ISEKAI? More like I See Crap!
Chapter 255: Heat and Cold ( 255 )

Chapter 255: Heat and Cold ( 255 )

Haaaa... haaaa...

Hazuki dragged his feet across the scorching desert sand, sweat dripping from his forehead. His boots sunk a little deeper with each step. His shirt stuck to his back, and the heat shimmer made it feel like the sun had dipped down just to roast him personally.

Ridan, floating beside him, had his tiny tongue sticking out like a dog. "I’m melting, man..."

"You said this was a shortcut!!" Hazuki snapped, glaring sideways with dry, narrowed eyes.

"Hah!? You’re the one who looked left and said, ’Let’s try that way.’ I said RIGHT! RIGHT, you dumb bat!" Ridan hissed back, lazily flapping upside down.

"Ughhh!! And now the only drink I have is booze! Freakin’ great!" Hazuki cursed, pulling out a nearly-empty flask and giving it a hopeless shake.

"Then use your elemental control, genius! Pull some water from the sword!"

"That’s the last resort! That water from the sword tastes weird!"

Ridan cackled. "Then enjoy the heatstroke, dumbass!"

Hazuki grumbled something unpleasant and kept stumbling forward, shielding his eyes with one hand while the other hovered over his sword hilt.

His mouth was dry. His head was light. And the buzz from the last drink wore off hours ago.

"...Screw it."

He touched the green-hilted blade at his side and slowly channeled mana into it.

A thin stream of clear water trickled from the blade’s tip.

Hazuki sniffed it. Grimaced.

"Still smells like old bathtub..."

He drank it.

"Blegh..."

Ridan floated in a smug circle above him. "Told you so."

"Shut up," Hazuki said, wiping his mouth and trudging on.

"Ridan."

"What?"

Hazuki wiped the sweat from his brow, eyes scanning the endless dunes. Each step he took sank deeper, slower—boots heavy with heat and fatigue. The wind offered no relief, only dust.

"Where are we?" he asked, his voice low and worn.

"I don’t know..." Ridan floated slowly beside him, his glow dimmer than usual, tongue sticking out in exhaustion. "When I was alive, I never traveled to any desert."

"Seriously?"

"Maybe... I forgot already."

Hazuki let out a frustrated breath, glancing up at the merciless sun. "If we had an egg, it’d be cooked by now."

He looked over at Ridan again, frowning. "You’re a spirit. How the hell are you thirsty?"

"Don’t ask. Even I don’t know why," Ridan muttered, slumping forward in midair. "Maybe the heat’s messing with my mana flow. Damn, this is hot..."

Hazuki pressed a hand against his chest, feeling the slow beat of his heart and the dryness crawling up his throat.

"Ugh... am I going to die here?" he asked, half to himself, half to the sky.

"Let’s hope not,"

Silence fell between them—nothing but the sound of wind brushing against sand and their own slowing breaths.

They kept walking. Each step felt heavier than the last. Until finally...

A single tree appeared in the distance.

It looked out of place—too green, too alive, standing proud in the middle of this endless sandscape.

Hazuki stumbled toward it and dropped onto the shaded patch beneath.

"Haaa... damn it..." he muttered, wiping sweat off his face with the back of his sleeve. "If only we knew where we were..."

He leaned his head back against the tree, eyes half-lidded from the heat. "It’s too hot..."

Ridan flopped down onto his shoulder.

"Can you use those mapping skills of yours? Like before?"

Ridan groaned, eyes half-closed. "I already did that... even before you asked. But seriously... this damn desert doesn’t show anything. It’s just blank. No towns. No roads. No landmarks. Just... sand."

Hazuki clicked his tongue. "You serious?"

"I don’t joke when I’m dying from heat exhaustion, thank you very much," Ridan grumbled.

Hazuki lowered his gaze to the ground, fingers clenching lightly.

"...Then we’re really lost."

Hazuki knelt slowly and stabbed his sword into the dry, cracked earth. The faint green blade glowed as it sank halfway into the sand. His hand tightened on the hilt.

"Ridan."

The spirit stirred from Hazuki’s shoulder, still faint from the heat.

"Hmm?"

"Help me adjust the spell and magic. I’ll channel mana and activate Elemental Control: Ice. I want you to link it with wind magic. Make it efficient. Widespread. We need a cold breeze, not just ice."

Ridan hovered higher, his glow returning slightly as he nodded with seriousness.

"Got it. Ice and wind synergy... low-output, continuous spread. I’ll guide the stream once your mana starts flowing."

Hazuki took a slow breath, letting his lungs fill with the dry desert air.

Then he exhaled and closed his eyes.

Mana surged from his hand,steady, controlled...and flowed into the sword. Pale green light crawled up the blade, pulses of cold shimmering along its surface.

