The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 288

Chapter 288:

“Miracle” Is a Bit Extreme

“HELLOOO! We’ve brought something to butcher.”

When Kari cheerfully entered what I assumed was the adventurer guild’s butchering building, the people working there stopped and stared in confusion.

“Huh? Why’d you use the back entrance?” The man closest to us fixed a hardened glare on us.

“C’mon, just look at it! We’ve brought bearth, you guys! Bearth!” Kari, who didn’t seem easily fazed by others, excitedly ignored the man who asked the question. The gatekeeper was in quite the eager state.

The man sighed loudly. “Bearth, my foot! Nobody can hunt ’em nowadays!”

“If you’d just listen, I was going to say I’ve brought the people who did hunt one! But we didn’t want to cause a ruckus, so we came in the back.”

“Is it really true? They’ve got bearth?” A different voice spoke up. I looked up to see an elderly man frantically running over to us. Then he looked at the bearth Druid was holding. “Whoaaa, is that it? Lemme see it! Hey, you! Wipe down that butchering table!”

At the man’s order, the table was promptly cleared off. Druid set the bearth carcass on it and the workmen gathered around.

“Yeah, it’s the real deal, all right. That’s a bearth.”

“I haven’t seen one in ages!”

“Based on its size and the way its pelt, claws, and nose look, I’d say it’s a two-year-old adult.”

“So the entire population wasn’t wiped out after all. Thank goodness.”

Everyone was elated to see a bearth after a five-year absence, and some of the men even teared up a little. Druid was just as surprised by their reactions as I was.

“Is it true somebody hunted a bearth?” A clear voice rang through the butchering area.

Oh, I know that voice! It’s Guild Master Priya.

Priya approached the table with the bearth carcass, looked it over, and then ordered it butchered at once. Kari was about to introduce us to the guild master when he suddenly greeted us.

“Why, hello there, Druid and Ivy!”

Kari looked quite startled. “Guild Master, are you acquainted with them?”

Kari hadn’t been there when we’d talked our way through the gates to go to the cave the other day.

“Yeah, I suppose we’re acquainted… Actually, they’ve done a great deal to help me.” Priya looked a bit awkward saying this. And, well, I didn’t blame him. Between the cave and the guardian deity and everything that had happened between us, it was awkward to be asked how we knew each other.

“Come this way. I’d like to hear all about your hunting trip.”

“Of course, sir. Well, thanks for taking care of the butchering,” Druid called out to the workers. They cheerfully thanked him in return. They reminded me of a bunch of kids, excited by a new toy.

“Thank you for walking with us all the way here, Kari,” Druid said.

“Yes, we appreciate it,” I added.

“Oh, no, it was my pleasure! It was an honor to get to see a bearth.”

We followed Guild Master Priya into a room with rather ornate sofas. The door had the word “Master” written on it, so I guessed it was the guild master’s study. He gestured for us to sit, so Druid and I settled next to each other on a sofa. The guild master sat across from us on the side of a table.

“I was surprised to see it was you who brought the bearth.”

“Hahaha, sorry about that,” Druid said. “We didn’t realize just how rare they were.”

“Well, I don’t blame you for not knowing. It’s been many years since bearths were hunted here. And since the adventurers can still go after shiusa and hatsuri this time of year, some of them hadn’t even noticed that bearth was no longer on the menu.”

Those monsters must only come out in the snow since he said they could be hunted “this time of year.” I wonder if they both have white fur like the bearth Ciel caught. Now I’m getting really excited about hunting them.

“Sorry to pry, but could you please tell me where you found the bearth? You don’t have to, of course.”

Druid and I exchanged looks. We had a little problem. We wanted to tell him…but we didn’t know the answer.

“I’m sorry, sir, but even we don’t know,” Druid said truthfully.

Priya gave him a peculiar look, and I didn’t blame him. Here we were, saying we didn’t know where we’d hunted something.

“It was Ciel…the bearth was a present for Ivy.”

