Kadi Village.
Aaron carried an elk on his back as he walked into the village, greeting the villagers along the way.
"Zorro caught another prey?"
"He's really amazing."
At the moment, he was disguised as Zorro, a middle-aged hunter with graying temples and a weather-beaten face.
Carrying the elk, Aaron passed straight through the village and stopped at a small hill.
At the top of the hill stood a wooden house, enclosed by a fence of branches, with quite a few medicinal herbs growing inside.
A village girl in an apron was watering the herbs.
Hearing the sound, she looked up with a smile. "Uncle Zorro..."
"Mm, is Iris here?"
Aaron set down the prey and casually waved the wineskin at his waist. "I came to drink with him."
"He is!"
The village girl smiled even more brightly and took the initiative to open the gate, clearly trusting Aaron greatly.
Aaron untied a pheasant from his waist and handed it to her. "Ellie, cook the pheasant... Mm, don't make a pie. Use the method I taught you—chop the pheasant up and stir-fry it with wild vegetables..."
Ellie visibly swallowed, but then hesitated. "All right... But that uses too much oil. Uncle Zorro, you must be too wasteful to save enough money to marry a wife..."
Aaron rolled his eyes and entered the wooden house.
Inside, there was only a white-haired old man smoking a pipe.
Even when he saw Aaron, he did not so much as raise an eyelid. "You're here again..."
"Yes, Old Master Iris, I'm here again."
Aaron raised the wineskin in his hand. "I'm treating you to a drink!"
At those words, Iris's throat visibly bobbed.
Though he found this dog-skin plaster that had latched onto him intensely tiresome, the other man's skill at brewing wine had