The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 155

Chapter 155:

Plus? Minus?

WHEN DRUID GOT BACK to us, he looked a bit tired.

“Hi. Is everything okay?” I asked. I hoped there hadn’t been a problem.

“Yeah, they just kept asking me what kind of monster killed the gurbars, even though I told them I didn’t see it.” Druid’s smile was a little forced—he was frustrated. It was clear the adventurer party the guild master sent was a bit too nosy.

“I’m just making some tea. Would you like a cup?”

“Sure, thanks.”

As I steeped Druid’s tea, he filled me in on what happened. The adventurers had been shocked when they saw how many dead gurbars there were, and they were incredibly curious about what kind of monster had killed them. It didn’t matter how many times Druid explained that he wasn’t there when it happened; they kept insisting he tell them what the monster looked like. It was natural for adventurers to be curious, but it was a huge hassle for Druid.

“I’m really sorry I made you deal with all that. Thank you, though.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m not sure any of the adventurers in Oll right now could have handled that many gurbars.”

Were gurbars really that formidable? From the way Ciel utterly destroyed them today, it was hard to tell. The ones that got away did seem to be quite fast, though. I would be terrified to see something like that running toward me.

“You couldn’t get a good read on how strong gurbars are since Ciel shredded them up like tissue paper?”

“That’s right. It was obvious how powerful Ciel was, though. The one thing that surprised me was their speed. Gurbars don’t look like fast runners.”

“Yeah, they’re faster than humans. And they can slam with those big bodies of theirs… A kid like you could die instantly from the impact.”

He was right; those gurbar corpses were awfully large. If one of those creatures came charging at me…no mistaking it, I would be dead as a doornail.

“They’re really scary, aren’t they?”

“You need to be careful when Ciel isn’t with you.”

“I will.”

We sipped our tea. I just realized, my plans for the day got thrown way off track. I was going to ask Druid about his life. Should I ask him now?

“Ivy?”

“Yes?” My heart jumped when Druid called my name—I was just about to ask him a question.

Druid had a determined look in his eyes. “I need to tell you something. And I hope you’ll wait until I’m finished before you make any judgments.”

I nodded once in reply.

“First, let me apologize for my brother. It’s my fault he ended up like that… I have three skills.”

Three skills? Wow, most people have two at most.

“My first skill is swordcraft. My second is martial arts. But my third skill is where the problem lies. It’s not a word—it’s a symbol.”

A symbol?

“I tried to have someone look it up for me, but no one could figure out what it means.”

A mysterious skill… Someone did tell me once that new skills continue to be discovered from time to time. Is that what happened to Druid?

“My parents were thrilled that I had a brand new skill. But this new skill of mine stole my older brothers’ stars before I realized it.”

It stole stars? Like, if someone had three stars, then they’d have two? “Um…”

“What?” Druid’s voice was strained—he was clearly tense.

“This skill symbol…um, what does it look like?”

“Like this.”

Druid drew some marks on the ground with a stick. I looked at it… “+/-”?

“Plus…slash…minus?”

“Huh?! Ivy, do you know what this symbol means?”

No, I don’t. It’s just some symbols that Past Me knows. She just said “plus-slash-minus,” so I guess that’s what it’s called. The words that come to mind now are “add or subtract.”

“Ivy?”

The “-” symbol is probably what stole the stars. But the “+” symbol has the opposite meaning. So if my theory is right, Druid’s symbol can add or subtract skill stars from people. That’s…a really powerful skill, isn’t it?

I’ve never heard of stars being added before. If you’re born with only one star, you have one star for life. But Druid’s skill makes adding more stars possible. But…why did he take away his brothers’ stars? From the way he told the story, it sounded like it happened unconsciously. I want to ask him more…but I won’t. From the way he’s acting, I don’t think it’s the sort of thing I can casually talk to him about.

Druid said he had “brothers,” right? That means he has more besides the one I met. Are all his other big brothers like that, too? If they are, Druid must have had a really hard time at home.

“Ivy?” Druid asked with worry in his voice.

