The next day, early in the morning.
The plain grassland is covered with faint mist.
When the morning light disperses the mist, Moses slowly opened his eyes.
Having not slept for five days and nights, he might have needed twenty-four hours of sleep to recover under normal circumstances.
However, when he fell asleep in Zetsu state, Moses feels refreshed after sleeping only for six to seven hours.
'Wright should be arriving soon.'
Moses retracts the shadow he set up around him last night, started the car, and drove into the town ahead.
After driving only for a short distance, Moses feels the road becoming crowded, and the number of people ahead is increasing.
Moses made a brief observation and found that there seemed to be a market in front of him, which was why so many people gathered.
Since he is not familiar with the road, Moses could only park the car nearby.
Getting out of the car, Moses pays no attention to the strange glances from the surroundings and walks straight towards the lively market ahead.
There are various stalls on both sides of the market road. At a glance, almost all of them are food.
Most of them are ingredients, which are probably taken from the nearby mountains and forests.
Moses is attracted by the variety of mountain ingredients and thinks that a pot of stew should be delicious.
But at this time, he was very hungry and too lazy to cook, so he bought a lot of ready-made food from nearby stalls.
After randomly eating a lot of various local breakfasts, Moses finally filled his stomach.
'Let's find a place to wait for Wright."
Moses, who is full and satisfied, walked through the passing crowd and walked outside the market.
"This tree squirrel is obviously pregnant, how can you kill it!!"
"I understand the rules of Mount Ankada, and I don't need a junior like you to teach me."
"Then why didn't you release it??"
"It was already dead when I found it."
"You are lying!"
The slightly childish female voice was full of uncontrollable anger.
Hearing the unexpected commotion, Moses couldn't help but look towards the source.
He saw many people gathered in front of a stall, and a young girl is in a dispute with the vendor.
From his angle, Moses could only see the girl's back and her conspicuous short pink hair.
After casually glancing a few times, Moses withdrew his gaze and left without paying much attention.
"You stone birth girl, you've been causing trouble here for two consecutive days. If you want to buy something, buy it. If not, just get lost!"
Seemingly irritated by the girl, the stall's owner, who is in his forties, couldn't hold back and cursed at her using local dialect.
However, the girl wasn't one to be trifled with. With hands on her hips, her loud voice echoed through half of the market.
"You stinky black earth freak! If you hadn't violated the rules of Mount Ankada, do you think I'd bother with you?!"
"Alright, alright! You stone-birth girl, you actually want a fight, huh? I'll fulfill your wish!"
Provoked by the girl's foul language, the stall owner erupted in anger. He grabbed a dark, weathered wooden stick nearby and stood up abruptly.
His towering height of almost two meters made him look like an upright black bear in front of the girl.
"Hmph, I've been waiting for you to say that, you stinky black earth freak. If you don't make a move today, you have no balls!"
The girl squinted her eyes, her words sharp and spicy.
Even though there was a considerable difference in height and physique, she showed no signs of fear at all. Instead, she seemed eager for a confrontation.
The source of her confidence is probably the Aura entwined around her body.
Even the most basic Ten can allow such a little girl to easily make up for the difference in height and physique.
Hearing the girl's words, the stall owner immediately became furious.
Originally, he was being considerate since the other party was just a young girl, choosing to endure her insults.
But now, the stall owner realizes that he was wrong.
How can a little girl use such foul language!!
"Hey, just forget it. Why argue with a little girl?"
"If there's an issue, talk it out. Why started fighting?"
"Menchi, you should also stop. Everyone knows the rules of Mount Ankada, and no one wants trouble over such matters."
"Yes, you should also listen to what Staf has to explain."
Seeing that Staf, the stall owner, was about to take action, the passers-by who had been watching the excitement a second ago began to dissuade them.
While they enjoyed watching the commotion, they didn't want the situation to escalate further.
Outside the crowd.
Hearing their conversation, Moses suddenly stopped in his tracks.
'Menchi?'
Turning back to the noisy crowd, Moses still could only see the back of the girl with short pink hair, and the faintly visible aura surrounding her.
'Could it be her?'
Based on the mediocre Ten and the name Menchi, Moses couldn't come to a definite conclusion for a while.
If the girl was wearing a transparent mesh outfit and ultra-short denim shorts, then Moses would definitely be able to directly determine her identity.
However, what he saw now was a blue T-shirt and khaki capris.
A very conservative style of clothing, quite different from the revealing clothes in the original work.
However, considering there are still more than five years until the plot began, Moses felt it is normal for there to be changes.
'Then-'
'Could this girl who was quarreling with the stall owner really Menchi, the youngest Single-Star Gourmet Hunter in history in the original work?'
Moses stopped to observe.
He saw Menchi being unreasonable and unyielding, continued to pressure the stall owner, seemingly eager to see him make a move.
So much so that she always uses the word 'ballless' to provoke the stall owner.
The stall owner was so angry at Menchi that his blood surged and his whole face started to turn red.
If the people around him hadn't tried their best to stop him, the somewhat aged stick in his hand might have already struck Menchi.
Moses shook his head slightly while watching.
Without understanding the reason, it was not appropriate to pass judgment.
After a moment of contemplation, Moses still chose not to approach the girl. Instead, he turned around and left, preparing to find a place in the village to wait for Wright to come.
After Moses walked away, Menchi, who had been scornfully mocking the stall owner, suddenly turned her head. Her gaze pierced through the crowd, landing on Moses's retreating figure.
'Is he too...'
Menchi showed thoughtful look.
In a grocery store in Tota Town.
Next to the grocery store's door, there was a set of manually carved stone tables and chairs.
A pot of steaming tea was placed on the stone table, accompanied by various dried meats and snacks.
Moses sat at the stone table, eating the store owner's homemade jerky and engaging in a lively conversation with the enthusiastic store owner.
"Judging by your appearance, you are obviously from the city, and you don't look like you're sixteen."
"Most of the outsiders who come to Tota Town come for the wild game from Mount Ankada. They either bring their families with them or come in groups. Someone like you, who is traveling alone, is quite rare."
"Oh, there's a little girl named Menchi who also came to Tota Town by herself. She has been staying here for several months."
"She runs into the mountains every day, and we can't persuade her to stop."
"In the first few days, when the sun was about to set, that girl hadn't returned yet, and everyone thought something happened to her. So, many people went into the mountains to find her."
"Then, can you guess what happened?"
"That little girl had dug out the honey from a nest of giant bees in the mountains. We all looked at her in amazement."
"Do you know what a giant bee is? Look at my palm, an adult giant bee is this big. If one had been surrounded by a swarm in the mountains, even a mountain wolf wouldn't be able to do anything."
"After that incident, everyone knows that the little girl is very capable, so no one bothered her anymore."
Listening to the store owner's chatter, Moses, who said he was sixteen years old, would nod or smile in agreement.
Such behavior greatly satisfied the grocery store owner's talkative nature.
It wasn't until a group of customers came to the door that the store owner got up and returned to the shop.
Moses took a sip of tea.
At first, he didn't take the initiative to ask the grocery store's owner anything, but when the other party saw his age, he started chatting about Menchi himself.
After listening to the store owner's rambling, Moses felt that the Menchi he met at the market was most likely the Menchi from the original work.
'Coming to Tota Town, it must be for the ingredients from Mount Ankada, and she has been staying there for several months.'
"Moses."
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.
Hearing the sound, Moses turned around and saw Wright, whom he had not seen for two months.
"Wright, you're finally here."
Seeing Wright, Moses smiled.
However, Wright looked at Moses for a moment, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
'This Ten...'
'Something's not right!'