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Chapter 25. The Weird Man
“What’s your name, Amano Hobojin?”
Jun and his group had arrived at the Shingen community after the rain since then. It is a small community, but it has fields and seems more secure than other communities. Shingen, who rules this place, is in firm control.
Jun had come to exchange the knife he had spent half a month crafting there for the food. He’s in the Izakaya Fuurin Kozan, and they barter for it. It’s not a forged iron knife, but simply a piece of iron that had fallen around and was processed into a sharp knife with his [Metalworking] skill. It’s not durable, rusts easily, and loses its sharpness quickly. But it’s still a valuable knife in this abandoned town.
Behind the owner of the exchange stand, there are canned goods that are rusty in places, emaciated and shriveled vegetables, and smoked meat. The quantity and variety are small, but a bouncer keeps a watchful eye next to them, looking out for anyone with bad habits.
In the middle of it all, Jun had 3 knives lined up for the owner to see. The knives were well-made, with handles that had been threaded and sewn.
The shopkeeper took the knives and poked at the tips with his fingertips, appraising them, and while he waited, he told me a story about a building resident he had recently met.
“Yeah, he’s a relentless guy. You’re lucky because he’d have killed you. You’re lucky you’re children. He’s always killing monsters. To improve his skill level, you know. He lives alone and still survives.”
The shopkeeper, squinting at the knife, tells me boringly that man was bad.
“But, my friend. No, it’s nothing.”
That little girl stopped coughing. He may have given me medicine, but I didn’t want to mention it. As a child, Jun understood that those who spoke poorly wouldn’t live long in the abandoned town.
“Two ration coupons, I guess. It looks sharp, but this thing will get ruined soon.”
“Eh. Pops, add a little more color, five ration coupons!”
“Three. It’s not worth it.
The shopkeeper, who was smiling wryly and taking the knife away from me, made me want to sigh, but I had no choice. There are plenty of adults who will try to take my knives away without giving me anything. It’s better to be able to negotiate.
“I see. You’re very dexterous.”
I hear a familiar man’s voice behind me, and my body shudders. I see that the shopkeeper has turned his head away in the direction of the day after tomorrow. The bouncer is checking the dirt on the wall and doesn’t look at me.
I turned fearfully behind me and saw a man standing there, dressed in black. He’s wearing a hood, and his mouth gets covered with a cloth. He’s truly pitch black. From top to bottom, he’s jet-black in style. Even though it was daytime, he stood out from the crowd. He stands out. I wonder if anyone is not picking up on this.
“Silence is golden. That’s a good saying. Don’t you think so?”
He taps me on the shoulder and shakes his head gruffly as the man, Amano Sakimori, gives me a cold stare.
Scary. Jun is inwardly relieved that I was right not to say it earlier. I wonder what would have happened if I had said it.
“Metalworking? It’s amazing. My kitchen knives are getting dull. Can you sharpen them with that skill?”
“Oh, yes, I can probably grind kitchen knives.
“I see. Then, how about 3 canned goods?”
Jun looked at Amano Sakimori to see if I had heard him correctly.
“Three cans. If you don’t like it, it’s fine.”
“Yes, I’ll take it! I’ll take care of it!”
It’s an easy job. And 3 canned goods are delicious. So, I accepted the job with a simple “yes”.
Even if it was a request from a man in black, who people said to be dangerous.
Jun thinks back to the past. Sakimori-san was kind despite his appearance. Even though we often went to the 1st floor of his building, he never showed himself, but we never get kicked out. Since the building is quite large, other children were coming and going from time to time, but there was no conflict. The building was guarded by a black cat, and fighting was strictly forbidden.
Occasionally, the black cat knocked down a dead big rat. We would befriend and distribute the ones we were dragging to throw away, and when the guard went out, I would offer to watch and get ration coupons, even though he must have known that a guard was no more useful than a black cat, but he rewarded me.
Even though I thought I would never be able to live in one place, I decided to live in the Shingen community because it was easier to live there than in other places. It’s thanks to Sakimori-san, I had a place to escape to in case of an emergency.
He helped us when the goblins showed up and when the Lizard marched in. That building was an ironclad shelter. And Sakimori-san defeated the monsters that entered the building. In any other land, we would have died.
We dug more and more potatoes from the fields and piled them up. Sweat poured down our backs, and our backs ached, but we were determined to do our best to repay them for all they had done for us.
“Sakimori-shan!”
The young girl climbs up on Sakimori-san’s shoulders and cackles happily. Since becoming an employee and being sheltered, she liked him even more than before.
I can only admire her because she’s the only one who can stick so closely to Sakimori-san. The young girl seemed to be in a good mood as she patted Sakimori-san on the head with her patpat, Sakimori-san was looking at the field without paying attention to her.
