The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 316

Chapter 316:

Hatada Village

“UM, MR. DRUID? This looks like a normal village to me.”

We were walking around Main Street in Hatata Village, but none of the buildings looked unusual to me. Druid had said he wanted me to see Main Street and “remember” it…but to be honest, nothing about it was out of the ordinary. Well, I guess you could say the bright-red window frames on the buildings were unique. Also, all the doors were a vibrant blue. But other than that, there was nothing special. All the buildings were the type you’d see in any town or village.

“Yeah, because it is normal.”

“Huh?” I stared blankly at Druid. I hadn’t been expecting that answer.

“If you’ve got that secured in your memory bank, let’s go to Hatada Village.”

“Huh?!”

Oh dear… I have no idea what Druid wants from me. Well, I guess it should be okay since I did memorize how these buildings look in general. But I haven’t the slightest clue what he’s trying to do. Maybe I’ll find out when we go to Hatada Village.

We had a light lunch in Hatata, then walked back down Main Street to go through the front gate so we could move on to Hatada. The whole time we were there, rumors of the strange voice echoing in the forest did not stop.

“I think we’d better ask Snakey not to make that shrill noise for a while.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. I get the feeling the serpent only sings that way in special situations.”

“Really?”

“It’s just a guess, but it probably sings like that to tell its companions far away that they need to move or to warn them of danger. In this forest, where there aren’t any other monsters on their level they shouldn’t need to make that noise very often.”

Oh, I see. So Snakey was singing shrilly like that to send a message to its friends far away. That makes sense, seeing as how the throaty trill I usually hear from Snakey can only be heard up close.

“Well, the villagers will settle down soon enough, so you don’t need to worry.”

I looked at the townspeople around me. Some of them looked awfully terrified, so I decided I should at least send a silent apology to them.

“Huh? Wait, are you leaving already?” The gatekeeper gave us a bewildered look when we handed in our permit. And I understood the confusion—we had only been in Hatata Village for an hour.

“We want to head on to Hatada Village,” Druid explained.

“Oh, okay. Bye, then.”

Er, that was enough to convince you? I studied the gatekeeper’s face and saw that he looked amused. There’s gotta be something going on here. Now I really need to make sure I don’t forget what Hatata Village looks like.

“We had a lovely time here,” I told him.

“Stay a bit longer next time. Oh, and be careful out there. We still don’t know who that strange voice belonged to.”

“We will, thank you.”

After thanking the gatekeeper, we started off toward the dump, but we stopped in our tracks. There were human auras scattered all over the forest.

“What should we do?” I asked.

“What’s wrong? Are you sensing human auras in the forest?”

“Yeah. Are they trying to find where the voice came from?”

“I guarantee it. If there’s going to be a lot of watchful eyes around, there’s no point in going to the dump.”

“Yeah.”

I doubt Snakey would be there, anyway.

“Let’s take the village road, then.”

We ditched our plan to go to the dump and took the road instead. I searched for human auras on that route. It felt like they had split into five-person teams for their search, and two of them were close to us.

“Mr. Druid, I sense some human auras a little ahead.”

“Got it. Let’s just walk all the way to Hatada on this road. There’s nothing else we can do, anyway.”

He was right. It wasn’t like we could have just told the villagers what that voice was. It would only send them into a bigger panic.

“Good afternoon,” we greeted a group of people we met on the road. From the way they were dressed, they looked like they were members of the village watch.

“On your way to Hatada?” one of them asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, please be careful. We still don’t know what made that noise.”

“Thank you,” Druid said. I gave a little bow beside him. As I watched the guards wander off, a quiet sigh escaped me. “Were you nervous?”

“A little, yeah.”

“I know, but if we told them about the serpents, we would only worry them more.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Druid and I looked at each other and laughed. After we walked for a while, the human auras faded into the distance. We’d just decided it would be safe to slip into the forest and look for Snakey when Snakey’s head suddenly popped down in front of our faces without a sound.

“Agh, you scared me!” I pressed a hand to my chest. Meanwhile, Snakey squinted its eyes and smiled. Druid was gasping for air next to me, too. I wasn’t the only one who was scared.

“Did you manage to hide from them?”

“Krrr-rr!”

What a relief.

“The villagers are in a tizzy over that shrill noise you made earlier,” I told Snakey as it fell to the ground with a loud thud. It had been coiled up in some tree branches. “Are you okay?”

“Kk-kk-kk!”

Ooh, I haven’t heard it click like that in a while! It’s so cute.

“Oh no! I forgot about the slimes.”

“You’re gonna get an earful.”

I quickly opened my bag, and the slimes…didn’t jump out. I peeked inside and saw that all four were sound asleep.

“They’re sleeping.”

“Sora and Ciel must be tired from all that playing earlier. And Flame and Sol…well, they’re just being their usual selves.”

Sora and Ciel had indeed done an awful lot of playing all morning. Playing for so long—and running such long distances on top of that—must have taken its toll. Flame and Sol were the same as always.

“Let’s head on to Hatada,” Druid said.

“Sure.”

No sooner did Druid say the words than Snakey lifted me up. I was expecting it this time, so it didn’t take me by surprise. Once I was on Snakey’s back, Druid joined behind me.

“Thanks, Snakey. To Hatada Village, please.”

“Kk-kk-kk-kk!”

Snakey began to glide smoothly over the ground. After a while, it increased its speed.

“At this rate, we’ll probably get there before the day is over,” Druid observed.

“Krrr-rr!”

“Yeah, we will,” I replied.

“Looks like it.”

We did end up making it there. I searched for auras and found human ones a little bit away. They were probably the gatekeepers.

“Thanks, Snakey.”

“Krrr-rr!”

“What are your plans now? Are you going to still be here tomorrow?” Druid asked.

Snakey shook its head side to side, meaning it wouldn’t be there the next day.

“Thanks for everything. You saved us a lot of time.”

“Kk-kk!” Snakey chirped, lunging its head in close to my face. I petted its nose slowly, and it closed its eyes softly in contentment.

“We’ll meet again someday, my friend. Thank you so much.”

Snakey disappeared back in the direction of Hatata Village. I was starting to miss it already.

“It’s gone.”

“Yeah…but we’ll visit again someday.”

“Yeah.”

Before walking the rest of the way to Hatada Village, we did a little light stretching. Sitting for so long in the same position had made our legs and feet quite stiff. Okay, stretching’s done! Let’s go to Hatada. I was scared that I would forget what Hatata Village looked like if we took too long, and I was also really excited to see what was waiting for me in Hatada. I asked Druid for hints many times along the way, but he wouldn’t tell me anything.

“Huh?”

When we arrived at the front gate of Hatada Village, something felt off. What was it?

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, nothing.”

What was it? What felt so strange? I looked at the gate. It was the typical kind you’d see at the entrance to any town or village; there was nothing unique about it. After we handed the gatekeepers our guild cards and got our permits, we headed into Hatada Village.