The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 4 - Chapter 212

Chapter 212:

Departure

“Take care, you two,” Shurila said. “Ivy, if Druid slacks off on you, kick his butt. You have my blessing.”

“Ha ha ha ha! I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Shurila was being sassy as ever. Her mother-in-law had said the same thing to me a little earlier, too. They really were so alike, even though they weren’t related by blood. Not alike in looks but in words. Bye, Druid’s father…Doluka…and you, too, Dolgas!

“Oh, thank goodness I made it…”

“Mr. Guild Master! Was it okay for you to take time off work today?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. But are you really sure you’re okay with me taking the loot from you?”

“Yes, sir.”

To be honest, I was grateful to him for taking “the loot”—meaning a set of potions and magic stones—off my hands. I definitely didn’t want to walk around with those powerful rarities in my possession.

Two days before our departure, Druid and I had gone to the dump to collect food for the slimes. Ciel enjoyed a nap in the sun while we did that, and Sora and Flame went straight to eating potions, swords, and spent magic stones, so we let them have their fill.

But then…

After we filled our bags to the brim and returned to the two slimes, we found a mess scattered on the ground around them. Sparkling blue and red potions. Transparent, high-purity magic stones filled with power, and a first for me: a sword adorned with a magic stone.

The scene was so amazing that we both froze at the sight of it. We wanted to just pretend we didn’t see it and move on, but a treasure trove like that would certainly cause problems down the line, so we scooped everything up into our bags and hurried away from the dump. The instant we were safe inside Druid’s house, a wave of relief washed over us.

We inspected the haul. There were eight sparkling potions: four blue and four red. Each of the eight bottles was different, so Sora had clearly filled up empty containers from the dump. Seriously, people, please don’t throw away perfectly usable bottles!

There were six magic stones that had to be either Level SS or Level SSS, plus fifteen stones of lower levels. And for some reason, there was a sword…a sword with a high-level magic stone embedded in it, at that. Druid said it must be Level SS or SSS, which meant it was probably a true sword. I was surprised that Sora could create swords now, but after everything else I’d experienced, it didn’t come as a huge shock. Druid’s catchphrase, “Because Sora and Flame are special,” had become rather convincing.

Both of the slimes looked quite proud of themselves. They’d probably meant to help instead of pulling a prank on us. I did remember they were staring at us awfully hard when we talked about raising money for the trip. Maybe they figured if we’d sold all the treasures they’d just produced, we could have gone on quite the luxurious journey…which would no doubt lead to rumors and trouble for us, so we couldn’t sell the items and we could only use them in emergencies. But since they had done all of this for us, we did thank them, and they were so cute when they jiggled happily in reply.

Just when we were staring at the pile of loot and wondering what to do with all of it, the guild master happened to pop his head into Druid’s home. So we forced—no, we donated it all to him. He turned us down at first, but we were desperate. We would be nervous wrecks if we had to carry all those treasures in our bags on the road.

We finally managed to convince him to take three red potions and three blue potions, as well as all the magic stones. This was a great weight off our chests; now we could travel with our minds at ease. We told the guild master not to worry about repaying us.

But he insisted, “If you ever need money, contact me at once. I can send you some funds to thank you for the loot.”

“Thank you, sir. But the loot was a donation, so don’t worry about it.”

“Is that you, Guild Master? Don’t you have to work?” Druid, who had finished speaking with his relatives, joined us. I looked over at his family and saw that Dolgas was with them, too, now. The entire family had come to send him off.

“Don’t worry about me,” the guild master insisted. “So I hear you and Dolgas patched things up?”

“Yeah… You could say that.”

“Well, I’m happy for you.”

“Where’s Master?”

“On an emergency hunting mission. You should’ve heard the way he grumbled and cursed when he left.” The guild master smirked. “Arrrgh, well, good luck, jackass.”

“Ha ha ha!”

“Okay, Ivy…we should be on our way now.”

“Sounds good.”

We said one final goodbye to everyone and then passed through the gate. Our last farewell was to the gatekeeper. This one had served the longest out of all of them, and he had really helped both of us out a lot. Come to think of it, I never got his name.

