The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 6 - Chapter 324

Chapter 324:

My Eyes Hurt

“URRRGH, my eyes are so tired.”

I fell backward from my sitting position onto the cave floor. Since the cave was made of black rock, the ceiling was still dim even with the light of the lantern. And yet the sparkling gemstones looked infinite in the gloom.

“This cave really is covered all over with diamonds. I know you told me they’re valuable, but seeing them like this, I have no idea just how much money they would bring in.”

“I see what you mean,” Druid said. “I’ve never heard of a cave like this, so I’m sure nobody else knows about it, either.”

“Yeah, adventurers would be coming in droves if they did know.”

“They sure would. We’ll have to keep it secret…but then again, I don’t even know exactly where we are in the first place.”

“Ha ha ha, true.”

Ciel had guided us deep into the forest. We couldn’t pick out this cave on a map if we tried.

“But with so many diamonds, it’s difficult to pick which ones to take.”

The clearer and purer the diamonds were, the higher price they would fetch. So, we decided to mine a fair amount and then select the best ones from that pile, but we had a hard time choosing. Staring at nothing but diamonds for so long made them all look the same to me. And worst of all, my eyes were in pain.

“Well, we’ve got thirty diamonds for now,” Druid said.

“Yeah. But I’m not too confident in the ones I picked at the end.”

I tried my best all along, but my final choices were sort of random. I knew the diamonds I’d selected were clear, but I was worried they weren’t any good.

“I think it’ll be okay.” Druid yawned loudly. Our muscles were stiff from hunching over diamonds for the last hour. I sat up from my supine position and stretched my arms. I noticed Ciel next to me, lounging casually with its tail swishing from side to side.

“Ciel, thanks for taking us here. It’s wonderful.” I gave its head a gentle pat.

Mrrrow. Ciel closed its eyes and rubbed its head against my hand. Its tail also wagged happily, but with restraint.

“All right, let’s head out.” Druid put the diamonds into our magic bag.

“Okay. Sora, Flame, Sol, it’s time to… Oh.”

The three slimes were merrily rolling the diamonds around like balls. The gems were quite pretty when they were being played with.

“They’re sure having fun…though I can’t quite agree with their choice of toys.”

“I know. Well, just this once.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pefu!”

The trio came when I called, rolling their diamonds with them. I hope they don’t think they’re going to keep those diamonds as toys…

“You want to take those diamonds with you?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pefu!”

They all stared up at me, their eyes filled with hope. But if somebody saw my slimes playing with diamonds… Yeah, we’d have a lot of trouble on our hands.

“Promise me you’ll never let anybody see you play with those diamonds, okay?”

I mean, if anybody saw my slimes at all, we’d be in big trouble anyway.

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pefu!”

I’d just have to trust that everything would be okay. I took the diamonds from my slimes. “Gosh, these are super transparent.”

“Wow, you’re right. They’re quite valuable.”

Well…I guess it’s fine. I put the diamonds into the bag I kept the slimes in. To the untrained eye, they looked like glass beads anyway. Nobody would ever dare to imagine that my slimes were playing with diamonds.

When we left the cave, the sun was directly overhead. It was just a little past lunchtime.

“Ciel, do you think we can get to Hatahi Village from here in, um…five days or less?”

Mrrrow.

“Okay. Thanks.”

Hatahi was less than a five-day walk from where we were. We would get there ahead of schedule.

“Ivy, look. It’s fruit.”

“This time of year?”

It was still early spring—winter was barely over—and there was already fruit? I went over to a tree and looked up. Sure enough, there was something growing on its branches—a bright-red fruit.

“Is it edible?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen it before.”

It was a fruit that even Druid didn’t know about. There were still so many fruits and nuts in the forest that humans had yet to discover. I supposed this was one of them.

“Hey, guys, is this fruit safe for us to eat?”

“Pu! Pu, puuuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pefu!”

Mrrrow.

They answered “yes” in unison. Now that he had their blessing, Druid picked one of the bright-red fruits.

“It smells sweet.”

Druid held the fruit up to my nose. A delicious scent wafted through my nostrils.

“Ooh, you’re right. It does smell nice.”

I have high hopes for this fruit. I took out my pocketknife to cut some of it, and its sweet aroma filled the air.

“It smells good,” I said again.

I ate a big piece of fruit, and its juice squirted through my mouth. It was so sweet. I never had many chances to eat fresh fruit in the wintertime, so this was my first taste of it in a long time. It sank soothingly into my entire body.

“It’s so good.”

Since there were no problems with it, I cut another piece of fruit and handed it to Druid.

“Shouldn’t I have had the first bite? You know, to make sure it’s okay?” Druid grumbled as he ate the fruit. “You’re right, it is very good.”

“Think we can take a moment to pick some? I want to eat it for dessert.”

“That should be okay. Oh, I’ve got an item for that!” Druid pulled a pole-shaped device out of his magic bag.

“What’s that?”

“A magic item that helps you pick fruit and nuts from trees. It looked useful, so I bought it for fun.”

He bought it for fun… When did he find the time? I had no idea he got that. I stared at the magic item. It looked just like a normal pole with a button on its handle to me. Druid pressed the button and the staff stretched itself out, its tip changing into a net.

“The pole automatically grows to a certain length,” Druid explained.

“Wow, that’s awesome! Now we can easily reach fruit and nuts that are high up in the trees.”

I used to climb trees to pick the highest fruits and nuts, but there were some heights I just couldn’t get to. And it might have been my imagination, but it always seemed like the fruits and nuts that were out of reach were the tastiest. I would ask for Ciel’s help if I simply had to have them, but I usually just gave up.

“Didn’t you say you hurt yourself once climbing too high to pick fruit?” Druid asked.

“Yeah.”

The branch had broken, and I fell. Ciel caught me, but I injured my leg anyway. I still remember how much that hurt.

“Well, this item should cut our risk of injury way down.”

Is that why he bought it? Because of that story I told him?

“Thanks.”

Druid gently tousled my hair. “Well, let’s test it out.” He positioned the net over a fruit, which then fell right in.

“Wow, how did the net get the fruit off the tree?”

I had seen the fruit fall with my own eyes, but I couldn’t tell at all how it had been cut down.

“Maybe it’s magic? I don’t really know the finer points of it.”

He removed the fruit from the net, and it didn’t have even a single cut or blemish. The area where the fruit had been attached to the tree was cleanly cut, too.

“This is a great item, considering how cheap it was.” Druid nodded over and over in satisfaction.

“Can I try it out?”

“Of course.”

I took the magic item from Druid and put the net over one of the bright-red fruits, which quickly fell into it.

“Wow, this item really is awesome! I didn’t even feel the fruit hitting the net. Do you think this magic item makes the fruit lighter, too? It doesn’t feel heavy.”

“This item sure turned out to be more than we imagined.”

“I know! Thanks for buying it, Mr. Druid.”

We used the item to gather more fruit. It was incredibly handy using it to pick the highest fruit since we didn’t need to climb the trees to reach it.

“How many did we pick?”

“About twenty or thirty.”

“I guess that’s it?”

There were still more fruits on the tree, but they all looked a bit dull in color. It was really nice, being able to be choosier in the ones we picked.

“All right, Ivy. Let’s hit the road.”

“Okay.”

I think we’ll have this fruit for supper tonight. Ooh, I can’t wait.