Chương 59: Outer-Ring Guest

When Rowan woke, there were already voices outside the tent. Through the layer of hide and damp air, he could hear wooden wheels pressing through mud, guards speaking quietly during a shift change, and the distant sound of bones being chopped near the material shed. Chestnut lay at the entrance of the tent. It looked as if it were sleeping, its curled body tucked into a ball. Rowan opened his eyes and checked his belongings. The tactical straight sword was still there. The remaining medicines were still there.

The money pouch from last night was still tucked inside his mage robe. The remains of the Bone-Flesh Blade had been taken by Antler Camp into the White Tent. He could not get them back for now. There were two people outside the tent. One set of footsteps was heavy, the other light. They were not standing too close, but their positions always stayed between the tent and the camp gate. Rowan sat up and lifted a narrow gap in the hide curtain. The sky outside was still gray-white.

The mud beast from last night had already been dragged near the outer-ring material shed. A ring of ash soil had been scattered around it. Rowan lowered the curtain and slowly breathed out. Although he had spent the night sleeping within crossbow range, it was still much better than a burrow. A guard's voice came from outside.

"Rowan?" The pronunciation was a little awkward. Rowan lifted the tent flap and stepped out. Two guards stood not far away. One of them pointed toward the material shed.

"Corpse." Rowan nodded. Chestnut shot out of the tent, arched its body in a stretch, and walked close beside Rowan's feet. The outer-ring material shed was simpler than Rowan had expected. Several thick wooden posts supported a hide canopy. Beneath it stood several wooden tables soaked through with blood and grease. Beside them were piles of bones, leather, ropes, ash-soil buckets, and several lidded copper basins. The mud beast corpse had been placed on the outermost skinning table.

The corrosive-blood gland had already been sealed by Elaine. The collapsed part of its abdomen was covered with a layer of gray-white gel, with several thin needles inserted along the edge. Around the wound at the base of its jaw, the ash soil had hardened into a crust, still giving off a faint trace of white smoke. An old man with graying hair sat on a wooden stool, sharpening a knife. He was not tall, but his shoulders and back were broad.

His fingers were short and thick, and dark bloodstains that could no longer be washed away filled the gaps under his nails. Hearing footsteps, he raised his head and glanced at Rowan.

"That him?" The guard beside him nodded. The old man snorted and tossed the whetstone aside.

"That blood knife yesterday broke like chicken bone. This is someone who knows how to handle materials?" Harg happened to come over from the side, carrying a bundle of herbs. Hearing that, he could not help saying,"Taun, that knife killed the mud beast last night before it broke." Taun glanced at him.

"Does that make a difference? Means the load wasn't controlled. If the material handling was bad, the craft can't be much better." Harg's mouth moved, but he finally swallowed his words. He turned to Rowan and slowed his speech.

"Taun. Head of the material shed." Rowan looked at the old man. Before Rowan could speak, Taun had already stood up and stuck a skinning knife into the edge of the wooden table.

"Doesn't matter if you don't understand." Taun pointed at the corpse, then at Rowan.

"Come on, kid. Show me." Rowan found the old man's hostility strange, but he temporarily shifted his attention to the mana-beast in front of him. He circled halfway around the mud beast. After death, the beast looked even more like a gray-brown stone that had been soaked rotten in mudwater. The hide along its back was thick, with fine scale patterns along the edges.

The hole left by Bren's broken spear was still lodged in its shoulder, but the truly fatal wounds were at the base of the jaw and deep inside the mouth. The crack in the tooth ring had already been partly sealed by ash soil. A bit of the neck traction muscle bundle was exposed behind the crack. Its color was dark red. The edges had turned gray after being contaminated by corrosive blood, but the main bundle had not rotted through. Elaine walked over from the side, holding a slender glass vial.

"Let's make this clear first. Don't touch the area beside the gland sac. If you break the corrosive-blood gland, no one is eating in this shed today." Taun glanced at her.

"Who eats in the material shed?"

