Lord of the Oasis

Chapter 225: The Sandstorm That Swept Across the Land

“Dong-dong-dong-dong-”

The bronze bell was rung, sounding like an emergency bell right before a war.

The peasants who were originally in the agricultural area and the livestock area had already started running towards the castle. However, they did not forget to bring their livestock in to avoid the terrifying sandstorm.

Although they did not have the strength, they were not fools.

To be able to survive the chaotic situation on the Continent of Caradia showed that they were smart.

With such a strange weather, many people were prepared before the strong wind blew. They pulled their camels and sand grouse, as well as the military horses into the stables, and then moved towards the inner-city wall. When the strong wind at the beginning of the sandstorm blew over, they almost done with the preparation.

These peasant farmers had time to fix the water diversion channel made of date palm tree trunks on the roof. At the same time, they cut off the water flow in the water tower to prevent the water diversion channel from being blown away by the strong wind.

As for the wheat and flax that had just sprouted in the farmland, there was no way to move them.

There were the palm leaves with small fruits on the date palm tree. They were also swayed wantonly by the sandstorm, as if they were going to be torn off from the tree trunk.

The power of the sandstorm was like a tsunami along the coast or a landslide in the mountains.

If it was not handled properly, it would cause huge losses!

However, the losses that Kant had caused were already huge enough. After this sandstorm was over, most of his agricultural area would be destroyed, and he would have to start all over again.

“Damn it!”

Kant gritted his teeth and swept his gaze in the direction of the agricultural area, but the raging sandstorm blocked his vision.

Dust and gravel were everywhere, filling up the sky.

The whistling gale even began to sweep up larger grains of gravel, causing slight pain when it hit people’s skin.

This was a signal that the real sandstorm was approaching.

The distance was very close.

“Lord Kant, quickly enter the council hall to hide from the sandstorm!”

After Firentis arranged the defense of the troops on the city wall, he had already arrived at the top floor of the council hall.

Looking at the gray sky in the distance, Firentis looked anxious and said to Kant solemnly, “I once heard that there would be a terrifying sandstorm in the Sarrand Desert, but I didn’t expect that there would be one in the Nahrin Desert as well.”

“It should be said that there would be sandstorms in any desert,”, Kant added.

However, he still followed Firentis and quickly walked into the council hall, temporarily using the heavy stone castle to avoid the sandstorm.

Although the sandstorm was terrifying, it could not destroy the stone walls and blockhouses.

Inside the council hall of the stone castle, the maids also worked together to close the windows. Thanks to the military structure, they only needed to close the wooden boards that were embedded with iron sheets and nails, and the sandstorm would be completely blocked outside. The wind could not blow into the stone castle at all, allowing them to enjoy a moment of peace here.

“Will the watchtower be destroyed by the strong wind?”

Kant sat in his seat. His brows were slightly furrowed, but he still appeared to be worried.

The large watchtower was a full 40 meters tall.

Although the watchtower was usually the highest point, in this sandstorm, it was also the first point that was affected by the strong wind and sandstorm.

Firentis comforted him, “No, Lord Kant. The watchtower is made of stone and is half a meter thick. Unless there is an earthquake, no matter how strong the wind is, it will not be able to destroy the watchtower.”

“I hope so.”, Kant sighed.

“But Lord Kant.”

Firentis frowned and said with some doubt, “This sandstorm came suddenly. It is very surprising.”

“Yes.”, Kant nodded.

Logically speaking, the appearance of a sandstorm would also have some meteorological anomalies.

Just like the halo of the Sun before a heavy rain.

The oppressive dark clouds before the storm.

However, this sandstorm did not have any unusual circumstances. Instead, it appeared out of thin air. It really caught them off guard. Even if there were no casualties at the moment, it was still very surprising.

Kant was also surprised because according to his memory, there had never been a sandstorm in the Nahrin Desert.

The records of the Academy were not wrong.

There was a historical record of hundreds of years and there was no record of the sandstorm phenomenon in the Nahrin Desert at all.

It was just a desolate forbidden area of civilization.

“This is really...”

Kant muttered to himself and lowered his head. “An accident.”

However, he immediately raised his head and thought of the accident that happened when he was in the apprentice’s dormitory, watching the seven mage apprentices carry out their magic experiments. It seemed that it was due to that golden stream of light shot out of the window and disappeared into the horizon.

In less than ten minutes, the sandstorm began.

“Could it be because of this?”

Kant clenched his teeth.

Firentis also noticed that Kant seemed to know something and could not help but ask, “What did you find, Lord Kant?”

Kant’s heart was racing, and a palpitation made his breathing a little hurried.

He listened to the howling wind outside the window.

And the soft sound of the gravel hitting the iron window in the wind.

