The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 323

Chapter 323:

Dropped Loot

“I HAVEN’T SEEN ANY MORE of them, now that we’re all the way out here.”

“Me neither.”

It was the fourth day after we’d left the dump, and the monsters who had gone berserk from the magic energy were no longer around. The first day, there were an additional three after the trio that ambushed us, making six in total. On the second day, five of those monsters attacked us. Then yesterday, the third day, there were two. But today, we hadn’t encountered a single one. Normal monsters would keep their distance when they sensed Ciel’s aura, so the ones that attacked us had unmistakably been affected by the magic energy at the dump.

“Ciel really is a wonder, though,” Druid remarked.

“Yup.”

Ciel would elegantly slaughter any monsters that attacked us. In a word, its might was breathtaking. Ciel also looked so happy when it was fighting, like it was completely surrendering to its instincts.

“What should we do with the magic items, though?” Druid asked.

“We can probably just sell them.”

Even though it was the offseason, the monsters we killed near that rocky hill dropped magic items. There were seven items in total, and the first one was a magic ring. It was a popular item among adventurers, as you could wear it on your finger, and its magic stone would give you a boost of magic energy whenever you ran out of your own. There was also a magic box, a ring of protection, and others. The ring of protection was unfortunately not compatible with me or Druid. That was the first time I’d learned that some items required compatibility. If I’d been able to use it, the ring could have protected me from surprise attacks. What a pity.

“Are you sure?” Druid asked.

“Yeah, there isn’t anything in particular we can use, so it’ll just take up too much space in our luggage otherwise.”

“Good point. Let’s sell them at the next village.”

“Sure.”

Ciel suddenly stopped in its tracks. Was it another monster attack? I looked around, scanning for auras, but I couldn’t pick up on any berserk monsters. That situation had confused Druid. He hadn’t read anything in his studies about berserk monsters being able to mask their auras, but since the inability to sense monster auras would be a big problem for adventurers, we decided to tell the guild at the next village.

“Ciel, is a monster coming?”

Mew!

That meant “no.” Then what was it? Ciel made a sharp turn to the side, then stared intently at me.

“Do you want to go off the main road?”

Mrrrow.

I didn’t know where we were or how close Hatahi Village was, but it sounded like a fun idea.

“Mr. Druid, is it okay if we take a detour?”

“Hmm…we do still have plenty of time to spare, so we might as well.”

When Druid gave his blessing, the trees behind Ciel all began to swish. They were probably being assaulted by its tail. Even though they were quite thick, I noticed the trees were rocking from side to side. I could see how Ciel had be able to dispose of those monsters so handily with just its tail.

“Let’s go, Ciel. Is it close?”

Mrrrow.

We walked behind Ciel for about twenty minutes until we arrived at a big rocky hill.

“This rocky hill?”

“Why are these boulders all pitch-black?” I asked.

“There must be something going on, and I can’t wait to find out what it is.”

The past several days had been a constant stream of hyper-vigilance for surprise attacks from monsters. Even though I knew Ciel would protect us, my heart still constantly raced with worry. So there was a spring in my step now that I felt at ease for the first time in days…which also made me trip for the first time in days. Druid, who was right behind me, caught me before I could fall and get hurt, but it was still embarrassing.

“Ooh, that scared me.”

“Ivy, just relax. You scare too easily.”

“Sorry. Thanks for the save.”

I felt my foot catch on something, so I looked down, but even though we were on a rocky hill, there was nothing. Not even a small difference in ground level.

Mrrrow.

“Oh! Sorry, Ciel.”

Ciel was trying to tell us something. I walked up to it and followed its gaze.

“The cave?”

There was a hole nestled in the black boulders leading to a cave. Judging by sight alone, it was quite creepy, but Ciel happily bounded inside of it.

“Ciel looks excited, eh?” Druid said.

“Yeah.”

I had never seen Ciel so enthusiastic about a cave before. Was there something inside that was stirring its soul?

