The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 327

Chapter 327:

Where the Dump Is

Before we left the merchant guilD, we took some sheets of paper for sending faxes. In our last fax, we had told everyone we would let them know when we arrived in Hatahi. Since we had gotten here ahead of schedule, we had plenty of time, but it was better to do it right away before we forgot about it. If we forgot to send a fax, everyone would worry about us. 

When we left the merchant guild, I felt a warm breeze in the air.

“It’s heating up,” Druid remarked.

“Yeah. Spring is heeeere!”

“Ha ha! It sure is. Well, want to check out Hatahi’s dump?”

“Sure.”

We had Sol’s meals to think about, so we had to make absolutely sure we knew where the dump was. We also needed one other thing…

“Do you think there’s somewhere we can hunt nearby?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. But I think I remember there aren’t any wild rabbits in these parts.”

“There aren’t?”

I’d always thought you could find wild rabbits anywhere.

“Yeah, the wild rabbit population cuts off around here. If you get closer to the capital, you won’t find any field mice, either.”

Oh dear. That’s a little upsetting. Once upon a time, I was going to make a living selling just those two animals. Ignorance sure is terrifying. There’s so much more I need to learn.

“Wait a minute, does this mean there’s no dried meat in the capital?”

“No, there’s this popular dried meat made from a monster called nobear.”

A monster called nobear? I guess there are different kinds of dried meat depending on where you are. I wonder if I can hunt nobear?

“The only catch is that nobear are just a tad violent. That’s why it’s a lot more expensive than other dried meats.”

So they’re violent. I guess that means we can’t hunt them. “If there aren’t any wild rabbits, does that mean we can only hunt field mice around here?”

“No, you can trap obitsune, too.”

“Obitsune?”

“Yeah, they’re monsters who can use magic a little. They’re not that powerful, so you don’t need to worry about them.”

They can use magic? Um… Is it really okay not to worry about them? “Are you sure I’ll be okay? I can’t use any attack spells.”

“You’ll be fine. All obitsune can do is give you a little electric shock, but that’s it.”

I guess I’ll be okay, then. But if I can catch an obitsune, that’ll be the first time I’ve ever hunted a monster. If Druid says I can do it, then he must be right. Now I’m looking forward to it!

“But what kind of traps should we use?” I asked.

Ever since I started hunting with Druid, my traps had gotten much better. Between the thickness and strength of the ropes and the way I hid them, they were completely different from the traps I’d made when I was on my own.

“Obitsune claws aren’t very strong, so our ropes don’t need to be that tight. But maybe they could escape the trap with magic? Well, I don’t think they’re powerful enough to break out of the cage, so we shouldn’t need to worry…”

I looked at Druid next to me. With his help, we could probably hunt many more animals and monsters using some other method. Yet there he was, eagerly planning how to make better traps and excitedly going with me to see the results. He was probably acting excited for my sake, since he’d been so dubious when we first started trapping together. And I was feeling a little guilty about it now…

“Actually, even though it only makes a light shock, the trap might weaken if it shocks the ropes enough, so I guess we really will have to make the traps sturdier. The question is what we should use. With electric shocks, they might catch fire. Hmmm, what would be good?”

Now, all traces of his former dubiousness were gone, and he truly did look excited about trapping. What had turned him into such a big fan?

“Hm? What’s up?” he asked me.

“Nothing. So are we going to trap the obitsune in cages?”

“That’s the plan. They’re about three times as big as wild ­rabbits, so we’ll need the cages to be on the large side.”

Three times as big as wild rabbits? I didn’t realize they were that big. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if Druid wanted to trap something even bigger soon. When I caught him absorbed in a hunting book the other day, he had it open to a section on large traps. What exactly is he working toward? It makes me worry…

“Let’s not try to hunt prey that’s too big, okay?”

“Oh, I think obitsune are just right for where we are now.”

“Huh?”

Wait… That answer he just gave me… “Where we are now”? Well…we’ll probably be okay.

“Once we get used to this size, we’ll go from there.”

Or not. I glanced next to me. I couldn’t tell what was on his mind, but he looked awfully pleased with himself. I… I might not be able to stop him.

We walked through the gate and into the forest, looking for the dump as we went.

“I don’t see it.”

I looked all around, but I saw nothing resembling a dump. We were too far from the village for it to be nearby, anyway.

“Maybe we went the wrong way,” Druid suggested.

“Yeah, we did pass that fork in the road. Think it was the other way?”

