The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 5 - Chapter 257

Chapter 257:

Too Difficult

“Today was very eventful, wasn’t it?” Druid said.

“It sure was,” I sighed in reply, remembering everything that had happened. I sure wish there were some way to stop people from assuming I’m involved with criminals. Yeah. It’s hopeless.

“Heh!”

As I was stuck in my agonizing spiral, a sudden laugh from my side startled me. I turned my head to see Druid’s shoulders shaking with laughter. It was so sudden that it took me aback.

“Huh? Oh, Ivy, that reaction makes me a little sad.”

“Well, did you really have to laugh out of nowhere? It scared me.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking about how Tableau reminded me of Gotos back in the day.”

Gotos… Oh, right. The guild master of Oll.

“Why aren’t you calling him Guild Master?” I thought I remembered him calling Gotos by that title when we were back in Oll.

“Well, we’re pretty far away from Oll now, so I thought I’d go back to the name I used to call him in the old days.”

In the old days? That’s right, weren’t Gotos and Druid childhood friends? Wait, am I remembering wrong?

“Tableau is struggling with a lot of internal conflict right now.”

“Internal conflict?”

“That’s right. He’s wondering what he needs to do and what he should be like as head watchman. He knows his judgments could bring suffering to the people of Hatow, so he’s stuck, especially since he has to deal with the merchant guild master on top of it all.”

I suppose being the head of any organization is a really big deal.

“Guild Master Priya of the adventurer guild is probably going through the same thing.”

That’s right, they did say he became guild master around the same time Tableau took over as captain of the watch.

“It takes a lot of grit to make it to the top of an organization, but once you find yourself standing there, the grit you thought you had crumbles away into insecurity…and extreme loneliness.”

“Loneliness?”

“Of course you have allies and people who can help you, but when it comes time to make decisions, you’re on your own. And you have to carry the burden of what comes from those decisions alone, too.”

That…is terrifying. I couldn’t stand the thought of my decisions causing someone to die.

“When you’re on the top, you can’t fear death.”

Well, I agree with that, but still…

“Ideally, you save everyone, but reality isn’t so kind. That means you always have to make the decisions that will save the most ­possible lives.”

That was a decision Oll’s guild master had needed to make, too. He sent a team of adventurers off into the forest, knowing some of them would die, so that the people of the town could be saved.

“It’s easy to put this into words, and it’s easy to understand with your head…but not with your heart. The biggest challenge of all is figuring out whether your decisions are correct or not. The answers never come easily.”

He was right. You might also come up with an even better idea after you’ve already made your decision.

“Having a support system helps, but it’s still hard.”

“It does sound quite stressful.” But the words sounded shallow coming from me, and my face twisted with shame. Noticing this, Druid patted me gently on the head.

“Gotos struggled quite a bit at first. Whenever reports came in that his friends had died, he’d drown his sorrows in wine and take out his anger on me and our mentor. But in the end, he always blamed himself. There was one time where none of the people he sent away on a mission came home. He really lost it then, and I hated myself for not being a better friend when he needed me.”

Gotos must have hurt harder than anybody, but I guess Druid and his other friends were hurt, too. Druid was talking with a smile on his face now, but sometimes I caught twinges of pain or sadness in his eyes. He was probably reliving those days.

Earlier that day, when Rose was yelling at Captain Tableau, I’d caught something. It lasted just for a second, and it might have been my imagination. For a moment, though, she looked like she was on the verge of tears. I’d thought I was mistaken at the time, but Rose might have been letting her hidden feelings rise to the surface.

“So, how did Gotos calm his nerves? How did he grow into the Gotos I know today?”

“He overcame each challenge one by one, all by himself. Of course, we helped him a little, too. Also, meeting his wife played a big part in his transformation.”

Druid wrote himself off, but I was sure he was a big help to Gotos. They loved each other; that was why Gotos had been so overjoyed to see the change in Druid that he thanked me personally.

When I was alone in the forest, abandoned by my parents, the fortune-teller said nothing and simply stood by my side. And whenever the things my parents said made me cry, Past Me would scream in my mind, Keep living! Look toward the future! Thanks to both of them, I was able to move on through the pain. Everybody has their own kinds of support systems.

“Captain Tableau and Guild Master Priya are each other’s support systems, aren’t they?” I got that sense from looking at them.

“Yeah, and that won’t work.”

“Huh?! Oh! Because their positions are different, like Rose said.”

“Exactly. Their positions are way too different. They’re friends and allies, but they can’t be each other’s support systems.”

This is so hard. They’re friends and allies…but they can’t be each other’s support systems? I guess that means they each have to take care of themselves…I think.

“Ha ha ha! Is this too deep for you?” Druid poked the spot between my brows. I must have had a big crease there.

“Yeah. Don’t either of them have other people in their lives to support them?”

“Captain Tableau has Vice-Captain Pith. And judging by what I saw of him today, he’s committed.”

“Committed to what?”

“Committed to supporting his captain. His eyes are earnest. I know he’ll be all right.”

His eyes? I couldn’t remember what his eyes looked like, even though I’d just seen him earlier that day. If I ever meet him again, maybe I should look and see what kind of eyes he has.

“But maybe Guild Master Priya doesn’t have anyone like that in his life. I sensed a different kind of insecurity coming from him than from Tableau.”

Really? I couldn’t sense anything at all.

“Well, we’re just travelers. There’s not much we can do.”

“Yeah.”

Since we weren’t citizens of Hatow, we couldn’t get too involved in the village’s affairs. But if there were something we could do to help, we definitely would.

“Okay, I guess there’s not much more we can say about that,” Druid said. “Oh, by the way, didn’t we forget we promised to teach Rose how to make onigiri?”

“Oh! Yeah, I completely forgot.” I remembered making that promise a little while ago. It was no use—my wits hadn’t been about me ever since we moved into this inn.

“I feel like I’ve been a lot more forgetful lately…”

“Nah, you’re fine,” Druid assured me. “You’re much better than me, at least.”

“I’d rather not turn this into a competition.”

A competition to see who’s more forgetful? How silly.

“Yeah, neither do I.”

We already got the rice, so maybe we could do it tomorrow? Or maybe that’s too soon. Oh, no we can’t. I didn’t get any ingredients to put inside the onigiri.

“Why don’t we get everything ready and go back to her shop?” Druid suggested.

“I’d like some time to make the fillings for the onigiri.”

“Oh, yeah. Then let’s go ask Rose tomorrow what her plans are.”

“Okay. I want to buy the ingredients for the onigiri filling on the way back.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I was about to get ready for bed when Ciel bounced up between us.

“What’s up?”

Meowww.

What could it be? I think it’s trying to tell me something. What is it, Ciel?

“Oh no, are you hungry?”

Mrrrow.

Oh, okay. Yeah, it has been a while since the last time it hunted for some meat and ate its fill.

“Okay, Ciel, why don’t we spend tomorrow morning in the 

forest?” Druid suggested. “Then when you get back, we can go to Rose’s shop.”

Ciel happily jiggled in reply.

“That’s a good idea. While we’re waiting for Ciel, we can pick up more potions for the slimes, too. Does that sound good to you, Ciel?”

Mrrrow.

Okay! Well, let’s get to bed. It’ll probably be cold again tomorrow, so I have to make sure I get a good night’s sleep.