Chapter 206 Maple Syrup

I was born in a small village called Maple Breath Village. Because it was so remote, reaching the nearest large town took days on foot, making its exact location hard to describe.

It was likely situated somewhere in the mountains southeast of Cloudclimb Province.

The village was small, and the mountains were high.

It sat far from the merchant routes, and the Misty Forest was even further away, as if on the other side of the world.

Therefore, even the green-skinned goblins—rumored to be as rampant as cockroaches—only occasionally appeared in the drunken tales of the village men.

But the scenery must have been beautiful.

At least, that was what my father said—he had traveled outside with merchant caravans for a few years.

Every year, during the months of Eli and Marno, the maple trees dyed the entire valley golden-red.

When strong winds blew, the leaves—brighter than the setting sun—swayed and layered over each other as if the valley itself were breathing.

This was the origin of Maple Breath Village's name.

My childhood memories have long since blurred, but I must have been just like Little Allen is now, running wildly through the woods all day.

He was obedient and always came home before dark—at least, much more obedient than I was.

Of course, I suspected he was just too timid, easily frightened by the scary little stories our mother made up before bed.

I was a bit dissatisfied with this.

As my younger brother, he should have been braver. Even if he couldn't become an apprentice knight like William in the future, he should at least be able to shoulder the burdens of the household when it mattered.

William was the village head's second son.

He was handsome and brave. Years ago, a knight from a neighboring town had taken a liking to him and brought him on as an apprentice.

I had to admit that, as a teenage girl experiencing love for the first time, I had harbored special feelings for him back then.

Even now, when I occasionally thought of him, I couldn't help but sigh in sentiment.

Of course, sentiment was all it could be, and all that remained.

That day, it must have been the afternoon.

I was collecting maple sap as usual.

I used a wooden auger to drill a small hole into the bark about an inch deep, inserted a spout, and hung a leather bucket underneath. The crystal-clear maple sap dripped down, one drop at a time.

This was the main source of income for our family—and indeed the entire Maple Breath Village—for the whole year.

How well we fared during the winter depended entirely on these two months.

Although I wasn't very old, I was quite experienced at this.

This year's yield looked promising.

At the very least, filling our bellies through the winter wouldn't be a problem.

I thought that day was no different from any other. Just as the sun was about to set, I picked up the full leather buckets and prepared to head home.

Suddenly, a short, shrill bird's cry echoed from deep within the nearby woods.

Various animals often roamed the forest, and strange noises were perfectly normal. I usually had no particular curiosity about such things.

But for some unknown reason, on that particular day, it piqued my interest.

Thinking I would just take a quick look, I walked toward the sound.

Then, I saw it: feathers scattered across the ground, the twitching corpse of a jay, and a black cat crouching in the shade, enjoying its prey.

Well, it looked a bit strange.

Its skeletal frame was much thicker and heavier than the stray cats in the village. Its head was longer, its cheekbones wider, and its limbs clearly shorter, though the muscle and fat beneath its skin were exceptionally dense.

Its tail was very short, just a small tuft poking out from its rear. Its ears were semicircular and drooped over its head, while a pair of small, button-like black eyes refracted a faint glimmer.

Rather than a cat, it looked more like a pocket-sized black bear.

The strange creature had no particular reaction to my appearance, nor did it show the food-guarding behavior typical of wild animals.

Even when I drew closer, stopping only a few dozen centimeters away, it showed no sign of resistance.

This naturally piqued my curiosity. Driven by an inexplicable impulse, I reached my left hand toward its furry head.

"Swipe!"

The pocket-sized black bear moved incredibly fast, vanishing into the deep shadows of the woods in the blink of an eye.

It left behind only the half-eaten corpse of the jay on the ground and a bloody, mangled wound on the back of my hand.

I have already forgotten how I made it home that day.

But I must have been severely scolded by my parents before they carefully bandaged my wound.

Although their tone during the lecture was very strict, neither they nor I actually took the matter seriously.

After all, in this remote corner deep in the mountains, it was perfectly normal for children to get a little hurt while running wild.

'It's no big deal,' I thought to myself.

That was until a few days later, when a sudden fever left me bedridden for three whole days.

