The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 1 - Chapter 62

Chapter 62:

Discomfort

WHILE I CLEANED UP BREAKFAST, I wondered how I could explain the tea. What if I fibbed and said everyone in Ratomi Village drank it? Oh, but that wouldn’t work… If any of them knew anything about the village, they’d see through it right away. What if I said someone taught me about it? Except…who would it be? The fortune-teller? I…didn’t want to use someone I cared about for a lie. Besides, I didn’t really want to lie in the first place. You never knew when people would find out the truth.

Oh! What if I said I happened to notice the smell in the forest and picked the leaves? The scent had seemed familiar, so that was accurate. It wasn’t a lie, just an omission. Okay! If anyone asks me, I’ll go with that.

All the adventurers were gathered in one spot having some sort of meeting. They were probably about to begin the hunt in earnest. What would I do? Should I wait in this camp? Or would it be fine to continue my journey?

Once their meeting was finished, I called out to Seizerk. “Excuse me, Mr. Seizerk?”

“What’s up?”

“Is it okay if I set off again?”

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” he warned. “According to the reports we received last night, there are a lot more ogres out there than we thought.”

“More than ten, you mean?”

“Think bigger. According to the leader’s prediction, we could be dealing with over thirty.”

“That…” I frowned. “That’s a whole lot…”

“Right. So I think it’d be best for you to stay here with us.”

“Okay. I’ll wait until the hunt is over before I go anywhere.”

“Sorry, kid,” said Seizerk. “We’ll try to hunt them down quick.”

“Don’t get hurt, though,” I said. “Be careful.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that.”

The sound of what? “Be careful”? I wasn’t sure why he liked it, but good for him?

“Ivy, could you help me out?” Gnouga beckoned me over.

As I approached, I saw a pile of trash in front of their tent. “Sure,” I said. “Glad to help with anything I can.”

“We process trash near the center of camp. Can you help me carry it?”

Processing trash? Did that mean I would get to meet a slime? I’d wanted to see one eating trash for a while, so I was glad of the opportunity. “Understood.”

“Sorry, but could I ask you to collect the other adventurers’ trash as well?”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

“Thanks. Sorry again.”

Strangers called out to me. I looked over—it was a group of female adventurers. Other groups were waving and calling out to me, too. They all must’ve been busy getting ready for the hunt.

After seeing the adventurers off, I gathered all their trash and headed to the center of the camp. I squeezed between two tents and arrived at the clearing where slimes handled all the trash. There were fourteen slimes in all and four adventurers—three men and one woman. Were they all tamers?

“Excuse me,” I said. “Where can I leave this?”

“Are you the boy Sword of Flames brought in?” The man nearby was surprised to see me before he figured out who I was.

“Yes. Thank you for letting me stay here.”

“Ha ha ha! You’ve got good manners, lad. Leave the trash right there.”

I set down the trash, and a slime slid over. Among the trash I’d brought were dirty clothes, empty potion containers, a broken sword, and more. How was I supposed to give them to the slime?

“Huh? Is there a sword in there?” the woman asked.

“Yes, but it’s broken.”

“My slime here will take care of that. Could you bring it over?”

“Okay.” I took the broken sword and placed it in front of the woman’s slime. Sword-eating slimes were incredibly rare. I watched as it hopped on top of the sword and stood still for a moment. Nothing was happening, so I just watched, confused.

She giggled. “I don’t think there’ll be much to see.”

“Huh?”

“Swords take a really long time to eat.”

“Wow. I had no idea…”

I returned to where I’d left the trash. Several slimes were processing it. It looked like they had a slime that could eat empty bottles, too. When I watched it with the bottles, I noticed something strange: It was taking a really long time to eat a bottle that Sora would’ve devoured in seconds.

As I watched the slime slowly digest the bottle, a shiver ran up my back. I looked around frantically, but there was nobody there. What was that? It was just like this morning. Creepy…

“You okay?” the woman asked, startling me again. “You look a little pale.”

“Huh? Oh, I’m…fine. Thank you for asking.”

She looked surprised, but then smiled softly and held out a hand. “I’m a tamer in Verdant Wind, the name’s Mira. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh! I’m just a traveler. My name is Ivy.”

“Are you alone? But you look so young.”

“Yeah, I am.”

“If you have any troubles, let me know, okay? I’m a senior adventurer; I’ll help you out!”

“Thank you very much.” Another unpleasant chill, this time on my neck. I quickly searched around, but I couldn’t figure it out. Seriously, what was going on? It was freaking me out.

“Do you feel something?” Mira whispered.

“I, uh. Um…ah!” I was so preoccupied with that weird feeling that I’d forgotten I was in the middle of talking to her. I shook my head silently, but she put a gentle hand on my head.

“I might not look like it, but I am a member of a veteran group,” she said. “Wanna talk about it?”

Talk about it? What could I even say?

“You can tell me anything, okay?” Mira urged.

“Umm…something feels weird. Like a chill on the back of my neck…”

That probably didn’t make sense to her, right? But I didn’t know how else to explain it. Mira’s expression turned grave.

“It’s important that you can feel that. That’s an instinct that’ll help keep you safe.”

“Keep me safe?”

“Yep. I think what you feel is menace in someone’s gaze. How long have you been feeling it?”

“Since this morning,” I admitted.

“Then a member of this hunt may be a problem.” She believed me? “Let me go consult with some people I trust. Ivy, make sure you’re never alone, okay?”

“O-okay. But if I’m wrong—”

“If you’re wrong, then we can all look back on it and laugh. 

But if you’re right, someone might be after you. Discomfort and disgust can help you stay safe. Trust your gut”

That was a frightening thought. I was sure about the discomfort I was feeling, but did it really mean that someone was after me? I shivered.

“It’s okay,” she assured me. “I’ll talk to Sword of Flames. They’re veterans like me.”

“Huh?!”

They were veterans… That was a real shock.