Sand Land

*BROOOMMM*

Wearing sunglasses to prevent sand from getting into his eyes, Eiji rides a motorcycle across the desert.

It's been three hours since he encountered soldiers claiming to be from the Kingdom of Lydia. So far, he hasn't met anyone else.

"Crossing the desert without a map is indeed troublesome."

Looking at the endless desert, Eiji furrows his brow, wondering how long this situation has been going on.

An hour later, his motorcycle runs out of fuel. He dismounts, takes out another motorcycle from the Storage Ring, and continues his journey.

He leaves the empty motorcycle without hesitation. After all, it's not his, so he doesn't feel burdened discarding valuable items.

"That..."

With Six Eyes providing long-range vision, Eiji sees someone lying on a sand dune.

How could he miss the chance to meet someone else?

He desperately needs information!

Pulling the throttle, the motorcycle speeds towards the person.

However, when he gets closer and sees the condition of the person, he's disappointed because the person is already lifeless.

Dismounting from the motorcycle, Eiji approaches the corpse without fear or disgust. After searching the body, he sighs as he finds nothing useful.

"Such a shame a woman as beautiful as you died without a proper burial."

The corpse in front of him is a woman, and Eiji estimates her age to be in her twenties. He considers her beauty superior to most models and Stars in entertainment industry.

"Could she be the 'Witch' mentioned by the previous soldiers?"

Through observation, Eiji discovers that the woman didn't die of thirst or exhaustion from crossing the desert but was murdered!

The evidence lies in the bullet-riddled body.

"It seems the fate of Witchs in this world isn't so good, hunted down by humans. Are they pursued for wrongdoing against humanity, or conversely, are humans afraid of Witch's power?"

Without sufficient information, Eiji can't draw conclusions.

He isn't unaware of the concept of Witchs. In the history of his original world, Jeanne d'Arc was falsely accused as a Witch and ended up being publicly executed by burning. However, he worries that the concept of Witch he knows might differ from the Witchs in this world.

"Haaa... There's no use overthinking. My top priority is to find a settlement and gather information."

Eiji sighs and sets aside his complex thoughts.

Before leaving, he digs a hole with Blue, places the woman's body in it, then covers the hole.

"This is all I can do. Rest in peace."

After burying the woman, Eiji climbs back on the motorcycle and revs the engine.

"I should be close to a settlement."

...

Five hours later.

"Bingo!"

Eiji's dull eyes light up after seeing a city in the distance. He accelerates his motorcycle.

At the city's entrance, there's a wooden plaque indicating the name of the place.

Sand Land!

"A fitting name." Says Eiji.

As he's about to enter the city, he slows down to avoid hitting anyone.

However, he soon notices something abnormal in Sand Land.

"This is strange. Where are the people?"

Eiji rides through the streets but finds no sign of any activity even though it's not yet evening.

The architectural style in Sand Land resembles the Wild West era, where cowboys still exist in the United States.

Eiji doesn't think Sand Land is abandoned because the buildings still look sturdy and well-maintained.

Stopping the motorcycle, he enters one of the houses that appears to be a regular home.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Eiji shouts while inspecting the house.

No response.

"This..."

Then, he checks the surrounding houses and finds a similarity.

Every house lacks valuable items!

"It seems the residents of Sand Land migrated elsewhere."

Eiji finds no signs of looting or violence, contradicting the hypothesis of someone stealing valuable items.

"Let's look for a library. Maybe I can find some books."

He doubts the residents would take books from the library when migrating.

Riding the motorcycle, he checks a building he assumes is the library.

After searching, he finally finds the library.

Upon entering, he's speechless seeing empty bookshelves and not a single book.

"Lies... Did the library owner really take all their books when migrating?"

Thoroughly checking the library, Eiji is disappointed not to find any books.

"I can't believe I'm not finding anything I need."

Eiji needs a map for navigation and books for information.

He refuses to believe he won't find these two items.

Next, he starts checking each building in Sand Land one by one. Finally, only one large building remains unchecked—the Police Station.

"If I don't find anything here, I'll destroy this town with Red."

Even patient people like Eiji would get angry, although his face looks calm.

With a bad mood, he steps inside.

Checking the first floor, Eiji finds nothing.

Climbing the stairs to the second floor, a hologram screen shaped like a police officer appears in front of him.

"Do you need something, sir?"

"Welcome to the Sand Land police station."

"It's currently 3:22 PM."

"For lost items, turn right after reaching the end of the hallway."

"For traffic matters, go straight."

"For residence-related issues, turn left."

"Do you have an identification card?"

Eiji is quite surprised that a remote place like Sand Land has advanced hologram technology.

He can't blame himself for thinking that way. After all, the buildings in Sand Land are made of wood and don't show signs of modern civilization.

"This world's technological advancement is more advanced than the world of Jujutsu Kaisen." Think Eiji.

"Where did the city's residents go?"

However, he doesn't get the answer he desires. The hologram repeats its initial statement.

"Not as easy as I thought... Without regular maintenance, it's no wonder this hologram device is malfunctioning."

Eiji tries asking a few more questions, but the hologram seems not to hear him and only repeats its sentences.

No longer paying attention to the hologram, Eiji turns around and continues checking the police station.

He hopes to find a map here, but after opening drawers and cabinets, he doesn't find one.

Finally, he arrives at the now-empty prison cell. At least, that's Eiji's initial assumption.

His footsteps suddenly stop.

With his sharp hearing, he hears someone asking a question.

"There's a human!"

Making sure he's not hallucinating after not seeing any humans, Eiji quickly walks towards the source of the sound.

"🎶 Oh, my dear Sasha 🎶"

"🎶 Your eyes are so clear and beautiful 🎶"

"🎶 Even though the light inside them has faded, we will still share morning kisses, sing at night, and our love will be on the streets while watching falling stars around us 🎶"

After turning left, Eiji sees in one of the prison cells, a man on a bed playing guitar and singing passionately, unaware of his arrival.