Chapter 125.2
“Ah, found you!” [Teacher]
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“Sorry to keep you waiting . ” [Ryouma]
When I got there, what was waiting for me was a female teacher and a boy .
“What’s the matter?” [Ryouma]
“The medicine I bought isn’t working . ” [Boy Adventurer]
“I think he might have gotten a fake medicine, but I’m not particular with this kind of stuff, so I’m not sure . You said you knew a lot about medicine, right?” [Female Teacher]
“I do have some knowledge on the subject . Can I see that medicine?” [Ryouma]
Fake Medicine? That shouldn’t happen if you buy at a normal store .
“It’s this . It’s from the pharmacy and was a little expensive, but I was told it’s very effective, so I splurged on it . ” [Boy Adventurer]
“Let’s see…” [Ryouma]
The boy seemed to be itchy as he was rubbing himself atop his clothes . He took out a small bottle and handed it to me . When I examined it, I was able to get a rough understanding of the situation .
“When did you start using this and how many times have you used it?” [Ryouma]
“I just started using it this morning . It didn’t seem to be working, so I used it 5 times…” [Boy Adventurer]
“Alright . This isn’t a fake . It just deteriorated . ” [Ryouma]
“Deteriorated?” [Boy Adventurer]
“Did you place the bottle under direct sunlight? It’s true that it’s an insect repellent concocted using some fairly good ingredients, but its weak against sunlight . That’s why you have to store it someplace away from the sun or its efficacy will go down .
Also, if people with weak skin use it too much, they might irritate their skin . So, that itchiness your feeling might not just be because of the insects . Didn’t the clerk explain this to you when you purchased it?” [Ryouma]
“Not at all!” [Boy Adventurer]
Did the clerk really not explain it or did this adventurer simply not hear it? I don’t know, but either way this medicine is the real thing .
“Thank you for explaining . I can take care of the rest . ” [Teacher]
“I’ll leave it in your hands then . ” [Ryouma]
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“Excuse me . ” [???]
“Yes . I’m going!” [Ryouma]
…There were quite a lot of people asking me questions .
From the atmosphere on the first day, I thought I wouldn’t be relied on too much, but it’s surprisingly busy .
In any case, I did my best to answer those that asked me questions . I spent one hour trying to teach them all .
Maybe it’s because it’s nearing winter, but recently the sun has been setting early . Thanks to most of the students have coming back, the wave of questions finally calmed down .
“Ryouma, can I have a sec?” [Roche]
“What is it, Roche-san?” [Ryouma]
“There are still some students that haven’t come back . It’s that group of four that caused a problem on the first day . Have you seen them by any chance?” [Roche]
“I saw those four in the woods some time ago hunting a monster for a job . But I haven’t seen them since then . ” [Ryouma]
“I see . In that case, can you take a look? You saw them in the woods right?” [Roche]
“That is where I saw them, but . . Can you lend me your ear for a bit?” [Ryouma]
“Hmm?” [Roche]
“…Those four fell for a trap job . They couldn’t find any rock lizard at the woods, so they were considering going to the plains to look for one . ” [Ryouma]
That’s why I’m not confident they’ll be at the woods .
“I see . In that case, it might be a good idea to send someone there too… Never mind . It looks like that won’t be necessary . ” [Roche]
“?” [Ryouma]
Roche-san suddenly changed his mind . Before I could ask him why, he pointed his thick finger behind me .
“…I see . ” [Ryouma]
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When I turned around, that group of four was already walking back . From the way they walked, they appeared somewhat lethargic, but at least, they don’t seem to be wounded . They’re probably just tired from having to carry their quarry .
“Sorry we’re late . ” [Adventurer 1]
“Sorry!” [Adventurer 2]
“We ended up taking more time hunting than expected . ” [Adventurer 3]
“But we sure were able to hunt a lot!” [Adventurer 4]
“Look, look!” [Adventurer 1]
The four of them spoke to Roche-san like that as they raised up their hunted game and showed off .
“Grass Rat, huh . And 8 of them too . ” [Roche]
“Usu!” [Adventurer 1]
“We’re good at hunting . ” [Adventurer 2]
“Something like this is easy as long as you can find their nest!” [Adventurer 3]
“Idiot! Sorry . ” [Adventurer 4]
When I tried to talk to them, the four of them suddenly behaved like a pounce of borrowed kitten .
Hmm? Why are they acting like this toward me?
