The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 1 - Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Vanished into Thin Air…Again?

BEFORE LEAVING THE VILLAGE, I looked for a butcher shop. When I found one and went inside, a strapping man greeted me with a smile. He had dried meat, but…even though he was selling them for a whole 100 dal, he didn’t have much on offer.

No doubt noticing my confusion as I held the dried meat, he explained the price hike. “Sorry, kid. Thanks to those snakes, there are fewer field mice about. Lower supply, higher prices.”

“Thank you. If I hunt field mice, would you buy them?”

“Heck, I’d love to. But if you hunt the mice, those snakes might just hunt you.”

“Wow…really?”

“Yeah. Some of those boys who just went out hunting were going on about how snakes always come out when you go for the field mouse nests.”

“I see… Thank you, sir.”

“Not a problem. But if you do find some, I’ll be here!”

I bought one strip of dried meat and left. I’d heard all about those snake monsters infesting the road to the next village, but had they spread out even further than that? I decided to look around the woods for myself.

I had to wonder what kind of snakes the monsters were. Did they have mana-infused venom? What if they straight-up used magic? In that case, I’d have to run for the hills.

Would I not be able to get my field mice? My tactic so far was to let them flee right into the traps I’d set, but what if snakes got trapped with them? The only way to find out was to give it a shot. If it failed, I’d try something else. Then again, maybe…I could sell the snakes, too? I hadn’t thought to ask.

I walked through the forest for a while, but I didn’t sense anything snake-y. Maybe they hadn’t spread as far as I’d thought. Still wary of my surroundings, I headed for a stout, easy-to-climb tree that I’d found near the dump.

Looking down from my branch, I noticed a small animal fleeing into the brush. When the huge ants had appeared, there hadn’t been any small animals at all. Maybe the snake monsters weren’t that strong? Hmm…I’ll need to get more details on the snakes tomorrow.

I leaned back against the tree and sat Sora in my lap. “Are you okay?”

As usual, it was quivering. Watching it comforted me, but…

No, no time to rest. You still have things to do.

I took the older potions out of my bag and lined them up with the ones I’d just picked up. It was time for a color and stock check. As I pulled the bottles out, I realized…all of my blue potions were gone again.

“Seriously?” I flipped the bag over—nothing. It was the same as before at the dump, but why? I looked at Sora. The only factor in common was my slime buddy here. “Sora? No way…”

Actually, what does Sora eat? Normal slimes process organic matter, but some rare ones can do inorganic stuff.

What about a collapsed slime, then? Given my disappearing blue bottles…was it eating the wound-healing potions? But that didn’t make sense! Slimes could process either organic or inorganic matter—one or the other. Potions were organic, but their containers were inorganic.

What was going on here?

I wasn’t getting anywhere just thinking about it, so I popped over to the nearby dump and grabbed an expiring blue potion. I was a little worried, but I placed it in front of Sora.

How nerve-racking.