The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 5 - Chapter 233

Chapter 233:

You’re Making Me Blush

The lady’s name was Rose, and she was the owner of this shop. I was surprised to meet her, since all the owners of this sort of shop I’d met before were men.

“Here ya go. Thanks for stoppin’ by. The features are in good shape, so as long as ya aren’t too rough with the items, they should last ya a long time.”

We took the magic box and magic bag with extra features from Rose. I was so excited to use them.

Druid paid for the items and promptly wandered off to look for other things. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular; he was just browsing for fun.

“Thank you so much, ma’am. We’ll be careful with these.”

“Ha ha ha, good. That’s the spirit, hon’. Oh, by the way, I got some novelty bags to show ya.”

She presented me with a magic bag she’d brought out from the back. It was smaller and held less than the others she’d shown us, but she said it made time go faster.

“Does it really do that, ma’am?”

“Yeah.”

I knew all about the time-freezing feature, but I’d never heard of an item that sped time up.

“But what would you even use it for?”

“Dunno.”

What? Even she doesn’t know?

“If ya put anything in this bag, it deteriorates or rots real quick. So I can’t think of anything to do with it.”

That’s strange. Why is she trying to sell me this bag? Oh, right! She said she was going to show me “novelty” bags. Yeah, this bag definitely is a novelty. It breaks and rots things and is completely useless.

“Next, we got this beauty. I call it The Bag of Horrors.”

The Bag of Horrors? What a weird name.

Rose slid her hand inside the bag and flipped the switch that turned it on. Apparently, all the bags’ functions were operated like this one, with a switch by the handle.

“See?”

“Eek!”

Rose pulled her arm out of the bag. Her hand was broken off, and there was a bloody stump in its place.

Hearing my scream, Druid ran over from the shelves where he’d been browsing. “What are you doing?! Go get a doctor!” When he saw Rose’s maimed arm, he frantically dug for a bandage in his bag.

“Don’t freak out. I’m okay, I just look like I’m wounded,” Rose laughed.

“What?!” Druid and I both yelped.

Rose explained that the bag didn’t harm people—it only made them look that way. And after a while, her missing arm suddenly reappeared and all the blood completely vanished. Her arm really did look like nothing had happened to it.

“It’s completely useless, but don’tcha think it’s a hoot? Perfect for scarin’ people.”

Perfect for scaring people… Druid and I both sighed. Rose laughed heartily at us. She was defying my first impression of her. Where had that icy facade run off to? I was also surprised to see she had so many magic bags whose functions were basically useless.

“I haven’t heard you laugh like that in a long time, Rose.” A calm voice broke into our conversation. I looked around and saw a gentle-looking man emerge from the back of the shop.

“That so? But I have a good laugh over something fun at least once or twice a day.”

“Yes, but I don’t often hear you laugh that loudly.”

“Well, I ain’t had funny customers like these in a while. What a lucky find.”

A lucky find… Did she mean us? I guess that means she likes us? But she called us funny…I’m not sure if that’s really a compliment.

“Yes, that really is unusual for us. I haven’t seen you folks around. Are you travelers?”

“Yes, we’re in the middle of a journey and we’re wintering here in Hatow.”

“Aha. Well, I’m Delos, Rose’s husband. Nice to meet you.”

So he’s her husband. He has such a relaxing aura about him.

“Excuse me…” another customer called out to Rose.

“What is it?”

“I’d like to buy this.”

“Arrgh, what a hassle. I wish they’d just leave the money and go.” Rose heaved a loud sigh and rushed over to serve the customer. Delos laughed at the sight of it. What a peculiar pair they were.

Rose was pointing to something on the shelf and talking to the customer. She was probably showing them where the item was, which made me realize the things we bought had come from the back of the shop. Was there a difference? Rose had described the items on the shelves as “basic” earlier. She pulled something off the shelf next to her, and it looked well made to me.

“The items Rose keeps on the shelves are the ones she calls ‘not that bad, so we might as well sell them,’” Delos explained to me as I watched the exchange with a look of confusion.

“Not that bad”? All the items on the shelves looked like well-maintained, high-quality products to me. Druid also had a look of bemusement on his face as he picked up an item and examined it.

“The things Rose thinks are truly great never go on the shelves. We keep all that stuff in the back.”

The two items we purchased had come from the back, meaning that Rose had deemed them superior. That made me feel kind of special.

“Oh, what a hassle. Just take care of it yourself!” Rose’s angry voice suddenly boomed through the shop. I looked over and saw that the adventurer who was with her looked angry.

“What’s going on, sir?”

“Is everything okay?” Druid asked, standing protectively between me and the irate shopkeeper.

“Rose is only nice to the customers she likes. It’s a real liability, having her mood change like the wind,” Delos complained. He smiled warmly, though, as he watched his wife calculate the customer’s bill. Somehow, watching this couple made me feel like something was off.

“Your wife clearly has a very keen eye. As far as I’m concerned, all the items on the shelves are of fine quality,” Druid said.

“Well, yes, Rose has the connoisseur skill.”

Connoisseur skill? Wow, I didn’t know a skill like that existed.

“I just can’t with these people.”

“Rose, don’t take out your frustrations on our customers.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Her anger had visibly vanished in a flash when she talked to her husband. They sure had a great rapport.

“Ivy, we should head back.”

“Right. Oh, when are we going to register people with the box?”

“Let’s do it tomorrow. We have to go to the clothing shop anyway. By the way, can we register the box with any guild we’d like?”

“Sure. Merchant guild, adventurer guild…either is fine. Are ya gonna have it registered? That’s what they say ya should do, but it’s a real hassle so not many adventurers bother, y’know?”

“I know it’s not that common, but we can’t be too careful.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“How are the winters in Hatow?” Druid asked.

“It’s hard to predict this year’s winter,” Rose sighed, looking out the window.

“Maybe that’s why I feel like there’s going to be a lot more crime this year. It’s really unfortunate.” Delos looked genuinely troubled. So Druid was right that there was more crime in the winter.

“The village watch increases its patrols this time of year, so at least the stupid bastards get caught right away.” Rose looked thoroughly annoyed.

“This village must have a very good watch, then.”

“Yeah, a few years back the watch had a scandal where a bunch of ’em turned out to be in cahoots with a criminal organization…but I guess they’re pretty good.”

I wondered whether that was the same organization I’d helped expose. Their circle of harm really did spread far and wide.

“Come on, Rose, they’re more than pretty good. You know the current captain is famous for being a genius.”

“Hah! Is that so?”

Delos apparently had a high opinion of the captain of the watch, and Rose seemed to neither agree nor disagree. She seemed…bashful? Is it just me, or is her face a little pink?

“He’s our son,” Delos explained.

“Oh, really? You must be very proud.”

“Humph.”

So that’s why Rose was blushing. Oh! Just look at the twinkle in Delos’s eyes as he looks at his wife… Wait, now I’m blushing!

“Watching those two is making me blush,” Druid murmured. He sounded uncomfortable.

“Yeah. I feel all ticklish inside.”

Rose’s pink smile straightened back into a sharp line. As I stood there, wondering what had caused her sudden mood change, she sighed and said, “But…I’m not sure what the future holds for him.”

“Rose.” Delos’s eyes clouded over a little.

Was something wrong? A pained smile formed on Rose’s lips. “They’ll only know he’s a genius when something truly awful happens.”

A mood that I couldn’t quite place filled the air. Could it be that this village was already struggling with a terrible problem?