The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 2 - Chapter 120

Chapter 120:

Celebration

“IVY, OVER HERE!” Rattloore waved to me in front of the restaurant.

Today, we were celebrating the destruction of the kidnapping organization. The GM and the captain were only supposed to treat us, but somehow, they ended up renting out the entire restaurant for a party. Rattloore let slip that the vice-captain had secretly masterminded this.

“Sorry I’m late,” I apologized.

“No worries. You were out setting traps, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, everyone, it’s Ivy, the star hunter of the famous butcher shop! Ain’t that right?” Rattloore said.

“The star what…?”

“That’s what I head from the GM. He got a request from that butcher, and when he looked into it, he found out you were involved.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. They say you’re the one turning that butcher into a hot spot for adventurers. Everyone’s talking about you!”

“Huh?! Why are they doing that?!” How did I miss all this? The butcher said that rumors about his shop were spreading because of me, but I had no idea they’d reached the guild master. This was too embarrassing.

“Oh! Ivy’s here!” Bolorda poked his head out of the restaurant. His cheeks were a little flushed; he must’ve already been drinking.

“Mr. Bolorda, please don’t drink too much. Be more careful.”

“Ha ha ha, I’m just fine! I know when to stop!”

Things looked pretty lively inside the restaurant. There were other tipsy people, too. Bolorda guided me inside, where I spotted the GM and the rest of Bolorda’s people. Seizerk’s team was there as well.

“Sorry I’m late,” I said to the group.

“Hey, no problem,” Seizerk replied. “We heard about the butcher. Everyone says you bring home half the rabbits in the forest every day.”

I had to chuckle. It sounded like everyone had heard by now. Maybe I’d gone a little too far. When I told Ciel we had to do our best for the kind butcher, we ended up bringing in more than thirty animals each day. I’d been a little leery at first, but in the end I thought it’d be okay to sell it all to him. Maybe that was a mistake. More than thirty game animals a day, every day… Yeah, that’s a little too much.

“Ha ha ha…thank you.” I didn’t know what to say, so I left it at that.

“All right! The hero’s here, so let’s have a toast!” the GM called out.

The hero? I tilted my head to the side, but nobody seemed to question it as they topped up their cups.

“Um, what star?”

“Sorry, Ivy. I couldn’t keep it away from the GM.” Bolorda looked apologetic.

Couldn’t keep it away? Does he mean…Sora?

“Are you talking about Sora?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

I looked at the GM, who shrugged. He didn’t look mad, at least.

“I apologize for deceiving you,” I said to him. I felt bad for hiding the truth.

“You don’t have to apologize! Lots of people hide their rare skills and items,” the vice-captain exclaimed. The captain and GM nodded in agreement.

“Thank you very much.” Phew. I’m glad it turned out okay.

“Ivy, would you come by the guild when you have time?” the GM asked me eagerly.

“The guild?”

“Here comes the GM’s love of rare things…” Bolorda groaned, frowning at him.

Rare things?

“C’mon. I just wanna meet that Sora of yours.”

“Ivy, you’re free to refuse,” Marcreek cut in, clearly exasperated.

Sora was a rare slime, after all. Maybe someone who loved rare things would like to see it.

“Are you free tomorrow evening?” I asked. The GM had been a tremendous help, so if he just wanted to see Sora, then I was sure the slime would cooperate.

“I’ll go with you,” Rattloore said. “Not that I distrust the big fella, but…”

I would feel a lot better if Rattloore came, so I thanked him. He ruffled my hair.

“Ooh, here it comes! This is the restaurant’s specialty! Ivy, eat up, okay? Ah, but first, a toast!” The captain stood with cup in hand. “Attention, everyone! You’ve all done fantastic work. Thank you all. Today, eat and drink to your hearts’ content! Cheers!”

At the captain’s toast, everyone raised their cups and cheered. I had never been in such a lively place, so I was a little nervous. But everyone was smiling and having fun, so it was exciting, too.

“That was a heck of a strategy, though. The kidnappers were caught completely flat-footed.” The captain was happy.

“Wooow, really? Guess you don’t see tactics like that every day,” Rickbert added. The others heartily agreed.

I guess it was a reckless strategy. I can’t believe it worked.

“Since those scoundrels didn’t know what was happening,” the captain continued, “they couldn’t even make a break for it. Sure made it easy for us, since we had to arrest them!” 

The house specialty on my plate was…what was it, exactly? I picked up a piece of the well-browned meat and took a bite. Mmm…it’s a bit salty. Does this go well with booze or something? It is good, though. What is this meat?

“Do you like it?” the captain asked me.

“Yes. What kind of meat is this?”

“That’s pigeon. It’s this restaurant’s claim to fame, but pigeons are hard to come by. Today’s our lucky day.”

Pigeon… I’ve caught some with Ciel these past three days. Did I catch this meat?

“Hey, doesn’t this restaurant source its meat from the butcher Ivy’s been selling to?” Seizerk asked.

Bolorda cocked his head. “Oh, yeah! You’re right, Seizerk.”

So it was true: This was Ciel’s prey.

“Ivy, did you hunt any pigeons?” Rattloore asked.

“Uhh, a friend of mine…” I answered, a little vague. The adventurers who knew about Ciel nodded knowingly. They must’ve realized that the adandara had caught it.

“Ivy, about your gratuity and rewards,” the captain addressed me again. “We’ve got a full picture of the organization now, so we just have to calculate it out. When can you come and receive it?”

Gratuity and rewards. Right—I thought it was about time for those.

“I can come anytime,” I answered. Once I had the money, I’d need to prepare for my journey.

“You sure? Then I’ll let you know once it’s ready for you. Is that all right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Maybe it’s because I’ve never been surrounded by so many people since I started traveling, but…I feel a little—no, a lot—sad at the thought of leaving.

“Let’s forget about business and get to drinking!” Lowcreek suddenly stood up and shouted, his face bright red.

“Hey, you’re spilling your drink!”

“Ah ha ha ha! It’s fine, it’s fine!” He was really drunk. Though he didn’t slur his words, he was stumbling.

“You’re too drunk!” Bolorda tried to take the cup from him, but Lowcreek deftly evaded. Wow. I can’t believe he can move like that while drunk. Is it okay for him to be that sloshed, though?

“Gack!” Lowcreek made a weird noise.

“Ah!” we all gasped.

No one was surprised when Marcreek frantically dragged Lowcreek off somewhere. We all sighed as we saw them off.

“Sorry about that,” Bolorda apologized. He was a little drunk before, but he seemed more sober now.

The captain sighed. “Anyway, let’s drink in moderation and enjoy the meal. This restaurant’s food is top notch, too. Ivy, don’t be shy.”

“Make sure you don’t drink too much, either, Captain.”

“Ha ha ha! I’ll be careful!”

I’d only get to enjoy times like this for a little longer. It was my decision to continue traveling, but that didn’t stop me from feeling a bit regretful. No matter what, though, I didn’t want to give up on my journey. I felt someone put a hand on my head. When I looked up in surprise, it was Sifar, grinning ear to ear.

“Come back someday, all right?” Sifar really was good at reading people’s moods. He knew just what to say, too.

“Yes! Of course.”

First Ratome Village, then Otolwa… I’d really run into some good people.