Becoming an Adventurer
Red light, green light.
Red light, greeeen... liiight!
Reeeed... liiiiight... greeeeeeen... liiiiight!
When I was a kid, there was a game we used to play with the neighborhood children called Red Light, Green Light. The person who was It would face the wall, call out the phrase, then whip around without warning. Anyone sneaking up to tag them had to freeze on the spot, and It would pick out whoever was still moving.
In the world I came from, the game even got turned into a famous drama and went global. I was reciting it under my breath now, using it as a method for catching whoever was tailing me.
I'd walk along like nothing was wrong, then suddenly spin around. If I didn't spot anyone suspicious, I'd pretend to go back to minding my own business — then whip around again.
"Huh?"
After several of these about-faces, a vaguely familiar shape slipped behind a shop and vanished. That rag of a robe...
I walked straight toward where they'd hidden. Rounding the corner of the shop building, I found them immediately.
"Meruru. I caught you following me, you know."
She'd said she had something to do. So what was she doing here?
"What are you doing?"
At my question, Meruru stood fidgeting, looking up at me.
"Meruru doesn't know what she should do... so it is..."
"Huh?"
"Hungry, and no money either... so it is..."
The corners of her eyes were wet as she looked at me. Fair enough. I was barely scraping by day to day myself. This kid had left home penniless and stowed away across the sea — of course she had nowhere to turn. She'd said she was going off to find her sister, so I'd figured she at least had some kind of plan. Turns out she hadn't had one at all.
"So why were you sneaking after me?"
"Yunoa is a kind human, so it is. He gave Meruru all sorts of things, so it is."
"And?"
"The only human Meruru knows here is Yunoa... so it is. But she thought she'd be a bother, so she followed in secret, so it is."
GROOOOWL! GRUMBLE! GURGLE!
What on earth was that sound. Could a person's — no, a living creature's — stomach even make a noise like that?
Meruru was still looking up at me with those damp eyes. Those distinctive pickled-radish eyebrows of hers had sagged into a miserable downward slant. I couldn't see them under the hood, but her ears were probably drooping too.
Haaah...
"Stop hiding and come with me."
I said it shortly, then headed off in search of the nearest restaurant, Meruru in tow.
I dipped a piece of soft bread into the warm tomato beef stew and brought it to my mouth. Then I scooped up a generous spoonful of broth and meat and took a big bite. It had been a while since I'd had a proper meal that could actually fill me up, and I focused on eating without a word. The same went for Meruru, sitting across from me and working through the same dish.
"Whew... that hit the spot."
"It was so, so delicious, so it is!"
I'd brought her here and fed her out of pity, but my wallet wasn't in any shape to keep her around. That said, I couldn't exactly tell a kid who didn't know the first thing about how the world worked to get lost.
"Meruru. What are you going to do from here?"
"......"
"How about going back home?"
Going back to Helvetica Island might be better than staying here like this. She'd stowed away on a whim to find her sister, but from everything I'd seen, she didn't have it in her to survive on her own.
Meruru shook her head from side to side.
"Yeah, well — even if you wanted to go back, how would you even find a ship?"
"Meruru has to find her sister, so it is."
"Do you even know where that sister of yours went?"
Another shake of the head. What a troublesome kid.
If Tina were here, I could have asked her for help somehow. A woman who'd been revered as a Saintess might have found some way to take care of Meruru. But I had no idea where she was right now, and Meruru was looking at no one but me.
"Are you planning to just keep following me?"
"......"
"I'm barely getting by myself. I bought you a meal because I felt sorry for you, but that's it. There won't be a next time."
The moment I said it, tears welled up in Meruru's eyes. What was she so heartbroken about? I was about ready to cry myself.
Looking at her quietly, if you covered the ears and the tail, she was a pretty enough human girl. If leaving her behind was going to weigh on me, maybe I should try putting her to work. Two people earning would bring in more than one. Then again, that might not work. Judging by everything Meruru had said and done so far, she was too dim to land a job. Even if you counted her appearance as nearly human, the way she talked and acted had something animal about it. Unless it was a special case like last time, cleaning The Achbari, she wouldn't be much help.
