SH – Chapter 18 – I Got the Meat with the Children

“We’re getting meat!” (Kid)

“Delicious meat~!” (Kid)

“Me~at, Me~at!” (Kid)

The children were walking through the slums with big smiles on their faces.

They sure are looking forward to this huh.

“Onii-chan is meat too~!” (Kid)

“We’re going to chop him up~!” (Kid)

“Delicious meat~!” (Kid)

…Should you really be saving that out loud?

Or rather, why am I so disliked?

“Hey, onii-chan here isn’t food, you know?” (Louis)

“Huh?” (Kid)

“Eh?” (Kid)

When I said that, the children tilted their heads with puzzled expressions.

What do you not get…?

“Besides, I wouldn’t taste good…” (Louis)

“Definitely bad.” (Kid)

“Absolutely awful.” (Kid)

“Yeah, I don’t want to eat you.” (Kid)

…I can’t help but feel a bit sad hearing them deny it so emphatically, even though I’m the one who said it. 

As I dropped my shoulders in resignation, I made eye contact with the boy who had been silent since earlier.

“…Hmph.” (Kid)

He laughed at me with a snort again!

This is the second time!

This boy has been silent since earlier, but every time our eyes meet, he just laughs at me with a snort.

This is starting to get on my nerves…

After walking with the children for a while, we arrived in front of a house.

“Excuse us, please!” (Kid)

The children knocked on the door and called out like that.

Then, a burly-looking guy with a shaved head came out from inside.

He looked really intimidating.

But when he saw the children, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, you little rascals here to get some meat again?” (Old uncle)

“Yeah! Give us meat!” (Kid)

The guy smiled and was about to pat the children’s heads when he finally noticed me.

“Hmm? Who are you?” (Old uncle)

“Um, well, I just started helping out at the orphanage today. My name is Louis.” (Louis)

He inspected me suspiciously for a moment, but after a while, he seemed to be satisfied and nodded.

“Well, I guess a guy as dull as you couldn’t cause any trouble.” (Old uncle)

“Urgh! Why does everyone keep calling me dull?!” (Louis)

“Hahaha! Did Ruin-chan say that to you too?” (Old uncle)

“Uh, well, not her, but…” (Louis)

I said that and looked at the children.

The children were desperately avoiding eye contact.

“I see. These kids are straightforward, so they probably just speak the truth.” (Old uncle)

…Isn’t that basically the same as saying I’m definitely dull?

Are you purposely saying this?

I dropped my shoulders in disappointment again, for who knows how many times today, and the guy patted my shoulder.

“Well, cheer up. Even if you’re dull and not particularly impressive, you good a pretty good-looking face.” (Old uncle)

“Uh… thanks.” (Louis)

Is he complimenting me?

Well… I guess he is.

“So, how much meat do you want?” (Old uncle)

“Hm~ a bit more than what they usually order.” (Louis)

“Got it. I’ll prepare it for you, so just wait inside.” (Old uncle)

The old uncle (ossan) led us into his house.

The inside looked like a pretty rundown warehouse, but for some reason, it didn’t feel unsettling.

And inside also laid a huge boar and the guy began to dismantle it.

“Did you hunt this boar yourself?” (Louis)

The old uncle nodded while he was dismantling.

“Yeah, that’s right. I used to be an adventurer, you know. Well, I retired after I injured my left shoulder. There are quite a few other former adventurers like me around here.” (Old uncle)

Ah~ I see.

Well, adventurers rely heavily on their physical condition.

If you get injured too badly, it probably just means the end of your career.

“That’s basically why I hunt weaker monsters for a living now.” (Old uncle)

“Aren’t boars quite strong?” (Louis)

“Well, among adventurers, they’re considered pretty weak.” (Old uncle)

Come to think of it, I have never fought any monsters before.

Well, I would definitely die if I did.

I’m a guy who dies from slimes, so there’s no way I could handle boars.

“So, is this amount enough?” (Old uncle)

“Yeah, it’s fine. Thank you!” (Louis)

I handed the sliced meat to the children as the old uncle stood up.

The children handed the basket they had brought to him and then remembered something.

“By the way, it would be great if you could dismantle this one too.” (Kid)

“This guy needs some disassembling too!” (Kid)

“We hope it turns out delicious!” (Kid)

The children then pointed at me.

Are they seriously planning to eat me…

As I grimaced in shock, the guy gave me a sympathetic look.

“You seem to be getting quite the rough treatment, huh…” (Old uncle)

“Ugh… I’d like to think of it as their way of expressing affection…” (Louis)

And so, we returned to the orphanage with the meat we had obtained.

Ruin and Maria were waiting, chopping vegetables.

“Oh, welcome back!” (Maria)

“How did it go? Did you manage to get the meat?” (Ruin)

The children rushed over to Ruin and Maria and told them what had happened.

“Yeah, we did our best!” (Kid)

“Praise us!” (Kid)

“But we couldn’t get onii-chan’s meat though.” (Kid)

“Onii-chan wasn’t really that helpful.” (Kid)

Ruin and Maria smiled and petted the children as they spoke.

“Good job!” (Ruin)

“But we don’t need Louis-san’s meat, okay?” (Maria)

After that, under Ruin’s guidance, we all put our efforts into making curry.

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TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Quite the uneventful chapter lol. It’s literally just a shopping trip. 

I mean I wish I can come up with more things to say but it’s like 3am and I have a few hours of sleep before work ;-;

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Footnote:

1. None