WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 65: Oath to the Tail # 3
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“Yore, it's a shame we escaped the city without finding the blacksmith.”
“It couldn't be helped. The party mission came first.”
“As expected, our Yore is made of different stuff from those Thieves who don't know how to prioritize public and private matters!”
Mr. Hammer comforted me a little too enthusiastically.
It was probably because I had failed at my personal goal of finding the blacksmith and the mission to find Cheperi's adoptive daughter.
“Yore, our escort mission was no ordinary task. I think it's a miracle that everyone made it back alive.”
That was true.
A dragon had appeared, after all.
There was good news too.
“Hermit said the teleportation circle in Kerning Town is connected to the Ether Table.”
“Oh, so is that a good thing?”
“If Hermit operates it, we'll be able to sneak into the city easily.”
That meant we could go to Kerning Town and back in a day with a click of magic.
Whenever we wanted!
Of course, we still needed Hermit to activate it.
Thinking about it made me feel much better.
“Mr. Hammer, what's Hermit doing now?”
“I left her treatment to Ishtar. She needs to rest for a while.”
I didn't really understand it, but apparently a teleportation circle was an extremely taxing spell.
It usually took several mages working together, but Hermit had activated it alone, so it had taken a heavy toll on her.
“Mr. Hammer, is there anything we can do to help?”
I wanted Hermit to recover quickly.
That way, we could go back to Kerning Town.
Also, Hermit was one of our key members when it came to earning Ether with area attacks.
“If you're that worried about Hermit, why not make her a charm?”
“A charm?”
“Something like an accessory that wishes for good health.”
Ooooh, that sounded like a good idea.
Doing something was better than sitting still.
So I put one Ether coin into a small pouch and tied it tightly.
Yore's special coin charm.
‘Get better soon, Hermit!’
It was my first time wishing for someone to get well.
This was surprisingly embarrassing.
Mr. Hammer took the coin charm from me.
“Then I'll give this to Hermit.”
“Yes, sir!”
“More importantly, Yore, what happened to that girl?”
“That girl...?”
“That sinister beast, Nimble!”
He said her name as if it were the name of a demon that should never be spoken.
Hearing it made me nervous too.
“Nimble is...”
“Major General Jeremiah will soon come to collect Lady Isaiah and the Erdari, Sauriel. Make sure Nimble doesn't cause any trouble then.”
“Me?”
“You brought her here!”
I didn't bring her here. She followed me.
That was a little unfair!
Anyway, I anxiously searched all over the Wall for Nimble.
I found her in a warehouse stacked with wooden crates.
She was looking around suspiciously, like a Thief.
“Nimble, what are you doing here?”
“Shhh. Quiet.”
“...”
What was she really doing?
Anyway, Nimble had been caught up in Hermit's teleportation magic too.
A day had passed since then.
Nimble wandered all over the Wall, wary of many things and amazed by others.
Whoosh!
Then Nimble suddenly moved.
Screeeech!
“Look! I caught a rat! There are so many fat rats here that I'll never starve!”
She happily held the rat by its tail.
“This is just like the underground place where that dwarf was imprisoned!”
The underground prison where a dwarf had been held?
That suddenly caught my attention.
“Where was that?”
“Under that place called a city.”
“Under Kerning Town?”
“I saw it while hunting pheasants. There were dwarves caught with their hands and feet tied up.”
Ooooh!
Dwarves were known for working all kinds of materials into amazing tools!
“Can you tell me more?”
“Huh? There were many people tied up besides the dwarves. Girls around my age were wearing flowing clothes and bawling their eyes out. It was an ugly sight.”
Flowing clothes.
Could those have been noble dresses!?
A blacksmith and kidnapped noble daughters.
If things went well, I might be able to solve both problems at once.
‘Nimble is a much bigger lucky charm than I thought!’
Nimble just kept looking at the rat and chuckling.
“Hehehe. This should keep me full until tomorrow morning, right?”
Squeak, squeak.
The rat struggled in pain.
Nimble opened her mouth wide, planning to swallow it whole.
As I watched nervously, she suddenly stopped.
“What are you staring at?”
“Are you really going to eat that?”
“Tch. Fine, you can have it.”
Nimble held the rat out to me.
I could understand pheasants or sparrows, but a rat was...
Maybe I would've eaten it a few months ago when I was starving.
But now that I was earning Ether and buying chicken and cola, I didn't want to eat something like this.
‘It probably has a shitload of germs.’
Most explorers overlooked this, but health came first when Grinding.
Otherwise, I'd die of heart disease like I did in my past life.
Nimble frowned.
“You're not eating it?”
“Umm, I'll eat it later.”
I pretended to put the rat into my bundle, then quietly let it go behind me.
‘Little rat, I'm saving you, so repay me someday.’
Maybe thanks to 《Subtle Touch》, even Nimble, who had the sharp senses of a wild animal, didn't notice.
That was why people needed to learn skills.
I had to gobble up every skill book I could find.
Nimble kept searching around the warehouse.
“Are you trying to catch more rats?”
