Chapter 60: Leeching Is A No-No! »

8-10 minutes 24.07.2022

I don't quite get him, so I left the crying boy to his own devices and washed the charge cows.

Yes, this! This is the very reason why I bought a brush! And I also splurged on the soap!

After covering their whole bodies with bubbles, I carefully and thoroughly rubbed them clean with the brush, just to wash down the soapy foam with hot water and dry them with warm air.

When I loudly exclaimed, "Yaaaaaay! You guys became so amazingly pretty!", while throwing my hands in the air, I got rebuked with, "Stop bein' so noisy. Your gonna scare the monsters with your shoutin'."

I cleared my throat.

"...Sorry. I got slightly too excited. But still, you guys have become sparky clean!"

Black now has a glossy jet-black fur while White A and B are sparkling pure white!

Even though he said this and that, Sword still helped out, so I suspect he thinks the same, but he's simply too shy to admit it. Sword is a bit of a tsundere, isn't he? Even though he constantly pesters me, I'm sure he actually likes the charge cows. I wouldn't be too surprised if he starts doting on them anytime soon.

When I cast a broad grin at him, he grabbed my lips!

"Mmhpf, mpf, mmmhhph!"

"Don't look my way with such a gross face."

Hey! That's totally mean!

*

I've been preparing to camp out, but...

"Boy, do you plan to leech off us?"

The bawling boy tried to enter the camp we were setting up as if it was his natural right.

"What was that!?"

"Why are you so surprised? We're askin' whether you plan to selfishly stay here, and on top of that, shamelessly enter our camp. Or rather, you've got nothin' with you, do you? Why didn't you go back home?"

The boy immediately became speechless when confronted by Sword and me.

Just go home, will you?

Both Sword and I were fed up with him.

"...You're the prime example of a pampered, little boy, aren't you? I wonder, do commoners usually pamper their children? Why do you shamelessly join the camp of complete strangers? I mean, I wouldn't think of doing something like that, you know?"

"Just as you say, he's been pampered to no end, I'm sure. Or rather, he's probably never left the side of the town's residents. He must think that the adults will take care of everythin' for him, including preparin' a camp, as long as the children play 'round while stayin' nearby."

"Huh...? Didn't he mention something about wanting to become an adventurer? And yet, he's allowed to act like that?"

So he was just cosplaying after all?

Once I looked at him in disgust, he cried once again.

"...You're truly a spoiled crybaby, aren't you? Go and call your parents. I feel like they need a proper scolding."

Since I was treated terribly by my parents, I get an urge to vent my anger at spoiled children who've been pampered like him.

Sword looked at his watch and sighed.

"...Shit, we were too late. The gate's already closed."

Wuuuuutt!?

"...I get a bad feeling about this, but has this guy properly told his parents where he's going to be today? You think a child, who believes that setting up camp is an adult's duty, would inform his parents that he might be going camping today?" I asked Sword while looking down at the boy.

"Your askin' me? It'd be better to ask him, but well, doesn't look like he'll answer since he's busy cryin'. Then let me answer in his stead. There's likely no way he told them anythin' 'bout this. Maybe he's even hidden that he came here. Otherwise, it'd be impossible for him to be here after I had a notification put up. Pretty sure the town is in an uproar right now. The adults are goin' to look for him in town all night long. First thing in the mornin', a search party selected by the guild is goin' to head for the mountains as soon as the gate opens."

The boy became pale.

"I-I...... ......What should I do?"

"Like I care." Sword spat out. "That's why I told you that you ain't suited for bein' an adventurer. You can't assess your own situation, so what kind of adventurer are you supposed to be anyway? What are you goin' to do if you can't even predict what's goin' to happen and act on that? Don't ever blather 'bout becomin' an adventurer again."

Obviously, I agreed with Sword. This kid resembles that debt slave guy, who was the reason for Sword's heavy drinking, doesn't he? I'm pretty sure that guy had been pampered by his parents as well.

Afterwards, he kept bawling aaaaaaall the time.

"Your crying grates my nerves, so could you go somewhere where I can't see you?" I told him, but he seemed adamant about not moving from his spot.

Oh well, whatever. I'll ignore him.

Sword set up the camp facilities (tent, shower place, toilet enclosure), deployed a barrier around the camp, and then gave the charge cows their fodder and water.

Yep, just as I thought, he started to like them, and now he's dotting on them.

The Ryokus were patrolling, and later, parallelized with each other. After I installed the toilet with magic, I set up the kitchen kit, and started to cook.

Since I've finally got my hands on milk, I'm going to make all kinds of stuff with it! I've already made lots before coming here though!

I got various dishes ready, including a grounded-potato, milk soup. I usually ate my soup first while Sword ate his last.

"This goes well with wine. Ah, but wait, this has a distinct taste, so I think distilled liquor would be great as well." I said while roasting the bread.

Sword nodded happily while sitting down on a folding chair.

Now then, me too...

Just when I thought so, I heard a very loud stomach rumbling. From the direction of the crybaby.

......

In reflex, I exchanged a look with Sword, and then gazed at the boy. The crybaby had stopped crying, and was staring this way while looking like a starved wolf.

Sword sighed, "What are we goin' to do?"

"I'm fine either way. Though I've got some conditions. ...Crybaby, if you want to eat, come here."

The crybaby was about to open his mouth, but closed it again, and came close.

"No helping it. Since I won't be able to enjoy my food in peace while being watched by a starving wolf, I'll share some with you. However, if you say that it tastes bad, or leave anything behind, I'll get very angry. Should you do anything like that, I'll chop you up, dismantle you, and feed you to Sword for breakfast tomorrow. Got it?"

"Wait a sec! Stop! Why are you goin' to feed him to me?"

"Humans have few edible parts. Moreover, no matter how skilled at cooking I might be, I don't know whether I'd be able to make anything delicious out of human flesh. It'd be way too pitiful to spoil the cow's stomachs by feeding him to them, wouldn't it?"

"...Hey? Wouldn't I be pitiful either? Hmm?"

He ground my temples. But even while having that done to me, I said with a serious face, "Listen, I'm not joking. If you plan to trash talk my food, then don't eat it. If you're going to leave some of it, tell me ahead of time so that I lower the portion."

Apparently it got through to him that I wasn't kidding, seeing how he furiously nodded his head while trembling all over.

"Alright, in that case, I'll give you some."

Sword warned the boy with a serious look, "Hey, make sure to never ever say that it's bad, got it? Don't underestimate Indra, 'kay? She's a woman who's mistaken for a guy but follows up on her words. Since she'll definitely make her words come true, watch your mouth. Both of us want to greet tomorrow's morning sun, right?"

He's using some weird persuasion method. But, he apparently succeeded.

The meal I handed him was greedily wolfed down without a crumb left.

"We'll finish breakfast before dawn, and leave the mountains as soon as the sun's up."

I nodded at Sword's words. That meant, we'd arrive before the gate opened.

Given that the crybaby started to nod off, I rolled him on top of the cloth I had spread out as bed for the charge cows. Sword and I took a shower, and went to bed in our tent.

Good night~