The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 8 - Chapter 376

Chapter 376:

A Bag for Four

WE TOOK OUR TIME strolling down Main Street to have a look around. It was crowded, probably because it was lunchtime. We listened for rumors but heard nothing new as most people were just talking about the survey team.

“What do you want to do for lunch?” my father asked. “It’ll take a while to go back to the plaza and cook something.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. Do you know what kind of street food this village is known for?”

At first, I’d thought this village was known for baaba, but it wasn’t all that popular due to its particularly gamey flavor and tough texture. The flavor could be taken care of with a little parboiling in medicinal herbs and the tough meat was easily tenderized with a papashi marinade, so it was a shame that people let such delicious meat go to waste. But thanks to its lack of popularity, baaba meat was cheap. Its price was so tempting, I was even considering buying it in bulk. Then there was that papashi sauce I’d made to go with it. It was so much tastier than I’d thought it would be, and I really wanted to try it again. Maybe I should play with the flavors a bit.

“Seems like the wrapped lappo is a popular item.”

I looked around and the signs for wrapped lappo indeed stood out. Lappos were monsters that lived around the outskirts of Hataka. They were similar to wild rabbits, the main difference being their body size and the horns on their foreheads. They were also a little more violent than wild rabbits.

“Sure does. Think that refreshing smell in the air is the wrapped lappo?”

There was an aroma that intrigued me as we walked down Main Street. It was a combination of rich meat and another invigorating smell. I tried to figure out its source, and all signs pointed to the wrapped lappo.

“Maybe you’re smelling the herbs they wrap the lappo in?”

I glanced at a nearby stall that sold wrapped meats. The cook was slathering meat and vegetables in sauce and wrapping them in big leaves. Then the bundles were placed in a wire net and grilled, sending the soft, refreshing scent through the air.

“It smells so good.”

“Want to have wrapped lappo for lunch, then?”

“Could we?”

“Yeah, I’m curious to see what they taste like. Doesn’t the smell make your mouth water?”

He was right. My appetite was thoroughly tantalized. We walked away from the stall we were closest to and tried to figure out which one was the best.

“Looks like they all wrap the meat in the same leaves. I guess the only difference is the vegetables and flavorings.”

“Guess so,” I agreed. “Let’s pick based off the vegetables, then.”

“Okay.”

After walking and looking for a while, we found a stall that used the kabo vegetable we both liked. Most of the people in line were locals, so we had high hopes as we got in the back of the line. We listened to the villagers talking in front of us.

“So I hear the guild master and the captain went at it again.”

“Again? What the hell is wrong with them?”

“Seriously.”

That’s right, the guild master and the captain of the village watch don’t get along. Do all the locals know about that? Between that and the danger in the forest, is this place really going to be okay?

“Hi! What’ll ya have?”

“Two wrapped lappos, please.”

“Coming right up. Thanks for your patience.”

A man and woman in their forties were hard at work behind the counter. The man was at the fire, roasting the wrapped meats, and the woman was putting the packages together and selling them at the same time. She placed two finished meat packages into a basket and slid it onto the counter in front of us.

“Here ya go. That’ll be one hundred dal in all.”

We paid her and took our lunch. The refreshing smell of meat and herbs hit our noses.

“Thanks, Dad. They look delicious.”

“They sure do smell good. Let’s get back to the plaza quick. I want to eat these before they get cold.”

“Good idea. My creatures probably want to get out of the bag anyway.”

Once we were back in our tent at the plaza, I let my creatures out of their bag. They bounced around the inside of the tent, stretching and playing. That bag must have been uncomfortable for them since it was different from their usual one. I used to have two bags reserved for my creatures, but one of them got epically destroyed in the forest and we had to throw it away. Then the previously mended bag I’d been using up until yesterday finally gave out completely. I was using three temporary bags now, but my creatures didn’t like going into any of them, so they must not have felt right.

“Let’s go shopping for bags after lunch,” my dad suggested.

“Huh?”

“A new bag for your creatures. They need one, don’t they?”

“Yeah, they do. We need to find a nice comfortable bag for them.”

The quartet jiggled happily in reply, which must have meant the bags really were uncomfortable for them. But we had to eat lunch first, so we stepped out of the tent, and…

“Oh, the laundry!”

