The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 336

Chapter 336:

We Should Have Warned Him

“He’s not here yet.”

“Nope, not yet.”

We stood at the village gate and looked around. Maybe we’d come too early?

“So, did you get any ideas?”

“Huh?”

“On how to cook obitsune.”

We had eaten obitsune grilled with salt the night before, and it was indeed delicious. We also understood why people tended to only grill it. The subtle aroma it gave off from grilling was overwhelmed by the pungent, unique flavor it had when you actually bit into a piece of it. Past Me even butted in for the first time in a while with a sarcastic “Is this frickin’ garlic?!” Druid worried when I froze up from the sound of her voice. I didn’t know what 

frikingarlic was, but its flavor must have left a strong impression for me to be able to hear my past self scorning it.

“It’s pretty odd,” I said, puzzled. “I’ve never encountered food that smells strongest when it’s inside your mouth.”

When I was eating it the previous night, I’d been sure it would leave a smell on our breath the next day, but it hadn’t. Obitsune was a meat of many mysteries.

“So you think grilling it is the best after all?” Druid asked.

“No. One other idea did pop into my mind.”

“From your old memories?”

“Yes. You make a wrapper out of flour, mince the obitsune meat in a food processor, and mix it with vegetables, then you put the flour wrapper around it and grill, boil, or steam it.”

“A wrapper…out of flour? Food processor?”

According to Past Me, this food was called “gyoza.” I was startled by the rather detailed recipe that had popped into my head the night before. It was completely different from any other flashback I’d had. Maybe Past Me loved that food, and maybe that was why I was dying to try it now. (Though last night, I was so disoriented I had to suppress that urge.)

“Yup. As God is my witness, I’m making gyoza!”

“We’re making proclamations now…?”

“Excuse me?”

“Er, never mind. Gyoza, huh? I look forward to trying it.”

“Good. I know they’ll be super delicious.”

Maybe they’ll go well with white rice. Whenever I remember gyoza, I always see white rice with it. I think I’ll try that.

“Sorry I’m late!”

While Druid was trying his best not to laugh at me, Ashley ran over to us.

“No need to run, sir. There’s still plenty of time.”

“Oh, but I was just so excited about it,” Ashley said with a quick glance at my bag. From the look in his eyes, it was clear his curiosity was at bursting point, and I couldn’t wait to see his reaction when I let Ciel out of the bag.

“Well, let’s go,” Druid said.

“Okay.”

When we greeted the gatekeeper, we got a strange look in response. The nature of our relationship with the watchman must have been rather mysterious.

“Is there a problem, Watchman Ashley?” the gatekeeper asked.

“Huh?! Oh, no. How should I put this…?”

“He wants us to show him how we hunt with traps,” Druid explained while Ashley floundered.

The gatekeeper’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I’ve heard about you guys! People are talking about the adventurers who hunt obitsune with traps. So that’s you, then?”

“People are talking about us?” Druid asked with a polite smile.

The gatekeeper replied, “There are rumors among the village watchmen.”

“Oh, I see,” Druid said. “Yes, I guess that would be us.”

Druid frowned slightly when he heard that there were ­rumors about us. It was such a subtle change in expression that only I—somebody who was with him all the time—would notice it.

“So it’s about the traps, then,” the gatekeeper said.

“Yes, sir. They take a while to set up, so we’d better be on our way.”

“Oh! All right. Take care.”

“Thank you.”

We bowed our heads and walked through the gate. I looked up to see that Druid was looking thoughtful.

“You okay?” Is it bad that there are rumors about us?

“Rumors like those are nothing to worry about. And the truth is, we really are going hunting.”

I guess it’s okay, then.

“Where are we going, exactly?” Ashley asked.

“Let’s go all the way out to the place where we’ll set our traps. Not many people go there, so we’ll have plenty of time to talk.”

“All right.”

After we walked through the forest for about an hour, we arrived at the spot we’d found earlier. Is the coast clear? I searched for auras and found no human ones. “Mr. Druid, I think it’s safe now.”

“Right here?” Ashley asked. “Oh! Yes, I see the qiblakarla trees obitsune like.” He looked around the area and nodded in satisfaction when he spotted the trees.

“Okay, Mr. Ashley, I’d like you to meet my friends.”

