The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 160

Chapter 160:

It’s Decided!

“HEY, IVY! Good morning.”

“Huh?! Oh! Good morning. Why so chipper, sir?”

I was about to leave the plaza to head into the forest when I found Druid waiting for me. Hm, what’s he been up to? Something about his expression looked different today. Had something happened to him?

“Is something wrong, sir?”

“Huh?!” Druid’s eyes darted to and fro in surprise, but he shook his head. “It’s nothing. Yeah, it’s fine. Let’s go to the forest.”

I kept pace alongside Druid and stared up at him as we walked. He looked a bit flustered when he felt my gaze.

“Well…some things did happen,” Druid said, scratching his head and averting his eyes. Was he in some kind of trouble?

“I probably can’t solve whatever problem you’re dealing with, but I can listen.”

I didn’t know what was going on with Druid. But talking usually helps a person sort out their feelings, so I wanted to at least help him do that much.

“Ha ha ha! Don’t worry about me. Sorry.”

Is there nothing I can do? Well, I’m still just a kid. “No, I want to help.”

“Ivy…”

“Yes?”

Druid stopped in his tracks and looked at me. I looked back up at him in confusion. He slowly began explaining—how his eldest brother Doluka had found him last night, and how he had apologized.

“I knew that forgiving him would be the right thing to do, but for some reason, I couldn’t give him an answer.”

Druid was truly kind. That’s why he wanted to forgive his brother when he apologized. But all those years of pain were too insurmountable.

“You don’t need to give him an answer right away.”

“Huh?!”

Considering their history, he really didn’t need to forgive his brother so quickly. “Why don’t you try starting your relationship fresh with him first?”

“Start fresh?”

“That’s right. You’ll never be able to put your old relationship with him behind you, so you’ll need to build a new one. Then, if the day ever comes when you can truly forgive him, that’s when you’ll tell him.”

It was my belief that when somebody wronged you, you were under no obligation to forgive them the second they apologize. You only tell them you forgive them when you truly mean it. That’s for the best. 

And if you apologize for hurting someone and expect them to forgive you right away, that’s not a true apology. It’s a lot of empty words meant to satisfy your own ego. If you really care about the person you’ve wronged, you needed to put in the work to make it right until they offered you forgiveness.

“I see…so it doesn’t have to be now.”

What Druid needed was time. “Yes. He can wait until you’re ready.”

“Wow, Ivy, you give some pretty scary advice.”

“Do I? But I mean it, I swear!”

“Ha ha ha ha! Ivy…thanks.”

Oh. He’s back to the Druid I know. I’m so glad I could help him.

“Okay, let’s go to the forest. I want to see how our work yesterday turned out.”

He meant the traps. Though the forest was in pretty bad shape right now, unless the traps had been totally destroyed, we still might have caught something.

“I just hope my traps weren’t smashed by gurbars again,” I said.

That seemed to give Druid an idea. “With Ciel guarding them, I’m sure they’re fine. Except…” he paused, cocking his head in worry. “Maybe we’ll find a big pile of gurbar corpses under Ciel again.”

“Ha ha ha…I hope not.” Druid’s words conjured up an image I didn’t want to think about. I definitely wouldn’t put it past Ciel. In fact, such a thing would probably please the adandara very much.

“Did you ask Ciel not to hunt gurbars?”

Wait a minute, did I? Things were so hectic yesterday, what with Ciel’s gurbar massacre. Right after that happened, Druid and I had that deep conversation…then we went straight back to the plaza…

“I forgot.”

“Ha ha ha! D’you think we’ll have to ask the guild master for help again today?”

“I…can’t say we won’t have to.” Urrrg, I’m begging you, Ciel! I know praying after the fact is pointless, but dear God, please don’t let there be a mountain of dead gurbars when we arrive!

After we were in the forest, I let Sora and Flame out of their bag. Sora immediately went for its designated spot on top of Druid’s head. The sight was starting to look normal to me. And maybe Druid was coming around to it, too. Since Flame was still pretty fragile, it stayed in my arms. I had to be very careful not to trip and fall.

After trekking through the forest for a while, I suddenly heard snickering coming from the man next to me. “Huh?!”

“Sorry. Ha ha ha… I was just remembering what happened yesterday.”

I looked at Druid. He was trying his best to hold in his laughter…and failing miserably.

“I was up all night drinking, and when I got back home, my eldest brother Doluka was there waiting for me.”

He was up all night? Did he even sleep?

“Just seeing him at my house unannounced was surprising enough, but then he apologized. It was all so shocking that for a little while, I wasn’t sure it was really him.”

I would be shocked, too. From the way Druid talked about his brothers, it sounded like they’d hated him for as long as he could remember.

“Things were so emotional yesterday that I hadn’t noticed, but looking back now, my brother and I were both so awkward. Our eyes were darting all over the place and our conversation was so stiff. Ha ha ha! It all seems so silly now.”

There was a peace in Druid’s eyes that I’d never seen before. I could feel a smile spreading across my own face.

“Thank you, Ivy. I never thought I’d be able to laugh over this kind of memory.”

“Glad I could help.”

“Ivy?”

“Yes?”

“Now that I’ve lost an arm, I can’t be an adventurer anymore. And if the worst happened, I can’t guarantee I’d be able to rescue you. But I still want to travel with you. All my life, I’ve been paralyzed by my family and my home. It’s about time for me to finally break free and move on with my life.” His eyes were focused and clear—there wasn’t a bit of insecurity to be found in them.

