The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 297

Chapter 297:

Too Bad It’s Cold

WE WHISKED THROUGH the woods, cutting through the wind as we went. On this winter day, it was quite cold…yet also thrilling. I wondered if it would have felt as nice in the springtime.

“Guild Master Priya, are we going too fast for you?”

“Not a problem, Miss. I am already quite familiar with this part of the forest, so I don’t need to linger. But my, I am quite impressed!”

I smiled at the excitement in his voice. And, well, of course he was excited. After all, we were riding the back of this village’s guardian deity.

“Thanks,” I told Snakey.

It spun its head around and smiled softly at me. I wished it would keep its eyes on where we were going, but it had such a cute smile. Still, I was astounded. I never thought I’d see the day when I would be riding Snakey. When we were walking through the forest on our way to hunt bearth, Snakey had appeared out of nowhere to greet us. When we apologized that we had an errand to run that day and couldn’t visit, Snakey suddenly yanked me off the ground with its nose and set me on its back. And while I was sitting there, stiff with shock, Sora and Ciel in slime form jumped on with me. Then it looked back at Druid and Priya to tell them they were also welcome to ride, so the two men climbed onto Snakey’s back.

“I never dreamed our guardian deity would let me ride its back! Miss Ivy, being near you always brings me such extraordinary experiences.”

I smiled awkwardly in reply. I was pretty sure Snakey was allowing us on its back not because of me but because of Ciel.

“Hey, Ciel, are we almost at the spot where you found the bearth?”

Would Ciel still be able to tell where we were when we were riding on Snakey’s back? The adandara looked around and then jiggled.

“Are we almost there?”

No answer.

“A little farther?”

Mrrrow.

A bit farther, then. After a little more distance, Ciel suddenly started to mew. Snakey stopped at the sound of it. That’s impressive. We got to our destination in half the time.

“Thanks,” I told Snakey while getting off its back. Druid and Priya said the same as they slid off and took in their surroundings.

“Do you know about where we are?” Druid asked.

“Yes, this is one of the places where bearth used to herd. Oh! Look at that!”

We looked where Priya was pointing and saw sharp claw marks that had cut through the tree bark.

“These marks definitely came from bearth. They have sharp, retractable claws, you see.”

So they’re retractable. That made sense as the bearth corpse didn’t appear to have sharp claws.

“This spot is four or five hours away from the village. This will be great practice for the novice adventurers. They could learn how to hunt and survive overnight in the winter here.”

Priya looked rather giddy. Teaching the next generation of adventurers was one of his jobs as the guild master. He had to teach them well or else they would die. A lot of younger adventurers thought it was okay to push themselves beyond their limits, but the forest was not to be taken lightly. An unguarded moment could get you killed; that’s the sort of place it was. That was why younger adventurers were always paired off with the veterans for missions, so they could gain the necessary experience to survive. And these learning missions were particularly popular among the novices. Priya told us that many of them had signed up for this bearth expedition.

“I hope it goes well,” Druid said.

“Me, too. I’m just concerned about the winter weather.”

I glanced around as I listened to the adults talk. “Huh, I don’t see any.” I strained my eyes as far as they could see, but there was no sign of bearth. I guess that made sense since they would never come anywhere near Snakey or Ciel. I had wanted to see a bearth on its feet, but I guessed it wasn’t meant to be.

Mrrrow?

“Hm? Oh, I was just thinking it would be nice to see a bearth moving around.”

I looked at Ciel, curious about the slight change in its voice, and saw it had returned to adandara form. Our eyes met, and it gave a short meow before darting off into the distance.

“Huh?! Ciel?”

“Pu! Puuu?” Sora, equally confused, stared at Ciel as it ran off.

“It’s gone, isn’t it?”

“Pu! Pu, pu.”

Huh? Come to think of it, where did Sol go? I thought it was stuck to Ciel’s head like glue even after Ciel shapeshifted into a slime.

“Sol?”

“Pefu!”

Huh? The voice sounded close to my ear. I quickly looked at my right shoulder…and there was Sol, perched on top of it. “When did you get there?”

“Pefu-fu!” Sol looked a bit proud, like it was happy it had surprised me.

“Oh, you!” I gave Sol a couple of pokes, and it jiggled with glee. Actually, I was glad it was on my shoulder. I was worried we’d dropped it somewhere.

“What’s going on?” Druid, who’d finished talking with Priya, looked around as he approached us. “Where’s Ciel?”

“It ran off.”

“What?!” Druid looked startled.

Yeah, I’d be shocked, too. Ciel had stayed close by us when we entered the forest. It had probably run away to ensure our safety.

“What’s wrong?”

Wait a minute…Ciel ran off right after I said I wished I could see a bearth moving around. It didn’t… No, it wouldn’t…

“I sense something approaching us,” Priya said, drawing his sword and taking a defensive stance. Ciel being gone certainly made a big difference. Druid drew his sword, too.

“Sss…”

I suddenly felt a giant shadow looming behind me and heard a hissing sound above my head. I spun around to see Snakey standing tall and looking menacingly about in all directions. Just as it did that, I sensed an aura darting away from us.

“Now I get it. Ciel ran off because we had someone else here to protect us,” Druid said.

“Looks like it. Thanks, Snakey.”

Snakey lowered its head and nuzzled its nose against my belly. It was so cute when it was affectionate like that. I gave its nose a couple of pats, and it smiled softly up at me.

“Snakey sure is good at masking its aura, huh?” I said.

“Hm?”

“Well, until that other monster’s aura got close to us, I didn’t sense Snakey’s aura at all.”

Even now, its aura was faint, unlike when it was intimidating our would-be attacker. Maybe that’s why it was so good at staying hidden in the forest: It could mask its aura really well.

“Mr. Druid! Would you show me your sword? That’s a magic stone, isn’t it?” Priya’s eyes were glued to Druid’s sword, and he seemed quite taken with the stone Flame had made. It certainly was an impressive one.

“Sure, I don’t mind…just don’t tell anyone about it, okay?”

“Of course! Ah, so this really must be a high-level magic stone, eh?” Priya was giddy with excitement as he stared at the stone.

“Yeah, probably.”

“Probably?”

“Uh-huh. We didn’t have it checked.”

“But what a waste! If you found out this sword’s level, its value would shoot up and you could really make a name for yourself.”

Make a name for himself?

“Uh, it’s okay. I don’t want to draw attention to myself.”

“Oh, too bad. Where did you find this magic stone? Or wait, did a monster drop it?”

Druid looked at me for help. Priya knew that Flame could regenerate magic stones and that it had made one to save Snakey, so it should be okay to tell him.

“Flame made this magic stone, sir. We didn’t find it in a cave or by killing a monster.”

When I said this, Priya froze. Then he sharply turned his eyes on me. I recoiled a little under his intense gaze. Why… Why did he have such a big smile on his face?