The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 148

Chapter 148:

The Guild Master Is a Little Disappointing

“THERE IT IS.”

Druid’s house was far from the center of town. I looked at the neighborhood I was standing in. There were just a smattering of houses, and the whole area looked a bit melancholy.

I knocked on the door. “Excuse me, is Mr. Druid home?” I asked, just to make sure I had the right place. I waited for a while, but there was no answer. Maybe he’s not home? Hmm, I didn’t consider what I should do if he’s not here. Well, now that I know where he lives, I can always come by and thank him later.

“Ivy?”

I jumped when I heard a voice right beside me. I turned…and there was Druid, holding a bag. How could I not notice him when he was this close to me… I drooped my head in shame.

“Ivy?”

“Oh! Good morning, sir. I mean, good afternoon.”

“Ha ha ha! Fair point. Good afternoon.”

He looked a bit confused by my behavior. But explaining it to him would only further complicate things, so I decided to sweep it under the rug.

“I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yes, sir. The guild master said you told him I had nothing to do with the attack.”

“Oh, you don’t need to thank me for that. All I did was tell the truth.”

“I know, but thanks to you, I’m free from all suspicion.”

“The guild master is a good judge of character, too.”

“And yet…he doesn’t give that impression. In a way, that’s a talent in itself.”

“Heh?! Pfft…ha ha ha.”

“Now I understand why you act the way you do around him. He’s just kind of a disappointment all around,” I said. If he had to give himself a false persona, he could have at least gone with a better one than that!

“In his defense, that’s not how he really is.”

“Yes, I noticed that. But I wish he wouldn’t make himself look so bad on purpose. He could be a lot more personable. And when I think of it that way, it makes me wonder if that really is part of the guild master’s true personality.”

“Ha ha ha! Ha…ha ha ha! Ivy…stop…I can’t breathe…”

“So, which is it, really?”

“Well…yeah, he’s been a bit of a letdown as long as I’ve known him. Though he did change quite a bit after he became the guild master… I guess that goes to show his essence hasn’t changed. Pfft! Hm hm hm… Ha ha ha!” Druid clutched his stomach and guffawed; this all seemed very funny to him. So I guess I was right. That disappointing impression the guild master gave off was partly genuine.

“Ahhh, that was hilarious. My belly hurts.”

“Don’t laugh, Mr. Druid, it’s unfair to the guild master.”

“Oh no, Ivy, it’s you I’m laughing at.”

“But I was just giving you my honest impressions!” Our eyes met…and then we both burst into uncontrolled laughter.

“Oh man, that’s too much. Wanna come in for a cup of tea? I’m afraid tea’s all I’ve got right now.”

“I couldn’t; I just wanted to say thank you. Oh! That’s right, would you like me to cook you that dinner I mentioned sometime?” He really had helped me a lot, and I wanted to take my time to cook a good meal for him.

“Well, I don’t want to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble, sir. I love cooking.”

“You do?”

“Yes, sir. But it feels like something’s missing when I just cook for myself. So if you joined me, I’d enjoy it even more.”

“Woo, nice. I’d better make sure I’m good and hungry when the time comes.”

“Ha ha! Oh, that’s right, are there any foods you particularly like? When I asked you before, you said you disliked vegetables and liked meat. But you also said you were joking.” It was important that I knew the truth.

“Sorry, that really was a joke.”

I thought he’d meant it…but I guess I was wrong. Druid sure is good at deceiving people. Wait, that’s not a very nice way to put it. He’s good at trickery?

“Huh?! Oh yeah, I should give you a proper answer. I’d never really thought about it before. There aren’t any foods I don’t like, really.”

So I guess some people really don’t know what they do and don’t like. I always thought everyone had preferences, though. Maybe when he says there aren’t any foods he doesn’t like, what he really means is he’ll still eat the foods he dislikes.

“So, um, is there any food you’re especially craving right now?”

“Food, you say? Hmm…chetnuts, I guess.”

Chetnuts are tree nuts, I think. I remember them being starchy and tasty when you boil them. It’s not quite the right season for chetnuts, but I think I saw a shop selling them. Maybe I should cook something with them?

“Oh, right! Are there any flavors you’d rather not have with chetnuts?”

“Probably anything bitter, I guess. Anything sour, too.”

Aha. So he seems to dislike harsh flavors. In that case, I should probably season everything on the mild side and stay away from anything too astringent or gamey.

“Sorry, am I being too difficult?”

“Not at all. In fact, you’ve made everything much easier now that I know what type of flavor to go for.”

