A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"Oh! It's my older sister."

As soon as Taji and Tari heard Talika's voice, they ran out of the house.

Upon seeing the two kids, Bray knew this was where he was staying temporarily.

“Isn’t this Uncle? Why did you come back with my sister?” Taji’s eyes lingered between Bre and Talika.

"Uncle? Do you know him?" This time it was Talika's turn to look surprised.

“Yes, I know him. The uncle is staying with us temporarily, and Grandma agreed,” Taji said.

"You... what's wrong with you?" Talika looked at Bray in surprise.

However, Bray was petrified and did not react.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Talika shook Bray's shoulder hard.

"Oh, what is it?" Bray snapped out of his daze and responded absentmindedly.

“What’s wrong? Explain yourself. Why are you staying at our house temporarily?” Talika said.

Because of her work, Talika often doesn't go home for a day or two, so she just happened to have never met Bray.

They avoided it perfectly.

"Alright, if you want to talk, come inside. Aren't you tired of standing outside?" The old woman's voice drifted out from inside the house.

Although there is a musty smell inside the house, it is much better than the pungent smell of oil, sewage, rust, and other odors mixed together on the street.

Bray and Talika exchanged a glance, then simultaneously chose to go inside.

Once inside, Taji and Tari began to tell the whole story about Bray in a coordinated manner.

Talika took a deep breath and finally managed to process all the information.

"I think I understand, but... you really came from another safe zone?"

"Still don't believe me?" Bray said, annoyed.

“I can’t believe it,” Talika said irritably. Who could believe Bray’s words?

And those descriptions of other safe zones are just too absurd, almost like something out of a fairy tale.

But after seeing the discarded magic guns her brothers were playing with, she had no choice but to force herself to believe it.

"So, the elderly scholar you're introducing to me is your grandmother?" Bray asked, glancing cautiously at the smiling old woman.

The old woman remained silent, listening attentively.

“Yes, Grandma was a very famous scholar,” Talika said proudly.

“That was in the past, Talika.” The old woman touched Talika’s ear.

Talika, who was always very impulsive, gradually became more like a husky under the old woman's caresses.

“No, Grandma has always been a brilliant scholar,” Talika said earnestly. Grandma was their idol.

"..." Bray didn't interrupt, but instead scrutinized the old woman quite carefully.

The old woman's movements as swift and efficient as a hunter's were when she skinned and butchered the meat.

Are you going to tell him now that this old woman is a famous scholar? No, no, no, she should be called a famous hunter, right?

Bray's current feelings were exactly the same as everyone else's disbelief that he was a messenger from another continent.

"Is he really a scholar?" Bray asked again.

"You're so annoying, I already told you it's true." Before the old woman even opened her shop, Talika snapped at Bray.

Bray pinched his chin and remained silent for a long time.

If he had known earlier that the old woman was a scholar who might know where the "Prophet's Tomb" was, he wouldn't have been used as a tool by the guards of Claw Castle.

Thinking about it this way, I felt like I had lost out, and all my previous stubborn bargaining seemed pointless.

I feel so sad. So in the end, I'm still just a pure tool, even though I've tried so hard to get benefits.

Suddenly, I felt dejected, realizing that I had wasted my energy.

“Tarika told me you were looking for me, this outdated old scholar,” the old woman said with a smile, looking at Bray.

Before the fall of Claw Fortress, the old woman was a scholar specializing in the study of antiquities.

Moreover, she wasn't actually a native of Claw Castle; she just happened to be there on the day of the catastrophe.

After the day of the catastrophe, she was left behind in Claw Castle forever.

Not everyone can travel the world like Bray; many people are left behind in foreign lands.

Therefore, in many safe zones of the Eastern Continent, you can actually see humans and elves in addition to barbarians.

The children she adopted are also trapped here.

All I can say is that she doesn't know if taking her child to Clawburg was worth the regret.

However, the three children, including Talika, never complained about the old woman.

The fact that she adopted the three of them from the orphanage is enough for them to respect this grandmother.

Not to mention that the old woman treated them as her own children.

“Ah, yes,” Bray quickly replied.

After struggling with this for a long time, Bray finally figured some things out.

That is, if Talika hadn't told her that the old woman was a scholar, she probably wouldn't have known until the day she left.

This result is barely acceptable.

"Do you know about 'The Prophet's Tomb'?" Bray asked bluntly.

"I have something to do there."

“‘The Prophet’? I know that.” The old woman raised her eyelids and looked at Bray more closely.

"But what do you want to do going to a long-abandoned ruin?"

Few people know about the "Tomb of the Prophet," and even fewer study it.

Since that place was discovered, no one has successfully entered it to excavate.

Gradually, the ruins were forgotten.

