Chapter 35: The Broken Bow

There’s still a big difference between the two.

One is just temporarily staying here, like Doya. Dory’s stay might last a bit longer, but she’ll leave eventually.

But joining the territory is a different matter.

Once an NPC joins a territory, they won’t leave unless the territory is destroyed or for some special reason.

Dory’s attitude just now was a bit ambiguous. Su You wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose, if she hadn’t realized it herself, or if she was just wavering in her decision...

If Su You guessed right, everything Dory said about her experiences was true, but she was definitely hiding something.

And what she was hiding probably had to do with why she was willing to join the territory.

Otherwise, her choice should have been to stay for a while, find a chance to contact her original caravan, and then return to them. If she chose to join the territory, that basically meant she was giving up on going back...

“Dory, welcome to the territory.” No matter what Dory was hiding, it was her own private business. As long as it wouldn’t affect her or the territory, Su You didn’t want to pry.

If their relationship improved in the future, Dory would naturally open up if she wanted to. Asking now would only lower her favorability. If Dory decided not to join because of this, Su You would lose out.

After all, Dory was a repairer—and not a low-level one.

[A wanderer has applied to join your territory. Please check and process the application promptly.]

Su You ignored the system prompt and looked at Dory, continuing, “As you can see, the territory has only just been established. There’s nothing here yet, so you might have to put up with some hardship these next few days.”

Dory shook her head. She didn’t feel put out at all. After what happened, she was just grateful to have a safe place to stay.

She was very thankful to Su You.

“It’s fine. Every territory starts from nothing. Since I’ve joined, I’m willing to watch this place grow and develop...”

Dory spoke sincerely, which made Su You like her even more.

“Go get some rest. Didn’t you say you haven’t slept for days?” Su You pointed toward the tavern, signaling for her to go rest inside.

Dory knew her own condition, so she didn’t try to tough it out. After telling Su You, “If you need help with anything, just let me know,” she headed for the tavern.

But she had barely taken two steps when someone called her name from behind. It wasn’t Su You’s voice.

Dory stopped and turned to look at Doya.

“Is there something you need?” She didn’t know this short-haired woman, and it seemed the lord didn’t know her either—Dory could sense the distance between them.

If she guessed right, this woman was probably like herself: just passing through and planning to rest here for a while.

The difference was, Dory had now decided to stay and join the territory. As for the other woman’s plans, she didn’t know.

“You’re a repairer. Can you fix anything?” Doya’s tone wasn’t very friendly—rather cold, actually—but she didn’t mean it that way.

She realized it too, and quickly adjusted her manner. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation... I have something that needs repairing. If you can fix it, you can name your price.”

Dory looked at Doya, then at Su You.

“Can I see what it is first?” Judging by how serious Doya looked, Dory didn’t know what the item was, but she could tell it meant a lot to this woman.

Hearing this, Doya took off what she’d been carrying on her back.

From the front, Dory and Su You had only seen a bow slung over Doya’s shoulder. But when she took it off, they realized she’d been carrying two bows all along.

One was intact, but the other was broken in two, only the handle remaining—no bowstring, nothing else.

Looking at the broken handle, Dory already had her answer—she knew she couldn’t fix it.

She didn’t even recognize the material the handle was made from.

If she didn’t know the material, how could she repair it?

As a repairer, the first thing they learn is to identify materials. Dory had aced her materials class, so if she didn’t recognize this, it meant it wasn’t in any of her textbooks.

If it wasn’t even in the textbooks, there were only two possibilities: either it was a brand-new material that had only appeared in recent years, so she’d never learned about it; or it was extremely rare and precious, and thus not recorded.

Either way, it wasn’t something she could get her hands on, so she couldn’t fix it.

And even if she had the material, she didn’t have the skill.

The higher the grade of the material, the more energy it took to work with. With something not even in the books, Dory doubted even her teacher could repair it.

Forcing a repair would only harm herself and destroy the item.

As Dory was searching for a tactful way to decline, Doya had already read the answer in her expression.

“Sorry to bother you. Go get some rest.” Doya carefully put the broken bow away, her face showing no disappointment.

She’d seen and heard this answer many times before.

Dory opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say, so she just went to the tavern to rest.

After Dory left, only Su You and Doya remained.

Based on Doya’s actions and what she knew of her story, Su You could guess the story behind the bow.

It was probably the bow Doya’s father had used when he was alive. As for how it got broken, it likely had something to do with the wolves.

“Lord Su, is there something you want to say to me?” Doya had noticed Su You watching her openly for a while.

She didn’t know what Su You was thinking, but that didn’t stop her from asking directly—after all, that’s what mouths are for.

Su You said, “I know what material that bow is made from.”

At her words, Doya’s expression changed."