“I believe there is no need to keep reminding myself of the importance of maps.”

I had written such a message in my diary many times.

The sound of birds chirping could once again be heard from outside the cave. I’ve never felt spring to be so wonderful before. 

According to my records, the winter had lasted 2 months and 19 days this year. It was much shorter compared to the ones at the northeastern parts of my country where I was before. But, don’t the northeastern parts only have two seasons of summer and winter(Lol).

The damp soil appeared suitable to grow crops on. Thus, the first thing in the morning, I dug out the seeds that I bought from Nightfall Town and carefully sown them, not knowing what kind of seeds they were.

Rather than vegetable seeds, it was as if I was sowing the seeds of hope itself.

I had already planned out the trip, with just some essentials left to prepare. So, I was going with Xifu to Nightfall Town to get the rest of the stuff.

Talking about Xifu, her tail was wrapped around my ankles as she lay spread out sleepily on the bed.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah~”

“Are you cold?”

“Just fine.”

We’re really like an old couple already huh, to not wrap herself tightly around me for warmth anymore. She was much cuter before, not like now where she could easily guess what I was gonna do next.

“Today, we are going to Nightfall Town.”

“Yeah…lemme sleep a little longer.”

“It’s fine, just sleep.”

“Come over ‘ere…”

Although I just said that she doesn’t stick as close to me now as before, she forcefully dragged me back into the bed. Well, with the comfortable spring weather, I also felt like dozing off for a bit. There was no need to rush after all.

But I had forgotten something—— the sheep to pull the cart was already in our stomachs.

We napped till the clock struck 11, and got up to pack our luggage. The preparation for the trip must be planned meticulously, or else the weird scene of the increasingly more luggage as we packed would occur.

Still, Medusa had no need to worry about such things. She only packed her bow, machete and gold coins, with only a black cloak on her body. 

I stuffed things like a change of clothes, all the ammo and guns, the short axe, diary and the woollen mattress into a sack.

As I confidently carried the sack to the cold stream, only the lonely, creaking cart awaited us. Big Sheep had already forever lived on in our hearts.

Sigh, let’s go. I can’t let Xifu help me carry the sack anyways.

Once again, I relived the painful experience of walking by foot to Nightfall Town. I needed to get some sort of transportation.

“Simon, if there’s anything else to eat, make us something other thanmeat.”

“Sure.”

As I dropped a bag of gold coins onto the counter, I felt that I was really cool.

“What do you want to eat, Xifu?”

“Meat.”

Oh my Xifu! We had already eaten mutton for the entire winter! Even now when I open my mouth I felt like I was gonna baa like a sheep!

Because the sowing season had started, better varieties of food had appeared in Nightfall Town. The oatmeal porridge had even tasted like ambrosia itself. After you get used to it, the taste of the Sorghum oats-like grains is actually really good. As for Xifu, she chose to have a giant piece of meat. 

There were only 4 types of animals in the husbandry economy in Nightfall Town: Fanged Horses, Big Sheeps, Dairy Cows and Jumping Chickens. 

I had already talked about Fanged Horses and Big Sheeps before, and Dairy Cows are actually quite normal-looking. looking almost the same as the dairy cows back in my world. The only thing different about it was, there weren’t any characteristic black dots on its body.

As for ‘Jumping Chicken’, it could also be called ‘Springing Chicken’. It was another animal that made me confused, the other being the Girabbits.

This domestic animal, or if it was one, was called ‘Borbotu’ by the people here. I gave it the grounded name of ‘Jumping Chicken’. These chickens were normally reared at the northern parts of the oat fields as a source of protein. I called it ‘Jumping Chicken’ because it basically moved around by jumping like a spring, and really high at that.

I had even seen Parker shoot one down from the rooftop with his gun…

What Xifu was eating right now was two chicken drumsticks that were bigger than my fists.

So, there were only four choices for transportation. Firstly, the Jumping Chicken was out of the question. It could only jump, so it couldn’t pull the cart. Big Sheep was a sensible choice, but just like the Dairy Cow, these two tame domestic animals couldn’t gallop like the horses.

But the Fanged Horses were too dangerous. No matter how obedient it looked, it was still a carnivorous animal. Even back in my world, people really rarely could train a carnivorous animal obediently.

“What happened, Hubby?”

“Ah, I was thinking, to get a horse or a sheep?”

“Sheep!”

“I’m not talking about what you wanna eat……”

I decided, it’s you, Dairy Cow! 

There wasn’t any proper rationale behind that decision, other than in my mind cows had an image of being hardworking. In view of the long journey ahead of us, the cow was the best choice.

Well, there was another obvious reason why I didn’t choose the horse. My Xifu eats meat, I eat meat, and the horse eats meat as well. Where the hell would I get so much meat from while travelling?

11 gold coins. 

That’s right. That was the lowest price for a single Dairy Cow. As an animal that could plough the fields as well as produce milk, it naturally was a precious resource for the residents of Nightfall Town. Even this transaction of 11 gold coins for the cow was only possible after Wolfgang convinced the other party to part with it.

