Chapter 207: An Artificial Oasis and a Suspicious Man
Semkhet, being a wizarding village, was indeed secluded and remote. The one-hour travel time Nadim had mentioned was clearly not based on normal driving conditions. After leaving the airport, the car had been driving normally, traveling south along a wide highway. But after turning off the highway somewhere and onto a side road, the vehicle began to show its true nature. Seeing no one around, Timur pressed a red button, and Ethan felt the car lift slightly off the ground. He then pressed a green button, and the car shot forward at a speed far exceeding that of any normal vehicle, flying low above the ground.
"Doesn't Egypt have something like an Office for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts? That's got to be an illegal modification," Ethan asked curiously.
"Well, we do have something like that, but this is a special case. Semkhet is just too remote. If we didn't do this, it would probably take over two hours to get there," Nadim said, scratching his beard.
"Fair enough."
They flew along the side road for a while, then turned onto an even rougher dirt track. The cloaked car kicked up clouds of dust, clearly visible to the people in the villages along the way. "Is that really alright? Doesn't that count as exposure?" The Muggles in the villages seemed utterly oblivious to the conspicuous patterns of dust.
"They're used to it," Nadim said with a chuckle. "This car's been running for years. At first, the Muggles along the route were surprised, but they've seen it so often they just accept it as normal."
It was the same question he had asked the first time he rode in the car. According to Timur, it had been going on for over a decade and was now dismissed as a natural phenomenon, nothing remarkable at all.
"All right." There had been so many unusual sights along the way that Ethan had grown mostly unfazed. Only the monotonous landscape, an endless sea of sand, prompted him to keep asking questions.
After flying across a trackless stretch of desert, they finally reached their destination: Semkhet, a village built around a small oasis. As they entered the green space, Nadim explained, "This spot was already quite remote, and with a Muggle-Repelling Charm in place, even if a Muggle were to find it, they wouldn't want to come any closer."
The car stopped beside a two-story, sand-colored building at the edge of the village. A sign above the door read, in English, French, and Arabic: Semkhet Inn.
"We're here. Let's get out," Nadim said, opening his door first. As he climbed out, he added with a note of regret, "A shame, really. My Transfiguration grades were only average. I never managed to become an Animagus. Otherwise, I'd give you a demonstration."
"That is a shame," Ethan agreed. "Being able to transform into large animals at will, and several different kinds at that, sounds incredible."
During the ride, Ethan's questions had drifted from mundane topics about the Uagadou campus to wandless, gesture-based spellcasting, and finally to Animagi. His goal had been to coax out some knowledge on these subjects, whether they were considered secret or not. But whether Nadim truly didn't know or simply chose not to share, his efforts had come to nothing.
Bathed in the light of the setting sun, Ethan took in the sight of the remarkably tiny oasis. There could not have been more than fifty buildings lining both sides of the single street. From the inn at the village entrance, one could see straight through to the other end. And beyond the last building, Ethan could see where the patchy green of the oasis met the yellow of the surrounding desert.
"This is an artificial oasis," Nadim explained, pulling the suitcases from the trunk and following Ethan's gaze. "There are no natural rivers or lakes here. The plants were all cultivated by the ancestors of the villagers, irrigated entirely by magic."
"I see." Ethan nodded; he'd been looking for a water source. An artificial oasis sustained for so many years without any natural water supply was something only magic could achieve.
At the sound of the car, a window on the upper floor opened and a head poked out, glancing down at the group below.
"Isaac! Hello," Ethan called up with a wave.
"Hello, Ethan," came the reply. Then, "Hello, Boss," to Cyril.
"The boss and the others are here," said Mael, Isaac's roommate. "We should head down too. It's about time for dinner."
"Mm. You go get the others. I'll be down in a minute." Isaac turned back toward the room for a moment, then leaned out the window again. Even after Ethan and Cyril had entered the inn, he kept his head out the window, gazing back in the direction they'd come from.
"Beautiful," he murmured in French before finally pulling his head back inside and closing the window.
As Cyril used a Levitation Charm to float their two suitcases upstairs, the others were just coming down. After exchanging greetings, the three dragon reserve employees headed downstairs to wait for dinner, while Cyril and Ethan, guided by Timur, went up to their room.
"An inn passed down for generations. It really does have something medieval about it," Ethan remarked. Though modernized in some respects, the room still retained many features of its original construction.
As he admired the interior details, Nadim's voice drifted in from outside the door. "Are you two settled in yet?"
Cyril, who had just finished changing, nodded to Ethan, who opened the door. "Is dinner ready?"
"Sounds good. Let's go," Cyril said, stepping out.
When the three of them reached the ground floor, the others were already seated around the inn's largest table. It was laden with an array of Egyptian dishes. At a glance, Ethan saw grilled meats, stews, vegetable dishes, and some very tempting-looking desserts, at least a dozen different items in all. *Quite a spread,* he thought as he took his seat. *I'd assumed a tiny village in the desert would have limited provisions. I was wrong about that.*
Nadim explained the names of the dishes and how to eat them. The food was very much to Ethan's liking, and he ate with enthusiasm. By the time they finished dinner, full darkness had fallen.
Nadim led Cyril and Ethan out of the inn. They lit their wands and walked along the village's single street. "How do they get food supplies out here?" Ethan asked, glancing at the similar-looking houses with lights glowing in their windows. "I noticed the inn has a fireplace. Is it connected to the Floo Network?"
