She was thinking hard when Arthur pulled her arm. "Hey, are you okay? Your face is pale."

  Veronica replied, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you yet. I must go back to the temple. I need to look for some information."

  Arthur told her, "If you don't want to say how you got this stone, it's fine. But, it would be great if I could find out. I'm very curious about this stone."

  "I'm curious too. That's why I have to go to the temple," she stated.

  Arthur thought, 'So, she got the stone at the temple. But, one question still remains. From where did the temple get it? Or from whom? It was a possession of Tybu's Magic Tower.'

  Veronica tugged his sleeve. She demanded, "I want to go back as soon as possible."

  Arthur started, "But your health-"

  "I'm afraid you cannot go back yet," the leader of the desert tribe declared. He came out of his tent and found Arthur and Veronica outside. Thus, he approached them. "It looks like you two are up. That's good. Let's talk while having breakfast."

  At his gesture, Veronica and Arthur exchanged glances before following him to the tent beside the kitchen. It was a food tent where everyone usually had their meals.

  Veronica and Arthur sat side by side, right across the old man. Their meals were served but they were unable to eat.

  Arthur was the first to open his mouth. "What did you mean by we cannot go back yet?"

  "I got a message from my men last night. It says people are looking for the person who revived the desert," still eating, Arthur's foster father stole a glance at them.

  Veronica's body chilled. She nervously looked at Arthur.

  Arthur noticed her gaze and squeezed her hand. Then, he looked at his foster father and said, "Where is the harm? They don't know how she looks like…" his voice trailed off, noticing the elder's expression, "……do they?"

  The leader of the desert tribe responded, "Apparently, they do. Since you both are here, now let me tell you the reason behind the war between Riverhill and Synetia. It started seven months ago. We found a traveler who was dying without water. We brought him here and treated him. However, it was just his acting. He stole one of our antique prophecy scrolls."

  "Come again?" Arthur felt like something hit his head. His head began to spin.

  Veronica couldn't understand what was going on. She asked, "What's an antique prophecy scroll?"

  Arthur took a sharp breath and told her, "Antique prophecy scrolls are some ancient papers. At the beginning of the Utahill civilization formation, some great priests and their saint predicted the future and wrote them down. During the Great War, the enemy attacked the temple. The guardian of the secret library of the temple took the scrolls under the order of the saint and escaped. The guardian came to the Govin desert with his family and started his own tribe here."

  Veronica's eyes widened. Her head turned toward the leader of the desert tribe. She uttered in disbelief, "You… are the descendent of the guardian of the secret library of the temple…"

  "Yes, and we were safely guarding the scrolls for generations until that spy stole one of the scrolls," the leader of the desert tribe grumbled. "Even we don't have the right to read them as we please. How dare they do such a thing!"

  "Which part was stolen?" Arthur inquired.