The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 2 - Chapter SS1

BONUS * Lord Foronda's Got It Hard

WHEN THE UPPER ECHELONS of the criminal organization were arrested, the town of Otolwa was thrown into confusion. Count Faltoria himself, a popular figure among the townspeople, had been arrested. Citizens had run into the guard station demanding to know if the news was true. 

Many days later, I reviewed my notes as I walked through the now-peaceful town of Otolwa.

“I can get rope and baskets at the dump, and I got some magic bags. Er, as for the rest…”

Today, I wasn’t going to the woods. I was going shopping to get the last things I needed for my journey. When I couldn’t get things at the dump, I had to buy them. I checked lots of stores to find the cheapest options, so shopping was really tiring.

I stopped and looked down at my feet.

“Shoes… I thought these would last a little longer.”

My shoes were really worn down. Of course they were, since I had to walk through the forest so much, but I wished they would last longer. Shoes from the dump could never be trusted, so I had to buy them new. I always picked the cheapest ones, but shoes were expensive no matter what. But if I was going to continue my journey, I had to have them, so I sighed and began the trek to the shoe store.

“Huh? Those people…” I spotted three men who had a different aura about them from the townsfolk. They were well dressed, so they might’ve been nobles. But if so, what were they doing here? “Well, I don’t wanna find out. Rattloore told me not to go near them.”

I turned my attention to the shop sign right next to them. It had a shoe emblem and the shop’s name, Baggud’s Shoes. That was the place I was looking for. The adventurers told me they sold nice, affordable shoes, so I came to find it.

“Maybe I’ll come back a little later…”

Gnouga told me that dealing with nobles was a pain in the rear, so it might be worth it to make another trip just to avoid them. As I turned to leave, I overheard their conversation.

“Oh, Lord Foronda! Is this where you’ve been?”

Lord Foronda? I turned back around and saw Lord Foronda emerging from a building two doors down from the shoe store. I’d only just met Lord Foronda at the thank-you party he’d held two days ago, but he looked even more worn down now.

“Is everything okay?” I wondered aloud.

The documents the organization had hidden made it clear that nobles were involved in crime. Because of that, Lord Foronda had been swamped lately. I’d heard that things had finally calmed down, but his complexion was still wan from overwork.

“Chi, Nem, Kushi. Why are you here?”

Huh? He’s acting a little different. Really…cold? Kind of like when Sifar’s looking at trash…umm, I mean insects… Umm. Well, anyway, he’s not his usual kind self.

A portly man in expensive clothes spoke first. “We found something uncommon at the capital, and we thought you might fancy it.”

I looked at Lord Foronda. His brow was deeply furrowed—he didn’t look very happy to see them. Either oblivious or ignoring his displeasure, the three carried on.

A man to the right of the portly fellow spoke up, “This is a lovely town, but it’s rather…piddly, isn’t it? We could have a word with a friend of mine, see about getting you a bigger one. This town’s too small for you, Lord Foronda. But with my influence, I’m sure we can rectify that.” His clothes weren’t as gaudy as the others, and he was very…plump. There was an unsettling smirk on his face. I averted my eyes. This was the first time I’d ever been annoyed by someone smiling.

The one on the left, who was practically skin and bones compared to the others, was last to speak. “We procured this quite exclusive liquor in the capital. Why don’t we enjoy it together? I’ve brought a lovely young woman from my territory who would be delighted to meet you, Lord Foronda.” His clothes were flashy, but his face was so plain that it was oddly discordant. Did he think those clothes looked good on him?

While I surveyed the three, Lord Foronda clapped his hands once.

“I see. You two came all this way just to bribe me, is that it?” Lord Foronda finally declared, clearly annoyed.

Bribe? That’s when you give people money or gifts so they do what you want, right? Huh? They’re bribing Lord Foronda?! Wait, they wanna bribe the person who just brought the law down on that criminal organization? That’s crazy!

“Oh, no, not a bribe! Just call it a little token of friendship.”

That’s literally a bribe…

“Why are you giving me any ‘tokens’?” he demanded, unamused.

