The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 140

Chapter 140:

Let’s Get Him Involved!

REMEMBER HOW I said I had planned to head to the forest? Well, I was stopped at the gate. And I don’t blame them, since there were gurbars near the town. When I promised the gatekeeper I would run away at the first sign of danger, he let me pass, but he looked very stern. In moments like this, I could easily get people to understand if they knew about Ciel…but of course I couldn’t tell them.

I paid close attention to my surroundings as I reentered the forest. I walked for a while, but there was no sign of Ciel. Usually it would have shown up by now.

“I wonder if something happened to them?” I searched further, on high alert the whole time for any auras around me. I sensed one aura deeper into the forest, but it was too far away to tell if it was Ciel or not. Still, I knew just staying where I was would accomplish nothing, so I trekked further in.

“Oh! There’s Ciel.” I finally sensed the adandara. It was a big relief—my mind had been racing, imagining all sorts of things that might have happened to my friends.

I ran toward Ciel’s aura. “Ciel! Thank goodness you’re… Yikes!”

A heap of corpses. 

…That’s how I would describe Ciel’s immediate surroundings. The dead animals were really big, too. I looked closer and saw…horned noses? Their legs weren’t all that long. Their bodies were stocky as well. Were they…gurbars?

“Um, Ciel, are you okay—yeah, looks like you are.” Ciel was seated elegantly next to the pile of dead monsters. And if I’m not mistaken, it was smiling pretty smugly. I could practically hear it saying, “There. I killed ’em all just for you.”

“Good work, Ciel. That was very brave.” I think I remember that you train cats using positive reinforcement. Wait, “train cats”? Oh bother, there’s the knowledge from my past life again… Well, it’s okay. Ciel isn’t hurt, so no harm done.

“Gee, I wonder how many there are?” I counted the toppled corpses. There were eight. But I spotted tracks leading deeper into the forest, so some of them must have gotten away. “Wait, what am I even supposed to do with all of these?” I can’t just leave them, can I? The rules say you’re supposed to notify any nearby towns and villages when there’s been a monster or animal attack.

I can tell them about the corpses without mentioning Ciel, right? Or maybe I should ask Druid for help? But I don’t want to bother him.

“Oh, right! Sora!”

Mrrrow.

When I looked back at Ciel, it was climbing up a tree. It gracefully jumped to the ground with Sora’s bag in its mouth. It must have put the bag up there for safekeeping.

“Thanks, Ciel.” I took it and quietly peeked inside. The two slimes were snuggled up against each other, asleep. They were so cute. “Well, let’s move someplace else, okay?”

I couldn’t relax around a pile of gurbar corpses. They might draw other animals or monsters. I grabbed the bag with the Soras and started off into the woods.

Mrrrow, Ciel said, blocking my path.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Ciel looked over at the dead gurbars. I followed its gaze. What was it trying to tell me? Gurbars? Dead monsters…what could I possibly—oh!

“Do you want me to butcher and sell them?”

Mrrrow.

“Um, I’m sorry, Ciel. But I don’t think anyone wants to buy gurbar meat.” I’d never even butchered any monster that large. I guess it was possible, but probably a very daunting task…and there were eight of them, too! Besides, even if I could butcher them, I don’t think I could find a buyer. And finally, it would be hard to explain to the butcher how I managed to kill all those gurbars in the first place.

Mew! Ciel meowed sharply.

It sounds angry. Urrrg, what should I do?

Mewww? 

Please…don’t look so sad. You’ll make me want to do something to help. “Ciel, you wait here. I’ll go get Druid to help us.”

Druid and the guild master were the only people I’d really spoken to around here, and Druid was the only one who knew about Ciel. It might be a big imposition, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask for one favor.

Mew.

After receiving Ciel’s “blessing,” I hurried back to town. I remembered that Druid said he had to talk to the guild master. Maybe he was still there? If he’s not…I’ll give up.

The gatekeeper saw me hurrying back to town and was really worried about me. I felt horrible about it. I told him I was okay and I hadn’t been attacked…but did he believe me? When the guild building came into sight, I saw that Druid was just leaving. He looked surprised to see me.

“Um, sorry, sir, but I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

“Sure thing. Anything in my power.”

“Well…Ciel kind of killed a bunch of gurbars.”

“Um…for real?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well…I guess I should at least go have a look.”

“Thanks. I know it’s a lot.”

“Oh, no, I’m glad you told me. The town is still pretty frazzled about the gurbar attack.”