Kant frowned. “It seems that our troubles are coming.”. He pondered for a moment and looked at Firentis, “After the sandstorm has stopped, immediately reorganize all the troops of the combat sequence. The entire castle will maintain a high alert status. If you see anything abnormal, report to me immediately!”

“Understood!”, Firentis nodded immediately, but his eyes were still filled with confusion.

“Specially to guard the depths of the desert.”

Kant did not have the intention to answer. This was only his guess.

But even if it was a guess, he did not intend to let down his guard, instead, he instructed Firentis, “Tell the cavalries on patrol that if they encounter a human wearing golden clothing or coming from the depths of the desert, if they do not show any malice, do not attack first. At the same time, keep your guard up, you must stabilize the other party.”

“Yes, I will give the order.”

Firentis nodded solemnly.

“Mm.”, after giving the order, Kant let out a sigh of relief.

Thinking of the mysterious woman he saw in the ruins beneath “Aaron” village in the Senwaya Range, his heart palpitated even more. He even felt that he might have really triggered some important key node.

For example, he would let the seven mage apprentices who only had solid basic skills to conduct magic experiments on the sun disk.

However, at this moment.

The system’s dialog box suddenly popped up on his retina.

[ Ding... Special quest issued ]

[ Special quest: bear the consequences ]

[ Reward: 10,000 denars, 10 honor, 1,000 reputation ]

[ Introduction: When you chose the magic experiment, the golden light escaped in the sun disk, and the sandstorm appeared in the depths of the desert, blowing fiercely around the desert. However, when the sandstorm is over, you should go to the relics under “Aaron” to take a look. Maybe you can detect more abnormalities there. ]

Kant glanced at the dialog box on his retina and frowned slightly.

“As expected.”, he could not help but mutter to himself. It was really because of that magic experiment that caused this sandstorm to appear in the depths of the desert.

However, Kant’s brows were tightly furrowed.

The system had surprisingly given him a special quest instead of the main storyline and side quest.

Kant took a deep breath as he scanned through the bountiful reward of the quest. His heart calmed down.

He should be the one to bear the consequences.

The system’s quest name was right. This was his mistake. If he had not recklessly given the sun disk to the mage apprentices to conduct magic experiments, none of this would have happened.

However, the system’s quest was not in the depths of the Nahrin Desert, but the relics under the “Aaron” Village.

This caused Kant’s brows to furrow even more.

The system was hinting at something.

However, as long as he waited for the sandstorm to subside, Kant planned to personally lead a team to take a look. He absolutely could not allow his village of the Kingdom of Rhodoks to be affected in the slightest.

If there were any abnormalities in the relics within the mountain, if it collapsed, it would affect the existence of the mountain peak.

It was like the saying, be bound together for good or ill.

However, this sandstorm lasted a little longer.

Darkness covered the Nahrin Desert. Even the sandstorm was covered in its darkness.

In the bell tower, the bronze bell was rung.

The bronze bell rang eight times in total, which meant that it was already 8 pm. This sandstorm that started at 5 pm had already lasted for nearly three hours.

“My Lord, let’s eat first.”

The Maids served dinner.

There was a food storage room in the basement of the council hall.

In truth, most of the food storage in the castle was located in the storage room at the bottom of the council hall. This was to ensure that when the city wall was breached, the defending troops could rely on the council hall in the stone castle to counterattack. They could drag the enemy to the point where they could only retreat, or they could welcome reinforcements from both inside and outside to defeat the enemy and obtain the final victory.

However, even now, the food storage could help Kant and the others solve the food problem. After all, a large amount of food was piled up here, and they could not finish it no matter how many dozens of people there were.

Of course, the houses in the residential area also had basements.

The civilians would also store small amounts of food in them, as snacks or suppers, to solve similar problems.

This was a habit left over from the Continent of Caradia.

Wandering around, they did not know when they would encounter all kinds of dangers.

Therefore, they would leave food in the basements or hidden places to survive, so as to avoid not having any food to survive.

During this time of sandstorm, the council hall could not distribute food.

The food stored in advance came in handy. Everyone relied on the food stored in the storage to survive for a few days. After the sandstorm subsided, they would be able to get food supplies from the council hall.

Everyone was optimistic.

After all, the sandstorm would not last long, especially the Sarrandian people, who were used to it.

The sandstorm in the Sarrand Desert would last four to five days at most.

This was the largest sandstorm.

Even if the food ran out, the council hall could still arrange people to distribute the food. However, it would be a little dangerous. They had to wear heavy armor and tie each other with ropes to prevent accidents. After all, the wind speed was extremely high, if there were no safety measures, the strong wind alone could blow up the people who were lighter, not to mention the gravel and stones that flew rapidly in the strong wind.

With the support of the strong wind, the gravel and stones could hit people’s body and cause pain.

If one was unlucky and encountered a flying block of wood, it was possible to get hit in the head, stun the person, and be buried alive by the sandstorm.

One must not be careless!