The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 127

Chapter 127:

Departure

“ALL SET!”

I rolled up my tent and put it in my magic bag. I had six magic bags in total: three from Bolorda, two from Lowcreek, and one from Gnouga. They all seemed to have plenty of bags to spare. I guess that’s inevitable when you’re a veteran adventurer. Common magic bags had lots of space and were easy to use. I was shocked to discover that all my possessions could fit neatly into just two of them.

The best part of all was their time-stopping feature—say goodbye to rotten food! I just had to be careful not to accidentally put Sora in one of the magic bags, like I had before. Come to think of it, what would happen to Sora if I did that? I remembered hearing once that Sora would be repelled out of it. Anyway, I’d better be extra careful when I’m in a hurry or half-asleep.

“Look, Mr. Rattloore! All my stuff fit into just two magic bags!”

“Well, those bags are high capacity. Go ahead and keep the extras with you as spares. That’s what the boys would’ve done with ’em.”

“Thank you. I love them! I can move so freely now… It’s perfect!”

I’d been carrying five lesser magic bags including the one on my back, so switching to three common magic bags plus Sora’s bag lightened my load quite a bit. I tried tying the magic bag with the most important items around my waist and hanging the other two from my shoulders. It was really easy to walk that way.

As I gleefully marched about with my bags, Rattloore picked up the trash around my tent. When I noticed this, I scrambled over to him. “Sorry! I should be doing that.”

“Don’t sweat it, kid. I’m happy to help.”

Rattloore, with his unceasing kindness, had also given me a magic light so I could explore caves where I couldn’t set fires. I was hesitant to accept such valuable items from the adventurers at first, but they could easily get replacements by clearing monsters out of the caves near this town, so everyone told me not to worry about it and I gratefully accepted their gifts. After all, we were talking about powerful monsters here, so it would have been impossible for me to score those items on my own.

“Thank you so much,” I said.

Like I mentioned, when I’d first arrived in this town, I’d had five bags. Now, I had two magic bags hanging off my shoulders and one exclusively for Sora. The lesser magic bag for important items that I kept tied around my waist had been upgraded to a common magic bag, which made everything much more secure. I’d gotten more camping supplies and total belongings, but I was carrying less bulk and I felt so much lighter. I was astounded by how different it felt—and I owed everything to the good people I’d met.

Once we’d dumped the trash at the designated spot, our work in the plaza was done.

“Thanks for all your help, Mr. Rattloore!” He obviously had his own packing to do, yet he’d stayed and helped me clean up. I truly was in his debt. “Things got so chaotic, but I really had a lot of fun.”

Rattloore gently patted my head. I looked up at him, and he softly smiled as he looked into my eyes. Seeing the smile that had given me courage time after time broke my heart a little.

“So…” I hesitated, not knowing what to say.

“See ya later,” Rattloore said. “Have a good journey.”

“I will.”

“Just promise me you’ll go easy on yourself. And take care of your health!”

“You, too, Mr. Rattloore.”

“We’ll see each other again…I just know it.”

“Yes…I promise I’ll come back and see you.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Rattloore said.

I felt something surging deep inside of me. I bowed quickly to push the feeling back down and left the plaza. This was goodbye for Rattloore and me, since he had work to do. But just as he was leaving, he turned back and waved at me. I waved back, then headed for the gate. Rattloore truly was a great person to the very end. 

The scenery blurred around me. I swallowed my tears and kept moving forward. 

I’ll definitely come back to visit him.

For some reason, the guards at the gate stopped me to say goodbye, which caught me a little off guard. I’d only taken a few steps down the road when they called out to me, “Come back soon!” I was so happy I spun around and waved back at them with a huge smile on my face.

A couple of minutes into the forest, I took stock of my surroundings. I didn’t sense any human auras around, so I took Sora out of its bag.

“Okay, Sora. We’re back to our travels today. I’m so glad you’re my companion.”

“Pu, pu!”

“He he he, yeah! You, too, Ciel!” I called out, sensing the adandara’s aura. It jumped down gracefully from a tree and landed right in front of me. Aw, you’re so majestic and graceful.

“Okay, let’s go! Um…Sora? That path will take us back to Ratome Village. Please come back here.”

“Puuu!”

Er, you don’t have to make a scene about it. Seriously…

Sora boisterously bounced toward us—so boisterously, in fact, that it slammed right into Ciel. But the adandara didn’t seem to mind. Maybe Ciel just has a really tough body? Sora’s body slams have started to really hurt recently.

“Come on, Sora, let’s go before it gets late.”