“Er, your friends?” Ashley gave my bag a dubious look. Then I remembered that he didn’t know I was a tamer.

“I’m a tamer, you see.”

“Ohh, you’re a tamer… Wait, what?!” His expression quickly changed to one of shock. He probably couldn’t believe that a monster small enough to fit in my bag could possibly have such powerful magic.

“Okay, guys, come on out.” I opened the bag and took out Sora and Flame. I could hear Ashley gasp at the sight of them. Next came Ciel.

“Huh?! It’s that slime?!”

Wow, he knew it was Ciel’s magic right away. I took out Sol last of all. “So, um, this is Sora, Flame, Ciel, and the one I’m holding right now is Sol.”

“…Those are some awfully rare slimes you’ve got there… Wait! Is that magic energy coming from the slimes? Wait, what? Really?”

Ashley was quite perplexed. Will he be all right if I let Ciel return to its true form? I glanced at Druid, who smiled awkwardly back at me.

“It’s all right, Watchman Ashley. Calm down.”

“Err…yes. Thank you. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? You don’t look okay to me.”

“I am…just a little surprised, that’s all. I didn’t think slimes could have such powerful magic.”

“Yeah, a slime couldn’t possibly be that strong,” Druid agreed.

“Yes, you’re quite right… Wait, what?! But then…” Ashley stared at Ciel.

“Stay calm…and listen. Don’t lose your head and run away. Ivy has tamed Ciel, so you’re in no danger.”

Druid’s warning made Ashley tense up as he looked into Ciel’s eyes.

“You see, it’s like this…Ciel has shapeshifted for me,” I explained.

“Shapeshifted?”

“Yes, sir. I’m going to have Ciel turn back into its true form. Are you ready, sir?”

“Oh! Oh, now I get it. Yes, of course it couldn’t be a slime. What a relief! Wait…its true form?”

Will this guy really be okay?

“Ciel, you can change back now.”

Mrrrow.

“Huh?! What did it just say?”

As Ashley sputtered in confusion, Ciel’s slime body ballooned out into the shape of an adandara.

Ashley was speechless.

Mrrrow.

“Thanks, Ciel. Um…Mr. Ashley?”

But Ashley was completely unresponsive.

Uh-oh. He’s giving me nothing.

“Well, let’s just be grateful that he didn’t run away. If he lost his head and ran back to the village, we’d have a problem on our hands.”

Yeah, if he ran screaming into the village about an adandara on the loose, there’d be hell to pay.

“Well, I’m glad we avoided that disaster, but what’s wrong with Mr. Ashley?”

“Agggh… He’s frozen. Watchman Ashley?”

We’ve got a dead signal here. Just as I looked up to check out his expression, he teetered over backward.

“Augh!” Druid lunged to catch Ashley, but the two men wound up falling down together.

“Watch out!”

Ciel swooped under Ashley.

“Phewww, that was a close call. Thanks, Ciel.” Druid righted himself and gently set Ashley down on his side. He had fallen unconscious.

“I didn’t think he’d faint,” I said.

“Really? That was one of the possibilities I had in mind.”

“It was?”

Nobody had fainted at the sight of my adandara before, so I didn’t know how to feel about it.

“Weird. Ciel isn’t all that scary.”

Mrrrow.

I patted Ciel’s head. The way it squinted its eyes and smiled was so adorable.

“I mean, just look how cute you are.”

Purr, purr, purr, purr.

“Oh! We probably should’ve warned him what Ciel was going to shapeshift into beforehand.”

That’s right. If we’d told Ashley that Ciel was going to turn into an adandara, he probably wouldn’t have been so shocked.

“Now that you mention it, yeah.” Druid clearly considered the venture a failure.

“Should we just go ahead and set all the traps while he’s out?” I suggested.

“Might as well.”

“Ciel, Mr. Ashley is a little fragile right now, so stay close and protect him, okay?”

“Err, Ivy, isn’t that a bit cruel?” Druid looked slightly exasperated with me. Why’s that?

“Oh! Oh, I see your point. Um, Ciel, could you protect him from a little farther away?”

The poor guy had fainted at the sight of Ciel. Seeing the adandara right next to him when he came to would probably cause a repeat performance. That would indeed add insult to injury.