The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 357

Chapter 357:

Retraining

The branch-jumping contest ended with Ciel as the winner. Sora and Flame looked a little disappointed, but the fun still left them in high spirits.

“Want to head back?” Druid asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“You know, a lot of my beliefs were challenged today…” Ashley said.

I gave him a strange look. What did he mean by that?

“You mean, you came here so many times to watch me and Ivy set traps, but this was the first time you saw her playing with her creatures?”

“Yes,” Ashley answered Druid.

Was it the first time? Whenever we were setting the traps, my creatures always went off and played on their own. Oh, right! Ashley was busy conquering his fear of Ciel.

“I didn’t realize just how amazing tamers were… Actually, I should say you’re the amazing one, Miss Ivy.”

“I know, Ivy is amazing.”

Both men seemed sincere…but I didn’t have the faintest idea what about me was amazing.

“Pu?”

“What’s up, Sora?”

I looked at the slime to find it was staring at Ashley. Did it want something from him? Ashley seemed to be too busy talking to Druid to notice. Maybe I should tell him? What should I do…?

“Puuu!”

Ack, it jumped! 

Sora lunged in close to Ashley, then jumped straight for his head. Startled, Ashley stumbled back and fell.

“Agggh…”

“Easy, Sora. He’s not ready for that yet.”

“Puuu.”

“Wh-what is it?”

While the flustered Ashley sat on the ground, Druid and Sora continued their casual conversation. Then I realized that Druid was now quite accustomed to Sora’s methods of playing.

“Mr. Ashley, are you all right? Sora was just…being friendly with you.”

I couldn’t tell him Sora was teasing him or using him as a plaything; that would be rude.

“Ah…is that so?” Ashley tilted his head dubiously as he watched Sora having a lot of fun.

Druid smiled at my tactful choice of words and said, “Well, I think it really is time to go. Sora, playtime’s over.”

“Puuu,” Sora whined by my feet. I picked it up.

Wait a minute, where’s Sol? My eyes darted around and landed on Druid’s head. Sol was buried in his hair. Were you there the whole time?

“Hm? Oh, are you looking for Sol?” Druid asked.

“Yeah. It’s asleep.”

“It sure is. It’s tangled in my hair; I can’t get it out.”

It’s tangled in Druid’s hair? I had him crouch so I could look at Sol. And he was right: There were little things extending from Sol’s body and tangling themselves in Druid’s hair.

“Sol, let’s get you in the bag. We’re going back to the village.”

“Pefu?”

“It would really help us if you got back in the bag so we could go home,” Druid urged it.

“Pefu!” With that, Sol’s protrusions slipped out of Druid’s hair and back into its body. I picked it up and put it in the bag.

“There were protrusions stuck in your hair,” I said.

“I thought so. When I touched my hair, I felt little things coming out of Sol.”

“It’s still a slime of many mysteries.”

“That’s for sure.”

I wonder how much more we can learn about Sol. I can’t wait to find out…

When we returned to town, all traces of the festival were gone, and everything was back to normal. It was still a little crowded with adventurers and nobles, but their numbers shrank with each passing day.

“Thank you for letting me join you today… I had a great time,” Ashley said.

I thanked him in return, and he said he was going straight to see his tamer friend. There was no guarantee things would go well, but I hoped they would. I sent Ashley off with a wave.

“I hope things work out for the best,” I told Druid.

“Me, too. If this tamer of his has any pride in their work, they’ll hear him out. But if not, it’s probably a lost cause.”

I feel sorry for any monster who gets tamed by someone with no pride in their work…

“Oh, look! It’s Lord Foronda,” I cried out.

“Ah, so it is.”

Lord Foronda was a few yards away from us, along with a group of several men. The others all looked cheerful, but Lord Foronda seemed glum for some reason. I wonder if something happened to him… Oh, he’s spotted us!

“Pardon me, gentlemen, but something’s come up.”

“Huh?! But, my lord…”

“Do you have something to say?”

Ack, Lord Foronda’s using his menacing smile! That sure is intimidating.

“That’s the smile of a leader, all right. Silences the place in a flash,” Druid observed.

