Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Am I... Rich?
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Na… maybe I'm rich?
Nameless stared at me with eyes gone completely cold.
"...Master, what on earth are you doing right now?"
"Can't you see? I'm packing my things."
Even a stubborn ox yields to a determined tug,
I had spread out my belongings on the floor the very next day to start packing.
Watching me do this, Nameless clutched the back of his neck as if his head ached, staggering unsteadily.
"No— haa… I get that you're packing, but what are those wooden swords over there?"
Following the direction of his pointing finger, I spotted about ten wooden swords piled up.
Honestly, I couldn't understand why he was making such a fuss.
Those wooden swords were all the cherished ones he had handcrafted for me.
Just looking at them brought a flood of fond memories.
The little Nameless, hauling in logs because he wanted to help me, sweating buckets as he carved them into wooden swords by hand.
He had been so darn cute back then.
Had the current Nameless already forgotten all about it?
'...How hurtful.'
Raising a disciple is all for naught, in the end.
My lips poked out in a pout for no good reason,
and on top of that, how dare this disciple speak to his sky-high Master like that?
'Time for some punishment!'
The punishment was to ignore Nameless completely.
Of course, if he caught on naturally, I might let it slide, but this guy was sure to miss it entirely.
I whipped my head away from him roughly and silently stuffed my things into a large sack.
"Master? Didn't you hear me?"
"..."
I kept ignoring him and packing, so Nameless approached me.
A quick glance at his face revealed that usual mischievous smile.
'This feels ominous.'
And my ominous feelings were never wrong.
"...Master?"
"Eek!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin…!
'Has this guy finally lost his mind?'
He had whispered right in my ear to get my attention, startling me so badly that I dumped the entire sack.
"What do you think you're doing!"
I rubbed my itchy ear furiously with my hand.
Undaunted even by my shout, Nameless put on a sly grin and replied calmly.
"You seemed like you weren't hearing me well, Master."
"Eek!"
Anyone could see I was ignoring him— who in the world acts like that?
My ear was still itching,
thoroughly sulking now, I puffed out my cheeks, rubbed my ear with one hand, and gathered up the spilled sack contents.
As I busily sorted things out alone, Nameless asked with a face full of questions.
"So, Master, why are you packing so many wooden swords?"
I didn't want to answer,
but his attitude made it seem like he'd completely forgotten about them, so I snapped loudly in irritation.
"These are my cherished wooden swords! Stop fussing and pack your own stuff!"
Didn't we agree each to pack our own?
This guy barging into my room already was suspicious enough.
It hadn't even been thirty minutes since I started packing,
no way he'd finished already.
He was definitely slacking off.
'He should mind his own business!'
I huffed and carefully restacked the strawberries that had spilled from the sack.
They were from several days ago,
but he'd bought way too many back then, and they were still around.
This guy never did anything right.
'Whose fault is it that I have so much luggage in the first place!'
All my stuff was things he'd bought from the village,
if I'd been living alone, I wouldn't have nearly this much.
I kept packing without even glancing his way, and Nameless spoke up again.
"I've already finished packing mine."
"...Is messing with your Master that fun?! How could you pack everything in that short time!"
For some reason, I could actually picture Nameless doing it, so my response came a bit late.
I almost fell for it, but thinking it over, it didn't add up.
'We're traveling across that vast world, aren't we?'
Even packing minimally, thirty minutes was too short.
But Nameless looked baffled himself as he replied.
"It's true, Master. And why would I mess with you?"
His mouth twitched at the end there,
but seeing him insist like that, maybe he really had finished packing.
Still….
'How?'
I had this much luggage already,
and Nameless always brought back tons of stuff, so his should be twice as much.
I shot him a suspicious look, and he thumped his chest like he was truly wronged.
"It's true!"
"Is it now…?"
As his Master, how could I not believe him when he insisted that much?
I still had my doubts,
but I nodded in acceptance.
"Then stop backseat driving and help out."
I tossed an empty sack at the idle Nameless.
"Put the wooden swords and bedding from over there in that one."
Nameless picked up the sack tossed his way and furrowed his brow.
"...Fine, the wooden swords, but why bedding?"
Did this guy want to sleep on the cold ground?
"? You need to sleep, don't you?"
I could respect tastes, but I wanted to sleep warm.
"Are we camping outside?"
"What else?"
Our conversation somehow wasn't meshing.
A peek at Nameless's face showed it had gone completely stiff.
No way,
Even though he'd traveled more than me, did Nameless lack common sense?
'Tsk tsk, still so young.'
Looks like the elder had to explain things kindly, one by one.
This was a true Master's duty, too.
I shook my head and spoke.
"Nameless, you seem young and naive about the world, but inns cost money."
"...Yes. So what's the problem?"
What's the problem?
He still didn't get it?
"We don't have any money, do we?"
It felt a bit unworthy of a Master to say, but reality was reality.
We couldn't just rob passing travelers.
"So we're camping. Don't worry too much— I've done it a few times, and it's not all bad."
I offered consolation that wasn't really consolation and shoved more stuff into the sack.
'Eek! Get in there!'
I was locked in a fierce battle with my luggage when
Nameless tapped my shoulder.
"Why are you bothering me! Your Master is busy!"
"Haa…."
Too busy packing to ignore him properly,
but soon hands slipped under my armpits, and I felt my body lift into the air.
Nameless had picked me up.
"What are you doing!"
I flailed my arms wildly in midair.
"...Master, can you please just listen to me for once?"
He was the one who wouldn't speak up— when had I ignored him?
And picking me up in this humiliating position?
'My Master's dignity…!'
I was about to drop to the floor below.
"Fine, just put me down first!"
The floating sensation faded, and my feet slowly touched the ground.
The moment I was free, I punched Nameless right in the gut.
"Kuhuk— cough!"
Nameless clutched his stomach and face-planted onto the floor.
"Y-You can't just manhandle your Master's sacred body like that!"
"S-Sorry… cough—"
A glance at Nameless, then I turned away.
This was clearly his fault, so no worrying for me.
"So, what do you have to say?"
"Ugh… cough—."
"Really…."
I hadn't hit him that hard, but apparently it was for him,
I patted the back of the speechless Nameless.
After a little time passed, Nameless slowly got up.
"You okay?"
"...Yes."
The situation was so absurd, I could only sigh.
"Fine, what important words are worth taking a hit from me?"
Nameless hesitated at my question.
"...We have money."
"What are you talking about?"
Where would we get money from?
More than that, had all my packing been for nothing?
"Every time I went to the village, how do you think I bought all those strawberries?"
...True enough.
Until now, I'd been too distracted by the strawberries to ask.
I plopped down on the floor.
All my efforts so far had been wasted, leaving me hollow.
"How much money do we have…?"
"Enough to live comfortably for at least a year."
Ha,
I wanted to be alone for a bit.
What were these sparkling gold coins right in front of me?
"What in the…"
After repacking with Nameless and hearing how he'd earned the money, I hadn't expected much.
The creatures on this mountain had scared me when I was weak,
but now I could burst them with a single punch, so selling scraps from such low-level things wouldn't fetch much, I'd thought.
But contrary to my expectations, gold coins filled the pouch before my eyes.
I didn't know the exact value of currency here, but I knew gold was expensive.
"All this is my money…?"
"Yes."
Nameless smiled sheepishly.
"...How many strawberries could this buy…?"
The corners of my mouth stretched up to my ears.