"Yes," Nadim replied. "The village can only grow and raise so much on its own. Most supplies are purchased from wizarding markets. If it weren't so late, we'd probably pick up some food ourselves. Things that are easy to eat and keep well in the desert."
The street was only three or four hundred meters long. By the time Nadim had finished answering, they had reached their destination. The general store Nadim had mentioned stood at the very end of the road, a building with a large, brightly lit area out front that set it apart from the other dwellings. The door was open. Nadim walked straight in, glanced around, and called out toward an inner doorway in the side wall. "Salim! We've come to buy supplies."
"Coming, coming!" An old wizard with gray hair and several missing teeth hurried out from the back room, eager for business. "Hello, gentlemen. What can I get for you?" he asked in the same Egyptian-accented English.
Ethan surveyed the modest shop. The goods were neatly arranged in sections. The shelves near the entrance held everyday items for the villagers: snacks, toiletries, and the like. The shelves farther back, against the walls, displayed specimens, tents, and an assortment of potion ingredients and alchemical trinkets.
"Did you bring a tent?" Salim asked, his question suggesting that whoever had referred Nadim to Cyril had also shared something of Cyril's background.
"No, we didn't. Are the tents here for rent or for sale?" Cyril asked, eyeing the various tents on display.
"We offer both options," Salim said with a smile.
Nadim gestured toward the tents. "Renting requires a hefty deposit, but I'd still recommend it over buying. You're unlikely to use it often after this trip, so buying wouldn't be very cost-effective."
"Fine, we'll rent. We need a tent with four bedrooms."
"Excellent." Even without making a sale, the rental fee for a large tent was still a tidy profit, so Salim readily agreed.
With the tent selected, Cyril looked around the shop. "We'll take ten waterskins as well." He turned to Nadim. "How are we traveling into the desert? A flying carpet, or something else?"
"Flying carpet. I have one large enough for all of us."
"That works, then we won't need to rent one." Cyril's gaze moved away from the rolled-up carpets.
"How about a Sandstorm Detector?" Salim held up a nested sphere with components spinning inside.
"We'll take one."
"Antidotes? There are venomous snakes and poisonous magical creatures in the desert."
"Ten vials of those, too." Ethan had brought some of his own, but one could never have too many antidotes.
The pile of goods grew steadily larger. Cyril, however, didn't seem particularly bothered. He had already decided to create a temporary Undetectable Extension Charm bag to hold all the locally purchased items. And so, spurred on by Salim's salesmanship, Cyril bought quite a heap of goods, leaving the old wizard beaming from ear to ear.
They carried everything back to the inn in complimentary cloth bags. The village was small and offered little in the way of evening entertainment, and the language barrier didn't help. When they entered, Isaac, Mael, and Noé were seated at the large table downstairs, playing a game of Wizarding Cards.
Cyril reminded them, "Get some rest early tonight. We leave tomorrow."
"Understood," the three replied.
Nadim, unfamiliar with the game, simply nodded to the trio and followed Ethan and Cyril upstairs. Once they were gone, Mael, who was in the middle of playing a card, asked curiously, "What do you suppose this treasure we're looking for actually is? A lost pyramid? A buried temple? Whatever it is, there's got to be something valuable inside, or the boss wouldn't be paying this much."
Their curiosity was understandable. Cyril had been exceptionally tight-lipped about this venture. Until they arrived in Egypt the day before, they hadn't even known their destination. Even when Cyril had written to ask if they were interested after changing his plans, the letter had only inquired whether they would accompany him to explore a certain location. There might be some risk, he had written, but the compensation would be substantial.
The letter alone had been tempting. Cyril was offering a sum of money that would take them well over a decade to earn at the reserve, not to mention the promise of a bonus if they actually found anything. And when Cyril had returned to France and spoken to them in person, they had all agreed without hesitation. They knew that any journey involving Ethan wouldn't be too dangerous. After all, they were well aware of how much Cyril cherished his only heir. If Ethan was going along, they had little to fear.
But that fact also fueled their curiosity. What kind of treasure required bringing a mere second-year student like Ethan along, to the point of paying a fortune for his protection?
They had discussed this very question the night before, but Robert had been present then, and the old wizard, being closest to Cyril, had put a stop to the speculation. Now, with Robert upstairs and Cyril and Ethan just back with supplies, Mael voiced the question again.
"Who knows?" Noé replied. "And it doesn't really matter to us. I'm just hoping we do find something so we get that bonus. Besides, judging by all this, the trip doesn't look all that dangerous. Probably just a long slog. I'm leaning toward the boss wanting to show his heir the ropes and hiring us as extra muscle, just in case. Think about it: a couple of weeks, maybe a month, roughing it in the desert for enough money to live comfortably for ten, fifteen years or more. Why overthink it?"
Noé's view was simple. He had been at the dragon reserve for a while. It was a good job, but remote. He longed for a more exciting life and figured that after this job, depending on the payout, he might just quit and find work in a city.
"You have a point," Mael conceded after a moment's thought.
Isaac had been watching the game, but throughout their exchange he said nothing. His eyes flicked repeatedly toward the staircase, his mind seemingly elsewhere. Then, his ears perked up. He stood. "I'm going out for a bit."
He left the inn and walked down the street.
"Wait, why's he going out again? That's the second time. Last night too. Does he know someone around here?" Mael watched him go, puzzled.
"No idea. Doesn't matter though. Let's keep playing," Noé said dismissively.
"Don't dwell on it. It's your turn."
"Hold on, let me think."
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