Chapter 343: Chapter 330: It’s Good to be Young

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““Ehehe, we are playing tag~!”” was Sui’s happy reply as she vibrated in my arms.

Tag? I have a feeling that Sui was probably the only one who thought they were playing a game.

“Ahah, you guys. This Slime belongs to me, she’s my familiar.” I said to the three panting boys.

“Haah? Familiar? What’s your proof?”

“Yeah! Where’s your proof?”

“Hurry up and give us that Slime!”

…they were so fired up that they were not even listening to what I’m saying, huh?

““Where did you meet these youngsters, Sui?””

““Sui was playing when a person came and tried to kick Sui. So Sui dodged the kick. Then more people came to kick and Sui dodged everyone! Then a sword came down and Sui dodged that too~!””

““Hmmm, I see.””

““Master told Sui not to attack, so Sui just dodge and dodge. The chasing people bumped into each other and kept chasing Sui but Sui is winning! Sui will not lose at tag~~””

Ahah, so that’s what happened.

“Apologies but this Slime is really mine. Her name is Sui and if you try to fight her, you’ll die for sure.”

All it would take is one stray Acid Bullet and you’re dead.

That’s the god’s truth.

“What’s that, old man? You’re saying we’re weaker than a Slime?!”

“Old man! You’re not saying we’re weaker than a weakling!”

“You picking a fight with us?! Come on! We’ll take you on!”

Ah, it looks like the blood had gone to their heads.

I was telling the truth though. While Slimes are considered trash monsters, Sui was special.

Also, please stop calling me ‘old man’. I’m still in my twenties you know?

I was still racking my brain, trying to think of a way to ‘prove’ that Sui belongs to me when one of the youngsters shrieked and backed away, dragging his friends with him. They were having a fierce whispered conference supposedly out of earshot but I could hear them all perfectly.

Was it because I had levelled up?

Did my overall stats increase?

“Wait a minute, isn’t there a rumour going ‘round that an S Ranker has moved into this city?”

“Didn’t that tamer supposed to have a giant wolf-type monster?”

“Yeah but he also has two smaller familiars. A little dragon and a… Slime…”

“… …”

“SLIME??!!” Oof, not good to have good hearing sometimes.

““Aruji~ is lunch ready~?””

Looks like Sui really did not think much of the current, somewhat delicate situation.

““Nearly, we can eat when Fer and Dora-chan comes back.””

““Ye~es~ Sui is hungry but Sui will wait~~””

Aahhh, my Sui-tan is so cu~ute.

“H-hey, that old man doesn’t look like an S Ranker at all.”

“He doesn’t look strong at all.”

“He can’t be an S Ranker.”

“Oi, aren’t you guys too rude? I might not be an S Ranker through personal strength but, my familiars-”

“Hey, who are these kids?”

“Ah, welcome back, Fer. Dora-chan too.”

““Yo!””

Now that my other two more outstanding looking familiars were back… I turned and found all three tough talkers were now quivering with fear.

Their eyes were wide open and they seemed to have frozen in place.

Are they alright?

“Oi,” I waved my hand in front of their faces.

“A-a big wolf…”

“A-a small dragon…”

“S-Slime…”

Three heads turned to stare at me.

“S RANKER??!”

“Maa, I guess?”

Instead of being reassured, the three youths grew paler and paler.

“WE’RE SORRYY!!”

All three bowed deeply.

“Sorry for being cheeky!”

“Sorry, sorry, I was too enthusiastic about becoming an Adventurer!”

“Sorry for the rude things we said.”

“SORRY!!”

Oh my, to think that these youths would be so sincere so suddenly.

Well, while they did call me old man, it’s not like they did any harm.

Sui also got to have fun (?) because of them.

“It’s alright, no harm done. However, do be careful next time. Not every Adventurer is as good-tempered as me,”

The boys looked visibly relieved.

“Oi, I don’t care about those kids. Feed me.”

““Food!””

““Sui wants lunch too~””

“Ah, right, right, lunch is pretty much done, so please wait a moment.” I got everyone’s dishes out and piled on the Dragon Steak Sandwich and Boiled General (P)orc Sandwiches on them.

“Umu, it’s good to have dragon meat after a while.”

““Woohoo! Heck yeah!!”

““It’s delicious~””

As expected, my familiars zeroed in on the Dragon Steak Sandwiches first. Maa, you should give the Boiled General (P)orc Sandwiches a try too.

I just had two sandwiches myself, so I was not very hungry. I was more interested to know what they managed to hunt.

