The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 356

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Chapter 356:

My Precious Family

“Have their trash disposal powers really gotten so much worse?” Druid asked.

Ashley nodded, a strange look on his face. “Somebody figured it out a while back and determined that their current disposal rate is less than half of what it was twenty years ago.”

“Less than half?!”

Maybe it’s not just a matter of trust…and there’s some other underlying issue? Like, maybe the slimes themselves are getting weaker? Wait a minute…

“Um, these slimes that are losing power…are they tamed? And is this happening with other monsters, too?”

“We don’t have conclusive data yet, but even the other monsters haven’t been helping out, either.”

They haven’t been helping?

“Can you explain?” Druid asked. He looked puzzled.

“According to the veteran adventurers, tamed monsters that used to give great results have been failing, and stuff like that.”

Huh? That sounds like…

“Sounds like it could be a life-threatening problem,” Druid said.

“It is. Though it’s still under investigation.”

All the tamed monsters have gotten weaker? No, it’s really not that at all… It’s more like they’ve abandoned their tamers. Does that even happen? Was it because they never forged a trusting bond? And while we’re at it, why does everyone seem to rely on power so much in the first place?

“Are the slimes and other monsters otherwise healthy?” Druid asked.

“Yes, there are no problems.”

Are there slime doctors out there? I’d love to get my slimes an appointment. They seem healthy enough, but I might be missing something. I looked at my slimes, who were merrily playing around us as we talked. Ciel had turned into a slime and was having fun with them. I felt guilty that I wasn’t playing with them, especially since that was what we’d come here to do.

“Ivy, your slimes are almost too healthy. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Really? I looked at Druid, and he smiled back at me.

“Besides, there’s no such thing as a monster doctor. You figure out how healthy they are by reading their magic energy.”

Magic energy. Oh, that makes sense. You know, Druid always seems to know what’s on my mind.

“Am I really that easy to read?” I asked him.

“No, it’s just that you looked at your slimes when we started talking, and then you looked at Ashley. And I know you, Ivy, so I figured that’s what you were wondering.”

Now I see. So I’m easy to read. I need to be more careful; an adventurer is supposed to be a little better at keeping secrets. Arrrgh, I’ll bet he’s reading my mind right now. I looked at Druid…and, as I dreaded, he was laughing. I’m not sure why, but I was bitter about it.

“Oh, please.”

“Sorry, Ivy. You’re just very easy to read when it comes to your creatures.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah. You’re too protective of them.”

I’m too protective?

“Excuse me…”

Ack! I forgot Ashley was here.

“Sorry, sir. Um, have all the slimes in Hatahi Village lost their digestive powers?”

“Most of them, yes. But some of the slimes are all right.”

So some of the slimes haven’t lost any power. I wonder what their relationships with their tamers are like?

“The tamers whose slimes are okay…what kind of people are they?”

“They’re the elder tamers. People say it must be their years of experience that make them good at it.”

Elder tamers? That’s right, I remember when I bought a book about slimes at a bookstore a while back, the shopkeeper said, “New tamers these days are just no good.”

“Well, yes, because they’re elders.”

“Mr. Druid?”

“The longer you build a relationship with someone, the stronger the trust.”

“Oh, now I get it! So a trusting relationship really is the key to everything?”

“That’s what I believe,” Druid said. “Especially after seeing your relationship with your monsters, Ivy.”

Druid and Ashley both looked at me. My relationship with my monsters? But I don’t think there’s anything special about it.

“You’ve studied slimes, Ivy. What they are, how to make them happy. Ashley, do these tamers you know do anything special for their tamed monsters?”

“Huh?! Well…not really, no.”

“They don’t do anything?” I asked.

That can’t be true.

“From what I’ve seen, they haven’t done anything special for their monsters, no.”

“Yikes…I feel so sorry for their monsters! Slimes are unique individuals, and you have to treat them all differently.”

“They’re unique?” Ashley asked.

“Of course they are! Sora is a prankster with an assertive personality. Flame is chill and very good at going with the flow, but when it wants attention, it likes to hide and wait for you to find it. Sol loves to sleep and is uncomfortable with affection, so it can be a bit clingy at times. And I worry sometimes because I feel like it puts me above its own needs too much. And I’m sure there are parts of their personalities I don’t know about yet, so I keep looking while we share our lives together.”

“I never even thought that slimes could be unique.”

But that’s so sad…

“Learning your tamed monster’s personality is a crucial first step.”

That was all I could say. In fact, I couldn’t believe that people would ever take the slimes who made their lives better for granted. To be honest, I fumed a little when I heard people tamed their slimes by brute force. I’d called it a “wasted opportunity,” but truthfully, I was angry.

“Ivy…you’re angry, aren’t you?”

“What?!”

Druid was smiling, and Ashley’s jaw had dropped.

