Chương 76: You Pay for Your Own Food

The northern mountain road was much drier than the valley. By midday, the rocks had warmed under the sun while the wind between them remained cold. Loose stones crunched underfoot. The path was narrow—barely wide enough for two people side by side, and one sharp turn of the saber-toothed tiger's body sent dirt spilling from the edge. Kichan walked for some time without looking back. As lunch approached, he finally turned around.

Argaon followed without difficulty, and Riphiel walked beside him, watching him uneasily. The dragon carried no luggage at all. He was also the one who would eat the most. Kichan stopped.

"Wait." Riphiel and Argaon stopped with him.

"Why?"

"We settle the accounts first." Argaon's eyes narrowed.

"What accounts?"

"Food expenses." Riphiel immediately lowered her head. Her fingers tightened around the saber-toothed tiger's lead. Kichan counted on his fingers.

"Guiding is guiding, and eating is eating. You ate fish and spicy fish stew yesterday, and you're going to eat today too."

"I know the roads and the materials."

"So?"

"That knowledge has value."

"Food costs are separate." Riphiel cautiously entered the conversation.

"It is necessary to establish rules for collective action." Kichan pointed straight at her.

"Right. You listen too."

"Must I also pay for food?"

"I'll let you off if you watch your mouth." Riphiel's expression became even more complicated. They all stopped around a flat rock beside the path. The saber-toothed tiger yawned nearby. Valkyrie curled its droplet body into a ball on Kichan's knee. Dust guarded the opening of the magic bag, occasionally poking its head out whenever the argument grew louder. Kichan laid out the rules.

"First. Argaon tells us the destination and dangerous roads in advance."

"Agreed."

"Second. If you eat a lot, you help gather materials in the area."

"That depends on the circumstances." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You can't eat a lot and then refuse to help."

"Very well."

"Third. If you help when things get dangerous, I repay you with something delicious." That caught Argaon's interest.

"Negotiable."

"Fourth." Kichan raised one more finger.

"If you steal someone else's food, you pay back ten times as much." For the first time, Argaon frowned faintly.

"That will be difficult." Riphiel coughed softly. Even after the negotiation ended, Argaon remained silent for a moment.

"Humans place order upon food."

"Of course. Do you know how important food is in a human life?" Kichan resumed climbing. This time, Argaon followed without complaint. By afternoon, a forest became visible below the mountain road. The upper air was cold, but a peculiar steam rose from below. Thin white heat leaked between the rocks, and the soil was darker and redder than elsewhere. Argaon stopped.

"Small beasts that hold heat live below." Kichan turned his head immediately.

"Can you eat them?"

"Their shells hold heat for a long time. The meat is tough."

"The shell is enough." Riphiel looked instantly uneasy.

"Somehow, those simple words—'the shell is enough'—do not sound simple at all."

"He said they're small this time." Kichan was already looking down into the forest. Small red shapes darted between the rocks. They were lower than rabbits and rounder than weasels. Their backs were thick, and shell-like surfaces glinted in the sunlight. Argaon added,"The longer an individual has stored heat, the better the inner layer of its shell." Kichan's eyes came alive.

"I could use it as a cooking plate."

"Possibly."

"Then we're going down." Riphiel was still watching the road above them. They ought to find a safe place before the sun sank. But once Kichan chose a direction, it was always too late to stop him.

"Let us finish quickly and come back up."

"Quickly." Kichan descended the slope. The saber-toothed tiger went first, and Argaon followed slowly at the rear. From Kichan's shoulder, Valkyrie sampled the air below. The warm steam carried a scent like baking stone. The lower they went, the stranger the temperature became. The outside wind was cool, but the air rising between the rocks felt like a heated floor. Kichan touched the soil. It was lukewarm.

Red sand mixed with the grains, and when he overturned a stone, he found a thin layer of heat beneath it instead of moisture.

"Interesting."

"A shallow vein of heat runs below the ground," Argaon explained.

"The animals live on it?"

"The small ones do." Kichan turned a shell fragment over in his palm. A plate for grilling meat. A rest for hot materials. A partition inside the magic bag. The uses arrived one after another. He slowed and examined the area more carefully. There were more crevices used by the small beasts than he had expected. Empty shell scraps had gathered beneath stones, and several places were charred unusually black. They looked like remains left by something that had eaten them.

Kichan picked up one fragment and scratched it with a fingernail. The outside was brittle, but the inner surface remained warm.

"Look at this." He tossed the piece to Riphiel as she approached.

"It hasn't cooled." Riphiel checked the warmth with her fingertips and raised her brows.

"You are right. Even a shell from one of the small creatures retains heat for a long time."

"Then a big one would be better." Expectation and caution mingled in Kichan's voice. Wherever good materials gathered, something larger had usually eaten them or claimed them first. The pile of shell fragments beneath his feet pointed in that direction. Dust poked its head from the bag. The moment it saw the gleaming shells, it looked ready to charge. Kichan pressed it down with one finger.

"Stay there. Those aren't yours." Dust obediently withdrew, though its legs kept twitching. They had nearly reached the flat ground below when Argaon stopped again. This time, he did not smell the air. He planted one foot against the rock and listened through it. Kichan felt the vibration beneath his own feet. At first, it seemed like a distant wagon. But they were deep in the mountains. One dull tremor came, followed by a deeper one a moment later—like something heavy shifting beneath the warm earth.

Riphiel spoke softly.

"Did you feel that?" The saber-toothed tiger raised its ears. Valkyrie's body rippled. Argaon spoke low.

"It seems this is not a place of only small creatures."