The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 278

Chapter 278:

I Have a Weakness for Rarities

VICE-CAPTAIN PITH, overcome with embarrassment over losing his composure, immediately got up from his seat. He stole a glance at Ciel, then quickly looked away and walked out of the room. Captain Tableau smirked at the sight. After a while, Vice-Captain Pith returned, in a relaxed state closer to the way he behaved at Rose’s shop, with some tea for all of us.

“Do forgive me.”

“It’s all right,” Druid said. This time it was his turn to be a little startled.

Guild Master Priya was averting his eyes…and from the shaking of his shoulders, it was clear he was trying his best not to laugh.

“Um, okay… The guild master told me a little about what’s going on. He mentioned that your memories are hazy.”

Captain Tableau cleared away the awkward feeling in the room by addressing Druid. Druid nodded and explained everything that had happened that day.

“First, I ask that you please hold your questions until the end. There might be parts of the story where my memories and Ivy’s differ, but please don’t worry about that for now.”

Noticing the several cups of tea on the table, Druid nodded appreciatively to Pith, who smiled in reply and stole another glance at Ciel. He really did seem quite preoccupied with the creature. Since he’d mentioned that Ciel’s markings looked familiar, maybe a part of him recognized it as an adandara.

“We went out into the forest today. This all happened in a spot about thirty minutes out of town.”

Huh? Was it really that close? “Mr. Druid, it was actually an hour and a half away.”

“Was it?”

“Yeah.”

Druid made a face. “I’m sorry, we’ll clarify where this happened later. Okay, so, we found this cave deep in the forest. Its entrance used to be caved in and nobody could get into it, but we found a new opening that had recently been made.”

“A cave?” Guild Master Priya reacted when he heard the word. Since he had said earlier that the cave where they used to mine magic stones had collapsed and was no longer accessible, he was probably happy to hear about the new discovery. And that cave did have magic stones…I think…or maybe it didn’t…which was it?

“And inside that cave, we found what we believe to be the guardian deity of this village: a giant serpent lying on its side.”

“What?!” All three men gasped in shock. I supposed none of them were expecting their guardian deity would come up in our story.

“But it was unconscious. We were worried about it, so we tried to get a closer look and… What happened after that?”

He knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Let me think… “There was this creepy gray-colored… Yeah, I think it was this gray magic energy that was covering Snakey.” Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. “Sora, is that correct?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Oh, good. I’m right. “We couldn’t get close because of that magic, and poor Snakey looked awfully hurt as well.”

“That’s right. We had no idea what to do. But that’s when Ciel used its own magic energy to extinguish the energy that was causing the problems.”

As we took turns telling the story, deep creases formed in the foreheads of the three men.

“Then, after the creepy gray magic energy disappeared, Snakey went back to normal… Wait, I think something else happened before that.”

As I sat there, trying to remember, Druid thought of it first. “It was Flame’s magic stone. Flame made a new magic stone, and we used it to wake up the serpent.”

Ohh, that’s right. Flame made that beautiful, clear magic stone which woke up Snakey. “Okay, and then…”

“Please, wait a minute.”

“Yes, sir?”

Captain Tableau suddenly got up and left the room. I stared at the door, wondering what could possibly be going on. Then he returned a few minutes later, holding two sets of three kinds of magic paper, six in total. Then he wrote something on the papers and handed them to Priya and Pith. They read them, wrote something down, and gave them back to Tableau.

“Um, could we maybe get back to our story?” Druid asked.

“Mr. Druid, your memory loss seems to have dampened your vigilance,” Captain Tableau explained.

His vigilance has dampened? Druid and I exchanged glances.

“So, I’ve drawn up some nondisclosure agreements, stating that no one will repeat what is spoken in this room. Please sign.”

That meant the papers Captain Tableau had brought in were contracts. Druid looked over them, and I was also handed a copy.

PROVISION I: I will not repeat anything that Druid or Ivy say.

PROVISION II: I will not tell anyone about the rare slimes.

