Chapter 145:
Taking a Tea Break
ODDLY ENOUGH, the donuts tasted exactly how I imagined they would. It confused me a little, but coincidences like this just happen…I think. Oh, but they were so delicious. The pastries Druid bought resembled donuts, too, but they were coated with a hard candy shell. They were called lollidrops, and they were yummy as well.
“These are delicious,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve had these, but they are good.”
“Do you not eat sweet things often?”
“Hm? Well, the parties I was involved with weren’t really into them.”
That’s right. Druid just lost a lot of comrades. I already made him do so much for me yesterday, and now I’m making him have tea with me. Maybe I’m being too pushy. But this time, my motives really are pure…
“Hm? Is something wrong?” Druid asked with concern. My worry must have shown on my face.
“Oh, no, sir. I’m fine.”
Wait…huh? He said “the parties I was involved with.” …That’s kind of an odd way to word it.
“Excuse me, sir, but what do you mean by the parties you were involved with?”
“Oh, that. I don’t belong to any party.”
“Huh? But you just said—”
“Ack, sorry. Let me explain: I always join a new party with each new assignment. That’s why I don’t belong to any specific party.”
“Oh, really?” I’d never heard of adventurers changing parties like that. “Um, are there many others like you in Oll?”
“Others like me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Not really, no. Belonging to a party increases your chances of getting job offers, after all.”
I can’t believe he doesn’t have a permanent party. He’s so helpful, and I’m sure he’d be a great leader, too. No, scratch that, he’d do better as the leader’s right-hand man, to calm him down. Is there some reason why he hasn’t joined a party? I guess asking wouldn’t be polite…
“I see, sir.”
Oh! My last donut. I popped the final one into my mouth. It was soft and sweet. Gee, even after years of eating these, I still love them… Agh! Past Me and Current Me’s thoughts are all mixed up. This is the first time Current Me has had donuts!
“Ha ha ha, you sure like those donuts. Want me to buy you some more?”
“Oh, no, sir, but thank you for the offer. I have to go to the forest right after this and tell Ciel what happened.”
“You report back to Ciel?”
“Yes, sir. It looked a bit worried when I mentioned I’d be shopping for a slave today.”
“Oh, that’s right. By the way, did you find what you were looking for?”
“I did, but I didn’t buy him.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Something just didn’t feel right.”
“Ah. Well, that’s a shame.”
“I have no problem with it. I’ll take all the time I need to find the right fit.”
“That makes sense. Sooo…listen, if you’re going to the forest, can I come with you?”
Druid wants to come with me? I’m not sure why, but he looks really eager… Could it be… “Do you want to see Ciel?”
“Urk! Sorry, yeah, I do. What with everything that happened yesterday, I didn’t get a really good look at it. I’d love to pet Ciel…with permission, of course! Would that be all right?”
Aha. So Druid was interested in Ciel. He was surprised by the adandara at first, but he hadn’t seemed all that interested after that. Well, he had just lost an arm. How could he have room in his brain to think about anything else?
“Yes, you can come with me! I have a feeling the gatekeeper would prefer that anyway.” I thought back to the hard time I’d had with the gatekeeper just that morning. Even though I appreciated his concern, I dreaded going through the same ordeal every time I wanted to pass. For that reason alone, I was grateful to have Druid with me.
“The gatekeeper, eh? Ha ha ha! Those guys feel like it’s their duty to protect all the children in town, so if there’s a kid they like, they sometimes don’t let him through.”
“Oh, really? Yes, I had a really tough time this morning.”
“Ha ha ha ha! Yeah, well, even when some kids reach the age of adulthood—fifteen—the gatekeepers still worry about them.”
“Oh no, really?”
“Accident-prone kids, kids who look young for their age, and I guess any kid who looks like they might do something reckless. This town is infamous for having big shouting matches between gatekeepers and youngsters at least once or twice a year. ‘I’m going to the forest!’ and ‘Not without your guardian, young man!’ Stuff like that.”
