The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 164

Chapter 164:

They Exist! But They’re Swapped?

I DIDN’T THINK they’d actually have it. But! Not only was there shoyu soy sauce, I was shocked to find there was tangy ponzu sauce in this world as well. Yet something seemed a little off. In my memory, ponzu was a thin, darkish liquid, but the substance I saw before my eyes was black. The soy sauce also looked a bit lighter. Was it really shoyu? Was it really ponzu?

“I’m not sure about this at all, but I guess I’ll just have to buy them and test them out,” I said. I held up the two bottles and frowned, my eyebrows tightly knitted together.

“Um, Ivy? Are you okay?” Druid sounded concerned.

I didn’t blame him. To outsiders, I probably looked like a pretty sketchy kid. But this was serious: Both bottles were pretty expensive. Each was only around one and a half liters, but they cost 300 dal apiece. If they didn’t work out, the pain would just be too much.

What should I do? I want to buy them…but if this big bottle turns out not to be soy sauce, will I still have a use for it? Well, yeah, of course I’d have to find some way of using it up. But it’ll still set me back a whole 300 dal!

“I’m going to make it work.”

“Huh?” Druid gave me a confused look, but I ignored it. I needed to act quickly, before I lost my nerve.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I told Druid. I turned to the shopkeeper. “I’ll take both of these, please.”

“Are you sure, kid? You were staring at them for so long I was starting to worry about you.”

“Well, I’m just not sure what they taste like.” And I was definitely embarrassed to admit it.

“Then…why don’t you have a taste?”

“Huh? Is that…okay?”

“Of course. We have some set aside for tasting.”

Gee, Shopkeeper, you could have told me earlier. No, Ivy—you should have just asked… Ack! Druid’s trying not to laugh again. When I glared at him, he promptly looked away, but his entire body was still shaking. From the way Druid was acting, I was tempted to turn down the shopkeeper’s offer, but…

“Thanks, I’d love to have a taste.”

“Pfft! Ha ha ha…” Druid burst out snickering.

Curse you, Druid. That’s it, you’re having nothing but plain rice tonight!

“Here’s your showyu and ponzoo.”

“Thank you very much.” I dabbed my index finger into the showyu on the saucer and licked it. Huh? It had a tart, citrusy flavor, not what I was expecting at all… Was this ponzu? I stuck my index finger in the liquid in the other saucer and gave it a lick…and the savory flavor of soy sauce filled my mouth. I looked at the names written on the bottles. The “showyu” was actually ponzu, and the “ponzoo” was actually shoyu?

“Um, are these sauces in the correct bottles?” They must have been, since I saw him pour the sauce onto the saucers.

“Hm?” The shopkeeper brought the ponzu saucer to his nose and sniffed it just to make sure. “Yes, they’re correct. This is showyu.”

So I was right. The names of the sauces in my memory are swapped… God, this is so confusing!

“So, what’ll it be? Are you buying these?”

“Yes, sir! I’ll take both the showyu and the ponzoo, please.”

“This may sound strange coming from me since I sell them, but you have unusual taste, kid. These sauces aren’t very popular.”

They’re unusual? Well, yeah, this world’s cuisine did have a universally recognized mother sauce. Each village and town would use the mother sauce as a base and add their own local ingredients to create new salad dressings and meat sauces. That was probably why not very many people bought soy sauce and ponzu.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I think these flavors would go well with all sorts of foods.” 

“Oooh, I can see you’ve got a knack for cooking, don’t ya, kid?”

“Yes, sir… I love to cook.” I’ll just ignore what the sauces look like.

“Yes, our Ivy is quite the chef,” Druid said, still struggling to hold in his laughter. That was a really sweet thing to say…too bad he ruined it by laughing.

“Well, I’m impressed. Here you go, kid.” The shopkeeper handed me my two bottles.

“Oh! Your money…” I dug into my magic bag for the 600 dal.

“Here you go,” I heard Druid say.

“Thanks,” said the shopkeeper.

Hm? By the time I looked up, the sauces had already been paid for.

“Huh?! Um, sir?”

