A huge crowd had gathered at the opening to the Stone Highway. Many desert-traveling carriages and floatships had created the mother of all traffic jams.

  In the defense of all the vehicles stuck here, it's not their fault that it's impossible to move onto the Highway. A gigantic round...something is blocking the only entrance, at least for this section of the Highway. What is that thing? It's moving a little, so is it some sort of living being?

  "Hey, how did this happen?" - Garami

  After Mira parked the Marauder, I asked one of the people from the nearest carriage—a Desert Elf, from the looks of it. The blond hair and dark skin, the first bit being impossible for a Dark Elf to obtain unless they dyed their hair, and the latter being unobtainable for a regular Elf unless they threw brown paint on themselves, is enough evidence for me not needing to use [Identification] on her to confirm my suspicions.

  "Are you people also going to Shaharin? In that case, you're in tough luck. The Highway is being obstructed by the infamous White Desert's Guardian." - Desert Elf

  Okay, the "blockade = living being" theory was spot-on. Not that's gonna help us get to the city of cloth any faster.

  "Sorry, but what do you mean by 'White Desert'?" - Mira

  "It must be one of those big names in the region. Like the crystal jackal that messed with Oasis Town." - Garami

  "Or the bug lamia that was lame enough to try and kidnap you and Iron before." - Noire

  "Don't remind me..." - Garami

  "Eh!? Have you people encountered the Gold Desert's Robber?" - Desert Elf

  "Hmm..., he didn't exactly introduce himself, but if you're talking about a giant, golden-colored lamia with a locust for an upper body and has a percentage for stealing floatships, then yes, we got acquainted with him recently." - Garami

  "Oh, dear. It's not your everyday experience encountering any of the Four Deserts' Guardians, never mind two in short succession." - Desert Elf

  "Hey, didn't you call that lamia mantis a 'Robber'? Why is he treated as a 'Guardian'?" - Mira

  "More importantly, what even is this 'Four Deserts' in the first place? This region's boss monsters?" - Garami

  "Calling them 'bosses' would be a little too much, but they are the most common 'great creatures' among the people of Sekarot." - Desert Elf

  "Aha. They're the front face for the Sekarot Desert's monster population." - Garami

  "That is...pretty much it, honestly. And the most known one is the White Desert's Guardian, hence why the four are collectively referred to as 'guardians' even when only one of them is deserving of this title." - Desert Elf

  "And that VIM (Very Important Monster) is here today, making blocking the Highway...why?" - Mira

  "Is it wounded and had to rest somewhere?" - Noire

  Oh, I could see that happening. That thing is so XXX-Mega-sized that we can see it easily from back here. If that huge body got hurt, then it would need some time to recover. Though, now I'm starting to get scared of whatever managed to hurt this giant beast...

  "Oh, not in that way. The people at the front are saying it's just taking a nap." - Desert Elf

  And now I've scared myself for no good reason!

  "Is it just resting? Then knock him awake already." - Noire

  "Whoaaa, how ruthless. Glad Alf didn't join us." - Mira

  True. The sleepyhead vampire would get shocked enough for a color failure if he had heard Noire now.

  "It is not that easy. The White Desert's Guardian is the most goodwilled of the Four Guardians. Some smaller communities in the desert even respect it as a guardian deity." - Desert Elf

  "Now that's what I call having a good reputation." - Mira

  "Yeah. Nobody wanna mess with something that important." - Garami

  "It's not only that. The Guardian is of a species known as a 'Desert Cleaner'. They eat filth and waste in the desert, keeping it clean and inhospitable for the more vicious monsters such as the undead." - Desert Elf

  So that's why it's the "White Desert". "White" as in "Clean".

  "In short, even if that guy's blocking the way, people will get in more trouble if they disturb his nap rather than just wait till he's got enough shut-eye." - Mira

  "Tch, how annoying. How long will this nap take?" - Noire

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Nobody knows for sure. The veterans think it will wake up tomorrow morning..." - Desert Elf

  Tomorrow, huh. It's still less time than trying to reach the city without the Highway, not to mention lower risks of meeting nasties that wanna chomp on us.

  "No other choice than to camp for the night." - Garami

  "Whaaaaat?" - Noire

  Noire was not pleased, so I left her with Mira and Revi on the Marauder before heading out with Iron. Some of the stopped vehicles were part of merchant caravans, so they should agree to some "sales on the road" while we're waiting for this giant "guardian" to move its HUGE butt. Iron joined me, probably to escape the surges of "divine wrath" coming out from Noire. That stuff can be more than just harmful for guys like us, the demons, and the undead. Hence why I'm also on the fieldwork team.

  Most of the travelers here are merchants, traveling to the city of cloth either as buyers or sellers. The former group ain't shy in making some early coins, hence why they've already laid out their wares for the people not patient enough to wait till they've reached the city. None of the A-rank stuff I want for my Nightmare Items is out for sale yet. What misfortune. Is this "guardian" a bad luck charm for me?

  "You see anything good?" I asked Iron, feeling bored over the tame selection of goods the merchants had placed out on their carpets.

  "...Over there." - Iron

  Not bothering to tell me more, Iron started to move through the crowd, heading toward one of the larger floatships that had been parked a way from the blocked entrance to the Highway. It must be one of the more recent additions to the traffic jam, similar to us. The ship is...pretty boring in design and color, but its size is eye-opening. It's like a ferry when compared to our little Marauder.