“Let’s go find out.”

“Oh, wait! I should take my creatures out of the bag.”

I searched our surroundings for auras and didn’t sense any. It was probably safe.

“Sorry it took so long, guys.”

I opened the bag, and out jumped Ciel and Sora. Flame was awake that day, so it sprang out of the bag, too.

“I don’t see Sol. Are you still asleep?” I peeked inside the bag, and my eyes met with Sol’s. The slime was awake, but I could tell from the look in its eyes that it was still sleepy.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up when we get to the dump.”

“Pefu!” Sol answered, closing its eyes again.

“It fell asleep.” I closed the bag and looked at the other monsters. “Ciel, do you know which way the dump is?”

Mrrrow.

Ciel slipped back into adandara form and walked back the way we came. It looked like we had indeed taken a wrong turn. We walked for a while and returned to the fork in the road. I thought we would take the other path, but instead, Ciel walked straight back toward the village.

“I guess we were completely off,” Druid said.

This was the first time we had been so wrong.

“Looks like it.”

When we got closer to the village, Ciel took us off the ­village road and into the forest. Then, after a while, we arrived at something that looked like a dump. Apparently the dump really was in the complete opposite direction from what we’d thought. And it was quite close to the village, too.

“Thanks, Ciel.”

Ciel shook its tail back at me.

“This dump looks…organized.”

“It does. A caretaker probably comes by to keep it clean.”

“Wake up, Sol. We’re at the dump.”

I took Sol out of its bag. It had a look around, then rolled eagerly out of my arms. I wondered if it would ever learn to jump.

“Okay, let’s find a cage. I wonder how we can make it stronger.” Druid smiled as he headed out to the dump; a smile on his face was surely a good thing.

Mrrrow?

“Thanks, Ciel.” I slowly petted its head, and it rubbed against my hand in turn. What a sweetheart. “Okay, I’d better go pick up the things we need.”

I looked at the dump. Black energy balls were rising around Sol. A few feet away from its fellow slime, Sora was swallowing swords. And Flame was nearby…but today, it was quietly eating potions. Then there was Druid, cage in hand, rummaging through the trash.

“Everyone’s so carefree,” I remarked.

Mrrrow.

I gave Ciel’s head a light pat, then I went into the dump. I stayed alert for auras as I gathered the items we would need. This took a while, since Druid and I checked with each other as we went on about what things we would need to strengthen the cage.

Mrrrow.

Ciel’s voice told me to look for auras, and I found some approaching us. I looked around. Sol had already finished eating.

“Come here, everyone. Somebody’s coming.”

The auras were human, and there were three of them. They were probably on patrol.

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

Sora and Flame bounced back to me, and I returned them to their bag. I went to grab Sol, who’d only made it halfway, and put it in the bag with the others.

Mrrrow. Ciel came close and shapeshifted into a slime, so I added it to the bag as well. Druid and I looked around to see if Sora and Flame had left any evidence behind.

“All clear. Nothing’s dropped.”

Druid and I picked up everything we needed and left.

As soon as we stepped out of the dump, we heard a man’s voice say, “Oh, are you travelers?” We looked over at the sound and saw three men wearing the uniforms of the Hatahi Village Watch.

“Yes, and we’re alone. Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no, we just thought we sensed a monster with a very powerful level of magic energy around here.”

My heart jumped in my chest, but I managed to act calm.

“Well, it’s just the two of us,” Druid said.

“I see. And what were you both doing here?”

“We were gathering some supplies we need to make traps,” Druid answered.

The watchmen exchanged confused glances.

“We’re going to make cage traps and hunt with them,” Druid explained.

The three men looked impressed. I guessed none of them had any experience with trapping.

“Well, that sounds like a very fun way to hunt,” one of the men said. The other two nodded in agreement.

“Oh, it’s lots of fun. And it’s really rewarding to find an animal in a trap you’ve made.”

“I see.”

“Well, we’d better get back to the village. Good day.”

“You should be all right, but please be careful. We’re still ­worried about that monster aura.”

We lightly bowed to the three watchmen and headed back to the village. We walked for a while in silence until they were out of sight…then we sighed in relief.

“That dump is too close to the village,” Druid remarked.

This dump was about half the distance from the village compared to the other ones I’d been to. That meant keeping my creatures hidden there was going to be quite nerve-racking.

“We’re going to have to be very careful,” I agreed.

“Yeah. I think we’ll need to draw up a plan.”