The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 1 - Chapter 67

Chapter 67:

Anxiety

“SOMETHING WRONG?” Mira asked.

I stifled another shudder, barely maintaining my outward calm. I took deep, quiet breaths to keep myself steady as I looked her way. Had to make sure not to stand out.

Mira smiled softly. The same smile that had given me strength yesterday now terrified me, but I managed to smile back. I kept trying to remind myself that we weren’t positive she was a kidnapper.

“Slimes are weird,” I finally said. I was so nervous that I could barely squeak out a sentence. What now?

“Slimes?” Mira raised an eyebrow.

“Ivy mentioned that they digest really slowly,” said Rattloore beside me. Right. I’m not alone, so I’ll be fine. I looked up to him, and he added, with a wink, “Right?”

“They digest slowly? Actually, the slimes I’ve tamed digest the slowest,” Mira mused.

“The slowest?”

“Yep. I’ve got a rare one who can digest swords, but it takes him a whole day to do it.”

Rattloore had mentioned that sword-processing slimes weren’t seen often. I was surprised they could take so long.

“If you’re interested in slimes, Ivy, you can come get a closer look.” Mira picked one up and showed it to me.

She wouldn’t be suspicious if I did look, right? But…

“Sorry, Mira,” Rattloore cut in. “The hunt is almost over, so they asked us to clean up.”

“Clean up?”

“Yeah. Orders from the big man. He said, ‘If you’re not hunting, you’re cleaning.’ A real piece of work, huh? Anyway, Ivy and I heard him loud and clear, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Huh? He didn’t mention that to me before. Did he forget?

“Uh-huh. Yeah, I do hear we only have one more day,” Mira replied. “They said we’re feasting on moo meat today, too, right?”

“Yep! We hunted some good ones while we were out killing ogres. Enough for everyone, in fact.”

“Wanna eat with us tonight?” she offered.

“I meeean…” Rattloore shrugged. “We can, but we’ll have the leader with us. Your brothers don’t like him, right?”

“Huh? Oh, right. They might not be into that. Shame.”

“Ha ha ha! That is a real shame. Well, we better stop chit-chatting and start cleaning.”

“You two have fun. See you later, Ivy.”

“Okay.”

What’s going on? I feel like I missed a lot of stuff. I heard everyone was getting fresh moo meat, but we’re eating with the leader? I guess that means I have to cook for one more tonight… Okay, I’ll just do my best. And Rattloore kept me from being alone with Mira, thank goodness.

“Phew…” When I realized I had sighed, I frantically turned to Rattloore.

“Mm? Something wrong?” He ruffled my hair.

So…he didn’t notice. I shook my head.

“Ah, sorry,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into cleaning without asking first.”

“It’s okay. You all have helped me a lot, so I want to return the favor.”

“Yeah? Glad to hear it, considering neither of us really have a choice.”

We laughed and began cleaning up camp. First, we gathered all the litter scattered in the spaces between the tents. I’d picked up trash every day, but it was easy to overlook some here and there. Once we’d combed the entire camp, we had a sizable pile, though it wasn’t as big as I’d expected. Maybe a lot of these adventurers were pretty neat. Honestly, the adventurer plazas in villages were normally filthy.

“Nice and clean, right?” said Rattloore.

“It really is. I had expected it to be like an adventurer plaza, so I was surprised.”

“One of the boss’s friends is a neat freak. If you make a mess, he can get pretty terrifying. It’s this kind of, uh…quiet intimidation?”

“Quiet intimidation?”

“Yeah. He hides his aura, stands behind you, and mutters, ‘Filthy.’ Then, for just a moment, you feel this wave of bloodlust from him. Whew! It’s spooky stuff.” Rattloore began to look just a little bit scared.

“Has that…happened to you?”

“Yep, way back when I started out as an adventurer. I still jump every time I run into that guy!” Someone out there could intimidate Rattloore that easily? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see this guy or avoid him at all costs. The leader’s friend…is he going to be eating with us, too?

I decided to ask outright. “Will he be eating with us tonight?”

“Uhh…maybe?”

A vague answer. But if I was going to meet him today…

I’d better clean the area around our tents really well before everyone gets back.

“Don’t worry!” Rattloore reassured me, looking a little flustered. “He’s not actually that scary. He’s just strict when it comes to idiots making a mess.”

Is that all? Then I’ll be fine, right? It’s not like I’m a slob. But…I’ll still clean a little more thoroughly.

“Oh, they’re back!” Rattloore called out. I followed his eyes and saw the adventurers returning to camp. They looked to be in high spirits. “Seems to me like they’ve finished off the last of those ogres.”

Is that why everyone’s smiling? Finishing the hunt meant being able to go back to town, so I could see why. What about me, though? If people were stalking me, maybe it would be a mistake to go to Otolwa.

“Good work, fellas,” Rattloore greeted them.

“Good work out there.” As did I.

“You can say that again,” Sifar grumbled. “We’re exhausted. But the camp looks neat as a pin, eh?” He lowered a magic bag from his shoulder, put it next to his tent, and looked around.

I had tidied outside our tents thoroughly. The tent itself had looked a little grimy, too, so I’d cleaned that as well. I was happy he’d noticed.

“Right? Ivy did a great job,” Rattloore boasted. “Hey, I’m gonna go talk with the leader for a minute. Watch Ivy for me!”

“Will do,” said Sifar. “Say, Ivy, did you clean the tent, too?”

“Yes. I asked Mr. Rattloore for permission first…”

“Thank you! We’ve never really been the neatest, so I’ve been meaning to get that over with for a while now. I’m glad to see it spick and span for once.”

Yay! I’m glad he likes it. Also…Rattloore seemed like he was in a real rush. Is everything okay? He’s been twitchy ever since they got back from the hunt.

“What’s the matter?” Sifar asked.

“Nothing. Is the hunt over now?”

“Yep! We managed to track down all the ogres that were reported! We’ll go take a look one last time tomorrow, just in case.”

“I see. It’s amazing how hard you all worked,” I said.

“Aww! You’ve got a way of making people feel better, kid.” Sifar rustled my hair. He was stronger than he looked, so it hurt my neck a little.

“Sifar, don’t be too rough.” Gnouga grabbed Sifar’s wrist and stopped him. 

I appreciated that. “Mr. Gnouga, good work out there.”

“Thanks. Oh, here.” He handed me something wrapped in a big leaf. I opened it and saw a big chunk of meat—probably the moo meat they had mentioned. “Give it some flavor for us, would you?” He left me with that and went into their tent.

I see…so they want it flavored with herbs—umm, medicinal plants? With this much meat, it’ll take a while. I’ll have to portion it into smaller pieces and rub it in. Maybe I could use it in soup as well? Okay! Time to make dinner.

Rattloore returned and handed me another hunk of moo meat. “Prep this one, too, Ivy.”

I looked at him, confused.

“That one’s for the leader’s team,” he explained. “They’ve got four people.”

I’d better get to work right away. Food for nine…that’ll be a big job.