The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 329

Chapter 329:

So Bitter!

After we sent our faxes, we headed for the dump. I searched the area for auras but didn’t sense any coming toward us this time. Still, we couldn’t completely let our guard down.

“Flame, Sora, you stay together, okay? I’m going to be with Mr. Druid today.”

“Sora, Flame, be good.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

After Druid and I talked a few things over the previous night, we told everyone our plan and they all agreed to cooperate.

“You’re with me, Sol,” I said. “Behave yourself, okay?”

“Pefu! Pefu!”

“And, Ciel, you stay by my side in slime form, all right?”

Mrrrow.

Good. Now we’ll be okay no matter who comes our way…I hope.

I scanned the dump for auras and kept track of where my creatures were while Druid and I searched for materials that would make good traps.

“You guys full already?” Druid asked.

I looked up at the sound of his voice to see Sora and Flame bouncing in front of him. They’d finished eating much faster than usual.

“Pefu!”

“Huh? You’re done, too, Sol?”

“Pefu!” it chirped happily, giving a satisfied jiggle.

I guess it’s fine, then. I hope I’m not cramping everyone’s style. Maybe we should give up on the festival after all?

“Ivy?”

“Yes?”

“Um, are you okay? You look like something’s on your mind.”

“I’m just worried we’re putting too much pressure on the monsters.”

I kept close watch over them as we left the dump. Nothing looked out of place to me, and they were all happily playing, but they had clearly cut their mealtime short today. I hoped they’d gotten enough to eat.

“Well, I’m not sure about that. And if we asked them, I’m sure they’d insist they were fine.”

Yeah. They’re so kindhearted, that’s the kind of answer they’d give us. “Did Sora and Flame eat less than usual?”

“No, I feel like they ate the same amount, just faster,” Druid answered.

They just ate faster? Is that really all? If so, I guess everything will be okay, but I’m sure everyone would prefer to take more time with their meals.

“If they act the same way tomorrow, how about we give it some more thought then?” Druid suggested.

“Good idea.”

We left the dump and headed deeper into the forest. The forest on the outskirts of Hatahi had thin trees, so visibility was clear. I guess that means if we want to hide, we’ll have to climb the trees? I looked up. Since it was springtime, the branches were beginning to bud with a faint green hue.

“Ciel, you can turn back into an adandara now.”

I’d scanned the area and found no human auras. There were monster auras in the distance, but it was nothing to worry about.

Mrrrow. Ciel, back in adandara form, stretched its front legs and arched its back to loosen up.

“Does that feel good?”

Mrrrow.

“Glad to hear it.”

Mee!

I looked at Ciel, surprised by the new vocabulary word. It looked off into the distance, then back at me.

“Do you want to go hunting?” Now that I thought about it, Ciel hadn’t gone hunting since we’d started traveling again. It’d been a little while.

Mrrrow.

“Well, be careful out there. Some people in this village can sense magic energy.”

Mrrrow. Ciel rubbed its face against my hand, gave a short meow to Druid, and then ran off. I was worried about the adandara, but I didn’t want it to starve, either. We would just have to wait for it to come back.

“Want to go a little deeper into the forest?” Druid asked.

“Sure. Hey, Mr. Druid, what are obitsune like?”

I thought I’d better learn more about obitsune if I wanted to trap any. I’d tried looking them up in my books but hadn’t found anything.

“Obitsune… Well, they’re very quick and agile. They’re nocturnal and many of them make their nests in the holes of trees. Also, they use thunder magic. They’re not very powerful, but they do sometimes attack you by surprise, so you have to keep your wits about you.”

Quick, agile, and nocturnal—check. Beware of sudden attacks—check.

“Should we set our traps near their nests?”

“Their nests are hard to find, but their favorite fruit is qiblakarla.”

“Is that what they mostly eat?”

“Yeah. It’s too bitter for humans, though.” Druid’s nose wrinkled as he remembered the taste. But if obitsune ate qiblakarla, I thought I’d like to at least taste it once.

“I know it’s spring, but is there still some fruit left on the trees?”

“Yeah, you can easily find some. They ripen in the autumn and stay on the trees all winter until they fall off in the spring.”

