The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 132

Chapter 132:

Don’t Get Too Dirty

BATHING IN THE WARMTH of a new day’s sunlight, I raised my arms up toward the sky. This feels so good…but the sun seems higher than usual.

“Oops…I overslept.” I must have been really tired. By the time I got up, it was already high noon. I broke my early morning streak. Oh well, I couldn’t help it. We’re in a bit of a hurry because of Sora, but this isn’t exactly a journey with a time limit. A lazy day now and then won’t hurt.

“Pu, puuu,” Sora sang, cheerful as ever as it bounced around. All traces of its recent moodiness were gone, which was a relief…but it worried me that Sora might need to heal others to stay healthy itself. If that were the case, I would have to completely rethink our plans for this journey. I guess I’ll keep an eye on Sora and make a decision later.

“Okay, let’s head out.”

We left the rocky area and returned to the forest, which was in exactly the same storm-tossed shape as yesterday. But there was one difference: We were all well rested. Jumping over the trees felt light and easy now. Still, a vast sea of fallen trees lay ahead of us. We’d have to proceed slowly and carefully so we wouldn’t wear ourselves out halfway. 

After a few hours, the fallen trees started to thin out. A wave of relief washed over me when I realized we were almost clear of the area that had been devastated by the storm. My legs were about to give out—I’d lost count of how many trees I’d jumped over that day.

“Okay, looks like we’ll be back in a regular forest again pretty soon.”

Mrrrow.

“Puuu,” Sora croaked, bobbing over to me. It looked sleepy rather than exhausted. I picked up Sora and put it in its bag. After a little rustling, the bag stopped moving. Sora must have fallen asleep. So healing others cured Sora’s mood swings, but not its sleepiness.

“Does this mean healing has nothing to do with Sora’s condition? Or does it need to do more healing?” Maybe I should look for a wounded animal. There’s still a ways left until we get to town, so we could take a little detour.

“Hey, Ciel, is it okay if we take the long way to town?” Ciel gave me a strange look. Since we had been trying to get to Oll as quickly as possible before this, the change of plans must have been confusing.

“I was thinking maybe Sora needs to heal others. And since it’ll be a while before we get a chance to heal humans, maybe we could find a wounded animal for it to heal first. What do you think?”

Miii. Ciel made a sound I’d never heard before. I looked at it in surprise. Ciel didn’t look bothered, so I supposed it wasn’t a particularly special meow. But it definitely did not sound like a “yes.”

“You disagree with me, don’t you?” Ciel knew Sora better than I did, so maybe hurrying to town was the right choice after all? I looked at Ciel, and it stared back at me. Yeah, we should probably hurry to town.

“Okay, scratch the detour. Let’s go straight to town.”

Mrrrow, Ciel agreed. Even so, due to the unexpected weather, we wouldn’t be able to get there as soon as we’d anticipated. We were originally supposed to arrive at Oll tomorrow. I checked the map. Even if we traveled at our normal speed, it would still take us three days. That storm really was a doozy.

“Okay, let’s go just a bit farther.” After a little break, we walked through the forest, keeping our eyes out for a place to make camp. Since there wasn’t as much storm damage here, we could even sleep up in a tree if we wanted. Let’s find a really comfortable spot if we can.

Mrrrow.

I glanced toward Ciel, who was looking at a big tree. Maybe it was a good place to sleep? I gave Ciel’s head a soft pat and approached the giant tree.

“Gosh, that’s humongous.” It was the biggest tree I’d seen in this forest. Its branches were also unbelievably thick. “Okay, let’s call this home for the night.”

Mrrrow.

I walked all the way around the tree’s trunk and stopped beneath one of its branches. It was so broad and sturdy that we could hide beneath it and not have to worry much about attacks from above. I thought about sleeping right on the branch itself but decided we’d be safer underneath. I checked the tree for animal markings and found nothing dangerous, just some little claw marks from tiny animals.

I took my mat out of my bag and unrolled it on the ground. I touched the dirt—it was dry, so I didn’t need to make any special preparations. I rolled out another mat on top of the first and spread a big blanket over both.

“There. I’ll just have a little bath before I turn in.”

I wiped all the dirt off my feet and legs. If I didn’t do at least this much, it would be a real ordeal washing up later. After I finished cleaning myself, I helped Ciel with its grooming.

“Okay, all done.” I climbed on top of the blanket and got to work cleaning my chest, back, and arms. The cold, wet cloth felt wonderful on my skin, which was hot and sweaty from all that walking.

“If we find a river, I’ll have to do our laundry. We’ve got lots of dirty things.”

So many of my blankets and clothes were dirty from the rain. Even the cloth I’d been using as a rug was quite dirty, now that I got a good look at it. I longed to get in the water and have a proper, refreshing bath. No amount of careful wiping could prevent the dirt from building up on me.

I opened up Sora’s bag and called in, “Sora, wanna have some dinner?”

“Pu-u-u?” it asked sleepily.

“Sora, dinnertime,” I said again. But it was in a daze. Will wonders never cease? The word “dinnertime” always woke up Sora; the little slime loved to eat. “Sora? Are you okay?”

“Puuu… Pu, pu-puuu!” Energy returned to its voice as it jumped out of the bag.

“Are you awake now?”

“Pu, puuu,” Sora replied, glancing around. It seemed to be looking for its potions.

Yeah, you really do love to eat. “Sit tight, okay?” I pulled the potions I’d collected for Sora out of my bag. The moment I finished lining them up, Sora began to eat. Good. It’s eating normally. Though I wouldn’t mind if it slowed down a little.

“Okay, time for me to eat, too.” I was eating my usual dried meat, nuts, and fruit. We were all out of Ciel’s favorite fruit, but it was probably already full. During a break in the forest earlier that day, it had slipped away for a bit and returned looking very satisfied with its belly protruding, so I figured it must have had a good hunt. 

Sora finished its potions and began its daily stretches. Come to think of it, Sora hasn’t been doing these stretches since we left Otolwa. I’d been so preoccupied with its strange mood swings that I hadn’t noticed.

“Good to see you’re exercising again.”

“Pu, pu-puuu.” It sounded cheerful, too. Hmm, maybe it’s 

because it healed that animal? If I could get Sora to heal someone again, I might be able to figure a few things out.

“Okay, I’m all full.” Dinner was over, so it was time to get ready for bed. “I need to be sure I wake up nice and early tomorrow morning.”

I brushed my teeth and rinsed my mouth. Then I pulled my blanket out of my bag. I really should wash this, too. Ooh, I know, I’ll buy another blanket at the next town. I need a spare for when this one gets dirty. I probably have enough room in my magic bag for two more.

“Whew, okay. Teeth brushed! Let’s go to bed.” I lay down next to Ciel. When I looked over at Sora, I noticed the slime was already asleep. It always seemed to nod off when I wasn’t looking. I rolled over to find a comfortable sleeping position. Huh, I smell kind of dusty. Come to think of it, it was pretty windy today, and there was a lot of dirt blowing around. I touched my hair. I’d tried combing the dust and dirt out of it, but it was quite rough.

“Okay, I don’t care how far a detour we take. We need to get to a river.” Yeah, now that it’s on my mind, I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ll be obsessing over how dirty I am until I can get clean. We’re definitely finding a river. And it’s good timing. I was running out of clean clothes anyway.