The coffin man nodded with uncertainty.
Mountain wind traveled past and momentarily moved the man’s long hair to one side. This very moment when Dodoro obtained his own name under the clear sky and fallen autumn leaves had become a permanent print in his mind.
…
When they were halfway to the peak, Angor noticed a double-story wooden house that was out on the open ground among the woods. There was a sign not far from it.
Angor approached and saw several lines written on it using different languages. The topmost one was the universal language.
[Byzan Mountains No.0039, Ranger of Kana Ridge]
There was a date printed at the bottom left suggesting the day the sign was placed, along with an emblem which showed a sun rising above sea horizon.
A forest ranger’s house…
Angor held his chin and considered. There was nothing wrong with the house, but he was quite interested in the small sign. The simple record could tell him a lot.
The emblem, as well as the “plot number”, suggested that it was something determined by officials. Only government-like organizations would give numbers to plots. Also, it could be seen that whoever set up the sign enjoyed the peace. A country suffering from warfare or conflict would not have time to care about protecting mountain woods.
The Goldspink Empire had its own forest rangers as well, but it became a lost profession ever since the battle against Heylan broke out.
“I guess I’m lucky to arrive at somewhere peaceful,” Angor murmured. He rubbed a finger against the sign and noticed there wasn’t much dust on it, which meant someone had been taking care of it.
Next, Angor came to the wooden house.
According to his spirit feeler scan, it was unoccupied. The door was locked, which… didn’t matter. Angor could always open it easily either by using spirit or mana power.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The two stories were only two different rooms—one hall and one bedroom. There were only basic furniture and several locked cabinets.
“Some weapons and foodstuff… no books. Guess our mister ranger doesn’t have much spiritual entertainment,” Angor murmured as he opened a cabinet. He was glad to find a map inside.
The map only showed the locations of such houses of “Byzan Mountain No.0021 to No.0040”. Judging from the map scale, there were 20 such houses around the mountain range of about 400 kilometers.
That was a lot.
It seemed this nation was in good condition since they took such an effort to preserve nature.
Angor put down the map and smelled mild smoke. He looked and saw a series of smoked and dried pork hung below the ceiling beam, as well as some unknown jerky.
After surviving on plainly-cooked food for months, he was immediately attracted by the smell of salt and rich spice.
He picked a slice of pork jerky. He then silently apologized to the owner of the house before he used a pot to boil water on the kitchen stove.
Man, the smell was heavenly!
Even Toby couldn’t help digging in like mad.
Sitting away from them, Dodoro’s mouth also watered at the delicious smell. However, he only looked at the pot without actually asking for food.
Angor thought it over. Dodoro didn’t seem troubled by all the fruits in these days. So, he decided to give Dodoro a really soft part of the meat.
Their meal was very satisfying. When leaving the ranger’s house, Angor placed a gold coin on the table as a late payment. Anyway, it was better than paying nothing.
The coin wasn’t only for buying meat. He also took a set of clothing and a pair of shoes.
For Dodoro.
Angor’s bracelet contained a bright-purple wizard robe that he received from Prome, which served as Dodoro’s outfit during the previous days. Without any other inner fabrics, the robe didn’t do a very good job.
Even though he was wearing nothing on the inside, Dodoro didn’t seem troubled at all. However, Angor couldn’t help feeling uneasy about it. Every now and then, the wind would expose Dodoro’s private parts under broad daylight… very clearly.
They were heading toward a city now. In order not to look too unsightly, Angor had to find him something to wear from the house.
With the new set of clothes, Dodoro looked more “civilized” now. To prevent unnecessary trouble, Angor also cropped his long hair into a crew cut.
When everything was settled, they moved out of the ranger’s house. There was a path leading away from the house. Following it should lead them to a colony quickly enough.