The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 315

Chapter 315:

An Eerie Noise

AFTER CLIMBING DOWN from our serpents at the dump, I searched the area for auras but sensed no humans coming our way.

“So, first things first…where are we, exactly?”

“Judging by the kinds of trash here…the village dump?”

“What?! Are we already in Hatata?”

I looked at the types of trash. Sure enough, this couldn’t have been the sort of improvised dump you’d find in the forest. There was a lot of household waste in the mix. So, did this mean we had really arrived in Hatata Village? I lowered Sol onto the top of a garbage pile.

“Be careful not to fall into the trash, okay?”

“Pefu!”

Sol bounced through the trash for a while, then stopped still and extracted magic energy from it. Good. Sol has its food for the day.

We left the dump and headed back to the herd of serpents waiting nearby. “Hey, Snakey, is this the Hatata Village dump?”

Snakey gave me a strange look. Didn’t it understand my question?

“Is Hatata Village near here?”

“Krrr-rr!”

Okay, so the village is nearby. I gave Snakey’s nose a little pat, then I looked around…and was faced with a sea of snake eyes. Do they all want pats, too? I don’t think I can manage that.

“Mr. Druid?”

“Yes?”

“What do you think the villagers would do if they found a huge herd of snakes near their border?”

“…They’d panic, of course.”

Of course they would.

“Yeah, they’d probably come out to kill them.”

“No, I doubt that. No adventurer would be that reckless. Worst-case scenario, they’d abandon their village.”

What?! But that’s even worse!

“Snakey, could you please leave this area? The villagers will panic if they find you here.”

The serpent thought about my question for a while, then cried out to its family members with a shrill sound that echoed through the forest.

“Wow, Snakey, I didn’t know you made other sounds besides trilling. Just listen to how high you can sing.”

I was a little touched by hearing Snakey speak this way for the first time. When its voice stopped ringing through the woods, the huge herd of serpents began to move as one.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“Yeah, it can stop the whole group with one command. I think that serpent really must be their leader.”

The giant herd of serpents disappeared deep into the forest. We waved goodbye to them.

“I never could figure out why they all came with us together… Did you notice something I didn’t, Mr. Druid?”

“Nope, not at all.”

Well, it was fun, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. But I wonder where their babies were headed.

“Snakey, are your babies going back home, too?”

“Krrr-rr!”

So, they are going home. But it doesn’t seem like they needed to do anything in particular… Were they all going on a walk, then? Or is this just normal serpent behavior?

“Do you think it’s just something serpents do?” I asked Druid.

“If it is, somebody surely would have noticed it before.”

He has a point. Well, whatever. I don’t need to worry about it. I do hope we see them again somewhere, though.

“What are you going to do, Snakey? Will you be staying here with us?”

Snakey nodded in reply, nuzzling its nose all over my shoulders.

I sure feel safer having it nearby.

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Mrrrow.

Ciel and Sora had finally returned. They bounded over to my feet.

“Hi, guys! Have a good time? Well, of course you did. You took forever to come back!”

I wasn’t about to get jealous just because they hadn’t listened to my warning. No, siree!

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Mrrrow.

Their bouncy voices showed that they really must have enjoyed themselves. So much so that they even forgot I existed… I’m not jealous, I swear!

“Now, now…” Druid gave my head a little pat.

Arrrgh. I can’t stay mad at those two.

“Did you thank the Snakeys for letting you play with them?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Mrrrow.

“Good! That was very smart of you.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Mrrrow.

They sure have a lot of energy…

“By the way, where’s Flame?” Druid asked, looking around.

“It’s been asleep all morning.”

I opened the bag and peeked inside to see that Flame was still asleep. Druid looked in with me and smiled awkwardly.

“Flame, isn’t it about time you got up?” Druid asked, but it wouldn’t even budge. It showed no signs of waking up.

“Oh well. Sora, if you want to eat lunch, you can go on ahead,” Druid said.

