The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 5 - Chapter 254

Chapter 254:

A Contract?

“Oh, I just remembered there was somethin’ I wanted to ask ya,” Rose said as she set out tea for all of us on the table.

“Thank you, ma’am. What is it?”

We all sat down and took a breath. The hot tea was especially delicious after the tense conversation we’d just had. Rose’s tea also had a hint of sweetness to it. I wondered whether Hatow’s tea was always like that.

“Do ya still need a magic item to tell ya the levels of magic stones?”

What did she mean by that? Captain Tableau looked just as confused as I was.

“It turns out ya don’t need to know the exact level after all, right? So I figured ya probably didn’t need the magic item anymore, either.”

She had a point; we no longer needed it. But Flame would probably keep regenerating magic stones, so it could be useful later.

“We don’t need it now, but I think we eventually will,” Druid said.

“Ah, right. Eventually…” Rose smiled and nodded. She had seen Flame’s joy as it regenerated magic stones, so she understood. “But still, the magic items I’ve got right now just don’t cut it…” She sighed heavily. She was right—changing the magic stones over and over again trying to get a result…the idea made my head spin.

“You’re right. Even a rough estimate of the level would be fine, but there’s no telling how long it would take to test the level of over twenty magic stones… That’s the problem.”

Twenty stones…yeah, that sounds like a nightmare.

“Got it. I’ll ask the other shops and look around for more sensitive items.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Druid asked.

Rose nodded. Captain Tableau looked just as uncomfortable as he’d been when we all sat down. He was probably frustrated and struggling to understand what we were talking about. I wonder…are Rose and Druid being vague on purpose?

“When ya run into a problem like this later on, ya can hopefully ask someone else for help, but that won’t always be doable. I guess that means ya do need this magic item. Well, only if it works well enough, that is.”

“Thank you very much for looking out for us.”

Once there was a lull in our conversation, Captain Tableau cleared his throat.

“What is it?” Rose stared at him.

He fidgeted a little. “Er, I’d just kind of like to know why exactly you asked me to come here today.”

Rose rolled her eyes in resignation. “Yeah, I guess we will have to talk about that. These two probably have some errands they want to get to.”

If you asked me, Captain Tableau was the one who was ­anxious to get back to work, not us.

“Tableau, I asked ya here to help these two sell their red magic stones.”

Wow, she really just threw him a hardball without any warning.

“Their magic stones? But can’t they just go through the guild or the village watch?” Tableau had a confused look in his eyes that said Is that what you called me all the way out here to do?

“That’s what they’d do if there were no issues. But there are issues. That’s why you’re here.”

Druid and I exchanged smiles. Then Druid set a bag onto the table. Rose’s eyes bulged a little when she saw how big it was.

“Are there more now? Don’t tell me that yesterday…”

“Flame regenerated more stones?” was what Rose was probably thinking.

“Yes. Very happily, I might add.”

As we talked with Rose, Captain Tableau looked utterly confused.

“These are red magic stones. We want to sell them, but we don’t know any of their levels.”

“Huh? Is this all of them?”

“Yes.”

Captain Tableau looked inside the bag, then went stiff for a few moments. As Druid had guessed, their level was too high for them to be sold. Usually, stones for sale would be Level 5 at most, but Flame’s lowest level of regenerated magic stones were Level 5. I guess it was only natural for him to be stunned by the contents of the bag.

“Um, is this everything?”

“Yes, though we’re pretty sure there will be more later,” Druid said.

A look of bewilderment filled Tableau’s eyes. “Sooo, if you’re going to sell them, the state of emergency means you would have to part with them for quite a low price.”

“Yes, I understand that.”

“I see.” Tableau stared mindlessly at the stones. I was starting to worry.

“Are you okay, sir?” I asked.

He looked at me. “I’m fine, thanks. To tell the truth, Hatow is desperate for any magic stones at all right now.”

“I’m glad we can help.”

Captain Tableau kept staring at me. He took a sip of tea and said, “But there’s just one thing I need you to tell me.” Then his eyes bored into Druid, who stared right back. “Please tell me how you got these magic stones.”

“It’s only natural for you to be curious about that. That’s why we called you here to tell you,” Druid answered.

“Oh, it is?”

“Yes. We couldn’t let just anyone overhear our conversation.”

“What exactly is going on?”

“Before I tell you anything, I want you to sign a contract.”

“A contract?”

“Yes. A nondisclosure agreement.”

“As long as it’s nothing criminal, I don’t mind. I’ll sign,” Captain Tableau said.

Rose set a piece of paper on the table. Druid and I were startled at the sight of it. The original plan had been to see how committed Tableau was, not to get him to actually sign that day.

“Tableau, this is the nondisclosure agreement. Hurry up and sign it. Druid, this one is from me.” Rose handed Tableau a pen, then gave Druid another piece of paper.

“Wow, this is a little excessive.”

“You two are way too trusting. These contracts are the least ya should do. Ya gotta keep Ivy and her friends safe.” Rose shoved the paper at Druid. There was a look of astonishment on his face as he took it and read it over.

“Once you’ve read through it, you and Ivy should both sign it.”

“Mom, are these papers magic?”

“Of course they are—they’re binding contracts.”

“Yeah, but common folks don’t really use these. Most people just use regular paper.”

“Well, this is the paper I want to use.”

“Uh…okay.”

While the mother and son squabbled, Druid asked me if I wanted to see Rose’s contract. I agreed that I should at least read it.

1. I will not tell anyone about Ivy or her companions.

2. If I do tell anyone, I will become a slave.

3. My official classification will be a criminal-slave.

4. If that happens, all my assets will be split evenly between Ivy and Druid.

“Isn’t this a bit too extreme?”

“Ya think so, hon? I don’t plan on breaking the contract, so I have no problems with the punishments being extreme.”

Was that really the issue here? Also, this contract didn’t spell out what “breaking” it meant.

“Um, why didn’t you specify what counts as breaking the contract?”

“Because it wasn’t necessary.”

But…is it really unnecessary? I looked at Druid. He shook his head, probably to tell me that nothing I could say would change Rose’s mind. After Druid and I signed the contract, Rose smiled and patted my head.

“There. All signed.”

Now that Tableau had finished, we went ahead and signed his contract, too. I never imagined we would be signing a contract just to talk about red magic stones.

“Okay, now please explain everything.”

“Captain Tableau, I’m leaving the explanation to Ivy, not me.”

“What?! Really, Ivy?”

“Yes, and I also have some friends I want you to meet.”

I pulled Sora, Flame, and Ciel out of their bag and repeated the story I’d told Rose. The more I talked, the blanker the look on Tableau’s face got. I was starting to worry again.

“Um, so…did that all make sense, sir?”

Tableau let out a frustrated moan. “For now, yes… Okay, so this slime named Flame can make magic stones. Is that right?”

“Not make them, exactly. Flame regenerates them.”

“Oh, yes. That’s right.”

Now that I’d told him everything, the three of us sipped our tea and waited for him to put all the pieces together in his mind. For some reason, Rose was rolling Sora around, much to its delight. Ciel was playing on the shelf. I wanted to stop them, but Rose insisted they should do as they pleased. Flame, meanwhile, just slept soundly.

“Okay. I understand it all now. So…could I watch your slime regenerate a magic stone?”

As soon as Captain Tableau said those words, Flame’s eyes shot open. It seemed really eager, so I had Rose bring out a spent magic stone. As Flame regenerated the stone into a high-level one before his very eyes, Tableau froze up like a statue.

Come on, Flame…why now, of all times, did you have to regenerate a stone close to Level 1?