The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 2 - Chapter 71

Chapter 71:

Fear and Specialties

ON THE WAY BACK to the plaza, it suddenly came over me—that inexplicable feeling of revulsion. It was even stronger than what I’d felt at the expedition camp. I traced the feeling and felt not one but several auras. My feet froze for a moment, but there weren’t enough people around me now. I rushed toward the plaza, being careful not to run flat out.

In places with too many people, your concentration will weaken. In places where there aren’t enough people, you can’t call for help if you need to. Recalling Rattloore’s warnings, I carefully picked my path back to the plaza.

Once there, I bowed to the supervisor and entered. People could hide in your tent and ambush you, so I made myself search for an aura before rushing in. Frightened, I stood a safe distance away from the tent and extended my senses. Thank goodness, nobody there. I dove inside, closed it, and fastened it tight.

“Haaah…” My hands were shaking. Come to think of it, I was so scared I couldn’t make out who they were at all.

I took Sora out of its bag and hugged it tight. The slime seemed to sense something was wrong. It quietly cried, “Pu, pu!”—something it never did in the tent. I felt for auras outside and heard voices talking in the distance. I could also hear people moving around, but they didn’t seem to be focused on me.

“Thanks, Sora.”

I lined up some potions in front of Sora. When I was satisfied that the slime was eating, I started organizing the potions I’d just picked up. Usually, I put them in a designated bag, but there were too many this time, so some didn’t fit. I put the extras in one corner of the tent. The whole time, I never stopped checking for auras outside.

Phew… I can’t calm down unless I’m busy with something. But I don’t wanna leave the tent, either. I put a hand inside the bag of potions and grasped a small knife. I’d caught sight of the little thing while I was picking up potions and decided to hang on to it.

When I set out from my home village, I had a small sword with me. But I’d dropped it while I was running around the woods, and I’d never picked up another weapon—all the others I saw were too big for me. But when I came across this knife, I naturally picked it up. Could I do anything with this? Probably not. According to Seizerk, the kidnapping organization had a lot of skilled professionals. Since I didn’t have any training, I couldn’t do much with just a single knife. Still, holding it made me feel a little better.

After finishing its food, Sora bounced all around me. It was a soothing sight.

“Thanks, Sora.” I petted the slime on the head. Thank goodness I had Sora with me.

There was a noise outside the tent. I felt for auras and found two—but these were ones I knew. Seizerk and Rattloore were back.

“Ivy, you in there?”

“I’m here!” I replied when I heard Rattloore’s voice. I stuffed Sora into its bag and opened the tent.

“All right! We brought dinner. Wanna eat?”

“Huh? Dinner?” I looked around and saw that some tents were already lit up. It had gotten dark while I was fretting.

“Yep. We brought this town’s signature dish. I really wanted you to try it, Ivy.” Rattloore hoisted up a basket to show me.

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.”

I stepped out of the tent and looked around. Bolorda and Rickbert were setting up a table close by.

I heard the clunk of something heavy and saw a big bottle of alcohol had been set in the middle of the table. It looked like their prohibition was over today. Rattloore rushed over to them and put the baskets on the table.

“Okay, let’s eat!” Bolorda announced, pouring alcohol into a cup and throwing it back in one long draft. “Aah. The first drink in a long time always hits the spot!”

“Thanks to us leading the hunt, we didn’t get to drink, either,” Rickbert complained to Bolorda.

“Don’t blame me! Nobody else in town was available. I wouldn’t have volunteered otherwise!”

Bolorda and Rickbert took turns gulping down full cups. Wow! They’re drinking it like water.

“Could you two keep it down?” Exasperated, Seizerk wrenched the bottle from them.

“Aargh, give back our drink!”

I couldn’t help but laugh as they both lunged for the confiscated bottle.

“Seizerk, give it back!” Bolorda snatched the bottle, poured some into his cup, and drank again. Seizerk looked annoyed. My impression of Bolorda was changing a lot…he was kind of a weird guy.

“Ivy, ignore them,” Rattloore said. “Look, this is our town’s signature dish. It’s moo stew!”

I looked down at the stew on my plate, where big chunks of moo meat swam in gravy. I took a bite, and it tasted…nostalgic? Why? Is it nostalgic to Past Me? The words beef stew floated up in my mind. I guess it must taste like “beef stew”?

“Is it bad?”

“Huh?!”

Rattloore peered into my face, worried. He must’ve seen my funny expression and thought I disliked it.

“No. It just tastes like something familiar.” Ack! I’d better stop.

“Something you know?”

“…Yes. It’s a little like something I had a long time ago.”

I can’t explain this away. The only meat in Ratomi Village was field mouse, and it was all dried meat. How do I get out of this one?

“Wooow. Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s really good!”

“Isn’t it great? This is my favorite food.”

“I love it, too.”

“Wow! It makes me really happy to hear that.” Rattloore smiled, half embarrassed and half…lonely? I’d seen this expression on his face a few times before. He hid it real quick, but seeing that brought my mood down.

Adventurers must have a lot going on, and I’m sure some of it’s pretty rough.

“Drink up, Ivy!” Rickbert, eyes glazed over from intoxication, held a cup out to me.

“Huh?”

Where’d this come from? He knows I’m a kid, right?

“Cut it out!” Seizerk snatched the cup held out to me. “Good grief. Sorry, Ivy. Looks like Rickbert’s a crappy drunk today.”

Rickbert looked annoyed. I had never seen this side of him, but it was pretty scary how his eyes got all unfocused like that.

“Aww, man. Rickbert’s in his annoying mode, huh?”

“Annoying mode?”

“Yeah. He’s got three different drunk modes,” Rattloore explained with a wry grin. “There’s the laughing drunk, the crappy drunk, and the bragging drunk. The most annoying one is when he’s a crappy drunk. You might wanna go hide back in your tent after you finish. When he gets like that, there’s no stopping him.”

I looked over at Rickbert, who was now arguing with Seizerk.

“Look, I did my darn best this hunt,” Rickbert shouted. “Who do you think you are, acting like I hardly did anything?!”

He’s mostly just complaining nonstop. Yeah, not a fan. I’d better clean up and go back to my tent. I quietly tidied up my dirty dishes, then slipped back to my tent and out of Rickbert’s sight.

“Good night,” I whispered.

Hearing my soft voice, Seizerk waved to me.

Is everyone gonna be okay tomorrow?