The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 3 - Chapter 161

Chapter 161:

Divvying Up the Tasks, Little by Little

“THIS IS VERY IMPRESSIVE… Is it always like this?” Druid was in awe at the number of rabbits I’d caught. I had set five traps. Usually, you’d get two or three animals out of that, maybe four if you were lucky. But there were fifteen wild rabbits laid out at our feet.

“Yes, I always get a big catch. I think Ciel chases animals into my traps.”

“Wow, Ciel, you’re so helpful!”

Mrrrow.

“Oh! Mr. Druid, don’t!”

“Huh? Wait…did I say something wrong?”

I looked over at Ciel…and sure enough, its tail was swishing up a storm. It was really flattered by what Druid had said. Its tail was kicking up a huge whirlwind of dust.

“Ciel? Let’s calm down, okay? At least stop whipping your tail around!”

Mewww. Ciel whimpered, looking back and drooping its ears. I felt sorry for the creature, but this was just something I couldn’t allow.

“Sorry, Ivy. What exactly did Ciel do wrong?”

“Ha ha ha. Well, I appreciate Ciel’s help, but now I have no idea if I’m doing a good job with my traps or not.”

Druid looked at my traps, then at the pile of wild rabbits, and that seemed to make him understand. With a big kill every time 

no matter what, it would be difficult to tell which traps you’d set well.

“You’re right. It’s pretty hard to tell from this.”

“Exactly. Ciel always helps me no matter what, so I’m worried it thinks my traps are faulty. And you can see the results of Ciel’s help with your own eyes.”

“I’m sure Ciel only does that because it cares about you, Ivy.”

“I know, that’s why it’s hard to ask it to stop.”

I decided to find a spot near water to butcher the animals so we could sell the meat. This was my usual routine. I found a bana tree along the way and gathered some of its leaves. The leaves were antiseptic, so they were often used to wrap meat.

When we arrived at the river, we looked around for any sign of danger. We’d be in big trouble if there was another gurbar pack like the day before. There’d be no time for butchering, and we’d have to ask the guild master for help again, too. We really wanted to avoid doing that too many days in a row.

“Looks like the coast is clear,” Druid said.

“Yes, indeed.”

Mewww. Ciel sounded a bit disappointed.

Did you want to go hunting? You know…maybe I should just let Ciel hunt as much as it wants? The only problem is, I’m not sure what I would do with all those gurbar corpses.

I got to work butchering the rabbits. Druid helped out, but he seemed a little miffed that he wasn’t as skilled at the task as he ought to be. I wasn’t sure if I should say something consoling or just wait for him to feel better on his own… So confusing!

“Um, okay, we’re all done. Shall we head back to town?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Argh, I’m sorry. I really wish I could have helped more.”

He’s more than a little upset…let’s say VERY upset. I guess it would be really hard to have to relearn something you used to be good at… What should I tell him?

“Umm…” Come on, Ivy. Consoling someone isn’t a high-level skill. “I think it would be best if you found ways of doing things with just one arm, or better still, if you looked for things that you can already do with one arm.” Agh! That sounded really patronizing…

“You’ve got a point there. I guess I’ll just have to slowly find the new things I’m good at. Thanks.”

“Um, no problem.” I wrapped my meat in bana leaves. “Thanks, Ciel.”

Mrrrow.

“Pu! Puuu.”

“Teryu-ryuuu”

Guys, I was talking to Ciel. 

“Hey now, Sora. I was nice enough to let you spend the whole day on my head,” Druid grumbled.

“Puuu,” Sora jiggled. 

Oh no! It’s about to fall off. “Sora, don’t move! You’ll fall.”

“Puuu, puuu.”

My eyes darted down to Ciel’s feet, where Flame was sitting. Flame was also doing the vertical stretch exercises. However, Flame’s movements were much slower than Sora’s. As I compared the two slimes, I got the sense that Flame was just a bit more easygoing. There were qualities about it that I wished Sora had. I guess there’s a lot of different personalities to be found in slimes.

