The way Inanna spoke was soft and sweet. It was a voice Amon had never heard before. It presented traces of a unique graceful quality, like singing a song. Amon felt so comfortable, with an unnerving itch in his chest that made his heart palpitate. He nodded and replied, Dont worry. If it didnt go far, we can find it. Where did you lose the lamb?
There, Inanna pointed in the direction Amon ca from.
It was a hill at the bank of the Euphrate River, next to it the thick and wild forest. Amon frowned and sank into his thoughts. It was not easy to find a lamb in such dense woods, not to ntion the wild animals that might frequent there. The lamb was probably already inside the stomach of so beast. He quickly calculated the risks and decided to help. He nodded and said, You wait here. I am going in there to have a look.
Following his words, Amon turned around and began walking towards the hill, decisive as always. Inanna called out to him from behind, My handso hunter! Please wait. I am going with you. You dont know my lamb. She gathered up her skirt and trotted after him.
Amon had to slow down. Together, they walked into the woods at the foot of the hill. It was going to be difficult to find the lamb. Amon agreed to help her because he had mastered Detection Eyes, sothing he could cast in front of commoners without being noticed.
Amon walked through the trees and shrubs silently, the young woman following closely behind. Stealthily casting Detection Eyes, he did find so animals, including two goats. He was using a lot of magic power. Hardly any advanced mage could endure a long ti of such intensive searching. As ti went on, Amon felt tired as well.
Pretending to look for her lamb, Inanna laid her beautiful eyes on nothing but Amon. Although she appeared to be shy, every one of her expressions and movents was like inviting the young man ahead to do sothing with her. Amon had already looked all over the valley and the hill. Across the hill would be the vast forested mountain. Suddenly, he heard a scream from behind along with a loud, embarrassing rip.
He looked back and found that Inannas robe was hooked at the shoulder by thorns and had torn apart, exposing her voluptuous shoulders.
Amon had seen wons chests himself when he was in the cavemans tribe. So cavewon were half-naked. But at this mont, he found that a covered seduction was much more intense than that of total exposure.
Amon, help ! Inanna cried in her delicate voice as if her clothes were being clawed at by a savage beast.
Amon felt strangely hot when he marched towards her, his heart drumming. The weird feeling he felt after bathing in the cold spring arose once again. Amon was about sixteen years old now, but his body was more developed than his peers, similar to an adult man, with the sa response to desires.
Amon had passed Desires Awakening long ago. But it didnt an that he had beco a piece of desireless rock. The test was about finding inner peace and balancing desires he had to face, which allowed the practitioners to continue ditating and progress. The desires were not extinguished or distorted in the least.
The shepherdess looked timid, weeping for her lost lamb and frightened by a few thorns on the shrubs. But from another perspective, she was very bold, since she dared to enter the woods with a strange robust young man. If sothing unexpected happened to her, she could only seek help from no one.
His face flushed and heart racing, Amon didnt have such thoughts in mind. He wasnt fully aware of what he should think about in this kind of situation. He could only think about concealing his awkwardness. So he turned his face aside, trying not to look at her while unhooking her clothes from the thorns. He murmured diffidently, Dont be afraid. Its just so thorns.
The young woman thanked him for his kindness, grabbing ahold of her collar. But the ripped cloth could hardly hide the view behind it. Gasping in hurry, she turned her head, watching Amon with a flushed face and asked gently, Amon, are you a good man, or a bad man?
All of her body movents, her stance, her expression and her manner of speaking was intensely suggestive. It was as though the temperature in the thick woods rose suddenly and the air flow slowed down. A man with even a tiny spark of wicked thought would have exploded with desires, rushing and clinging to her, doing whatever he could do.
Amons heart beat even faster. Does she think Im a bad man? Because I look at her too much and perhaps think too much? He took off his leather robe and passed it to her, Oh, I forget that your robes broken. Put this on Weve been looking for your lamb all over the place. Your lamb is not here. Ahead of us is a deep ravine. We cant go any further. Perhaps your lamb has already been consud by so beasts.
The young woman threw a glance at him in surprise. She loosened her grip, took the leather robe and threw it on. Then she sniffled and leaned on Amons shoulder, sobbing again, My poor naughty little thing! What have you got yourself in? Cant you see the tragic fate, whose coming will not be late? The sharp teeth are biting, the hard lash is falling. Ah! What can I do, for both our sakes?
