The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 8 - Chapter 390

Chapter 390:

Cursed Relics

“DAD…what should we do?”

If they’re under a spell, we should free them from it, but how?

“Hmm… Well, let’s at least step out of the tent and talk to them.”

“Okay.”

Only Zinal was waiting for us as we got out of the tent, which we thought was strange.

“The other two are out on survey or drinking, probably,” Zinal said.

“I see,” I replied.

Yeah, they barely have any sense of danger.

“So what brings you here?”

“Uhh… Well, I made you both very uncomfortable over the past few days, and I missed my chance to apologize earlier today, so I came to say I’m sorry.”

Zinal bowed to me and my father. Strange, I felt like he did apologize earlier today.

“It’s okay, sir. We’re well aware how remorseful you are. And I’m sorry, too, for not noticing how worried I was making you.”

“Oh, no, Ivy, you don’t need to apologize.”

My father offered Zinal a seat, and I started to get out the tea things, but he shook his head and said he had to leave because it was getting late. Hmm… I kinda get the feeling this is our perfect chance, now that he’s alone. Maybe we should just drag him into the tent and put Sol on his head?

“Ivy, are you plotting something cruel right now?” My father frowned hard, and I awkwardly looked away. I didn’t think it was cruel.

“C’mon, let’s just go for it.”

My father sighed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking, Ivy.”

“A perfect opportunity like this won’t fall in our laps again.”

I mean, Zinal was there, alone, right before our eyes. We wouldn’t get another great chance like this one, so it would be a shame to waste it.

“What’s going on?” Zinal asked.

“Uhh, Zinal…you know there’s a problem in the forest right now, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“So, considering that, doesn’t everyone else’s behavior seem a little odd to you?”

Zinal gave my father a strange look, then glanced around the plaza. We watched him hard for any changes, but he just seemed confused. He hadn’t noticed anything, so I decided it took more than a trigger to break the spell.

“What am I supposed to see?”

“Aha. Well, it was worth a try.” My father sighed quietly while Zinal’s eyes darted between us in confusion.

“Mr. Zinal, could you please wait there a minute? We have a very important favor to ask of you.”

We needed more allies if we wanted to fight back, so I would have my father and Sol do the hardest part. If we took Zinal by surprise, we could probably overpower him. I slipped back into the tent and whispered to Sol.

“Sol, I have a little favor to ask. Somebody under the spell is going to come in the tent. Can you free him from it?”

Sol chirped a quiet “Pefu!” in reply. Wait a minute, I asked everyone not to talk inside the tent, and Sol has been talking. When did that start? Ack, get your mind on the task at hand, Ivy.

“Um, if you jump on his head, he’ll fight back, won’t he? What should we do about that…?”

Will my father hold him back? That’s probably what he’s going to do. Gee, it’s hard not being able to go over our strategy beforehand.

Mrrrow.

Huh? Ciel?

“Ciel, are you going to help us, too?”

Mrrrow.

The two jiggled in reply. I petted each of their heads in turn, then took a determined breath and called out to Zinal. “Mr. Zinal?” I popped just my head out of the tent. Zinal gave me a strange look. “My request is a bit complicated, so please come in here.”

My father smiled a little at my choice of words. Zinal faltered for a moment, but when my father opened the tent door for him, he cautiously stepped inside. Okay, now what do we do?

“Wow, it’s much bigger on the inside.”

“Te! Ryu, ryuuu!”

“Pu! Pu, puuu!”

“Huh?! Ack! Ivy, are these rare slimes yours?”

When Sora and Flame suddenly jumped at him, Zinal fell to his knees in surprise and gave them a hard stare. Sora and Flame glared back up at him.

“Zinal, sorry about this. I promise we don’t mean you any harm. We’ll make it up to you later.”

Then my father whisked a rope around Zinal…with frightening precision!

“Ah?! Hey! Mmf!”

