The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 367

Chapter 367:

Something Doesn’t Feel Right?

We would arrive in Hataka Village in two or three days…or at least that was the plan. But my father had been acting a little strange lately, and Ciel’s head had been in the clouds, too.

“What’s up?” I asked. “You’ve been acting weird the last couple of days.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking this forest doesn’t feel right.”

The forest doesn’t feel right? I looked around. Spring buds were popping out, and the creatures of the woods were on the move, bursting back to life. I didn’t understand why my dad would say it “didn’t feel right.”

“I don’t feel anything.”

I scanned the area for auras, but no matter how hard I focused, nothing struck me as odd. I sensed monsters in the distance and smaller animals close by, but I didn’t notice anything that felt amiss.

“I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t worry you.”

“Oh, I’m okay. But what feels strange? Ciel seems to be noticing it, too, whatever it is.”

Mrrrow.

My dad looked at Ciel, who had been on edge all day.

“I’m not sure how to put it. Everything looks normal…but I feel something.”

Huh? He feels something?

“Do you know what it is, Ciel?” It didn’t answer, meaning it didn’t know. “Is it because you and Dad are alike?”

Mrrrow.

Maybe all the years adventuring and living in the forest had given my dad and Ciel a shared understanding.

“Do you think it’s safe for us to keep heading toward Hataka?”

“The only rumors I heard about Hataka back in Hatahi were that their guild master and head watchman don’t get along. But other than that, nothing’s wrong.”

So there’s some trouble between the guild master and the head watchman. All the town and village leaders I’d met during my travels up till now had been good friends, so this was a new idea for me… Wait a minute, the leaders not liking each other can’t be good!

“Do you think Hataka’s doing okay?”

“Well…probably, yeah. Let’s see how things feel when we get there, and then we can decide if we want to stay.”

“Okay.”

After that conversation, my dad and I decided to shorten our sleeping time so we could get to Hataka sooner. We took turns sleeping to make that happen.

“Are you okay?” my dad asked. “You’ve only been sleeping two hours a night for the past three days.”

“I’m fine. I’ve walked for five days straight without sleeping before.”

My memories of those days were so hazy, though, that I wasn’t sure if it had really been five days. The fifth day was probably the day I finally collapsed. Or was it the sixth day?

“Five days? Don’t do that, Ivy. You’ve put way too much strain on your health.”

“But I’d never do that now that I’ve got you and Ciel. This was back when I was traveling alone.”

“I guess you couldn’t have helped it back then. Aha, I see the gate!”

I followed his gaze and saw a wooden gate. Hatahi’s entrance was so flashy that Hataka’s looked extremely plain in comparison, even though it was technically a regular gate.

“Huh?” My dad suddenly stopped in his tracks, then turned around and stared critically back into the forest. I turned around with him…but I felt nothing. No monster auras, either. Seriously, what was wrong?

“What?” My bag started to wiggle. The slimes had probably noticed I was acting strangely. “Don’t worry, I’m okay.”

“For the life of me, I can’t figure it out.” With a loud sigh, my dad softly put his hand on my back. “Let’s keep going. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

We quickened our pace to Hataka’s front gate. The gatekeeper smiled at the sight of us.

“Hello, folks. May I see your papers?”

We showed our guild cards and got permission to enter.

“Here’s a village permit. If you lose it, you’ll need to pay to replace it.”

We took the permit and thanked the gatekeeper.

“Pardon me for asking, but has anything unusual been going on recently?”

The gatekeeper’s eyes lowered cryptically at my father’s question. Was there something wrong?

“I don’t know anything about it…but the veteran adventurers have told the guild master that there’s an anomaly in the forest.”

So something was wrong. I looked at my father, and he was deep in thought.

“Any idea what it might be?”

“No, not a clue. Rumor has it they’re sending out a scouting party tomorrow.”

“Okay. Thanks for telling us.”

My father thanked the gatekeeper and walked through the gate into Hataka Village. I followed. Just like all the other villages, Hataka had a Main Street that stretched out immediately from the front gate, with shops lining both sides.

“It feels a bit quiet here,” I said.

“Maybe it’s because we were just in a livelier village, but it does seem a bit empty.”

We watched the people working in shops and on the street as we headed for the plaza. We’d decided that the adventurer brawls had finally settled down enough for us to pitch a tent in the plaza. My dad said he’d make a final decision when we got there, but I was sure we would be fine.

“That’s the place,” he said.

The plaza wasn’t that large, but it was well maintained. It had a cooking area and free water for all campers.

“The adventurers do look like they’ve settled down.” My dad paused at the plaza entrance and had a good look around.

“Hello there, will you be camping in the plaza?”

I turned at the sound of the voice to see a lady dressed in the same uniform as the gatekeeper.

“Hello, Miss. How are things going in the plaza right now?”

“Quite calm, sir. Since we had such a harsh winter, most adventurers left to towns and villages with more opportunities as soon as springtime came. We have a drunken brawl every once in a while, but we break them up right away, so nobody ever gets hurt.”

“Thanks. All right, we’ll stay here if we may.”

“Of course, sir. May I see your permit? I’ll have to add it there.”

Add what, where? We took out the permit we got from the gatekeeper and handed it to the lady. She put it into a magic box and pushed a button. In a few seconds, the box popped open and revealed a black sheet of paper along with our permit.

“This black paper will serve as your plaza camping permit.”

“I’ve never seen that item before.”

She giggled, “Yes, I’m quite proud of it. It’s rather rare.”

So it was rare. I definitely hadn’t seen anything like it before.

“Oh, and if you ever need anything, give me a yell. My name is Puffy.”

“Thanks. I’m Druid, and this is my daughter Ivy.”

“We won’t be here long, Miss Puffy, but I hope we’ll be good friends,” I said.

“Same here! Call me anytime, okay? Well, hope you settle in okay.”

We parted ways with Puffy and looked around the plaza. I wanted to pitch our tent close to the cooking area.

“Would that be a good place?” I asked my father, noticing a fairly empty area.

“Hmm… No, let’s not. Let’s go over there instead.”

I looked where he was pointing. It was a bit farther away from the cooking area than the spot I’d suggested.

“Why over there?”

“Because the tents next to it are a family and a group of women.”

I gave my father a funny look because both tents were empty. All that was in front of them were tables, chairs, and other little things. How did he know what kind of people they belonged to?

“How do you know who’s using those tents?” I asked my father as we pitched our tent. He discreetly pointed to the one next to ours. I followed his finger and saw some washed dishes drying.

“They have kids’ forks and spoons,” he said.

And sure enough, there were two sets of child-sized eating utensils and dishes. I’d noticed they had dishes drying, but I hadn’t paid any specific attention to what they were. Besides, children’s dishes weren’t that much smaller than adult dishes. I didn’t think anyone would notice unless they got really close.

I gave my father a nod of understanding, and then he pointed to our other neighboring tent. On the table in front of it was…a basket? When I looked closer, it was filled with a tangled mass of ribbons, hair clips, and all sorts of beauty items.

“I didn’t see a single men’s item there. Well, it’s only conjecture, so I’m not a hundred percent certain.”

Now that made sense. The basket was indeed filled with the sort of items women liked, and I couldn’t see any masculine ones. I looked back to where we’d been standing when Druid had decided to move here. It was hard to believe he could have noticed the dishes and the basket from so far away.

“Dad, you’ve got eyes like a hawk.”

“Come on, I’m just average.”

I can guarantee you’re not.