Echoes of the Past

Chapter 43 What did you make the cat food for?

Pirion realized his lapse in composure, took a deep breath, and softened his tone.

"Every time a major upheaval occurs, the people of the border cities face homelessness... Although they are always provided with new shelter and food is still plentiful, the desolation of fleeing and the reluctance to leave their homes always numbs many to reality. Nan'an, do you know that it's not just the elderly who choose to end their lives with the black fog?"

"I won't let you break the rules of Elk."

Nan'an was actually quite curious whether Pirion cared more about his seat in the Senate or about the Kren.

If it's the former, the fact that he managed a city-state located behind the Rostarek Black Mist line so well within ten years speaks volumes.

Even if something does happen, the Senate will not ignore his managerial talent.

"Rostarek is fine. Nilar and I have other plans," Nanan said. "That's all I can tell you."

Hearing this, Pirion felt much more at ease.

Suiyue sat to the side, enjoying the dried fruit from the small plate.

Since she doesn't need to use her brain, she consistently switches to "energy-saving mode" during conversations.

At this moment, she swallowed the sweet, juicy fruit pulp in her mouth and mumbled a reply:

"Nan'an helped you, so you should help him too." She wagged her finger. "In your report to the Senate... write as many nice things as possible."

“I did my best,” Pirion said. “I’m shocked that the Chief Elders in the Senate consider the mess you two have made to be ‘the legacy of old-school adventurers from the frontiers of the Gray Star era.’”

Nan'an never expected that 374 years after the end of the Gray Star era, and almost 500 years after his death, there would still be people who recognized his value.

The Red Rat Adventure Team is a typical frontier adventure team.

The situation in Nora back then was complex, with numerous city-states and small countries scattered among the major powers, not under the jurisdiction of a single entity.

Their very existence serves as a buffer zone between top powers, preventing border conflicts from rapidly spreading into the heartland.

Nan'an has been active in the vicinity of such a buffer zone.

His footsteps have traversed the great nation of Nora, autonomous city-states, and even the territories of intelligent monsters.

"Are there still old people from the Gray Star era in the Senate?"

Pirion shook his head: "The oldest known person in Solize is the Raven, who is 168 years old, but in some tribes, there should be old folks who have survived many upheavals and are still alive today."

The lifespan curse on long-lived species begins to take effect on their offspring.

How would these long-lived beings feel about their direct descendants, whose race has lost its former glory?

As we left the governor's residence, dusk was already beginning to fall over the streets of Kren.

Nan'an led Suiyue along the stone path, visiting each of the workshops they had previously commissioned to retrieve the components that had already been forged.

Suiyue ate the whole way, spending all the dozen or so copper coins that Corella gave her on her mouth.

Suiyue nudged Nan'an's waist with her elbow: "Come on, feel my pockets."

"what?"

From the slightly bulging pocket of his shirt, Nan'an pulled out... dried fruit and dried meat?

"These are from Pietro. I took a little extra since you didn't get any."

Nan'an was both amused and exasperated: "Thank you."

The Black Edge Workshop in the South District was the last stop. When the two guys, who were constantly chewing, arrived, the workshop door was half open.

The warm light from the fireplace blended with the evening sunlight at the threshold, casting long shadows of people moving inside onto the rough stone ground outside.

As Nan'an pushed open the door, she heard a clear male voice, tinged with laughter, say:

"So, this time the Sharpness Enchantment is more effective, and I don't want to let my senior down."

The young man speaking had his back to the door. He wasn't particularly burly, but his shoulders and back had sharp, defined lines, revealing the lean and wiry quality of long-term training. His short, brown hair was somewhat messy, with stray strands clinging to his sweaty neck.

Hei Feng raised his head, about to respond, but his gaze passed over the young man and landed on Nan An and Sui Yue, who had just entered the room.

"Ah, you two have come at the perfect time," Hei Feng said with a sigh of relief. "The components are complete, and I've just finished the final magic verification."

The young man, whose back was to the door, turned around upon hearing the sound.

It was a face that had been roughened by sunlight and wind and sand, and the person looked to be in their early twenties.

"These two are..." His gaze swept between Nan'an and Suiyue, lingering for a moment on the conspicuous broken horn on Suiyue's head.

"Nilar." Black Fang was somewhat puzzled. "These two are the guests I mentioned before; they were recommended by you."