"You were chewing a meat pie here last time." Taun coughed.

"That was three weeks ago." Elaine did not bother with him. She turned to Rowan and pointed at the gray-white gel on the mud beast's abdomen.

"Here. Don't touch." Rowan nodded. He picked up the skinning knife Taun had stuck into the table. The knife was a little heavy. It had no high-frequency vibration, nor the clean sharpness of Terra alloy blades. But the spine was thick and the tip was steady. It was suitable for prying open tough hide along fascia seams. He tested the edge first. Taun snorted coldly.

"Don't ruin it." The first cut landed beneath the mud beast's jaw root. It did not cut straight into the tooth ring. Instead, starting from behind the crack, Rowan sliced along the gray-white fascia on the outer side of the traction muscle bundle. The blade entered shallowly. Opening skin, not severing tendon. Taun had originally been standing with his arms folded. After seeing that cut, his fingers slowly loosened. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

The second cut went around from the other side. Rowan did not rush to pry out the tooth ring. First, he separated two secondary tendons and pressed them aside with wooden wedges. Then he used the spine of the knife to gently press down on the main traction tendon. Only after confirming that it had not been fully corroded by the corrosive blood did he continue peeling backward. Harg stood outside the shed. At first, he was only watching the excitement, but now he also went quiet. Elaine stood beside the gland sac.

Her gaze moved from the knife in Rowan's hand to the ash soil boundary around the mud beast's jaw root. For someone handling a corrosive-blood mud beast for the first time, this no longer looked much like a first time. Rowan continued cutting. The bone connection inside the tooth ring was more complicated than he had expected. It was not a simple ring of teeth. It was made of three layers of inward-staggered bone rings, with tiny biting grooves between them.

During last night's fight, what Rowan had cut was only the outer traction muscle bundle, making the tooth ring lose its curling force. Rowan used wooden wedges to open the crack little by little. When he peeled away the third secondary tendon, the tooth ring finally loosened slightly. A young apprentice beside them could not help saying,"Can it be taken out?" Taun glared at him.

"Shut up. Watch." Thanks to Rowan's previous experience dissecting in the sewers, his movements became faster and faster. When the final cut fell, Rowan did not sever the main tendon. He removed the main tendon together with half of the tooth ring. The gray-brown bone ring, still attached to dark red tendon bundles, landed in a copper basin lined with ash cloth. A segment of the complete biting structure was still preserved.

Taun walked to the copper basin and reached out to take it, then seemed to remember Elaine was beside him. He switched to using long tongs and prodded the tooth ring.

"This thing... can be removed like this?" Elaine glanced at him.

"Not bad. Cleaner than those two apprentices of yours." Taun's face darkened.

"No one will think you're mute if you don't speak." The two apprentices lowered their heads and did not dare make a sound. Rowan did not stop. The tooth ring was only the first item. The neck tendon was what he wanted more. This tendon bundle had excellent elasticity. Although the edges were contaminated by corrosive blood, the main trunk remained intact. If he could clean it properly, it could be used as the core draw cord for the Tendon-Cord Crossbow in [Flesh Armament Art].

He followed the direction of the tendon bundle and continued peeling. This time, Taun did not rush him. He stood beside Rowan and watched as he slowly separated the entire neck tendon from the jaw root to the shoulder. There were several gray spots corroded by corrosive blood. Rowan did not tear through them by force. Instead, he worked around the contaminated edges, preserved the main trunk, and cut away the damaged sections separately. Taun's expression shifted from impatience to silence.

When the complete neck tendon fell into the second copper basin, he finally spoke.

"You handled this kind of thing before?" Rowan shook his head.

"No." Taun frowned. Rowan pointed at his own mouth, then at the neck tendon and tooth ring.

"Structures are shared." The sentence was not very clear. But Taun seemed to understand. He stared at Rowan for several breaths and did not mock him again. Elaine picked out a small sealed vial of corrosive-blood residue and placed it at the edge of the table.