“So it’s that obvious? Yeah, I am angry. When I heard what Mr. Ashley said about the other tamers, I felt something snap inside. They force their slimes to obey? That’s really the worst thing you could do to another creature. Would you like it if somebody did that to you? You wouldn’t, would you? So how could anybody use force to control the creatures who help them, protect them, and do their job for them?! It’s obvious if you just think a little about it. That’s a messed-up relationship! And anyone who can’t understand that doesn’t deserve to be a tamer! If your tamed monsters hate you, of course they won’t help you! Of course they won’t get rid of as much trash; anyone could’ve seen that coming. It’s not the monsters who are wrong here, it’s the tamers! Who would help out a person they hate?!”

“I’m so sorry. Um…so…” Ashley nervously tried to apologize.

But I shook my head. I was angry, but it wasn’t his fault. I took a deep breath to calm myself. “I’m not mad at you, Mr. Ashley. It’s those awful tamers. I could never bring myself to use force on my monsters. They’re my family.”

“They must be very precious to you.”

“Of course they are.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

Mrrrow.

“Pefu!”

I was honored to hear them all say I was precious to them, too. I mean, they were like family to me.

“Your precious family…” Ashley said.

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

I had a family once…and I lost it. I’d never thought I would find anybody I could call family again. I shared a blood bond with my first family, but it was so fleeting, so easily severed. How do Druid and the others feel about it? We have nothing tangible bonding us together, but they’re all family to me. How do they all feel about me, though?

“What’s wrong?” Druid looked into my eyes with concern.

“Um…I was just wondering…what’s a family anyway?”

Since the two of us had a family card from the merchant guild, you could say Druid and I were almost like a family, even if we really weren’t. But even if we had no blood binding us, I still saw Druid as a very precious member of my family.

“Family, huh… That’s a tough question.” Druid paused for a moment in thought. Then he looked at me and said, “I think when hearts open up to each other…maybe that’s when families are made.”

When hearts open up to each other?

“Ivy…you and I aren’t related by blood, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re my daughter.”

“That’s so sweet… You’re like a father to me.”

“Thanks. And see, Ivy? Don’t you think our hearts have opened up to each other?”

Come to think of it…he’s right. My father’s heart has opened to mine, and mine to his… It’s like our feelings are in sync.

“I think what the heart feels is more important than anything else. Even if two people have a blood bond, I don’t think they can be called family anymore if their hearts have drifted far apart.”

He might be right. I do have blood relations in this world, but I don’t think of them as family at all. Now I think of them as complete strangers who happen to share the same blood.

“You’re right…it is all about the heart.”

“Good. So, Ivy, that means you and I are family.”

“Hee hee! I guess it does.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

“Pefu!”

Mrrrow.

A smile filled my face. I could hear them affirming together that we were all a family.

“Guys…thanks.”

“It truly is…a beautiful relationship,” Ashley said.

My smile deepened.

“Maybe the problem really is the tamers’ relationships with their monsters?” he asked.

“Too bad the monsters can’t break the pacts themselves,” I said.

“Huh?! What do you mean?”

“If a tamer tamed their monsters by force at the start, there’s nothing we can do to fix that. After all, that method works. But if the tamer keeps controlling the monsters by force and they don’t like it, I just think it would be nice if the monsters could break free of their own pacts. Don’t you think that would make the tamers think a little more about what they’re doing, too?”

“Pefu!” Sol jiggled on top of Druid’s head. It looked quite merry, like it was in a particularly good mood.

“You’re right. As it stands now, only the humans can break their pacts with monsters.”

“Exactly. Even though tamers and monsters are supposed to have a cooperative relationship, the system gives humans all the authority and lets them take shortcuts. But if they knew they might lose their monsters if they keep controlling them by force, I’m sure they’d find other, better ways of taming them.”

“Pefu! Pefu!” For some reason, Sol was very excited about what I was saying. It was making Druid’s hair quite the spectacle.

“Sol, stop bouncing around on my head. You’ll fall off.”

“Pefu!”

“Hee hee hee, I think Sol agrees with me.”

“Pefu!”

“Dang, you’re right.”

“Um…I won’t tell them your name, but may I pass on your advice to a tamer I know?” Ashley asked, staring hard into my eyes.

“Of course. And I hope they build a new relationship.”

“Me, too. And if this helps with the waste-disposal problem, then we’ll know for sure that forging a trusting relationship is very important.”

He was right. If we had a case study with good results, they would know my theory was correct. It would take some time, but it was better than doing nothing.

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

Mrrrow.

My other three creatures, sensing that the conversation was over, all body-slammed me. They were a little angry.

“Sorry, guys. I know I ditched you after I promised we’d play. What should we do now?”

Each member of the trio leaped as high as it could.

“A high-jumping contest?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Hee hee hee! May the best slime win. But there’s one rule: Anyone who breaks a tree branch automatically loses.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”

Mew!

Flame was okay with the idea, but it sounded like Ciel was in the mood for some breaking.