“Oh, really?”

So there’s a fruit that lasts all winter. Now I’m kind of excited to try it.

“Oh, look! That’s a qiblakarla tree.” Druid pointed at a tree full of fruit.

“Wow, it’s loaded.”

The qiblakarla tree was filled with much more fruit than I’d imagined, and some were even within my reach. They were a beautiful green. They didn’t look that appetizing, but I was still curious, so I picked one, wiped off the dirt, and took a little bite.

“Urk!”

What a flavor! It’s really bitter… I didn’t know fruit could taste so bitter… My poor tongue.

“Ivy…did you eat some just now?”

“Ung!” I nodded quickly, taking my thermos out of my magic bag and gulping down some water. “That’s really something. When you said it was bitter, I assumed it wouldn’t be that bad, seeing as how obitsune eat them.”

“Your mouth feels like there’s cotton in it, right? It’s hard to describe.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t think you’d actually try some like I did, Ivy.”

So Druid couldn’t resist temptation, either. Well, I guess he wouldn’t have known how it tasted otherwise.

“Qiblakarla is used for medicine, too. Especially the skin.”

“Oh, really?” Yeah, as bitter as it tastes, I’m not surprised.

“Okay, now that we’ve found a tree with an obitsune’s favorite snack, let’s set our traps around it.”

“Aye-aye, sir!”

I took our bigger-than-usual cage out of my magic bag. I made sure to place it the right distance from the tree as I set the trap. I picked about a dozen qiblakarla fruits from the tree and put them inside the cage, which I camouflaged with some fallen leaves and brush.

“Mr. Druid, the cage is so big I can’t really hide it.”

“Oh dear… Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll go find some twigs big enough to cover it.”

“Okay. I’ll start setting the next trap while you’re gone.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back soon.”

I checked the placement of my first trap compared to the qiblakarla tree. There was a bush nearby, so I decided to put the second trap there. It would be much easier to hide.

“Okay, all set. Where should I put the third one?”

“Sorry I took so long,” Druid said, returning with an armful of small branches.

“Thanks.”

“Are you setting a third trap?”

“Yeah. I put the second one in the bushes, so can you check it over for me?”

“Sure.”

As I set the final trap, I searched the area for auras and found a human one. It was still quite distant, but it was coming toward us.

“Mr. Druid, there’s someone coming. I think it’s just one person?”

“Sora, Flame, Sol, get over here. Somebody’s coming,” Druid said. 

The three slimes stopped playing and bounded over to us. Sora and Flame kept bouncing until they were in my arms.

“Agh, one at a time, guys! I can’t catch you both!”

I somehow managed to grab Sora, but Flame slammed into my arm and fell to the ground.

“Are you okay, Flame?”

“Te-ryuuu.”

“Aw, you don’t have to give me sass.”

“Ryuuu.” Flame stared hard at me.

“Come on, Flame, stop playing around. You’re giving Ivy a hard time,” Druid said, firmly grabbing the slime.

“Ryuuu.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Ivy put Sora in the bag, and you have to go, too, Flame.”

“Teryuuu.”

“Somebody’s coming. You can play later, okay?”

“Ryu! Ryuuu.”

“We’ll play together, I promise.”

Wait, were Druid and Flame always this chummy? Ohhh, right. I think I’ve caught him talking with Flame now and then.

“C’mere, Flame.” I took the slime from Druid and put it in the bag after Sora. Then I added Sol, who’d been waiting by my feet, to the bag and searched for the aura. It was definitely approaching us, slowly but surely.

“Let’s just head back. We’ve finished setting the traps anyway,” Druid said.

“But Ciel hasn’t come back yet.”

“We’ll take our time going back and wait for it to catch up. I know, why don’t we look for another place to set a trap along the way?”

“Good idea. I don’t think we’ll have much success with traps in only one place.”

We returned to the village, looking for qiblakarla trees along the way. After a while, we saw someone approaching us.

“Oh!” I gasped. “I recognize him.”

“Yeah, it’s that village watchman we ran into at the dump yesterday.”

I tensed up. Approaching us with a light bow was the very same watchman who had picked up on Ciel’s magic energy the previous day.