The Red-Haired Dragonkin Who Refused to Give His Name

After leaving Layan Territory, Ian had quite a bit more luggage on him.

Setting aside the odds and ends of supplies, alchemical materials, and Layan City's local specialty flower tea, Ian's greatest gain was this Razorclaw Tiger pelt.

Theoretically speaking, a Razorclaw Tiger's hide was a Magic Beast material, but like alloy iron plating, it was exceptionally tough.

Of course, Terra's people could easily chew through even actual iron plating, but asking an alchemist to refine tiger hide into Magic Potion ingredients... the cost was too high and the returns too low. It simply was not worth it.

Yet it was extremely valuable. Tiger-hide cushions, tiger-hide coats, and tiger-hide tapestries were all luxurious, tasteful decorations eagerly sought after by nobles and wealthy households.

Especially in the Southern Ridge. The nobles here did not have so much gentility or refined upper-class taste. Compared to exquisite statues from the City of Knowledge or Elf wall hangings, they preferred wilder things—Magic Beast heads and hides.

"The pelt is very intact. It feels like it could sell for over two hundred and thirty talers."

Ian nodded slightly. "Once I sell the hide in Twin Tree Town, I won't have to worry about travel expenses or food anymore—this trip through Layan Territory didn't cost me a single penny. I even made quite a bit."

Food expenses were a fairly important consideration for an evolved individual traveling abroad.

For evolved individuals, diet itself was an extremely important matter—Ian had relied on hunting Magic Beasts and obtaining high-quality food in Harrison Port to acquire nutrition and accumulate Origin Matter.

Ian's Origin Seed conversion speed was more than twice as efficient as that of ordinary people. Originally, that was not much of a difference, because the amount of Origin Seed a person could store was limited. At most, after two hours of full-intensity training, others needed two hours to recover, while he only needed one.

Others could train six times a day without sleeping; he could train eight times. Besides, no one could train nonstop for twenty-four hours a day. It was neither efficient nor scientific, and it was harmful to the body.

Therefore, the advantage in Origin Seeds required accumulation over many years before a noticeable gap emerged. At Ian's age, even if he was stronger than others his age, he would not be stronger by much.

But because he had the Ancient Dragon Core, Ian could store all of that doubled conversion output inside his heart core.

"Enough Origin Matter remains for sixty-eight hours of full-force combat."

Ian sensed his body. His battles with Baron Layan and that department chief afterward had probably consumed an additional amount of Origin Matter equivalent to ten minutes of his usual combat. So long as he had enough high-quality food to replenish himself, he could recover it in ten or twenty minutes.

And how could he obtain better food?

Other than buying it, he could only do it himself.

Fortunately, although his skills might not compare to those of his previous life, the world of Terra truly had no shortage of delicious food thanks to its many entirely new and marvelous ingredients.

At dusk, Ian settled the pack beast nearby, then lit a campfire in the woods and set up two small pots. One held a chunk of Southern Ridge cured meat, while the other simmered with chopped onion scraps and crushed berries, two streams of steam rising and intertwining above them.

On the grill beside them roasted a rabbit unfortunate enough to run into Ian's hands. It was adorably plump and juicy, brushed with a layer of Layan Town's specialty Radiant Flower Honey and giving off an utterly mouthwatering fragrance.

Ian planned to make some onion sauce, but that required tomatoes and beef stock. Still, Southern Ridge cured meat, with a texture similar to ham, made a decent substitute. Once the liquid in both pots had reduced somewhat, he skimmed the foam from the cured-meat broth and poured it into the onion sauce to combine them. Then he added some salt and spices and continued simmering it.

As for the roast rabbit, rabbit meat might have relatively little fat, but its texture was remarkably tender and smooth. So long as it was roasted properly, it would be exceptionally fragrant and succulent.

This little bit of food was not actually enough for Ian alone—forget eating it, he would probably take one sip and one bite, and it would all be gone.

