Mummy Evolution-Chapter 16: World Outside

The girls moved towards Sett and he smiled at Zarah.

She smiled back but her gaze quickly shifted to something else. The little girl, Sett found out, was not looking at his face but at his chest. At his Heart Zone to be exact. He also looked at it, he had to research more into the Tomb now residing within him but that could be done later.

"Curious?" he asked.

"What's that?"

Zainah rolled her eyes. "You just noticed it?"

Zarah ignored her sister and curiously moved her finger to touch the round things floating within the hole.

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"You actually have a hole in your chest, what the heck," she muttered. "So cool."

"That just means he is a mummy," Zainah said from the side. "Look at him, just because he appeared here, the desert began to stink like a Tomb."

"That's so mean, sis. Why are you being like that to our savior?" Zarah froze. "What? A MUMMY? Sett is a mummy?!"

Sett ruffled the little girl's hair. "It's just your sister's wariness, I don't mind it. Moreover, she is telling the truth. If I am mad at her for stating facts, I'd be a petty man."

"Wait, you really are a mummy?"

"Yes, apparently." Sett looked towards his right.

They were now standing atop a giant dune and looking downward, he could barely make out a scant trace of human civilization close by. Below, nestled in a shallow basin, was a makeshift camp. A handful of tents were pitched haphazardly, their fabric flapping in the breeze.

Camels lounged in the shade of date trees, their long necks bent as they chewed on sparse desert vegetation.

He couldn't make out any people there, but that was most probably due to desert heat. They must be camping here for the time being. Amidst the wind, dust, and heat waves, camping was a great choice to avoid storms. Since very often, it was not easy to see storms coming at noon time.

Of course, a small camp wouldn't help protect them from truly great storms. They would just have less losses than if they were caught while travelling or on the move.

"Where on the map are we?" he asked.

Zarah still buzzed around him, making a fuss about how he didn't look like a mummy at all. But he focused on Zainah, who had expected the question. She wiped the sweat away from her forehead and looked at the camp in the distance with a peculiar expression.

"We are in the Western Desert area," she said, "near the Burrhen City to be exact."

"Burrhen?" He shook his head. "That is probably a new city. I've never heard of it."

But Western Deserts... that was quite far from the capital.

He wondered how his palace was nowadays. Was it being used by the current Pharaoh? Was it destroyed in the past few hundred years? Would someone even have the heart to destroy such a masterpiece of architecture?

"Sis, that camp..." Suddenly, Zarah said with fear. "Is it them?"

"Yes," Zainah replied with feigned calm.

Sett frowned. "What is this about?"

Zarah seemed as if she had found her savior and clung to Sett's side. He was a tall man and he covered her in his shade, which gave her the courage to explain. "We were chased into that tomb by those fiends. The actual entrance to the Tomb is also in the middle of that camp, so they must have been waiting to make sure we wouldn't leave."

"Oh?" Sett raised his eyebrows. "Why did they chase you?"

"I stole a nobleman's vase," Zainah admitted, averting her gaze. Shame burned through her—telling Sett she was a thief felt like stripping away the last shreds of her dignity. "He sent the authorities after me. I ran for my life, met Zarah on the way, and she followed me... even into the Tomb."

Sett absorbed the information with a single nod. "You've had a rough life."

"..."

"What?"

"Aren't you a big shot?" she asked hesitantly. "Doesn't it disgust you that I'm a thief?"

Without answering, Sett stepped forward, his heels sinking slightly as he began sliding down the dune with effortless grace. Without turning back, he said, "Murder, theft, manipulation, blackmail—they're all just tools. Nothing more, nothing less. Even emperors deceive to get what they want. In the end, what matters is whether it was all worth it."

Curious, Zarah attempted to mimic Sett's descent, digging her heels into the sand. But the sheer force of her strength backfired—sand exploded into her face, knocking her off balance. She ended up half-buried, looking more like a floundering fool than a warrior.

Sett turned to regard her with an unimpressed stare. "Dumb," he commented, making the girl want to hide in the sand forever.

He continued his descent.

As Sett reached the camp, he spotted a hanger made of hemp rope, a collection of clothes flapping dryly in the desert wind.

Zainah, suppressing her laughter, helped Zarah up. Learning from her mistake, she made her way down more carefully. Sliding required skill—one she lacked. Zainah didn't try the stunt at all.

Not to mention that she didn't have a strong enough body to resist the heat in the area unlike the other two, why would she want to embarrass herself?

If she wanted to try, she would try when no one was looking!

Sett plucked a red shirt and white pants from the rope, easing himself into them. With the thin robes covering him and his Heart Zone, he looked even more stunning.

Then, grabbing another set, he tossed them to Zainah. "Here. Cover yourself."

She caught the clothes, her expression unreadable.

"See? Even I steal," he said, shaking his head. "In fact, I have to steal. If I don't do that due to some stupid morality complex, I would just be an idiot. If people find out I'm a mummy walking outside the Tombs, I'll have Tomb Raiders on my back in seconds, I have to use clothes to hide it."

His words carried weight—more than a mere explanation, they were a warning. A reminder to the two girls that his identity could never be revealed. Instinctively, they nodded.

"And Zain, don't reveal that you have an Axiom either," he added. "Unless you want to get tangled in royal politics."

Zainah nodded. That was a decision she had already made long ago. She would develop her Axiom in secret and if she had guessed right, Sett planned to mentor her anyway. At least, he seemed to have the intention.

He seems too good to be true, a voice said in her mind.

"Wha—" Zarah blinked, then scowled. "You have a fucking Axiom now? How many surprises do I have to go through? Don't tell me you guys already kissed, too!"

Zainah blushed like a tomato. She was going to sell this girl!