The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 2 - Chapter 70

Chapter 70:

How to Hide My Aura

AS WE WALKED to the adventurers’ plaza, my new friends gave me a tour of the town. 

Lowcreek went home to his family, while Sifar went home to his girlfriend. Gnouga and Marcreek were off to see friends, too. I ended up with Seizerk, Rattloore, Bolorda, and Rickbert. This town was their base, but they were going to stay with me in the plaza.

They probably have homes, though, right? Is it okay for them to stay with me? The plaza was crowded with adventurers, and I was sure I would be fine alone as long as there were plenty of eyes around. Noticing my concern, Rattloore patted me gently on the head.

“Don’t worry about it, Ivy. Seizerk and Bolorda don’t have anywhere to go right now, anyway,” he said with a smirk. I was surprised to see such a devious look on his face…though what really confused me was why Seizerk and Bolorda didn’t have a place to go home to.

“Their girlfriends both gave ’em the boot before the hunt,” Rickbert chimed in. “None of us have bothered asking for the whole story, though.”

Wow…so they’re homeless because their girlfriends kicked them out? I wonder why. They both seem like good people.

“You guys sure don’t know when to shut up, huh? Wait, why do you even know that?” Bolorda’s voice was rough; he was clearly flustered. Seizerk looked uncomfortable, too.

Their reactions only made me more curious, but when I peeked over at them, they averted their eyes. Rattloore and Rickbert cackled. I felt a little sorry for them, so I decided to keep quiet. Seizerk and Bolorda seemed to be okay for now, anyway.

“What about you, Mr. Rattloore?” I asked him.

“Oh, don’t worry, I don’t have a family.” A look of pain passed over his features, but he was back to his usual self right after. Oops, seems like a sensitive topic.

“Really? Well, I feel much better having you around.”

“I’m fine, too,” Rickbert added. “My family told me to stop being a bum and chased me out.”

Does that count as fine? Rickbert didn’t sound very fine to me, but something in his grin said I shouldn’t ask about it.

“Umm, thank you.” Whatever the reason, having them with me was reassuring, so I thanked them and left it at that.

We reached the plaza. Like the town, it was spacious. They didn’t seem to have a permit system, but there was a supervisor at the entrance. Seizerk and the others waved to him, I bowed, and we went in.

“Wow. It’s really huge,” I mused.

“Riiight? There are four other adventurers’ plazas here, so five in total. All of them are about the size of this one,” Rattloore explained.

Five plazas? Whoa!

Bolorda pointed at an open space. “That spot’s probably about big enough for us. All the other tents are pretty far off.”

“Looks good to me!” Seizerk agreed. We pitched our tents on the floor of the plaza. I’d expected them to use the big tents I saw during the hunt, so it was a surprise to see all four of them pull out personal-sized tents.

“No group tent this time?” I asked.

“You can’t really relax if you’re around your teammates all the time. We use one-man tents here,” Bolorda explained as he drove stakes for his tent into the dirt.

“I guess that makes sense.”

Though we all had personal tents, theirs were a lot bigger than mine. At a glance, I’d say theirs were easily big enough for three people. Four of those all pitched together was really intimidating. I got the go-ahead to put my tent up in the middle of theirs and got the inside all organized. Set-up complete, I checked my magic bags.

Ah! Sora’s going to run out of potions by tomorrow. I’d better go pick some up. But what do I do? If I want to pick up potions at the dump, I’ll have to go alone…but how can I convince them to let me go by myself when someone wants to kidnap me? Hmm… I should think up a cover story. For now, I’ll step outside and get my head on straight. Maybe I’ll think of a good plan.

When I left my tent, Bolorda was talking with other adventurers from the hunt.

“Got it. Tell everyone to get together for me.”

“Understood. Thank you, sir.”

“No prob.”

With that, the adventurers ran off in a hurry.

“Ivy!” Bolorda called out to me while I watched them dart off. When I turned to him, he had a serious look on his face. I approached him a little nervously. “We’ve gotta run an errand.” he said. “You mind being on your own for a while?”

On my own? I haven’t been alone very often lately. It made me anxious, but I couldn’t be with them forever. Besides, I had to go pick up potions!

“That’s fine,” I answered.

“Keep your eyes open, kid.” He rustled my hair.

The other three had finished setting up their tents, so they left for their meeting. On the way out, Rattloore turned around and waved to me until he was out of sight. Seeing him warmed my heart. I ducked back into my tent, closed and latched it, and took Sora out of its bag.

“Sorry I haven’t taken you out much lately.” I patted Sora as it quivered. “People are still after me, so you’ll have to put up with it a little longer.”

I was glad I’d gotten the tent up, though. I couldn’t use it when I was on the road between settlements, which meant I’d had a lot less time with Sora on our most recent trek. Inside the tent, I could take the slime out of its bag. I watched as Sora stretched. It must’ve been cramped in there.

“Sora, once you finish exercising, let’s go grab some potions!”

I planned to stock up on as many potions as I could carry, so I took the biggest bag I had. This was my first time going out alone since I found out I was being stalked. I heaved a sigh as I searched for auras outside. At least for now, I couldn’t sense anyone watching me.

“Let’s go, Sora.”

Sora bounced over to my feet, so I scooped it into its bag and slung the whole thing over my shoulder. I ducked out of my tent, shut it securely, searched for auras again, and finally exited the plaza.

As I walked, I continued to probe for any suspicious people. The bustle and crush of the main street made it harder to read auras, but walking on quiet streets alone was even riskier. Rattloore had warned me over and over not to let my guard down in town.

I showed my permit at the gate and stepped outside the town. Keeping my eyes peeled for trouble, I made a guess at where the dump would be. It couldn’t be far off, and in a town this big, they must have heaps and heaps of trash. If it was too far from the town, then people wouldn’t bother coming all the way out to throw things away.

“There it is!” 

I was right: The big town had an incredible dump. Though size-wise, it was only about as big as Ratome Village’s. Maybe they had more slime tamers here?

“Pheeew…”

Traversing the woods here while keeping my senses alert for auras was honestly exhausting—I couldn’t let my guard down for even a second. I couldn’t let Sora out of its bag like, either. I’ll just get the potions and get out.

I entered the dump and tossed every useful potion I laid eyes on into my bag. I was just grabbing the blue and red ones I’d need for Sora’s meals. All the other kinds I had in my bag were fine for now. I filled the lesser bag to full capacity and left the dump. I must’ve picked up a whole lot, because it was already getting dark.

I gotta hurry back to the plaza. 

I’d barely started the walk back to town, though, when I felt something approaching. I ducked behind a tree and watched. It really was coming toward me! My hands and feet were cold with nerves. I took deep, slow breaths, trying to become one with the forest around me so they wouldn’t sense my aura. Matching my breaths with the wind, I quietly…quietly…waited, until I heard someone toss something in the dump. The aura then turned and began moving back toward town.

Thank goodness. It wasn’t someone trying to kidnap me. 

I took another deep breath and felt around again, but nothing seemed amiss. Actually…did I manage to conceal my aura? Seizerk had taught me how to hide my aura on the way to town. According to him, harmonizing with nature was the best way. Bolorda also agreed that it was the most effective way to hide. 

I ended up jogging back to town. I kept my senses sharp for auras along the way, but nothing felt weird or off-putting. As I showed the gatekeeper my permit and entered, exhaustion overcame me. I’m beat…