The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 5 - Chapter 250

Chapter 250:

Introductions

“Okay, um, so you know how I told you yesterday that I’m a tamer? Well…” Telling other people about myself and my companions always made me so nervous.

“It’s okay, hon, just say whatever you’re comfortable with,” Rose said. “You’re too honest for your own good, Ivy.”

“Huh?”

“Adventurers and travelers gotta be a bit sly now and then.”

Sly?

“What I’m saying is, it’s okay to be a bit selfish and look out for number one. Just don’t be cruel, of course.”

Umm… I looked at Druid for help, and he just smiled awkwardly back at me. Did that mean he agreed with Rose?

“It’s simple. Ya don’t need to tell me the whole truth. Remember what I said? I know how to spot people I can trust and I’m always up for a fun adventure.”

Errr…so, in other words, I don’t have to give her a super-detailed explanation because she trusts me? As for the liking fun adventures part…well, I still don’t get it. She’s hard to understand.

“So, why didja want an appraisal item?”

If I word this too carefully, she won’t understand. Gee, now it’s even harder to explain everything.

“Rose, Ivy’s overthinking it now. What you said backfired.”

I don’t think I’m overthinking anything.

“Yeah, I guess so. I meant ya could just speak freely without frettin’ too much.”

Speak freely…speak freely…

“We want the appraisal item because I’ve tamed a slime that can regenerate spent magic stones. Um, and we need to be able to test the levels of the stones because we want to sell them to people.”

Did that make everything clear? I didn’t say anything wrong, so it’s okay, right? I looked at Rose. There was an expression on her face I couldn’t put into words. Huh? Did I say something wrong?

“Okay, I get it so far. Ya have magic stones and ya don’t know their levels and ya want to be able to look it up, right?”

“Exactly!” Oh, good. I think she gets it.

“As you can tell, the two of us aren’t completely on the same page,” Druid said.

I gave him a funny look. What was he talking about?

“Yeah, Ivy sure is a cutie. You’re going to have to start being careful around bad men.”

Um, how in the world did we jump to this subject?

“Don’t worry. If any men come by, I’ll make them see stars.”

Um, Druid, you’re scaring me a little. And again, why are we even talking about this?

“Umm…so, can I introduce my companions now?”

It would be best for everyone to meet face-to-face now that Rose was going to be in on our secret.

“You really are such a good girl,” Rose said, looking at me with incredibly warm eyes. It made me a little uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I was embarrassed or flattered.

“Ivy,” Druid said, trying not to laugh, “what Rose was trying to say is that it’s okay if you don’t tell her why we have magic stones whose level we don’t know.”

“Huh?!” But why? Most people would find us suspicious if they knew we had magic stones we didn’t want to take to the guild for appraisal.

“You could have just said ‘We have some magic stones, but we don’t know their level, so we’d like to find out,’” Druid explained.

“That’s all?” I asked in surprise.

Rose laughed and nodded. “Ya don’t usually see people ­wantin’ to look up magic stones on their own when they could just take them to the guild. So ya obviously got these stones in some weird way. But I can tell from how ya both act that you’re not bad people. Since I trust ya, I don’t think it matters how ya got these magic stones.”

Oh. So that’s what she meant. “You know, Rose…you’re really chivalrous.” I blurted out the masculine word without even thinking.

Rose laughed loudly at my phrasing. “Thanks! I’m honored.”

“So, um, I want you to meet my companions, ma’am. They’re all very nice.” Favors and helping aside, I was just really eager to introduce her to my creatures. I wanted her to know them.

“Thanks. But first, ya gotta promise me somethin’.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Trust nobody. Ya still haven’t known me long enough to figure out what kind of person I am, right? But ya told me ya tamed a slime that can regenerate spent magic stones, of all things. What if I tried to steal it from ya? Especially when ya really want to introduce me to it. Wouldn’t ya be sad if I took your slime away? Ya hear me, Ivy? Always take people with a grain of salt. Never forget that.”

Huh? I get the feeling I’ve heard something like that before. Where was it? It was…something Druid’s mentor said. That’s right, he did say something similar.

“Um, but, Rose, it wasn’t a problem that I told you. I talked it over with my companions and they told me you were safe.”

Besides, I didn’t think that anybody who lectured me on the importance of not trusting people could be a bad person.

“I sure am honored that ya trust me, Ivy. But I’m still a tad worried ’bout ya… People who show up with a friendly smile are the ones ya should be most suspicious of, ya hear?”

“Yes, ma’am. But my tamed slimes have the power to figure out whether somebody is good or bad.”

“Ivy! What did I just tell ya?!”

“But Sora said you’re safe, Rose. And when I mentioned earlier that I wanted to introduce them to you, they jiggled really hard and tried to get out of their bag.”

Rose sighed. “I’m really happy to hear that, but still…” She shot Druid an exasperated look.

“Why don’t we just take everyone out of the bag?” Druid interjected.

We brought Sora, Flame, and Ciel into the open.

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Mrrrow.

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

The three sat on the table, each giving their greetings to Rose.

“I don’t know exactly why, but these creatures definitely look like ya tamed them, Ivy.”

How did she get that impression? I looked at them and saw nothing out of the ordinary. They seemed perfectly normal to me.

“Anyway, let’s have some tea and sort things out,” Druid said, settling everyone down.

I sat down and sipped my tea while telling Rose about Sora, Flame, and Ciel. She looked shocked when I told her Flame could make potions. And if the news surprised somebody as well seasoned as Rose, then it must be a startling fact indeed. Then, when I explained to her that Ciel was actually an adandara, she seemed perplexed.

“But why does your adandara look like a slime?”

“Flame created a stone that helps it shapeshift into one.”

Rose reached out and gave my head a gentle pat. “Thanks for sharin’ everything with me.”

This was a great relief to hear. Even though my companions had assured me she was safe, I was still nervous about having her meet them.

“Okay! Are we ready to talk business?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So, let’s just say ya want to discreetly look up the level of some magic stones. Do ya approve of that wording?”

“Yes. Do you know anyone who can do that?”

We would need somebody with an appraise skill. I looked at Rose. Her expression grew conflicted, and she shook her head no.

“That’s too bad.”

“Since there’s plenty of magic stones in the caves around here, we’ve got more people with the appraise skill than most towns and villages. But they’d all be registered with the guild, and travelin’ appraisers aren’t to be trusted.”

Oh dear.

“Um, Rose, may I ask something of you?” Druid’s eyes were solemn.

Rose nodded with a similar look in her eyes.

“The captain of the watch…your son…could you introduce us to him?”

That’s right. That’s what Druid’s original plan was.

“Sure, I don’t mind. But wouldn’t ya prefer the guild master?”

So she will introduce us. Is it really that easy? And why does she think the guild master would be better?

“The guild master knows more about magic stones. He’s been using them for a while.”

“Oh, really? But we haven’t met him yet.”

“Want me to introduce ya?”

“I’m tempted, but I’ve heard the top dogs of the adventurer and merchant guilds don’t get along well. And since we already 

know people in the merchant guild, we’d kind of like to avoid meeting the adventurer guild’s master.”

“That makes sense.”

What? The leaders of the guilds don’t get along? I’ve never seen that before in a village.

“Okay, then I’ll set ya up with my son instead. He probably knows somebody who can figure out the levels of your stones.”

It looks like everything got settled in the end. What a relief.