“Umm~ Did I do something?” [Ryouma]
“You’re the owner of the Bamboo Forest, right?” [Adventurer 1]
The least reserved of the four mentioned the name of my store .
“I see . Is this related to my store?” [Ryouma]
“You and your store are helping out the slum people, right? Because of that we were told not to trouble your store or people related to it . ” [Adventurer 1]
“Who told you that?” [Ryouma]
“The adults at the slum . Look . We’re poor, right? Even if we don’t do anything, most stores wouldn’t appreciate us approaching them and they would push us away . Even if they’re not that blunt about it, it’s clear that their attitude toward us is bad . That sort of stuff spreads quickly . Even if don’t go out of our way to cause trouble for others, if anything happens, people will tell children not to approach us .
On the other hand, if it’s a store like yours that treats people like us well, we get told by the slum adults not to cause you problems . ” [Adventurer 1]
Good reputation and bad reputation are shared by the people within the same circle, huh .
“We’ve long heard about how the owner of the store is a kid and how he beat up some delinquent adventurers and thugs and threw them at the guards . But we’ve never seen your face before . So when we found out yesterday that you’re the rumored store owner, these guys pissed their pants . They didn’t know if they were going to be scolded by the adults first or be beaten by you first . ” [Adventurer 1]
“We didn’t piss our pants!” [Adventurer 2]
“We were just trying to talk politely . ” [Adventurer 3]
“Yeah! You tell him!” [Adventurer 4]
The boy adventurer laughed as he explained the situation and his friends booed him .
But…
“I understand the reason now . But you don’t have to worry about the incident yesterday . I won’t beat you up just because you did something I don’t like . Unless you try to kill me anyway . ” [Ryouma]
“What? I told you right? Even if you don’t do that, the adults told us not to approach you . Ah, I’m Gazel, by the way . It’s nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you too . ” [Ryouma]
He seems like an honest child . I hear these children often pick fights with Berk’s group, but they don’t seem malicious . If anything, they strike me as a group of open-hearted children . They’re still young, so it’s good they’re this lively… Or at least that’s what I think anyway .
“Right . We want to handle our quarry . Is there a designated place for that?” [Gazel]
“You can go to the back of that carriage then . ” [Roche]
“Thanks . We’ll go settle our business then . Let’s go!” [Gazel]
As Gazel took his friends with him, they disappeared to the back of the carriage .
“He seems like a lively kid . ” [Ryouma]
“Yeah . The presence of a person like that can liven up a party’s atmosphere . Well, there are also those that are too lively and end up causing problems… You were there too yesterday too . But if you try talking to him, you’ll find that he’s not a bad guy . It feels like he’s not being honest, though . But then again, when you were young too, you…”
As Roche-san was talking, he suddenly stopped .
“What’s the matter?” [Ryouma]
“Nothing . I was about to talk about your youth, but then I remembered you’re still a kid yourself… When I’m not looking at you, it feels like I’m not talking to a kid . It feels like I’m talking to an adult . ” [roche]
“I get that a lot . ” [Ryouma]
Because you know I’m actually an adult . This kid you’re talking to has the heart of a middle-aged uncle .
“By the way, Roche-san . They mentioned something about hearing about me . ” [Ryouma]
“The youngest of the instructors . Someone who’s even younger than the students themselves . And with that house of yours for a tent, of course, you’d stand out . Because of that a lot of the students asked about you .
Although there’s a lot among the students who’s just registered . There’s a lot among the instructors who participated in the previous goblin subjugation job . Beating up a group of delinquent adventurers or a horde of goblins, owning a store, taking out a powerful bandit… Any newcomer who does all that is bound to have word of him spread . ” [Roche]
True . I might have been a bit violent .
“And now word has gotten out that I’m the person from the rumors . ” [Ryouma]
“Yeah . But isn’t it fine? It’s not like they’re looking down at you . ” [Roche]
“That might be true . ” [Ryouma]
I can’t decide right now if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I suppose this means that they’ve at least acknowledged my abilities .
More than anything else, at least we’ve now confirmed that all the students are safe .
Beneath the dazzling night sky swayed the bonfire of the students .
To cook their food… To warm themselves from the cold wind of the night…
As I watched the smiles of the students surrounding the bonfire, my mood gradually turned peaceful .
“Uwaah!?”
“What!?”
“!?”
But it was at such a time that something happened .
Within the quiet camp, beneath the starry sky, suddenly screamed a person .