The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 5 - Chapter 253

Chapter 253:

So Angry!

When we arrived at Rose’s shop, the curtains were closed and nobody seemed to be around. I tried the door and was able to open it, so I called out, “Good afternoon, ma’am?”

“What’re ya doin’, hon? Hurry on in!” Rose’s voice sounded. I breathed a little sigh of relief and stepped into her store.

“Hello again,” Druid said, following behind and shutting the door tightly. The weather today was much chillier than the day before. The sun was out, but we just couldn’t shake off the chill.

“Come on over here where it’s warm.”

We followed her voice to a spot filled with all sorts of heating devices like the ones we’d seen back at the inn. Tableau, captain of the village watch, sat beside them.

“Thanks for making time to see us today, sir,” Druid said with a little bow. I nervously followed suit.

“Oh, well, I just came here today because my mother said she needed help with something… So, what do you need? Fair ­warning, sometimes there are things I can’t help with.”

I wasn’t sure why, but there was a stiffness in his voice. Did he suspect us of something? Druid smiled awkwardly in reply, and Rose frowned in deep disapproval.

“Tableau, they want you to help them process somethin’,” Rose grumbled.

We “want him to help us process somethin’”? That…seemed like a questionable way of phrasing it.

“Process something?” Captain Tableau shot Druid a dubious look.

“Yes. There’s something we need processed under the table. Can you do it for us?”

Now Druid was using cryptic language as well. And the words under the table, at that. That might make Tableau think we were up to something illegal. He seemed to be suspicious of us already, too. I risked a glance at him and… Ack! As I feared, he’d gotten the wrong impression.

“Are you asking me to abet you in a crime?” Tableau asked.

Druid smiled innocently back. Rose remained silent. Were they acting like this on purpose? But…why?

“Because I won’t lend aid to anyone doing a crime.”

The sound of his voice and the look in his eyes were scaring me. I found myself scooting back a couple of paces. I still didn’t understand why he’d seemed to suspect us from the very beginning—he’d acted normal around us the last time we met him. Had we done something during the past few days that put a mark on us?

“It’s about red magic stones. Won’t you at least hear us out?” Druid stared hard at Captain Tableau, studying him carefully.

Why is he treating us with such suspicion? I just don’t get it… I looked at Rose. Her shoulders were shaking, and she was staring at the floor. Wait a minute, is she trying not to laugh?

“No matter what dire straits you are in, I will never abet a criminal… If that’s what you brought me here to talk about, then I’ll be on my way!” Captain Tableau turned to leave.

“Ha ha ha! My stupid son!” Rose’s laughter boomed through the shop. “Okay, who got to ya this time?”

Captain Tableau looked at her in surprise. Then he looked at Druid, then back at her…and then, for some reason, his eyes landed on me. He stared hard at me and let out a loud sigh.

“Was this a trick?” Captain Tableau glared at Druid.

But Druid just smiled back as if everything were normal. “Forgive me; this was Rose’s idea. But I didn’t like your attitude when you got here, so I went along with it. She told us we needed to test you, and you passed by refusing to play ball. But you didn’t question our strange behavior, so you failed on that score.”

Druid seemed offended by Captain Tableau’s attitude, though I wasn’t sure why.

“Suspecting them from the very start was a mistake. And when Druid started talking, ya never once looked at me. That was another mistake. But your biggest mistake of all was not thinkin’ for yourself. D’ya get it now, hon?”

Aha…so Rose was also mad because of Captain Tableau’s behavior.

Tableau grunted. “I…I’m sorry. But the guild master said…”

The guild master? So does this mean either the adventurer guild or the merchant guild suspects us of foul play? I don’t really like that. Did we do anything to put a target on our backs?

“You idiot!” Rose barked.

“Agh!” Druid and I jumped in unison, alarmed by the sheer volume of Rose’s voice bouncing off the walls of her shop. Even my bag jumped, followed quickly by a quiver. I took a breath to calm myself, then gave the bag a couple of gentle pats. After a few seconds, my creatures calmed down and the quivering subsided.

“Why d’ya blindly listen to what the guild master says without judgin’ things for yourself?! Why would ya come in here without hidin’ the hostility in your eyes? What if they were important allies all along? What if people died because of your prejudice? Wouldja be able to live with yourself?”

Rose’s anger was clearly sincere—she was incredibly intense.

“The merchant guild said a large number of valuable minerals recently came in, but the sellers were unknown. So I looked up the people who came to this village a few days before the sale and these two names came up. That’s why I…”

“Aaarrrggghhh.” Rose’s giant sigh left an awkward ringing in my ears. Captain Tableau must have felt it, too—his eyes were swimming. “Is selling minerals anonymously against the law?”

“No.”

“Then why were ya so upset about it?”

“I assumed…that the minerals might have been acquired illegally.”

“And why wouldja go out of your way to poke your nose into the sale, when the merchant guild already vetted it and let it happen?”

“It…wasn’t my idea.”

“I figured as much. Bein’ an idiot and lookin’ for trouble has the adventurer guild master’s name written all over it.”

“He wasn’t looking for trouble! He had a genuine suspicion.”

“Selling a bunch of valuable minerals brings in a lot of money, so some adventurers like to keep their name out of it to protect themselves. And yeah, most adventurers are out for praise and recognition, so not many of them sell anonymously. But some of them do! You stupid boys got impulsive, though. So what if you’d gotten their names out to the village and they’d been attacked? What were ya gonna do then?”

Captain Tableau had no response.

Dola was worried that crime would be worse this year because people were worried about the winter, which meant the possibilities Rose brought up should be taken seriously.

Rose gave another heavy sigh and said, “I’m sorry my son’s such an idiot. To be honest, I didn’t think he had this much ­idiocy in him.”

Gee, she’s sure been calling him an idiot a lot. I’m starting to feel sorry for the guy.

“I’m sorry,” Captain Tableau bowed his head.

Druid shrugged and looked at me. I had my doubts, but I wasn’t at all angry, so I nodded once to signal I was okay with everything.

“It’s all right now, Captain. I hope you’ve calmed down?”

“Yes… I was in the middle of dealing with something very hectic and irritating when my mother asked me over here to speak with the two people the guild master suspected, so I flew off the handle a little…”

“Enough excuses,” Rose snapped coldly.

“Sorry.”

Hmm…so did the stress of his job put him on edge? Well, he’s calm now, so everything should be okay. Rose wouldn’t have introduced him to us in the first place if there was a problem with him. Besides, my creatures all said Captain Tableau is safe.

“Water under the bridge. Sorry to bother you when you’re overworked,” I said.

Captain Tableau looked at me in surprise. Druid gave my head a couple of gentle pats.

“Okay, now that the idiot’s got his cool back, should we have a nice, long chat?”

There she goes, calling him an idiot again. Captain Tableau looked like he’d already given in. Hang in there just a bit longer, Captain! Rose didn’t seem like the type of person who would drag out a conversation.