The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 362

Chapter 362:

Please Help Us!

“Mr. Ashley? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted both Mr. Boug and Mr. Gol with me when I go to speak with the Captain, so I’ve been looking for Mr. Gol.”

Boug is the oldest tamer in Hatahi, I remember. So he wants to see Gol as well? I gave Gol a curious glance. Oh, that’s right. He only looks young.

“Mr. Gol also has many years of experience as a tamer, and his relationship with his monsters is very good.”

That’s right…Gol said he’d been a tamer for forty years. I gave him a thorough looking over and decided he seemed quite unscathed for someone who’d been working with monsters that long.

“Hm? Er, is it just me, or are you thinking about something very personal right now?” Gol asked, returning my critical stare.

I darted my gaze away. How did he know? As my eyes darted nervously all around, my father gave my head a reassuring pat. I looked up at him…and he had cupped a hand over his smiling mouth. So I guess my dad knows what I was thinking, too. Why am I so easy to read?

“By the way, what did you want to talk to the captain about?” Gol asked, shifting his focus from me to Ashley.

“I assume you know about the tamed slime that disappeared a couple days ago?”

“Yeah…the slime that idiot tamed, right?” Gol frowned in disapproval. He must hate troublesome tamers.

“Yes, sir. Anyway, the other tamers got worried and stormed the station… It’s turned into a bit of an uproar.”

“From the sound of it, yeah. I heard the villagers gossiping about it.” Gol sighed heavily. He was clearly irked by the disturbance. “So what did these irritated tamers say?”

“They’re demanding we figure out how tamed monsters can disappear.”

“Damn stupid question, if you ask me. The slime disappeared because it didn’t wanna be with its bastard tamer anymore. Nothing else to it.” Ashley nodded slowly in reply. “What, you thought the same thing, Ashley?” Gol asked in surprise.

Ashley smiled sheepishly and said, “I happened to meet a rather extraordinary tamer, you see. She changed the way I think about the world…”

This made Gol look even more surprised than before. I didn’t think what Ashley had said was that shocking… Was I missing something?

“Wow. Ashley the Stubborn finally changes his mind about something, eh?”

What?! Is Ashley stubborn? I never got that sense from him. I gave him a scrutinizing stare…and he looked back a bit sheepishly.

“Wait a minute, do you folks all know each other?” Gol asked. “Hold up, is Ivy the tamer you’re talking about?”

“Er, what?! Miss Ivy, did you tell him you’re a tamer?”

“Yes, sir.”

Ashley shot a glance at my father, who smiled and nodded. Ashley had probably assumed that I would want to keep my slimes hidden, since he knew they were all beyond rare.

“You jump at the strangest things, Ashley,” Gol said, looking us over one by one. Then his eyes landed on Ashley, who had the most peculiar expression on his face. “Something incredibly shocking must’ve happened to change a mind as stubborn as yours. Well, that’s a good thing.”

Ashley blushed a little. “I’m not stubborn… Well, yes, I am stubborn…but that has nothing to do with it. Er, so, that thing I was telling you about… I want to ask the Captain to help reform the way tamers operate.” Ashley’s face turned an even darker red as he tried to change the subject. He was starting to look quite adorable, in a way.

“Reform them, eh?” Gol smiled in amusement at Ashley’s behavior, but his brow furrowed critically at the word “reform.”

“Yes, sir. I talked it over with Mr. Boug, and he thought the same as you: The slime was upset, so it escaped from its tamer. But if that’s true, then other tamed monsters might escape, too. We need to reform these tamers before that happens, so that’s what I was going to propose to the captain.”

“And how do you expect to do that? The captain can’t just order the tamers to change the way they see the world.”

He was right. No amount of commanding from the captain could reform anybody.

“First, we’ll tell the captain and the guild master that the monsters are disappearing because they have bad relationships with their tamers. Then I was thinking that, um, you and Mr. Boug could teach the other tamers how to have better relationships with their monsters.”

“You really think that’s enough to change them? Those damn fools? Fat chance.”

“I do agree that it will be a tough job, sir. But inaction isn’t an option, so…um, do you really think it would be too hard?”

Gol was correct that it would be very difficult to change the way tamers thought about the world. But Ashley was also right: We couldn’t afford to do nothing when there was a possibility more monsters would disappear…

“Well…it will be very difficult… Impossible, even.”

When Gol saw how disappointed Ashley was, he smiled and gave his shoulder a hearty slap. I remembered the way Gol had behaved toward the young tamers a little while earlier. He was probably trying to teach them how to treat their monsters better. In his own way, he had decided the current methods were unsustainable, and he was trying to show them how they needed to change. But the tamers rejected Gol, and the look I saw in his eyes at that moment was defeat. Wasn’t there a better way? Not to teach the tamers, but to… Oh! What if we made them feel it firsthand instead?

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk to them…but rather we should just show them what a good relationship looks like?”

“Er, show them?”

“But they’ve already seen me at work. There’d be no point in showing them again,” Gol protested, shaking his head.

Right…they’ve already seen him since they work together. But slimes act differently when they’re playing instead of working, so I still think showing them the way it’s supposed to be is a good method.

“You should show them what they’re like when you’re not working, Mr. Gol. Show them how you play with your slimes.”

“Playing?” Ashley’s face lit up. “Ooh, I like that idea! The sight of slimes at play made a big impact on me.”

Is he talking about my slimes? Did it really affect him that much? Well, when they get frisky, I guess their behavior can be a bit provocative.

“Playing, eh?” Gol mused.

“Is there really a difference, sir?” Ashley asked, leaning in close. Gol recoiled a little and took a step back.

“Ashley, cool it. You know…you’ve grown up.”

He’s grown up? I gave Gol a curious look, and he smiled back at me.

“Ashley is…special, you might say…but that meant he was always a conceited little bastard. But now he’s become so earnest about the village and its people…so I say he’s grown up.”

By “special,” he must mean Ashley’s skill.

“Agggh, please, sir, forget about the past,” Ashley groaned embarrassedly as Gol smirked in amusement. “Anyway, that doesn’t matter! Is there really a difference, sir?”

Gol smiled at Ashley. The way he looked at him reminded me of my father’s mentor. They didn’t look alike, but they…had similar auras? My father must have felt it too because I heard him gagging beside me.

“Yeah, they’re completely different when they’re at play. When they’re working, they’ll follow your orders, but when they’re playing…well, they do whatever they want.”

“Your slimes act like that, too, Mr. Gol?” I asked.

“Hm? Are your slimes the same way, Miss Ivy?”

“Yeah, when it’s playtime, they’re ridiculous,” my father answered. I agreed with a nod, and Gol blinked in surprise. My father and I both gave him a questioning look.

“You’re so young…so I’m surprised you’ve already built such a strong relationship. That’s amazing.”

“Hmmm…I dunno. They’ve always all been friendly with me.”

“All, you say? Just how many slimes have you tamed? Oh, wait! You shouldn’t answer me here,” Gol stammered, nervously looking around. That’s right, we’re still in the middle of the street.

“Mr. Gol, won’t you please help this village?” Ashley asked, bowing to him.

“Yargh…guess I have to,” Gol answered.

Ashley’s face lit up with a smile.