Ch.24Ambers Ranch

Ambers Ranch, located about 15 kilometers west of Oxville, is famous as one of the resource supply facilities established throughout Grantis, having dramatically changed its form before and after the installation of the minor barrier.

In its early days, it was an elongated ranch with residents’ houses built at the westernmost part of a wide enclosure, with barns lined up along the road extending eastward. However, with the creation of the minor barrier securing residents’ safety, a major reconstruction took place. Now, the central part of the ranch serves as a safe zone for residents, surrounded by barns and fences forming a nearly square shape.

The eastern and western fence entrances are wide enough for two carriages to pass through side by side, and the road crossing the ranch is covered with sand, clearly distinguishing it from the surrounding dirt ground.

“Quite a unique structure. The fence is divided into several sections, with each section having its own barn?”

“The cattle raised here don’t belong to just one person; each has its own owner. They divide the ranching areas to take care of their own cattle.”

“In the Yabyo tribe village, they kept pigs together in one place with collars bearing their owners’ names.”

“Since they’re supplying to Oxville, it would be difficult to manage large Black Oxen in bulk.”

Walking toward the center of the ranch, I noticed that besides the fence gates for entering each section, all the barns along the road had doors facing the central road. This seems designed so that when cowboys lead delivery processions eastward, cattle ready for shipment from each section can join the procession directly.

An additional layer of fence was erected between the ranching and residential areas. The low fence surrounding the central residential area in a square shape, like a garden border, appears to serve more as a marker for clearly identifying zone boundaries rather than for durability or restricting passage.

“This must be the residential area? The fence seems to form a square.”

“The shape of safe zones created by major or minor barriers varies depending on the magic cores used as materials. Circular is most common, but they can also form squares, hexagons, or other shapes, so once the exact area and form are determined, they build residences accordingly.”

“So the safe zone created for this ranch is square-shaped.”

Most buildings within the residential area were modest wooden houses without signs or decorations, along with a slightly larger building that looked like a warehouse, a two-story wooden building labeled “Town Hall,” and a small general store. As we entered the Town Hall building, where we planned to unload our belongings and rest until dinner time, a middle-aged man who had been reading a book on a sofa approached us.

“Welcome. Are you here for business? Or are you travelers?”

“We’re adventurers heading west. We’d like to stay at the Town Hall for a night.”

“Is that beastkin with you also an adventurer? I’d like to see your license cards.”

When Jessica, Seti, and I each showed our license cards, the middle-aged man looked slightly surprised, then opened a notebook hanging by a string next to the entrance and wrote down our three names.

“Take any spot you like on the second floor. If it’s one night within a week, lodging is free. For dinner, you can eat what you have, or pay 50 coins in advance and get bread, cheese, and cream soup at 6 PM. However, meals must be eaten on the first floor, and drinking and smoking are prohibited inside the Town Hall.”

“Bread, cheese, soup… I’m ordering. What about you, Will and Seti?”

“I’d like to try it too.”

“I’ll have the same.”

After paying a total of 1 gold and 50 coins, we went upstairs to find a single open space with partitions stacked on one side.

Having no experience staying at a Town Hall, Seti and I followed Jessica’s guidance, putting down our backpacks in a corner and laying out our blankets side by side. Jessica then brought some partitions and set them up around our space to create a boundary.

“So this is how we prepare our sleeping area… seems a bit flimsy.”

“Well, since there’s no sheriff stationed here, we can’t completely let our guard down, but people generally don’t try anything foolish. Most people here carry guns, and though it might look unprotected, you never know what artifacts or magic they’ve set up for security.”

“So people naturally keep each other in check. It would be more comfortable if no one else was staying here besides us.”

“…Still not possible tonight?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that where I used to live, the idea of sleeping in a place with strangers was unimaginable, so I can’t help feeling uneasy.”

Among those living in Grantis, it’s considered an unwritten rule or manner to let go of connections or attachments to the outside world. I wonder if Jessica finds my inability to shed my outside world perspective unsightly, though I’m not sure about Seti, being a beastkin.

“…Come to think of it, Will, you’ve only been in Grantis for a week.”

“Huh? Has it only been that long?”

“As Jessica said, I arrived in Grantis 6 days ago. As soon as I regained consciousness at Maxwell Logging Camp, I was attacked by a wild animal and Jessica saved me. Then we immediately registered for licenses in Mothertown and set off traveling together.”

“I see.”

“Yeah. So I’m not only inexperienced as an adventurer, but I also don’t know much of what would be common knowledge to anyone in Grantis. Plus, Grantis resembles the old environment of the country I used to live in, so I often find myself thinking based on those standards. I know clinging to the outside world is considered unseemly among pioneers, so I’m trying to adapt as quickly as possible, but…”

“It’s only natural that you can’t adjust so quickly. That’s to be expected…”

“Do you want to go back to your hometown, Will?”

“Hometown…”

Thinking back to my life in Korea, honestly, not many good memories remain.

My mother wanted to decide everything from my daily routine to my career path, aspirations, hobbies, and private life according to her wishes, not mine. She couldn’t stand me enjoying hobbies she couldn’t empathize with or understand.

After getting into university and living independently, my mother barged into my apartment without permission and threw away all my hobby items at an incineration plant. Following that incident, I had a huge fight with her, dropped out of university, and got a job at a small company in Pohang while hiding my whereabouts. I didn’t meet or contact my mother again until just before my father passed away from lung cancer.

If, after attending my father’s funeral, my mother hadn’t interrogated me about my whereabouts and accused me of “still collecting murder weapons and doing terrible things,” I might have softened my anger toward her and continued living in Korea.

Coincidentally, the company I was working for was being acquired by a foreign corporation, offering an opportunity to relocate to their headquarters in the United States. I gladly accepted the offer.

For me, America represented a good opportunity to leave Korea where my mother was, the homeland of Western culture where I could freely enjoy my Western frontier hobby, and a place with decent salary and working conditions. Of the first two reasons, I find Grantis much more appealing.

“…I have no reason to go back.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

If my father were still alive instead of my mother, if I had been married or had a partner in Korea or America, if Grantis as another world had been too far removed from my tastes or hobbies, or if it lacked the appeal to justify giving up modern conveniences, I might have hesitated a bit.

“Yes. Even reconsidering, I don’t have the slightest desire to leave Jessica and Seti behind and return.”

“Will…”

“Don’t look at me like I’m some pitiful person. I quite like this Grantis. I’ve always dreamed of this pioneer lifestyle, and above all, meeting attractive women like Jessica and Seti makes this the golden period of my life, never to be repeated.”

As I said this and put my arms around Jessica and Seti’s shoulders, the scent of peaches once again colored the air around us. Breathing in that fragrance, I felt a sensation like my nerves were standing on end from the tips of my body toward the center.

“Seti~”

“Ah, I can’t help it.”

“OK, let’s calm down. My mistake.”

I hastily released them from my embrace, took slow deep breaths to compose myself, and opened the window for ventilation. As it was nearly 6 PM and the savory smell of food began wafting up from downstairs, the three of us hurried down the stairs without anyone needing to take the lead.