The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 352

Chapter 352:

Oops!

When we got back to the inn, we went straight to the laundry room to dye our clothes. We put water in a bucket and dropped the dye wrapped in black paper right into it. After a little while, the water slowly changed colors with the dye.

“What?! It’s pink?”

When I saw the color of the water in my bucket, I realized that the dye I’d been given was pink. And a very vibrant pink, at that.

“Yikes… Yeah, that’s quite a dark pink.”

“What color did you get, Mr. Druid?”

“I got navy blue.”

Ugh, lucky… I wish I got a more subdued color like that. Oh dear, I don’t want to wear pink head to toe. How embarrassing.

“Do the top and bottom have to match?” I asked.

“No, when I was here last time, I saw quite a few people with mismatched tops and bot… Wait, why do you ask?”

“I just don’t want to be pink all over…if I could at least have dark blue pants, I’d be much happier.”

“Yeah…I see where you’re coming from. Pfft! Ivy, pink all over…” Druid’s shoulders began to shake with laughter. “Sorry, my bad. Okay then, want to dye your pants along with my clothes?”

Yahoo! I managed to escape my all-pink fate. Oh, wait, there was one more thing…

“Mr. Druid, why don’t you dye your top pink, too? Then we can be twins!”

“Er, you want me to wear pink, too? Uh, I don’t think I can pull that off.”

“Aww, come ooon. You’d look great.”

I hope so… No, I know so.

“Really?”

“Yeah! C’mon, gimme your shirt.”

“Okay, you win. Here you go.”

Yay! But wow, this pink really is vibrant. I wonder what color our shirts will be after they’re dyed? I’ve never worn pink clothes before, so this is all a little new to me.

I put my clothes into the dyed water. After a soak, all they’d need was a wash. If you wanted a darker color, you just left the clothes in longer.

“This is incredibly easy, huh?” I said.

“Yeah. Think we should leave our pants in longer so they’ll be darker?”

“Sure. Okay, let’s just go for it and leave our shirts in, too. Make ’em bright pink!”

“Ha ha! I don’t feel right wearing pink at my age. Hey, why don’t we buy a little more dye before we leave Hatahi?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Remember those clothes that got too stained to wear? If we dye them, they should be okay again.”

“Oh, good idea.”

“And since Hatahi specializes in making dye, they’ve got a huge variety to choose from—it’ll be fun hunting for the right one.”

My curiosity was piqued. “I’d love to do that,” I said.

“Okay, it’s a plan.”

I remember we intended to leave Hatahi once the festival was over and some of the adventurers had moved on. I wonder how long that will take?

“Mr. Druid, how much longer will we be staying here after the festival ends?”

“I’m thinking we’ll leave one week after the festival.”

Would things really settle down so quickly?

“The adventurers need to earn enough money to pay off their winter debts, so many of them move on right away,” Druid explained. “And the reports say winter was particularly harsh this year for everyone, so I think most of the adventurers will leave as soon as they can.”

“Yeah, I remember hearing lots of people froze to death this year.”

“Unfortunately, yes. And most places weren’t able to set up protections like Hatow Village did.”

People froze to death every winter, but the adventurers reported that the number of casualties this winter had been ­particularly high. I wonder…what happened in Ratomi Village? They never had harsh winters, so they probably came out okay if they had a normal one…

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Why did I suddenly start thinking about Ratomi? I have no good memories of it.

“Think it’s been enough time?”

Oh, right, we’re dyeing clothes! I lifted our shirts out of the buckets.

“Yikes… Now that’s an incredible pink…”

“Incredible is right. We could wear that color here no problem, but it’d definitely make us stand out anywhere else.”

“Yeah. We’ll have to use them as pajamas.”

Our shirts were a brilliant pink color; I probably should have taken them out earlier. It was too late for that now, though.

“Wow, that’s so pink!”

“Huh?”

We weren’t the only ones dyeing our clothes; the other guests at the inn were doing it, too. One of the girls’ eyes sparkled when she saw the shirt I was holding. She looked like she was about four or five years old, and her big round eyes were really cute.

“Oh dear, pardon us. Sweetie, you shouldn’t disturb the young lady like that.”

“But, Mommy, look! That color is so pretty!”

“It sure is, but you mustn’t bother her.”

“Mommy, I want that color, too.”

“Come on, don’t be selfish.”

The little girl seemed to have her heart set on that brilliant pink shade. She kept begging her mother over and over.

“Mr. Druid, can this dye be used again?”

“Probably? I heard the color doesn’t set as well, but I’m not actually sure.”

I crouched down to the girl’s level. “Listen, I’m not sure if the color will be as bright since I already used this dye, but you can have it if that’s okay with you.”

The little girl’s face shone with joy. She looked up at her mother.

“Are you sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble?” The mother was still a little unsure.

“We don’t mind, ma’am. I just can’t guarantee it will work as well for your daughter since we already used it.”

The mother nodded once, then turned to her daughter. “Mimi, your clothes might turn out lighter than hers. Are you still okay with that?”

“Well…yeah, I don’t care if it’s lighter. I want pink!”

After getting her daughter’s blessing, the mother turned to me and bowed humbly. “Thank you so much. I had horrible luck—we only got brown and gray.”

Yeah, those colors wouldn’t suit the little girl with sparkling eyes. I handed the mother the bucket. That done, I washed the two shirts I’d dyed and set them to dry next to the pants that Druid had washed.

“They sure are eye-catching,” he said.

“They really are.”

I looked at all the other clothes drying on the line. Most of them were in muted colors, so the pink shirts really stood out.

“Well, it’s okay—it’s a festival,” Druid said.

True, but I would never wear a bright color like that anywhere else.

“But I think you could pull it off, Ivy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I know you always wear softer colors, but I think a bright color like that could work for you.”

Really, though? But, Druid… Well, okay. It’s a festival, so I’ll let it slide.

“I couldn’t pull it off. Scratch that, I don’t want to pull it off.”

Instead of joining the festivities on the second day of the festival, we stayed indoors and watched the frolicking participants from our window. It was neat to get a bird’s-eye view of all the colors of powdered dye flying around. Most fun of all was watching the white clothes get more and more colorful.

“It’s almost over,” Druid remarked.

“Yeah.”

“Ha ha, that expression on Lord Foronda’s face…”

I gave Druid a curious look. “What do you mean?”

“You know how you slapped his back from behind yesterday? Remember how startled he was?”

Ohhh, that. Yeah, there were so many color cakes flying all around me that I went into panic mode and forgot to hit Druid and Lord Foronda with mine. Then when I looked in my bag and saw the golden cake, I suddenly remembered and threw it at them both really fast. Yeah, and I was so flustered that I crushed the cake in my hands and gave both their backs a hard slap. Wait…I slapped him?!

“Oh, no! Mr. Druid, I slapped Lord Foronda’s back really hard!”

“Wait, you mean you didn’t notice?”

“…No, sir.”

“Pfft! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Oh, nooo…what should I do?”

I don’t think he was mad, but…Ivy, what were you thinking?!

“Don’t worry, he saw the gold handprint, so it was obvious what you were doing. But still… Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Aaaggghhh… Next time I see him, I’ll apologize. But why did I slap him that hard anyway? I don’t care how rattled I was, I could’ve been a little gentler.

“Mr. Druid…” I sighed. “You don’t have to laugh so hard.”

As Druid continued to shake with laughter, I gave his shoulder a light punch.