The most authoritative scholar in the study of "The Prophet's Tomb" is none other than Li, a panda.

Even he didn't truly understand what secrets this ruin held; the only thing he knew was who the tomb's owner was.

Of course--

These things happened a long time ago; the old woman probably doesn't know that Bray had already gone into the ruins with that panda once.

Not only did the old woman not know, but Bray himself had long forgotten about it.

If you ask him to recall what this panda Li is, he might have a headache for a week trying to remember.

Not to mention reminding Bray of who he had visited "the Prophet's Tomb" with.

"Emmmmmm," honest man Bray began to try to organize his thoughts.

Was he going to tell the old woman that he went to the "Prophet's Tomb" to arrange a fight? That sounds ridiculous.

"Paying homage? Or perhaps digging for treasure?" Bray gradually began to spout nonsense with an air of seriousness.

However, Bray's lying skills really need improvement; the old woman could tell at a glance that the young man was trying hard to lie.

"Alright, this old woman will tell you, no need to rack your brains." The old woman looked at Bray with amusement.

Even if Bray gave the most outrageous excuse, the old woman would still tell him where the "prophet's grave" was.

After all, this was nothing to her, and the child actually seemed quite interesting.

I'm not a bad person; I'll help if I can.

Although she was still worried about this young man who seemed prone to making mistakes, and whether he might encounter danger outside the safe zone.

The same goes for the children she adopted; Taji and Tari wanted to run away, while Talika chose a high-risk job.

As expected, young people all have restless hearts that cannot be calmed down.

"Tari, help me get that pile of wood out of the room," the old woman called to the lion-headed boy.

Then, without saying a word, Tali went to the room and found the pile of "wood".

After he brought out all the so-called "wood," Bray realized that it wasn't wood at all.

Well, you can insist it's wood, since the material is wood.

They were a pair of small items, all carved from wood.

The old woman slowly stood up from the rocking chair.

"Taji, what are you standing there for? Quickly help Grandma!" Talika saw this and hurriedly went over to help her, also calling out to the wolf boy.

The wolf boy pursed his lips, but still stepped forward to help the old woman.

"I'm not that old yet. Alright, let go," the old woman said irritably.

All the small items were placed on the dining table, while she stood at the edge of the table.

“Look, this is where you are now.” She began to use small objects to explain the location of the ruins to Bray.

However, the old woman could have simply spoken the explanation; Bray didn't understand why she had to use these small objects to illustrate it.

From Bray's perspective alone, it's natural to think that this is easier to understand, as his memory is already poor and visual memory is more convenient.

"The important thing is the reference point, not the direction."

“Things used to indicate directions near ruins are often useless,” the old woman said.

"The compass won't work?" Bray tried to ask.

"No," the old woman said.

Bray finally understood why the old woman could explain small objects; it turned out that even the compass didn't work.

Bray relied on maps and compasses to find his way throughout the journey.

That's how normal people find their way.

In the past, one could use the stars in the sky to guide one's way, but that's no longer possible, because many of the stars that indicate directions are now "covered" by something unknown and cannot be seen at all.

"I understand, use a rope."

Is he implying that he should use a rope? To tie himself to a rope to determine if he's gone the wrong way, right? Oh, I see.

“A rope won’t work either.” The old woman looked at Bray speechlessly, not understanding what he was thinking.

"There are twenty markers that will lead you to the 'Prophet's Tomb'."

"Don't get it wrong. If you get lost, this old woman can't help you," the old woman said earnestly.

She glanced at the small items on the table without making it obvious.

The small objects appear to be displayed for marking purposes, but they also subtly imply a special spatial relationship.

This is a simple alternative to astrology among divination methods.

Just now, when she was explaining directions to Bray using small objects, she even did some divination.

The result of the divination... was intriguing. "Uncle, are you leaving in a few days?" the wolf boy Taji asked, sitting down beside Bray.

"Yes, in three days." Bresso ate his pasta listlessly and answered casually.

Bray stayed in Claws Castle for so long not for any other reason than that he couldn't remember the road signs for the time being.

The first time Bray went to the "Prophet's Tomb," he didn't think finding the way would be so troublesome because someone was leading the way.

But when he had to remember the road signs, he really had a headache.

Another important point is that the twenty landmarks used for navigation may or may not have been destroyed because of the Silver Seed.

If all those reference points were destroyed, then we could just shout "Oh ho!"

The fact that insufficient reference points could lead to damage was something that even the earliest archaeologists considered.

They were just thinking that the natural environment would destroy the landmark, not that it would be trampled by some demigod who appeared out of nowhere.

Getting back to the point, the reason there are so many as twenty markers is because we considered the possibility of them being damaged.