“Pu! Pu, puuu,” Sora cried happily, bouncing off to the dump. I wish it wouldn’t rush like that. It’ll get itself buried in the trash again.

Sora returned quickly. It probably hadn’t been that hungry. I looked at the dump and saw that all the magic energy fuzzies were gone, which meant that Sol had finished its meal, too. Both slimes had cut their lunchtime short that day. Well, we did feed them extra at the dump before we left for our trip. I guess they wouldn’t need to eat much the next day.

I picked up Sol from the dump. Now it was time to head for the village.

“Snakey, we’re going to stop by Hatata Village for a bit, okay? So, um, can you hide in the forest for a while?”

“Krrr-rr!”

“Thanks. We’ll see you later.”

“We’ll be right back,” Druid said.

Right back? But didn’t he say there was something interesting he wanted to show me?

“Mr. Druid, what’s that thing you were going to show me?”

“It’s not something I want to show you, exactly. It’s something I want you to remember.”

“Something you want me to remember?”

“Yeah, I want you to pay attention to the color and shape of the buildings on Main Street when we pass through the village gate. You don’t need to bother with the farmlands.”

What could it be? I don’t really get it, but I’ll do my best to remember what he shows me.

“Aye aye, captain!” I chirped excitedly.

Druid gave my head a light pat.

After a ten-minute walk from the dump, the village gate came into sight.

“Good morning. We wish to enter Hatata Village. Would that be okay?”

“Good morning,” said the gatekeeper. “What brings you to Hatata?”

“We’ve come to get food and information.”

Huh? What’s wrong? The gatekeeper looks really nervous.

“Will your stay be short-term or long-term?”

“Short-term.”

“Got it. Let me see your guild cards, please.”

Druid and I set our merchant guild cards down where we were instructed so the gatekeeper could confirm our identities.

“Uh-huh, thank you.” The gatekeeper sighed as he examined our guild cards.

“I’m sorry, is anything wrong?”

“Oh, excuse me. I’m just a little nervous since you came from the forest.” The poor gatekeeper looked so pitiful.

Nervous because we came from the forest? I wondered why he would feel that way, but nothing came to mind.

“You two were in the forest, right?”

“Yes,” we both answered.

“Was everything okay in there?”

Druid and I exchanged funny looks. What did the gatekeeper mean by “okay,” exactly?

“Huh? Didn’t you hear it? There was a weird noise echoing through the forest just a little while ago.”

A weird noise? We were in the forest, but I don’t remember hearing a weird noise.

“Oh!”

“Mr. Druid?”

“We did hear the noise, but nothing bad happened to us.”

Huh?! Did Druid hear the noise? Then why didn’t I hear it, too? I was with him the whole time.

“Oh, I see. Well, I’m glad about that. Here’s your permit.”

“Thanks. Let’s go, Ivy.”

“Okay. Thanks for letting us in.” I bowed to the gatekeeper and walked through the gate. There was a commotion in the streets when we arrived. Had something happened there?

“Wow, I didn’t think they’d be this upset over it.”

“Mr. Druid?”

“Oh, you know that strange noise the gatekeeper mentioned?”

“Yes?”

What could it be? What sort of sound would Druid be able to hear that I couldn’t?

“I think it was the serpent singing to its friends.”

“What?!”

They think Snakey’s singing was weird? Well…now that I think about it, I suppose some people might call that unique shrill voice kind of weird.

“We knew what that noise was, but it would’ve definitely sounded strange to those who didn’t. It just echoed through the forest out of nowhere.”

Now I get it. We knew it was Snakey, so it didn’t scare us.

“I hope Snakey’s gonna be okay.”

“Don’t worry. Even if somebody spotted it, they wouldn’t do anything. It’s not rampaging or anything, you know.”

If Druid said Snakey was going to be okay, then Snakey was going to be okay.

“It’s a good thing we had all the other serpents go home, huh?” I said.

Between the weird noise and the massive herd of serpents…yeah, these people probably would have abandoned their village.