She was singing rather than sobbing! Her voice was like the twittering of a nightingale. Amon could feel her hair brush against his ear, and a sweet, tempting scent flowed in his nose. He couldnt help putting a hand around her waist. So smooth! He mumbled guiltily, What kind of lamb have you lost? Is there sowhere we can buy one? If you can show to the nearest town, I can buy one for you.
Amon didnt spend a coin in the cavemans tribe. He didnt need to. Hence, he was carrying more money with him when he left, since he had collected nine parangons in the cave where he discovered Bair. Back in the old days, when rchants arrived at Duc, they would have brought so sheep with them, selling them for three to five silver coins, depending on their size. Sotis, a lamb would have been given as a bonus when buying a barrel of good wine.
The coarse grass near Duc could only nourish a small amount of bony sheep. People had to process the at into jerky. CrazyOle knew the best about how to make good jerky. His jerky was always delicious and preservable. Amon learned this skill alongside the technique of Duc.
But it was only after he began to learn magic that he realized why his jerky had never been as great as CrazyOles. The latter made jerky with magic. The at was dried by water and fire magic, and compressed by spatial magic, which vanished when heated and turned the jerky back to flesh. The sa could even be applied to beans and vegetables.
Amon asked Inanna to bring him to the next town. In return, he would buy her a lamb. As soon as they talked about buying a lamb, Amon felt hungry. He had been walking in the forest all night, then scanning the hill using the Detection Eyes. It was about noon. He was exhausted both in the physical and the magical aspect.
But as a responsible man, he decided to handle the problem at hand first. He couldnt stand seeing Inanna cry anymore. She was the first person he had t since he went down from the mountains. And sohow, he felt a sense of kinship with the woman. Maybe it was why she looked familiar to him.
Inanna turned her head up from Amons shoulder, with tears on her face and surprise in her eyes. She panted and said, Really? You are buying a lamb?! My lamb is white, with so black spots and stripes The town is far from here, we will have to walk for a while.
Amon smiled, Then we should hurry up. Can we get there before sunset?
Inanna smiled too, Its not even noon yet. We can arrive before dusk.
The two went out of the woods. This ti Inanna led the way. They walked southwest, crossing patches of grassland, heading for the nearest town. The grass was knee-high, tickling their shins. From afar, they could see flowers of all kinds of colours undulating in the greenery.
The sun was bright. Amon could sense a subtle fragrance in the brisk air, probably emanating from the young lady beside him, whose smile was as radiant as the sun, and whose deportnt was just as tender as the grass. Amon wanted to move fast, but he was not sure if Inanna could catch up. Inanna considerately leaned towards him, so Amon just slipped his arm around her waist, so both of them could walk faster.
Amon didnt think much of it. He found it comfortable to hold a young ladys waist and stroll across the soft adows, which was sothing refreshing and new to him. Just being in her company, Amon felt that it was more than worth buying a sheep.
Before he realized it, they had walked a long way. Noon had already passed. Inannas pace slowed down. Amon stopped and asked, Are you tired?
Inanna replied in a sweet voice, Are you hungry? Should we take a break and eat sothing?
She was indeed considerate. Amon nodded, Great. Lets have sothing to eat.
Before he could pull out his pot and jerky, the young woman took out two pancakes, I only have two pancakes. Is it enough for you?
Amon waved his hands, Ive brought my own food. I dont need to eat your pancake.
Inanna seed to feel wronged and was about to cry, I have nothing but these two pancakes to reward you. This is my food for today. Why do you refuse my favour?
Amon had to quickly answer, I appreciate your kindness, but you must be hungry too Lets share them, one pancake for each of us. I can make a pot of soup too Theres water over there, lets gather so water and make so soup.
Amon accepted her pancake and invited her to have his at soup. The two went ahead and found a rivulet between the adows. Inanna was surprised, How do you know theres water here, my Amon? Have you been here before?
Amon tried to explain, No, its my first ti visiting here. But I have good ears. I heard the water from afar.
He took out the pot from the big bag and tried to get so water. Schrodinger crouched at the bottom of the bag, seemingly asleep. It hadnt made a noise today, but since it was not its alti, Amon didnt bother to wake it up.
