The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 130

Chapter 130:

Damage in the Forest

I STEPPED OUT OF THE DEN and looked up. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. It was hard to believe we’d had that horrible thunderstorm just last night.

“Phew! Boy, that storm really was intense!” It had poured all night, and the thunder and lightning were unrelenting. Sora and I shivered every time lightning struck and thunder shook the ground around us. Ciel had cuddled with us while we slept, but we just couldn’t stomach that thunder and lightning.

“Sleepy…so sleepy.”

“Puuu.” Even Sora’s voice sounded weak.

Ciel, unbothered by everything, was doing its usual morning stretches. I feel safe with you, Ciel. The trip to our rocky hill camp had taken us on quite a detour on our path to Oll. We’ll try our best to get to town today.

“Okay, let’s go!”

We left our hillside camp and walked back into the forest that led to Oll…but when I saw what lay around me, I stopped in my tracks. The rain and wind had been so powerful the night before that all the smaller trees had been snapped to the ground.

“Oh dear. This is bad.” The fallen trees were blocking the path into town; we would have to cross over them one by one. And from what I could see, there were an awful lot of fallen trees.

“Well, let’s push on.” We can’t let ourselves get held up here. I stepped carefully, taking care not to trip as I slowly stepped over each tree.

“Oh no! We can’t possibly cross over this…” There were so many broken trunks and branches piled in front of us that they basically formed a wall. It would be impossible to climb over, so I resigned myself to walking around the tangle of fallen trees. There were a lot of them, so I wound up walking quite a distance.

“I’m beat… Let’s take a little break.” I sat on a downed tree and drank some water. I looked at Sora, who was wobbling a little listlessly. The sleepless night had taken its toll.

“Sora, want to go back in your bag?”

“Fuuu.”

Huh? Is it just me, or did Sora make a noise it’s never made before…?

I scooped up my aimlessly bouncing slime and saw that it was a little dirty, probably from jumping around on the rain-soaked earth. I gently wiped the mud off Sora, and it smiled contentedly.

“Have a nice rest.” Okay. Break time is over. Let’s get back in the saddle.

Purrr. Ciel approached me as I tried to stand up. Then it turned to the side and slapped its own back lightly with its tail.

“Thanks, Ciel, but the ground is really muddy. It’ll be a lot more tiring for you this time.”

Meow! 

I got the feeling this meant “I’ll be fine!” Ciel had that look in its eyes, anyway.

Hmmm…will Ciel really be okay? “If you get tired, you should stop. Promise me, okay? I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

Mrrrow.

“Thanks, Ciel.” I hugged the adandara. I hadn’t slept much and was pushing my limits, too.

Mrrrow.

I clambered up on Ciel’s back and shifted the position of my bags. The most important thing was to make sure I wasn’t crushing the bag that held Sora.

“Okay, we’re all ready to go. When you’re ready, Ciel.” I realized I was bowing respectfully, even though I knew Ciel couldn’t see me. Why do I bow like that? Is it a nervous tic?

Slowly, Ciel began to move. Each time we climbed over a tree, it was just as bumpy as you’d expect. Compared to my last adandara-back ride, this felt like a full-body workout. Riding like this is…pretty hard in its own way.

The farther Ciel carried us, the more the air began to smell like smoke. Maybe the lightning had started a forest fire.

“Ciel, can we stop for a minute?” From my perch atop Ciel’s back, I looked around us but saw no flames. I hope all the fire burned out already. Since the rain got the trees so wet, I don’t think it could have spread very far.

“It sure smells smoky.”

Ciel let out a mrrrow and resumed its steady pace. I kept my eyes peeled as we watched for any sign of fire. Maybe all that’s left is the smell?

Even at our slow pace, we covered a lot of ground. I really did owe Ciel all my gratitude. But there was still one thing that bothered me…

“No matter how far we travel…everything looks the same.” I looked ahead and saw only an endless sea of fallen trees. How much of this forest is damaged? I also don’t see any place for us to spend the night. That’s our biggest problem of all. I need to find somewhere to make camp.

I looked around, but even the trees that still stood were tangled up with branches and twigs that had flown off the other ones in the storm. Wet leaves were everywhere on the ground. No way could we sleep there. Honestly, I don’t know what to do…

“Thanks, Ciel. I’m getting off now.”

Mew.

I got off Ciel and stretched a little. All my muscles screamed in protest. My inner thighs in particular were in terrible shape. Guess I have muscle soreness to look forward to tomorrow.

