"Then it's settled. I'll be leaving first!"
The woman's voice drifted over.
Kitahara Kaede sensed that she seemed to be holding something back.
But it wasn't his place to ask.
So he said,
"Alright. How should I give you the item when the time comes?"
"As long as I know who you are, I'll come find you once you catch the Stone Mountain Beast."
Her voice was cheerful, as though whatever she had failed to find earlier was nothing worth mentioning.
Though Kitahara Kaede was somewhat baffled,
he had finally obtained the map and could set off at last.
Meanwhile, the woman who had left began skipping about in the fog.
"One map in exchange for a Stone Mountain Beast. Outsiders really are easy to fool!"
Then she started humming under her breath.
"Stone Mountain Beast, oh Stone Mountain Beast!"
Meanwhile, Kitahara Kaede retraced his steps.
By the time he emerged from the dense forest again, it was already afternoon.
He hadn't expected that merely obtaining a map would take so much time.
Kitahara Kaede then took out the small coin.
The Dao Discussion Clan's location was clearly marked on the map.
What surprised Kitahara Kaede was that
the Dao Discussion Clan and the Stone Mountain Clan were not far apart.
Kitahara Kaede remembered that when he had first arrived,
he had seen the Dao Discussion Clan exchanging attacks with the Stone Mountain Clan.
Later, they had started fighting outright.
However, an old woman from the Dao Discussion Clan had intervened afterward.
The Stone Mountain Clan, meanwhile, had not sent anyone out.
After indulging in the memory for a moment without thinking too much about it,
Kitahara Kaede headed toward the Dao Discussion Clan's territory.
After all, he still had to compete with Ōtsutsuki Hi tomorrow.
He did not