Since he didnt want to perform magic in front of Inanna, he didnt conjure the water directly from the air using magic but chose to find a stream instead. However, when he filled up the pot with water, he perford so minor water magic to filter out sand and weeds.
They found so nice dry twigs and set up a bonfire and cooked a pot of wonderful soup. The jerky was in the bone and the bone was in the bag. So Amon just put his hands into the bag and pulled out the jerky from the bone, looking like he was pulling out jerky from the bag. He didnt forget that he had to hide his identity of a sorcerer, even in front of a shepherdess.
Looking at the steaming pot, Inanna gave Amon a glance and licked her lips, which was very cute. She should be very hungry as well. The two waited for a little for the soup to cool down, then took turns to use their only spoon to drink soup from the pot.
Inanna enjoyed the soup. It was at this mont that Amon found the chance to study her beauty. She behaved with grace. Even the way she drank the soup made him feel like he was in the presence of elegance. One with enough worldly wisdom would have already concluded that she was by no ans an enslaved shepherdess, as she had claid to be. Her skin was fine and smooth with no trace of hardship. But Amon wasnt quite observant about these sort of things. Raised by his father, he didnt have much contact with won. Even when he was in the cavemans tribe, he dealt with tatro, Lynk and other n most of the ti.
In fact, almost everyone he had t was familiar with heavy labour. It was impossible to find a person with no calluses on his or her hands. Amon was the only boy who had no mud in his nails and no dust on his hair.
Amon had a mory of only two won from the outside world Gabriel and Icho Maria. Gabriel was beautiful, but the first impression she gave was her majesty as a great warrior. As for Maria, she was Amons dream.
Therefore, when he saw Inanna, Amon wasnt surprised by her beauty. Maybe he believed that it was common in the outside world. Inannas beauty was different from that of Gabriels and Marias. There was an amazing bashful tenderness in her eyes and smile which could be read as an enticent through refusal. Unfortunately, Amon couldnt read the ssage behind. He felt comfort looking at her, but apart from that, he didnt harbour any other intentions.
In the eyes of Amon, it was not a question to compare this woman with Icho. Ever since he mastered ssage magic, he had been reading the two permanent ssages left in the Terroculus. One was about him kneeling before CrazyOle, the other was the line of words carved on a wall but then erased, Amon, my na is Icho.
He read those two ssages over and over again whenever loneliness occupied his heart. Seeing the image arise then disappearing, he realized that Maria would probably never use this na again. She would only be allowed to be called Lord Maria, the Adoratrice.
As a consequence, the na Icho seed to beco sothing that only belonged to Amon, like a buried secret, a small drop of rain hidden in the clouds under the sumr sunshine. This feeling was so subtle that even Amon himself didnt understand it quite so well. Sitting beside her, he could fully appreciate Inannas radiant looks while having peace of mind. Perhaps it was because she wasnt Icho.
Inanna really enjoyed the food, but Amon seed to enjoy it more. Or to be more exact, he had never had such delicious food in his whole life!
The grey pancake was as tough as a flat rock. However, once dipped and softened in the hot soup, a wonderfully simple yet solid sweet taste ca out. It was the taste of wheat, pure and satisfying. Amon started with a modest bite, then he almost chewed his own tongue devouring it.
What added to the wonderful taste of wheat was the luscious flavour from the at soup. Amon would have sighed if his mouth hadnt been full of food, how could there be such great food in the world! Maybe it was because he had been starving after the long walk, but he could swear that he had never eaten any pancake that could even compare to this one. He couldnt find the right words to describe it.
Amons pot was not very big. He could finish three pots of soup if he wished. But since he was sharing it with Inanna, he wasnt expecting to eat his fill. Neither had he expected such a piece of wonderful pancake, of which Amon would welco as many as possible. He licked his lips after the last morsel, stopping a little while recollecting the stunning flavour, then continued to drink the soup in turn with Inanna.
Without the pancake, the nice soup lost its pleasant flavour.
Amon finished the pancake so fast that Inanna only had few sips of soup. The pancake in her hand was still intact. Seeing Amons pancake disappear into his mouth, she offered the one in her hand to Amon, You must be hungry. Please have this one as well.
No, thank you. Embarrassed, Amon shook his hand, You should eat sothing too. The soup wont be enough for you. I ate it too fast because I found it too tasty! I have never eaten anything so good!