Then came exhausting, all-day weakness, coupled with intermittent bouts of extreme hyper-arousal.

I gradually became able to hear the soft sounds of mice gnawing on wood in the attic late at night, as well as roars from deep within the darkness.

I grew to loathe the texture of insoles, instead relishing the direct contact of my soles against the soil and fallen leaves. My appetite gradually faded, yet I developed an inexplicable craving for raw, bloody meat.

Even my naive feelings for a boy my age transformed—after an accidental brush of shoulders—into a twisted, instinctive desire for muscle and scent.

I realized that my body was undergoing some kind of change.

And the cause of it all was highly likely that black bear that had vanished into the deep forest.

Days passed, one by one.

My condition steadily worsened.

Not only did inexplicable whispers frequently echo in my ears—as if someone were speaking softly—but the way I looked at the people around me also changed.

Little Allen said I had become somewhat frightening, with eyes as cold as a wild beast in the jungle. My former playmates in the village also gradually distanced themselves from me.

I didn't know what was happening.

I wanted to go back.

But I couldn't control it.

Later, on a bright, moonlit night, I had a dream.

In the dream, I seemed to have become that cat-sized pocket black bear, running wildly through the woods. When I was hungry, I caught a few birds or squirrels to gnaw on; when I was thirsty, I dug a hole in a tree to suck out honey; and when I was tired, I found a corner by some tree roots to nap.

All the pain and suffering of this period seemed to find relief in this short dream.

Then, I woke up.

I had never had a habit of sleepwalking, but when I opened my eyes that morning, my body was already at the village entrance.

I suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Hanging high in the sky was not the rising morning sun, but a full, bright silver moon.

And the golden-red before my eyes was not maple leaves, but blazing flames that had set the entire village alight.

A sticky sensation came from my fingertips. I looked down and saw a patch of scarlet mixed with minced flesh.

I subconsciously licked my lips.

Oh, so it wasn't maple syrup, but the taste of blood.

But—it was just as sweet.

It left a lingering aftertaste.

"Blegh!"

As if he had eaten something unclean, Xia Nan grimaced and stuck out his tongue.

In his hand, he held a palm-sized jar.

That was the "little surprise" he had suddenly found while sorting his backpack before setting out from camp this morning.

It was probably a supply prepared for a previous mission that he hadn't noticed and left at the bottom of his bag.

The jar contained the high-grade honey he had specifically purchased at the Verdant Crucible.

It had cost him quite a bit of money, and he had originally planned to enjoy it during his adventures.

But he had forgotten about it until he dug it out just now. Since honey was supposed to last a very long time, he decided to take a taste to avoid wasting it.

To his surprise, it had completely gone bad, and its astringency nearly made his tongue go numb.

"That's whorl-shell bee honey, right?" Cash, standing nearby with a smile on his face, offered a friendly reminder. "It tastes good, but it only keeps for a month. Any longer than that and it turns sour."

"Speaking of which, if you really like condiments like that, I recommend the maple syrup special to Cloudclimb Province. It tastes even better and is easier to store. Rivervale Town should have it for sale."

Hearing this, Xia Nan nodded.

He made a mental note of it.

Journeys during missions were dull, and he didn't have any particular hobbies.

He had long been accustomed to using good food to break the monotony.

Even if it meant spending a little extra money, keeping his spirits up on the road was completely worth it.

Xia Nan had even considered learning an instrument to enrich his otherwise tedious life in this different world.

However, considering that the adventuring environment was fraught with peril and the sounds of an instrument could easily attract unnecessary danger, he dropped the idea. He could always reconsider it later once he found a way to block the transmission of sound.

The two of them chatted idly. Veris strolled along the flank of the formation, while Mint shuffled her feet at the rear.

The entire Sea Thorn Squad looked somewhat relaxed, lacking the tension they ought to have in the Misty Forest.

In fact, they weren't actually in the Misty Forest.

At this moment, the Sea Thorn Squad was walking along a country dirt road.

On both sides lay vast, boundless plains with few obstructions; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had an unobstructed view.

It was even bright daylight.

Even the most experienced Rogue would find it difficult to launch an ambush in this kind of environment.

