The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 302

Chapter 302:

Careful; It’s Slippery!

WE STARTED COLLECTING trash, focusing on the items that had the most magic left in them. After we’d collected quite a stash in our magic bags, I checked on Sol and was relieved to see that it had returned to its former size.

“Well, we’re out of the woods for now,” Druid said, looking up from his collection of magic items.

“Yeah.”

He looked just as relieved as I was. We hadn’t quite solved the underlying problem, but we had managed to avert the crisis for the moment.

“How is Sol doing?” Captain Tableau asked as he and Pith approached us, carrying bags of spent magic items they had helped us collect on their backs. 

“It’s doing okay.”

“Glad to hear it.” Captain Tableau watched Sol enjoying its lunch a few paces away. It was eating much more slowly now than when it had started. It must have been quite hungry when we first arrived at the dump.

“Captain Tableau, could we use the permit you gave us today again tomorrow?”

“Yes, you can. I didn’t specify a date on it. Just please don’t go out during a blizzard or when there will be people around.”

“Oh, of course we won’t.”

Go into the forest during a blizzard? I couldn’t think of anything scarier. I’d watched the last blizzard from behind a window, and it was a terrifying sight. I couldn’t even see the lamp posts that were right outside the window. If we went out into the forest when the weather was like that, we might not be able to tell where we were… In fact, I was absolutely sure we would get lost. We would never try anything so dangerous. Besides, it would surely be freezing cold.

“Let’s head back,” Druid said.

We all packed our things and set off toward the village. As they walked, Pith and Tableau excitedly gabbed about the way the slimes ate their food. The scene seemed to have left quite an impression on them.

“Their jaws literally dropped,” Druid muttered in my ear.

He was probably talking about how they’d looked when they saw Sora eating the sword. I remembered and smiled.

“Hey, now,” Vice-Captain Pith called out to us while we were having our little chuckle. “You guys are laughing at us, aren’t you?”

“Oh, no, sir,” Druid answered, a wide smile glued on his face.

“Oh dear, I think we’ve embarrassed ourselves quite thoroughly in front of you both today,” Captain Tableau said with an awkward grin.

“Not just today, sir,” Pith corrected him. Tableau frowned, prompting Pith to tease him for sulking. Then Druid joined in, and the men all hooted and hollered.

Come to think of it, that tension I sensed between the captain and vice-captain is gone now… I wonder what was going on?

We were close to the village gate, so I had Ciel shapeshift into slime form, and I put it and Sora into their bag. Flame and Sol had been resting in there since we left the dump. Those two were kindred spirits when it came to laziness.

We greeted the gatekeeper as we walked through, and we took the magic bags back from Pith and Tableau. They were heavier than usual, even with weight-reducing spells cast on them. The two men must have really gone above and beyond to collect trash. I was truly grateful. 

“I’ll carry that,” Druid said, yanking the magic bag right out of my hands.

“Huh?! Come on, can’t I hold just one?”

“Don’t worry, I can easily carry this much on my own.”

Druid really did look unfazed. But would he actually be okay? We had three magic bags crammed full of trash. And despite the weight-reducing spell cast on them, they were still rather burdensome.

“Well, thank you both for your help today,” Druid told the captain and vice-captain.

They gave a couple of clumsy bows. “Oh, no, thank you! We had quite a fun time,” Captain Tableau said. Pith nodded in agreement. They should have been quite tired from picking up all that trash, but their smiles were brighter than usual. I supposed that steam they blew off halfway through had something to do with it.

“Goodbye!” We waved to them and set off for our inn. Main Street was cleared of snow, thanks to the hard work of the villagers with magic items. The only problem was that the melted snow made the walk quite slippery.

“We’ll have to be careful not to slip,” Druid remarked.

“Yeah. I’m kind of scared.”

The melted snow had turned to ice in places. Because of that, you could easily go sliding if you didn’t watch your step. I hunched my back a little as I walked. Hm? Mr. Druid…are you laughing at the way I’m walking?

“Hee hee hee…sorry.”

I knew it!

“We’re back!” Druid called out.

“We’re back from our trip… Ahhh, I’m so tired.”

“Hello, you two. What’s this? You look exhausted… Are you okay?” Dola stopped what he was doing to come greet us at the inn’s front door.

“I almost slipped on the ice, and it was so scary to walk.”

Dola nodded in understanding, grabbed a pair of objects from the shelf by the front door, and handed them to me. I took them without even looking at them… Wait, what are these things?

“If you put these on your shoes, you won’t slip on the ice.”

I won’t slip on the ice?

“You slide this part over your toes, and then you fasten it so this part sticking out is on the sole of your shoe. Then you tie it tightly with these belts. These babies make walking in wintertime quite a bit easier.”

I followed his directions and fastened the devices on my shoes. They were a bit cumbersome to walk in… Would they really help me walk on icy roads? I was quite skeptical.

“Go ahead and use them whenever you need to.”

“I will…thank you.” I guess I might as well try them out. I might not need to walk all hunched over after all.

“Could I use them as well?” Druid asked.

“Yeah, feel free to take any of the pairs on that shelf.”

“Mr. Druid, have you used these before?”

“Yeah, they’re actually quite useful. Also, whenever you walk on the snow, you have to shorten your gait and put the whole sole of your foot on the ground at once.”

Shorten my gait and walk on my whole sole. That’s going to be hard to get used to; I always walk heel-toe.

“And if you lean forward a little, it’s harder to slip and fall.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind next time I walk outside.”

Can I manage it, though? I’ve never walked that way before, and it sounds like an ordeal. Well, forget about that. For now, I just want to take a nice, hot bath.

We thanked Dola and returned to our room.

The next day, I fastened the thingies Dola had loaned me to my feet (I forgot to ask what they were called) and practiced walking the way Druid told me to. Or at least that was the plan…

“This sure is difficult,” I said.

“I know. You just have to get used to it.”

I tried leaning forward a little…but everything just felt so wrong to me. Walking by planting my whole sole on the ground was also hard to maintain. If I lost focus for a moment, I was back to walking heel-toe like I always did.

“Hey, Ivy…that’s a pretty funny walk you’ve got there.”

I knew that without Druid telling me so. It hadn’t snowed the night before, but it was so cold that most of the melted snow had frozen solid. What’s more, the clouds were so thick today that the ice probably wouldn’t melt at all. Between the bent-over way I was walking yesterday and the way I was walking today, I honestly couldn’t tell you which was better.

“Let me point out it’s a lot slipperier today,” I told Druid.

“Yeah, the roads are in pretty bad shape.”

I could tell that Druid was walking extra carefully, too. By the time we arrived at the village gate, I had somehow managed to get used to this new way of walking.

“I don’t know why, but I’m exhausted,” I sighed.

“Using all your muscles like that, you’re bound to get wiped out.”

“Yeah.”

I had been tensing up all my muscles in an effort to keep from slipping, draining all my energy, but we still had to go all the way to the dump… You can do this, Ivy. Just relax a little and…

“Agh!”

Eee, I’m so scared. Why does the dump have to be so far away?