“Aren’t you tired, Ciel?”

Meowww. Ciel rubbed its face against my hand as I petted it, and it squinted its eyes in pleasure. You are just too cute.

After a little playtime with Ciel, I set off to find a place for us to sleep. I never dreamed the storm damage would cover such a huge area. Guess I misread the situation. I looked at the ground. It was muddy with rainwater. I couldn’t possibly pitch a tent here.

“I guess we’ll only be taking little breaks today.” This is going be tough on our bodies since we’re already sleep deprived. I stood still for a moment and looked around again…but I still couldn’t find a place where we could sleep. As I heaved a sigh, my bag started to wiggle.

“Good morning, Sora.”

Sora, revived after its nap, sprung out of its bag and peered around. “Pu, puuu.” There was a strange tone in Sora’s voice as it looked at me.

Huh? Are you surprised the scenery hasn’t changed at all? “Sora, it looks like there were a lot of trees knocked down in the storm. Ciel has been carrying us as quickly as possible ever since you fell asleep.”

“Puuu,” Sora said, bouncing around in circles. As I watched, suddenly it stopped. Then after a few seconds, it bounded off again.

“Huh?! Sora, where are you going?” Ciel and I chased after Sora. The slime seemed to have a specific destination in mind. Sora, I thought you had a horrible sense of direction! Are you gonna be okay?

We followed Sora for a while until I heard a cry out in the forest. Whatever was making it definitely wasn’t human. It sounded like an animal. Cautiously and quietly, I approached the source of the noise. Then I saw it—I stared, wondering what it was up to. The creature suddenly looked up, and our eyes met.

“Oh!” It wasn’t a very large animal. I thought it would run away when it saw Ciel, but it stayed still. It was cautious, but something was keeping it from moving. “Umm, don’t worry, it’s okay. I’m just going to come a little closer.”

I was curious what the creature was doing, so I approached slowly so as not to scare it. I had Ciel wait where it was. When I got closer, I noticed another animal like it stuck beneath a fallen tree. It seemed to be trapped there, and it looked like it was in pain.

“You were trying to dig your friend free.” I’ve seen this animal in a book before. What’s it called again? Hm…I can’t remember… Agh! You don’t have time to sit and ponder this mystery, Ivy. We’ve got to save it!

“I’m going to get you out of there. I’m here to help, okay?” I can get its name later! I need to get it out from under that tree as soon as possible. But…how can I do that? It’s buried pretty deep in the mud.

If I could lift the tree up a little, I could get it out safely. But it might be wounded… Oh! I don’t have to worry about that, since I’ve got Sora. My first move should be figuring out how to get it out from under there. Let’s see. How do I move the tree? Maybe I could use a lever? I looked around and happened to see a sturdy branch with just the right thickness lying nearby.

“I’ll just move this branch and…urk. It’s heavy.” I pushed as hard as I could on the thick branch, but it wouldn’t budge.

Mrrrow. I heard Ciel’s voice, and the heavy branch suddenly shifted. Ciel was using its front paws to push it. What a hero!

“Thanks. Um, could you push here, please?” Ciel shoved the tree branch over to where I’d pointed. What a reliable creature. Okay, now I need to find another long branch. Are there any the right size lying around? Yeah, there’s plenty today. They’re all mine for the taking.

I easily found the perfect branch, just long enough and light enough to carry. I placed the middle of the branch on top of the thick one Ciel had moved and wedged the other end beneath the tree that was trapping the animal. Since its friend had dug up so much earth around it, it was easy to slide the branch all the way under the trunk. The free animal looked confused, like it didn’t know what was happening. Meanwhile, its trapped friend was clearly pretty exhausted. I was worried, but I knew if I could just get it out from under the tree, Sora could help save it. The slime was the one who had guided us here, after all.

All set! …Yeah, no, I can’t do this alone. “Ciel? Sorry, but can you lend me a hand?” I put all my weight onto the end of the lever that wasn’t buried under the tree. Yup. My body weight is barely making it budge. Somehow understanding what I needed, Ciel gently leaned its weight on the branch with me. The fallen tree lifted a little. The free animal, who had been fidgeting with worry, realized what we were doing and rushed in to save its friend.

“There!”

Squeee!

I turned my gaze toward the unfamiliar sound, and there was Sora, enveloping the animal we’d rescued from the tree. Its friend was making quite a fuss nearby. Well, of course it was… It looked like its friend was being eaten alive by a slime.

“Don’t worry. Sora’s just healing your friend.”