Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

Chapter 146 - Rush

"Everyone! Back on your saddles!" Layn shouted as soon as he rushed out of the kitchen. Out of every single piece of information that Irea's letter packed, one was the most important and pressing. 

"What happened?" Sitra asked while proving why Castor held a sweet spot for her, as she didn't waste even a single moment before getting back on her horse. 

"I know where they went, more or less that is," Layn announced, rushing towards his own mount.

"Isn't that good?" Sitra gestured at the two other guards before turning her face back to the archmage. "Now we know where to look for them, so why the hurry?" she asked, perplexed by the sudden rush. 

"I hope I'm wrong here, but I believe they are about to enter the area under the influence of another Overlord of Origin," Layn explained as he kicked the sides of the horse and lowered himself over the mount's neck. 

As if sensing the rush of its host, the animal didn't bother wasting any time either. It instantly stretched its legs forward, entering the most efficient form of movement.

"Wait? Are you sure?!" Sitra asked, her face whitening. While she could believe that when fully prepared, Layn would be capable of tackling an Overlord of Origin, she didn't have any doubts about what would happen if he tried to do the same in his current state. 

While Layn wasn't injured, he simply had no means of fighting. She saw it clearly with how desperate he was to save every last bit of mana that he could squander. 

"Why do you think that's the case?" Sitra asked while reaching to one of the sacks attached to her saddle. "If they knew about the Overlord, they wouldn't dare to infringe on its sphere of influence. What's more, if you didn't know about it beforehand, then they cannot be any wiser either. How can you tell they are about to enter his area then?" Sitra brought up a logical question. 

It was Castor and the girl herself that told Layn everything he currently knew about the Overlord of Origin. And for them, the knowledge they possessed was an effect of long centuries of various braves risking their life to learn more about the overlords along with a countless number of researchers.

As such, it was impossible for Layn's companions that used to live in this place to know about the Overlord. And in extension, it was impossible for Layn to learn about its existence directly. In the end, the only way for the archmage to come to the conclusion he did, was by picking at the scraps of hints they gave him, something that bore a high risk of leading to a mistake!

"Can you see how the land around us looks like?" Layn answered with a question of his own. "No matter which direction you look like, it's all an empty steppe. What's more, if you travel far enough, you will reach a massive desert, far bigger than the steppe itself," Layn explained his thoughts as he swooshed his hand around to add the weight to his words. 

"Yeah, what about it?" Sitra asked as she had no idea what Layn find out from the letter he found in the kitchen building. 

"According to the information my people left me with, they found another biome. Or rather, they found out a pack of wolves, clearly scouting an area," Layn explained the details before sending the girl a questioning look. "First off, the wolves can't live on a steppe. That alone proves there ought to be a more fertile land nearby. What's more, since they were scouting the steppe, that pack of wolves only dared to enter it recently," Layn said, not bothering to hold any information or thoughts back. 

"You know that's not necessarily the case?" Sitra countered with a lenient smile that soured as soon as Layn looked at her face. "I know that your idea is likely to be true, but don't be so negative. You don't want your people to see you so anxious, do you?" she asked with a renewed smile. 

"While you might be right... Wait, what's this?" Layn was about to acknowledge Sitra's words when his attention got drawn to a strangely-looking thing nailed into the ground. A few moments later, when their horses brought them closer, Layn could finally see just what kind of peculiarity that was. 

"Just who could've come up with such an idea?" Sitra asked in a low voice while staring at the brick-like material shaped in the form of the letter 'T'. From how it was already angled, it was clear that most of its length and weight at the same time was above the ground, making it susceptible to the strong winds coursing through the steppe at night. 

"It's a marker," Layn replied while shaking his head powerlessly. "While there are a lot of problems with using something like that to mark one's advance, I'm quite sure they were left by my people," he explained as he continued to shake his head. "While stupid on its own, it's great because of a very simple reason," Layn smiled as he looked towards the girl. "Those markers were made in exactly the same way as the bricks that we used to create the camp we just left. As such, rather than carrying a huge amount of them, you can just make more on the spot."

Layn shook his shoulders. "After all, you can find clay literally anywhere in this steppe," he explained the ingenuity of this idea before pushing his awe out of his mind. With the huge possibility of immense danger still hanging above the heads of his people, Layn couldn't spare that much thought to praising the design of the markers. 

Soon, their group passed by another marker. And then another. Yet, as if the situation couldn't be so simple, the line of the markers didn't seem to end. 

Mile after mile, Layn continued to spot the markers in the distance, rush his horse to reach them only to notice another one even further away.

"Huh?" Layn exhaled in surprise when the situation changed for the first time since their departure from the camp. Because while he stood by a single marker, he could spot not a single one more in the distance, but actually two of them. 

The first of the markers that he could see continued the trend of going away from the camp in a single line, while the other stopped the trend and was positioned to the side. 

'Does this mean both ways are correct, or...?' Layn thought, trying to figure out the pattern of thinking that whoever put the marker could have. 

"Which way now?" Sitra asked, forcing Layn to make a decision. While they wouldn't lose much time by just checking both directions, no one could know whether one of them would turn out to be a dead-end or continue for several miles more. 

"I think..." Layn attempted to make a decision yet ultimately couldn't. The stress from preserving his mana, the stress of ignorance about the state of his people and Irea in particular... With all those things piling up, even someone as mature and experienced as Layn could reach the point where he would be unable to make vital decisions on the go. 

"We are taking the turn," Sitra said after a short moment, not allowing anyone to even think about refusing her. "Layn, you are in no state to make any decision. And you should know the ultimate rule of the military, that can easily be applied to everything else," she announced as she hurried her horse and looked at Layn's face. 

"And what's that rule?" Layn took the opportunity to push the problem of the decision away with gratitude, digging in into the topic that the girl proposed. 

"Even a bad decision is better than no decision at all. In the military, this rule was born from the simple fact that lack of any decision simply means giving your opponent the power of initiative," Sitra explained before shaking her head and gracing Layn with a smile. "In a sense, life is no different from a war. We are constantly struggling against the fate that wants to put us down. And just like that, we have our current situation." 

For a moment, Sitra simply continued to ride in the silence as if she needed to digest the next words that she wanted to say. 

"Right now, we don't know if your people need help or not. In such a situation, even if only for a little, our help might prove to be necessary if not essential," she finally started after a few more moments when the group reached the marker. From how another one appeared in the distance, there was a huge chance they were heading in the right direction. "In case that they really and urgently need our help, just sitting around and trying to make a decision would give the fate the initiative."

Once again, Sitra turned silent for a few moments.. Then she smiled and looked at Layn. "And this isn't something that we should allow, is it?"