"Meruru. Is there anything you're actually good at? Some kind of special skill?"
I asked the sniffling Meruru. If she was beastkin, she might have some ability humans didn't.
"Nngh... Meruru is good at eating, so it is."
"Other than that."
"Nngh... Meruru is good at sleeping, so it is."
Yeah. Maybe I should just leave her.
Beastkin lived in tribes scattered across the continent, but the beastkin of Helvetica Island were a special case.
Most of the island's edible wild foods grew underground. Because of this, the beastkin of Helvetica Island possessed a unique sense for finding edible plants, fruits, mushrooms, and the like beneath the soil.
Wait. That's an incredible skill.
A special sense for finding plants underground? That's insanely useful. Why did the Narration have to tell me that instead of her?
"Meruru. Are you any good at finding things like fruit underground?"
Meruru's eyes went round, and she nodded.
"That's a special skill. Why didn't you say so?"
"It's not really a special skill, so it is. Everyone back home can do it, so it is."
It is absolutely not something everyone can do here. That changed things.
"Meruru. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say."
"Meruru is listening, so it is."
"I get that you're in a tough spot. You want to find your sister but you don't even know where to look, and I'm the only person you've got to rely on. I understand all of that. But you've left home now. If you want to stick with someone, you've got to pull your own weight."
Meruru focused on my words, nodding along with everything she had.
"Nothing in this world is free. You need money to live. And earning that money isn't easy."
Nod, nod.
"So if you want to come with me, you've got to earn your share. Got it?"
"Meruru understands, so it is!"
Meruru answered with sparkling eyes and all the energy she could muster. Did she actually understand? Well. Close enough.
I knew this smell. I'd smelled it before, no question. Right — it was the smell of a traditional herbal medicine shop. Or maybe one of those health tonic places with a sign out front that read, Black Goat & Softshell Turtle Extract, Brewed Fresh Daily. On top of that, all kinds of unfamiliar scents stabbed at my nose.
What was the best way to put a talent for finding underground plants to use? The conclusion I'd reached was medicine.
"There's a weird smell, so it is!"
Meruru clung to my back as she followed, whining. I had to admit, I hadn't expected a potion shop to reek this badly. This wasn't some general store that sold potions — it was a production facility that made them in-house and supplied them to other shops. The place was called the Koubel Refinery.
The Koubel Refinery sat by itself on the outskirts of the city, a long way out from the center. One whiff of the stench vibrating through the entire building and I understood why they did business all the way out here.
Inside, a man who looked to be in his late twenties, with long green hair, was working in a pair of white gloves.
"Oh? We don't take walk-in customers, I'm afraid. Were you sent by a shop?"
"No, that's not it..."
Behind the man who appeared to be the owner, countless wooden crates caught my eye. They were packed with mushrooms in every color, unidentifiable herbs of all kinds, and roots thicker than a man's forearm. On a wide table that looked like the potion-brewing station sat glass bottles filled with liquids of every hue, along with empty ones.
The man didn't even look at me as he spoke.
"Then I'd ask that you leave. You're interrupting potion production."
"Do you buy materials here as well?"
I asked the owner without backing down.
"We do purchase materials, yes — but I'll need to see the goods."
"I came today to ask about the going rates. I'll bring the goods next time."
"I see."
At that, the man stopped what he was doing, turned, and looked at me properly.
"Philstone. I make potions here at the Koubel Refinery. We supply general stores, the guild, and even the knight order, so we don't deal in inferior goods."
Philstone, the owner of the refinery, introduced himself. He wore a pleasant smile the entire time, but there was something about him that made it hard to let your guard down.
Still. If they bought materials, we were already halfway there. I pointed at the crates of ingredients filling the refinery.
"Among the materials you purchase here — I want to know the going rate for everything that grows underground in this area."