Chapter 14: Conflict (Extra Chapter for Monthly Tickets) (Continued)

Forget it. I'd find out when I got there. There was no point thinking about what might be on the map now. The only thing I could count on was

the compass.

I turned and headed back down the mountain the way I'd come. I didn't run into any wild animals and made it straight down the slope.

It was easy to climb up, but hard to get down. By the time I reached the foot of the mountain, it was already past two in the afternoon.

I probably wouldn't be able to go very far before nightfall. The landscape around me was slowly changing, too, from the lush green it had been to

the yellow desert it was now.

The entire world before me was covered in yellow sand.

It all felt completely unfamiliar.

As I walked along, I couldn't tell one road from another anymore. Should I go to TA City and find some temporary tents or something?

Thinking it over, I realized that without a tent, I wouldn't find anywhere suitable to stay on the road ahead. Five years had passed, and houses without people to maintain them

had probably all collapsed. The world had changed beyond recognition, and with all this sand piled up, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night without a tent.

With that in mind, I turned and headed toward the city.

TA City was a place steeped in traditional culture, after all. Confucius's hometown was not far away.

My thin robe kept the sand off me. With my backpack on, I walked step by step through the dunes. After a few days, I'd gotten used to

these high-heeled sneakers. To be honest,

they took a bit more energy to walk in, but they made walking easier.

Putting my weight on