We stepped inside the cave but couldn’t see anything. It was unusually dark, probably because of the black boulders. Druid lit his magic lantern and the area around us was illuminated in a soft light.

“It looks kinda sparkly, huh?”

The walls of the cave were twinkling, like some reflective material was embedded in them. I curiously approached the wall.

“They’re tiny, but very pretty.” Little stones, clear in color and about the size of my thumbnail, covered the wall. “D’ya think they’re magic stones?” I touched the stones in the wall and sensed no magic from them. “I don’t think they’re magic…”

Then what are they? Stones… The only other valuable stones besides magic stones would be…gemstones? But I’ve never seen gemstones before, so I can’t tell if that’s what these are.

“Wow, Ivy, we’ve hit the jackpot. I think these are the most valuable of all the gemstones: diamonds.”

Diamonds. That name sounded familiar.

“Are they really that valuable?”

“Yeah, even ones this size will fetch quite a nice price.”

I looked at Druid’s hand. On his palm was a gemstone about the same size as my thumbnail. Was a tiny stone like that really so valuable?

“What sort of power do these stones have?”

“None.”

They have no power? Then why are they valuable?

“Do they protect people?”

“No, they’re mostly used as decoration by aristocrats.”

Decoration…for clothing?

“Yeah, diamonds are highly coveted gemstones among the aristocracy.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t sound all that interested.”

“Yeah, I’m not.”

I mean, why would I be? These gemstones have no use in fighting or protection. Oh, but he did say we could sell them. And if we’re going to the towns near the capital, I’d like to have a bigger buffer in our finances.

“If we’re gonna sell them…do you think we could take just a few of them?”

“It should be okay. I don’t think anybody is in charge of this cave.”

“Oh, good. Should we look for the bigger ones?”

“No, they care more about purity than size. Even the stones at this size go for two gold plates…sometimes even three or four.”

“What?! But they’re so small.”

I looked at the stone in Druid’s hand again. To be sure, it was no bigger than my thumb. And it was indeed quite transparent…but it had no magic. The rich sure do love their useless decorations, don’t they? Wearing that would just give me a stiff neck.

“But I’d definitely feel more secure if we had a little more money saved before we got to the capital. Prices are several times higher there and in the surrounding towns.”

Several times higher? Was the price difference actually that steep?

“Is it really that much more expensive?” I asked.

“Yeah. About how much have we been paying for dried meat all this time?”

“About a hundred dal for a pack of six to ten pieces. Some places were a hundred fifty dal, though.”

Actually, now that I thought about it, the prices had been steadily getting higher.

“In the capital, it’s five hundred dal for a pack of ten.”

“What?! It’s really that expensive? Isn’t that too much?”

“People are willing to pay the higher prices—they’re used to them by now. Besides, the prices have to be high in the capital since there aren’t many wild rabbits or field mice to hunt there.”

Oh, I didn’t know that. It sure sounds like you need a lot of money to get by in the capital. All this time, I thought one hundred fifty dal was a rip-off. But five hundred dal? Yeah…I could never ever live there.

“Let’s just get to the capital, do our business, and then get the heck out of there,” I said.

“Ha ha ha. Sounds like a plan.”

For a while, I had been thinking about spending some time in the capital, but that’s out. Oh, maybe we could camp in the plaza for a few days so we could take in everything the capital has to offer. But there’s still food to worry about…

“Oh, right, and the plazas in the capital and the surrounding towns cost money to stay in, too.”

Let’s make our stay in the capital as short as possible… Hm?

“There’s no need for us to stay there anyway, right? After all, it’s the neighboring town I have business with.”

“You don’t want to go? But we’ll be so close to it anyway.”

“Mmmrrrgggh…”

I did at least want to see the capital…but nothing was set in stone. And finding out I needed to pay a ridiculous amount of money to go there made my mind snap to the judgment: You don’t need to go. But I was still a little curious.

“Well, you can take your time to think it over before we get to the capital. All right, let’s take just a few of these diamonds with us.”

“Okay.”