The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 2 - Chapter 125

Chapter 125:

Gratuity and Rewards

THANK GOODNESS! I won’t have to carry all that money by myself. Because of the amount, the captain explained that they would deposit it directly for me.

“Check these, please.” The captain handed me a few sheets of paper.

I was looking at a list of people who had contributed to the destruction of the kidnapping organization. Apart from myself, I saw the names of Seizerk and the others. It felt weird to see my name alongside theirs. I checked the second page. It contained information about the organization. On a list of nobles who had worked with the criminals, I saw some unfamiliar symbols.

“Um, what does this mean?” I asked.

“Those symbols mean they’re relatives of the royal family.”

The royal family’s relatives… I see five of those symbols here. There were also names of nobles in Otolwa who had worked with the kidnappers, along with nobles of other towns and villages. I didn’t know much about this, but the captain explained that the kidnapping ring had been much larger than we thought. There were so many names there.

The third page was a report from the adventurers’ guild. I read, “fifty-eight wanted criminals, forty-five under investigation.” That was far more than the number of people who had been arrested in this town. So there were criminals hiding elsewhere, too. A lot of them were wanted for murder, but there were also burglars, bandits, and even marriage fraudsters. They were really an incredible bunch. Recalling that I’d been targeted by an organization of people like this sent a chill down my spine.

“You okay?” the captain asked. Could he tell I was on edge?

“I’m fine. It’s just, seeing how big the organization was frightened me a little.”

“Heh, yeah. I had no idea it was that widespread, so I was stunned every time we got another lead.”

“Really?” It was a good thing that they’d put an end to them once and for all.

“And I never got the chance to thank you. Thanks for everything, Ivy.”

“Oh, no! I haven’t done anything. This is all because you all never gave up.”

“Ha ha ha! Well, thanks.”

Getting thanked outright was a little embarrassing. I was probably blushing, so I ducked my head down and read the last page.

“Huh?” I gasped at what was written there. Uhh, let me blink a few times…maybe I’m hallucinating. Nope—it’s still there. Not a hallucination. The gratuity and reward figures were written neatly on the paper. Below the total was a breakdown.

AS A GRATUITY, TEN GOLD TOKENS FOR 100 RADAL. 

AS REWARD, FIVE GOLD TOKENS FOR 50 RADAL.

Fifty gold coins was 50 radal, which was equal to five gold tokens. This number was three times what Rattloore and Sifar had guessed. I tried to steel myself before, but…oh! There’s an extra gratuity from the royal family. That’s why it’s so high.

“What an incredible amount,” I squeaked out.

“It looks like there were some really dangerous people among the royal family members involved in the organization.”

“Dangerous people?”

“People who have influence with the king. We’ve prevented disaster there, so they added a gratuity for that.”

I see. Still, that’s…amazing. Terrifying. Ugh, just imagining all this money in my account is freaking me out!

“What’s wrong? Any issue with the reward?” the captain asked as I furrowed my brow and glared at the paper. This amount of money didn’t even faze him. Same for Seizerk and the others. We just had a different sense of value.

“No, sir.”

“Good. Once you’ve looked over everything to your satisfaction, sign there, please.”

“Okay.” There was a line to sign my name at the bottom of the last page. “Nobody else has seen this, have they?”

“You’re the first, Ivy. After all, you were the biggest contributor to our success.”

Well, I don’t think that’s right, but he’ll probably ignore it if I say anything. I signed my name and handed the forms back to him.

“Okay, that’s the official confirmation,” he said. “Would you like a direct deposit?”

“Yes, sir. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely. You won’t receive it until tomorrow, though. Is that fine?”

“Yes.”

“Got it. Oh, and I’ll need to take your account plate.” I took out my account management plate and handed it to the captain. He checked it, brought out a sheet of paper that he’d written his name on, and handed the sheet to me. This document was apparently proof that he had possession of my plate. “Are you planning on leaving as soon as you have the money?”

“I’ve finished my preparations, though the butcher has one more request for me.”

“A request?”

“Yes. He wants me to hunt pigeons.”

“Pigeons? Aaah, his wedding anniversary is coming up…”

Huh? Wedding anniversary? When I cocked my head, the captain laughed and explained that the butcher’s wife loved pigeon meat. Their wedding anniversary was four days from now, so he wanted to get his hands on some pigeon for her.

“I see…”

Was that why he’d looked a little bashful when he asked for it? I was worried he was sick or something, but when I asked, it only made him blush harder. Gosh, that had really confused me. Now that I know he was embarrassed, I feel really bad for saying that.

“He’s buying pigeon for his wife, though, huh?” The captain chuckled.

“Do you know him?”

“Kinda, yeah. When I was new on the force, I arrested him for a minor crime.”

Really? He seems like such a nice guy, though. He even talked those young adventurers down before.

“He’s settled down these days. He looks after troubled youth, too. I guess he knows from experience what it’s like.”

Wow. I’d better have Ciel try its hardest to get us some pigeons. I only wish I could hunt them myself…

“Here.” The captain held out a basket. I took it, though I didn’t know why he was giving it to me. I opened the lid and looked inside. “I hear you like sweets. Go on.”

The basket was filled with tempting pastries. I hadn’t eaten much last night since I was a little put off by Rattloore’s gluttony, so this was a nice surprise. It was just hard to eat while watching someone shovel twenty-plus sweets into their mouth.

“Thank you very much. Are you sure it’s all right for me to take these?” It seemed like a present, but I wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, no problem.” Well, if he was sure.

I accepted it graciously. Oh, those pastries Rattloore was eating last night are in here, too. Nice! They looked good.

“Ah, ha ha ha!” Suddenly, the captain erupted with laughter. I looked up at him, confused. “Sorry. You really act your age when faced with sugar, huh?”

I must have dropped my guard when I saw the sweets. Maybe I was even smiling? I reached up and massaged my cheeks. How embarrassing.

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized.

My face was hot. Lately, I’d been getting embarrassed more often. Okay, calm down. Deep breaths.

“Umm, thank you. I appreciate the gift.”

“No prob. As for your plate…hmm…can you come and pick it up tomorrow afternoon?”

“Sure. Thank you.” I bowed and left his office with the basket over my arm. Ooh, my face is red, isn’t it? A hundred and fifty radal, though… Fifteen gold tokens. That’s huge. The thought of all that money made me tremble a little. Faced with the prospect of buying a slave and surviving the winter, I was glad to have it, but it was still too much.

“Only a little longer in this town… It makes me kinda sad.”

After taking my leave at the station, I went to the forest to ask Ciel to hunt for pigeons. As I strode through the town, I looked around. It was no wonder the captain, Seizerk, and everyone else wanted to protect such a lovely place. I’ll definitely come back some day.