“Right, we forgot about that.”

When we stepped out of the tent to sit at the table, the laundry basket came into view. We had completely forgotten about it.

“Hey, Dad, can you make tea? I’m just gonna go dry the laundry.” There were clotheslines not too far away, so it wouldn’t take long.

“Want some help?”

“It’s okay, I just want to eat as soon as possible.”

I’m sooo hungry!

“Ha ha, got it.”

I quickly hung the laundry to dry, then went back to the tent to find our wrapped meats on plates along with some salad and tea. Everything was ready for me. I had a good dad.

We sank our teeth into the wrapped lappo. The meat was pleasantly toothsome, and the vegetables were saturated with its juices. It had a sauce with a little kick to it, and the effect was delicious. It was definitely something I would want to eat again.

“Once they figure out what’s wrong in the forest, we should definitely go lappo hunting,” I said. I wanted to try lappo on skewers, too.

“Absolutely. We’ve already made the traps, after all.”

That was the whole reason why we came to Hataka Village in the first place: to hunt the tasty lappos that lived on the outskirts of the village. Gee, I hope the problem in the forest gets taken care of quickly.

We cleared the table and asked the creatures if they wanted to come with us. They said no, so we activated the magic item that would hide them and carefully locked up our tent.

“Okay, let’s go look at bags first.”

“Yeah, think I should buy three? I want some spares for when they break.” Three would probably be enough.

“Of course.”

We discussed sizes and materials while we looked for a shop that sold bags. We carefully checked each sign on the street as we went.

“Think that’s our place?”

I looked where my father was pointing and saw a sign labeled “Bags” down a little alley off Main Street.

“Looks like it. Let’s go.”

“All right.”

We turned off Main Street and walked to the shop, passing by two people working at another store along the way.

“Won’t you give it a rest? There’re no such things as specters!”

Specters? My ears perked up at the strange word. I sneaked a peek at the pair and slowed way down.

“But I saw it again three days ago! It was a ghost, carrying a dead body!”

“You just won’t give it a rest, will you?”

“That’s because it’s true! I didn’t believe my eyes when I saw it the first time, but I really did see it!”

“You first saw it two months ago, right? And it was at night, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, the day you came screaming to me about it, I went to the village watch to ask if somebody had died the day before.”

“Yeah, I know. I went with you.”

“And nobody died, remember? There weren’t even any missing persons.”

“Well, yeah, but I swear I saw it! There was a ghost carrying a dead body!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. How could you even tell it was a dead body?”

“Well, I couldn’t, but it was on the cart they use for corpses, so I know I was right! And it was a black specter pushing the cart… I’m serious!”

“Sure…”

I don’t know why…but something’s nagging at the back of my mind. Is it the specter? No…it’s something else.

“What’s up?”

My father’s voice yanked me out of my thoughts. I looked up and realized I’d stopped in my tracks and worried him.

“It’s nothing.”

I’ll have a nice, long think about this later and figure out what I was trying to remember.

After a short walk, we made it to the shop. It was called “Tefure.” It looked a bit posh, and I wondered if we could afford it.

“Hello, sir. Hello, Miss.”

The shop was very well organized, and the shelves were lined neatly with bags. Each one looked finer than the last, and their prices reflected that. I think we picked the wrong store…

“Looking for anything in particular?” asked the lady who’d greeted us with a warm smile.

“Do you have any bags for tamers?” my father answered.

She quickly took us to the area with bags. There were rows of them, both quaint and majestic in design. Unlike all the bags I’d ever used before, these were produced with incredible care.

“Wow, they’re so cute!”

I checked the price tag, convinced it would be quite high. Huh? It’s cheaper than a magic bag. Tamer bags were woven with magic fibers, and their interiors were larger and more ­comfortable than they appeared, since they were meant to hold small monsters and animals.

“They’re reasonably priced,” said my father. “Want to pick one?”

“Could I?”

“Of course. Nothing’s too good for our family.”

“Thanks.”

Okay, if I’m going for comfort, I should make sure it’s well padded. It also needs to be big. And since summer’s just around the corner, I need to think about breathability…