The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 8 - Chapter 389

Chapter 389:

Summoning Circles Are Terrifying

“YOU’RE RIGHT. Everyone knows about what’s happening in the forest, but they don’t seem at all alarmed by it.”

Whenever something was wrong, you could immediately tell by the way adventurers acted. The bigger the problem, the more at risk their lives were. And this problem was unmistakably a tremendous danger to them. The monsters were already quite close to this village, after all.

“Even you and I haven’t felt scared enough, huh?” my father said.

“Yeah, looking back on it now, we’ve been way too relaxed about the whole thing.”

“Does this mean you and I are under some spell as well?”

“I think so. Hearing the kids’ conversation just now and sensing something wrong with it finally made me notice.”

I still don’t know why I felt something was off, but I’m glad I did. Wait a minute, are my creatures okay? “I’m gonna go back in the tent for a bit.”

My father began to clear the table for dinner, just like he ­always did. “Okay, I’ll get our dinner ready.” Then he leaned in and whispered a little warning to me. “Somebody might be watching us, you know.”

I gave a discreet nod, then entered the tent. “Sora, Flame, Ciel, Sol, have you guys…um…how should I even ask this? Have you guys been under somebody’s control?”

No, that’s not a good question, is it? But I have no clue what else to ask… I looked at the four for a bit, but they only stared right back at me. I guess this means they’re okay? No, I think I was phrasing the question wrong.

“Um…did you guys know I was under somebody’s control?”

What kind of question is that, Ivy?! I shook my head from side to side, trying to clear the cobwebs out of my brain…and the quartet shook side to side in reply. Huh?

“Wait a minute…did you guys know?”

Shake, shake.

Wow, they really did know. “Okay. Sorry I worried you.”

Shake, shake.

I petted each creature one by one. Seriously, thank goodness I snapped out of it. Sol bounced up in front of me. “What’s wrong?” I asked, and it responded by lunging at my face. “Agh!”

I fell back in surprise. I managed to catch myself with my hands, but the next thing I knew, my head was wrapped up in something. I felt like I was underwater… Wait, what’s happening?! I stopped breathing for a moment, but then I gasped in shock. I briefly panicked until I realized I could breathe. I could also move my head, so I took a look around. My vision was dark and a little blurred, but I could see Sora, Flame, and Ciel, and none of them looked worried. Is Sol wrapped around my head? But…why? As I sat there, rooted to the spot, I could feel something floating out of my brain.

“Fuuu…”

I looked down to see Sol sitting on my lap. I stared intently at it, and it answered with the same expression. I had no idea what had just happened. Sol must have done that for some reason, but…what could it be?

“Pefu?”

The shock of finding out everyone knew I was under a spell made me freak out. I must’ve worried them. I’d better apologize…

“Oh! Sol, did you release me from the spell that was controlling me?”

Can Sol even do that? Well, then again, Sol is special.

“Pefu!”

That means yes. Wow, so Sol broke the spell’s control of me. Did it do that while I was taking my nap? Yeah, my father immediately noticed what was wrong, too. Was it because of Sol’s power? Or does it take a special trigger to break someone free from the spell?

“Sol, did you free my father from the spell’s control, too?”

“Pefu!”

So Sol did free him. I guess there isn’t a trigger, then? Hmm… I did sense something was wrong, but I didn’t completely break free from the spell until I heard the children talking, right?

“Ivy, is everything okay? Can I come in?” I heard a voice outside the tent.

“Yes.” Wait a minute, when did Sol break the spell on my father?

The tent door opened, and my father popped his face in. “Dinner’s ready. What’s going on?”

“Um, there’s something I want to ask you. Did you take a nap, too?”

“Yeah, I kind of drifted off without meaning to.”

Aha… So we were both freed from the spell during our naps. “Sol was the one who got us out from under the spell’s control.”

“Huh? Really? Well…Sol is special. I’m not at all surprised it could do something like that. Sol…thanks, buddy.”