“We believe you misunderstand us, we just wanted a chance to speak with you. It’s merely a thank you gift for making time for us. By no means a bribe.”

No, it’s definitely a bribe.

“I misunderstand you?”

“Yes, dear sir. I think we’d like to have a nice, leisurely chat to set the record straight.”

“Set the record straight, hm?” Lord Foronda rolled his eyes. Still incognizant of his clear irritation, the three doubled down in hopes of getting through to him.

“Indeed! Listen to us, Lord Foronda. We only cooperated with that organization because they threatened us!”

“He speaks the truth! We honestly wanted to refuse, but we didn’t know what would happen if we did.”

“You know how terrifying they were, don’t you? We’d be victims too if we refused!”

So their claims were “the organization threatened us, so we’re victims, not criminals.” Lord Foronda’s eyes got even chillier. I’d realized during the thank-you party that Lord Foronda had a darkness inside that was a lot like Sifar’s—maybe worse, since he had so much more authority.

As I watched Lord Foronda with the three nobles, I made eye contact with a nearby bodyguard. Oh, that’s Dada! I didn’t notice him since I was watching those four. Lord Foronda had introduced Dada as his most trusted bodyguard. I bowed a little, and he smiled back.

“What a pretty smile…” I said.

Dada had a similar build to Rattloore, but he had a really pretty face. Since I’d just seen a creepy grin, his pleasant smile was like a breath of fresh air. According to Lord Foronda, women in the capital were always hitting on him.

While I basked in Dada’s smile, Lord Foronda spoke again. 

“God, you’re annoying. Can you quit pestering me about this? My ears grow tired of your sniveling.” The total lack of warmth in his voice made me shudder.

“Bwuh? Excuse me?”

“I’m telling you to shut your mouths.”

“Wha?!” The three noblemen gaped at him in shock. Had they not noticed how annoyed he was? Surely they had, right?

“I get it. You want me to ‘understand,’ yes?”

“Yes, Lord Foronda. Understand that we were victimized—”

“Rest easy. I’ve already probed deep into your past dealings, so I understand everything—even the crimes you committed long before aiding the kidnapping organization.”

Ah! Lord Foronda interrupted him! I guess the noble would just go on blustering if he didn’t, though.

“Th-that’s Lord Foronda for you!”

“What a great man!”

Huh? Why were they acting relieved? I thought that would really scare those guys…and he knows about their past crimes, too!

“Thank goodness. You understand that I suffered from their schemes as well!”

No, no. Lord Foronda didn’t say that at all. What made you think he meant that? Are these three, like…stupid?

Lord Foronda sighed and shook his head. “I didn’t think you were this dense. Goes to show that my research can’t tell me everything.”

“Dense?”

“Ah, my apologies. My language was too advanced for you idiots, so you didn’t comprehend me. My fact-finding didn’t tell me that you were idiots, so I had no idea. That’s my mistake. Maybe you don’t even recognize that you’re hopeless. Personally, I’ve gone through the minimum effort necessary to carry myself like a decent human being, so it’s hard for me to bring myself down to your level. Basically, you are so stupid that it’s not worth bothering with. There. Does that make sense, or do you need it dumbed down more?”

Ah ha ha! I can’t believe he just said all that! He’s smiling while spitting venom! I looked at Dada, who was hiding a grin.

“Excuse me? What was that?”

“Stupid? Idiotic? Huh?”

The three men were dumbfounded. It seemed they’d finally come to understand Lord Foronda’s feelings about them, even if it took them way too long.

“Oh? What’s the matter? You’re all making such ridiculous faces. By the way, are you sure you should be dawdling here? I believe the royal capital’s investigators ought to be arriving at your mansions any moment.”

“Investigators?! Why?!”

“Why? Because I’ve looked into your business to get a better ‘understanding’ of you. As a result, I’ve found embezzlement, fraud, forgery, assault, threats, blackmail, and more. Of course, I’ve reported it all in detail to the king. I imagine he sent those investigators to secure evidence. Oh dear, was that too many big words again? Do you understand? It’s hard to explain to adults like they’re five-year-olds. Hmm…let’s make it short and sweet: enjoy a life of slavery.”