“Thank you so much. I’m really happy for you.”

“But are you sure about this? I might fail you.”

“Ciel and I can handle any dangers in the forest on our own… Actually, no, Ciel’s got that covered by itself! Besides, Mr. Druid, you’re not exactly helpless either, are you?”

“Well, yeah, I can do the basics. And you’re right, we have Ciel.”

“Exactly. I don’t want to rely entirely on Ciel, but knowing someone that powerful has my back helps me keep moving forward.”

“Ha ha ha! Ivy, you really are amazing.”

At what?

“You could just let Ciel handle everything.”

“Oh, but I couldn’t! Ciel is my travel companion. I have to take care of as much as I can by myself.”

“Understood,” Druid said, looking somewhat amused.

“There’s so many things I’d love for you to teach me, especially how to judge people’s character.”

“How to judge character?”

“That’s right. I’ve met my fair share of problems on my journey so far, so I think it’s an important skill that will help me steer clear of danger.”

There really have been way too many problems. I want to learn how to size up a person better so I can avoid the dangerous ones.

“I see. Now I understand. Well, I’m glad you chose me.”

“I’m glad, too! Thanks for joining me.” I stopped walking and turned to bow to Druid. He hastily bowed back—dropping Sora right onto the ground between us.

“Puuu!!!”

“Agh! Sorry, Sora!” Druid cried, quickly scooping Sora off the ground. Sora jiggled fiercely in his arms. It looked pretty angry.

“I’m sorry, Sora.”

“Puuu, puuu!”

Before we knew it, our serious conversation had taken a turn. I wonder why?

“Pfft! Ha ha ha. Looks like you and I can never talk seriously, Ivy.”

I guess he was thinking the same thing. “I know. It’s very strange.”

“Well, I’m happy to be part of your journey. Um, since I can’t exactly be an adventurer anymore, do you think I should register with the merchant guild?”

“Um, I’d appreciate that if it works for you. But would that really be okay? You’re not even a merchant.”

If Druid joined the merchant guild, I could easily sell the things I trapped and foraged in the forest. Druid wouldn’t earn nearly as much as he could have as an adventurer, but it would definitely help. Still, could he register with the merchant guild if he wasn’t a merchant?

“If you make at least thirty sales a year through the merchant guild, you can register.”

“Huh?! Can you really?” I didn’t know that…

“Yeah, they changed up their rules a little just this year. In our case, we could easily get the required thirty sales from the things we trap and forage in the forest.”

“What happens if you don’t make the thirty sales?”

“You’ll be fined. And if you fail to make thirty sales for three years in a row, your registration is revoked.”

A fine and a registry revocation… Thirty sales. Druid’s right. We could easily make the thirty required sales from things we find in the forest. So I guess it wouldn’t be a problem for him to register after all?

“You don’t need any skills to register with the merchant guild,” he said. “Then again, it doesn’t matter in my case since everyone knows what my skills are anyway.”

“Ha ha! Okay, Mr. Druid…can I ask you to register for me? I promise I’ll do a good job trapping and foraging.”

“Ivy, you should say we there, not I. Please don’t carry the burden all by yourself—we’re a team. I feel left out.”

“Hm? A team?”

That’s right… We’re not a master and a slave. Druid is my companion, so we can work together as a team. Gosh, my cheeks are gonna hurt from smiling so much today.

“Let’s make this the best team we can, Ivy.”

“Yes, sir! Thanks in advance for all your help. Oh! I think Ciel is nearby.”

“Where? By the way, I think it’s pretty obvious now that you’ve tamed Ciel. You naturally know where that adandara is since you two are bonded.”

Druid’s words were flattering but a bit concerning, too. I wish I at least knew how I’d tamed Ciel.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if it was something only people with no stars could accomplish?”

“Huh?!” I hadn’t considered that.

Ciel’s aura was quite strong by then, so I stopped walking.

“Good morning, Ciel.”

At the sound of my voice, Ciel jumped down from the tree. Mrrrow.

Ciel was in a good mood; its tail was swishing back and forth. My heart raced a little at the sight. I sure hope I’m not about to walk into a pile of gurbar corpses…

“Oh, thank goodness!” When we arrived at the site where I’d set the traps, a wave of relief washed over me. There were no dead gurbars in sight. Apparently, Ciel had only chased them away this time.

“Thank goodness,” Druid sighed. He looked relieved, too. We both felt guilty about asking the guild master for help so many days in a row.

“I can’t wait to see what we caught.”

“Me too. I’ve never seen anyone hunt with traps before.”

Adventurers tended to rely on their swords and fighting skills to get by. And it was faster to hunt than to set traps, so why would they bother?

“Here’s the spot. Umm…wow, good job, Ciel.”

“Dang…that’s amazing.”

There were four wild rabbits in the trap in front of us. How could four have possibly fit into a trap meant for one? Ciel must have chased them into it.

Mrrrow.

I looked up at the sound of Ciel’s voice. It looked very proud of itself. Druid’s shoulders shook at the sight.

“Thanks, Ciel. You’re amazing.”

“Yeah, Ciel! You’re very amazing.”

Mrrrow. Ciel’s tone was higher. And the look on its face was totally smug.

“Pfft! Ha ha hah ha! Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I chuckled. Druid’s laughter was contagious.

Ciel stared at him curiously. And for some reason, Sora was doing its vertical stretches on top of his head. There might be a word for the general mood…but I don’t know what it would be.