The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 1 - Chapter 38

Chapter 38:

Looking for a Tent with…the Gatekeeper?

“HEY, QUIT PULLING LIKE THAT! You’ll hurt the poor kid.” The gatekeeper had gotten no more than a few steps when the other man grabbed his hand.

“Huh?” The gatekeeper, realizing his mistake, panicked and let go. “Sorry! Are you okay? Does it hurt? Dang…look, it’s all red!”

“Yeesh. Sorry about him,” said his friend. “He’s not a bad guy, but he gets tunnel vision whenever he sets his mind to something.”

For the first time in my life, two grown men bowed their heads in apology to me. My wrist was a little red, but I felt uncomfortable letting them apologize like this.

“I-I’m okay!” I stammered.

“Really? I did just kinda yank your hand there, didn’t I?”

“I’m really fine.”

“You mean it? Well, as an apology, I’ll find you a real nice tent.”

He still hadn’t given up on the tent hunt. It felt like things were being decided for me. Still, I couldn’t just leave the gatekeeper behind, even if he’d ignored my protests, so I followed. The other man was behind us. Is this going to be okay…?

After a short walk, we stopped at a shop that would certainly take some courage just to stroll into.

“Here it is,” my busybody guide gestured. “He takes good care of used items before selling them, so you should get a whole lot of use out of it. Though the old man can be a little, ah…a little bit of a character.”

I peered inside. It was a wall-to-wall mess—I could barely tell what was being sold. It was about as organized as a town dump. I eventually saw a figure standing behind a few piles of stuff. I hesitated, but the gatekeeper charged straight in.

“I’m here, old man!” 

“Huh? Why? Not like you’ve got any reason to be here.”

“I’ve got a customer for you.”

“A customer?” The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow.

They both looked to the entrance, so I bowed politely.

“A tiny customer at that,” he said. “Where are your parents?”

“Don’t ask,” said the gatekeeper. “This is the kid from Ratomi.”

“Ratomi…? Dang, you weren’t kidding at all. They really kicked a kid out, did they? Good grief.”

What do I do? Should I tell them I didn’t get kicked out? But if I did, they would probably ask why a child like me was traveling alone. I dunno…

“What does the kid want?” the old man asked.

“A single-person tent,” the gatekeeper answered for me.

“A tent, huh?” The shopkeeper expertly navigated in between piles of used items and unearthed a few tents for me. The gatekeeper checked each one’s features and fabric.

Um…? They’re acting like I’ve already decided to buy one. I mean, I do want to, but it depends on the price. Oh, I hope they don’t pick one that costs too much…

“Umm…” I mumbled.

“What’s up? If you’ve got a request, speak up.”

“Oh, no. I mean, I don’t know what kinds there are, anyway. Um, about how much will it cost?”

“Cost? Depends on what you pick. What’s your budget?”

My budget. Five gidal, maybe? I didn’t want to dip into my gold coins. If five gidal wasn’t enough, then I’d have to give up.

“Five gidal,” I answered finally.

“Huh?! Five gidal?” The gatekeeper looked surprised. Oh, no. Is that way too little?

The man who’d been with the gatekeeper turned to me. “Did Ratomi Village give you five gidal?”

“No. I got it from Ratomu Village. It was a monster informant fee.”

“Monster informant fee, eh? For five gidal, it must’ve been one hell of a monster.”

“Yeah. It was a tree monster that could mimic other trees.”

“Eesh, that one?” he shuddered. “And you made it out without getting hurt? Those things are dangerous, y’know.”

“Yes. I got lucky.”

“I see. And you got the informant fee from that, eh?”

Was five gidal a lot or a little? I didn’t feel like I could ask.

“Five gidal is enough for a good tent,” the shopkeeper informed me. I turned to look at him—he’d picked up a tent that he’d found for me. “A light one would be better for a little boy like you.”

The gatekeeper took it and spread it out to check the state of the cloth. “Ooh! Yeah, this is a good one.”

“Of course it is. It’s the best and newest one I’ve got,” said the shopkeeper. “I fixed it up a bit, too.”

I listened to their conversation and picked up the tent myself to check its weight and feel. When I lifted it up, I was surprised by just how light it was. I’d wanted to bring a tent when I left Ratomi Village, but it had made my luggage too heavy. I’d wanted to travel light in case they chased me.

Besides, you didn’t tend to use tents much when you traveled solo. It was dangerous if you couldn’t see your surroundings in the forest. That was especially true when it rained, as monster auras would be dampened. When that happened, I had to hide in caves or a hole under a tree and wait for the downpour to end. But if I was going to use the open plazas at big villages and towns from now on, I would need a tent. While I stood there hesitating, the gatekeeper walked out of the shop with the tent.

“Boy, see if you can set that one up alone,” the shopkeeper said.

Flustered, I rushed out after the gatekeeper. He gave me the tent, and I tried to set it up while listening to his explanations. It was the kind that was easy to set up, so even a little kid like me could do it by themselves. I ducked inside the tent. The bottom was thick and warm. Once the entrance was shut, it actually had more space than I’d expected.

I liked it.