“Puuu…”

Ah. It’s sulking. Come to think of it, Sora’s been sulking a lot lately. It seems to get angry over the most trivial things, too. Is Sora going through a rebellious phase…? Wait. Do slimes go through puberty?

“Ciel, starting today, you’ll get to travel with us the whole way to Oll, the next town. I’m looking forward to traveling with you.”

Mrrrow, Ciel purred sweetly, rubbing its face against mine. It was terribly cute.

“Puuuuu!” Sora wailed loudly.

I looked at Sora in surprise, and it eagerly lunged at me. I fumbled to catch it, then sighed in relief when it was safely in my arms. Thank goodness I didn’t drop it.

I looked at Sora, who looked right back at me and wiggled. That was the way it acted when it wanted attention. Maybe it was lonely because I’d let it stew when it was sulking?

“I’m looking forward to traveling with you, too, Sora.”

“Pu, pu, puuu!” it sang, in a tone it used when it was in a good mood.

I smiled at Sora and started walking again. We had to hurry if we wanted to meet our travel goal for the day. Sora jumped down to the ground and bounced in a circle around me. Its mood had been changing like the wind lately. It didn’t seem like Sora was going though growing pains, so…what was it?

“Let’s stop here for the day and rest.” I searched for tracks around us, looking for big claw marks in high places or large paw prints on the ground. If I found either, there were most likely big animals or monsters nearby. I found some small tracks but nothing major.

“Looks all clear to me.”

Mrrrow.

“Okay! Let’s look for a place to make camp!”

“Puuu, pu-puuu,” Sora sang. Its voice sounded far away.

I nervously looked around and couldn’t find Sora. “Aw, come on! You were right next to me a minute ago…” I’d been so focused on searching the area for tracks that I hadn’t noticed Sora had run off. “Sora?” I called, listening for its voice as I searched.

“Pu, puuu!”

I found Sora quickly…right next to the mouth of a cave. I ran up to it nervously—animals and monsters usually hung out in caves. A cautious peek inside revealed no signs of life.

“Oh, thank goodness! Sora, you need to be careful around caves. They’re dangerous.”

“Pu!” Sora snapped sassily in reply.

Was it looking for a place for us to sleep? This cave was an ideal place to spend the night, what with its large opening. I stepped inside and looked for tracks—monsters would likely be glad to sleep in a cave like this, too.

“Looks safe to me. Well spotted, Sora!”

“Puuu!”

Yeah, Sora is definitely getting sassy. I could sort of make out a puffed chest in my slime’s silhouette. Sora was being so adorable that I just had to pat its head.

“Let’s camp here tonight. Okay, Ciel?” Since Ciel had been wandering around the mouth of the cave, I was sure it would tell me if something was wrong.

Mrrrow.

Guess that means we’re safe. What a relief! We found a great place to sleep tonight, thanks to Sora.

“Thanks, Sora,” I told the slime. “I think we’re going to get some great rest here tonight.”

Sora jiggled in reply.

Okay, let’s eat dinner before it gets dark. As I took some potions out of my bag for Sora’s dinner, Ciel purred. I looked over and noticed that it was about to leave the cave. We stared at each other. 

“Are you hungry?”

Mrrrow. 

That makes sense. It’s been a while since it last hunted.

“Okay, Ciel. Have a safe hunting trip!”

Purrr, it replied, dashing out of the cave. Instead of having its meal in front of us, Ciel always ate before coming back from hunting. It really was a smart, sweet creature.

“Okay, Sora, let’s also—annnd you’re already eating.” Sora was halfway through the potions I’d retrieved from my bag. I don’t recall telling you it was okay to eat yet… Well, whatever.

I took out some dried meat and the fruit I’d picked in the forest out of my bag and ate it. Since I had time-freezing bags now, I’d gathered a little more than I needed. Oh well, I guess having too much to eat isn’t really a problem. Maybe this will finally help me grow! I looked really young for my age, and that bothered me quite a bit. 

I can’t put some muscle on these bones unless I eat a lot. I looked at my arms—they were wire thin. I tried to flex my muscles, but 

the lack of any tone only made me more insecure about my body. I’d seen other kids my age, and they were all much bigger and stronger than me. Maybe I should start eating a little bit more every day…

Purrr.

“Hm? Oh, welcome back, Ciel.”

A satisfied-looking Ciel strutted into the cave. It must have been full from a good hunt. Thank goodness. Hey, this dried meat is really good. Dried meat had a different taste depending on where you bought it, and that particular butcher was one of the best ones around. I had a feeling he was actually the reason it had gotten so popular. 

I wish I’d bought a little more meat for the journey…