“C’mon, let’s go!”

“Huh? But Mr. Druid, the money—”

“Let’s goooo!” Druid whisked the bag with the soy sauce and ponzu off the counter and waltzed out of the shop.

“Do come again if there’s anything else you need.”

“We will! Thanks for the sauces.”

The shopkeeper smiled and waved at me. I bowed back and scurried to catch up with Druid.

“Druid, your money—”

“Forget it. This is nothing.”

“But…” Was this really okay? Hmm… No, it would be wrong to just let him pay for me. This is something we need to decide together. “Mr. Druid, let’s make some rules for how we’ll handle this sort of thing moving forward.”

“Rules?”

“Yes. Um, like how we’ll divide the profits from our hunting and gathering sales and how we’ll split expenses.”

“Ivy…I think it’s okay if you lean on me a little.”

Lean on him? “But I already do lean on you, Mr. Druid.”

“Huh? Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, a great deal, actually—for emotional support.” Just knowing there was someone in my life I could rely on was a huge weight off my mind. Without even realizing it, Druid made me feel like I had a safe and warm home.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. But money is another thing entirely. Bickering over money can ruin relationships down the line. That’s why we need some solid rules in place up front.”

“I wish the guild master could hear that…”

What does this have to do with the guild master? I must have looked confused. Druid explained that the guild master was pretty sloppy with money. Before he got his current job, he’d gone into debt from gambling. His then-girlfriend, now wife, even chased him around the town for it once.

“Wow, that’s heavy.”

“Yeah, and there’s more…” He said whenever the guild master had a lot of money, he got so generous that he’d splurge and spend it on everyone. He once loaned a lot of money to a friend who then bailed on him.

“His wife keeps a tight grip on his purse now, so it’s not a problem anymore…but he was terrible when he was younger.”

The guild master did give off the impression of being a little loose with money. Then again, the gambling aside, if all his splurges were for other people…well, that felt very in character for him.

“I guess you’re right, though. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us, so we should set some ground rules.”

“That’s right.”

“The only issue is, I don’t have any income.”

“What are you saying? You’re going to register with the guild for me, so that’ll take care of both our incomes.”

“No, it would be wrong for me to take half. I’ll barely be doing any work.”

“But you will be doing work. You’ll have to help me carry the game I hunt and the fruit and nuts I gather. Only what you can manage, of course, and I’ll help out wherever I can.”

For some reason, Druid looked surprised by what I said. “Oh…my job is to carry things…”

“Of course. And I know you’ll be great at it.” Oh, wait! What if he hates the idea of carrying things? I sort of made that decision without even asking him… Hm? Then again, I don’t really feel like I’m doing any “work” either… I mean, Ciel does most of the work.

“Okay, I’ll gladly haul the stuff. I am pretty strong. I’m gonna carry so many things!” Grinning, he lifted the bag with the sauce bottles high. “Wow…I have a job!”

I wasn’t sure why, but he looked overjoyed. Did carrying stuff around really make him that happy? I…I don’t get it.

“Um, good. Thanks.” I’ll have to think more about what my jobs will be later.

“Sure thing. Well, let’s go to the plaza. I’ll help you out today—as much as I can, of course.”

“Thank you.” Huh? I don’t think we set any rules yet, and the conversation feels like it’s already over. Well, we’ve still got time, so it doesn’t have to be now.

We returned to the plaza and got to work prepping dinner before Druid’s father arrived. 

First, there was the rice. This time, I paid close attention to the amount of water and gave it another try. While the rice was steaming, I braised the wild pigeon in some vegetable broth seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. I gave it a taste and…oh wow, that’s delicious. Its flavor was a bit strong, but according to my memories, that was okay since it would be served over plain rice. All I needed to do was crack in some eggs right before serving and we would be good to go.

“It came together really easily…too easily.” The rice wasn’t done yet, and Druid’s father hadn’t arrived either. Oyako-don is actually a much easier dish to make than I thought. Well, whether it actually tastes good or not is all riding on the rice. Please, God, make it turn out tasty this time!