The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 133

Chapter 133:

A Perfect Day for Laundry

“WHEW, OKAY, down to the last one!” I hung the wrung-out blanket on a nearby tree. The weather was really nice 

today, so my laundry would dry quickly in the sun. I checked the sun’s position and saw that it was noon. The sky was clear and blue as far as the eye could see, with no signs of rain. Days like this were made for doing laundry.

“I sure am tired, though.” I had my dirty clothes and five mats to wash as well as three large cloths I’d put down over my mats as rugs. They were big, so they were much harder to wash than I’d expected. I also had a blanket that got so heavy when it was wet that Ciel had to help me halfway through.

When I started this chore, Sora had bounced around me with glee, but after a while, it got tired. Now it was asleep. When I’d suggested that morning that we seek out a river before going the rest of the way to Oll, my two companions had agreed. Sora especially got so excited about it that it made me think even the slime didn’t like how dirty the blanket had gotten.

While I was there, I took a bath in the river. My hair was dirtier than I’d thought, and it took several washes to finally get it clean. Summer traveling always got me sweaty. Even if I wiped myself down every day, it just didn’t compare to a real bath in water. I felt clean and refreshed all over.

I toweled my hair and body off with a clean, dry cloth and pulled my clothes back on. Then I washed the cloth I’d used and hung it on a tree. Now the laundry was all done!

Ciel didn’t seem to mind the water—it also took a bath in the river. Perhaps feeling inspired, Sora jumped in the river after it, which gave me a fright. Thankfully, Ciel rescued the slime right away. Sora sure did some reckless things sometimes. In case you’re curious, slimes didn’t float—Sora had slowly sunk into the water until Ciel snatched it out.

I went back to the tree where the two creatures were resting in the shade. Ciel’s fur was already mostly clean and dry. I settled down beside them and ate my lunch, which was a soup of dried meat and vegetables that I’d made before I started the laundry. I’d gotten the vegetables as a gift from the guild master before I left on my travels. He said something about them being really nutritious.

“This is so good!” This was the first soup I’d eaten since leaving Otolwa. It was a bit hot, but in a good way. As I slurped the scalding broth, I complained about how hot the weather was. That recent storm might have been a prelude to the midsummer torrents to come. If so, that meant summer was halfway over. And that meant I had to start thinking about winter.

“Where should we spend the winter? Maybe we should stay put for a couple of months, since I’m not used to traveling at that time of year.”

When traveling in the winter, giving yourself a lot of leeway was key. Since you could never predict how much snowfall there’d be, one wrong move could prove very dangerous, especially for novice travelers like myself. It was not uncommon for travelers to die during our first winter on the road. In fact, the number one cause of death for any adventurer in the wintertime was freezing, so if you felt a chill in the air, you needed to wait it out in a town or village.

If it’s midsummer right now, that means I’ve got about another two months left to travel. I wonder how far I can travel from Oll? I pulled my map out of my bag. There were two villages and one big town. Those’re probably the only places I can get to. And since I might run into trouble like I did in Otolwa, I’d better give myself a cushion of a few weeks. Winter can come early sometimes, so I need to be extra careful. Wait a minute…does Ciel hibernate?

“Hey, Ciel?” Ciel’s eyes opened at the sound of my voice. “Do you hibernate in the winter?”

Mii! That meant “no.”

“Sora and I will probably stay in a village or town during the winter. Are you going to stay in a forest nearby?”

Mrrrow.

“I won’t be able to come check on you if there’s a lot of snow. Will you be okay?” I’d heard that sometimes there was so much snow that people got trapped inside their houses. If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to visit Ciel.

Mrrrow.

I’m a little worried to leave Ciel all alone, but I guess I have no choice. Ciel says it’ll be okay, so I’ll have to trust it. Urrrg… If I stay in a big village or town, I would need to travel pretty far to visit Ciel, since I don’t want anyone to see us. So maybe I should go for a medium-sized village? Oh, but that’ll mean my lodging will be more expensive.

I had looked into the inns I’d passed during my travels. There was more affordable lodging for lower-level adventurers in the bigger towns and villages, so my original plan had been to stay in a big town. In smaller villages, there were fewer inns and they were also more expensive. I had more than enough money to spare this year, but if I was going to have any stability going forward, I needed to save.

I guess I’ll have to talk with some fellow travelers and get registered with the merchant guild. That way, I’ll be able to safely sell anything I hunt or forage in the forest. All the butchers I’d encountered so far were good people, but the guild master had warned me that I’d been lucky. If you didn’t go through the merchant guild, butchers would swindle you; everyone knew that.

I also heard that prices for guild members were half off, especially with meat. Freshness was important, so the price got lower the older the meat was. That’s another way they take advantage of you—wait a minute, I’m supposed to be thinking about winter. Gee, I’ve got a lot of things on my mind right now.

“Pu, pu, puuu.”

When I heard Sora, I looked over at Ciel’s belly. Sora had been sleeping snuggled up in its belly fur, but now it was staring up at me.

“Good morning, Sora.”

“Puuu, puuu.”

Sora’s voice sounds kind of flat. I took a closer look. It wiggled for a little while, then it slowly closed its eyes… Was it talking in its sleep again just now?

“Sora?”

Ciel was also staring hard at Sora. Sora’s eyes remained closed, and it went back to sleep. I guess it really was sleep-talking.

“Sora fell asleep.”

Mrrrow.

We were both whispering, but knowing Sora, we could have talked at a normal volume and it wouldn’t have woken up.

“Ahhh, the warm sun feels so good.” I stretched my arms up to the sky. It was a hot day, but since we were sitting close to the river, there was a nice cool breeze. I had to wait for the laundry to dry, but it was so comfortable I could fall asleep… No, Ivy, don’t. If you fall asleep now, you’ll regret it later.

“I think I’ll put away the clothes that are already dry. Ciel, can you babysit Sora for me?”

Mrrrow.

“Thanks.” I gave its head a few pats before I left our cozy spot in the shade. As soon as I stepped out into the sunlight, I instantly felt a drastic temperature change.

“Whew, it’s hot!” I felt the drying laundry as I walked. My clothes were already dry. The summer sun sure did the job quickly. The blanket was still a little damp, so I decided to come back for it later. The mats and the cloths laid on top of it were dry. I checked each item to make sure it was clean before I put it away in my magic bag. My efforts had been rewarded: Everything was nice and clean.

“All right, only the blanket is left now.” It would only take another hour or so to dry. I returned to the shade and found two happy sleeping faces. Gee, I wish I could join their cuddle pile. Well, I don’t think that would fly.

“Ciel, Sora, please start getting ready. We’re going to leave for town soon.”

Ciel opened its eyes and nudged Sora—who was sleeping against its belly—with its nose. Sora opened its eyes as it jiggled awake.

“Good morning, Sora…again. Could you please get yourself ready to go?”

Ciel stretched its front legs out and loosened up. After watching the adandara, Sora wiggled to…loosen up, too? That was probably its intention. Huh, maybe it really is loosening itself up. It does tend to wiggle a lot when it wakes up.

I washed the dirty dishes and pot and packed them away in my bag. By the time everything was ready to go, the blanket had finished drying.

“Okay, let’s head out.” Judging by the sun’s position, we won’t get much closer to town today. Oh well, that’s the kind of day it is. I’m really glad I got to do laundry, though. I feel so much better now. I just love making dirty things nice and clean again.