Beast Tamer: I Can See Evolution Paths

Guilt was one thing. Not being able to spit out what had fallen into his hands was another.

After bidding farewell to the reluctant Amelia, Asher finally sized up the golden-brown pouch in his hand.

He untied the drawstring on top.

Asher pulled out from inside…

'A pot?'

Asher: "?"

Even though he had already guessed.

But the moment a pot really came out, Asher still widened his eyes in surprise.

"Space?"

'This thing actually exists? And it even appeared more than three thousand years ago?'

Asher was disoriented in the wind.

'What the heck. Isn't this a sign that technology has regressed?'

Asher couldn't help but pinch his own arm.

'It hurt. The possibility of dreaming was low.'

Looking again at the palm-sized pouch in his hand, Asher found it interesting.

"So this is alchemy?", As he spoke, Asher touched his chin.

Why did it feel more like magic or sorcery?

Hard to say. To those who don't understand the principles behind it, so-called alchemy and magic indeed aren't much different.

Thinking of this, Asher nodded.

"Looks like I'll have to head to a bigger town."

All alone in the wilderness.

Let's not worry about whether this world is real or fake.

If he couldn't interact with other people, then he couldn't dig deeper into things, and that meant he couldn't progress the main storyline.

This just wasn't a solution.

Tana Town?

Or Ander City?

Among the known choices, only these two were suitable.

After much thought, Asher still felt something was off.

"Let's wander around the nearby towns first, see if we can catch more information."

Asher stuffed all the Applegrass into the pouch.

No problem at all.

Asher tested it. He felt like he could stuff even more inside.

He was tempted.

'How about… gathering some more Applegrass?'

Asher didn't care at all about Amelia's earlier disgust toward Applegrass.

What did that have to do with him? Nothing.

He thought the stuff was valuable, that's all that mattered.

Act immediately when you think of it.

Asher acted decisively.

After harvesting quite a bit more Applegrass, Asher finally stopped, satisfied.

No matter how things turned out later, just having all this Applegrass already made it worth it.

As for the rest…

Take it slow.

He wasn't in a hurry anyway.

Gathering information was a technical skill.

Asher couldn't say he was good at it.

But it wasn't like he had no advantages at all.

Namely, his talent as an alchemist.

Asher: "?"

It was kind of awkward to say. Making a living purely by talent and such… but this method worked.

No matter what problem or difficulty he faced. As long as he brought out his identity as an apprentice alchemist, it was instantly resolved.

Not only that. Even the attitude of ordinary people toward him changed instantly.

However…

Asher looked at the family of four living in a broken straw hut, clearly with nothing left to eat, yet still trying to bring out their last food to entertain him.

Asher sighed deeply again.

'This damn era that devours people.'

Asher stopped the actions of the woman who, though only in her thirties, already looked like a withered old person.

"No need, I'm just passing through," Asher said softly.

There were very few records about the era before the arrival of the magic beasts.

Most of what was described in the history books of this world was about how the ancestors fought against the magic beasts after they appeared.

Asher subconsciously assumed.

That before that, Soren in this world had also been in a feudal dynastic period.

But now it seemed, that wasn't the case.

Alchemy, alchemy workshops, these seemed more like Western inventions.

Yet Asher was sure.

This was Soren's land, with black hair, black eyes, and Asian features.

So? Where was the problem?

But that wasn't the most important thing.

The most important thing was… why were the people living on this land with magical alchemical powers suffering so much?

When you thought about it, it just didn't feel right.

With such a miraculous alchemy, shouldn't the country, dynasty, or people be living much easier lives?

He took a deep breath.

For now, he temporarily put aside the urge to help others and focused on respecting his own fate.

He still didn't know what kind of situation it was that landed him in this place.

"I just want to ask, are there any relatively big towns nearby, those kinds of places."

Looking at the old woman who always looked uneasy and a bit scared when facing him, Asher lowered his voice again, asking gently.

