Chapter 109: Chapter 109: The Silver Mountains Part 4
Twenty years ago, the Sherpas climbed the Silver Mountains in search of Tondra and lost many people. It was said that the old woman's children and Aquila's parents also passed away at that time. Most of those who lost their families left the village in fear of the Silver Mountains, and since then, only a few old people and Aquila have been protecting the Silver Mountains.
They longed for Tondra to return and roam the Silver Mountains freely. However, Tondra who said it would only be for a "moment" did not return even after a long time had passed, and so it had come to this.
The Sherpas said they would discuss it and sent me back. I told them I would climb the Silver Mountains tomorrow and to give me an answer by morning, then returned to the village.
"Theodore."
Khalid was standing in front of the inn. He was leaning against the wall and enjoying a smoke with a long pipe brought from Niram. I waved away the smoke he exhaled and gave him a slight nod.
"You're back earlier than I expected."
"That sounds like criticism."
"Not at all."
"What are those goats for?"
Khalid gestured towards the goats gathered in the inn's yard.
"They're for dinner."
"Twelve of them?"
"Not for me."
"Then?"
"They're for Tondra."
"Ha!"
Khalid made a sound as if he had heard something ridiculous. I shrugged my shoulders.
"You told me that it would be in an angry state when it wakes up. I'm just following your advice."
"You plan to calm a dragon's anger with twelve goats?"
"We won't know until we try."
"Theodore, you're a really strange guy."
"I never imagined I'd hear that from you."
I opened the door to the inn and asked him,
"Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
"Then let's go inside."
"I'll finish this smoke first."
"Alright."
Inside the inn, the warmth from the burning brazier was comforting. After warming my hands for a moment, I explained the situation to Lloyd and El.
"We'll probably be able to get the Sherpas' help."
I felt fairly confident. Was it because I saw the desire to climb the Silver Mountains in Aquila's eyes? Of course, she wasn't a perfect Sherpa either…
"Anyway, we should eat well today. Once we start climbing the mountains, we won't have the luxury of cooking."
The place felt more like a guesthouse than an inn. It was as if we had simply rented a house. The owner wasn't around, and we couldn't order any meals. So we had to cook for ourselves. I started prepping the ingredients we bought at the market earlier in the day. El skillfully washed and prepared the vegetables beside me.
"Lloyd, could you mince the meat?"
"…Sure."
Indeed, knife work should be left to the experts. I handed him a chunk of beef and pork each and began preparing the fish. Scaling it, gutting it. The only fish I had eaten before coming here were microwaved mackerel or canned tuna, sometimes some saury or croaker at a diner. But here, I was handling all sorts of fish myself. A great improvement, I must say.
At least cooking is fun.
I placed the prepared fish in a pot generously drizzled with olive oil and mixed the finely minced pork and beef that Lloyd had prepared. Using only pork would make it too greasy, and using only beef would make it too dry, but mixing them half and half made perfect meatballs. I instructed El to take the bones with some meat on them to Ayla who was guarding the goats. Soon, I could hear Ayla gnawing on the bones outside. Using that as my background music, I started making meatballs. Not small ping-pong ball-sized ones, but large ones, the size of baseballs, or even bigger than an adult's fist.
-Sizzle…
As the meat was fried in oil, a fragrant smell began to emerge. While boiling the pasta I had brought along, I added the tomatoes and vegetables El had prepared into a pot to simmer. A bit of pepper and herbs gave it a decent smell.
It's been a while since I ate pasta.
I used to love the cheese oven spaghetti that came with pizza orders. As I rolled the golden-brown meatballs in the hot oil, I reminisced about my past life. There was a cheap pizza place near my house that I ordered from frequently; sometimes I even got cheese oven spaghetti as a complimentary side. Other times, it was buffalo wings… It was amazing with beer.
I mixed the well-cooked meatballs with whole wheat pasta and poured rich tomato sauce generously over it. It would have been great to add some cheese, but unfortunately, I didn't have any. I settled for the ice moss I had picked.
I paired the crispy grilled fish with a fresh and sweet lemon cream. Although I preferred wasabi and soy sauce, I couldn't get those here, so I had to be satisfied with this.
Finally, the bread was a ciabatta with plenty of olives. I served it with butter mixed with dill and salt. A table worthy of the word "feast" was prepared.
