The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 312

Chapter 312:

Many Snakeys

“LONG TIME NO SEE.”

Nuzzle, nuzzle. Nuzzle, nuzzle. Bobbing head, up and down.

“Have you been doing well?”

Nuzzle, nuzzle. Nuzzle, nuzzle. Bobbing head, up and down.

“We looked all over for you because we wanted to say thank you, so I’m glad we got to see you again. Are they your family?”

Nuzzle, nuzzle. Nuzzle, nuzzle. Bob…

Huh? That last bob was so tiny I couldn’t tell if Snakey was shaking its head yes or no. It’s odd that it isn’t trilling today like it usually does. Too bad. Its voice is so cute. Well, I do like being nuzzled, though.

“Sorry, I didn’t get what you said. Am I right that they’re your family?”

I gave Snakey’s nose a little pat, and it nodded grandly in reply.

“Ivy, how exactly are you talking to it?” Druid asked, looking at us with an odd expression.

“Huh? Why, it’s nodding or shaking its head, of course.”

Is there something weird about that?

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I gave Druid’s surprised eyes a curious look. Maybe Snakey’s head bobbing was too subtle for him to pick up on?

“Snakey, you’re shaking your head yes or no to answer my questions, right?”

“Krrr-rr!”

This time, it replied with its voice. Druid was sure to notice that. I looked at him and pointed at Snakey with a little “See?”

“Okay, yeah. It’s because you’re special, Ivy.”

He had a strange smile on his face when he said that. It didn’t feel like he was making fun of me, but he also didn’t seem to truly understand, either. As I stood there, giving Druid a funny look, the other two serpents came closer to peer into my face. I looked back at them and noticed sparkles of anticipation in their eyes. Since no amount of thinking would help me figure out what they wanted, I told them I was sorry and petted their noses instead. Then their eyes narrowed and their expressions softened. I was right—they did want pats. You guys are just so darn cute!

“Say, Flame?”

“Teryu?”

“I’m a little worried about Ivy’s future, based on how completely unfazed she is about being surrounded by three giant serpents. Will she be okay?”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

I looked up at the sound of Flame’s voice to see that Druid had picked up Flame and they were chatting.

“Mr. Druid, is something wrong with Flame?”

“Hm? Er, no. Everything’s okay.”

His response sounded a bit tired, but I didn’t have time to wonder why, as the three giant serpents were closing in on me.

“Sorry, can you let me through?”

The serpents made a path for me right away. Gee, you guys are nice. I gave each of their heads a soft pat and then walked over to Druid. I looked at Flame in his arms, but nothing seemed amiss to me. As I stared at Flame, Druid tousled my hair. What’s going on?

“Wanna head out?”

“Yeah, we do need to find ourselves a place to sleep for the night.”

“Uh-huh.”

We washed the dishes we’d used on our little break and put them back in the bag. When we were all ready to leave, we turned to say goodbye to the serpents.

“Thanks for everything. We have to go to the next village now, but we’ll definitely come back to visit sometime.”

When I started to walk away, something tugged on my clothes, and then I felt myself floating in midair.

“Huh?! Snakey?” I tried to look behind me, but since the backside of my coat was up in the air, I couldn’t see very well. I remembered this happening before. I looked at Snakey and saw that it was staring intensely at Druid.

“Do you want to give us a ride?” Druid asked.

Snakey nodded yes. Druid looked over to me, so I gave him an awkward smile for good measure.

“Guess we have no choice, eh? By the way, we’re heading for Hatata Village. Can you go that far?”

The three serpents all nodded in unison, so apparently our destination wasn’t a problem for them. That was a big relief. Once Druid got on, Snakey slowly began to slither along.

“Thanks for the ride, Snakey.”

We had been cutting through the woods for quite a long time by then…and no matter how you looked at it, we were definitely headed even deeper into the forest. Will this really take us to Hatata Village? Well, Snakey did say it could bring us there. I guess we’ll just have to trust it.

“Are we going the right way?” Druid asked.

“We are… Probably?”

Oops, I didn’t mean to turn my answer into a question. Boy, Snakey sure does move fast. I’d better be careful not to fall off… Huh?

“Mr. Druid…we’re going really fast, but we’re still sitting normally. That’s weird, right?”

I’d only just realized it. The trees were zipping by us awfully fast, but it didn’t feel at all like I was going to be flung into the air.

“It’s probably magic.”

Magic?

“You mean Snakey is using magic to hold back the wind?”

“Probably, yeah. Neither you nor I are doing anything to keep us in place, Ivy.”

If Druid wasn’t using magic, then it definitely had to be Snakey. I didn’t have enough magic to use, anyway.

“Snakey, are you keeping us safe?” I asked, raising my voice so it could hear me. It did hear me. It turned its head around but didn’t slow down at all, which made it terrifying. I should have just asked it later.

“Snakey, you can answer me later, but just please watch where you’re going. You’re scaring me, looking backward when you’re moving so fast.”

Snakey’s eyes narrowed to soft slits as it looked at me, almost like it was laughing. I feel like you’re messing with me, Snakey…

Snakey finally turned back around to look ahead. With a little sigh of relief, I looked in the same direction. We had come quite a long way into the forest, so it was a complete mystery where we were. I looked at Ciel speeding alongside us. It looked so happy that it got to run at high speeds like that. The only problem was that the slimes on top of it had to hold on for dear life or else they’d get carried away by the wind. Maybe they’d be safer on top of Snakey? I was about to call out to the guardian deity when an incredible sight entered my line of vision.

“Whoa! Mr. Druid, look at that! There’s so many Snakeys, and they’re all different sizes!”

“Agh, that can’t be good! Hey, Serpent, you’re not taking us there, are you?!”

Straight ahead of us, there was a large herd of serpents of varying sizes. The black orb babies were there, too. And since everyone was crammed into one spot, the sight was rather grotesque, depending on how you looked at it.

“Ooh, what’re they doing? It’s so cool!” The sight of the creatures tangling with each other was just so bizarre that I couldn’t help but get a little excited.

“Ivy, for the love of God, please be just a little careful when you see things like this.”

Be a little careful? I took another look at the giant mass of serpents. They really did come in all shapes and sizes.

“When do you think the black orbs grow up into snakes? I kinda wanna see that.”

“What’s that? What happened to being careful? And why is growing up the thing you’re focusing on?”

For some reason, Druid was drooping his head behind me. Umm…oh! He was telling me I should be more cautious around these creatures.

“Well, I just don’t feel like I need to be careful with them. How could I? Snakey brought us here, after all. And Sora and Ciel say it’s safe.”

“Yes, I don’t deny that’s all true…” Druid gave my head a pat. He sounded exhausted, even though he shouldn’t have been, riding on Snakey’s back.

Is he exhausted because I trust the serpents too much? Hmm…but I think it’s okay to trust them, so I’m gonna go ahead and have faith in my instincts.

“Still, it is quite a breathtaking sight indeed,” I said.

The serpents of different sizes were all staring intensely at me. I didn’t find it particularly scary, though I guess it was a little creepy.