Seeing that Asher truly didn't care, the old woman finally squinted her eyes and thought before speaking.

"Towns nearby…"

"There are quite a few small towns."

"The closest one to us is Shipping Town. People nearby usually go there to buy whatever they need."

"Then there's Changing Town, Tana Town, and Three Thousand Town, various big and small towns."

Asher listened and nodded in his heart.

Previously, hearing only Tana Town and Ander City, he thought the towns here all had Western-style names.

He didn't expect…

Well, well.

There could be all sorts of strange names, he really should accept it sooner and get used to it.

He even had a space pouch now, what else couldn't he accept or understand here?

As she spoke, the old woman cautiously glanced at Asher's expression.

No change. But also no satisfied look.

After thinking for a moment, the old woman continued.

"You're an apprentice alchemist… you probably want to go to a town where there are more people like you, right?"

"Then I'd recommend Tana Town and Three Hundred Town. I've heard they both have very famous alchemy workshops."

"My relative's child next door, I heard even joined one."

The old woman puffed out her chest with pride.

Asher: "…"

'A relative's child next door?'

That's just about the most distant relation possible.

"For larger cities…", Thankfully, the old woman still remembered the person in front of her was a respected apprentice alchemist, not some errand boy relative.

She thought and continued, "We don't know much about the larger cities."

"But the two biggest cities nearby are Ander City and Twin Cities."

"Supposedly, there should be alchemists and alchemy workshops inside."

The old woman told Asher everything she knew.

Asher nodded in thanks.

From the pouch Amelia gave him, he took out a round, bronze-colored metal piece, which, judging by the amount stored in the pouch, seemed to be currency, and handed it to the old woman in front of him.

"Thank you."

After speaking, Asher didn't wait for the old woman to react and turned around to leave.

Asher left quickly.

The old woman couldn't react in time.

Nor did Asher see her holding tightly onto that round, bronze-colored coin, face full of shock and disbelief.

"This… this this this…"

'It is just too valuable!'

'Thank you, unknown young apprentice… alchemist!'

———

"Achoo—"

Not knowing who was talking about him, Asher sneezed loudly.

He rubbed his nose and muttered.

"Don't know what's going on with Vicky over there."

"If I can't get back for a long time, will he get scared?"

Asher sighed again as he spoke.

'Though that may be…'

There was nothing he could do about this matter either.

Just take things as they come for now.

Thanks to the old woman's information, Asher now had two more choices.

Three Hundred Town.

Twin Cities.

Four to choose from?

Asher shook his head.

"Why should people make choices?"

Asher softly said, "I want them all!"

Wasn't it just a matter of visiting all four places?

For Asher, that was no big deal.

After all… he had Little Jellyfish.

Little Jellyfish was now about half as big as Asher.

Barely qualified to serve as a rideable pet for Asher.

Little Jellyfish: *happy*

*Tentacles waving wildly*

'Hehehe~'

"Judging by the distances between towns, let's head to Tana Town first," As he said this, Asher released Little Jellyfish and gently patted its head.

With gentle eyes, he looked at Little Jellyfish and said, "I'll be counting on you next."

"Gulu~"

Little Jellyfish excitedly waved its little pink tentacles.

'Leave it to Little Jellyfish!'

'Reliable and reassuring!'

Little Jellyfish extended three tentacles, twisted them together into a shape like a small hammock that could just fit a person.

Little Jellyfish descended to a suitable height.

Asher could sit right in.

It wasn't uncomfortable at all.

Seeing this, Little Raven came over too and squeezed right into Asher's arms.

Little Jellyfish: "..."

Didn't dare to move.

'Damn it!'

'Big Sis Little Raven can clearly fly by herself.:

Little Jellyfish muttered and chirped, but said nothing aloud.

"Angel, can I trouble you to help confirm the direction?", Asher quickly stopped the reckless Little Jellyfish that was about to zoom off, and smiled at Angel beside him.

Entrusting her with an important task.

"Okay."

Fortunately, Angel was easy to talk to.

