The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 8 - Chapter 396

Chapter 396:

Wait, You Meet All of

the Requirements?

“TERRIFYING…” I recoiled a little from the teamwork before me. Zinal had picked up on my father’s and my idea, so he helped out. And in a moment, Garitt and Fische caught on as well. Their teamwork was like a well-oiled machine.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to escape now.”

I thought back on what had just happened. The moment we entered the room Zephyr had reserved for the meeting, my father bound Nalgath from behind with his one arm. When Nalgath tried to scream, Zinal clamped a hand over his mouth, and then Fische pulled out a rope from who knows where and tied Nalgath up. Meanwhile, Zinal stuffed a cloth into Nalgath’s mouth and Garitt bound his feet. 

Just where were they keeping all those ropes and cloths? I’m scared!

“What’s wrong, Ivy?” Fische asked with concern. I appreciated it, but shouldn’t he have been more worried about the grunting and writhing Nalgath? I was starting to get anxious about a lot of things now…

“I’m fine, sir.” I had to do what I could to help. I opened the lid of the bag on my shoulder, then set my slimes out on the nearby table. “Be quiet, everyone.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve switched on a noise-canceling magic item. And wow, what incredible slimes.”

When did he have time to do that? Well, I’m grateful he did, though…

“Okay, guys, he says you can make all the noise you want. Sol, Sora, can you free Nalgath from the spell?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Pefu!”

They both bounced over to the gagged and bound Nalgath. Sol flew right onto his shoulder, then its body expanded until it swallowed his head whole.

“He’s freaked out.”

“Is this how we all looked yesterday? That’s a little, er… I mean, I’m glad you saved us.”

Fische appeared fascinated by the sight, but Garitt seemed confounded.

“That was really impressive, the way you all started working together like that in a split second,” my father marveled, looking at Zinal and his party.

Zinal smiled sheepishly. “Well, it’s vital for our job.”

“Being investigators must be hard.”

“Yeah, I guess.” For some reason, there was a self-deprecating smile on Zinal’s face. My father stared at him.

“Pefu!”

At the sound of Sol’s voice, Zinal turned his attention to Nalgath. I looked at him, too, but there was something off about him. He was just staring at the floor, motionless. Garitt looked at Nalgath and immediately shook his head.

“It didn’t work, Zinal.”

Their worries about the summoning circle’s long-term effects had been proven true, but there was still hope. Sora was bouncing eagerly around Nalgath.

“Mr. Garitt, please step back.”

“Huh?”

Sora jumped onto Nalgath’s shoulder and pulled at the cloth binding his mouth. Was the cloth in Sora’s way? I walked over to Nalgath and took it off. Next, Sora jiggled at the ropes binding him. Apparently, those were in the way, too.

“Could you untie Nalgath and lay him down? Sora will take care of everything else.”

Garitt and Fische looked a bit conflicted by my request as Zinal just stared at his son. When he realized that nobody was doing anything, my father ordered Garitt to untie Nalgath. Once all his ropes were undone, Nalgath began to keel over. Zinal caught him quickly and gently laid him down on the floor. Then Sora got on top of Nalgath, puffed itself up, and swallowed the man’s body whole. After a while, Sora’s shooshing sounds filled the room.

“What’s it doing?” Fische asked uncomfortably. Hadn’t he been paying attention?

“Weren’t you paying attention, sir?”

“Well, I was, but…can your slime really heal psychological magic damage?”

“Yes, sir. Sora said it was possible, so it is.” I had faith in Sora. Still, I understood how difficult it would be for those who didn’t know about Sora’s incredible talents to have faith. But my father and I knew. Sora was special, so everything would be okay. I was surprised, though, to see Sora had enveloped not just Nalgath’s head but his entire body. Sora only enveloped the area that was causing the person’s problems, so that meant that the summoning circle must have damaged his entire body.

Summoning circles truly were terrifying.

“Good job, Sol. You okay?”

“Pefu!”

Okay, now how much time is Sora going to take? Since this is a first for all of us, we have no idea. But it didn’t take too long to bring Druid back from the brink of death, so it shouldn’t take too long this time, either.

“Let’s have some tea while we wait,” I suggested. I looked around the room and noticed a tea set on a shelf in the corner. Everything was ready to go: It just needed hot water, and that was already available as well. Magic items sure came in handy at a time like this. Hot water that never got cold! I poured it into the pot and got out cups for everyone while I waited for it to steep.

“Here you go, Mr. Zinal.”

He looked at me with a start, then looked back at Nalgath.

“Come on, Zinal, you might as well sit down.”

“Yeah…you’re right.”

But Zinal still didn’t want to leave his son’s side. With a quiet sigh, Fische dragged him into a chair and put a cup of tea in his hand.

“Sorry.”

“Damn, Zinal, I thought you didn’t even like the guy.”

“I didn’t want us to drift apart, but Nalgath…” Zinal stopped and shook his head. There was a look of defeat in his eyes.

“How did your relationship get so strained, sir?”

I thought back to the way Nalgath was acting. It was clear he hated his father, but there was something funny about the impression he gave off. I didn’t know what it was, though.

“It’s because of our line of work. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened to us with our kids someday,” Garitt muttered self-deprecatingly.

Does he mean their work as investigators? Do they have to keep all sorts of secrets from their own families? I guess that would make their families feel a little left out. Does Nalgath feel that way but is fooling himself because he doesn’t want to admit it? Well…this is all just my speculation, so it doesn’t mean anything.

“Oh! Right, here you go.” Garitt suddenly pulled out two pieces of paper from his bag and handed them to my father, who took them and read them with an awkward smile on his face. Then he looked a bit startled.

“Here you go, Ivy.” He handed one of the papers to me. When I saw the first word, I chuckled.

“I thought so.”

The document my father gave me was a contract on magic paper. Simply put, it was an “I’m sworn to secrecy” contract. I’ve lost track of how many people we’d exchanged such a contract with by that point. I noticed that this paper already had Zinal’s, Garitt’s, and Fische’s signatures. I was a little curious what had startled my father so much, so I carefully read over all the provisions. When I got to the last one, I looked at Garitt.

“Um, do you really mean this, sir?”

All the contracts we’d encountered before had similar contents, but there was one major difference here: This contract stated that once the problem was resolved, they would help us secretly flee from Hataka. That was because anyone who was under a summoning circle’s influence would usually be prevented from leaving the area. So they were only doing this to protect us, but would it really be okay?

“You both said you had issues with your skills, but I imagine Ivy’s problem is more significant? You have a skill you don’t want anybody to know about. Do I have that right?”

Fische’s question surprised me. How did he know? Dang, he’s sharp.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then it’s best that nobody knows you two were involved with this problem. If you were friends with any nobles or distinguished persons, they could help you, of course…but Druid’s title of ‘Secret Weapon’ is just a nickname. It’s not quite powerful enough. Then again, if you or Druid were distinguished persons yourselves, that would be best.”

Garitt’s words confused me a little. Noble friends? Distinguished person-friends? Distinguished persons?

“Uhh, so, Garitt…Ivy actually meets all of those requirements,” my father said.

Fische frowned deeply. So did Garitt.

“How is that possible? Don’t tell me you have a noble friend?” Fische leaned forward eagerly.

“And a friend who’s a distinguished person? Wait, if you meet all the requirements, that means you are also distinguished…” Garitt looked back and forth between my father and me in a daze. Maybe it would be best to just tell him the truth.

“Umm, it’s a long story, sir…”