Chapter 90: Do We Need This Part About Salt?

Do We Need This Part About Salt?

Absolutely needed (self-resolved).

“Munchmunchmunch…Zzzz, Zzzzz…”

Good morning!

I’m Emi, the 7-year-old girl who greedily devours raw monster meat in the demon realm every single day!

What I’m eating now is a creature called a Mōchakkiworm, a brownish worm-like being around 2 meters in body length!

The appearance is pretty gross though!

If I hadn’t been accustomed to eating worms (or worm-like creatures) since early childhood, I probably wouldn’t have even considered eating it.

I never expected such a prestigious food item to inhabit the Kaise Forest.

I see…

What a waste for something so delicious.

The meat is plump and bouncy without needing to be cooked, like shrimp.

The umami is concentrated – it would probably make an excellent soup stock too.

The skin has a bit of a chewy texture that regular people might find unpalatable, but to me it has an appealing offal-like quality.

In any case, it’s delicious and boneless, so easy to eat.

“Munchmunchmunch…gulpgulp…munchmunch…gulp”

…Thank you for the meal.

I give my gratitude with pressed hands to the Mōchakkiworm, which will become my flesh and magic power.

Luckily today I encountered a pack of Lovely Bunnies that I was able to hunt down.

Having consumed a fair amount of the forest’s automatic supply (venomous snakes) too, my hunger is reasonably sated.

My appointment with that corrupt receptionist isn’t until night.

Since I already know the Cysh Grass habitat locations, harvesting them will be quick.

So I basically have the daylight hours free, which I usually spend training or hunting!

The plan for today was to do some more training after this.

…But.

Extra-sama…

When I was eating that Mōchakkiworm earlier, didn’t you think…?

That if…if only we had some salt.

This worm…would have been even more delicious…

What do you think?

What’s your take on this, Extra-sama?

We can’t get anyone to sell us salt…!

If we visit stores, we’re treated with eerie suspicion due to our appearance and chased out rudely…!

We want salt, but the only salted treatment we receive is such discourteous service…!

Ahem.

…But you know, Extra-sama.

There’s one place I had in mind!

Fufufu.

When I occasionally wander into Yoshanka during the day…you didn’t think I was just aimlessly strolling around throwing rocks, did you, Extra-sama?

I’ve been properly researching!

A store that might actually sell us salt!!

Extra-sama, your observation has been lacking!

Of course I did!

I can’t hold back any longer, you know.

I was planning to go there next time, but after eating that Mōchakkiworm, I can’t wait anymore.

I want salt!

So with that decided, it’s shopping time, Extra-sama!

We’re going to Yoshanka to get some salt~!

Having made up my mind, I immediately took action!

I set off at furious speeds towards the town of Yoshanka.

The outer town walls?

Obviously I’ll just use 【Silverfish】 to scale them!

The main gate has been really crowded lately anyway, so this is faster!

* * *

I was currently in front of a small shop located down a narrow alleyway branching off from Yoshanka’s main street.

Like the surrounding houses, it was a stone building with an aged wooden sign reading “Kansenya” hanging from the roof.

The merchandise displayed inside ranged from plates and swords to vegetables and wooden Topopolock figurines – quite the unrefined assortment. But looking closer towards the back…there it was! Salt!

Fufufun, fufun!

Take a look at that old granny minding the store, Extra-sama!

That’s the one!

…Doesn’t she seem kind~?

And she’s probably quite elderly too, so her eyesight may have deteriorated!

If I properly conceal my hair, she might not even realize I’m a cursed child!

Well, I’ve never heard that particular idiom of “prime target granny” before, but…

In any case, I should definitely be able to buy salt at this store!

Without further ado, I entered and picked up a bag of salt, bringing it to the old granny.

“…Good afternoon.”

A polite greeting.

“…Mrrhmm? Fwaah, a customer?”

The old granny let out a big yawn before rousing herself.

Then, rubbing her eyes while squinting at me intently, she…

“…Gyaaaaaaah!! A cursed child~~~~!!”

…shrieked loudly.

…………………..Huh?

“That outfit! The cloth wrapped around your head! You’re that cursed child who’s been wandering around Yoshanka recently!”

“W-Well, you see…”

“No point denying it! Your appearance matches perfectly with the ‘Beware of Cursed Child’ notice posted on the town bulletin board!”

There’s a notice like that!?

I’m not some wild bear!!

“Get out! Get out of here! I don’t have anything to sell a cursed child! Trying to bring me misfortune!?”

The old granny snatched the bag of salt from me, grabbed a handful from inside, and…flung it right at me!

“Don’t come back for at least two days!”

More and more salt pelted me in rapid succession.

Uwah, what a waste! What a terrible waste~!

At this rate it won’t even be sellable anymore!

Not wanting to waste it, I started licking the salt off the floor. Lick lick lick!

Eh, is that how it is in this world too?

In my previous life, having salt thrown at a customer to drive them out carried a similar nuance…

Wait, what kind of nitpicky legend is that?

“That’s enough…get out of hereee~~~!”

Displaying surprising agility contrasting her appearance, the old granny unleashed a kick that sent my lightweight body flying out of the store.

“Don’t come back again!”

Hmph!

I wasn’t planning to come to this crappy store again anyway! Blegh!

Blegh! Blegh! Blegh!

Ah~~ so salty.

Don’t need to tell me twice, Extra-sama.

* * *

And so, my great salt shopping operation ended in failure.

Living in society really is difficult.

As I trudged back out onto the main street from the alley, I heard:

“Out of the way! Move it!!”

