WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 66: Rice with the Devil! # 1
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“Did you hear? They say things are getting serious in Kerning Town.”
“I heard they formed a large subjugation force.”
“Those fucking bastards! I hope they all die!”
At the Thieves’ Guild by the Wall, all sorts of information reached my ears just from walking around.
From what I heard, Kerning Town was in chaos.
“Little brother, did you cause some trouble in Kerning Town?”
Jermain crossed her arms and asked me.
Me, cause trouble?
I had been trying to live as nicely as possible lately.
“Nothing really happened.”
“Really? You may have heard it too, but Kerning Town is a mess these days.”
“Yes, everyone’s talking about it.”
“This is just something I heard, but apparently some kind of dragon appeared?”
A dragon? Was it that thing we met while trying to activate the underground magic circle?
The one that turned nearby objects to stone with the beam it fired from its mouth.
It seemed that thing had turned Kerning Town upside down.
And the dragon was not the only problem.
“They say talking beasts have appeared too. It’s complete chaos.”
The Beast King’s army.
I was the one who sent them.
“I don’t know anything about that.”
As I tensely pretended not to know anything, Jermain chuckled.
“Whatever happened, it’s good for us!”
“…Why?”
“Demand for rice rises every month, and now there are fewer suppliers too. Of course the price goes up!”
Ooooooh.
So that was why the Thieves at the Wall guild looked so happy.
Apparently, rice that had cost fifty gold per sack had risen to sixty gold.
“I hope that damn city just goes bankrupt while it’s at it.”
Jermain had said she was from Kerning Town.
It seemed she hated her hometown.
“Anyway, little brother, what are you here for?”
Jermain now turned her attention to me.
I looked around on purpose before asking.
“I want to buy flowers. I was wondering whether they sell any here.”
The Thieves’ Guild by the Wall sold quite a variety of things.
Maybe they had flowers too?
But after looking around, it did not seem like they did.
“Flowers?”
Jermain raised an eyebrow.
Debora, who was sitting in a chair, frowned as well.
“Look at this cheeky little brat. Buying flowers? That’s all you ever think about!”
Come to think of it, buying flowers at the Wall meant buying sex.
Everyone seemed to have misunderstood, so I hurriedly explained.
“No, real flowers. The kind girls would like.”
I had said it wrong and made things awkward.
I needed to get out of here quickly.
Before that, though, there was something I wanted to ask.
“Jermain, why is Debora here?”
Debora was an evil and nasty Thief.
I had kidnapped and brought her here, but honestly, I had not expected her to still be alive.
Jermain chuckled at my question.
“She and I have a lot to talk about concerning money.”
Money matters were important, after all.
I headed to the Wall’s brothel.
“Flowers for sale.”
“Selling flowers.”
There were lots of women selling flowers.
Just walking down that corridor made my face heat up.
The place I went to was Clara’s room.
For the record, Clara was a blind woman.
She was Jermain’s friend and was also acquainted with Felix.
“Miss Clara, it’s Yore.”
“Ah, Jermain’s disciple…”
“Do you have any flowers for sale? Not in the figurative sense! Real fresh flowers!”
“Ah, if that’s what you mean…”
Clara moved her hands around and felt the flower vases.
“You can just take this one.”
Free flowers?
My mood suddenly improved.
I did not know what kind it was, but the white petals and yellow center looked quite cute.
“Yore, did you perhaps find a girl you like?”
“No.”
“I have good instincts. I can tell how someone feels just by hearing their voice or footsteps.”
Was this what they called a sixth sense?
I awkwardly rubbed my nose.
# # #
I stepped outside with light steps.
Nimble was still catching rats in the warehouse.
“Nimble.”
I was planning to give Nimble the flower.
Then I would ask exactly what kind of relationship we had.
But when the moment came, I suddenly realized how reckless my plan was.
I had never confessed to anyone in my life, and I was giving a girl flowers?
What if she rejected me?
That would become a humiliating memory for the rest of my life!
“What’s that? That’s a daisy.”
Nimble, with her sharp sense of smell, noticed the flower in my hand.
“I just found it on the way here.”
“It’s my favorite flower.”
A single wildflower.
When I awkwardly held it out, Nimble opened her mouth wide and ate it.
Crunch, chew.
What!?
I had never expected her to eat it.
‘Is that a good reaction or a bad one?’
So what would happen now?
I waited nervously.
Then Nimble looked at me through narrowed eyes.
“I ate it because you gave it to me, but I think it’s still too soon.”
“Too soon!?”
“Yore, you still have that contract you took, right?”
The Soul Contract made with a demon.
Asibarr had said it would show me something fun if I gave it the contract.
“If you return it now, I can pretend it never happened, just this once.”
Nimble’s tail swished wildly from side to side as she said that.
She was willing to overlook my theft. What generous treatment.
Was that the effect of giving her a flower?
‘To think a single flower could wipe one conviction off my record!’
If I had known about this sooner, I could have cut my fourteen convictions in half.
Bribes were this important.
“…What if I lost the contract?”
“I’ll kill you.”
“Here.”
I returned the contract to Nimble.
It seemed Asibarr wanted that contract, but it could not be helped.
First, I had to do something about Nimble trying to kill me.
Swish.
Nimble tied the contract tightly around her waist and spoke awkwardly.
“Then I should go back now.”
“Home?”
“Of course. Maybe you could…”
“Yore! Are you here?”
The door opened just as Nimble was about to say something.
Then Mr. Hammer came looking for me.
“Yore, let’s head out! The sun is up in the volcanic region!”
Head out?
I could never turn that down!
Since I had lost out by returning the contract, it would be good to earn a mountain of Ether instead.
