I may have been used to it because I had been with Kurtz for a long time, but many people can't stand the natural body odour of a wolf orc, like the fishy smell of a wild dog that has been drenched in the rain, so when I heard Kurtz say that Singh had come to bring me sewn leather clothes and a sleeping bag, I hurriedly gathered the scrolls of parchment on the table and went out to welcome him.
Singh was standing at the edge of the pile of supplies in the caravan camp, clutching a folded pile of clothes in her hands, quietly looking over, looking naturally at the caravan's tents of all sizes and shapes, some old ones with patches on top of patches, some with wood on the verge of rotting and black fungus growing out of the rafter heads, Singh looking around with some curiosity, a curious look on her delicate face at everything, she had obviously deliberately dressed younger today, her long smooth hair was transformed into a braid and she looked surprisingly plain in a light grey cashmere jacket and a long light grey skirt.
Although the men of the caravan were said to have travelled in company with the dance troupe, there was little interaction between them because of the strict discipline of the leader of the troupe and Lord Leipas, but some of the greedy and well-off men would become acquainted with the dance troupe's cooks, who would always exchange a little broth for a meal from time to time. But it was rare to see a woman of Singh's beauty and maturity.
Singh saw me bursting out of the tent and was waving at me.
"I didn't know which tent you were in, so I had to stand in the most prominent place to let you know I was coming." Singh smiled wryly like a fox, his eyes narrowing into two thin lines that looked dark and long eyelashes. It felt like a very natural and comfortable greeting from two people who had known each other for a long time.
I tilted my little face and picked up the altered clothes and sleeping bag and handed them over to Kurtz at my side, just clutching the leather jacket that was on top to my chest and getting rid of Kurtz to put those clothes back in the tent. Kurtz didn't really want to deal with people he didn't know well, especially troublesome women, so he walked away without looking back with a stinky face of indebtedness. It was a tactic given to Kurtz by the damn Tia to deal with women he didn't like, especially the dance troupe cooks who tried to get the recipe for the spice from Kurtz's mountain, and they were basically defeated by Kurtz with such a stinky face.
"I'm so sorry to have bothered you, I was supposed to visit you and pick up these clothes in the process. I'm sorry to have bothered to send them over. That introvert Kurtz is not a good communicator, so don't mind." I had to apologise slightly for Kurtz, a boy who hadn't even given Uncle Fred any face, and was indeed simple-minded to the core.
The men, like gorillas who hadn't seen a woman in heat for a long time, would pass by in various frivolous ways, carrying a log and walking back shortly afterwards, or hiding in the tent, lifting the curtain a crack to watch, with a lewd look that made me feel like I was covered in lice and had pins and needles all over my back.
Singh was a woman, after all, and it was inevitable that she would be embarrassed after so long.
I had stood politely, waiting for her to say goodbye and then follow Kurtz back to try out my new sleeping bag. But seeing as she clearly didn't want to say goodbye to me, I didn't know what to say for a while.
"I'm out for a rare visit, don't you want to take me for a walk around?" Singh gathered up her wind-blown hair and pinned it behind her ear. I couldn't imagine that her ears did look more pink than the rest of her, making her whole person look more tasteful. The dance company had strict rules and you couldn't leave the company without being specifically allowed to do so. I froze at her words because I hadn't thought about anything else but how I would say my last goodbye later. As I had envisaged, I should have said a decent farewell at this point, but Singh had asked me to look around the camp and I had no reason to refuse, so I said stiffly, "My pleasure!"
It wasn't really that difficult to lead a beautiful woman who exuded sophistication and charm around the camp, but with countless old men who hadn't touched a woman in decades looking on, it felt like a monkey with a pie in his hand wandering through a crowd of people who were dying of hunger, and my age made it impossible for me to have a story with this beautiful woman. But after just most of the way around the outskirts of the camp, even Master Leipas was frowning as he was drilled out to look at the camp that had become quiet from the noise, I finally couldn't take the pressure and fled with Singh in tow.
The two of us ran to sit down on the back slope of the eastern side of the camp on the dirt slope, Singh running up the slope and laughing all the time, seemingly finding it amusing, but I didn't find it funny in any way and just sat in silence looking off into the distance. Then, when Singh had stopped laughing too, we both just stared stupidly at the vast expanse of Star Lake Meadow, its tranquillity and vastness.
"It's really hard to say if we'll ever get the chance to see this beautiful meadow again since we're leaving tomorrow, but either way, it holds this beautiful memory for me." Singh was smiling lightly with his head slightly down, not as arrogant and serious as when we first met, except that even with just a pursed smile, his mouth looked somewhat large and his thick, plump lips looked sexy. Looking at me with a twist of her head, she said, "Why do I think you're a bit different from the other kids?"