I made them this morning. Im glad that you liked them! Your soup is tasty too I dont think I can finish the whole piece of cake alone. Please have half of it. Im happy to see you enjoy it.
Of course, Amon would enjoy it. Half a pot of soup and half a piece of pancake seed to be enough for a young woman like her. He felt sorry taking the cake from her, tore down a smaller half, then handed the rest back to Inanna, Thatll be enough for . So you made them yourself? You are amazing!
Amon slowed down when eating the second piece. He took smaller bites so as to savour every succulent piece. The taste was so great that he felt his tongue was lting. Sadly, however slow he ate, there still ca the last bite. He licked his lips again, trying to morize the stunning flavour. Looking at the intoxicated young man, Inanna smiled surreptitiously behind her hand, but in her eyes revealed a trace of surprise.
It was not Amons fault to like good food. Who wouldnt like nice food? Eating is one of the most wonderful things for mankind. From the humblest slave to the paramount monarch, food was indispensable. The difference was that it could be the first survival need for the forr while a final pursuit of sensations for the latter.
Fortunately, Amon didnt have an obsession with nice food. Whenever there was sothing good to eat, he would let his father have it first. It was not a learned manner but rather a natural instinct. His father was a miner who needed his full strength to make a living, and a drunkard who need good food to go with his wine. When he was in the cavemans tribe, the priority passed on to Schrodinger.
And the arrogant cat took it for granted. As days went by, Amon got used to it too.
After the al, the two went on their way. Little by little, they started to see crops, cottages and scattered hamlets. They finally reached a populated area. After they got on a carriageable country road, they found other travellers start to gradually appear, who looked at the couple with curious eyes. Inanna, of course, attracted most of the attention.
Amon was curious about the people he t as well. He couldnt help studying the passengers when they stared at him. Their clothes are clean but not very sturdy, thought Amon.
After a while, he could no longer hold in his curiosity and whispered to Inanna, Why do these people stare at us? Do I look too different and they have never seen people like ?
What we are wearing is considered strange, giggled Inanna. Im wearing a leather robe in a hot sumr day, with a broken underskirt.
She was wearing Amons robe. The lower part of her skirt was torn too. Her thighs exposed from ti to ti when walking.
It was sumr. As Amon went from the high mountains to the riverside, the temperature changed too. But Amon was not aware of it. After becoming an advanced warrior and sorcerer, he was less sensitive to surrounding environnts. So he was still wearing a leather robe.
It was not until Inanna reminded him that he started to realize it. He casually answered, Is there soone selling clothes in town? We can buy you so clothes. And I need sothing new too.
Inanna was surprised, You are buying a lamb and so new clothes?
Since Im already buying you a lamb, adding so new clothes wont be a big deal, smiled Amon. You cant wear broken clothes or leather robes in the hot sumr. You gave those delicious pancakes, the clothes are nothing compared to them.
Amons experience was based on a funny fact: everything in Duc was expensive, except for the clothes. Most of the ti, clothes were just common giveaways when rchants sold other goods to the Ducians. In Amons mory, his family had never paid anything for their clothes. His father could always get enough cloth when buying alcohol from the rchants. Then the neighbouring won would help make the clothes for them to wear.
The reason behind it was simple. Cloth didnt occupy much weight and could store for a long ti, convenient for long transportation in any season. There were several popular kinds of textile. The most common one was flax, cotton is lighter and more comfortable, but more expensive as well. However, flax could be processed to linen, which was even more delicate and costly.
The next grade would be sheeps wool and cashre, which protected people well from the cold. Apart from sheep, many animals fur and feathers could be processed into garnts. But only the rich high lords could afford them. A commoner would be more than satisfied with a solid cotton coat. A wool coat would be a blessing. Woollen gowns made from animal fur, which could only be acquired from the deep mountains, were luxuries beyond ordinary peoples life.
Dealing with furnaces and minerals all the ti, the Ducians wore work suits. They seldom pursued elegance, since no clothes could stay clean in the dusty air for even one day. The Ducians preferred clothes that could withstand wear and tear. So the most popular textile in Duc was closely woven flax. Since its cost was negligible compared to the other goods traded in town, clothes beca the usual giveaways in Duc.
When Amon was still recalling the mories of Duc, a town ca into view. Inanna pointed at it and said, We are at Som now. Its the biggest town around here.
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