When morning came, the five siblings split up and began investigating the

  village as a group.

  They gathered stories about sages and gods, and scraped together any

  miscellaneous rumors they could find.

  With Wadji acting as an interpreter at their side, the work went smoothly, as

  if there were no language barrier at all.

  “There aren’t any gods around here. You’d have to go to Upper Egypt for

  that.”

  “A sage? Well, there is a foreign language teacher.”

  “In about half a year, there’ll be a combat tournament held in Memphis, the

  capital of Upper Egypt. A lot of gods and demigods gather there—why don’t you

  try going?”

  “Strange people? This area’s full of foreigners, so everyone’s strange.”

  With no real leads, the siblings’ spirits sagged.

  When a large man went past shouting at the top of his lungs, Ella asked Wadji,

  “That guy looks suspicious. What’s he yelling about?”

  “He’s selling baskets.”

  When they spotted an open-air eatery, Tamar dragged out a chair and flopped

  down into it.

  “It’s hot, and I’m annoyed. Let’s drink something.”

  The others sat down one by one and ordered beer and dried fruit.

  Azael spoke with concern.

  “There’s only one village left now… this is bad.”

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  “Southern Egypt is pretty ordinary. Hardly any gods or monsters.”

  At Eshiel’s words, Elaton scratched his forehead.

  “Hm… if we’re talking about unusual people we’ve met, Wadji might be the

  only one.”

  Suddenly, everyone’s gaze turned to Wadji.

  He was stuffing beer and fruit into his mouth with gusto.

  “Come on… no way.”

  “Well, he does eat like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Let’s split up and scout around the outskirts of the village. If we find

  nothing, we move on to the next one.”

  After a couple of hours of scouting, Eshiel heard news that a disaster had

  struck a neighboring village and soldiers had rushed there.

  The information came from wandering shepherds. Since travel was part of their

  daily life, they spoke the Memphis standard dialect fluently.

  “Looks like a fragment of Apophis fell. It’s chaos over there—soldiers and

  priests all rushed in.”

  Apophis was the serpent of chaos that opposed Egypt’s chief god, Ra.

  In truth, it was less a serpent than chaos itself, and at times parts of it

  would fall to the earth and cause calamities.

  Even a small fragment was a terrifying threat to humans.

  Eshiel gathered fire in his hand and hurled it into the air, where it burst.

  It was a signal to regroup.

  “Oh my, are you demigods? Hurry, go, go!”

  The shepherds fled, and the siblings regrouped in the village.

  They hurriedly packed their belongings and decided to move toward the next

  village.

  The goats, which would only slow them down, were left with the innkeeper after

  paying a storage fee.

  Eshiel rushed to the weapons shop and bought the most expensive bow and

  arrows available, while Elaton and Ella retrieved the weapons they had left for

  maintenance.

  But their preparations to depart were abruptly halted.

  Drums and horns sounded from the village gate—an emergency signal.

  The five siblings ran toward the entrance. In the distance, a massive mass of

  black mist was approaching the village.

  At the sight of it, the villagers froze in horror.

  “It’s Apophis! They must have failed to subdue it!”

  “Everyone, run!”

  *Patreon is now open. You can enjoy the next episode and illustrations there.

  *For managing the series, I will upload twice every three days.

  *Patreon is now open. You can enjoy the next episode and illustrations there.

  *For managing the series, I will upload twice every three days.