The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 8 - Chapter 375

Chapter 375:

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!

I WAS IN THE MIDDLE of making my bed for the night when my father asked, “So, Ivy…what did you think of Zinal?”

What did I think of Zinal? How should I put it…

“He’s mysterious…with a bit of a wicked streak?”

“A wicked streak… Yeah, I guess I did get that impression.”

I mean, the way he stared at Garitt when he was angry could only be described as amused. He laughed it off when he noticed me looking at him, but Zinal was definitely like Sifar—the kind of guy who gets a kick out of eloquently cornering his victims with choice words. Unlike Rattloore, he wasn’t the type of person who patiently lured his victims into a corner with a smile on his face.

“Um, but that wasn’t what I meant, Ivy…” my father continued. “Did he seem strange to you?”

“Huh?”

Did he seem strange? Well, he did ask some odd questions, and he said that weird thing when he was leaving that took me by ­surprise, but he wasn’t exactly strange.

“I didn’t get any bad vibes from him.”

“Okay.”

“Did you notice something, Dad?”

“Well, I was just a little worried because he was acting like he wanted to be alone with you.”

He wanted to be alone with me? Yeah, he did come to talk to me instead of my father while I was cooking dinner, but that was so he could give me the dessert. And as for that cryptic thing he said when he was leaving… Huh, come to think of it, Dad wasn’t around then, either.

“Something coming to mind?” my father asked.

Was that really enough to make my father suspect him of foul play? After all, Sora had told us he was safe.

“When Garitt and Fische showed up at our tent, Zinal wasn’t with them. I was going to go check on you, but they both acted like they didn’t want me to.”

What?!

“Anyway, I know Sora says he’s safe, but be careful.”

“Okay, I will.”

I slid under the covers and thought about Zinal. Why would he want to be alone with me? Yikes, my mind just went to a bad place. When that crime organization was after me, I’d learned that some people liked children…in many different ways. When I was attacked in the forest that one time, my attacker was hoping to sell me to people like that. But even though I didn’t know Zinal that well yet, he didn’t seem like someone I should be scared of. If anything, he seemed worried about me. I had no idea what would make him worry, though.

Well, I’m sure to see him again, so I’ll just be extra cautious around him.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” I dipped some black bread into my breakfast soup and took a bite. To make the soup, I’d added milk to last night’s leftovers. It was gentle on the stomach and perfect for breakfast.

“Why don’t we go into town and see what the gossips have to say?”

“Okay. Sounds like fun.”

Rumors couldn’t be taken lightly. Whenever there was a problem, we were supposed to report it to the village watch or the guild, but nobody called attention to little changes in the day-to-day life of a town. If every tiny detail were reported, the guilds and watch stations would be overwhelmed. And yet, sometimes those little changes snowballed into bigger problems.

“Okay, after we relax a bit, we’ll head into town.”

“Good. Oh, wait! I wanted to do our laundry.”

I totally forgot. We’ve got dirty clothes and towels piling up.

“We can do that first, then.”

I nodded in agreement and gulped down the rest of my soup. It was delicious.

We cleared the breakfast dishes, and then I grabbed the bag with our dirty laundry. Then, with my bag of creatures on my other shoulder, we left the plaza in search of the village washing center. After a bit of walking, a bustling area came into view. This village, just like any other, had a lively wash station.

“Actually, the laundry area might be the best place to overhear some good village gossip,” my father whispered.

“You’re right,” I answered. The laundry area was a gathering spot for villagers and adventurers alike. It just might be the best place for overhearing all sorts of rumors (though most of them were groundless). I found a spot somebody had just vacated, so I secured it quickly and greeted the people doing their laundry on either side of me.

“Good morning, ma’am.”

On my right was a woman with a hefty build, and on my left was an elderly lady. Both of them smiled at us. I started with our biggest blankets—you had to wash the heaviest items first or else your arms would be too tired to do them later. And since my father was helping with his one arm, the job was a lot easier than it was alone. We strained our ears as we washed.

“You know that new shop on Main Street? Well, they’re selling some unique stuff there, so I’m going to check it out later.”

I wonder what kind of unique things they’re selling?

“I hear they might form another survey team.”

“Whoa, really? That has to mean something’s wrong, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s my guess.”

Now, how in the world did they hear about that before it was made public? Villagers are kind of extraordinary that way, aren’t they?

“Something’s wrong with the trash at the dump, you say?”

Huh? The trash at the dump? I started paying attention to a conversation happening a few feet away and saw a woman scrubbing a giant cloth as she spoke to another woman.

“That’s right. My son said so.”

“Ohh, he’s the one who takes your trash to the dump, right?”

“Yep. Anyway, the last time he went there, he noticed the amount of trash was odd.”

My father and I exchanged glances and slowed down our washing a little.

“See, my son goes once a week to take our trash to the dump.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And he says there’s the same amount of trash there as always.”

“Well, why wouldn’t there be? The tamers always go there to dispose of the trash.”

“Don’t be silly! Haven’t you heard the rumors? Ever since Marsha passed away, our village’s been having a hard time getting rid of the trash.”

“Ohh, right, I did hear something like that. Maybe the village watch hired a good tamer?”

“Ya think so?”

The trash levels at the dump are staying the same? As in, there’s never any more or less? Yeah, that is a little strange. I looked at my father and saw he was deep in thought.

“By the way, have you seen sharmy lately?”

“Y’know, I haven’t. A shame, really. Spring is here, so sharmy should already be around.”

Sharmy? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.

“Just so cute. And so friendly, too.”

“You know it! I love sharmy so much. The sight always makes me think of springtime. Think sharmy might not come around this year?”

“I’ll be sad if they don’t.”

They’re friendly…and you see them in the springtime… Maybe they’re animals? I looked at the people talking. Their faces lit up with joy as they talked about this “sharmy.” Are they really that cute? Now I’m curious.

“Okay, all done.”

I piled our finished laundry into a basket. We would then take it back to the plaza and hang it to dry near our tent.

“I’ll carry that.”

“Thanks. Have a nice day, ladies,” I said my goodbyes to the people on my left and right—even though they weren’t the same ones as before—and left the wash area. Once we were a few paces away, I took a deep breath in and out.

“So, the dump… Now I’m curious,” my father said.

“Me, too.”

We should tell the gentlemen of Zephyr about it next time we see them.

I strained my ears to hear the chatter around us as we walked back to the plaza.

“What do ya think happened to that new kind of monster that showed up in the forest?”

A new kind of monster? That…can’t be what I’m thinking of. It’s something different, right? I carefully turned toward the sound of the conversation to see three adventurers.

“Oh, you mean that band of monsters somebody spotted deep in the forest near Hatada Village?”

Urk! They are talking about us. I looked at my father and smiled sheepishly.

“Right, I did hear about a new breed of monster there.”

“I heard it retreated back into the forest. A survey team went out to look into it, but they couldn’t find a trace of ’em.”

They sent out a survey team? Yikes, I’m so sorry. I scurried away from the gossiping adventurers.

“Sounds like that rumor still hasn’t gone away,” my father remarked.

I sighed and nodded. Why did they have to send out a survey team, of all things?

“We’ll have to be more careful when we travel,” my father said.

“Yeah.”

I like to think we already are being careful, though…