Chapter 2-2 : A Test (part 1)
「Phew~ I think I just made some pretty good purchases!」(Kako)
「I think you were just wasting money-nya.」(Nyat)
「Come on! That’s not true!」(Kako)
Even though I couldn’t get myself some iron, I felt quite happy with all the goods I bought today.
「Anyway, let’s look for a place to stay.」(Kako)
I want to see other shops but it’s best if we look for an inn first.
「I don’t think we can expect delicious food in this small village-nya, so I think we should look for an inn where you can borrow the kitchen-nya.」(Nyat)
「So… I’ll be the one making dinner tonight?」(Kako)
「Nyup. Unless you want to eat tasteless vegetable soup-nya.」(Nyat)
「To be honest, I don’t mind eating that.」(Kako)
「But I do-nya! Please, Chef Kako! Have mercy on this poor skinny catto-nya!」(Nyat)
「Skinny…?」(Kako)
I glanced at his belly.
He’s not skinny at all, but… He’s been protecting me all the time, so…
「Alright. I guess I’ll be your chef tonight.」(Kako)
「Nya nya~!」(Nyat)
He looked happy.
As we kept heading deeper into the village, looking for an inn, suddenly I heard someone shouting.
「ーー!!」(??)
However, I couldn’t hear them clearly because of the clanging from the surrounding area.
Or… Is it just my imagination…?
「ーー!!」(??)
No. I’m sure I heard someone shouting.
「Nyat, do you hear that? I think someone is shouting.」(Kako)
Nyat has much better hearing than humans, so I asked him.
「Yeah, this way-nya.」(Nyat)
I followed Nyat to a dark alley and saw several young men confronting a boy who looked slightly younger than them.
The boy shouted at them while holding a wooden box in his arms.
「Khh! You’re such a bunch of awful people!」(boy)
「Kaahaha! It’s your fault for not noticing it sooner, you dumbass!」(young man)
One of the young men looked down on the boy and laughed at him.
Judging from the situation, I think the young men are the bad guys and the boy is the victim. The boy called them awful people for a reason, right?
No. I think it’s too quick for me to decide.
「If you call yourself a craftsman, then you should check the quality of the materials you buy carefully with your damn eyes before you take them home! It’s your fault for neglecting such an important task!」(young man)
「This is ridiculous! This has never happened before! That shop always sells me good quality materials! They would never do stupid things that might ruin their reputation! Don’t tell me… You did something, didn’t you!? You must have told the clerk to sell me this crap!」(boy)
「Huuuh? Do you even have evidence? No. You don’t have it, do you? That means you’re just slandering us!」(young man)
「Th… That’s…」(boy)
The boy bit his lip. He looked so frustrated.
Their conversation reminded me of what the shop clerk from earlier told me that the people in this village are looking for iron.
That seems to have something to do with the reason why those young men confronted that young boy.
「Good-quality iron is currently prioritized for talented craftsmen, not for a novice blacksmith like you. The reason why that shop gave you low-quality iron was probably because they thought you were not good enough!」(young man)
「Huuh!? Look who’s talking! You guys might be my seniors but you’re not better than me! ーNo. In fact, you’re even worse than me! You guys should use your time to practice more rather than wasting it to bully your junior!」(boy)
「What did you say!? How dare you talk like that to your seniors! Seems like we have to teach you a lesson!」(young man)
The young men became enraged by the boy’s provocation.
They surrounded him so he couldn’t escape.
This is bad! They will hurt that boy!
「Don’t get carried away just because Master complimented you the other day! A stinky little girl like you is not fit to become a blacksmith! You should play house with the other girls!」(young man)
Eh…? Eeehhh!?
So that boy was a girl!?
I didn’t realize it at all since she dressed like a boy!
No, that’s not important now.
Those young men are clearly older than her. There’s no way she can win against them.
I have to do something before they hurt her!