The old woman didn't have a map of the towns and cities.

People relied on word of mouth for travel routes.

Map?

It was said you could buy those in the cities.

What could Asher do?

By the time he remembered he needed something like a map, Amelia was already gone.

And saying he didn't know much about alchemy was still a passable excuse.

But saying he didn't know anything about the local towns… that was harder to bluff.

"Don't even know what the situation around the towns is like…", Asher's mood wasn't as optimistic as it appeared.

Everything was still uncertain.

He was taking things one step at a time.

He'd have to see how things went.

With Angel and Little Jellyfish scouting together, Asher naturally didn't encounter anyone else.

As he neared the first small town he was headed toward, Asher finally jumped out of Little Jellyfish's tentacles.

"Pretty soft, very comfortable to sit on," Asher didn't forget to compliment Little Jellyfish.

Little Jellyfish happily waved its tentacles.

'Hehehe~'

'Though I can't compare to Big Sis.'

'But, I have to be the most loved by our beastmaster!'

Cat-Worm: ?

Little White Snake: ?

'Are you floating now, or have we become too weak to hold a knife?'

'Still dreaming of newcomers taking the lead?'

Little Jellyfish: 'Not listening, not listening~ Jellyfish hears nothing~'

Asher had no idea about the petty squabbles among his pets.

He put Little Jellyfish away.

Thinking for a bit, Asher also put away Little Raven and Angel.

"We don't know what the situation inside this town is yet. Let's move cautiously," Asher reassured the little ones.

Angel had no objections.

Little Raven and Little Jellyfish fussed a bit.

But Asher successfully soothed them.

Then Asher rummaged in the pouch, pulling out a black robe that was the same style as the one Amelia wore. But on closer look, it had some differences.

Sometimes a black robe isn't just a plain black robe.

There might be patterns or designs on it.

Like the one Amelia wore earlier.

Asher had noticed.

There were faint golden patterns.

No idea if they were decorative or had some other function?

But the black robe Asher took out was very plain and clean.

Nothing on it.

Truly just a solid black robe.

Asher had no objections, he was even a little satisfied.

Not good-looking, but not ugly either.

Wouldn't attract any trouble he didn't know about.

That was very good.

Fit Asher's requirements well.

Wearing the robe, from the outside, there was nothing particularly special about Asher.

Thinking again.

Asher still didn't let out his pets.

Even if the robe could cover them up.

What if there were detection-type devices?

Better safe than sorry.

Finally, Asher walked on foot to Tana Town.

As soon as he entered, Asher frowned.

Hard, dusty yellow dirt roads.

But the road was wide.

Wider even than the standard roads in modern society.

On both sides of the road were residential houses mixed with various shops.

The houses included thatched huts, brick-tile houses, and mud-brick buildings.

Asher scanned over all these buildings. And when someone like Asher, dressed in a black robe, entered the town, the residents living here didn't show any particularly shocked expressions.

As if it were a completely normal thing.

He took a few steps forward.

Another person in a black robe appeared.

Asher: "?"

'So these black robes are actually standard gear?'

"New here?", The newly appeared man in the black robe had a hoarse voice that instantly sounded like a bad guy.

Asher remained expressionless.

He never used stereotypes to judge a person.

But some people just insisted on pouring unnecessary stereotypes into his head.

"You know the rules here?", As he spoke, the man reached out from under his robe.

It matched his voice quite well.

Wrinkled.

Dry.

Asher sighed.

The other man assumed Asher didn't understand, "Apprentice alchemist, right?"

"If you want to enter Tana Town, to study the alchemy methods here, then you have to pay up honestly."

"Understand?"

"If you don't have enough money, good materials are also acceptable."

"Take them out and let me have a look."

Asher smiled.

Laughed out of anger.

But he didn't show it on his face, nor let it slip into his voice.

No need.

"Giving it to you here isn't ideal, right?", As he spoke, Asher looked around, as if really considering it for this man's sake.

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