“But Nimble, what were you about to say?”
“Nothing.”
I could tell Nimble was hiding something.
But it did not seem like something I could ask about.
Anyway, I followed Mr. Hammer to the Strategy Room.
Felix was waiting there, and he frowned when he saw me.
“Why did you bring that one?”
“That one?”
Pitter-patter.
At some point, Nimble had started following behind me.
Then Mr. Hammer said something surprising.
“Nimble, was it? How about heading out with us?”
Heading out with Nimble?
Felix looked as shocked as if he could not believe his ears.
“Are you serious?”
“Hermit is bedridden, so we have an empty spot anyway.”
I think the members of an expedition party are like a car’s wheels.
Four wheels were ideal.
With Hermit sick in bed, our party had one empty spot.
We were like a car missing one tire.
And we would put Nimble in that spot?
I had no idea whether that was a good idea.
“Your name is Nimble, right? Do you want to try hunting with us?”
Mr. Hammer asked Nimble.
Nimble’s ears perked up.
“Hunting?”
Grin.
Nimble showed her sharp fangs as she smiled.
“Good. I’ve been itching to move around!”
Whoosh.
We headed into the volcanic region.
There were many huge snails covered in rocks.
Nimble’s eyes shone.
“What are those things?”
Nimble seemed to have little experience outside the forest.
I gave her a simple explanation.
“Rock Snails. Their attack power is low, but their defense is high.”
The minimum recommended hunting level was thirteen.
Their shells were incredibly hard.
Mr. Hammer laughed loudly at my explanation and patted my back.
“Yore, it looks like you’ve been studying!”
“Hehehe. If I want to earn lots of Ether, I need to study what kinds of monstrosities are out there!”
“Then let’s see what this so-called Druid can do.”
Felix snorted.
Soon, Nimble let out a growl.
Was she going to transform into that fucking pissed-off wolf again?
Just as I waited for it, Nimble stretched out her hand.
“《Thorn Tree》.”
Shashashak.
Sharp, thorny vines rapidly grew from the dry volcanic ground.
The area they covered was enormous.
About the size of a decent-sized park.
Screeeech!
Screech!
The snails, suddenly pierced by thorns, hurriedly tried to escape.
But the more they struggled, the more the thorns stabbed them until they all died.
「+300 Ether」
「+300 Ether」
..
.
Chrrring.
Ether poured down in an instant.
Fireworks went off in my head.
‘Nimble can do something like that too!’
Even Felix, who had been wary of Nimble, looked impressed by the incredible sight.
“Not bad.”
Grrr!
Nimble transformed into a wolf.
She raced between the snails, smashing their shells with her front paws.
“At this rate, I don’t even need to protect her!”
Mr. Hammer exclaimed.
Mr. Hammer had originally positioned himself beside Hermit, who was weak in close combat.
But Nimble was good at close combat too, giving Mr. Hammer more freedom in his role.
“Hahaha! I’ll join the attack too!”
Mr. Hammer actively swung his hammer and smashed snails as well.
In a short time, we earned five hundred thousand Ether.
「Five-Colored Ore x187」
「Sturdy Shell x201」
「Advanced Shoe Scroll x3」
We also found plenty of valuable items inside the snail shells.
The Advanced Shoe Scrolls were worth one million Ether each.
‘We made at least three and a half million Ether!’
Could there be another way to make money this insane?
It really felt as though my brain had been fried in a microwave.
“Huh, this…”
Then Nimble found mushrooms growing in the volcanic region.
They were ugly mushrooms covered in sharp spikes.
But Nimble sniffed one, then plucked it.
“This is a Baal Mushroom. It can heal most injuries immediately.”
A mushroom that could heal wounds?
Did it have the same effect as a potion?
Mr. Hammer was surprised.
“Can she recognize useful plants too?”
Tap.
Mr. Hammer bumped my side.
“Yore, you should coax Nimble into staying with us!”
“Coax her?”
“I mean we should keep her as a reserve member of the party!”
Four-person parties were the rule.
But depending on the situation, like today, there could be an empty spot.
Getting injured was common in the life of an explorer.
So having a reserve party member did not seem like a bad idea.
Mr. Hammer’s expression became even more serious.
“Yore, finding a plant expert in the Land of Night is like discovering a gold mine!”
“Really?”
“What do explorers rake in Ether from after defeating bosses and looting Treasure Chests? Gathering plants!”
“Ooooooh!”
“But not just anyone can do it. Some plants in the Land of Night become dangerous if you gather them carelessly!”
In other words, we needed a gathering expert.
It sounded incredibly impressive, but at the same time, I wondered if it was really worth getting this excited over.
Perhaps Mr. Hammer read my expression, because he gave me a simple explanation.
“That mushroom Nimble just picked is worth at least five million Ether.”
“Fuck!?”
Was that even possible?
But Mr. Hammer had no reason to lie to me.
Mr. Hammer chuckled happily.
“We’re really going to make a mountain of Ether! Our whole party will be able to reach Level 15!”
Once we reached Level 15, we would qualify to go to the region where Instructor Roze was.
‘Instructor Roze said she would buy me a drink.’
A drinking date alone with Instructor Roze.
Just thinking about it made the corners of my mouth curl up.
The problem was how to convince Nimble to join our party.
‘Nimble said she was going home.’
‘Should I steal the Soul Contract again?’
I spent a long time looking for the right moment, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime.
“Hey.”
Nimble came up to me first while I was sorting Ether and junk loot.
“That lump of metal said we can collect Ether so easily thanks to you.”
Then she whispered in a soft voice.
“…Ahem. Do you think you could let me join your group too?”
Footnotes:
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