But there was no need to worry. He had deliberately lit a fire and cooked out in the wilderness today precisely because he was not planning to eat alone.

Rustle...

The grass and trees in the forest parted to form a small path, and a tall young man led a pony over to Ian's campfire.

His skin was a healthy wheat color, and his coarse red hair spilled down over his shoulders and behind his waist. His pair of extraordinarily bright dark-green eyes, glowing like firelight amid the woods, proved his descent from the Southern Ridge mountainfolk.

"Forgive me, stranger knight, handsome youth."

Leading his horse, the mountainman watched Ian, who was tending the sauce, with a smile. In somewhat unpracticed Common, he said, "The night is long, and spending it alone is far too lonely and dangerous. Might I be fortunate enough to make camp with you?"

Ian looked up and blinked. He held back the urge to point out at least three enormous mistakes the other man had just made in concealing his identity. Suppressing his laughter, he pointed at his pots. "You are very welcome, but stranger, look—you have no luggage, and naturally no provisions. And I do not have much food either."

"If you are willing to share such a meager meal with me, then naturally I do not mind."

"I have no food?" The mountainman froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Yes, of course. Food."

"Please wait a moment."

With that, he set down the reins of the pony, which barely dared to breathe, then strode back toward the forest.

Ian watched the direction in which the other had left and sighed with a smile.

He clearly looked human, yet his Common was not very fluent.

He was clearly a mountainman, yet he lacked the mountainfolk accent. Instead, he had a hint of an Elf lilt.

Not to mention that his skin, hair, and eye colors were all similar to those of the mountainman Lubek whom Ian knew, yet his character design blended Elves and the Gold Folk, making him the sort of beauty Viscount Grant would like... It was as though he had been molded entirely according to someone's personal tastes.

Of course, most importantly, on this incredibly mysterious fellow... Ian saw a pale cyan light.

The light of the Third Energy Level.

Symmetrical humanoid carbon-based evolved lifeform of Terra, artificial remote body

First Energy Level · adult form · ordinary · naturally intelligent lifeform · primary intelligent lifeform of the star region · non-psychic individual

Body material... evolved alteration... dragonblood conversion and evolution in progress

Strength level: Ordinary

Origin Matter contained: 645.2633 base units

...

This strange mountainman had suddenly appeared behind Ian and followed him from afar ever since Ian had looked up, watched that dragon fly into the heavens, and begun foreseeing the direction of the future.

His ability to conceal his tracks was quite impressive. In fact, if Ian had not gained Second Energy Level fairy perception, and happened to be using Precognitive Vision to foresee the future and casually swept his surroundings with a glance, he would not have noticed him.

What is going on? Why did some Third Energy Level freak suddenly start following me?

At the time, Ian had been preparing to set out for Twin Tree Town, but immediately slowed down—although the other party bore no ill intent, anyone would feel uneasy with a cyan-lit powerhouse suddenly appearing and following them, would they not?

Uneasy he certainly was, but the youth was not nervous.

Because afterward, he realized that the mountainman's entire body was a "disguise body" meant for disguise. In the Silver Chip's terms, it was a "remote body."

And this remote body was only at the First Energy Level. It merely appeared as pale cyan light in Precognitive Vision because the core within possessed such high quality—indicating that the being behind it was at least at the Third Energy Level.

The other party bore him no ill intent and had no strength that could threaten him. According to Precognitive Vision, he merely intended to have a chat with him... Since that was the case, why not?

With that in mind, Ian patiently continued simmering the sauce.

Until, some time later, the mountainman returned carrying a Pinecone Boar that had just met a sudden death, nearly half the size of a person.

"Look!" He carelessly set the boar down beside them and said rather proudly, "There is enough food now."

"May I make camp with you now?"

"Of course." Raising his brows, Ian smiled and nodded to the mountainman. "This is enough for us to have a meal."

"Please, sit, my friend. With such a feast, this should be quite a pleasant night."