“Wow. I’m a bad cook, so I have a great deal of respect for people who can do it.”

“Heh heh, well, does the day after tomorrow work for you? Around six in the evening?”

“Sure, that’ll do. In the plaza?”

“Yes, please.”

“Aye, sir. Wow, I’m already looking forward to it.”

“Um, I appreciate your excitement, but I apologize in advance if I let you down.”

“Ha ha ha!” Druid threw up his arm and laughed. He had looked kind of down when I’d first seen him that day. Maybe I lifted his spirits a little?

“Well, I’ll see you in two days,” I said.

“Sure thing. I can’t wait.”

“Thanks.” With a wave, I turned to walk back to the plaza. I think I’ll buy a bunch of ingredients on the way back to my tent. I was still a little concerned about Druid’s brother, but I told myself I shouldn’t think about it. One look at his older brother’s behavior and it was pretty clear what Druid’s upbringing had been like. But it had nothing to do with me.

“To me, Mr. Druid is like a reliable big brother, I think.” Then again, if anyone saw us together, they’d probably assume he was my father.

Hmm, chetnuts, eh? That’s a tough ingredient to work with. The only thing I can think of is to boil them in syrup. I could also make snacks with them. Like sweet chestnut paste or candied chestnuts with their skins…on…huh? Chestnuts? Chest nuts? But they’re chetnuts, right? …My memory is a bit jumbled. Wait…huh? Could it be…that I’ve never actually eaten chetnuts before? That’s right…it was Past Me who ate them. And they were called “chestnuts,” not “chetnuts.” The me now has seen chetnuts before, but I’ve never eaten them. Argh… I hope Druid didn’t think anything I said was weird. I feel like my memories keep betraying me.

“Whenever my memories come to the surface on their own, it’s hard to tell which life they came from.”

Well, I’m going to be stuck with my memories for the rest of my life, so I’d better get used to it. That brings up a good question, though… Should I tell my future travel companion about it? I don’t know why, but I’m starting to feel sorry for whoever I wind up choosing.

Well, let’s turn things around and figure out how to cook chetnuts. If they’re similar to chestnuts, I could serve them over rice. Wait, “rice”? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen rice here. Does it not exist? Black bread is a meal staple around these parts. Only the wealthy get fluffy white bread. Maybe I should look for some rice. Someone might actually have it. And if they do, I’ll cook chestnut rice! I’ve never eaten it, but I know it tastes good.

Now that I had rice on the brain, I really wanted to eat it. I went around all the shops but couldn’t find anything that resembled the rice in my memory. I guess that means this world doesn’t have it. That kind of gutted me. Well, at least this world had other grains. There was a noodle that resembled pasta. It was a bit thicker and shorter than spaghetti, but from what I’ve heard, it was used much the same way pasta was. The only problem was that it was a bit pricey. So I guess people only ate it on special occasions.

“Argh…I wanna eat rice!” Past Me’s memories seemed to be taking over; I was craving rice really badly! But I couldn’t find it anywhere…which only made me crave it more. I proceeded to check literally every store, but I still came up empty-handed.

I was in probably my thirtieth store, looking over the merchandise and heaving a sigh, when the shopkeeper asked me, “Are you looking for something specific?” I’d told the shopkeepers I was fine all the other times, but it occurred to me now that maybe I should actually ask for help.

“Um, yes…do you have a hard, white grain for sale?” That was a close call. I almost called it “rice.” If this world does have rice, it’s almost certainly not called that. I hope my description made sense, though.

“Hard, white grain?”

“Yes. Um, it’s about this size and there’s this brownish skin around each kernel and the inside is white.” I made gestures with my hands as I described the rice. I hoped it made sense.

“Um…I think you’re describing a kind of livestock feed.”

“Livestock feed? Huh… Oh!” As soon as the shopkeeper said this, Past Me screamed “By George, they’ve got it!” inside my head. Thank goodness I didn’t say that out loud. They’d think I was crazy. It sure has been a while since I’ve felt this way, though. But I wonder who “George” is…

“Yes, that’s right. Livestock feed.”

Livestock feed… Well, I won’t know for sure unless I see it myself. “Do you know where I might find some?”

“The borley seller ought to have some.”

“Thank you very much. By the way, what is this livestock feed called?”

“It’s bazmati.”

“Huh?! Oh! Thank you so much!”

Bazmati? Past Me knew that meant “rice.” Did coincidences like this really exist? Come to think of it…a lot of food and other things in this world had very similar names to their counterparts in my past life. How funny would it be if they were named by other people like me who had memories of their own past lives?