The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 4 - Chapter 199

Chapter 199:

Rocks on the Side of the Road

“Good morning, Ciel. We finally finished cleaning house.”

Mrrrow, Ciel purred, affectionately rubbing against me.

I gently patted its head. Ciel’s fur was nice and warm, probably from sleeping in the sun. I just realized…the wind has been getting pretty chilly lately.

“The seasons changed while I wasn’t looking.”

Mew?

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Teryu?”

I was going to have a nice, leisurely day with Ciel for the first time in a while. I’d come to the forest in the morning with a picnic lunch and a magic mat I’d borrowed from Druid. It was so soft and comfy to sit on, and Flame and Sora seemed to like it, too. I brought another one for Ciel, who apparently felt the same way.

“These mats are great, aren’t they? My butt doesn’t hurt a bit. I’ll need to thank Mr. Druid later.”

“Pu! Puuu.”

“Teryuuu.”

“Is it nice and soft for you, too, Ciel?”

Mrrrow.

“Hee hee. Oh, the weather is so nice! The breeze feels wonderful.”

“Teryuuu.”

Come to think of it, Flame’s been staying awake a lot longer the past few days. When did that start? Oh! It began when it regenerated those magic stones. Was that the reason? Is that even possible?

“Teryu-ryuuu, teryu-ryuuu, teryu-ryuuu.”

I wonder what’s come over you? I watched my whining slime…and noticed it was staring intently at something. It was a rock bigger than my fist, on the ground a little bit away from the edge of the mat.

“Is this what you’re talking about? But I think it’s just a normal rock.”

“Teryuuu!” Flame cried, stretching out toward the rock in my hand. That surprised me a little. The slime stretched quite a bit during its exercises, but I had never seen it extend this much before. It stretched far now, though, to reach the rock I was holding.

“Sit tight. I’ll give it to you.”

I was a bit worried, but since Flame wanted the rock, it must have been okay. I wiped the dirt off of it and set it in front of Flame, who happily chomped the whole rock into its mouth. After a while, a bunch of foam bubbled inside of Flame’s body.

“Hmmm…so you’re fine with ordinary rocks, too? They don’t have to be former magic stones?”

But the only answer Flame gave me was the “shuwaaa, ­shuwaaa” sound of its bubbles. It squeezed its eyes shut and… Wait, was it savoring the flavor of the rock as it ate it?

“Pu-pu, puuu.”

“Hm? Sora, are you hungry, too?”

Seems a bit early to eat, but okay. I took out the potions I’d brought for Sora’s lunch and set them out on the mat in front of it. Is Flame okay with just rocks for lunch? I have some potions for it, too… Well, I can always ask after it’s finished eating that rock.

I watched Sora and Flame eat. They were both filled up with bubbles, which was a rather strange sight.

“Teryu…teryu…te-ryuryuuu…pong!”

Huh? The rock I gave Flame was just an ordinary one you’d find at the side of the road…right? And yet…there was a beautiful, bright-red magic stone sitting in front of Flame. I could tell it was fairly transparent, even at a quick glance. Erm, I guess I’ll need to take this home with me.

“Teryuuu, teryuuu.”

“Oh! Er, wow, Flame, good job! I’ve never seen such a pretty magic stone. Thanks.”

Flame jiggled merrily in reply. It was an adorable sight, but I couldn’t take my worried eyes off the magic stone sitting in front of it. I took a little breath in and out, then grabbed the stone… It was huge. It was the biggest one I’d ever seen. I knew the more transparent they were, the higher levels of magic they held, but I wasn’t sure if size played a factor.

“Teryu-ryuuu. Teryu-ryuuu, teryu-ryuuu,” Flame sang in the same way as before.

I cautiously looked at the slime. Then I followed its gaze…and I felt like pulling my hair out. It was eyeing a stone, a bit bigger than the one I was holding. Was it going to do the same thing to that stone as well?

“Teryu-ryuuu…teryu?” Flame stopped, curious about my lack of response, and leaned up against me. That was probably its way of asking me what was wrong. It was cute…it was really cute, but… Are you really gonna change that stone, too?

Flame stared at me. I stared back…then I got up and brought the stone over to it.

“Teryuuu!”

It’s fine. I’ll just have more magic stones to secretly carry in my bag. Besides, they might come in handy someday.

“Here you go, Flame. But this is the last one.”

“Teryu?”

Maybe Flame didn’t want to stop. Did it need the materials the stones provided? That could be it.

“The last one for today. You can make more magic stones some other time.”

“Teryu-ryuuu.”

I set the stone in front of Flame, who chomped it right up and happily closed its eyes.

“Once we get back, we’ll have to tell Mr. Druid about this.” He would need to know that Flame was turning random rocks in the road into magic stones.

“Pu-pu, puuu!” Sora had finished eating and was playfully tumbling around with Ciel. It had been a while since I’d seen Sora do that. When it rolled over to Ciel’s belly, the adandara didn’t mind. It even rolled the slime around with its front paws.

“Er…isn’t that the wrong way to play?”

“Puuu!”

Mrrrow.

Well, Sora at least looks like it’s having fun, so I guess it’s okay?

“Teryu! Te-ryuryuuu…pong!” A transparent magic stone rolled out in front of Flame.

“Huh? That one isn’t red.” I picked it up and examined it closely. It was a pure, colorless magic stone. I knew you could tell a stone’s attributes from its color: Red was for fire, blue and aquamarine were for water, green and yellow-green were for wind, and brown was for earth. But what elemental was clear? I’d always thought magic wouldn’t matter to me since I had so little of it, so I’d never studied it in detail.

“Guess I’ll have to ask Mr. Druid about this, too.” I seem to be relying on him for a lot lately. Maybe I should go to a bookstore and look for information about magic and magic stones.

Wait…I sense an aura approaching me. It was still far away, but I could definitely tell it was getting closer.

“That aura belongs to Mr. Druid, right?”

Mrrrow. Ciel felt it, too.

There was another aura with him… “Is that his mentor? The aura is so weak that it’s hard to read.”

Actually, why would he come here so confidently without hesitating? I know I said I’d be spending the day in the forest relaxing with Ciel, but I didn’t tell him the exact spot.

“Teryuuu.”

“It’s okay, flame. It’s Mr. Druid and his mentor.”

I searched for more auras, but it was just the two. Both auras were calm like they always were, so it probably wasn’t an emergency. After a while, I saw Druid and his mentor emerge from the trees. They noticed me and waved.

“Good morning,” I said. “Is something wrong?”

“Hi, Ivy. Master insisted he had to see the adandara, so I brought him here. Is this a good time?”

“Yes, it’s okay.” Aha. Yeah, I do remember him begging me to introduce him to Ciel.

“Hey, Ivy, sorry to bother ya on your day off.”

“Oh, it’s all right, sir. This is Ciel. Ciel, this is Mr. Druid’s old mentor. He’s been helping me out a lot.”

“Uh, I think you’re the one who’s helpin’ me, Ivy,” the old mentor said, staring hard at Ciel. Ciel stared hard back at him…and after a while, it started to purr. That meant it had decided he was safe.

“Whoa, ya really are a magnificent beast. Oh, and thanks for savin’ our hides last week.”

Ciel thwapped its tail lightly in reply.

“Mr. Druid, how did you know where to find us?”

“We were going to take all the safe parts of the forest where the adventurers don’t go and search them one by one. We didn’t think we’d find you so quickly.”

Ah. So they didn’t know exactly where I was. Wow, the old ­mentor has the scariest look in his eyes. He’s been a grinning mess ever since he saw Ciel. That face…it’s so crazy, I just can’t look away.