The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 1 - Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

The Value of a Snake

WHEW…THREE WHOLE DAYS after setting the trap, I finally tasted success. I’d tried so, so hard, and now I was rewarded with not one but two snakes! Two field mice, too! This was a huge deal for me, since I couldn’t make the automatic snake-catching trap. But now I was painfully sleep-deprived.

So tired… No! I need to skin and dress these mice and take the snakes to sell!

I’d gotten pretty skilled at butchering mice, and my work was clean, as usual. And what luck—the mice I’d gotten today were big and plump. Next up, though, I had to deal with those snakes struggling inside the cage. I was a little scared of them, but somehow I had to haul that cage back to the village.

I’ll do my best…

I went back to the village and listened in on the villagers and adventurers for a while. No dramatic changes, so I was probably okay to go in. First, I went to the place where I’d bought the dried meat to sell them my mice. You always have to sell raw meat as soon as possible.

“Oh, hey!” the shopkeeper greeted me. “You’re that kid from before. Got some field mice for me?”

“Yes. Will these do?”

“Oooh, these’ll do just fine. Much appreciated. And those are…snakes, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah. I was going to sell them to the drugstore.”

“Wow. Good work, son.”

“Yeah…”

“Big field mice, eh? Delicious. How does 260 dal sound?”

“Thank you very much.” It was more than I’d expected, which was nice. I accepted the money and asked which drugstore I should go to. I took his suggestion and made my way there. All the while, the snakes were going crazy in the cage… It was pretty scary. 

Better hurry…

I was relieved that the shopkeeper had thought I was a boy. The fortune-teller instructed me to dress up like a boy if I was traveling alone. Unaccompanied girls and women could wind up in a whole lot of danger. Past Me called the butcher a “sucker.” I didn’t know what a “sucker” was, but I guessed it meant Past Me was as happy as I was that nobody had figured me out.

The drugstore was the same one where I’d seen the other adventurers sell their snake. It was my first time going inside a drugstore, so I was nervous.

“Excuse me?” I called out.

A grumpy shopkeeper peered out from the back. “Yeah?”

“I would like to sell these snakes. Could you take a look at them?”

“Got a parent or a friend around?”

“No, sir. Just me.”

“Huh…all right, let’s take a look-see.” He pretended to think about it, but it was clear he was going to examine the snakes no matter what. I set the cage on the counter, undid the twine…

Then I pushed it toward the shopkeeper. I just couldn’t open the bag! It was too scary. He chuckled, unknotted the bag, and peeked inside.

“Still lively. Nice and big. Prominent colors, too.” It sounded like they would fetch a good price. My effort would be rewarded! “I’ll give you two gidal for one, four gidal for two. One of them’s a female, so I’ll throw in another gidal for that.”

Huh? Gidal? I think one silver gidal coin’s worth ten bronze 100-dal coins…and he’s giving me five gidal! Whoa…are snakes really that valuable?!

“Th-thank you very much!” I stammered.

“Nah, my boy, thank you. The females are rare, so they’re in demand.”

Trembling, I accepted the money. I’d never imagined I could make this much. All these snakes appearing at once…it was a real stroke of luck. No way could I have caught one otherwise.