“Should we go back?” Druid asked, hoisting the bag with the meat onto his shoulder. For a moment, I was about to offer to help, but I decided to let him handle it. I had butchered the meat, so Druid could be the one to carry it.

“Ciel, thanks for all your help today. And you don’t need to hunt gurbars. Understand?”

Mrrrow! 

…Why do I have an extra-bad feeling about this? Also, is it just me, or was Ciel’s meow just now much more spunky that usual? Umm…

“I mean it. If you hunt gurbars, you’ll be in trouble.”

Mrrrow. Its tone was a little lower… I guess I’ll just have to trust that it’ll be okay.

“Bye, Ciel. See you tomorrow.” Druid waved.

Ciel stretched its neck toward the top of his head to give Sora a lick. Then it bent down and licked Flame before making a graceful exit.

“Whoa! What’s going on?”

Sora had started a round of very intense stretching exercises on Druid’s head. And his head wasn’t a stable surface; it fell to the ground. Druid was flustered, but Sora seemed to be more affected by the licking than falling off Druid’s head. It proceeded to bounce wildly around us.

“Sora?” That’s odd. I thought Sora had gotten used to the licking by now.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sora’s reacting to Ciel licking it. I thought it was accustomed to it, though.”

Druid followed Sora with his eyes. It was bouncing around…a bit indiscriminately. It even hit a couple trees. Well, knowing Sora, there was nothing to worry about.

“Maybe Sora thought it wouldn’t get licked if it was on my head.”

That makes sense. I guess the sudden licking startled it. I still think it should be used to it at this point.

“Come on, Sora. We’re going back.”

Sora suddenly stopped its bouncing…then, with a huge leap, it returned to its favorite perch.

“I guess the top of my head is Sora’s spot now.”

I think it’s been Sora’s spot for a while… “Yes, it is. If you don’t like it, let Sora know.”

“It’s all right.”

I scooped up Flame, who was already in dreamland, and gently set it into its bag. This slime seemed to enjoy sleeping much more than Sora did. I wasn’t sure yet if it was a biological need or a personal preference.

We walked back to town, putting Sora in the bag along the way. Druid has a butcher in mind, so I let him introduce me. The shop was run by a man named Tokihi, a longtime customer of Druid’s father. Which reminded me, I never asked Druid exactly what his family business was.

“Hey, Mr. Druid, what does your father sell at his shop?”

“We’re a general goods store. We thrive on our borley and weet sales in particular; our varieties are famous for being very good quality. We also sell livestock feed, I think.”

Wait a minute… Was the person who sold me rice Druid’s father? I did sense a familiar aura from him…

“Um, just a guess, but is his shop near the food carts, on the left side of the main street?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

Wow, I’ve already met Druid’s father! “I went there to buy some rice.”

“Ryce? As in feed for animals?”

Oh, that’s right. It’s livestock feed in this world. I know! I’ll pretend I didn’t know ryce was livestock feed.

“Yes. It was delicious.”

“Huh? It was…delicious? But livestock…wait, did my father explain it to you? Ryce is for domestic animals, Ivy.”

Uh-oh. He’s much more upset than I expected. “It’s okay, please stay calm.”

“I never thought my father would do such shady business—”

“It’s not what you think!”

“Hm?”

I should’ve kept quiet. I didn’t think he’d get this worked up. “I’m sorry, he did tell me it was livestock feed. But in my memories, rice is a diet staple. It’s delicious.”

“Oh…! So that’s why.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d be that angry.”

“Well, I thought he’d sold livestock feed to an innocent child… Yeah…I know my father wouldn’t do that.” Druid chuckled and shook his head.

I apologized and described rice to him in more detail.

“Wow…that’s really interesting.”

“Thanks… But there’s just one problem: I still haven’t been able to cook it very well. It’s hard to get the water-to-rice ratio just right.”

I’d tried to make rice four times by now and still hadn’t succeeded. Past Me remembered the heat should be low, so I was pretty confident that part was right. The only problem was the water level, which was really tricky. I was still experimenting with it.

Oh, that’s a good idea. I’ll buy some rice on the way home.