“Ah, Mr Lou Woo, Simon has something he wants to pass to you.”

“Simon? Sure, I’ve got some questions for him too.”

“Follow me, you two.”

As we returned to the familiar hall, Simon was sitting at the table scribbling away at something.

“Oh, you’re here Mr Lou Woo, please do take a seat.”

“Ah, thanks.”

My wife and I took our seats at the table as we waited for this elder to impart us with his experience. 

Simon worked as a Black Mercant for 30+ years, and the routes that they were using now were actually revised by him. On top of that, Simon’s experiences with monsters was the most amongst the town residents.

“These things could be of use to both of you. Especially if it was Mr Lou Woo, then it wouldn’t pose a problem.”

I glanced through the three things on the table. The first was a hand-drawn map, the second was a telescope, and the last was a metallic coat of arms. 

The map was much more detailed than the one before, with numerous dots and labels around the Southern Plains. There was also an obvious route on it, which should belong to the route of the Black Merchants.

The telescope was the retractable monocular type, like those in the movie: Pirates of the Caribbean. Its sturdy, heavy design felt really good in my hands.

The black metallic coat of arms could be hung at my waist, with one side engraved with the black sun logo of the black merchants, with the inscription of Nightfall on the other.

According to Simon, this was the earliest proof to indicate one’s affiliation with Black Merchants, but it was already not in use. If one were to face a ferocious monster, showing the insignia could possibly stop its attack.

A long time ago, the Black Merchants would travel into the territories of monsters to trade, so danger was always above their heads. They had to use the coat of arms to prove their affiliation with Black Merchants.

As the time passed and the scale of the Black Merchants shrunk considerably, the merchants would just set up shop somewhere safe, and the monsters would put black cloaks to shop. It could be considered as an advancement in commerce.

In other words, there was a map filled with words I didn’t understand, one useful-looking telescope, and a talisman which I had no idea if it was useful or not. 

Well, it’s better than nothing I guess.

I then asked Simon more questions regarding monsters, but I couldn’t really grasp the terms used to describe the monsters. In the end, Simon could only draw a point on the map and suggested we take a look at it first.

“There would be some women who know magic there.”

Simon said something along those lines, which I guess meant there were some witches gathered around there.

Saying my goodbyes to Simon, we visited Parker. The craftsman’s hands were always busy, as when we went there, he was busily hitting away at a piece of red-hot metal meant for some unknown use.

“Hey, Lou Woo!”

“Aha, Parker, I’m here.”

“I’ve been waiting. Come and take a look at this.”

Parker proudly showed a brand-new shortbow, with its string already strung up, and with it accompanied 10 metalhead arrows. It should have been meant for my wife.

The burly Parker was as if a child as he impatiently pushed us to try it out. Xifu shot 3 arrows in succession and looked satisfied. I tried to shoot one for fun, but I couldn’t even pull the string back completely…

I’ve been messing around in this world for half a year, and my body was much more fit than before, but why couldn’t I still pull the bow back?

What happened to being a great person who is even able to shoot down an eagle?

(TLN: Untranslatable proverb.)

Is it only the weak that use guns, and the strong that use bows?

“Pfft, hubby, don’t pull anymore……”

“No! How could I not even use a bow and arrow!?”

“Hahaha, Mr Lou Woo, it’s not a bow meant for humans.”

“Then how could you use it?”

“Because I’m Parker! Ahahaha~”

Who the hell set the rule that a craftsman can use a weapon he made!? Can I just change my name to Chen Parker!?

In the end, I gave up on the really cool looking shortbow, because Xifu had already started laughing at me.

“Sigh…how about me, Parker?”

“What about you?”

“Is there nothing for me?”

To give a bow to my wife but nothing to me, how unfair is that.

“For you huh…let me think.”

Parker touched his short hair on his head, as if he thought of something, and passed me a small wooden box. Hearing the metallic clinking sounds in it, I already guessed what it was.

“Made some during the winter. Don’t know how long you’ll be gone, but it should be enough.”

“Ah, these are enough.”

Hmm, it was bullets meant for the revolver, and it looked like there were around a hundred of it in it.

We wanted to pay Parker money, but he stubbornly refused. In the end, for symbolic purposes I paid him one gold coin, and he knocked it against his forehead and bit it in his mouth as he gave us a smile.

And so, the journey starts!

The second day, as we rushed along on the Cow cart, my Xifu and I headed for the northern Mount Dochi where the witches gathered. With the cow and the cart being brand new, it was also easier to drive the cow compared to the sheep. I could only feel more excited for the journey ahead.

“Lou Woo!”

“What’s up?”

Both of us turned our heads, to see Wolfgang who had chased after us, although we had already travelled quite a distance.

“Take it!”

What flew to us was a bundle of wolf fur tied with a string, as if it was shaved from Woflgang’s body.

“What is this?”

“It will be of use to you!”

Wolfgang shouted back. Although I didn’t understand its purpose, I stashed it away. It was probably a tradition of the werewolves.

The cart shuddered once again.

Seneharella! I said to myself.