"Eh?"
Singh cocked his head and thought for half a day before saying, "It feels like ... just like a friend you can confide in a bit, eh, a ... BFF you can trust. Oh, I'd also like to extend a formal invitation on behalf of our sisters in Group 7, why don't you come over to our place when you have time, and if you feel bored sitting on Thunder Rhino's back during the trip, come see me."
"Thank you for the invitation, I'll be there when I get the chance." I said before a chill ran down the back of my spine as my mind flashed back to the dazzlingly beautiful hostess and the eerie look that had lost my soul the moment we had first met. I mentally added to what I said that I might go when the Seventh Mistress was away.
With that Singh walked slowly and quietly around this grassy slope back to the dance group's camp, just before entering the northern foothills of the Pai Plateau mountains, where she brought me my sleeping bag and altered warm leather jacket and left with her invitation. I felt that I was slowly starting to gradually integrate into the caravan, not just limiting myself to the caravan, and I was constantly being recognised by different people, proving the value of my existence in this way.
When no one was around, I used to release my anti-magic, and then I would quietly wait for my magic to run out, and when the anti-magic was interrupted, the light of the hexagonal spell symbolising warmth would flicker gently inside me, giving me the distinct impression that I had unknowingly learnt two spells, neither of which was very useful, but which I thought would always be useful in the future. Although neither of them was useful, I thought they would be useful in the future.
These days I've been asking about the Windchaser Adventurers, and if they don't return by tomorrow morning, it means that the members of the Windchaser Adventurers might face the Great Snowy Mountains alone, and if they can't follow in time, it will actually be very difficult to get through the Northern Foothills, which have kept the barbarians of the icy tundra out for centuries, without the entire caravan as logistics. If that were to happen, it would mean that the Windchaser adventurers would not be able to enter the Pai Plateau and their only option would be to follow the Star River down the easternmost part of the Star Lake Steppe, risk crossing through the edge of the barbarian territory on the Ice Tundra, and finally follow the Prancing Horse River all the way back east to Sloat City.
The magical light bombs of the Dawnguard that summoned the adventuring group back were fired every night, but there was still no news at all. I could clearly see the adventurers of the Prosperity group packing their bags as I sat on the grassy slope, they had returned the day before and according to Uncle Fred the hunt had been a fruitful one, and the caravan tanners had been working day and night for the Prosperity group for two days.
Uncle Fred even tried to get a place for me, but all the members of the Prosperity Adventure Corps had been withdrawn and there was no shortage of clerks in the Corps, and the apprentice warriors who had not long graduated from the Academy were all good at keeping numbers. I couldn't find a job that suited me and I didn't want to be looked down upon for nothing, and I wasn't in the mood to go to the party without hearing from Sister Gogo. According to Uncle Fred, the only full-fledged warriors in the Prosperous Star Adventurers were the leader, Breguet, and the deputy leader, Hamasaki, as well as a powerful magician, Montroya, who was said to be a junior magical scholar.
Every afternoon, Kuzi would go outside the camp to retrieve some firewood, which only Kuzi had the means to find in this treeless grassland of the Star Lake. We would then light the firewood, douse it with water after it had all been charred, dry it out and collect it. We will need to carry a lot of charcoal. From the experience of the old kuru, the area around the Dead Man's Mine in the northern foothills of the Pai Plateau, which is so barren that not even a blade of grass grows there, can become very cold if there is extreme weather, and at that point can even freeze a person to death if they don't find a way to build a fire. That's why I asked Kurtz to find some charcoal that was easy to carry.
I actually wanted to go with Kuz to the grassland to find some dead wood, but old Kulu said that only Kuz had a chance to find it. I secretly asked Kuz what he used to find those dead roots and he told me with a mysterious smile that he used his nose to smell them, and I said fuck you, did you also smell those dead branches and leaves you fished out of the Star Lake?
The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, from afar it looked like the oval yolk of an egg in a frying pan, the evening sun was about to be swallowed up by the grey sky. The camp was full of busy people, rolls and rolls of luggage had been packed and all the ingots of fine iron were neatly stacked on the shelves, to be carried by the thunder rhinoceros again by sunrise tomorrow morning, when our caravan would officially depart.
I could still vaguely see in the dusk the fat Uncle An Lu dismantling the cookers, stacking the pots and pans neatly on top of each other and tying them with ropes for the Thunder Rhino in the morning, and my heart was slowly silenced by the waning sun, the Wind Chasers still not in my sight.
Once darkness came, the last guidance would be lost, and I sat on the grassy slope letting out an anxious and helpless sigh.
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