The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 422.1

SIDE:

The Guild Master and the Captain

ULIGA’S PERSPECTIVE

APPAS, CAPTAIN OF THE WATCH, told me about the sharmy cave in detail. Then he told me how Ivy’s tamed slime Sol was headed back to neutralize the summoning circle as we spoke.

“Appas…don’t tell me you actually believe all that?”

“Druid and Ivy accepted it as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow at him. Appas sighed and said, “Uliga, don’t you think that spell damaged your brain a little?”

“Oh, shut up. I’m just confused—you just told me something that shouldn’t be possible.”

He said a slime was going to neutralize a summoning circle. How exactly was I supposed to believe such drivel?

“So do you actually think it’s true?”

“To be honest, I don’t think I can fully believe it unless I see it. But watching Druid and Ivy, I feel like a fool for doubting them—that’s how natural they acted about it.”

I stared at Appas’s gaunt face. I was a little surprised to see him falter. This was a guy who never let anything faze him, and now he was stunned?

“Appas, maybe the summoning circle gave you brain damage.”

“That’s quite the accusation.”

“But you know I’m right to make it. How could someone as diabolically clever as you be so uncertain?”

I didn’t know the guy’s history. Supposedly the former captain of the watch picked him up somewhere, but that was clearly a lie. Make no mistake—this guy was sent here by the crown or someone in their inner circle, but I couldn’t care less about any of that. The most important question was this: Would he benefit Hataka or not? From working alongside him, I noticed he could be quite cunning at times, and he never faltered. I couldn’t exactly complain about that, since those qualities of his had saved my ass quite a lot. If he was a benefit to Hataka, I didn’t care about his past. I also thought we had a good relationship as guild master and captain of the watch. Above all else, nothing good could come from getting involved with the crown.

“What kind of man do you think I am?” he sighed. “Wait, don’t answer that. I get the feeling it’s nothing good.”

Damn. I was so ready to insult him.

“Let’s get back on topic. To be honest, I don’t know what to believe. One part of me thinks this is all impossible, but another part feels like I can trust Druid and Ivy… You’re right, maybe the spell changed me.”

“I take it you’re being serious?”

“Come on…no need for the death glare. Believe me, I’m surprising even myself right now.”

“Okay.”

Did this mean that the something Appas sensed in Ivy was significant enough to make him a believer? But how could a slime neutralize a summoning circle? If such a slime did exist, some people couldn’t keep their mouths shut about it… Aha, that’s why we signed contracts.

“By the way, did Druid know the contracts were on cursed paper?”

“I didn’t ask, but he probably knows. He didn’t seem to mind it, though.”

Druid was no ordinary man, either. He seemed to put people at a distance… Then there was that sword. I could tell it was something no ordinary adventurer would have, especially that magic stone. It had to be extremely powerful.

“Say, what kind of guy is this Druid?”

“Druid… He’s got to be a weathered adventurer. He never lets his guard down. But at the same time, he’s a loving family man. If somebody told me he was a guild master or captain of the watch, I’d believe them.”

So Druid had Appas’s respect, then, but I still had no idea what kind of person he was. When I first met him, I was freshly freed from the spell and in a daze. All I could remember from that moment was the other people in the room with us—I barely remembered what anyone said. I must have spoken with Druid at some point, but my memory was awfully vague.

“But Uliga, did you see the sword Druid’s carrying? It’s one hell of a thing.” There was a mirthful look on Appas’s face as he talked about Druid’s sword. So he’d also noticed. “I caught a glimpse of the magic stone on it—and I could not take my eyes off it.”

“Yeah, it’s quite a beauty,” I agreed.

“Think he’d let me have a look at it?” Appas sounded genuinely anxious about it.

Er, I think this conversation’s getting off track… But that’s right, this is the kind of guy Appas is. Wow, I’ve really missed things like this. It’s been two years. Two years since he fell ill and I lost my mind. And during that time, all the adventurers and watchmen of this village fell under the summoning circle’s spell.

“It’s been so long.”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“I was just thinking that two years is an awfully long time,” I said.

Appas’s smile vanished as he stared at me. “Yes, it is. No matter who or what Ivy and Druid are, they’re our saviors. Even if they turn out to be criminals, that’s a fact that will never change.”

I nodded in agreement. That would certainly never change.

“If they run into trouble, I want to help them out, even if someone from the capital comes for them. If any of my old buddies try to leak intel on them, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop it.”

I stared at Appas. He stared right back at me with a daring smile and said, “I know. I figured you’d picked up on it at some point—how much do you know?”

“Not sure… I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about. All I meant was that I’m here to serve and protect.”

To protect this village and the people who helped save it.

“Bloody liar. You know the royal family and I—”

“No I don’t! What did you say just now?”

I can’t hear youuu, so I can’t get any ideas about it. I didn’t hear anything, okay? I absolutely did not just hear Appas mention the royal family.

“Heh! Well, you and I do go back a long way.”

“Never mind that. What’s our next move? We don’t have any time left, do we?”

“Yeah… Nalgath said the gatekeepers were just about too far gone. Think the people who got freed from the spell will be able to do anything tomorrow?”

“They will. I already checked in on them, and I’m sure they’ll be up and about.”

Sol and Sora…the slimes who could give us our lives back, without leaving any negative aftereffects from the summoning circle. Now I get it… I didn’t think those slimes could neutralize the summoning circle at first, but they freed me from its spell, so they just might be able to do it. No—they can definitely do it.

“Oh, by the way, Sol gave us some magic stones. Well, technically, Ivy was the one who let us keep them.”

Magic stones? I looked at Appas and saw jet-black magic stones in his hand.

“Are those things really magic stones?” Wait a minute—didn’t I just hear him say something strange? Sol…gave us magic stones? “What do you mean Sol gave us these magic stones?”

“I mean what I said. Sol spat them out of its mouth.”

I just stared at him.

“Oh, and Flame can regenerate spent magic stones. Ivy told me about it.”

I just kept staring.

“You okay, buddy?”

“Somehow, yeah.” I slowly mulled Appas’s words over and over in my brain. “Okay… Wow… Well, Sol is a slime who can release people from a summoning circle’s spell. Yeah. I guess it would make sense that it can do something like that…”

I wasn’t sure why, but the more I thought about it, the sillier everything seemed. In fact, I felt it was pointless musing over things beyond my comprehension.

“Argh… In just three days, everything I thought I knew about slimes has been turned upside down.”

“Heh! Just wait, there’s probably more to come.”

Seriously, there probably was—and I dreaded to hear it. But we weren’t getting anywhere.

“Guild Master,” Appas sobered his tone. I felt my spine straighten. “I request five watchmen and five adventurers for a mission.”

Appas’s gaze told me that he knew exactly what his request might mean. To break the first summoning circle’s curse, we might need to use another summoning circle. And the more a person used a summoning circle, the more their mind was consumed by it. In the end, they went mad. I squeezed my eyes shut, then slowly opened them again. When I took my position, I made a vow to carry the weight of everyone’s sins on my back. Those sins would just increase in number now, that was all. A person in my position was not allowed the liberty to falter or be afraid.

“Understood. I’ve already spoken with them, and they’re giving me an answer tomorrow.”