The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 1 - Chapter 54

Chapter 54:

We’d Better Get Going…

I HUDDLED UP IN MY TENT and looked at the bank plate. My name was engraved on it. I was strangely giddy… It was like my existence had been validated, somehow.

It was about time to start preparing for the journey to Otolwa. Part of me didn’t want to leave Ratome Village, but I did want to see more villages and towns. Besides, the fortune-teller who’d saved me in Ratomi had asked me to go to the town next to the capital. I didn’t know what I’d find there, but she’d said that I absolutely had to go. Though I asked why several times, she’d always evaded the question. Still, she was serious about it, so I wanted to keep my promise.

Okay. Let’s get to preparing. But—oops! I almost forgot. I had collected sopuna fruit, so I needed to dry the skin and grind it into powder. It’d be better to do it before I left. While it dried, I could set traps and earn some money. First, though, I had to peel the sopuna skin…

“I’m sooo tired…”

I had done my best to forage a lot, so I ended up with more fruit to peel than I’d expected. It took a ton of effort to peel every single one. I stretched my taut shoulders and spread a cloth outside of the tent, lining up the sopuna skins on it. It would take two or three days for them to dry. We’d probably have clear skies for a few more days, but I’d have to watch out for rain.

Next up, traps! I went back into the tent and found Sora rolling around.

“Something wrong, little slime?”

Sora looked pointedly toward the bag. Was it hungry? I took out some potions and lined them up. It quickly rolled over one and began eating—yep, Sora was hungry.

“I’m gonna make traps now, okay?”

I focused on constructing traps for field mice and wild rabbits. If the adandara came again, I would do my best to tell it I was leaving soon. It had really helped me out a lot. Sora might’ve saved its life, but it ended up helping me more than it did Sora.

What would I need to prepare for my journey? I was good on clothes, and I wouldn’t need traps during my travel, but I did need rope. I also wanted more edible fruit…my supplies were running low. As for Sora’s potions, I’d take as many as I could cram in a bag.

After completing ten of both types of traps, I put them in my bag. “All done!”

As always, I found Sora sleeping. I checked on how the sopuna were drying and looked to the sky. I wasn’t so sure now about whether this good weather would hold up—might break tonight, I thought—so I moved them inside the tent.

After that, I boiled water and made tea. My meal was dried meat, tea, and fruit…same as it ever was, but so comforting.

I boiled some fresh water then and scrubbed myself in the tent for an early bedtime. I was planning to set a whole lot of traps tomorrow, which meant I wanted to be rested for all that walking. I just hope I can find some good spots.

“Good night, Sora.” With that, we went to bed.

I slowly opened my eyes—I could see the sky growing light through the fabric of the tent. It was a little early to get up, but I stretched my arms out to loosen up. If I was going to leave this village, then I needed to start being cautious again. I’d been getting too lax since I started sleeping in the tent.

“Good morning, Sora.” I ate breakfast with my slime and gathered myself for the day with some tea.

With one bag full of traps and another bag full of Sora, I left the tent. After saying good morning to the plaza supervisor, I greeted patrollers with a quick bow when I ran into them. I’d done this plenty of times now, so it wasn’t even embarrassing anymore. Maybe…maybe that was a good thing?

“Oh, Ivy! Early day, huh? Good morning.” Vice-Captain Velivera greeted me.

“Good morning. Did things turn out okay yesterday?” I was a little curious. I wouldn’t get in trouble if I asked, right?

“Yep. I made the captain clean up his mess.”

And he looks awfully happy about it. I hope Captain Oght is okay. “Um, I see…err, I should go!”

“Yeah? Careful out there.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. I’m worried about Captain Oght now.

I walked around the woods, searching for wild rabbit and field mouse tracks. But when I found them, I also found those of larger animals nearby. If I set traps here, they’d probably just get smashed again. Finding a decent spot was such a pain.

Ah! There’s that aura again. Is that…? I stopped and looked around, waiting. Nothing happened. Was I wrong? Or…

Purr.

I knew it! I looked toward the sound and saw the adandara with something in its mouth. The adandara always came after I felt that aura, so I’d figured I was going to see it now.

“Morning, adandara.”

Purrrr. When it saw me, though, it turned and padded away. As I watched it curiously, Sora chased after it. I rushed to catch up. After a short walk, we arrived at the river.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. It put down what it had in its mouth and nudged it forward with a paw. It was a bunch of wild rabbits and field mice. “Adandara, isn’t this your food? You’ve already thanked me enough. Don’t worry about me anymore, okay?”

I looked it in the eyes as I spoke, but it just nudged the assortment of animals toward me again. What do I do? It’s already done more than enough for me.

I looked to the adandara. Its ears folded down sadly. “Okay, I’ll take it, but this is the last time! Thank you.”

The adandara’s ears perked up, and it began to purr again. I stroked it, and it narrowed its eyes contentedly. Too cute.

Okay, let’s get to butchering. The adandara brought me a lot today. Oh, and my traps…I’d better hurry.