“That’s for sure.”

Lord Foronda left his group and walked over to us with a wave. “Good day to you both.”

“Good day, my lord. You seem quite aggravated,” Druid said.

Lord Foronda sighed heavily in reply. He really did look exhausted. “Yes, those jackasses forced me to listen to their boastful stories for an entire hour.”

“Ha ha ha ha! That does sound aggravating,” Druid smirked.

“And what’s more, I’m certain the feats they boasted of were actually accomplished by others! Imagine passing off another adventurer’s heroics as your own. I don’t know whether to call them stupid or scum!”

Wow, Lord Foronda’s gone to the dark side today.

“I knew walking away mid-conversation would have caused me more trouble than it was worth, so I humored them and listened, but they just kept enjoying the smell of their own farts… Er, that is to say, they were being egotistical. Many times, I tried shutting their mouths by… Hee hee! I mean, I tried to silence them but to no avail.”

Why does he keep censoring himself?

“Lord Foronda, you’re letting your true colors fly,” I informed him. 

Lord Foronda shrugged his shoulders.

Well, I just hope we helped him blow off some steam.

“Forgive me, Miss Ivy. I’ve let you see me when I was not at my finest back in Otolwa, so I let my guard down around you.”

“It’s no problem. You try too hard to please everyone, Lord Foronda. It’s important to let yourself relax.”

“I appreciate your sentiments, Miss Ivy, but now I’m afraid I’ll take advantage of your kindness.”

Wait a minute…where is his bodyguard? Lord Foronda always traveled with one, ever since he was chasing down the crime organization. Whenever his bodyguard was with him, Lord Foronda never let himself get this cynical.

“He’s not with me right now,” Lord Foronda said. He’d realized who I was looking around for.

“Why is that, my lord?”

“He got married and is traveling with his wife.”

Married! How do you like that…?

“Well, give him my congratulations.”

“I will. The danger I found myself caught up in had prevented him from marrying sooner, so it is truly a relief. I made his poor bride wait much longer than she wanted.”

It must have been hard for Lord Foronda to face the crime organization on his own, but I guess it was just as hard for the bodyguard who was protecting him.

“By the way, my lord, there was something I’ve been meaning to ask you. May I?” Druid said. Lord Foronda nodded. “Has the trash disposal in Otolwa been less effective lately?”

“Ah yes, I am quite familiar with that problem. Yes, it was a constant worry for me, but it’s been improving.”

“Oh! Has it, sir?”

Wow… So they’ve already found a way to fix the problem. Druid said that a trusting relationship between tamer and slime was most important, but maybe there’s another way. I need to hear what it is and let Ashley know.

“Rattloore has been retraining the tamers.”

Huh? Why’s Rattloore doing that? And what is retraining anyway?

“Um, sir, what exactly is retraining? And why is Mr. Rattloore in charge of it?”

“Apparently, Rattloore knows a very skilled tamer, and this tamer’s relationship with their monsters made him think of a way to improve the waste processing problems in his town.”

“Ah. I see.” Druid stole a glance at me.

Huh? Why are you looking at me?

“The retraining teaches tamers how to forge a trusting relationship with their monsters; that’s how you solve the problem. The first step is for them to get to know their monsters better.”

So it really is all about trust after all?

“At first, people didn’t want Rattloore—a person with no taming skill—teaching them, but the less experienced tamers supported him. Then the tamers gradually saw a change in their monsters, and the waste disposal issues started improving in turn.”

“So a tamer-monster relationship built on trust is important,” I said.

“Apparently so, and I intend to bring it up at the next council of lords. I don’t know how much the situation can be improved, but it’s certainly better than doing nothing. Every town and village—even the capital—has been struggling with this problem, you see.”

Then it really was all about trust. I quietly peeked into the bag my slimes were in. Retraining, huh…? Wait, I think I’ve seen that word somewhere before… Oh! Right, in Rattloore’s last fax, he said, “I’m retraining some tamers and I want to tell them about your relationship with Sora. May I have your permission to do so? I promise I won’t reveal your name.” And since he made that promise, I didn’t think much about it and gave him permission…

I’d completely forgotten about that.