I stepped forward without thinking, but Nyat immediately grabbed my hand to stop me.
「Don’t be stupid-nya. You can’t win with your current combat skills-nya.」(Nyat)
「But!」(Kako)
I understand why Nyat stopped me.
I’m still not good at fighting. I can only fight weak monsters like Ball Slimes.
However, I can’t just stand here doing nothing and see those young men beating up that poor girl!
Wait… That’s right! I don’t have to fight them! I just have to make them go away!
I hid behind a pile of wooden boxes, held up my hands in front of my mouth, and shouted.
「Heeeelpー!! Someone please heeeelp!! There’s a group of men attacking a girl here!! Heeeelp!!」(Kako)
「What theー!?」
「Dammit! Someone saw us!」
「What should we do!?」(young men)
I could hear the young men’s panicked voices.
I think it’s gonna work!
「Someone, please come quickly!! A girl is being attacked here!!」(Kako)
「Tsk! Let’s get the hell out of here!」
「Yeah, let’s go!」
「Dammit! We won’t forget about this!」(young men)
「Bweeeeー!」(girl)
As the young men ran away, the girl stuck out her tongue, mocking them.
I sighed in relief when I saw those people go away.
「Phew… Now let’s get out of here before people start coming!」(Kako)
「You’re such a reckless lady-nya. But, good job-nya!」(Nyat)
「Hehe~」(Kako)
Nyat and I came out of our hiding spot, but when we were about to get away from the alley, the girl called out to me.
「Hey, wait!」(girl)
「Y, Yes?」(Kako)
I turned around and looked at her face.
Certainly, she was a girl even though she dressed like a boy.
She didn’t wear makeup and her hair was kinda messy, but her face was quite pretty.
「It was you, right?」(girl)
「What do you mean?」(Kako)
I tilted my head, pretending I didn’t know what she was talking about.
「Don’t play dumb with me. I knew it was your voice. You’re not from this village, are you? There aren’t many children in this town, so I can tell.」(girl)
「Whaー!? I’m not a child!」(Kako)
「Yeah, yeah. Most children say that. Me too, sometimes.」(girl)
「I’m really not a child! I might look like this but I’m an adult!」(Kako)
「Alright, alright. I got it. Anyway, thanks for chasing them away.」(girl)
Ugh… She doesn’t look like she believes me at all.
Oh, well…
「You’re welcome. I’m glad they didn’t hurt you.」(Kako)
「Kako… you just pretended you didn’t know anything-nya, but in the end, you admitted that you helped her-nya.」(Nyat)
「Aa…」(Kako)
「What a careless girl-nya.」(Nyat)
「Ugh…」(Kako)
Nyat put his paw on his forehead and shook his head.
「Phu phu!」(girl)
Listening to our silly conversation, the girl giggled.
I was pretending because I didn’t want to get involved too much with those men, but I think it’s already too late to keep playing dumb.
I think I’ll hear her story for now. I’m kinda curious, to be honest.
「By the way, my name is Kako Mayama. This is my bodyguard, Nyat. Nice to meet you.」(Kako)
「Nice to meet you-nya.」(Nyat)
「Kako Mayama? That’s a unique name. And it’s rare to see a catto around here. You can call me Sheila. Nice to meet you.」(Sheila)
「So, Sheila, what is their problem? Why were they trying to hurt you?」(Kako)
She seemed to know those men but she didn’t seem to get along very well with them.
「Uhh, they were not actually trying to hurt me, you know? Well, they sometimes bullied me, but…」(Sheila)
She averted her gaze and scratched her cheek as she said that.
「Eh? Then why did you call them awful people?」(Kako)
「Ah, I called them that because I didn’t like their method. They’re cheating!」(Sheila)
「Cheating…? What happened? Do you mind telling me?」(Kako)
「Alright. I don’t mind.」(Sheila)
We sat on the wooden boxes lined in the alley and started listening to her story.
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