"This one for him?" Taun glanced at it. He muttered something, then pushed the vial of corrosive-blood residue in front of Rowan. In the end, Rowan did not receive many materials. Half of the cracked tooth ring. One processed neck tendon. Two pieces of tough hide that had not been burned through by corrosive blood. A small sealed vial of corrosive-blood residue. And a little gray-white bone powder scraped from between the tooth ring grooves. Most of the mud beast's materials still belonged to Antler Camp.

Rowan did not argue. He had not needed the whole corpse anyway. Seeing that Rowan did not ask about the mana crystal, Taun asked instead,"You don't want the mana crystal?" Rowan shook his head.

"Mana crystal, yours." He pointed at the tooth ring and neck tendon in the copper basin.

"I use this." Taun looked at Rowan's face, which showed no greed, and his gaze shifted slightly. He muttered,"... You know the rules well enough. People who aren't greedy live longer." Rowan understood clearly. Since he had already accepted the coins, leaving the bulk of the materials to the camp would also improve his standing a little. Besides, he already had a mana crystal left behind by the Iron-Feather Gale Hawk that had been mistakenly injured by the Holy Radiance Church knights.

That would be enough for making the Tendon-Cord Crossbow. Elaine said, "Cleaner work than your two apprentices." Taun glared at her.

"Do you have to keep mentioning them today?"

"They broke the poison sac last time and made me spend three more days finding new materials." The two apprentices continued lowering their heads. A guard came over from the camp gate and handed Taun a rough wooden tag. Taun took it, glanced at it, then tossed it to Rowan. The wooden tag was carved with deer antler patterns. On the back were three shallow marks. Taun said, "From the Camp Chief. Three days in the outer ring. Trades go through the material shed. Don't get close to the array pillars.

Don't enter the inner camp." Rowan had some difficulty understanding. Seeing him frown, Harg slowed his speech and repeated it.

"You can stay in the outer ring for three days. To trade materials, find Taun. Don't go inside. Don't touch the array pillars." Rowan lowered his head and looked at the wooden tag. Good. Half of his purpose in coming here had been achieved. Rowan put the wooden tag away. After the dismantling was finished, the people in the material shed began processing the rest of the mud beast corpse. Rowan returned to the outer-ring tent with the materials he had been given.

The two guards were still watching him from a distance. Marlock had not appeared in the material shed, but Rowan knew he must have heard the result. Chestnut lay beside the tent, pawing at its right leg. Before long, Aila came over. She did not come too close. Holding a small strip of dried meat, she stood at the edge of the outer-ring tent and looked first at Rowan, then at Chestnut.

"Does it eat this?" Chestnut looked at the dried meat first, then raised its head to look at Rowan. Rowan nodded. Only then did Chestnut slowly walk over, take the dried meat in its mouth, and retreat back to Rowan's feet. Aila's eyes immediately lit up.

"It really understands what you say?" Rowan understood the sounds for "understand." He thought for a moment, then answered in his still-rough Gardian,"It is very smart." Rowan looked at the small pouch in her hand, then at the wooden tag on his body. Suddenly, he pointed at the tag.

"This, called what?" Aila froze for a moment.

"Outer-ring tag." She said it very slowly. Rowan repeated, "Outer... ring... tag." His pronunciation was strange. Aila could not help laughing softly.

"Not right. Outer-ring tag." She repeated it again. Rowan pronounced it again. This time, it was slightly more accurate. The AR quietly recorded in the corner of his vision. [Outer-ring tag: temporary stay certificate. Outer-ring authority.] Rowan pointed at the tent again.

"This?"

"Tent."

"Ten..."

"Not ten. Tent."

"Tent." Aila nodded.

"Right." Rowan pointed at the water bag.

"Water." He already knew that word. Aila said, "Water bag." Rowan repeated it. Then she pointed toward the material shed.

"Material shed." Rowan followed her pronunciation.

