The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 8 - Chapter 387

Chapter 387:

Conspiracy or Coincidence?

“BACK TO WHAT we were originally talking about… Druid, has anything been tugging at your mind?” Zinal asked.

My father shook his head no. “Sorry, but nothing in particular.”

“Okay…” Fische looked a bit disappointed. They must have been hoping for a lead from us.

“Ivy, do you have anything?” my father asked me gently. Maybe he could read in my eyes that there was something in the back of my mind? But I wasn’t sure if it was okay for me to bring it up in front of the gentlemen of Zephyr. They were asking me if I had any ideas about the monster, but…my thoughts were elsewhere.

“Is there something on your mind? It’s okay, you can tell us anything,” Zinal said.

If he says so, then I guess it is okay? “It’s about the guild master.”

The trio smiled awkwardly at my answer. They were probably hoping it was about the monster. Sorry to disappoint.

“Okay…what about him?”

“Is the guild master in debt? Or has a family member or loved one gotten sick or been killed? Or maybe he’s sick and doesn’t have much time left?”

“Hm?” Zinal gave me a curious look. Fische also had a strange expression.

“That’s what you’re thinking?” Garitt asked.

“Yes, sir,” I nodded. I didn’t know what sort of person the guild master was. But from what I’d heard, I got the sense that he wasn’t particularly invested in living. It was like he’d just given up on life, and I thought maybe that was why he didn’t care about any of the problems. And when I wondered why that might be, I came up with my questions to Zinal. What would the answers be?

“Fische, what do you think?”

“His only family is his wife…and they have a good relationship. I haven’t heard anything about them struggling with money, and I don’t think he’s sick, either.”

They have a good relationship? I guess that means he at least cares about his wife.

“Is that so? Then do you think somebody has done something to the guild master?”

Fische frowned thoughtfully at my question. He sure has intense eyes when he gets serious. The moment our eyes met, I almost shivered.

“Are you really that curious about the guild master’s attitude?”

“Yes, very. You said he was acting perfectly normal when you last saw him two years ago, right?” Something must have happened to him during those two years.

“I did look into how he’s acted the past couple of years, but I found nothing. It just seemed like a different person took over his body.”

A different person took over his body… Fische is a seasoned investigator, so I’m sure he wouldn’t have overlooked any clues.

“And he has a good relationship with his wife, right?”

“Yeah… I ate dinner with both of them and there weren’t any problems in particular. I’m sure his wife isn’t sick, either. They both had a great appetite, too.”

“In other words…he’s only a different person regarding work. Were you able to have normal conversations about other topics?” I asked.

“Yeah, he did seem pretty normal, huh?” Garitt said. “He even complained that the restaurant’s new menu wasn’t that great.”

Fische nodded in agreement.

So he’s only apathetic when it comes to his job? That doesn’t make sense. Does he just not want to do it? But two years ago, he was deeply committed to becoming the guild master. This…doesn’t make sense.

“Didn’t you talk about work when you were drinking after dinner?” I asked.

Garitt and Fische smiled sheepishly. “Nah…we didn’t. Well, we tried to bring it up, but he got really grumpy.”

“Yeah, and we didn’t want to make the situation more awkward, so we changed the subject.”

Does he detest his job so much that he hates talking about it?

“How exactly did he get grumpy?” I asked.

“How? Well…he just lost all expression. It was like his face went blank.”

He lost all expression? But when most people are upset, they’ll frown or purse their lips or something. So why no expression at all?

“Surely you’ve spoken with him in his office. What was he like then?” my father asked.

Fische shrugged his shoulders. “We only met with him in his office once. We’ve asked to see him again, but he just ignored us. We talk with his assistant a lot, though. The one time we did get to see him in his office, it was only because we forced our way in. And when we asked him what the hell was going on, he just said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Ever since then, he’s only spoken about work through an assistant.”

So he was just utterly disinterested in work. This was weird. Hmm… I wonder when exactly he becomes expressionless? Whenever you feel something, you always have some sort of expression. Is it when he’s not feeling anything? Does that even happen? It’s not like he’s a slave or anything. Wait…a slave? Oh! Could it be…?

“Has his consciousness or his feelings been stolen?” Zinal muttered, voicing the exact question that had just popped into my head. My father nodded meekly.

“What?!” Garitt and Fische looked a bit perplexed. But then, with a gasp, they quickly realized how Zinal had reached his conclusion.

“Are you saying somebody’s made the guild master a slave?” Fische raised his voice. “Who the hell would do such a thing?! Besides, he’s not wearing a slave band. How could somebody command him without it?”

“I heard a rumor about a summoning circle that can enslave anybody, human or monster, but there’s no telling if it’s true.”

“A summoning circle… Yes, I’ve heard a lot about those,” Zinal said.

I remembered the trouble that Snakey had gotten into before. Was that the kind of summoning circle they were talking about?

“It is possible to enslave somebody with a summoning circle,” my father said.

The trio looked shocked. “How do you know that?”

My father took a shallow breath in and out, then looked at Zinal. “I’m not at liberty to tell you the details, but I have encountered a summoning circle that took control of a monster. I doubt it would’ve been much different had it targeted a human.”

The trio still looked a bit perplexed.

“But summoning circles are heavily regulated.”

“Yes, but not perfectly,” my father said.

Fische sighed. “You’re right.”

“If the guild master is somehow being prevented from acting, we’ll need to help him as quickly as possible.”

“But it’s still speculation.”

If the guild master had really been forced under somebody’s control, it had to be connected to the mystery at the dump. Or maybe it involved the captain’s sickness? It could also have something to do with the vice-captain’s disappearance… Or maybe the same person was behind all of it? I mean, was it really possible to have all those different problems just happen to spring up at exactly the same time and place? Anyway, it seemed more reasonable to believe that everything was connected.

“First, the guild master found out about the problem at the dump, so somebody used a summoning circle to shut him up. Then the captain of the watch learned about that, so he was poisoned. And as for the vice-captain… Huh, I wonder why she went missing? No, wait, unless she’s the mastermind?”

Hey, why is everyone so quiet? I looked up from the floor to see them all staring at me. “What’s wrong, everybody?” You’re starting to scare me.

My father smiled sheepishly at me. “Ivy, you were thinking out loud again.”

I was?

“Oh, I’m sorry! It’s only speculation anyway.”

“Er, I was just surprised by the connections you were making,” Zinal sighed.

“In other words, we should start with the mystery at the dump?” Garitt asked.

Fische nodded. “Sounds like it.”

Huh. Is it just me, or are my theories moving this conversation forward? 

“I’m only guessing, sir.”

“I know. I just think your speculations can’t be overlooked, so we’re going to look into them.”

“Be careful. If Ivy’s theory is correct, our opponent is cunning enough to trick the guild master,” my father said.

That gave me pause. Is our opponent really smart, though? If you neglect trash, you’ll definitely have to deal with a huge number of problems. What’s more, if you get the guild master or captain of the watch in trouble, that trouble will surely come out in the open. Wait a minute… Why don’t people know about the trouble yet? That’s right, there’ve been rumors that the guild master and captain are bickering… Did somebody start those rumors on purpose to make it look like everything’s normal?

“Ivy, if there’s something on your mind, tell us what it is. It seems like we’ve overlooked too many possibilities. And Garitt and Fische are still struggling to catch up.” Zinal bowed humbly to me. That embarrassed me a little, but I told everyone what was on my mind. It was a problem too big for me to solve on my own.

“Um, is there anybody who would benefit from trash being thrown away somewhere other than a dump?”

That got to the heart of the issue: Why did somebody throw away trash outside of a dump?