After placing a plate of the giant meatball pasta on the table, I signaled to El. The latter went outside and called Khalid. Once I saw Khalid putting away his pipe and coming in, I sat down at the table.
"Master, your cooking skills seem to improve every day!"
"Haha. Maybe I should open an inn someday?"
"Then we'll become rich, won't we?"
"A piece of cake."
"Cake?"
"Oh, I mean, it's as easy as eating cold soup. That's how easy it is."
I chuckled as I picked up my fork and knife. When I cut the giant meatball in half, juice flowed out. Wow, this is amazing. We can't go without drinks. How about some apple cider today? I poured some homemade apple cider into a glass.
"What about the Sherpas?"
Khalid who was picking at his grilled fish asked that. I swallowed the meatball I was chewing and then answered.
"They said they'd help us."
"In what way?"
"Not sure about that yet."
"Not sure?"
"Yes. We'll find out tomorrow."
"Hmm."
"They might just share their wisdom about the Silver Mountains…"
"…"
"If we're lucky, one of the Sherpas might guide us."
"The Sherpas around here are all toothless old men who can't walk without a cane."
What a rude comment. I glanced at Khalid and shook my head.
"Not necessarily. Although most of the younger Sherpas have left this village."
"Then which Sherpa will help us?"
"One remains. Strictly speaking, they're not a Sherpa. They know the Silver Mountains like the back of their hand but never actually climbed them."
"…"
"It will still be helpful to us if they come."
"A young Sherpa…"
Khalid muttered softly as he sipped his apple cider.
"Did they talk about Tondra?"
"You knew?"
"Knew what?"
"That Tondra left a message for the Sherpas."
"Yes, I knew."
And he didn't say anything? Honestly, I couldn't even hit him for this…
"That's why I thought no Sherpas would help us."
"…"
"Dragons' sense of time is vastly different from ours. Tondra, however, has a relatively good understanding of humans…"
"So, does that mean Tondra didn't intend to fall into such a long 'nap'?"
"That's possible."
Khalid shrugged his shoulders.
Could it be that Tondra didn't just fall into a "nap"?
Did it plan to return before the Sherpas grew old and died?
But for some reason, it's still sleeping?
"…It's all just speculation."
Until we meet Tondra, we won't know the truth. I cleared the empty plates and got up from my seat.
The next day at dawn.
I woke up before the sun rose. Was it because I was nervous? Well, since I was already up early, I got out of bed, changed clothes, and stepped outside the inn. The goats were huddled together, leaning against each other, asleep. One, two, three, four… nine, ten, eleven, twelve. All twelve were safe.
"You did well through the night, Ayla."
I patted Ayla's head in praise, took out a hind leg of a round-horned buffalo from my space ring, and gave it to her. I needed to feed Ayla well before we climbed the mountain.
While Ayla ate, I spread hay for the goats and mule. Meanwhile, dawn was breaking on the distant horizon. Warm light spread across the deep blue sky. I paused to gaze at that light.
"…"
Beyond that light, something was running. At first, it was a shadow the size of a grain of millet, but it gradually grew larger. The curly hair fluttering in the sunlight was a beautiful shade of orange. I soon realized that the owner of that shadow was Aquila.
That means…!
"Hey!"
When she was close enough for me to distinguish her face, Aquila called out loudly to me. She was holding something that looked like a long scroll in her hand and she had an old-looking bag slung over her back.
"Aquila!"
"Huff, huff, huff."
"Good morning."
As she approached, she nodded her head and caught her breath. Then, she handed me the scroll she was holding.
"Haa… here!"
"What is this?"
When I asked that, she narrowed her eyes at me slightly, as if asking whether I genuinely didn't know. I unfurled the scroll without saying another word. Though it fluttered in the dawn breeze, I could clearly make out its contents.
.
"It's a map of the Silver Mountains."
"That's right."
"It's entirely different from the ones sold."
"That's because the Sherpas made this one themselves."
"Did you come all this way just to deliver this?"
"…"
Aquila grinned and took out a canteen hanging from her backpack and quenched her thirst. I waited quietly for her answer. I was hoping to hear the response I was expecting.
"Only the Sherpas can properly read that map."
"…I see."
She set down the canteen and spoke confidently.
"I'm going to meet Tondra too."
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