  After I managed to squeeze myself through the crowd, I found out that my first impression of the ship was quite correct. It is a ferry, floatship-style. Many people of different sizes and shapes were sitting on the ship's deck, looking bored while gazing at the snoring Desert Cleaner.

  "Iron? You think they sell anything here?" I asked my undead companion, unsure if this ship was part of the other merchants' improvised bazaar. I can't see any clothes placed out in front of their ship like what the other merchants did.

  "Can't you smell it?" - Iron

  Smell it? All I can smell is the stench of desert sun-induced sweat and dust..., hold on? What is that aroma? It's coming from inside the ferry ship? And more importantly...how did the walking suit of armor even smell anything? Does he hide a ghost nose of sorts underneath that helmet?

  Feeling curious, I walked closer to the ferry and found a large stall nearby. The ferry's crew seems to have opened an outdoor cafeteria. Strange red fumes came from the large pots they had on the stoves, discouraging everyone from testing the food. Still...

  "Weird," said Iron all of a sudden, prompting a "What's weird?" from me.

  "There is no volcano here." - Iron

  "Vol-!? Of course there aren't, you nincompoop! Did you race-change from a ghost to a zombie with a rotten brain when we weren't looking?" - Garami

  "Then it's really weird. I could swear I was smelling burning volcanic ashes." - Iron

  "Just cause you use Magma-type skills doesn't make you a volcano detection machine. Then, where did this 'volcanic' smell come from?" - Garami

  "Over there," said Iron, pointing an armored finger toward the red-fuming pots.

  "...For real?" - Garami

  "No wonder nobody wants to try out their food," said Bloom, suddenly deciding to appear after having disappeared with a poof earlier because she couldn't bear the heat.

  Again, for real? I think it smells pretty good.

  "This cannot be the work of any sane person. Let's go and make a complaint to the person in charge of that ship!" - Bloom

  "Agreed." - Iron

  "You two, don't go and stir the hive for no good reason." - Garami

  Is she bored? She must be bored. Nothing we can do is going to speed up the Desert Cleaner's alarm clock, so why not join the fun?

  Bloom asked one of the young vendors at the stall with a large attitude, though it was fruitless. Large for Bloom is still microscopic for the rest of us. Even a young girl like that won't flinch from the pipsqueak of the pipsqueaks.

  As for Iron, he's trying to look intimidating, but it's not working. The vendor girl isn't even giving him the time of day. Sorry, Iron. I'm doubting she's even aware you're not an inanimate suit of armor. Though luck...

  Despite everything, Bloom's endeavor bore fruit in the end. A loud voice came from the ship, saying, "What in the spicy wide world is this ruckus!?" as a large person stepped outside...

  AWW; COME ON!! Why are the Black Baron's goons here!? ...No, hold on. This guy ain't a Machinerz! He's an Automata!

  To give a short explanation, the Machinerz are mechanical constructs programmed to act as living creatures, have levels and skills, and so on. However, they're not "real" living beings, just very fancy robots, meaning they cannot evolve, nor do they have real "souls". In that meaning, they're extremely useless for Necromancers such as myself. The lack of proper "souls" also prevents the Machinerz from getting to use any MP.

  On the other hand, we have the Automatas. They are the proper "mechanical being" in the eyes of the World System, as they have proper souls, can evolve, and while the value is extremely low, their MP isn't locked to 0.

  From what I know, Automatas can be classified as either the "robotic creature" category, where they look like a cyber-version of already-existing creatures, or the "robotic robots" group, where they are looking way too close to Machinerz for my sake.

  The guy who just arrived is from the latter group. He's around 2 meters tall and looks sort of like a circus director with a round body. What's amusing is that his head's formed like a tophat that works like a chimney, and there's a pipe sticking out from his mouth in a way that makes it look like a cigar. The chimney and the "cigar" are releasing white steam, not smoke, so I guess he's related to the Steam attribute.

  Said steam is almost blowing Bloom away as the Automata is..."steaming" out of anger. And while he's turning red out of anger, Bloom is going white from fear. Never mess with mechanical monstrosities that are several tens of times bigger than you. Except when said machines are made by a jerk of a baron dressed in all-black. Those things go boom on their own, making them easy prey.

  "Boss, we have claimers." - Vendor girl

  "CLAIMERS?! Who or what is this person!?" - Steam Automata

  "She is!" shouted Bloom while pointing at me. Now, how to deal with her after this...

  ---

  Meanwhile...:

  "Sir, there are no positive results from our experiments with the White Desert's Guardian."

  "Tch. I knew the rumors were too good to be true. Time to pack up then."

  "Yes, sir! Also, we have had recent reports saying that the trio from the underground tomb has been spotted."

  "Which underground tomb again? There are too many in this desert."

  "The one where the Kheperiktot scarab was kept."

  "Aha... The Demon, the knight, and the fairy."

  "What should we do with them?"

  "...Leaving them to their own devices and trying not to stand out would be the sensible course of action."

  "Meaning we will not do that?"

  "Correct. Ignore what I said earlier. Keep the Guardian where he is to stop people from leaving through the Highway! We have a triple assassination to prepare, folks!"

  Steampunk Golem]