Donn!!

Then a sudden impact.

Oww.

The moment I emerged onto the main road, some huge guy rushing by knocked me flat on my back.

Though I said “oww”, I didn’t actually feel any pain at all.

My body wouldn’t sustain so much as a scratch from such a minor collision.

I’m confident that even if hit by a car right now, I wouldn’t die.

But still, no matter how distracted I was on my end, to just barrel someone over without any apology is quite rude, don’t you think? And he just kept going too.

With my mentality growing increasingly callous lately, I couldn’t help but leak out some killing intent for a moment…but, hm?

Looking past where the man had rushed off, there was a trail of blood splatters left in his wake.

I instinctively turned my gaze to follow him.

On the man’s back was another limp man he seemed to be carrying.

A large gash spanning from his right shoulder to his back.

Severely injured.

“Doctor! Doctor! Emergency!!”

The huge man who had knocked me over charged straight into the magic clinic adjacent to the Adventurer’s Guild branch.

With my interest piqued, I joined the crowd of onlookers and dashed to the clinic windows, eavesdropping while peering inside.

Though the sea winds and crowd murmurs made it difficult to hear, my super hearing managed to catch snippets of the conversation within.

“Th-This is grave! Quickly, bring me a potion! We must first stabilize his condition before magical treatment!”

“Yes, sensei!”

An elderly man in a white coat-like garment laid the severely injured man onto a bed.

A female assistant hurriedly opened a cabinet, retrieving a vial of pale bluish liquid which she brought to the white-coated man.

“Partner! Stay strong, stay with me, partner!”

The huge man who had knocked me over gripped the injured man’s hand, desperately calling out to him.

Beside them, the white-coated man sprinkled the potion over the gaping wound.

“There, the potion…! Good…good, we made it in time.”

“Ah, ah, partner! Partnerrr…!”

A soft glow then emanated from the wound area as the bleeding stopped and bodily regeneration began.

Seemingly relieved that his partner’s life had been saved, the huge man collapsed limp on the spot.

“Still, what a terrible injury. I wonder what could have happened?”

While administering magical treatment with his palm over the wound, the white-coated man inquired of the huge man.

“We were…harvesting Togūdo eggs up north by the cliffs. Then…it appeared…!”

“It…??”

It…?

“A red Togūdo! Listen, doctor, Togūdo are supposed to be solitary, right!? Even if spotted, they’d lose interest in humans if you just hid for a bit and fly off somewhere else, right!?”

The huge man recounted while trembling, grasping his head with both hands.

“But…the ones around that thing were different…!”

“What do you mean?”

“It was hell…! Every time that red Togūdo called out, the others attacked us relentlessly, like they were being commanded!”

“You don’t mean…!”

“That’s why…that’s why my partner got…!”

“I see…so a dangerous special specimen appeared…! You there, quickly inform the Adventurer’s Guild branch! We need to suspend all Togūdo egg harvesting requests for now!”

“Yes, sensei!”

The female assistant hurriedly scurried out, her footsteps pattering away.

Hmm, it seems some dangerous monster has appeared up north by the cliffs.

That old man must have rushed back in a panic after it injured his partner.

Well, at least his partner was saved, that’s good.

As the white-coated man continued the magical treatment, their conversation went on.

“To safely harvest eggs, that special specimen will need to be eliminated first…we should consider what adventurer rank would be required. Speaking of which, if you were out harvesting eggs yourself, you must be an adventurer too? As a reference, what rank are you?”

“Rank 54…”

Low!?

Wait, adventurer ranks go down that far!?

That’s way too finely divided!!

“…Too low to be of any reference…”

“Kuh…”

“Now that I think about it, you did have a 3rd rank adventurer’s certification, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sensei!”

“The assistant is Rank 3!?”

“…Hold on a moment? You said you were Rank 54, didn’t you? But then how were you able to evade the relentless Togūdo attacks and flee all the way here?”

“Ah…! That’s right, I nearly forgot!”

The huge man hurriedly stood up.

“We…We were rescued! That brat became a decoy to let us escape all on his own! We need to put in a rescue request for him!”

“That brat? Who exactly?”

“Don’t know his name! Just some arrogant silver-haired kid!”

………It’s Kamasse, isn’t it.

“That kid was strong! Skilled with both magic and swords…but against such overwhelming numbers, no matter how strong, there’s no way he could keep fighting forever…”

That was about where the huge man’s account ended, at least from what I overheard.

Because at that point, I had already started running towards the northern cliffs.

Obviously, Extra-sama.

Kamasse is a good guy.

Sure, there were times his actions made me wonder if he was a bit crazy, like drawing his sword on me, a girl years his junior, or his foul language.

But in the end, he acknowledged his mistakes and even apologized to me despite me being a cursed child.

He’s an incredibly good person.

Serious and diligent, with promising potential as a future adventurer.

A good person like that doesn’t deserve to die in some place like this.

…He also treated me to yakitori, after all!

I sprinted like the wind through Yoshanka’s main street heading north.

Maintaining that momentum, I used 【Silverfish】 to scale the outer walls and leapt off into the wasteland beyond.

My destination – the northern cliffs, the sheer seaside precipice.

The nesting grounds of the massive Togūdo birds.

I won’t let him die.

Not this time.

I’ll protect someone I’ve come to like!

That was my sole driving thought.

…Which is why I failed to notice.

The gaze keenly observing me as I dashed up and over the outer walls, leaving town.

Naturally, I also missed the malicious intent imbued within.