“If I can't hunt, I'll starve.”
What a wild way of thinking.
I took Nimble to the bonfire.
Then I bought chicken and cola at the bonfire and held them out to her.
“Try eating this instead of rats.”
“I won't.”
“What? You won't?”
“You didn't get this by hunting. You got it with magic.”
Nimble crossed her arms and proudly puffed out her chest.
“Humans beyond the Wall don't hunt, so they're weak and can't overcome the Night.”
It didn't feel like she was looking down on me personally.
She seemed to be looking down on humanity as a species.
At that moment, I became humanity's representative.
That annoyed me a little.
Speaking for all humans and honest workers, I replied.
“If you think about it, this was earned through hunting too.”
“What?”
“We kill monstrosities and get Ether, then use it as currency.”
The labor of civilized people was no different from hunting.
Everyone worked like their lives depended on it.
I risked my hands every time I stole something.
If that wasn't hunting, then what was?
If that wasn't honest work, then what was?
Nimble raised an eyebrow at my words.
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Nimble picked up a chicken leg.
She sniffed it, then tapped the fried coating with the tip of her tongue. She was extremely wary.
Like a wolf staring at meat that might be poisoned.
Finally, Nimble opened her mouth and took a bite.
Crunch, chew.
“Well, it tastes decent enough.”
But her tail was swishing wildly from side to side.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.
It was going completely wild!
At that moment, I felt a strange sense of superiority.
‘Hehehe. A beast is still a beast.’
Nimble devoured an entire chicken in an instant.
“Burp. Well, it was good.”
Her reaction when she drank the cola was even better.
“Gah! Ptoo, ptoo! This is poison!”
Now that was an unfiltered reaction!
Her tail spun like a helicopter, hitting everything around it.
It smacked my body too, so I grabbed it.
“Why does this move so much?”
“What are you doing!?”
Nimble jumped when I grabbed her tail.
At that moment, I was impressed.
‘This tail is just like the finest fur.’
It would probably sell for a high price if I stole it.
Nimble slowly pulled her tail from my hand and snorted.
“More importantly, who is the smartest person here?”
The smartest person?
Hermit came to mind.
But Hermit was asleep, so perhaps Lord Saxon from the neighboring party was the smartest.
Lord Saxon was an old veteran battle mage.
# # #
“A beastlike young lady! A Druid of the Black Blood Tribe is still alive!”
Lord Saxon was amazed when he saw Nimble in the library.
Come to think of it, Sauriel had called Nimble something about Black Blood too.
“What is that?”
“Druids are a people who commune with nature. They're a different kind of mage from wizards like me, who study magic, or sorcerers like Miss Hermit, who wield innate magic.”
Wizard, Sorcerer, Druid.
Weren't mages all just mages?
I wanted to ask, but it sounded like the conversation would get long, so I held back.
Then again, Thieves came in many kinds too, such as pickpockets, robbers, burglars, kidnappers, and so on.
Usually, they did a bit of everything.
“So she's human too?”
I had thought Nimble was half human and half beast.
Lord Saxon chuckled at my question.
“Of course she's human! But many people didn't think so long ago. Druids were accused of being monstrosities and persecuted, so many fled to the Land of Night.”
“I'm human?”
Nimble frowned.
I was shocked too.
Nimble wasn't half human and half beast!?
‘If she's really human, then she's just a cute girl with animal ears!’
I suddenly became more self-conscious around her.
I had been less wary because I thought Nimble was an animal.
Nobody got tense just because a dog or cat was cute.
“Young lady, may I touch that tail?”
Lord Saxon snorted excitedly through his nose.
But Nimble was horrified.
“Shut up! I'll tear you apart!”
Gasp! I was horrified too.
She said she'd kill Lord Saxon?
Nimble immediately left after saying that.
“Lord Saxon, I'll apologize for her!”
I cautiously watched the veteran battle mage's reaction.
But Lord Saxon actually seemed pleased by Nimble's fierce response.
“Indeed, she's exactly as the records describe!”
“Huh? The records?”
“It is said that women of the Druid bloodline are extremely modest and do not easily allow others to touch them!”
Was that what it was?
I had grabbed her tail while she was drinking cola earlier.
Thinking about it made me shiver for several reasons.
“Lord Saxon, may I read more books about Druids?”
“Yore, have you finally decided to read books?”
Lord Saxon laughed happily.
He piled a huge stack of books into my arms.
I took them to the Training Ground and read them.
Then I found a passage about the Black Blood Tribe.
「Title: Research Report on Various Tribal Cultures」
...
「The Black Blood Tribe is a closed tribal people, and their courtship is also very cautious and solemn.
If you wish to win their favor, try giving them food as a gift.」
「In particular, giving flowers to a woman of the Black Blood Tribe...」
Maybe it was because the book was old and worn, but the words had faded away.
What happened when you gave them flowers?
The rest of the writing was too faded and smudged to read.
‘I can't stand being curious about things like this.’
There was only one way.
I had to find flowers and give them to her.
If things went well, I might even get a kiss.
Footnotes:
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