The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 341

Chapter 341:

He Yelled at Me

“This is pretty tasty.” The pastry was fragrant and had a subtle sweetness, so the name Kerpow felt utterly inappropriate. Couldn’t they have given it a more delicate name?

“The shop that made this gives their pastries really funny names.”

“Do they?” Druid asked.

Ashley took a bite of his Kerpow and nodded. “Yes, their last creation was Baboom, and the one before that was Vavoom.”

Kerpow, Baboom, and Vavoom. Wow, hats off to whoever came up with those crazy names. But why was it Kerpow and not Papow, huh?

“Incidentally, their first pastry was named Aaa and their second one was Eee. This is their second week at it.”

So I guess they didn’t put much thought into the names after all; they just couldn’t be bothered to. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.

“But they’re too tasty to have those names…”

As I ate the delicious pastry, those ridiculous names made me feel shortchanged. I wondered whether they were meant to draw people’s attention at the festival.

“Um, so…” Ashley began.

“What’s up?”

“Earlier this morning, I told the captain everything. I’m so sorry I bothered you.” Ashley gave Druid a little bow.

“I see.”

Ashley had kept his little problem a secret from Captain Tabulo. The village watch’s main duties involved maintaining public order, but they often had to deal with monsters in emergencies. If Ashley froze up in fear over the monsters, he would be a liability to the force. Worst-case scenario, he would put not only his own life but the lives of his fellow watchmen in danger. Ashley was scared that he would be forced to resign because of this, so he couldn’t muster up the courage to tell his captain.

“And what did Captain Tabulo do?”

“He yelled at me.”

“Yeah…I thought he would.”

“Yes, sir. He said, what if something bad had happened before I told him?”

Captain Tabulo was right. If he didn’t know about Ashley’s phobia, he might have sent him off to deal with a monster. And if something had happened to Ashley as a result, he would have been hurt that Ashley didn’t confide in him and angry with himself for not noticing. I hadn’t gotten to talk to Captain Tabulo much, but he did seem like a kindhearted person.

“He said I could keep my job. Also, I decided to get help from a doctor who specializes in mental health.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Thanks. So, um, since you said I could do it, I told Captain Tabulo a little about Ciel.”

“And what did he say?”

“Um, he wanted me to ask you if he can come along on my next visit. He said it’s okay if you say no. He insisted that I shouldn’t pressure you into it. Um, the captain just really wants to meet Ciel.”

“Ivy…what do you think?”

“Hey, guys, Captain Tabulo wants to meet Ciel. Is that okay?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pefu!”

Mrrrow.

Everyone’s enthusiastic responses made Ashley look a bit troubled. Oh, I think this is the first time he’s seen them all answer together.

“They say it’s okay for him to visit, so it’s fine with me, too. Oh, wait… Sora, Flame, Sol, do you want to meet him as well?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pefu!”

“They say they would.”

Ashley looked back and forth between me, Sora, and Flame. “Can…you actually communicate with them? Wait a minute, I thought it was hard to build a mental link with slimes…”

Come to think of it, I think that’s true about slimes. I’d read about them in books, but my own slimes were nothing like what was being described, so I tended to forget what it said.

“It’s okay, just don’t worry about it.”

“Yes…you’re quite right. I mean, from the look of them, I’m sure they’re unusual in a lot of other ways, too. Especially the way that one downs swords so quickly. Yes, that must be it.”

A few days ago, Sora had discovered a chipped sword on the ground in the forest and eaten it right in front of Ashley. It ­devoured it happily, in the blink of an eye. When he saw the spectacle, Ashley forgot to be scared of the adandara beside him and froze up because of Sora instead. Ciel rested its chin on Ashley’s petrified shoulder, and perhaps because he was so shocked, he petted Ciel’s head like it was no big deal. Druid said you might call that “exposure therapy.” Anyway, ever since that day, Ashley had been able to touch Ciel without any trouble, so we decided it was a net positive.

“Um, so, my next day off is in six days, so he’ll come with me then.”

“Knowing Captain Tabulo, he’ll probably juggle his schedule so he can come earlier,” Druid said.

“Agggh, yes, you may be right,” Ashley smiled.

“We come to the forest every day unless it’s raining, so let him know there’s no rush. He can come when he’s free.” Druid said, grinning at Ashley’s expression.

“Thanks, I appreciate that. I’ll tell the captain.”

“Okay. Let’s head back to the village.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the pastries, Mr. Ashley. They were delicious.”

“Glad to hear it. I hope you’ll like the next ones I bring.”

“Me, too!”

We quickly cleaned up the area and headed back to the village. Ciel jogged leisurely alongside Ashley.

“He looks completely relaxed now,” Druid said, smiling in relief as he watched Ciel and Ashley together.

“He sure does. He gets a bit jumpy when Ciel approaches him suddenly, but he’s much less afraid of it now.”

Indeed, Ashley was relaxed enough to pet Ciel’s head as long as it didn’t approach him from behind. He had changed quite a bit. At first, his face would drain of color even when Ciel ­approached him slowly from the front.

“That’s progress, right?”

I looked at Druid to see that he seemed to be deep in thought. “What’s wrong?”

“I’d like to think he’s made progress…but maybe he only feels safe around Ciel because he knows you’ve tamed it.”

Ah, yes. I guess someone would be less afraid of a monster once they knew for sure it was safe. Wait a minute, if that’s true, then…

“Hey, Ciel, can you still make your taming symbol disappear?”

“What?! But, Miss Ivy, taming symbols never disappear!”

While Ashley shook his head in protest, the taming symbol on Ciel’s forehead vanished. 

A symbol is the only way you know for sure a monster has been tamed. Without it, Ashley won’t be able to know for sure that Ciel is safe, right?

“What do you think now, Ashley? Can you still touch Ciel, even without a taming symbol?”

“Taming symbol? Huh? Where’s its symbol?”

“Never mind that. Can you touch Ciel?”

“Um…can taming symbols disappear after all? Oh! Can I touch Ciel? Um, yes, of course I can.”

With uncertainty in his voice, Ashley reached out and touched Ciel’s head. He didn’t look scared.

“Oh, Ivy, you are so… Hee hee hee!” Druid burst out laughing.

I gave him a questioning look. Did I do something funny?

“You hit poor Ashley with something so absurd that he’s completely confused.”

Huh?! I looked at Ashley to find that he was leaning in close to Ciel, staring at its forehead.

“Wow, he really has gotten comfortable around Ciel.”

“Ha ha! Yes, he has. But, Ivy, even with the taming symbol gone, Ashley already knows Ciel is safe, so that won’t tell us whether he’s okay with touching an untamed monster.”

Oh! Yeah…I hadn’t thought it that far through. He’s right, if Ashley is already comfortable with Ciel, it doesn’t mean anything if the symbol is gone.

“He knows Ciel won’t attack him because it’s been tamed… Oh! Then what if we make sure he understands that even a tamed monster could still attack him?”

“Um, what? How would we do that?”

“Oh, it’s easy. I’ll just have Ciel give Ashley its best murderous gaze.”

A murderous gaze means you could be attacked, of course. No human alive could possibly think a monster with a murderous gaze is safe.

“Hey, Ciel, could you give Mr. Ashley a murderous gaze?”

“Whoa, whoa, wait. Ciel, don’t.” Druid frantically stopped me.

“Can’t we?”

I think a little murderous gaze couldn’t possibly hurt…

And Druid heaved quite the impressive sigh at me in reply. 

That must’ve been an especially bad idea.