It was incredibly exciting to meet my pen pal.

Nilar quickly bowed slightly and respectfully extended his hand to Nan'an.

"Senior Nan'an, it is an honor to meet you."

His handshake was strong and rough, with calluses on his palms from years of handling weapons.

Nilar has a youthful appearance. If he hadn't gone to Rostarek to serve on the frontier and suffer poverty, he could probably have lived a very comfortable life among the nobles in Twin Crown City. Of course, Nan'an's evaluation is based on Corella.

There was nothing he could do; this was the only nobleman he knew, and he was quite embarrassing about him.

Niral is here to perform pre-departure maintenance and enchantments on the weapons.

As an expert who had long dealt with the Black Mist, he bluntly told Nan'an that weapons were more important than armor.

In most cases, what kills a Fogbreaker is not a physical attack, and dodging is more effective than taking the hit head-on.

Therefore, most fog breakers are glass cannons. When facing the pure physical damage of Nightmare and Spirit Erosion, it's a matter of intense, one-shot kills, relying on shield-type magic provided by teamwork to walk a tightrope.

Black Fang was very skilled. Nan An checked the status of the two magic storage tanks by injecting magic power and readily gave away all the remaining anti-magic dust.

"Mr. Nan'an, this is the most profitable transaction my workshop has ever made since it opened." Hei Feng was flattered, but still honestly put away the Demon Suppression Jar.

Small workshops with little reputation mostly rely on word-of-mouth referrals to build their initial customer base.

High-quality clients like Nilar and Nan'an are the stable pillars that countless craftsmen dream of.

Nilar stared curiously at the huge backpack behind Suiyue. Before the two jars were put in, it already contained some clanging metal objects, the purpose of which was unknown.

As Black Fang began maintaining and enchanting Niral's weapons, the young border guard couldn't help but ask, "Senior Nan'an, Senior Suiyue... don't you need any weapons or armor prepared?"

"We were both fighting unarmed."

"Empty handed?!"

Nilar was filled with respect, his eyes widening slightly: "You mean... the previous feat of killing nearly ten Living Eclipses was accomplished entirely through close-quarters combat with bare hands?"

Far away in Rostarek, his information mainly came from daily exchanges within the Kren Cave.

When he first heard Suiyue describe "tearing apart living creatures with his bare hands", he subconsciously thought it was just some kind of exaggerated rhetoric.

Are you really going to tear it apart by hand?

Comparing the accounts, Hei Feng suddenly realized that the person standing in front of him was none other than Nan'an, who had recently been making waves—rumored to be an exceptionally ruthless and efficient Living Corrosion Assassin who had come to Kren without a name.

"So you're the lord of Erlu..." Black Fang's voice carried a hint of unease. "Why didn't you reveal your identity sooner..."

Black Fang had just finished enchanting with Sharpness and quickly took out the Suppression Bottle during the break.

"No, you're making it sound like Erlu can buy things without paying. I've already paid you. Now you should pray that your skills are good enough to satisfy me in the actual test. If you perform well in the stress test, I'll come back to you for similar commissions in the future."

Black Fang patted his chest: "I have done my best, and I believe that as long as it is not a harsh environment, normal pressure will not cause the magic boost to fail... But I just want to thank you for your efforts for Kren."

"You'll have a chance to repay me," Nan'an said with a smile.

People living in border areas are very sensitive to security issues.

This is also an important reason why the city of Kren under Pirion's rule was able to attract a population of one million. As the governor, his governance was far superior to that of the surrounding city-states that were gradually declining.

Whether it's the strength of the guard, the scale of the adventurer mercenaries, or the amount of the official bounty, none of them can compare to ordinary small city-states.

Ordinary people have neither the time nor the energy to think about things that are too far in the future.

For them, as long as Nan'an could crush the living eroded head like a walnut, it would be a joyous occasion.

Whether the methods were cruel or the process was horrific was not within their consideration.

Nilar was somewhat shocked upon returning to the Kren Cave.

"This...this..." He pointed at the cat food roaming freely in the hall, his lips trembling.

Cat Food, the most unique nightmare of the Ereshkigal, is currently standing in front of the stove, skillfully tossing the wok with its front paws.

Golden egg yolks and distinct grains of rice tumbled in the pot, filling the entire hall with the aroma of oil and scallions—the main dish for dinner that Nan'an and Suiyue had ordered.

