The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 437

Chapter 437:

Sol’s Magic Stones

“IS THERE A WAY to break the spell?”

“The captain says there is…but we’re not sure yet.” Juggy shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh, by the way, Appas had a message for you, Ivy,” the guild master said.

“Did he, sir?”

“Yes. He said, ‘Thanks. You really saved us.’”

I really saved them… How? The only thing I can think of is the magic stones, maybe. I hope they worked out well.

“It turns out there are much fewer distortions if you use the magic stones to activate the summoning circle.”

So it was the magic stones… Wait, “distortions”? Um, what does he mean by that? I’ve heard so many lectures about summoning circles lately, but I don’t remember hearing anything about distortions.

“What’s this about distortions?”

My father’s question confirmed it was something we simply had not been taught. What a relief. I mean, my head has been crammed with so much information over the past few days that I’m a little disoriented. I would have normally noticed the gap in my knowledge right away… Maybe I’m over-exhausted. Funny, I feel like I’m getting plenty of rest, though.

“Remember how activating a summoning circle damages your magic core?”

“Yeah, I remember,” my father answered. I nodded—that I did remember well.

“When your core is wounded, that distorts your magic energy.”

Ohh, okay. So I guess it’s like vibrations from the wound?

“The greater the distortions, the more wounded your core will be. On the other hand, the fewer distortions, the lighter your wounds will be.”

Okay, so using Sol’s magic stones to activate the summoning circle caused fewer distortions, which meant people didn’t get hurt too badly. Does this mean the brave people operating the summoning circle might not lose their minds?

“That might be wishful thinking, but still…”

I hope we can stop them from losing their minds… But wait a minute, how do you even activate a summoning circle with a magic stone? I’d better ask the captain next time I see him.

“Sol’s magic stones sure are incredible,” my father said.

I smiled softly. Sol never ceased to amaze me. Truth be told, I’d been nervous giving them the magic stones when I didn’t know if or how they would work. I never would have dreamed they’d help activate summoning circles more safely… I looked at the four creatures curled up on a pile of towels in the corner of the room, all sleeping off a hard play session. Just the sight of them was therapeutic. Noticing my gaze, the guild master looked to the corner of the room.

“They’re all so cute.”

“Yep!”

Oops, I just answered him casually like he’s my father! I need to be more careful.

“Pefu!”

Noticing our stares, Sol woke up and looked around before yawning and falling back asleep. I didn’t blame it; the quartet had chased each other gleefully around all the rooms ever since we’d gotten back to the guild master’s house. They had to be pooped.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to thank them, too,” the guild master said, pulling something black out of his pocket and handing it to me. It was one of the magic stones Sol had made that I’d given to the captain. I remembered how surprised I was the first time I saw Sol make magic stones just like Flame did.

“Huh? Why do you have this stone, sir?”

I don’t remember giving any magic stones to the guild master…

“Appas let me borrow it.”

Oh, so it’s from the captain.

“He told me Sol made this black magic stone. And if you can believe it, I was pushed into a summoning circle earlier today—I almost got cursed.”

“What?! Oh, are you okay, sir?” How could he say something so horrific with a smile on his face?

“I’m fine, as you can see. It was terrifying and disorienting, of course, but the magic stone saved me, Ivy.”

The magic stone saved him? I took the jet-black stone from the guild master. It still made me feel a little scared, even now.

“When I was in the activated summoning circle, a blue beam of light tried to pierce my body, but this magic stone devoured it all.”

The magic stone devoured it? I looked at it again. “Wow, I didn’t realize it could do that.”

“You didn’t know?”

“I had no idea whatsoever, sir. Right, Dad?”

“Yeah, we’d never seen black magic stones before.”

The guild master smiled sarcastically at the casual tone of our conversation. Juggy observed the scene with a look of vacant shock. “Um, wouldn’t most people be a little more surprised by that? Mr. Druid, Ivy, how can you be so calm?” he asked.

I gave him a quizzical look. “Oh, but we are surprised.”

“It’s a magic stone Sol made, after all… Anything was possible,” my dad added.

The guild master laughed and Juggy let out an exasperated sigh. “Are your creatures really that full of surprises?” he asked, looking at the pile of sleeping creatures.

“Well, they certainly have surprised us in many ways,” my dad admitted. “I was overwhelmed by it at first, but now I’m used to it.”

My father really had adjusted to a lot of things. I remembered how he used to look worried every time Ciel, Sora, or Flame did something. It wasn’t that long ago, but those days already felt like a happy memory.

“I can’t quite put my finger on it…” The guild master stopped chuckling and looked at each of us one by one. We answered with confused looks, and then he broke into a big smile. “After I found out the former guild master betrayed us, I was fuming with anger when I got home.”

I gave him a quizzical look. It seemed less like he was angry and more like he was feeling desperate or helpless.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly angry…it was more like an inexplicable resentment. I was worried what I might say or how I might act, so I had Juggy come home with me since he knows the situation.”

Oh, wow. I had no idea.

“And when I stepped in the front door, I got a shock.”

A shock?

“The mood inside my house was just so starkly different from the way it usually is. Usually, my home feels, well, cold to me…but today, it felt warm. There were even delicious smells coming from the kitchen. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled them. And when I came inside, you greeted me with a smile and fed me a delicious meal. Then, before I knew it, the resentment I’d been feeling before was all gone. It’s strange, I know.”

“Is it strange, sir? Eating delicious food always calms frayed nerves.”

The guild master chuckled softly. “I didn’t know that until today.”

“Wow, I feel sorry for you.”

“Ha ha ha ha!” The guild master and Juggy both laughed.

“To be honest, I was torn on whether to tell you what we learned today. I didn’t want to get you two any more involved in our mess. Appas wasn’t sure, either.”

As far as I was concerned, we were already fully involved. Besides, if the captain and guild master hadn’t told us about the day’s news, we definitely would’ve asked.

“But for some reason, I wanted to confide in you both. I’m sorry—I was thinking only of myself.”

“If you hadn’t confided in us, I would’ve asked you about it anyway,” my father said. “I don’t feel right if I’m stuck on the margins.”

The guild master smiled sheepishly. “But the more you learn about summoning circles, the more danger you’re in. You might even become tempted by their power.”

Was that what had happened to the former guild master? Did he succumb to the summoning circle’s temptation? As for me, the more I learned about summoning circles, the more they terrified me. 

Though I’ll admit that a part of me felt tempted by them since I had no magic energy of my own. It came at such a big price, though. Maybe that was why summoning circles felt terrifying and creepy to me, rather than tempting…