When I come to, a vast expanse of sand greeted me, a gray sand, or is it ash?

Amidst this bewildering situation, I'm glad that at least my body is no longer that of a slender man. Though the thin white clothes on my body are useless against the cold. Wait, why is it so cold?

Huff... I laid back down looking at the blazing sun above which strangely gave no heat whatsoever.

I'm not sure what to feel anymore. With no lead nor reason on why this happens, I feel no drive to take action.

Of course, it is only temporary. I can't just lay here and wait to die after all. Though a moment to just stay still and ponder is really what I need and do right now.

Now then, the voice that I heard that told me to choose a trial before gave some fragmented information I could dig. I remember the word "examinee" which most likely refers to me. Right after I choose one of the options, I somehow appear here. So, this place must be the examination room containing the trial called "Lord's trials".

A trial... then there is something I must tackle here. This is an examination, a test, which could lead to either success or failure. Well, given how eerie the circumstances are until now, I'm not keen on trying to find out the consequences of a failure.

But really... what kind of test lies in this barren place? Is it survival?

...looks like I have to start walking.

•••

It's been 3 months since I was thrown into this place. Sometime after I could no longer hold my hunger, I managed to find a tribe. Luckily, they were kind enough to accept me.

From them, I learned that this place was called the Dihi plateau, the largest unmanaged land on this continent.

People here call this place the Dihi plateau but this place is too wide to be called a plateau, I have been traveling with these people for 3 months, and still, no end is in sight.

Maybe I should explain from the start. This world that the people here called Ru, consisted of two continents that existed in the southern and northern hemispheres. On this continent, there are many different tribes and kingdoms. Especially the tribes, it is so numerous it is uncountable.

As for how this came about, perhaps one of the reasons was that there were almost countless races in this world. Unlike on earth, the appearance of people of one race to another has a very stark difference. And humans tend to reject those who look different from themselves. Therefore, they prefer to gather with each other and refuse to gather with outsiders.

With this many tribes and kingdoms, of course, there would be several small and large-scale wars every year. It is surprising how the number of races in this world is not dwindling.

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And the place where I am now is a place where many war losers have fled, that is because this place is so barren that no one wants to occupy it.

The tribe I'm with now is called the Lata tribe, a tribe known for its light purple skin and the almost blue hues around their eyes.

They are here because of a war. Their land had been occupied so they were scattered in the chaos. A group of a dozen people led by their shaman arrived at this barren place.

Their shaman is a kind beauty, it is thanks to her that I am allowed to stay in the tribe despite the other's wariness.

I'm currently hunting with a young man from the Lata tribe named Hali, he was the first person to befriend me.

When you hear about hunting, the first thing that comes to mind is to use weapons against beasts in a confrontation. But there is no such thing as a beast in this place. The gray sand in this place cannot accommodate any plants so no food cycle can occur.

So here I am, digging in the sand and thrusting a stick through it. Looking for traces of Malika, an animal that lives deep under the sand that looks similar to a lizard with blue-coated fur.

"Just how is this animal able to live?"

"This is a good thing, so there is still something we can eat."

"Of course, but they still have to have a food source right? I thought that if we found that out, there would be more food for us."

"Then I hope you can find it, you're the smart one, I'm not suitable to think."

True, Hali is a brawn kind of guy. That doesn't mean that he looks stupid, it's just that he looks so much like a fighter.

While everyone thought I was some kind of knowledgeable person. Why would they think so? It must be because of how sheltered I looked compared to their rough appearance caused by the harsh environment.

In this world, smart people have a high position and live in comfort. The tribe must have thought I was that kind of person who was stranded here due to a power struggle.

Well, I won't correct them of course. This is a pretty convenient misunderstanding and must have been one of the reasons the shaman accepted me.

But it comes with a burden, it makes me feel like I have to prove something. Hence the constant thought to improve the tribal life here.

Thud!

The stick I thrust encountered resistance, the deeper you dig the harder and denser the sand became, and eventually it became gray soil. Well, you have to dig real deep though.

From here we need to find a hole. Malika usually always uses the same hole they made before. So after this, all you have to do is set the trap and cover it up again, and if you're lucky, you can run into Malika and catch it right away. Malika always goes out during the day.

It wasn't long before we managed to find some holes and finished setting the traps. Hali looked up at the sky and said to me,

"Looks like it's going to rain, let's stop here and go to yesterday's location."

I looked up at the darkening sky.

"Okay."

This is one of the wonders of this place. How can a place that lacks water sources welcome several rains in the past three months?

As we were walking, an idea came to my mind.

"Hali, can I get one Malika later? I want to try something."

"Sure, but don't waste it after you're done okay, eat it later."

"Yeah thank you."

•••

It's been a week since I got a Malika. At first, I just wanted to get a hint from its characteristics and habits. However, I don't think that the intelligence of this creature is quite high. I have trained this animal as I would a dog and it learns quickly.

As I played with it a sentence I hadn't seen in a long time came to my mind.

{First subject detected. Charisma is sufficient. Would you like to make 'No Name (Malika)' your subject?}