CH 6

Episode 6 – And Now, Time for Departure!

TL: Double release every day until the preface arc is complete (chapter 18) 

After the meeting, I didn’t have anything else to do, so I decided to return to the rundown inn and sort out the items I purchased earlier today.

I bought two low-grade potions, eight rations of food, a bottle of water, a vial of oil, a slightly rusty old dagger, a rag, and a small shovel.

For the time being, I put the necessities that I bought into the large backpack that I splurged a little on.

It was a bit unfortunate, but the only adventure or trip I had ever been on was when I came to Grezesta from my hometown village, Dono. The necessities that I bought were based on whatever prior knowledge I had about traveling, but even if there was something I missed, I could probably manage since [Azure Alliance] would be there with me.

…Well, there’s seriously nothing left for me to do. The sun hadn’t set yet, so I decided to just synthesize some herbs and then sleep for a bit. While I was awake, I would get hungry after all.

And then, the next day.

Since I couldn’t move anyway due to emptying out my magic power before sleeping, I was able to get a good night’s rest. My physical state was in tip-top condition. After performing a final check on my luggage, I hurried to the meeting point at the entrance of the Adventurer’s Guild.

When I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild, I waited in front of the building for a while. When it was nearing the last few minutes before the meeting time, I saw the trio’s figures in the distance. Ahmed looked sleepy and ripped a massive yawn as she approached, but Dion and Smash didn’t look much different from yesterday.

“Good morning. From today on, please take care of me!” (Lewin)

“Let’s go. We’re doing a job, not charity work, so there’s no need to be scraping and bowing. Rather than that, is it okay for you to have no horses?” (Ahmed)

A horse….

It did cross my mind yesterday. I was wondering if I should rent a horse for transportation, but I ended up deciding against it based on its cost-effectiveness. After all, you could ride the horse up to the point before you enter the mountain, but once you enter the mountain, you wouldn’t be able to make use of it anymore. On top of that, I’d have to deal with feeding the horses and their excrement as well, so I decided it was probably best to just walk.

“Yes. I have decent confidence in my stamina, so it’ll be alright.” (Lewin)

“I see. By the way, we won’t be helping you out one bit if you aren’t able to finish walking there on your own two feet. If we can’t get there within four days, our contract’s over then and there. You got that?” (Ahmed)

“….Yeah. I totally understand that, so it’ll be fine.” (Lewin)

“Then that’s good. Alright, let’s go!” (Ahmed)

This was how my first plant collecting adventure began, with my livelihood staked on its success. I had earnest hopes of this adventure succeeding, but even if I failed this time around, it would still be within permissible range. However, if the next plant collection adventure also wasn’t successful, I would be left in debt and I’d honestly be done for, so failure without any results was absolutely unacceptable. Mustering up my spirit as I slapped my cheeks, I took my first step forward.

“Usagi-wa-oiiiishiii, kaaa-nooo-yaaa–mattooo!♩♪♪?” (Ahmed)

It had already been two hours since we left Grezesta, and Ahmed had not stopped singing this crappy song. It was okay to start off enthusiastic, but Mount Cornello was nowhere close to the city, and we had only been walking along this flat paved road the entire time. Before I knew it, my fighting spirit was totally extinguished.

(TL: Song is something about delicious rabbits, but honestly I have no clue.)

“Ahmed-san sings with an awful lot of…emotion, so it’s extremely uncomfortable for me to listen to… Don’t you think so too, Lewin-kun?” (Dion)

Dion suddenly spoke up. It was a little difficult to answer this question honestly, but it was also true that she had been singing the same tune for the past two hours. Despite it being the same phrase over and over again, somehow the pitch was different every time, so it was pretty jarring on the ears to say the least. It would be even weirder to disagree with him in this case, so in a low voice, I quietly agreed with Dion so that Ahmed couldn’t hear.

“Just a little bit… It would be nice if she could sing a different song maybe…” (Lewin)

As I voiced my agreement, Smash also nodded his head. I was feeling a little happy at finally being able to strike up a conversation with them, when Ahmed, who had been singing her heart out up front suddenly turned around.

“Oiii, I can hear you guys you know?! I’m just trying to liven up this dull journey, and you guys have the nerve to complain? ….If you hate my singing so much, then why don’t you guys sing too?” Ahmed said bluntly with a devilish grin.

How could she even hear us from so far away while singing the whole time?

When she suddenly called out to us, I got such a bad scare that I thought my heart would jump out of my chest.

“False accusations. I didn’t say anything.” (Smash)

“Fess up, Smash!! You were nodding your head so enthusiastically back there, you know?” (Ahmed)

“Bah, you monster!!” (Smash)

And just like that, through Ahmed’s insistence, Smash ended up getting caught up in a sing-off with her the entire rest of the way to Mount Cornello.

At first, I didn’t want to participate since it would unnecessarily sap me of my physical strength, but I somehow ended up getting pressured into desperately singing my heart out. While belting out a crappy song with my terrible singing, I swore from the bottom of my heart that I would never go out of my way to say anything unnecessary to Ahmed ever again.