My Civil Servant Life Reborn in the Strange World

At around lunchtime, Hillis got up while holding her head. After standing up and looking around, Hillis realized why she was back in her room, lying in bed.

She had slept in a little before going down to the first floor for breakfast. As she thought that they needed to leave soon to go to the holy place of Zaharam, she saw the paladins having a drinking party, so she scolded them. Her memory ended there.

"Uh, my head."

Hillis woke up feeling like she was hungover. When she came to her senses, she noticed how thirsty she was.

As Hillis scratched her head and thought about going downstairs for some water, she found a glass of water on the table in the room. Since it was already daytime, the room was getting hot. Hillis believed the water would, unfortunately, also be warm and decided to drink it as quickly as possible.

"Huh?"

Contrary to her expectations, the water was cool. Her thirst seemed to be quenched by the refreshing water that was not too cold nor lukewarm.

How could the water remain so cool? When she looked carefully at the glass of water she was holding, she found that it had magic applied to it. Hillis knew holy magic well, but this was not holy magic. As such, she wasn’t sure of the exact type of magic applied to it.

Still, she could guess who cast this magic; it was Leisha. She was the only magician capable of using magic on the glass of water in Hillis’s room.

In the first place, not just anyone could enter her room due to the paladins’ heavy vigilance. Even if there were other magicians in the oasis village, the paladins wouldn’t have recklessly allowed them to use their magic.

"Huhuhu.”

Hillis laughed as if she were plotting. Come to think of it, she needed a magician to cool her down in the heat. It was for a selfish reason, but she decided to suggest that they travel together with the Crows. 

Besides, the Crows said they were going to hire a guide to get out of the desert anyways. It would be a satisfying give-and-take transaction with each other.

Hillis hummed as she walked down to the first floor but couldn’t help but be surprised at the scene awaiting her.

In the middle of the first floor, Mac was bound by a rope and was hanging upside down.

"What is this?" Hillis exclaimed, shocked by the unexpected sight.

A servant rushed over and asked, "Are you feeling well, Miss Saintess?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, but what's going on here?”

At Hillis's question, the servant’s eyes widened as she asked, "Do you not remember?"

"Remember? Now that I think about it, I have a slight headache,” Hillis said.

The servant quickly poured some water and offered it to her. "You will feel better if you have some water."

"Thank you. Huh?" Hillis had a strange sense of deja vu when she received the glass of water from the servant.

For some reason, she felt like she had received a glass just like this. Thinking it was just a passing whim, Hillis drank the water she received. Through the years, too much tea and drinks had been poured for her to call it a feeling of deja vu.

On the contrary, situations where she poured her own drinks were rare.

"What’s wrong?" The servant asked.

Hillis laughed, "It’s nothing, but why is that person hanging like that?”

The servant replied awkwardly, “That's, he is being punished.”

“Punishment? Who's punishing him?” Hillis asked.

"It is that person,” The servant said, pointing.

Hillis looked to where the servant was pointing to see Leisha, who bore an angry expression that even Hillis could easily notice.

"Eeya, Miss. Please, could you untie this now!” Mac asked.

Despite hanging upside down, Leisha was stunned to see that Mac’s smiling complexion had not changed one bit.

"More than anything, didn’t Miss say you were curious too? I'm only guilty of relieving your curiosity,” Mac tried to reason.

"Is that what you should be saying in front of them right now?” 

When Leisha pointed this out, the paladins began cheering for her while groaning.

“That's right! Miss from the Crow Tribe, please punish him a little more!”

“Miss, Fighting!” (1)

Upon seeing this display, Hillis asked the servant, "What's wrong with those guys?"

The paladins were charred in various areas, almost as if they had been struck by lightning. The servant avoided her gaze while answering.

"I am not sure... Well, I suppose you could say causal retribution."

"Causal retribution?" Hillis tilted her head at the servant’s incomprehensible reply.

However, before hearing the details, it was time to leave for the holy place of Zaharam, as they were very behind schedule.

Hillis went straight to Lancelot and his party to ask them to go with her.

"Excuse me.”

As Hillis approached, Lancelot flinched, surprised. The hellish experience from the morning had not yet disappeared from Lancelot's mind.

Hillis noticed something was wrong when Lancelot showed signs of being afraid of her. She felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing Lancelot hide behind Leisha.

"Did you just wake up?” Leisha greeted, wearing a slightly guilty expression.

With how odd everyone was acting, Hillis wondered what happened during the period where she lost her memory. However, she decided to put aside her curiosity.

"Yes, I gratefully drank the water in the room. I noticed that there was magic on it. It was Miss Leisha who applied the magic to it, right?” Hillis asked.

Leisha waved her hands and acted modestly. "Well, it’s not a big deal.”

"Oh, come to think of it, didn’t you say that you were looking for a guide to get out of the desert?”

Leisha nodded, "Yes, the merchants I previously hired as a guide suddenly turned into bandits, and so we got lost in the middle of the desert.”