Faint frost formed at the base of the sword, and the sand around it began to harden, chilled by the creeping ice.

Ridan raised both hands, his own energy flickering in harmony with Hazuki’s mana. He circled the sword slowly, weaving wind magic around the icy aura.

A gentle, cool breeze burst outward from the center, not forceful but wide. Like standing in front of a soothing stream. The dry heat around them started to break, the shimmering waves of heat distorted by the new air current.

The sand no longer burned beneath Hazuki’s knees. His shirt fluttered slightly in the breeze.

"...Success," he muttered with a satisfied breath.

Ridan hovered beside him, arms crossed smugly. "Told you I’m useful."

Hazuki wiped his brow and sat down under the tree again, now basking in the cool air spreading around them.

"...This might just buy us enough time."

Hazuki leaned back against the tree trunk, his eyes half-lidded as the soft, chilled breeze brushed against his skin.

"How long do you think this will stay, Ridan?"

"I don’t know, Probably one or two hours. Looking at how much mana you poured in, that’s a decent reserve."

"Oh, that’s good..." Hazuki murmured, sliding down and stretching his legs. "Now we can sleep first."

"Good idea," Ridan yawned, arms behind his head as he lay flat on the sand.

Hazuki gave a tired chuckle and let his eyes close, his breathing slowing as his body adjusted to the rare comfort.

The breeze hummed gently around them.

In that quiet, with the wind whispering softly through the still air and the sun finally starting to dip, it almost didn’t feel like a desert.

Just for a moment—it felt like a small piece of peace in a world that kept dragging him into chaos.

Hazuki stirred, shivering as the cold bit at his skin.

"Wha!?" He sat up quickly and looked around, eyes wide. "Why is it too cold!?"

The desert that had been blazing hot now lay under a blanket of icy darkness. The sky glittered with stars, and a sharp wind blew across the dunes.

Ridan, still curled on the sand beside him, jolted upright. "W-what just happened!? It was roasting earlier!!"

Hazuki grit his teeth, arms crossed tightly. "I don’t know!! It’s suddenly night—and freezing!!"

Even Ridan, who wasn’t supposed to feel temperature, was shivering."What the hell! I’m a damn spirit—why am I cold!?"

Hazuki grabbed the sword beside him. "No choice. I’m channeling fire element. This is insane."

He closed his eyes and focused his mana.

"Elemental Control... switch to fire..."

The blade began to glow red. Warmth slowly radiated outward, wrapping around the two like a gentle firelight in the storm of cold.

"Haaaah... that’s better..." Hazuki sighed in relief, rubbing his arms.

Hazuki rubbed his hands near the warm blade and looked out into the darkness.

"...Guess we’re stuck here till morning, huh?"

"Yup," Ridan sighed, curling up midair like a ghostly blanket burrito. "Welcome to the desert."

"Let’s wake up at dawn and start walking," Hazuki mumbled as he stared at the dark sky above. "That way we can avoid the scorching heat for a while."

"Yeah... I don’t want to deal with that again," Ridan said, still half buried in the sand, shivering under the fading fire aura.

Hazuki turned his head. "Ridan?"

"What?"

Hazuki shifted up on his elbows. "Do you think we can walk while I channel mana and use Elemental Control: Ice like before?"

Ridan blinked, then his eyes lit up. "Well... it depends on how much—oh!! Wait, that’s right!" He floated up and grinned wide. "We can do that!"

He spun lazily in the air. "Yeah, yeah! We’ll keep a thin veil of ice-cold wind around us as we walk. Not too thick, not too draining."

Hazuki squinted. "You sure it’ll last?"

"It’ll last," Ridan smirked, keeping the real reason to himself.

With your mana pool the size of an ocean, we could walk through a volcano if we wanted.

Hazuki stretched his arms and leaned back against the tree’s trunk. "Alright. Then let’s rest until sunrise."

The wind carried faint, dry whispers across the dunes, but under the faint red glow of their fire aura, the night remained quiet.

Hazuki mumbled, eyes half-lidded as he stared at the star-scattered sky above.

"Can’t wait to pass this desert... and hope we find some good place to visit..."

His voice trailed off, breath slowing.

Beside him, Ridan floated down near the base of the tree, arms folded behind his head as he hovered just above the sand.

"Yeah yeah... maybe somewhere with cold drinks, shade, and no sand in places sand shouldn’t be..." he muttered, then smirked faintly. "Maybe even a bathhouse."

Hazuki didn’t answer. He was already drifting off, face calm, chest rising and falling steadily.

Ridan glanced at him once more, then looked toward the horizon where the desert met the distant stars.

( End Of Chapter )