Meanwhile, Sol had approached Zinal. My father now had him securely tied up, head to toe. He struggled for a moment, but then he fell motionless. My father frantically caught him and gently laid him down.

“I feel like we’re doing something terrible,” I said.

My father smiled sheepishly back at me.

What’s this? I looked at Zinal’s thighs and noticed Ciel wrapped around them. I was so impressed by the grip that I caught myself clapping. “Oh, Sora, Flame, thank you both! That was perfect.”

Sora and Flame happily jiggled in reply. Ciel carefully detached itself from Zinal’s thighs and stretched itself high.

“You sure don’t waste time, Ivy.”

“Well, he’s always with his companions, so I knew we couldn’t let a chance like this pass us by.”

“I mean, yes, but…”

“Come on, Dad, you had the exact same plan in mind.”

My father smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, we didn’t have time to think about our options. I was just a little hesitant given he’s an investigator and all. They’ve got connections with the crown, which means they’d most likely find out about you, Ivy.”

Ah, so that’s what he was worried about. If the crown learned about me, they would probably learn about my creatures, too.

“But if we died here, your worry would’ve been for nothing.”

“Fair point. The monsters are right outside the village now, and we still don’t know what they are.”

I guess my father really does have a lot more on his mind than I do. I focus way too much on what’s right in front of me. I need to be more careful.

Sol jumped up high. “Pefu!”

I looked up to see the slime leave Zinal’s head. That meant the spell was already broken.

“That was fast.”

“I know. Good work, Sol.”

My father and I watched Zinal closely. After a while, his eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly, his hand jumping to the sword at his belt.

Dang, he moves fast. And he untied himself in a flash! Wow.

“What did you do to me?” Zinal’s voice was colored with malice. It was a little terrifying.

“I’m going to ask you one more time…” my father said, quickly stepping in front of me.

“Answer me first!”

“There’s a problem in the forest right now. And considering that, didn’t everyone’s behavior in the plaza just now seem a little strange to you?”

My father’s disregard of Zinal’s question made his death glare only got stronger. Yikes, I hope we didn’t mess this up.

“Zinal, this is very important. Please, just think about it for a moment.”

Zinal spat bitterly, but then silence fell over us for a few moments. Finally, he said, “Oh… What?! Why did they… No…I went along with them, too, didn’t I?”

When I heard the confusion in Zinal’s voice, I cautiously peeked out from behind my father. As I stared at him, his eyes met mine. They were filled with confusion and embarrassment.

“What’s going on?”

“Okay, stay calm and have a seat,” my father said.

Zinal let go of his sword and sat on the floor. I left the tent to get us some tea. When I returned, Zinal was green in the face. I set some tea before him. “Here you go, sir. This’ll calm you down.”

“Ahh…thanks.” Zinal slowly sipped his tea. Soothed a little by the hot beverage, he took a deep breath in and out and looked at my father. “Now I understand what you were trying to tell me. I see just what incredible danger we’re all in.”

“Yeah… So now I have a question for you. How much does Zephyr know about summoning circles?”

“Sorry, but we don’t know much. Many decades ago, there were summoning circle researchers under the crown’s command, but everyone involved died tragically, so their work was halted. The royal family and people in their circle say that summoning circles are cursed relics.”

Cursed relics, huh…

“They’re sometimes discovered in villages and towns, but all the records related to them have been rounded up and labeled as classified.”

Does that mean the paper with the sketch of the summoning circle that trapped Snakey was also taken and classified? If that symbol is cursed, it definitely would make everyone safer if it were made a secret.

“The only problem is, as long as a summoning circle goes unreported, we have no idea it’s there.” Zinal took a somber sip of tea, then looked around our tent. He stared at Sol, Sora, Flame, and Ciel in turn before looking back at my father. “Rare slimes?”

“Yeah. Ivy’s a tamer.”

Zinal looked at me, then he looked up with determination. “Thanks. You’ve saved me.”