The first potatoes dug up were placed in a pot of water to be boiled. It turned into wobbly hot water, and the potatoes danced in it.
“Jun, can we eat potatoes too?”
While I was digging the potatoes for a while, Hana, who was also digging potatoes next to me, gulped and looked expectant. It sure looks delicious. I wondered if the first one was almost ready to be boiled, but it was scooped up in a colander and drained on the colander from the hot water with a splash.
I sprinkled salt on it, and Sakimori-san scurried around, looking for someone.
“Oh, you’re working hard, Ooki-kun. I think you dug the most potatoes. Here’s a present from me. Eat it.”
“Eat it!”
“My name is Oki, aniki…”
Sakimori-san presents a boiled potato to a man with a large frame, smiling at him. The young girl on his shoulder also mimicked his mouth happily.
“Um, this is a verification on the human body.”
“It looks delicious. It’s so chewy!”
“You did it, Ooki-san! Freshly picked potatoes.”
“Oh, that looks so good. We’ll have some in a little while.”
With a bang and a tap on the shoulder, the people around us gathered to encourage him to try it. Ooki-san’s mouth tightened as he made up his mind to eat it. His mouth was gaping open as if he had made up his mind, and he took a bite of the potato.
“Ah-hothothot. Oh, this is delicious. It’s so soft and sticky. I’ve never had such a delicious potato before!”
As Ooki-san commented on the delicious-looking potato, letting his cheeks huff and puff, Sakimori-san carefully observed the situation.
“I see. Do you have any physical symptoms such as dizziness, fever, feeling sluggish, headache, etc.? Do you hear any auditory hallucinations, feeling like you’re going to grow an arm, or that a mouth will sprout from your hand?”
“The last one is extremely bad! I’m going to be a monster!”
I think it’s awful, no matter what.
I put away the harvested potatoes in a wooden box, fussing about something or other, and sit down on the ground after finishing my work for the day. It was hard work, he says and wipes the sweat off his face.
Before, when I wiped my forehead, my sleeves were so dirty that they turned black, but now they are clean because they have been washed.
My stomach gurgles from all the hard work I’ve done. Hana is next to me, smiling wryly.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. I could eat a potato.”
There was no emotion from the resignation that had been there before, that there was no food today and that she was hungry. It’s the sound of anticipation for the upcoming dinner, of being hungry but having food.
Before, I was always hungry, but now I get food, and even if I’m hungry, I can rest assured that there will be food.
I chew on the happiness of being able to eat food as a matter of course. I have seen many of my friends who died or adults who starved to death because they couldn’t eat.
“Hey. I’ve boiled the next batch of potatoes. It looks fine, so eat it without worry~.”
“It was human experimentation after all, wasn’t it?”
The people laughing at each other, saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay,” don’t seem to be in a bad mood. Sakimori-san isn’t concerned but crosses his arms behind him and watches the scene. The little girl got off his shoulder and was already biting into a potato.
We all lined up to receive our plumped potatoes. Each of us was given two, but they were so hot that we had to take a bite while playing with our hands.
The potatoes were not too hard and tough, not too skinny and small, and not too dry. I’m surprised by the sweetness spreading through my mouth.
“It’s delicious.”
“Yes! Delicious, delicious.”
“I could eat as many as I want.”
I was so absorbed in eating them that I could eat as many as I wanted. I’ve never had such a delicious potato. It’s sticky, and I like the way it feels in my stomach.
“I wonder if I can eat a lot more rice from now on?”
Hana asks me gingerly as he bites into it, and I nod vigorously.
“I think we’ll be fine, man. I believe our lives are going to get better and better.”
I think our fate has changed since we wandered into that building last year. Luckily. If we hadn’t wandered into that building, we would have moved elsewhere and not had this life.
Thanks to Sakimori-san.
“Sakimori-shan, it’s delicious!”
Smiling, the little girl shows the potatoes to Sakimori-san.
“[Lucky]…… I see~.”
-Sakimori’s POV-
Jun resumes chatting with Hana and the others, thinking it’ll lose its effect as soon as they become aware of it. Some things are better not to know.
As I watched the people chatting over their potatoes, Sakimori contemplated his plans for the future, and his mouth curved.
“Well, this is the end of the potato harvest. We can harvest regularly, and then make a deal through Karin. Once we have the capital, we can build the market.”
[Yes, that’s right. If we have a city and a grain warehouse, we can use the pioneers to build a market at a lower cost. Let’s build a city]
“We can’t because it’s not a game. In the meantime, we’ll have to prepare the market, and leave that to Shingen…”
[Let’s head to attack the dungeon. Let’s go to the dungeon for the first time].
The floating Shizuku laughs mischievously and gives a thumbs-up. Sakimori’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth turned into a thin smile, thinking that now that the number of goblins was decreasing, they might be able to conquer the dungeon.