The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 335

Chapter 335:

Come with Courage and an Open Mind

“Good evening, Mr. Ashley.”

“Huh?! Oh! Miss Ivy…Mr. Druid. Good evening.”

“Hello. Hey, is everything all right?” Druid asked. “You look kind of down.”

Ashley looked a bit taken aback by Druid’s question, and his eyes shifted. “I just got in trouble at work,” he said with an awkward smile. Then he heaved an embarrassed sigh. He really did seem glum. I hoped he was going to be okay.

“Let me guess…was it because you were obsessed with Ivy’s bag?”

What?! Really?

“Urk! Yes, a little…?” Ashley answered gracelessly, his eyes darting in every direction.

Does this mean his bosses got mad at him because he was so fixated on the powerful magic energy he sensed coming from my bag?

“Wow… I’m so sorry about that,” I apologized.

Ashley vigorously shook his head from side to side. “It wasn’t your fault, Miss Ivy. I need to pull myself together.”

“Actually, we wanted to talk to you about that.”

Ashley’s face went from red to blue. Oh dear… Did he just totally misunderstand us?

“D-don’t worry! I haven’t told anybody!” he stammered.

“No, no, it’s not that.”

“Huh?!”

“We trust you, Watchman Ashley,” Druid assured him. “That’s why we want to talk to you.”

“You trust me…” Ashley’s cheeks pinkened a little when he heard that. His expression was changing so rapidly it was kind of funny to watch.

“We’d like to talk with you sometime soon. When are you free?”

“I’m off work the day after tomorrow, so any time then is fine.”

The day after tomorrow… Druid looked at me, and I nodded in approval.

“All right, can we meet up at the front gate the day after ­tomorrow? Say, just after lunch?”

“At the front gate? Were you thinking of talking in the forest?”

“That’s the plan, yes.”

“Um, I know a lot of restaurants where you can reserve a private room. And I have a noise-canceling item, so there’s no need for us to go into the forest,” Ashley said, eyeing my bag all the while. I could see his line of thinking: a monster that fit in my bag could be brought out in a room at a restaurant. But Ciel couldn’t fit in my bag in its true form…and if an adandara appeared out of nowhere in a restaurant, all hell would break loose.

“I’m sorry, but for reasons we can’t explain yet, the forest would work better for us.”

“Would it?” Ashley looked at my bag again.

Now I get it… That’s how someone would react to my bag if the only thing they knew about it was that the magic energy was powerful. It’s kind of funny.

“Understood. The day after tomorrow, after lunch, at the front gate, right?”

“Yeah, thanks. And sorry again to trouble you. Our conversation won’t take long…but you might need a while to recover afterward.”

“Recover?”

“Yeah. You’ll need to approach that day with courage and an open mind.”

I looked at Druid and saw an amused smile on his face. He was definitely looking forward to seeing Ashley’s reaction. Honestly, Druid…

“Um…why? Am I in danger of getting hurt or something…?” Druid’s warning had clearly made Ashley a little dizzy.

“Don’t worry, you won’t be wounded,” I assured him.

“Okay. Well, see you in two days.”

My promise seemed to put him in a better frame of mind, though he still looked troubled.

“Yes, we look forward to speaking with you in two days,” I answered, giving Druid’s back a little tap. But all he did was shrug at me. “Oh, Mr. Druid! Don’t tease poor Mr. Ashley!” I told him sternly after Ashley was out of earshot.

“But I’m not teasing him… Um, I was just enjoying his reactions a little.”

“Well, don’t.”

“Sorry…but I actually meant what I said.”

I was surprised. So he wasn’t just teasing Ashley after all?

“Ivy, have you ever shown Ciel to young adventurers or rookie watchmen before?”

Showed Ciel to them? “No, I haven’t.”

I thought back to the people who knew about Ciel and realized that all of them were highly experienced in their fields. They were masters of their crafts or adventurers who had already made names for themselves. None of them were young.

“So this will be a new experience for you as well as him, Ivy.”

A new experience? What does he mean by that? I looked at Druid, but he wasn’t giving me any clues. Does he mean that there’s no need for me to rush into things? Or that I should watch Ashley closely when we see him in two days?

“Okay. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good.”

Hmm… What’s this all about? Now I really want to know, but I’m sure Druid won’t tell me. Guess I’ll have to wait a couple of days to find out.

When we returned to the inn, we found Chikar cleaning by the front entrance.

“Welcome back, you two.”

“Good evening, sir.”

“You two don’t need supper tonight, right?”

“Huh? Oh, um, that’s right.”

Chikar looked a bit troubled when Druid answered him. I wondered what was wrong.

“Is something wrong, sir?” I asked.

“Um… Could I trouble you to take some side dishes?”

“Huh? Side dishes?”

“Yes… See, I cooked too much today.”

“Mr. Druid, could we take some?”

“Sure.”

All I had planned for dinner that night was grilled obitsune; I hadn’t decided on any side dishes yet. So it wasn’t a problem for me to take some from Chikar, especially because the food there was so good.

“Oh, would you?” Chikar sighed in relief. He really was troubled by the extra food. Still, it was funny that I had met only two innkeepers so far, and both were hardworking yet scatterbrained at times. Maybe it was a coincidence? Or maybe diligent people with a hint of ditziness were just cut out for the business of innkeeping?

“We’ll pick it up from the dining hall later.”

“Thank you. It’s a side dish that doesn’t taste nearly as good the next day, so you’re really helping me out.”

Druid and I returned to our room and took the creatures out of the bag. Druid turned on his magic item so they wouldn’t be discovered.

“Thanks. Okay, I’ll get straight to cooking dinner.”

Now that we had the side dishes sorted out, there wasn’t much I needed to do. I sprinkled the obitsune meat with salt and pepper. The raw meat didn’t have a particularly strong odor. Maybe it would smell more once I grilled it, like everybody said.

“I’ll help. What do you need?” Druid asked.

“Well, since Chikar is giving us side dishes, there’s not much for me to do, either.”

I had already made soup that morning, and all the obitsune meat needed was to sit on the grill.

“Grilled obitsune… It’s been a long time.”

“You’ve had it before?”

That’s right, Druid mentioned that he’s been to Hatahi before. Did he eat it then?

“Yeah, I stayed at a cheap inn here, and their food was lousy. The only edible thing they served was the grilled obitsune. Well, I say that partly because I just love grilled meat.”

I would hate to stay at an inn with bad food… I looked at the clock and saw it was about time to put the obitsune on the grill.

While I was putting the obitsune meat in a grilling basket, Druid walked right next to me and said, “Putting it on the grill? Let me do it.” 

“You want to? Okay, thanks.” I handed the meat to Druid.

Since Druid is taking care of the meat, maybe I’ll whip up another side dish. I think I’m in the mood for braised vegetables.