The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 305

Chapter 305:

He Snapped!

I SHIFTED MY POSITION over a little…and the monster mirrored my movement. It was definitely targeting me.

“Ivy, get away from me! I’ll distract it!” Druid yelled, charging at the monster. The beast’s gaze shifted from me to him. I had no way of fighting, so I would only get in the way. I somehow managed to move out of their path. I quietly hid myself in the shadows of the trees as I began to run away…then I saw the monster open its mouth wide and pounce at Druid.

“It’s so fast!”

Wait, it already ran all the way over here? I clamped my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. I slipped behind a tree and stole a quick glance at Druid and the monster. He had just brought his sword down upon it. I could see blood—whose blood, I did not know—spurting every which way around them.

“Damn it, I missed!”

I stared at Druid’s back. From the way he was moving, it didn’t look like a serious wound. The monster was a few paces away from him. Taking a closer look, I could see blood was flowing from its chest. Oh, good. That means the blood I saw spraying out belonged to the monster.

“Grrr.”

“What’s wrong with you? Most monsters would run away with a wound like that.” Druid gripped his sword again. It was then that I noticed his arm was injured.

“Grrr.”

The monster hunched close to the ground, getting ready to pounce. But the next thing I knew, it was flung hard against a tree.

“Grah!”

“What?!”

“Huh?!”

I was trying to keep quiet, but a shriek escaped me. Well, I had no idea that Snakey was going to body-slam the monster against a tree! For that matter, I hadn’t sensed Snakey’s aura at all. When did it even get here? Wait, I’ve got more important things to think about!

“Mr. Druid, are you okay?” Remembering that he was hurt, I ran over to him. I looked at his arm and saw that it was gashed and bloody. I tried to stop the bleeding…and then I remembered Sora. I opened my bag, and the slime sprang out of it, leaping onto Druid’s arm and stretching itself wide to swallow it whole.

“Wow, that’s impressive. So this is how it works…”

Wait…this isn’t Druid’s first time seeing Sora heal someone, right? Or is it? As I watched Sora heal Druid’s arm, I felt someone poking my back. I looked around and saw that Snakey was booping my back with its nose.

“Oh! Thanks, Snakey.”

“Yes, thank you. You really saved my hide,” said Druid.

Snakey smiled softly and nuzzled its nose against me. I smiled and gave its nose a pat, and it nuzzled even harder.

“It really has taken a liking to you, Ivy.”

“I know, it’s so cute.”

“Uh, I’m not sure if that’s the word I’d use…”

Aw, but it is cute. Oh no, I almost forgot! The monster that attacked us…is it dead? I turned to walk toward it, but Druid stopped me.

“I’ll go check on it.”

“But you’re wounded.”

“It doesn’t hurt. I’m okay now; Sora’s a powerful healer.”

He could say that again. Sora was powerful enough to bring both Ciel and Druid back from the brink of death. It stayed wrapped around Druid’s arm as he approached the monster. Then I sensed a familiar aura approaching us and suddenly remembered something.

“Hey, Mr. Druid, Ciel is going to be back very soon.”

I didn’t know why, but Ciel’s aura felt very flustered. It was running back toward us much faster than usual. Just as the sounds of the rustling trees and falling chunks of snow got closer, Druid picked up on the adandara’s presence as well.

“I’m not sure why, but Ciel seems kind of rattled, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, the rattling trees sound different than usual.”

Druid and I stood side by side, looking off toward the noises. Then there was a rustling. And as a big clump of snow fell from the trees, out leapt Ciel. I quickly looked it over and saw it wasn’t wounded.

“Ciel, are you okay?”

Mew? Ciel replied, its eyes darting around the area.

Oh no! Are there still other monsters nearby? I glanced around, but I sensed no auras.

Meow! Ciel growled, approaching the monster that had smashed against a tree and suddenly chomping on its neck.

“Grr!”

Huh? It’s still alive? It hit that tree so hard, I was sure it was dead.

“Thanks, Ciel. Hey, Mr. Druid, do you think this monster is edible?”

“Oh, Ivy…even in a crisis, you never stop being you.”

Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? Of course I’m being me. I gave Druid a confused look, and he laughed in reply. What’s going on? Is he making fun of me?

“Ha ha ha, c’mon, don’t sulk. Anyway, edibility aside, that monster was behaving abnormally, so we’ll have to report it to the guild.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, it was acting weird.”

“Yes, as far as I know, that kind of monster moves more slowly. I hope we aren’t getting a repeat of what happened in Oll over here.”

Did he mean monsters going berserk from eating too much magic energy? Yikes, that would be terrible. We approached the dead monster and checked it to see if anything was amiss. We didn’t notice any peculiarities to it, but we looked at its feet and noticed there was a leather string tied to one of them.

“What do you think this is?” I asked.

“Let me see.”

I pointed at the monster’s foot, and Druid checked it out. Then he removed the leather string to find a magic item attached to it, affixed with a small magic stone.

“Oh, that’s what it is,” Druid said.

“You recognize it?”

“Yeah, it’s an item that strengthens you for a short time. If you use it, your attack speed and intensity increase.”

Wow, a magic item that powerful was being used by a monster? Wait…a magic stone? How did it activate that? Did it press it by accident or something?

I took the item from Druid and examined it. The magic stone was transparent with a little blue mixed in. It was quite pretty. The string it was attached to was just a normal leather band, nothing special.

“I think an adventurer messed up.”

“Hm?”

“It happens sometimes. Adventurers try to defeat a monster by using a magic item, but they fail.”

How could they fail so badly that a monster stole their magic item?

“Do you throw this magic item, sir?”

“No, you’re supposed to wear it around your neck.”

Oh, that makes sense. So… “Does that mean the adventurer who tried to use this item…has already passed away?”

Druid frowned solemnly at my question, so I supposed that meant it was possible. As I examined the magic item, I felt human auras approaching.

“Somebody’s coming this way,” I said.

Druid looked at me, and I pointed toward the auras. They were coming from the same direction as the monster had.

“Snakey, Ciel, could you please go hide? And thank you, Sora, I see you’ve finished healing him. Anyway, it’ll be a big hassle if you’re seen, so can you all go back into the bag for me?”

Mrrrow.

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Snakey and Ciel scurried up some trees. The snow didn’t fall from the treetops like it had before. Ciel really must have been panicked earlier. I grabbed Sora, who was contentedly sitting on Druid’s head after successfully healing him, and returned it to the bag.

“Mr. Druid, how’s your arm?”

“Healed perfectly. There’s not even a scar.”

He showed me his arm, and sure enough, there wasn’t any trace of a scar under the ripped fabric of his sleeve.

“Does it feel strange at all?”

“No, not a bit.”

“Oh, good. Thanks for saving me, Mr. Druid.”

Druid beamed proudly in reply. I felt a little funny since his smile was much gentler than usual, but I had no problem with it as long as he was happy. After a little while, a party of five young adventurers appeared before us.

“Excuse me…”

“Is this yours?” Druid asked, holding up the magic item we’d found tied around the monster’s foot. The young adventurers looked uncomfortable when they saw it.

Druid sighed and asked, “What happened?”

“Well…”

Simply put, they’d tried to activate the magic item without learning how it was supposed to be used first. That was one cause of the disaster. The other reason was their deadly mistake of thinking they could defeat a monster more powerful than them in the first place.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t learning the extent of a magic item’s powers basic Adventuring 101 stuff?” Druid’s voice was terribly deep. He had snapped.

“We did know that the magic item increased one’s powers, sir.”

“And?”

Uh-oh. Druid’s scaring me. That look in his eyes…it’s like he’s possessed by a demon…

The adventurers froze, their eyes glued on Druid. Maybe they had fallen victim to that common affliction of young adventurers: cockiness after a string of successful missions.

Druid sighed again and said, “I’m telling the adventurer guild everything.”

The adventurers protested, but one glare from Druid shut them right up. Yeah, it’s probably best for them all to stay quiet. This new side of Druid is so chilling that even my spine is frozen solid.

That day, I discovered for the first time just how terrifying Druid could be when he snapped.