“Ciel? Oh, it was the adandara! Oops, pardon me.” Priya apologized in a hushed whisper as he pulled a magic item out of his desk drawer and switched it on. It was that voice-muting device I’d been seeing a lot of. “There. Now nobody will hear us.”

“Sorry we keep burdening you like this,” Druid said.

“Oh, it’s quite all right. But my, you two are quite the extraordinary pair.”

We’re extraordinary?

“You showed us a cave where we could mine magic stones, you built a bridge between us and our guardian deity, and you brought us a bearth, a species we thought had gone extinct. You are beyond extraordinary. Come to think of it, you also gave us all those magic stones.”

Oh, right! The magic stones. “By the way, does the village have enough of them now?”

“You mean the red magic stones?” Priya said in a surprised tone.

I nodded.

“To be honest, we actually still need more. But we’ve gathered enough to avoid the worst-case scenario, at least. All we can do now is pray that this snow will fall peacefully for us.”

The snow will fall peacefully? I gave Druid a questioning look at the odd phrase.

“Snow can cause a great deal of harm, depending on how it falls,” Druid explained. “If there’s a blizzard or a heavy snowfall, things can get rather dangerous, can’t they?”

“That’s right,” Priya nodded. “So we’re hoping that the snow will continue to fall peacefully, as it’s doing right now. However, even a peaceful snowfall like this will cause some harm if it continues too long.”

I’d only experienced the snowfall in my home village, so I couldn’t exactly imagine it. But I had heard from adventurers just how dangerous a heavy snowfall could be. I seemed to remember them saying heavy snowfalls could trap you in one place and make it impossible to go anywhere. And even light, fluffy snow could be quite hard to deal with if there was a lot of it.

Oh, that’s right! Speaking of magic stones, we brought a bunch of regenerated ones today. We’ll need to swing by Rose’s shop on the way back. Wait a minute… Priya already knows we’re the ones giving the stones to the village, right? In that case, maybe we can just hand them over to him right now? Or would that be wrong because we already promised to give them out through Captain Tableau?

“Mr. Druid, is it okay if we give our magic stones to somebody besides Captain Tableau?” I whispered.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I guess it would be okay to leave them here. Want to ask him?”

“Yeah.”

Priya gave us a strange look. Even though we were talking in hushed voices, he could probably still hear us since he was sitting right across from us.

“It should be fine,” Druid said. “We’re doing the deal with them together, after all.”

I nodded at Druid and turned to Priya. “Excuse me, sir, but you’ve heard about the regenerated magic stones, haven’t you?”

“Yes, um, it was your slime…Flame, was it? I think I heard something about it putting magic energy into spent magic stones and regenerating them. Also, it seems that you’re providing them to the village.”

“Yes. So, we have today’s supply with us. Can we leave them here with you? And could you please tell Captain Tableau about it?”

“Today’s supply? Er, what do you mean?”

Huh? “We’ve been giving Captain Tableau the stones Flame regenerates every day, sir.”

“Wait a minute, I didn’t hear anything about that. Can your slime really regenerate them daily? Wouldn’t it need a few days to recharge its own magic each time? Wait a minute…does your slime not need to recharge?”

“Um…no, sir.”

“Ah, I see… Wow, Tableau did call your slime a miracle, Ivy, and now I see why.”

A miracle? I feel like the pedestal everybody puts my creatures on is getting taller and taller. Unless everybody’s opinion of them is actually correct? I dunno if I like that…

“My slimes are rare, sir, but they’re not miracles.”

Priya looked a bit taken aback by that. I gave him a confused look in return. Had I said something strange?

“So, can we leave the magic stones here?” Druid asked again.

“Yes, of course you can. Actually, I’d be delighted if you would.”

With that, I took the sack of stones Flame had regenerated that day out of my magic bag. Guild Master Priya’s eyes opened wide in shock at the loud noise the sack made on the table.

“All of this…is today’s supply?”

“Yes, sir. Today’s supply.”

Priya cautiously peeked into the sack. I didn’t understand why he looked so baffled. They were just red magic stones.

“Yes, Ivy, I was certainly right to call your slime a miracle.”