Hillis clapped her hands as if they had come across a great fortune and gave Leisha her suggestion. "Then how about coming with us? There is no uncertainty about our identity, and we know the road well because it's a pilgrimage route. Above all, we have camels and desert carriages so that you can travel through the desert more comfortably.”

Hillis spoke as if she was being considerate, but in reality, she was eager to use Leisha's magic to keep her cool from the heat.

"That's a very generous offer... But, I'm not the decision-maker," Leisha said as she sneakily looked at Lancelot hiding behind her.

In the first place, Mac and Leisha were to blame for falling into that situation in the middle of the desert, so they had agreed to follow Lancelot's instructions.

Hillis only knew the rough details of their plight and not the full story, so she was surprised to hear that Doomstone's daughter, Leisha, was not the decision-maker.

Hillis's gaze naturally turned to Mac, who was hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"Hahaha, it's not me either."

"Then?" Hillis looked at Lancelot, who was slightly sticking his head out from behind Leisha.

So you're saying that Mac pushed Lancelot forward last night because he really was the decision-maker and not because he thought it would be bothersome?

Hillis couldn’t help but be surprised. 

"What do you think?” Leisha asked, turning to Lancelot as he pondered over it.

"Well, to start with my conclusion, I think the offer is okay. First of all, it is a great merit that your identities are credible and can be trusted, in addition to you knowing the way, as you said. However, Miss Saintess's group is on a pilgrimage route, so you will probably go around the shrine, not directly out of the desert. However, considering the speed at which guides from ordinary villages move, it is unlikely that there will be a significant difference in time compared to traveling around on camels and carriages. Therefore, I think it's better to go with Miss Saintess’s group, who does not need our protection."

Hillis shot a surprised glance at Lancelot upon his cool-headed analysis, which prompted Lancelot to quickly hid behind Leisha again.

"Well, I think it's decided. Won't you let me down now?" Mac asked.

Leisha simply ignored Mac.

"When are we leaving?”

At Leisha's question, Hillis smiled gracefully. “As soon as everyone is ready?” 

“I'll quickly go get my stuff and bring it down.”

Leisha and Lancelot went to their separate rooms.

"Wait, hold on! Miss! Please untie me before you go!” Mac struggled as he hung upside down from the ceiling, but no one listened.

* * *

Malecia led his direct subordinates to the nearest oasis village from where the bodies were found.

He couldn't trace the trail of the black-haired people who stole the carnelian crystal in the desert, but he was certain of one thing. The criminals were the ones to approach his subordinates, who had dressed up as merchants. There were two reasons why Malecia was so certain of this.

Firstly, all of the luggage his subordinates were moving was gone. The other reason was the last report from his men. According to the final report, the criminals gave them a gold coin under the pretext of hiring a guide.

Gold coins were too much for just hiring a guide. Even the ignorant children of nobility knew the value of gold coins. His men should have been suspicious from the moment they were readily offered a gold coin to serve as a guide.

Furthermore, the criminals carried bags of silver and gold coins on their waists as they were traveling. No matter how you looked at it, it was an act to provoke the men into attacking.

Most importantly, if they had just wanted to hire a guide, they wouldn't have taken all the luggage, which would have been cumbersome.

If they wanted to rob the men, they would have just taken the gold-plated totem or the money pouches. However, not only the carnelian crystal but all the luggage that the men were transporting disappeared. The carnelian crystal was the most important item among the things his men were carrying, but it didn't mean that they didn't need the other luggage.

They were items for the ritual at the altar. They weren’t strictly necessary, but it would be best if they had it. The overall preparation of the ritual was being delayed because of the luggage’s disappearance.

The bandits had obviously approached with the aim of stealing the carnelian crystal and delaying the ritual.

He had briefly turned his attention to the news that the saintess’s pilgrimage had been decided, but then this happened. Such a pain in the neck was really too troublesome.

Even if he tried to guess who was trying to disrupt the ritual, the possibilities included three, no, more than five organizations, so he couldn’t figure out who did it.

"Damn it." Malecia frowned and cursed in a low voice.

All they had to do was just push the ritual back, but the old magician in charge of the ritual was afraid of unexpected occurrences, so he was pushing forward despite the unnecessary risks. 

Malecia believed that the old man guarding the altar was overconfident in his skills.

When Malecia looked unhappy, the men who were accompanying him became very nervous. Malecia hated venting his anger on his men, but his men feared his anger itself. Malecia thought that maybe he should make a joke to ease his men’s nervousness, but he stopped. He didn't know why, but his jokes always made the atmosphere worse and gave the situation a bad ending.

Malecia and his men wouldn’t arrive in the oasis village until much later than noon.

Malecia pointed at his men and ordered, "You, and you, start investigating the general store. You, you, and you go find the village head. And the rest of you will go to the inn with me."

"Yes!" The men answered Malecia's orders with a bang and scattered.