Chapter 14: Old Man and Mad Frog ③

“Who do you think you are, walking in front of my horse like a slave! Identify yourself!”

Iyami was shouting at the child.

Upon closer inspection, the child had a collar around the neck.

(Oh, that child is a slave.)

Perhaps because this scene was too disgusting to watch, there were several spectators.

(What kind of life must someone have lived to shout like this at a child?)

As I thought that, the girl said,

“Please let me gather the scattered things on the ground.”

“This trash? You want to pick up this trash? Hah, disgusting!”

Iyami spat on the ground.

By the way, the things scattered on the ground were…

(Gravel…? And a large amount of it.)

Iyami spoke up.

“It’s because you’re picking up such things that you’re a slave! Remember that!”

I couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

I stood in front of the girl.

“Mr. Iyami, she’s still a child. I’ll listen to the lecture in your place.”

“And who are you? Your dull face, it seems familiar, yet not.”

“My name’s Tatsuya. Remember it.”

“Haha! What a ridiculous name! I’ll make a note of it somewhere in the back of my mind!”

I whispered, “Step back,” and made the girl step back.

“Hmph. I’m in a hurry too. I’ll let it slide for today. Well then, you dimwit and slave girl.”

(Dimwit and slave girl, huh? Sounds like the title of a picture book.)

As I thought that, Iyami spurred his horse and rode away.

Once he was completely out of sight, I looked at the girl.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yes.”

Though she answered like that, her eyes were fixed on a different place.

The ground.

When I looked in that direction, I saw gravel and stones scattered around.

The girl squatted down and began gathering the gravel and stones.

“Is it something important?”

When I asked, the girl nodded.

“Yes. It’s our livelihood. We sell them.”

(So they’re making a living by selling this gravel and such.)

“I’m a slave, and I usually work in the mines. But that’s not enough. So, I sell the gravel and other things I collect.”

The girl replied.

It seemed like a dire situation, but it might not be so bad for me after all.

“Where do you usually sell these?”

“It’s not fixed. It varies depending on the day. It’s quite a challenge to find a shop that buys these kinds of things, and sometimes it ends up being futile, haha…”

Her voice lacked strength.

And it seemed like she didn’t have a specific trading partner.

Convenient.

“Would you sell them to me? I can’t offer a lot, though.”

“Huh?”

The girl widened her eyes.

I took out about 3000 gels.

“Will this be enough?”

She stared at my face intently.

Being looked at with such eyes made me feel uneasy.

“Sorry, is it not enough?”

“N-no. It’s not that. Are you sure about this? Gravel isn’t useful, you know?”

“It’s fine.”

When I answered like that, the girl seemed flustered.

“T-thank you very much!”

She bowed her head.

Then I asked the girl,

“Can you still bring more gravel like this? I might need a large amount in the future, so I want you to bring it.”

“Y-yes. I can bring it, but what are you going to use it for? Something like this.”

“Just a little something.”

After I replied, I handed her an additional 3000 gels.

“I-Is this really okay?”

“It’s fine. Just promise not to break your promise and bring more tomorrow. Can you come to the tavern around the same time tomorrow? I’ll be there.”

“Y-yes! Of course! I’ll definitely come!”

After she replied, the girl introduced herself.

“My name is Hina. I’ll definitely bring it tomorrow!”

With that, she ran off.

Well then, should I head back to the inn?

◇

The next day, I returned to the place where the Mad Frog was.

There, I decided to mix the cement I obtained yesterday with gravel, sand, and water.

I mixed them with a wooden branch I found lying around.

Stirring and stirring and stirring.

A swirling, gooey liquid formed.

This was concrete.

I glanced at the ground where the frog was.

It was bulging and easy to spot.

“Hyaah!”

I thrust my sword, killing the frog inside first.

I quickly collected the treasure chest and then poured concrete onto the ground where the Mad Frog was.

The concrete spread out in a slow, circular motion.

“Hmm. I wonder if it’ll dry quickly?”

“Nyagoo!”

Boom!

A blast of hot air came from Nyago’s mouth.

“Woah, seriously? Nyago, you could do that too?”

I said it quite lightly, but I didn’t expect it to actually dry.

As I watched the time pass, the concrete hardened.

“Thanks to you.”

“Goronya~go♪”

I stroked Nyago’s throat, and it seemed to enjoy it.

Then, I decided to step onto the concrete next.

“Huh?”

There was nothing coming out from below.

No bulging either.

“Could it be… could this be a perfect seal?”

I took out my map and marked the spot where I poured the concrete for now.

With this, I now knew where the Mad Frogs wouldn’t come out anymore.

Well then, next…

“Shall we look for other places that are bulging and crush them in the same way?”

After that, I continued to search for bulging areas, defeat the contents, and pour concrete over them repeatedly.

By around evening, I ran out of concrete, so I had to interrupt the process.

So now I’m back in town.

And as promised with Hina, I headed to the tavern.

“Phew, I thought freelancing would be easier, but it’s not.”

I had this image of being able to work whenever I wanted, but so far, it’s been incredibly busy.

I have to do everything by myself.

(Mad Frogs, defeating them and pouring concrete, sure keeps me busy.)

But now, I finally had a little time to relax, so I decided to take it easy.

As the night fell, the tavern gradually became lively.

And eventually, the person I was waiting for arrived.

“Oh, sorry for the wait.”

Hina came over, breathing heavily.

“You didn’t have to hurry so much.”

I said as I gestured for her to take a seat.

“N-no. I apologize for being late!”

You’re saying some noble things.

I broached the main topic with her.

“You brought it, right? The stuff we talked about.”

“Yes, I brought it.”

Thud.

She placed a bag filled with a large amount of gravel in front of me.

“Thank you.”

But it’s not enough. This won’t do.

She brought quite a bit, but even so, it’s still not enough if I’m going to deal with a large number of Mad Frogs.

I looked at Hina and asked

“Can I enter that mine?”

“Yes, you can, but it’s dirty, you know?”

“Well then, would you guide me? I want more.”

With that, I was guided by Hina towards the mine.

We arrived at the entrance of the mine.

It seemed like there was no one around now, so we could move freely.

“This way.”

Guided by Hina, we headed to the gravel storage area.

“Take as much as you want. The manager here says we don’t need this, so they won’t say anything if you take it.”

“Wow, thanks a lot.”

I decided to gather as much gravel as I wanted.

There was sand nearby, so I collected that too.

After collecting as much as I wanted, I took out some money and handed it to Hina.

“N-no, it’s okay! I can’t accept this.”

She hesitated, but I insisted and pushed the money towards her.

“It’s a token of gratitude. Thank you. This helps a lot.”

“U-um, wow, that’s a lot of money.”

Hina’s eyes were spinning in confusion.

(That’s the first time I’ve seen someone react like that when given money.)

While thinking that, Hina regained her composure and said

“Um, could I help you? You’re going to do something with the gravel, right? Please let me work. I have two days off starting from tomorrow.”

I opened the map.

So far, only about 1/5 of the area was finished.

Ideally, Rikka wanted it to be finished in about a week, and I was hoping to meet that deadline.

“Would you help then?”

“Y-yes! I want to be of help to you!”

She was incredibly kind indeed.

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