Druid and I walked back out toward the forest. The gatekeeper looked pretty confused to see me with him as I went through the gate again. It was hard not to laugh. As we walked toward the spot where Ciel was, I wasn’t sure why—maybe because he was a seasoned adventurer?—but Druid was striding along at a much faster pace than when we walked back to town earlier. I was impressed.

“It’s over there, sir.”

“Yikes…” Druid stopped in his tracks when he saw the carnage around Ciel. I’d had the exact same reaction…and no wonder. Anyone would.

“How many are there?” he asked.

“Eight, sir.”

“Eight, eh? We should probably bring some people here to clean up the area.”

“Yes, but, um, how should we explain what happened here?”

“Yeah, that’s the problem… Maybe we should get the guild master involved.”

The guild master… From what I saw of him, he didn’t seem like a bad person. But will it be okay to let him in on this secret?

“The guild master can be a bit scatterbrained, but he’s a kind man. I think we can trust him.”

Okay…he’s safe! “You’re right. Let’s bring him in, then.” No amount of worrying would solve our problem, so we had to take the leap and trust the guild master.

“Okay, we’ll head back to town and…Ivy, are you okay with that?”

“Oh, no problem. Why do you ask?”

“Well, you’ve walked an awful lot today.”

Have I? I don’t know; I think I only walked nine hours total today. I should be okay. “I’m fine. Let’s go back to town.”

“Okay.” 

I told Ciel we were going back to town again to get more help. Ciel seemed to approve of this plan, so I figured we were good to go. We set off at a rather quick pace.

“So, Ivy, how much do you usually walk in a day?”

“Let me think… I start at sunup and finish at sundown, so in the summer, that’s about fourteen to fifteen hours.”

“Wow, that’s quite a walk.”

“Is it? Hmm… I guess it was a bit of a strain when I first set out, but I’m used to it now.”

At the start of my travels, it really had been a struggle. After just six hours of walking, my muscles would start giving out, but I’d still push through it. I was desperate to escape at the beginning, so I would drag myself from town to town. I walked on sheer willpower.

I guess, over time, it became normal to me to walk ten hours in a day. A few times, I even walked a whole twenty-four-hour cycle because I was in monster-infested areas where it would be dangerous to stop and sleep. Come to think of it, those twenty-four-hour travel days stopped entirely after I met Ciel.

The gatekeeper gave us another strange look when we returned to town yet again. I wondered how he would react if we showed up with the guild master next time…

The guild’s lodge was overflowing with adventurers…and they all seemed aggravated. I’m kinda scared.

“This way, Ivy.”

“Yes, sir.” I followed Druid up the stairs. We came to the guild master’s room on the second floor, where we found him talking with another man. He was a bit surprised to see us but quickly offered us a couple of chairs.

“We’ll make this quick,” Druid said.

“Understood. You’ve really had a hard day, Druid.”

The other man and Druid seemed to know each other. The new man glanced at me, so I gave him a little nod.

“Ha ha ha, well, sit tight there,” he said, “I need to talk to the guild master a bit.”

“Please, wait. We’ve come about the gurbars—”

“Yes, that’s why I’m here.”

“—so that he’ll…hm?”

Is that why all the adventurers are here? To clear out the gurbars?

“Guild Master, sorry to interrupt, but it’s important,” Druid insisted.

The guild master gave Druid a once-over, then nodded. He asked the other man to leave the room and gave him a message to pass on: “Tell the other adventurers to wait there a minute.”

“Understood, sir. If you’ll excuse me,” he said.

Wow, he’s really polite. Is he the guild master’s assistant?

“Well?” There was a sharpness in the guild master’s voice. It was easy to see how he’d made it to the top of this organization.

“The gurbars have already been exterminated,” Druid said.

“Um…by whom?”

“By Ciel—oh right, Ciel is an adandara that Ivy here tamed.”

An intimidating silence fell over the room. I sneaked a glance at the guild master, whose eyes were wide open in shock. I felt a little guilty about that.

After several long seconds, the guild master looked at Druid and said slowly, “Did you say…an adandara?”

Druid nodded in reply.

“Wow…an adandara… Really?” the guild master asked Druid once more. Again, Druid nodded silently in reply. It all felt very awkward.

“You’ll probably have to see it to believe it,” Druid said. “Come with us.”

“Ah?! Well…yes, I suppose you’re right. Guess I’ll come along.” While Druid was eager, the guild master was hesitant. I got the sense we’d won him over, but was taking him out to the forest really the only way for us to make any progress with him?