properly.
They used the measuring tools I had brought to measure the storm’s diameter and height.
The storm’s height and diameter came out immediately.
“The diameter is about 1.3 miles, and the height is about 6.2 miles.”
“About two kilometers in diameter and ten thousand meters high.”
It was not as large a storm as it looked.
The problem was that a storm like this had remained in one place for two days.
“It’s definitely not a natural phenomenon.”
At Carlo’s words, everyone nodded.
There was no way this storm was a natural phenomenon.
Even Park Osu could not say otherwise.
“I can tell it’s artificial… but what do we do now?”
Carlo scratched his head, looking troubled as he watched the storm.
Even now, Tom was diligently examining the storm with a measuring device, but to put it another way, there was nothing else to do besides that.
At this rate, we would only confirm the storm’s outward appearance and return.
Seeing Carlo at a loss, Magreta asked me,
“When we set out, you said it was magic. Do you know something?”
The reason I had called it magic was because of Soph.
I had said it after hearing what Soph had said.
“I haven’t prepared an excuse yet…”
I tried to ask Soph for advice.
But right now, Soph was venting his dissatisfaction about something else.
[Why is the measurement of length in such a state? Even if it were not magic, there is no way differing systems of weights and measures would not cause problems.]
Faced with that very mage-like anger, I had nothing to say.
There certainly was a problem. A spacecraft had even crashed because of it.
Only, this was America’s fault. Or was it Britain’s fault?
In any case, it was those people’s fault.
At any rate, it was hard to speak to Soph for the moment.
I came up with a reason on my own.
“You remember the lightning we saw in the ruins’ trap last time, don’t you? Every time the lightning struck, patterns appeared on the walls and floor. Seeing that, it felt like magic to me, so I said that.”
“That did look like a magic circle.”
At my words, Magreta nodded.
“Still, that doesn’t mean it’s definitely magic.”
“Everyone over there is starting to call it magic anyway. What surprised me was that Hyeon called it magic too.”
Carlo objected, but at Magreta’s following words, he immediately backed down.
Instead of replying to Magreta, he grumbled at me.
“Then in the end, you’re saying there’s no method.”
I shook my head.
“No. There is a way.”
Fortunately, the mage, his anger now cooled, had returned.
The mage knew this magic well.
[It cannot be dispelled from here. However, with my senses and yours, there is a way to reach the place where it can be dispelled.]
“I think I can find the path to the place where this magic can be dismantled.”
I dressed the mage’s words up as my own ability and told everyone.
“You want to go inside that sandstorm? You’re insane! Go by yourself! I don’t want to die!”
At my words, Park Osu shouted as if having a seizure.
Unlike before, his words now were sincere.
But the others did not make a fuss like he did.
“Mr. Hyeon’s pathfinding, huh…”
“I think it’ll be fine. He never got it wrong in the ruins, did he?”
Carlo thought it over, and Tom took my side.
And Magreta picked up the spear she had set down.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
At her words, Park Osu stared at us with his mouth hanging open.
Magreta grabbed the bewildered Park Osu by the collar, then said to me,
“If we can go into this… I hope the people who went in first are still alive.”
Hearing her words, Soph said,
[This storm is not a magic meant to kill people. Rather, it is a magic meant to protect them.]
I conveyed Soph’s words to Magreta.
“They should both be alive.”
With me at the lead, the survey team began descending the rise.
Our destination was inside the storm.
Dragged along by Magreta, Park Osu screamed.
“Save me! This is suicide! It was a lie. Everyone heard it! They pretended not to hear because they wanted to live! I told them to come here first! I don’t want to die!”
The figures of the people vanished into the sandstorm.
Park Osu’s confession was buried by the sandstorm, and could no longer be heard.