"Mate... rial shed." These three words were harder than outer-ring tag. Aila corrected him twice. Rowan was not impatient, nor did he feel embarrassed. To him, language was like armament patterns. Both were structures that could be taken apart. As long as there were enough correspondences, a model could be built. The AR continued binding Aila's pronunciation to physical objects. Guard. Cannot. Can. Tomorrow. Trade. Chestnut lay nearby chewing dried meat and occasionally raised its head to look at them.

As if it were watching two very foolish humans teach each other what things were called. When Harg came looking for them, Aila was pointing at Chestnut and teaching Rowan to say "earth beast." Harg glanced at Rowan and sighed.

"Don't mind her. Her curiosity is heavier than a wildcat." Aila said softly, "Uncle Harg, he really is learning. He isn't just asking randomly." Harg pulled her to his side, then looked at Rowan. After thinking for a moment, he deliberately slowed his speech.

"Marlock is not targeting only you." Rowan understood "Marlock" and "you." Harg pointed toward the camp gate.

"He had a friend before." Rowan looked at him.

"Friend?" Aila quietly repeated for him, "Friend." Rowan nodded. Harg continued, "They took an escort mission together. On the road, they encountered Abyss-Iron Hunters. He went to protect the employer. His friend stayed behind to cover the retreat." Harg spoke while gesturing to make sure Rowan could understand. Abyss-Iron. As soon as the word appeared, Rowan's attention sharpened. Seeing his reaction, Harg slowed down even more.

"In the end, his friend did not come back." Aila lowered her head and softly added,"Died." Rowan was silent. He finally understood where Marlock's hostility came from. Harg looked at Rowan, his voice lowering a little.

"I know you saved Bren. Bren knows too. Marlock knows too." He paused.

"He just still can't let go of what happened with the Abyss-Iron Hunters." Footsteps came from the distance. Marlock was patrolling over from the outer ring. Aila immediately shrank behind Harg. Marlock glanced at her, then looked at the outer-ring tag in Rowan's hand.

"Remember, you only have three days." His gaze swept over Chestnut.

"Don't let it run around at night."

"It won't." Chestnut did not even raise its eyes. It lowered its head and continued chewing the dried meat. Marlock turned and left. Before dusk, Bren came. White cloth was wrapped around his neck, and his left leg was still a little stiff when he walked. In his hand, he held the broken short spear. The fracture was wrapped in cloth, as if he did not know whether to throw it away or keep it. Seeing him, Harg frowned.

"Elaine let you come out?" Bren said, "She told me not to run around. I didn't run."

"You call this not running around?"

"I walked very slowly." Harg rolled his eyes. Bren ignored him. He walked up to Rowan, his gaze sincere.

"Thank you for yesterday." Rowan waved his hand.

"No need." Bren looked at Chestnut again.

"And thank it too." Chestnut raised its head, holding the last bit of dried meat in its mouth, and lifted its small head slightly. Bren seemed to relax. The atmosphere should have ended there. But Rowan's gaze fell on the short spear in Bren's hand. The short spear had been snapped by the mud beast's foreclaw yesterday. The middle of the shaft was broken. The outer wood had split, and the thin mana-conductive pattern inside had also been torn apart.

A faint afterglow still remained at the end of the pattern, which meant the core had not completely failed. The mana-conductive circuit was only broken. Rowan looked at it for several breaths. Bren noticed his gaze and instinctively tightened his grip on the short spear. Rowan did not reach out. He only pointed at the fracture.

"This can be repaired." Bren froze. Harg also turned to look. Aila widened her eyes.

"You can repair weapons too?" Rowan did not nod too firmly.

"Can try." Bren lowered his head and looked at the short spear in his hand. The dusk light fell over the fracture. That dim mana-conductive pattern looked like a thin line about to go out. After a long while, he finally raised his head.

"How much?" Rowan understood the word "money." He looked at Harg. Harg looked back at him. The wind of the outer ring blew past the edge of the tent, carrying the faint smell of blood from the material shed. Rowan suddenly realized something. This was his real first trade in Antler Camp.