Gun Chapter 17: Preparation (Patreon)

“All right, don’t be nervous.”

Looking at the slightly trembling cat-eared girl, Wakasha spoke softly, trying to reassure her.

“My name is Wakasha. What about you?”

Hearing his gentle tone, the girl’s tense body relaxed a little. She raised her head and cautiously glanced at him, then quickly lowered it again. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito’s hum, with a faint, barely noticeable tremble in it.

“M-My name is Tachibana Kufuku... I’m a staff member here.”

“Kufuku. That’s a very nice name.”

Wakasha smiled and nodded. There wasn’t the slightest trace of discrimination in his eyes—only pure warmth.

“This map is really helpful to me.”

Hearing his compliment, Kufuku’s cheeks instantly flushed with a faint blush. The cat ears on top of her head twitched lightly again, like a kitten being praised. She hurriedly waved her hands, still speaking in that timid little voice.

“N-No need to thank me... this is just part of my job.

Mr. Wakasha, are you a new adventurer? Your equipment looks like it was only bought recently.”

“I guess so.”

Wakasha glanced down at the leather armor on his body and the short sword at his waist, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“I just left the orphanage yesterday. Yesterday was my first time hunting monsters, and today is my first time taking guild commissions.”

“I see...”

A trace of surprise flashed through Kufuku’s eyes, followed quickly by concern.

“Mr. Wakasha, please be careful.

Slimes may be low-rank monsters and not very strong in combat, but their mucus is troublesome. It can stick to weapons and clothing, and some slimes even carry weak toxins. Windgrass is the same way. It looks like an ordinary plant, but it actually attacks anything that gets close, and it can release a paralyzing powder. If you’re careless, it’s very easy to get caught by it.”

Though her voice was quiet, her tone was extremely serious. It was obvious she genuinely wanted to warn him.

A warm feeling rose in Wakasha’s chest, and he found himself liking this timid cat-eared girl a little more. He nodded and replied seriously,

“I understand. Thanks for the warning, Kufuku. I’ll be careful. I won’t act recklessly.”

“Mhm!”

Kufuku nodded hard, and a little light flickered in her emerald-like eyes, as if she had just seen a bit of hope.

“Mr. Wakasha, if you run into any trouble, or if there’s anything during the commission you don’t understand, you can come back and ask me. I’ll do my best to help!

I’m only a staff member, so there’s a lot I don’t know, but I’ve been here for a while, and I do know some basic things about monsters.”

“All right, then thanks in advance, Kufuku.”

Wakasha replied with a smile.

“I’m going to make some preparations first, then head out to finish the commissions. I’ll try to come back as soon as possible to turn them in.”

“Mhm! Mr. Wakasha, safe travels—and please make sure you come back safely!”

Kufuku lifted her head, looking at Wakasha with determined eyes, the cat ears on top of her head standing up slightly as if cheering him on.

Wakasha smiled, waved to Kufuku, and turned to leave the Adventurers’ Guild.

As soon as he stepped outside, the sunlight fell warmly over him, and his mood brightened too. He could tell Kufuku was a kind, simple girl. It was only because of her demi-human identity that she had become so timid and insecure.

But there was nothing Wakasha could do to change that right now. The only thing he could do was make sure he didn’t treat her differently just because of the way other people did.

Wakasha didn’t head straight out into the wild. Instead, he went to the town’s general store first.

Kufuku had warned him, but caution alone wasn’t enough. The more preparation he made, the better he could guarantee his safety.

Slime mucus was extremely sticky—ordinary clothes and weapons could easily get coated in it. Windgrass’s paralyzing powder was just as troublesome, so he needed to prepare countermeasures ahead of time.

When he arrived at the general store, Old Boss was still sitting behind the counter. The moment he saw Wakasha come in, he broke into his usual kindly smile.

“Wakasha? What brings you back again? You just came back from the forest yesterday, and now you’re heading out again?”

“Yeah, Old Boss.”

Wakasha stepped forward with a smile and nodded.

“I took on two commissions at the Adventurers’ Guild. One is to collect slime mucus, and the other is to hunt Windgrass. I came to buy a few more things before I head out.”

“Slime mucus and Windgrass?”

Old Boss’s smile faded slightly, and worry crept into his voice.

“Those are both low-rank monsters, but they’re both troublesome.

Slime mucus is horribly sticky. Once it gets on you, it’s hard to clean off. And if it gets into your eyes, you can go temporarily blind. Windgrass is even sneakier. It hides in the grass, making it hard to spot, and once you inhale its paralyzing powder, your whole body goes weak and you can’t move. If another monster shows up then, you’re in real trouble.”

“I know. I’ll be careful.”

Wakasha nodded and answered seriously.

“That’s why I came here to buy some things to deal with them. Like something that can clean slime mucus, and maybe herbs or masks that can resist the paralyzing powder.”

“You’ve thought this through pretty well.”

Old Boss nodded in approval, stood up, and slowly began taking things down from the shelves.

“For cleaning slime mucus, I’ve got two kinds of medicine here. One is ordinary de-sticking fluid—5 copper a jar. It’ll clean normal slime residue just fine, but it doesn’t work that well on water slime mucus. The other is strong de-sticking fluid—15 copper a jar. Whether it’s green slime, water slime, or any other kind of slime mucus, it’ll clean it off easily, and it won’t harm the skin.”

As he spoke, Old Boss placed two jars on the counter. One was clear and looked plain enough. The other was pale blue and gave off a faint, fresh scent.

“As for resisting paralyzing powder, I’ve got herb sachets and masks.”

Old Boss pulled a small cloth pouch and several cotton masks out from under the counter.

“This herb sachet contains dried alertgrass and mint. If you keep it on you, it can help disperse the paralyzing powder around you, and it also helps keep you alert. 5 copper each. These masks are made of cotton cloth with a filtering layer sewn inside, so they can filter out paralyzing powder and dust from the air. 3 copper each. You might want to buy a few as spares.”

Wakasha carefully looked over the items on the counter, quickly doing the math in his head.

He still had 9 silver and 1 copper left.

“Old Boss, I’ll take one jar of strong de-sticking fluid, two herb sachets, and three masks.”

Wakasha said.

The strong de-sticking fluid cost more, but it worked better and could handle all kinds of slime mucus, reducing the chance of accidents.

As for the two herb sachets, one could be worn on his body, while the other could stay in his bag as a backup.

And three masks would be enough for him to finish the commissions. If one got dirty or damaged, he’d still have spares.