Other than those, he also said not to throw garbage, and that there’s a toilet near the beach. There were other stuff too, but they were all fairly trivial stuff. Kei-san also taught me some basic manners as well as things to pay attention to as we walked along the beach.
Shik.u.mu Village is situated northeast of the Ratoin Lake, and the ‘beach’ I will be working at is situated northwest of the village. Kei-san’s house is closer to the western side, so when I go out to the beach from his house, I’ll be greeted with structures that serve as wharf to park the boats and build or maintain them. I think I know enough of the geography around here for my work.
“You should be able to find your way now for your work, right?” [Kei]
“Yeah. I think I’ll be fine.” [Ryouma]
“Great! In that case, let’s go to the training area next.” [Kei]
We walked another quarter lap around the village while talking about random things.
Eventually we found ourselves at the east of the village, at the border leading to that mangrove-like forest.
Some of the trees here stood out either because their branches had been cut off or they’ve been completely turned into stumps.
“This is where the village gets its wood for fire and for building stuff. There’s a lot of s.p.a.ce here and you can be as noisy as you want and no one will complain. What do you think?” [Kei]
“It’s close to the village, it’s plenty big, and it also doesn’t seem like there’ll be any problem even if I let my familiars out. Yeah, it seems pretty good.” [Ryouma]
“Familiar? Oh, you must be referring to your slimes. If I recall correctly, you’re a collector of sort, right? In that case, you might be interested to know that a slime known as Mud Slime has been sighted here from time to time.” [Kei]
“Wow! That’s some really good news!” [Ryouma]
Mud Slime. It has mud in the name so it must have something to do with mud (In the RAWS, Ryouma says mud in English first, and then again in j.a.panese). It would suit the environment here too.
“How often are they sighted?” [Ryoumaa]
“Hmm… I’ve seen it several times myself when I went out to gather firewood. I think you should be able to find it if you intentionally try to look for it.” [Kei]
Alright. I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for it while training.
“Huh. Your eyes suddenly changed… Well, at least you seem to like the place. The sun has already set, so why don’t we go to the meeting area?” [Kei]
Right. There might be some yet unseen slime there too. As I thought that to myself, I pushed down the urge to stay and reluctantly followed Kei-san.
After that Kei-san led me to the meeting area and various houses to greet the senpai adventurers that got here before me. I gave them gifts and exchanged courtesies.
Maybe it’s because I’m in an unfamiliar environment, but I somehow started acting like a fresh recruit at a new company. Fortunately, the senpai adventurers were relatively happy with my behavior.
After this and that, we eventually went back to the house.
When we got back, loud voices could be heard through the entrance of the house.
“They sure are getting lively,” I thought to myself as I opened the door. As it turns out, the adults have already started to make merry.
“Neesan, why is dad drinking too?” [Kei]
“It can’t be helped. You know that dad asks for liquor as soon as he comes back and is normally quiet and unfriendly, right? He’ll make a better impression if we just give him liquor, so might as well. This’ll be his first time meeting Ryouma, after all.” [Mei]
“Mei! Kei! What are you doing leaving our guest to stand!? Hurry up and help him find a seat!” [Dad]
We exchanged some light greetings as drinks were served and we sat around the sunken fireplace.
Seated in front of me was Hoi-san, the head of this house and the father of Kei-san and his siblings.
He was already past 50 and had a bearded face with many wrinkles. He had a muscular body that has clearly been trained by his daily work. Because of his overly developed body that reminded one of a bodybuilder and his excessive tan, he looked very young for his age.
He reminds me of myself back in my previous life, so I can’t help but feel a sense of familiarity with him.
“Huh. I’d heard about it beforehand, but you sure are tiny.” [Hoi]
“Dad!” [Mei]
“Oops, that was rude of me.” [Hoi]
“Not at all. It’s true that I’m young, after all.” [Ryouma]
“I heard you saved my kids and their friends. They’re not bad people by any means, but they’ve lived out here in the sticks all their lives, so they’re ignorant of the ways of the world… At most, the furthest they’ve gone is the town on the opposite sh.o.r.e. It would be great if they were more adventurous, but alas…” [Hoi]
Hoi-san started talking about the failures of Kei-san and his friends from the perspective of a parent who has watched over them for a long time.
Although I’m in a good mood because of the liquor, those kids must feel terrible having all their embarra.s.sing stories talked about like this.