The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 432

Chapter 432:

Mental Exhaustion

THERE WAS AN INTENSE FLOW of people coming in and out of the captain’s house, probably because of the mad gatekeeper incident, so we went in the back entrance.

“With this many people coming and going, it’s hard to tell who’s under the spell and who isn’t,” my father remarked.

Nalgath nodded. “Let’s head upstairs. Nobody else will go up there.”

You could only go to the second floor with the captain’s express permission. I remembered how we had wandered freely around the captain’s house the first time we came there, and now I wondered if that was wrong of us.

“I’d better apologize to the captain later,” I said.

“Hm? What for?”

I frantically shook my head in embarrassment; I’d accidentally voiced my thoughts out loud again. Piarre gave me an equally confused look, but then he patted my head twice and turned his attention back to walking upstairs. When we finally made it to the room on the second floor, I felt a wave of relief for some reason.

“I’ll just tell the captain we’re here. I’ll get us some tea, too.” Once Piarre left the room, Nalgath gave a heavy sigh and flopped into a chair.

“You look exhausted.” My father sat opposite Nalgath and I sat beside him.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Nalgath apologized pitifully.

“If you constantly put yourself on the edge trying to be a good leader, you’ll fail. I know that just take it easy is hard advice to follow, but please don’t kill yourself.”

I could see dark circles beneath Nalgath’s eyes. “I know you’re right, sir, but I’ve never gotten mixed up in such a big case and I’m at a loss for what to do. I want to do something, but I just don’t know what.”

Since they were adventurers, Nalgath and his party couldn’t just blindly obey orders, after all.

“Just so you know, dangerous conspiracies like this don’t usually happen all the time,” my father said.

Dangerous conspiracies… This is my second one. I could just cry. Was Past Me a terribly evil person or something? Come to think of it, Past Me’s knowledge came in very handy when we were dealing with the human trafficking organization. If I knew what kind of organization we were facing right away… Was it because I had prior experience? Oh God… What if it turns out I really was a horrible person in my past life?

“Ivy…what’s wrong? You tired?” My dad’s worried voice made me flinch in an odd half-grimace. “Let’s just take it easy the rest of the day.”

“I’m okay. Just have a bunch of things on my mind, that’s all.”

Maybe I’m more tired than I thought. At times like this, it’s easy to take bad or stupid thoughts seriously.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Everything that’s happened—it’s just a lot to process.”

I probably haven’t given myself a real mental health break. I thought back on the past few days. I saw the terror of a summoning circle firsthand, learned about the different problems threatening the village, and now I’ve found out the gatekeepers have reached their breaking point… I tried to ignore it…but I really am mentally and emotionally exhausted.

“I know.” His big, warm hand rested on my head. The gentle rubbing motion felt so soothing.

“Oops! I forgot to take my slimes out of the bag.”

“Hm? Oh, I also forgot. Guess I’m at my wits’ end, too.”

“Hee hee! We’re peas in a pod.”

I opened my bag, and out everyone flew. They’d ordinarily go bouncing around the room, but this time they stayed close to me and my father. I assured them we were okay and petted their heads, and they jiggled in reply. Then Sol stole a backward glance and promptly hopped into Nalgath’s arms. Flustered and surprised, he fumbled to catch the slime, then he smiled and hugged it tight to his chest. Little by little, we were all realizing we were mentally drained. If only all our problems could be solved soon.

“Tea time!” Piarre returned with tea and refreshments. “The captain says he’ll be up once he’s finished what he’s doing.”

“Okay, so we’ll take a rest until then.”

I took a sip of hot tea and a bite of pastry. Its sweetness tingled pleasingly through my veins.

“Sorry I took so long.” The captain entered the room with Arly and Juggy, whose eyes were dark with gloom. “First, thanks for checking out the cave. How’d it go?”

“The sharmy were really on edge, so we couldn’t get close to them, but they seem to be turning back to normal.”

“They were on edge?”

“Because of Ciel, the adandara.”

“Ohh, right. Adandaras are some of the most powerful monsters in the world. Definitely a species the sharmy don’t want to cross paths with.”

I understood in my head, but it just felt so wrong in my heart. I looked over at Ciel, curled up on my father’s lap. Its eyes were closed contentedly as my father petted it. The captain looked at Ciel as well, his eyes colored with conflict. I understood how he felt.

“Also, we discovered some human remains deep inside the cave. Among them…we found someone wearing a ring like the vice-captain’s. We also found someone in holy vestments.”

The captain froze for a moment when he heard Nalgath’s report. “I see… Thank you,” he said in a normal tone after a brief pause. “Have you been filled in on what’s been happening here on my end?”

“We heard about the gatekeepers, but have you learned anything new?”

“The spell’s effect on them has reached critical levels,” the captain answered.

My father narrowed his eyes. “But we heard one of them lost his mind and went on a violent rampage.”

“Yeah… I was afraid you knew about that. We don’t have the details yet, but the one who went mad probably cast the spell. So please, keep this a secret. Nothing’s been verified yet.” The captain gave everyone in the room a stern look.

“Understood.”

The one who went mad might be a caster…which means he could be one of our masterminds. I heard Zinal and his men were going to test the gatekeepers to see if they were under the spell, but were they unable to find out? I think it would be pretty tough to fool high-caliber men like them…

“The gatekeepers who collapsed probably had the spell cast on them. Arly, Juggy, didn’t you go to see them?” the captain asked the two somber-faced men.

Juggy looked up and nodded. “They were awake, but their minds might have been damaged. I couldn’t even get them to talk to me.”

From the grim looks on their faces, they had clearly seen the unspeakable.

“I see… Sorry to hear that,” the captain said. The two men hung their heads. Was the gatekeeper who saved them when they were children one of the victims?

“Zinal and his men are looking into this incident, and they found something suspicious.”

“I see. So when are we going to free them from the spell? I assume we’re short on time.”

That’s right, the captain said there was a way to free people from the spell. Now that we had people at critical levels of exposure, didn’t we need to start curing them as quickly as possible?

“Several watchmen are already working on it as we speak…” 

The captain’s strained voice startled me. I gave his face a scrutinizing stare. Is there some catch to the breaking the spell? I seem to remember him mentioning they’d use another summoning circle to break the spell from the first one… Wait a minute—use a summoning circle to save them? But doesn’t using a summoning circle cause damage to the caster, until they eventually lose their minds… Now I see…somebody’s going to sacrifice themselves by taking the summoning circle’s damage.

“If we could just find the summoning circle, we could reduce the casualties among our brave officers…”

But we haven’t found it yet. Where is the stupid thing? Multicolored lights and a window… I’ve got an image in my memory, but I can’t quite grasp it.

“Oh, could you investigate the church?” my father asked. “See if they’ve sent in any missing persons reports.”

“The church? Ah yes, you said you found the body of someone in holy vestments.”

“We’re not sure if it was genuine or not, but it ought to be looked into anyway.”

My father’s conversation with the captain reached my ears. I don’t want to have anything to do with the church, so I’ll just let them… Hm? The church? Multicolored lights and a window… What’s that called again? Stained…glass. It’s stained glass.

“That’s it… It’s stained glass! The summoning circle is probably in a place with stained glass!”

The captain’s face tensed up at the sound of my voice, and my father looked a bit troubled as well. Had I said something concerning?