The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 1 - Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Off to Ratomu Village

THANKS TO ALL the adventurers who showed up, the hunt ended in two days. It really must’ve taken that much manpower, considering how many snakes had appeared. I even saw a lot of the captured snakes before leaving the village.

Maybe the forest was more dangerous than I thought. I should be more careful.

I bought my dried meat and left the village. Since the hunt was over, the village roads should have been safer now. Today, I would start the walk to Ratomu Village. There had been a lot of surprises in Ratoto Village. Meeting Sora, taming Sora, feeding Sora, how much Sora could eat…oh, and the price of snakes, too.

Looking back, there really were a lot of good times. Sora was my friend now, after all. I peeked down at it as it quivered in my arms. A lazy slime, but a really cute one.

Speaking of good times, I remembered all the nice things the owners of the meat store and drugstore had said to me and couldn’t stop myself from grinning.

Yay! Hooray for me! Just remembering their words brought a smile to my face. Still, a journey required a cool head, so I really needed to get a grip.

“Huff!” Deep breaths, Ivy! “Haaaah…” Now that I was calm, it was time to head to Ratomu!

Six days had passed since I departed Ratoto Village.

There were a few times where I’d nearly run into monsters, but the trip was peaceful for the most part. Sora was facing food insecurity, though… We only had five potions left. I sure hoped that I’d get to Ratomu soon.

Hm? Weird, I smell smoke. Is something burning? I stopped and looked around. Sora was fidgeting more violently than usual in my arms, too. I couldn’t feel any monsters or people around, but sometimes it was easy to overlook concealed auras like those of adventurers. Even more wary of my surroundings than usual, I walked on.

Should I get off the village road? Uncertain, I continued until I saw smoke rising in the distance. I stiffened up with nerves. What was that…?

Slowly, I got closer…and saw that a box-like object was the source of the smoke. And someone had collapsed next to it! I rushed over, though still cautious, and looked around. I couldn’t sense anyone in hiding.

I looked at the fallen person and immediately clapped my hand over my mouth.

They hadn’t collapsed. They were dead. A horrible gouge of a wound was plain on their body.

There were footsteps around that showed signs of a struggle, too. Several people, probably. Bandits? I stuffed Sora into a bag just in case they wanted to go after a rare slime.

Whoever the body belonged to, I felt bad for them…but there was nothing I could do. I left them there and fled, staying alert to my surroundings. Before long, I saw a carriage sitting unmoving in the forest.

I stopped and took a few deep breaths to calm down. Still didn’t feel any auras. When I reached the carriage, I found several corpses, all with awful gashes.

The horses were collapsed a short distance away, obviously dead. This group must’ve been attacked by monsters rather than bandits. Bandits wouldn’t kill horses, and these wounds sure weren’t from swords. A dangerous monster might still be nearby.

The wounds of the dead were horrible. It wasn’t my first time seeing people killed by monsters, but it was still a shock.

I needed to get away, so I quickly left the carriage behind. It didn’t take long before I realized I was outright sprinting. I stopped myself—running scared would ruin my concentration, which might make me miss a monster aura. I took a few deep breaths and finally centered myself.

“Haah…that really frightened me.” I wanted to collapse right there, but I couldn’t. Instead, I walked briskly onward to Ratomu Village, focusing hard on my surroundings. Eventually, I heard something.

Voices. Nervously, I listened in. Were they adventurers? Travelers? Merchants? I approached cautiously.

“Oh! Ratomu Village!”

The many voices were a sign that I’d finally arrived. Relief sucked all the energy out of my body. First things first, I needed to let their public office know about the people who’d died.