PROVISION III: If I break either of the above provisions, I will become a slave.

Moreover, I will pay damages, the amount of which to be determined by the party I’ve harmed.

Furthermore, if any information I obtain will be useful for the village, I may use it so as long as I hide my source for said information.

Is this agreement fair? It seems to weigh heavily in our favor. Well, they already wrote down their names, so I guess it’s fine. Druid thanked Tableau, took his paper, and signed his name. As I was the last to receive a copy of the contract, I was the last to sign and hand it back to Captain Tableau. After checking over the signatures, Tableau handed Druid his copy.

“Captain Tableau…thank you. You were right to do this; we didn’t need to tell you about Flame’s magic stone.”

Is that really true, though?

“Okay, back to our story… So anyway, we found this giant summoning circle that appeared to be trapping the serpent… The next thing I remember, the rain turned into snow and we hurried back to the village to tell you about the summoning circle. Did I get that right?” Druid asked, looking at me for confirmation. It was correct as far as I could recall, so I nodded. But I had the feeling he was forgetting something… What was it?

“When we got back to the village, we noticed some of our memories had changed or were missing… Then Guild Master Priya found us and helped bring us here.”

When Druid finished the story, silence filled the room. The trio sitting across from us fell deep into thought, severe frowns on their faces. There was a heaviness in the air.

“Is everything okay, sirs?” I asked, worried by how long the silence was lasting.

Guild Master Priya smiled reassuringly at me. “Everything’s all right, thank you. It just took us a while to sort through everything. It was a lot to take in at once.” Priya had a sip of cold tea, then took a deep breath. “May I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.”

Priya looked at Druid, his eyes dark and somber. “Could you please tell us the exact location of that cave? Naturally, as you were the ones who discovered it, we will give you a cut of any of the magic stones mined there.”

I figured that Priya would be quite interested in the cave because he was the guild master, but what did he mean by giving us a cut of the magic stones?

“I’m sorry, but based on what Ivy said earlier, I don’t think I could take you to that cave. My memory of it is very hazy.”

“Oh dear, that’s too bad.” Priya looked disappointed.

“But Ivy or her creatures might know where the cave is,” Druid added.

I didn’t think I could remember, either, so I awkwardly avoided all the hopeful pairs of eyes that were darting toward me.

“Do you know where the cave is, Miss Ivy?” Priya asked.

I shook my head no. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure if I can trust my memory, either. Ciel, could you take us to the cave?”

Mrrrow.

Ciel’s cheerful reply was a relief to hear. “It can take us there. Thank goodness.”

I knew my adandara could guide us there without any problems. I looked at Priya, and for some reason he was eyeing Ciel and me in surprise.

“May I ask a question, too?” Vice-Captain Pith asked, raising a hand.

Druid nodded yes.

“About this slime named Ciel…is it really a slime? Those markings strike me as quite odd. Now, I’ve only seen them in books, so I don’t know what the real thing looks like, but those patterns are identical to the ones on adandaras.”

“Vice-Captain Pith, is that really the question to ask right now?” Captain Tableau sounded annoyed.

“Well, I just have a weakness for rarities!”

Come on, you don’t have to announce it like that. See? You’ve embarrassed Captain Tableau and Guild Master Priya.

Druid, who was fighting back laughter, looked at me. I guess he was leaving whether to tell them or not up to me. Hmmm…well, Sora did say they were safe, so I might as well.

“You’re right. Ciel isn’t a slime. It’s an adandara.”

“Wha?! Er… I mean…!”

Yup, a major overreaction from Vice-Captain Pith. I have no idea what he’s even trying to say.

“Phew… Sorry about that. Let’s take a little break. I’ll go get some tea. Pith, pull yourself together before I get back, got it? I don’t care what it takes, just chill!” Captain Tableau rose to his feet and gave his vice-captain’s shoulder a firm slap.

“Ouch!”

“Cool it, man. We won’t get anywhere if you don’t snap out of it.”