The reason they hadn't directly entered the forest based on the location information provided by the Association was due to other considerations.

Unlike the previous beast-clearing commissions, the Lycanthrope mission was designated as an "investigation."

It didn't require them to bring back the Lycanthrope's head. To some extent, as long as they confirmed the Lycanthrope's existence and provided specific information about it, the mission would be considered complete.

Of course, if they merely went through the motions like that, the mission reward would be drastically reduced.

After all, the [Reward] section on the bounty explicitly stated a compensation range:

30 to 300 gold / 1 to 10 points.

If Xia Nan wanted to obtain enough Bone-Eroded Patterned Steel to upgrade his Snake-Scale Arm Shield, simply gathering some news and returning to submit the mission would definitely not be enough.

In his view, just to be safe, it would naturally be best to deal with the Lycanthrope threat entirely in one go.

But the forest was huge. Even though the Association had provided location data, if the Lycanthrope truly existed, how could it possibly stay in one place?

Rushing in recklessly—not to mention the time they might waste along the way—meant that if a battle actually broke out, they would be at a natural disadvantage knowing nothing about the enemy. They would even have to worry about Lycanthropy infection.

It was incredibly troublesome.

Therefore, before officially entering the forest, the Sea Thorn Squad planned to make a trip to Green Wheat Village first.

It was a small village located near the eastern edge of the Misty Forest.

Rumor had it that this place had once hosted several adventurers who were suspected of having been attacked by Lycanthropes.

Right now, those adventurers were nowhere to be found, so they figured they would try to get some relevant information from the villagers here.

Green Wheat Village was not a particularly prosperous human settlement.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have the "Village" suffix.

Its overall environment couldn't even compare to Emerald Creek Village—the place of Xia Nan's advancement—let alone Rivervale Town or Kalanfor.

Looking from afar, there were only a few dilapidated houses scattered on both sides, with simply dressed residents coming and going along the dirt path.

Of course, since it was quite close to the Misty Forest, adventurers frequently passed through.

Although the villagers showed some curiosity toward the Sea Thorn Squad suddenly entering their village, they didn't make any overly unusual movements.

At most, they just stood by the roadside and stared at the group.

In a small village, news traveled fast.

Just a few steps after entering the village, an old man in fairly clean clothes proactively came out to greet them.

The newcomer was naturally the head of Green Wheat Village.

And the one in charge of negotiating with him was the squad captain, Cash.

Without much small talk, Cash politely declined the village head's invitation to go inside and talk in detail. He cut straight to the chase and explained their purpose for coming.

Xia Nan stood at the back of the team, remaining silent as he quietly observed the expressions and actions of his teammates.

Mint remained completely quiet, her head lowered as her fingertips gently rubbed her Branch Staff.

Veris seemed to have nothing to do, gazing around out of sheer boredom. Her expression was completely different from when they were in Rivervale Town.

If he had to describe it, it was like the difference in his previous life between being in the office and riding the subway during a commute—a feeling of no longer needing to socialize with colleagues and shutting out the surrounding crowd.

As for Cash, who was currently talking to the village head, it was even more obvious.

Although he didn't display much aggressiveness himself, his subconscious body language and some of the words he used revealed a superior attitude, as if the person standing before him wasn't an elder several decades his senior, but some subordinate or butler.

Unexpectedly, yet reasonably, the village head didn't show any disgust or anger toward this. On the contrary, he actively placed himself in a lower position during the conversation.

In just a few short minutes, Xia Nan gained a new understanding of the relationship between "adventurers" and "commoners" in this world.

Then, he suddenly paused.

'I myself—shouldn't have changed much, right?'

He felt that a mere period of less than a year was not enough to change the fully formed worldview he had built over decades in his past life.

Yet he also knew in his heart that whether a person was strong or not often had no direct correlation with whether their mind was resilient.

Power, status, and wealth could easily transform a good-hearted person into a twisted beast of greed.

He subconsciously reviewed his recent interactions with ordinary village and town residents.

But he didn't have time to think further on it.

Cash, at the very front of the squad, turned around and called out to them.

"Let's go. Found the person."