Oops. I got lost in my thoughts. That’s a bad habit of mine. “I’m sorry. Umm, the first symbol is a plus. The middle symbol is a slash. And the last symbol is a minus.”

“Plus-slash-minus?”

“Plus means to add, minus means to subtract, and slash means…alternatively?”

“What do you mean, alternatively?”

How could I explain “alternatively” to him? Let’s see…hm? What’s that? Something’s popping into my brain. “Alt.” I tilted my head in confusion at the new word. I figured Past Me put it there because she thought it would help explain things, but “alt” just made no sense to me. Argh, this is so confusing! Forget it.

“It means ‘add or subtract’…um, in other words, I think it’s a skill that can give or take away stars.”

“What?! It can add stars?”

“Yes. Judging by the symbol, I would assume so.”

“Add stars… My brothers’ stars…”

Something had tugged at my conscience when Druid told me his story. Skills only work if you focus on them. I wasn’t able to tame for the first time until I really focused on it. If I’d been able to tame things without thinking, we’d have a big problem. In my case, I’d probably die from lack of magic.

“When your brothers’ stars disappeared…did it catch you totally unawares?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even know how to use my skill.”

Of course he didn’t. He was taking and giving without even knowing it… Come to think of it, where did stolen stars go? Does Druid have them?

“You said you ‘stole’ stars, right?”

“Yeah, in the coming-of-age ceremony, we all have our stars displayed. It was then that we found out my eldest brother had fewer stars. My parents freaked out and had my stars checked, as well as my middle brother. It turned out he was also missing some stars. Meanwhile, my ‘plus-slash-minus’ symbol had some brackets beside it, and there was a little number four in the middle of them.”

Hmm… From the way Druid described it, he really did steal the stars. But the “brackets with the number four” part didn’t make sense.

“After their stars were stolen, did your stars change somehow, Mr. Druid? Like, did you have more of them?”

“No, there were no changes at all.”

That means Druid didn’t get any power from the stars he stole. The stars just got transferred. Well, the power, really, not the stars. Putting myself in the shoes of the people whose power was stolen, I can understand why they were so angry. 

But even though I hadn’t spent much time with Druid yet, one thing about him was clear: He was a very kind person. A very kind person who accidentally stole his brothers’ stars. That must have been pretty traumatic for him.

Since I only just met him, I wasn’t sure it was okay to pry, so I didn’t. Come to think of it, he said there was an “eldest brother” and “middle brother.” Does he only have two brothers? Are there no others?

“How many big brothers do you have?”

“Two. Guess I didn’t say,” Druid smiled wanly, taking a sip of tea. It must have taken a lot courage for him to tell me all this. “My brothers each had two skills, one star in each—all of which I stole.”

Stars… Druid steals stars. I have no stars. Is this what you’d call fate?

“Pu! Puuu,” Sora suddenly chirped. I looked over to the tree and saw Ciel curled up at its base with Sora asleep, snuggled deep in its belly fur. Oh! No, it wasn’t fate at all. The one who guided me to him was Sora.

“Mr. Druid.”

“Yes, Ivy?”

He sounded unusually formal. I looked at him. His face was tense with worry. News of his skill had spread fast, and lots of people probably said some really heartless things to him. But it was worse than that… Some people probably walked out of his life forever. Druid must have been terrified to share this. His mysterious skill stole his brothers’ stars before he knew it. Anyone close to him might have their stars stolen, too…

Ohh…so that’s why he never joined a party. The one who was the most scared of getting close to others was Druid himself.

“Thank you for sharing your story with me.”

“No…I should have told you everything sooner. There’s a chance I might steal your stars, Ivy.”

Steal my stars? I glanced over at the snoozing Sora again. My slime was strong-willed and sassy. It ate potions and could heal fatal wounds… It was a special slime. And it had helped me meet so many dear friends and companions. Druid stole people’s stars without meaning to. But I had no stars to steal… You’ve formed a dream team, Sora.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

“Huh?!” Druid’s concern turned into confusion.

Okay…now it’s my turn. Gee, I feel really nervous. But I need to tell him everything. Then I’ll ask him…will you please join me on my travels?