There's Something Strange About My Water Magic ~ Before I Knew It, I Was a Slum Orphan Thrown Into the Trash Bin ~ - Episode 5: The Bad Guys

Episode 5: The Bad Guys

I woke up to the sound and vibration of someone repeatedly kicking the trash bin I was curled up in.

“Gyuegguwehh,” came the cry of some animal.

Eventually, the sound and shaking stopped. The surroundings became eerily silent.

Someone then talked in a whispering voice.

“Heheheheh, finally shut up.”

“If a C-rank adventurer gets plenty drunk and ends up plastered, he’s not that tough.”

“He made us spend quite a bit of money… but look at this, the guy stashed a bunch of treasure in his storage.”

“So it was true that if someone with storage dies, everything inside spills out.”

“Hehehe, we’re taking the treasure and the money too.”

“But for someone with storage, this is kind of a small amount.”

“Who cares. Even just this should sell for a decent price.”

“Hm~? Didn’t this guy say he found a skill ball in the dungeon or something?”

“Yeah, he let that slip while drunk, and he panicked right after.”

“He was almost bragging about how it would sell for a good price, wasn’t he?”

“Now that you mention it… it’s nowhere to be found.”

“Was he bluffing…?”

“Hey, someone might come. So let’s at least grab all the valuable stuff and get out of here.”

“What about this guy?”

“C’mon, why do you think we finished him off right next to the trash bin?”

“Heh, true. Let’s toss him in already.”

*Clatter* — the sound of the trash bin lid opening.

*Thud!* — the sound of something big falling in.

I curled my body up and held my breath so I wouldn’t be found.

Someone tried to look inside the trash bin but said, “Ugh, it stinks! And it’s full already. What the hell is the guild doing? Whatever, I’ll just throw the rest in randomly.” And while saying that, *flap flap flap*, they tossed something in, then *slam!* — closed the lid with a sound.

As I kept holding my breath, I heard footsteps quickly walking away from the trash bin. And it became quiet.

I fearfully opened my eyes.

At that moment, something big slid down the mountain of garbage.

It was a still-warm corpse.

A body with a tightly bound rope around its neck. Its eyes and tongue were bulging out like they were about to pop.

The corpse smelled of alcohol. It was glaring at me with a resentful look.

I nearly let out a scream. But I bit my hand to hold it in—and eventually, I couldn’t stand the stench of feces and urine leaking from the body and vomited.

Hanging from the corpse’s neck was a reddish-brown metal tag, with the words engraved:

『John Doe: C-Rank Adventurer.』