Wow. The way he’s smiling, if you couldn’t make out his words, you’d think they were just having a pleasant chat. 

“How can this be?! Aren’t we on the same side?!”

The gaudily dressed man screamed desperately. Huh? Since when were they on Lord Foronda’s side?

“The same side?” Even Lord Foronda was taken aback by that.

“Yes! We’re nobility! We have to help each other at times like this.”

The slender one reached out to grasp Lord Foronda’s arm, but Dada immediately intervened. The noble glared at Dada, but when the bodyguard returned the favor, the man hastily averted his eyes. What a dummy.

“I choose my side very carefully, and I would never side with the lowest of human trash. You offend my eyes.” Lord Foronda’s expression was really terrifying when he was mad.

“Eep! Umm, no, er…”

“Um, aah… Excuse us!”

Finally seeing Lord Foronda’s fury clearly, the men scampered off. Took you long enough…

While I watched them flee, Lord Foronda noticed me and called out, “Ivy, hello there.”

“Hello, Lord Foronda.” I looked up as he approached. Yeah, he looked exhausted. “You seem fatigued. Is everything okay?”

Lord Foronda smiled down at me, but something about it was a little different from usual. “You’re such a good kid, Ivy. A real sight for sore eyes after looking at that trash…er, garbage.”

Doesn’t that mean the same thing? Dada was covering his mouth, but I could see he was laughing.

“Good grief,” Lord Foronda complained. “They think they’re victims? How ludicrous, especially after they specifically sought out orphans to sell to the organization.”

Huh?

“Everybody thinks they can get away with it when the evidence is already there,” he went on ranting. “They bring money, they try to bribe me with women. Damned refuse.” He was really fed up. And did he say there were more people trying to bribe him than those three? I could see why he was so weary. “Honestly, you have no idea what I’ve gone through to dispose of—sorry, arrest them.”

Ah ha ha, I didn’t hear a thing. Should I be trying to stop him? Maybe, but it’s not good to bottle up your anger. I’m happy to listen, anyway. Still…I dunno.

“Just yesterday, I heard that a certain noble hired assassins to have me killed,” Lord Foronda added.

Huh?! I looked at Dada for confirmation, who nodded with a grimace. So it was true.

“Did you arrest them?” I asked.

“Huh? …Oh!” Lord Foronda gasped. His mind had finally caught up with his mouth. “Er, Ivy?”

“I don’t think anyone could fault you if you were forced to resort to underhanded means.”

“Huh? Ivy?”

Both Lord Foronda and Dada seemed surprised, as if they hadn’t expected me to say that. Hiring assassins was going way too far! I didn’t want anyone to hurt Lord Foronda, given how hard he was working. He’d already suffered under the burden of having to conceal Count Faltoria’s involvement with the organization, since he knew that adventurers and guardsmen might die if he spoke up. Captain Barxby had endured the same. I couldn’t forgive anyone who’d hurt these people after they’d been through so much.

“Arresting them would of course be best, but if you can’t do that…”

Lord Foronda chuckled. His smile was a relief to me—that was the first real smile I’d seen from him today. His expression before had been too stiff to be a smile.

“Thank you, Ivy,” he said.

“I haven’t done anything. More importantly, you look tired. Are you making sure to take breaks?”

“Not at all,” Dada piped up. “I keep telling him to rest, but he ignores me and goes on working.”

Lord Foronda looked away sheepishly.

“That’s not good. You need to give your body a break!”

“I know, I know…”

“You work too hard, Lord Foronda. I know you’re busy, but rest is vital.”

“Okay, Ivy. Why don’t you and I take a break together?” he suggested. I cocked my head at his words, but he nudged my back slightly, so I started walking in the direction he was leading me. “There’s this restaurant that makes incredible sweets. Let’s eat together.”

After that, we ate delicious pastries. For some reason, he also bought me the most comfortable shoes. Dada even thanked me and said that it was a good change of pace. The shoes Lord Foronda had bought me must have been really expensive. Even after a long walk, my feet weren’t as tired as before. Next time, I’ll pick shoes like these.