The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 418

Chapter 418:

Retreat—the Obvious Choice

AFTER A WHILE, the captain stepped into the room. “Sorry I took so long. Sora and Sol sure are incredible. There’s only four people to go! And they don’t look at all tired—they could do this all day.”

“Ha ha ha! I’m glad to hear it, sir.”

It didn’t sound like they were too full to move, at least. The captain sat in a chair, and Nalgath’s party began talking with him. He quietly listened and nodded.

“Miss Ivy says now is our best opportunity—and we agree, sir.”

When my name came up, the captain glanced my way. Yup, this guy definitely is the captain. For just a moment, I felt chills running down my spine. I warded off the fear by taking deep breaths. Village and town leaders have this power to see right through you, and it’s just a little terrifying to be on the receiving end of their x-ray vision.

“You’re right—now is the best time. So who’s going?”

“Us, Mr. Druid, and Miss Ivy.”

“You’re really taking a kid along?”

“Oh!” Nalgath’s eyes shot over to me.

Er, did you forget I’m a kid? It’s pretty obvious by looking at me.

“Huh, that’s so strange. Based on the way you talk, you just don’t seem like a child to me,” Piarre said. The other three nodded.

The way I talk… I’m so sorry, everyone.

“Miss Ivy, um, you should stay in the—”

“I’m coming with you,” I announced before Nalgath could command me to stay in the village. I would do my best not to get in their way.

“Er, but that would be a little hard…” There was reluctance in the captain’s face.

Is he going to say no? Maybe I really should wait here; having me along might distract everyone.

“Ivy should come with us—she’ll inspire Ciel to work harder,” my father explained. “Besides, Nalgath’s party is going to be taking the lead on this operation. Ivy and I are like… Well, think of us as little tagalongs.”

The captain was dumbstruck for a moment, but his face quickly melted into a smile. “Little tagalongs, eh? I don’t know if I feel right putting the guild’s Secret Weapon in that kind of role.”

My father’s face soured at those words. He must have thought the captain didn’t know about his alias. Who had told him? Was it Zinal and his men?

“Just so you know, I don’t like being called that,” my father sighed.

“Sorry about that. Oh, and I got word from the honorable Lord Foronda that someone he knows in the capital will help us. Also, one of Ivy’s acquaintances knows a lot about summoning circles, so I’m having them faax her directly. Their name is redacted, though. Ivy, do you know who it might be?”

Somebody I know who knows a lot about summoning circles? I’ve never talked about summoning circles with anyone. Who could it be? I guess it would have to be someone in the Sword of Flames or the Lightning Royals… Or maybe Captain Oght?

“I’m sorry, sir, I have no idea who it is.”

“Well, it’s not your fault for not knowing. Summoning circles are top secret. Listen, Ivy…”

“Yes, sir?”

The captain’s smile disappeared behind somber eyes. He looked right at me and gently rested his hand on my head. “If things go south, put your own life first. If you promise me that, I’ll give you permission to go into the forest.”

“Don’t worry, Captain. If anything happens, I’ll put my own safety first.”

“Er—really? Wow, Ivy, I guess you understand everything very well.”

If anything were to happen to me, that would greatly limit what my father and Ciel could do. So if something bad happened—even if I got hurt—I would have to retreat. That was the biggest help I could offer, and I would never get that wrong. I gave the captain a firm thumbs-up with both hands.

A smile filled his face. “Druid, you’ve got yourself a wonderful daughter.”

“I couldn’t be prouder, Captain.”

My father had said he was proud of me before, but it was still a little embarrassing to hear. It was also flattering, though…

“If you start training her now—”

“You can’t have her,” my dad snapped back. Then his eyes narrowed into a glare without even the slightest hint of a smile in them. Nalgath and his men flinched at the sight.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! Yikes, now that’s a death glare. Oh well, I give up. All right, Cobalt! Come with me, we need to talk. Druid, hang out just a bit longer, okay? I’ll be done soon.” With a long chuckle, the captain dragged Nalgath and his party out of the room.

“That captain is pretty clever,” I remarked.

Whenever his sharp, observant gaze was directed at me, I felt like he could see all my secrets. But I also sensed a protective acceptance from him.

“Yeah, the fact that he fell for our mastermind’s spell proves we’re dealing with quite the formidable foe. I’ll bet he hates himself for that.”

I didn’t blame him. The enemy had gotten through the chink in his defenses.

“It sure is incredible, to break the defenses of people who are always on guard. What do you think our mastermind is like?”

I’d seen the summoning circle that trapped Snakey, and that was quite an extensive spell. For our summoning circle to have the power to control so many people, I’d just assumed it would have to be quite large…but maybe it wasn’t? And what was our mastermind like? If they could slowly spread their magic undetected like that, surely it had to be more than just one person.

“Maybe it’s someone who can move freely within the village watch and the adventurer guild.”

Someone?

“Dad, do you think our mastermind is just one person?”

“Hm? Oh, I guess I phrased that badly. I definitely don’t think it’s just one person. At first, the scale of victims made me think it was a gang of sorts, but I got a bunch of dead ends investigating that angle. If it were a gang, there would at least be a trickle of intelligence leaked about them. Since there wasn’t, I figured maybe it’s a small group of people—like three or four. Surely not as many as ten.”

He has a point: The more people you have in on your conspiracy, the more likely you’ll have leaks. I guess he was looking for that kind of leak. Wow, I didn’t know. But could there really be no more than four? Does that mean this much harm can be caused by just four people?

“I imagine there’s some highly proficient adventurers and watchmen in the mix.”

If they were highly proficient, that meant they were people the villagers of Hataka heavily relied on. But maybe my dad was right. People like that could move about freely at the village watch station or the adventurer guild without drawing suspicion. That was why part of this didn’t make sense, though. The watch station and the adventurer guild were both high-traffic areas. You couldn’t just draw a big summoning circle like the one I’d seen in the cave. Besides, no matter how natural it was to see those people in those areas, people would surely notice if they were behaving differently than usual. We’d thought the summoning circle was at either the adventurer guild or the village watch station, but maybe it wasn’t? Then again, the adventurer guild was really the only place where all adventurers were sure to go…

“Sorry we took so long.” Nalgath and his party returned to the room, all geared up.

My father gave them a questioning look. “You’ve changed clothes.”

“Yes, the captain let us borrow them.”

Their clothes did look much sturdier than what they’d been wearing before. Maybe the captain had loaned them out of concern?

“Ahh, good, I’ve caught you. Here, Miss Ivy, take this.” As soon as she came into the room, Eche smiled at the sight of me and held up a tiny bag with fifteen items in it. 

“Thanks. Um, what is it?”

Eche smiled gleefully. “Shock pouches.”

She must have made these just for me when she heard I was going into the forest.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Don’t throw them at people, okay? And be careful of the wind.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I’ll use these if I have to make a solo retreat. I’d rather that not happen, though.

“Even if your aim is a little off, they’ll be paralyzed if they inhale it.”

“Huh?!”

“The ones tied with red string are the numbing kind. They tend to scatter in a big radius, so be careful.”

Huh? But I thought shock pouches were filled with spicy powder. These are numbing?

“And the ones with blue strings will knock your victims unconscious in the end.”

“In the…end? What do they do before that…”

“Oh, they just make you wander around a bit. Don’t let it scare you. Well, any of these will give you a chance to flee, but I recommend the blue ones. They’re a new formula of mine. Hee hee hee hee! Let me know how they work for you.”

I kinda got the sense that shock pouches weren’t supposed to be that dangerous…but when I saw the gleeful smile on Eche’s face, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that.