"I've looked up the Deep Cave's management regulations," Nan'an said, sitting at the long table, ready to start the meal. "There's no explicit prohibition against Cat Food leaving its little house. Since it's willing to help, I'll ask it to take care of our meals as well."

"Prepare the food?" Nilar opened his mouth, unable to form a complete sentence for a moment. "But, aside from showing off its culinary skills when it activates its ability, Cat Food has always been..."

Watching the cat divide the food into three portions and serve them to Nan'an and Suiyue...

This doesn't make sense!

Out of Erlu's meticulousness, Nilar asked, "How long has this situation been going on?"

"Since I moved into the Kren Cave, almost every day..."

Nilar was speechless.

He felt as if a swarm of bees was buzzing in his ears.

Most of the members of the El Deer have met Cat Food, and there are quite a few people who have tried to get on its good side.

But Cat Food only ever showed a little affection to Crow, while maintaining a polite but distant attitude towards everyone else.

The feeling was like dealing with a group of occasional, not-too-unpleasant guests.

They are willing to cooperate with guests who want to touch or hug them.

The only thing he can do is cook; he absolutely cannot be a chef on a regular basis.

Cat food is mostly for the cats to digest themselves, and they don't get to taste it. Occasionally, when they're in a good mood, they'll serve it to the members of the El-Lu family to enjoy.

How wonderful it must be to have cat food served as the head chef!

When did cats get trained to behave like this?

"When do we leave?"

Nan'an's question pulled Nilar back from his astonishment.

"tomorrow."

"Don't you plan to take a break?"

"Mission first." Nilar shook his head. "The Owl's team has already begun initial exploration. This is, after all, Soliz's territory, and it's always a bit awkward to have Onze's people assist with core matters."

Since the cat food was only prepared for three people, Nanan naturally gave half of his fried rice to Nilar.

Nilar thanked him and accepted the food, but he was still somewhat absent-minded as he stirred the rice with the spoon.

"The Owls seem to have a good number of men," Nan An said casually, taking a bite of fried rice.

Nilar smiled wryly: "Compared to the Elu, I think it should be called a large number. It is said that the Yaoxiao currently has 4000 people. Compared to that, the only things worth mentioning about the Elu are their strength, experience, and Lord Huoya."

As they were talking, Cat Food swaggered over to Nan An's side, tugged at the hem of her clothes with its paw, stood straight with its slender body, blinked its eyes, and looked expectant and eager.

Nilar stopped chewing and couldn't help but think.

"Senior Nan'an wouldn't be using fragments of the Nightmare God from the Living Eclipse to coax Cat Food into cooking, would he...? That's against the rules!"

"Oh, I forgot, I forgot. I'm giving you a score, right? Out of 10, today's score is 8. I still prefer to use leftover rice for fried rice, so that each grain is separate. It's still a bit sticky now... but it's still pretty good."

Suiyue was sticking out her tongue to lick the grease off the plate.

She opened her mouth wide and said, "I give it 10 points."

"Can you be a little more serious? If you keep going like this, the cat food won't be improved based on your scores."

"But... delicious is delicious, and I can't just ramble on like you do." Suiyue was very frank. "Isn't it only natural to give something delicious a perfect score?"

Cat Food nodded in satisfaction, then sauntered back to the stove and sealed half a pot of rice.

It seems they really need to save some leftovers for the experiment.

Clearly, this scoring game is exclusive to Nan'an Suiyue, and it has no intention of involving Nilar.

"Does Lord Crow know about this, Nekomamushi?" Nilar couldn't help but wonder again. "No one on record has ever had such a good relationship with Nekomamushi... I'm afraid even Lord Crow would be wide-eyed if he came."

Silent all night.

After a long time of resting in a comfortable bed, Nilar slept very well and woke up when it was already dawn.

Seeing that the cat food was being prepared for breakfast, he felt relieved.

However, when his gaze fell upon Suiyue, who was moving around in the room, he couldn't help but scratch his head.

"Suizuki-senpai, what's that weird thing you're wearing...?"

At this moment, behind Suiyue, the halo wheel was in activated state, shining with Buddha's light, as radiant as a god.

At first glance, Nilar thought he was still half asleep, and that Suiyue had become a god and entered his dream.