“Thanks for everything, sir,” I said.

“No, thank you, kid. You kept our town safe. Take care.”

Wait…huh? The gatekeeper doesn’t know about Ciel, does he? I shot Druid a confused look, and he smiled back at me.

“There’s a veteran gatekeeper for you,” Druid told him.

“Well, I’ve seen my fair share of unusual things over the years, but I never got any solid proof.”

What did he mean by that? Is it…what I think it is? “Will you please keep our secret, sir?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you very much.” Druid bowed, and I hastily did the same.

“See ya later.”

“Sure thing.”

What was that all about? I was dying with curiosity, so I asked Druid once we were safely out of earshot. “Mr. Druid, did the gatekeeper find out about Ciel?” 

“The thing about him is…all those years of experience have given him the intuition to know what’s really going on in any situation.”

Intuition from years of experience… That’s pretty cool.

“He probably pieced it together from the rumors of that very strong monster that started popping up the minute you arrived in town and how neither I nor the guild master ever tried to stop you from going into the forest. There were many other clues, but he likely figured out that the monster was connected with you, Ivy, and that it protected the town.”

Yeah, I guess the truth is kinda easy to figure out once you put all the pieces together. I’ll need to be a little more careful from now on.

“By the way, I was surprised to see Dolgas there.”

“Yeah…he told me to give you his regards. Also, Mom made us a box lunch for the trip.”

“Is it heavy? I can’t wait to see it.”

“It’s heavy beyond all imagination.”

Beyond all imagination? Just how many people did she pack for…?

I looked up at Druid, and he looked quite pleased despite what he was saying. His relationship with his brothers was still a little strained, but I was sure everything would be okay the next time they saw each other.

I perked up my senses for auras in our general area…then I double-checked with my eyes. Okay. We’re alone.

“Mr. Druid, let’s head farther into the forest.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

When I was traveling with Sora, Flame, and Ciel as an adandara, it was safest to choose a route that was deep in the forest, so that’s where we were going to walk, just as I’d done when I traveled alone.

“I think this spot should be okay.” I opened the slime bag, and Sora and Ciel both jumped out of it eagerly. It had only taken Ciel a day to master the art of jumping. All that graceful bounding through tree branches had clearly trained the creature well.

Then there was Flame…who jumped out of the bag and promptly went splat on the ground. Yup. You’re definitely a ditz.

“You okay?” I asked, picking up Flame and wiping the dirt off its body.

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

Well, it doesn’t seem hurt, so it’s probably fine. “Ciel, it’s okay for you to turn back into your true form now. We’re going to be in the forest for a while until we reach Hatow Village.”

Mrrrow, Ciel trilled, dissolving in a beam of bubbling light and turning back into an adandara. I’d already seen the creature shapeshift many times so far…but the sight still stunned me. I couldn’t help but worry that it would hurt itself.

“Do you feel okay, Ciel? Anything hurt?”

Mrrrow.

It was happily rubbing its face all over me, so it must have been fine. What a relief.

“Pu! Pu! Puuu!” Sora chirped, jumping really high and landing on top of Druid’s head.

“Sora, if Druid gets tired, you should come down, you hear?”

“Puuu.” For some reason, Sora sounded upset.

“Sora. If Druid gets tired, you’re coming right down. Got it?”

“Puuu!”

“Okay, maybe I should make you come down right now.”

“Pu-pu, pu-pu, pu-pu!” Sora snapped, wiggling its hips from side to side.

Was this its version of taunting me?

“Then at least promise me you’ll come down.”

“…Pu-pu, puuu.”

The pause concerned me a little, but I assumed it would be okay since Sora had promised me.

“It gets funnier every time I see it.”

“Mr. Druid, please don’t encourage Sora, okay?”

“Ha ha ha. Aye, ma’am.”

Druid seemed to have a soft spot for anyone who’d been trapped in a bag. I got the really strong sense that he felt the same way about me. I’d better keep him in check… I don’t want him being too soft on me.