As I took out the items from the magic bag, the peanut gallery cried:

“Incredible! Five Cockatrices!”

“And those are… Cockatrice Eggs! I heard it’s extra difficult to get hold of those!”

“Yeah, I heard that’s because Cockatrices are super violent after laying eggs.”

I felt around the magic bag and pulled out something large with fine antlers and brown fur.

“G-giant Deer!”

“That’s a B-rank monster, right?”

“This is incredible,”

Next, I pulled out something black and shiny, and very long.

“…th-that’s a Black Serpent. I’ve seen pictures of it…”

“A-aren’t those A-rank monsters?”

“Woah, a Black Serpent. This is the first time I see one.”

The three youths were staring at the Black Serpent.

I’m suddenly reminded of boys daring each other to touch a worm or a beetle they found on the ground.

Except.

These boys were staring yearningly at the Black Serpent.

“Do you want to touch it?”

“IS THAT OK?!”

“Y-yes,”

Woah, they were looking over with some crazy energy.

Well, they had just become Adventurers after all, and probably never had the opportunity to even set eyes on A-rank monsters.

The youths came over to cautiously run their fingers over the Black Serpent.

“Woah, slippery.”

“Leather products made from these scales are super expensive,”

“How much do you think one of these would fetch at the Guild?”

The boys exchange looks with each other.

“I want to be strong enough to take down one of these on our own,”

“Let’s aim for a high rank!”

“And raise lots of money!”

“Ou!”

“Ahem, boys, I don’t mean to ruin the moment but aren’t you in the middle of a quest?”

“Oh yeah, our quest!”

“We’ll need to hunt down two more,”

“Horned Rabbits!”

“Thanks for showing us something amazing!”

“THANK YOU!!” the boys bowed and were about to run off when I stopped them.

“Hold on a minute,” I said.

It’s still too early for them to eat Dragon Steaks but they could still try my (p)orc sandwiches.

“Right, everyone gets a sandwich each, and good luck on your quest.”

“Is this really alright?”

“It’s fine, go ahead and take them with you.”

“THANK YOU!!”

The three of them ran off. Occasionally, I heard ‘delicious!’ floating back.

“The stuff that S Rankers eat are delicious!”

“I must become a high-rank Adventurer…”

“Let’s earn lots of money and eat delicious food every day!”

“YEAH!!”

It’s good to be young.

“Oi, I want more Dragon Sandwich.”

““Me too!””

““Sui wants more too ~””

Well, I can’t blame them for wanting more considering how delicious Dragon Steaks were. As for myself, the (p)orc sandwich was good enough. Also, let’s get this thing from [Net Super]…

“Aaahhh, nothing like a good beer,” I took a bite of sandwich followed by a gulp of beer. “Ahhh… I knew beer would go great with (P)orc Sandwiches.”

K Company’s long-standing, bitter and crisp beer matched perfectly with the firm texture of boiled pork and the slightly spicy mustard-based sauce.

Drinking beer in the middle of the afternoon might be weird but I really can’t resist anymore. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, I have a beer in one and a luxurious sandwich in the other.

“This is the best!”

Our party enjoyed the meal under the wide blue sky.

While the Dragon Steak Sandwiches were more popular they still ate the (p)orc sandwiches as well.

The nice, crusty and chewy bread filled me up quickly and I started to feel sleepy under the warm sunshine…

“Hmm, Fer’s here, so I guess it’s fine to take a little nap…” I thought as I leaned more comfortably against Fer’s side.

………

……

…

“Hmm…”

The first thing I noticed was the smell of grass.

When I opened my eyes, it was getting dark. There was no one around anymore.

“Ugh, Fer, get up!”

I poked him until he moved.

“Nuu, what is it?”

“Dora-chan, Sui! Wake up too!” As my familiars stirred themselves awake, I frantically checked the sky and, “if we don’t go back now the gates will be closed!”

“Mu, is it that late already?”

““Humph, humph, sleepy…””

““Zzzzz…””

“…” Sui hadn’t woken up at all, but that’s alright. I can just stuff her into my bag.

“Hurry, hurry!”

““Alright, let’s fly!””

Incredibly, Dora-chan went from sleepy to fully awake in two seconds.

“Let’s go,” as soon as I grabbed hold of Fer’s neck, he suddenly pounced forward and the grassland was speeding past us as though I’m riding a high-speed train.

I nearly fell off a couple of times but more importantly, we made it back in time!

We have a house now, and I plan to make full use of it!