“That sounds like quite the scene.”
“It really is. But thanks to the overprotective gatekeepers, adventurer deaths among minors have gone way down.”
Wow, I didn’t realize how amazing the gatekeepers here really were. Now I’m surprised I was allowed into the forest at all. According to Druid, I’m the exact type of kid they shouldn’t let pass.
Oh! Was it because I told them I’d been traveling solo all my life? That seemed likely. “Well, shall we go?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m excited.” And Druid really was excited, judging by the way he was fidgeting. Since I saw Ciel all the time, it was hard to understand his feelings. It was easy for me to forget that Ciel was a rare monster.
We left the plaza and headed toward the town gate. The gatekeeper let me pass without a peep since Druid was with me. It sure was a nice feeling, just walking through. We trekked into the forest for a while. When I looked up at Druid, I noticed that his eyes were darting to and fro, looking for Ciel. But he wouldn’t find Ciel looking around like that.
“Um, sir?”
“Oh, sorry. What is it?”
“Ciel’s right here.”
“What?!” he gasped, whirling around.
I chuckled. “Um…look up.”
“Up?”
“Yes. Ciel? Come on down.”
At my command, Ciel leapt from the tree and landed soundlessly before us.
“Whoa! It really was above me.” Druid looked up at the branch where Ciel had been waiting. Was it really that strange? “How majestic.”
“I know!” Oh no! I was a little too eager in my response. Well, I really wanted someone else to see how amazing Ciel was. I was so proud to have Ciel as a friend that I almost felt it was a waste that only I knew about the adandara.
“Oops! The slimes.” I opened the bag on my shoulder and found Sora staring up at me. It looked cross, and I had no excuse. I’d simply forgotten. “Aww, I’m so sorry. Do you want out?”
Sora bounced eagerly out of the bag in response. I clamped a nervous hand over the opening and peeked in. Oh, good. Flame is still okay. As I peered in, Flame’s eyes slowly opened and met mine. Wow…you look awfully sleepy there.
“Flame, do you want to snooze some more?”
The slime wiggled a little and slowly closed its eyes. It was asleep. This little slime slept a lot more than Sora did at the start—and it was drooling again, too.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes, Flame just fell asleep.”
“Flame?”
Oh, that’s right. He’s met Flame, but I was such a confused mess at the time…and Flame didn’t have a name back then, either.
“My other slime.”
“Oh, so you named it Flame… Is it drooling?” Druid asked curiously, peeking into the bag.
“Yes, that would be drool.” I mean, how else was I supposed to answer? Anyone would be curious about it. To see a thick trail of drool oozing out of a sleeping slime’s mouth… Wow, that’s a lot. Sora never drooled like this. Whoa! I just noticed it’s leaving drool stains on the bag!
“This is the first time I’ve seen a slime sleeping,” Druid said.
Sifar and the others had said the same. I guess only tamers got to see that sort of thing.
Mrrrow.
“Oops, sorry, Ciel. I couldn’t find us a travel companion. There are some people who are helping us get one, though.”
Mrrrow. Druid looked at Ciel in shock.
“Pu-puuu, pu-pu, puuu, pu, pu, pu, pu, puuu!” Druid’s eyes widened again at Sora’s singing. Sora looked quite smug about it.
“Sora, don’t tease him.” Sora tended to make fun of people when they had strong reactions to it.
“Wow! I’ve seen a tamed slime before, but I’ve never seen one like Sora,” Druid exclaimed, suddenly very enthusiastic. It was so unlike him that I flinched away on instinct. Noticing he’d startled me, Druid coughed several times. “Sorry. I got a little overexcited there.”
“Oh, it’s all right, sir. Is Sora really that extraordinary?” Well, I already knew Sora was extraordinary enough to bring someone back from death’s door. But I felt like “extraordinary” wasn’t exactly the right word for that.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a slime express its feelings so clearly.”
Express its feelings? I looked at Sora, who was puffing its chest out proudly. Yeah, he’s right. You sure are a rarity.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login