“Pefu! Pefu!”

“That’s right, Sol is a slime that can absorb magic energy.” My father nodded in approval.

So, does the magic energy of the spell need to be absorbed for it to be broken?

As I sat there, mid-ponder, my father said, “Let’s eat first. Sol, will the spell affect us again?”

We looked at Sol, but it just stared at us with no reaction. That meant we wouldn’t fall under the spell’s control again. I exhaled in relief, and my father also looked reassured. I took Sora’s and Flame’s potions and Sol’s magic items out of my bag, then left the tent.

“Okay, I’m ready,” I announced.

“Good. I’m hungry, so let’s eat.”

“Okay. Whoa, that smells great! You’re a good cook, Dad.”

“Well, I lived alone for a long time, and an adventurer’s health is his biggest asset.”

My father may have lived a carefree life, but he did always make sure to eat well. I remember him saying his mentor pounded that lesson into him.

I dug in to the meal. The vegetables and meat had been simmered low and slow, so they were delicious.

“Dad, this is so good!”

“Glad to hear it.”

After a leisurely dinner, we cleared the dishes together. We relaxed for a little while with our customary after-dinner tea before returning to the tent. Having to act normal now that our eyes were opened was a little annoying. Once we were back in the tent, I let out a big sigh.

“Nice acting out there, Ivy. I didn’t feel any eyes on us, so I don’t think we were being watched, but better safe than sorry.”

“Yeah, I didn’t sense anyone watching us, either.”

But we still needed to stay alert. It’s a shame I wasn’t able to just relax and enjoy my father’s cooking.

“Hey, Dad…is there a spell that lets down people’s guards?”

I’d realized that was probably the case, since everybody was relaxed in the face of impending doom, but I’d never heard of such a spell existing.

“I’ve never heard of it, no. But from the look of things, there might really be magic like that.”

So my father hasn’t heard of it, either. Come to think of it, how does a summoning circle even work anyway?

“How do summoning circles control people?”

Typically, slaves were controlled by slave bands imbued with exclusive-use magic. These bands drew from the enslaved person’s magic energy to activate their magic indefinitely. Exclusive-use magic… Were summoning circles the same?

“I don’t really know much about summoning circles,” my ­father admitted. “But I have heard they have the power to forcibly distort the victim’s magic energy.”

“Um…huh?”

What does that mean? Summoning circles can forcibly distort my magic energy? Does that really give someone the power to ­control me? Wait a minute, what does “distorting magic energy” even mean? I… I haven’t the foggiest clue.

“You know how our magic energy keeps our bodies and minds protected?” my father asked.

“Yeah. Our magic energy can’t be invaded by anyone, and we can’t even meddle with it ourselves.”

I’m only able to be myself because my magic energy is protecting me.

“Exactly. But summoning circles can meddle with your magic energy. In other words, they might even be able to overwrite a person’s character.”

“What?!”

“Not even slave bands can interfere with magic energy to that degree. All they can do is forcibly send commands to their wearer’s consciousness. That’s why people with strong magic energy have energy-suppressing magic embedded in their slave bands. Otherwise, they would be able to repel commands by force. However, summoning circles change a person fundamentally, so with them there’s no need to worry about repelling commands. Well, this is all hearsay, and I’m not sure if it’s true or not.”

Things have gotten really complicated, haven’t they? But boy, summoning circles are terrifying.

“Why not?”

“Because summoning circles are forbidden.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Making, using, or researching them is against the law.”

I guess we would be in big trouble if summoning circles popped up all over the place.

“Wait a minute… How were summoning circles first invented?”

Who would create such dangerous magic anyway?

“Legend has it that summoning circles are ancient magic created in the distant past.”

Ancient magic? As in, the source of the magic we use today?

“Good evening. Got a minute?”

Oh! Is that Zinal?

“Yes. Just a moment, please.”

The gentlemen of Zephyr must be under the spell’s control, too. What do we do?