The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 438

Chapter 438:

Zephyr’s Report

KNOCK, KNOCK.

“Ooh, I think we have a visitor. Comiiing!”

When I heard a knock at the door of the guild master’s house, I stopped eating my breakfast and got up from my seat to answer the door—only to have my wrist grabbed tight. I looked over to see my father smiling innocently at me. Oops… I messed up.

“Ivy.”

“Yes, sir?”

I could just feel the steam rising from my father’s smiling face. “Don’t make a peep until the person at the door says who they are.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If it’s a stranger, answer them without opening the door. Even if it’s somebody you know, don’t open it unless you’re very close to them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you really understand?”

“Of course I do…”

I just couldn’t help it… A conditioned reflex, I guess you’d call it. Maybe I just don’t have enough of a sense of danger?

Knock, knock.

“Oh! Er, um…”

What should I do? I looked at my father, but he just patted my head.

“I’ll go see who’s there.”

“Thanks.”

My father left the dining room, but I couldn’t help but wonder who was at the door. It might be Garitt again. I hope the magic stones did the trick for him.

“Okay, he shouldn’t mind if I sneak a peek from behind!”

I looked outside through the window. It seemed like the village had been bustling since early that morning. Our enemy was probably on the move, but I didn’t know if things were going in a good direction or a bad one.

“I hope everybody’s doing okay… I’m afraid they might be taking too many risks.”

I pictured Zinal and his men in my mind. Exhaustion had been mounting inside of them, even though they tried to hide it. I hoped our problems would be over quickly. As I left the hallway and headed for the front door, I heard my father’s voice.

“Oh, Zinal, it’s you. Come on in.”

It’s Zinal?

“Sorry to barge in this early in the morning, but I’ve got a lot to report. Also, the captain said Ivy and her monsters are a higher priority than him, so he asked us to come guard you all.”

Me and my monsters are top priority? That seems a bit too much…

“Anyway, give us something to eat. We haven’t had anything since a little snack last night.”

“Tell that to Ivy. She’s in charge of groceries, and you might ruin her plans if you use something up.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. If I handle the cooking, I wind up making way too much and regret it. So I just assist her.”

A smile filled my face hearing that. There was one time when he cooked so much food that we spent the next four days eating up all the leftovers. What’s more, he had seasoned the food so heavily that I couldn’t change up the flavors. We were overjoyed when we finally ate the last of it. Remembering how we had cheered for joy together that night made me laugh, and that laugh made my father and Zinal look at me.

“Good morning!” Zinal said, catching my eye and waving.

“Good morning, sir.”

“Sorry to barge in on you so early. Uhh, so did you hear all that?”

“Yes, sir—would you like something filling or a light meal?”

“All that moving around made me hungry, so something filling, please.”

That means meat. I think I still have some marinated meat. I could coat that in potato starch and fry it. Then there’s rice and vegetable soup—that ought to be enough.

“Will do, sir.”

“Sorry to trouble you so early in the morning.”

I looked at Zinal. He was horribly pale, but I noticed something about him was different today. Yesterday, there’d been this tense air about him, like he might snap at any minute, but today he seemed a bit softer. Maybe things were moving in a good direction.

“But I love cooking, sir, so it’s no trouble at all.”

I headed into the kitchen and took the marinated meat and potato starch out of my magic box. I made a soup in a small pot out of bone broth and finely minced vegetables, then dredged the meat in the potato starch and deep-fried it. Next, I took some steamed rice out of the magic box and put it in a wooden bowl. Once the meat came out of the oil and the soup was seasoned, everything was good to go. I brought the food into the room where Zinal and my father were and found Zinal hugging the table.

“Are you all right, sir? You look exhausted…”

“Aghhh, sorry… Whoa, that smells good!” said Zinal as I set the food in front of him. No sooner did he say “Thanks” than he dove into the meal with tempestuous vigor. I stared at him blankly for a few moments before fumbling to get him some tea.

“Ahhh, now that was a meal!”

In less than ten minutes, his plates and bowls were empty. Had I not fed him enough? “Do you need more, sir?”

“Hm? Oh, no thanks, I’m full. It was delicious—thank you. I’m a new man.”

He was being overdramatic, but “delicious” was a good word to hear. I grinned despite myself. As I was clearing the dirty dishes…

“Oh, no! I’ll help. Ivy, you sit down.”

I wasn’t particularly tired, so I didn’t mind cleaning up, but Zinal whisked his own dishes away. If I chased after him, he probably wouldn’t let me help wash the dishes. Well, he said he had a report for us, so I’ll just make some tea and have it ready for him.

“Dad, want some dessert?”

“Sure. Something not too sweet, please.” Tired from his post-breakfast body-slamming playtime with Sora, my father sighed and slumped into a chair. Since Ciel and Sol had also joined in halfway through, it had been a rather violent session.

“You’re a real good sport, Dad.”

“Those three…they show no mercy.”

“They don’t?”

“Not with me, anyway.” He gave me a scornful look, so I stared back and smiled at him for good measure. My creatures did all treat my father a little differently than me. They went easy on me, but they body-slammed him with all their might. If it were just Sora, my father could handle it, but when Ciel and Sol joined in, too, it really was quite the ordeal for him.

“Ooh, what perfect hosts you are!” Zinal returned to the room wiping his hands and sat at the table.

“Have some tea, sir.”

“Thanks. Okay, now, where should I start… Eh, let’s go with the reason why I was called out in the middle of the night. Anyway, you know how Father Salify had summoning circles carved in his body? Well, one of them was activated during the night and the guild master got the call. There weren’t any victims thanks to the magic stones you gave us, Ivy, but the traitor didn’t know that and he went on the rampage.”

“On the rampage, sir?”

“Yeah, our theory is that the summoning circle on Salify’s body was a sort of brainwashing spell. We haven’t analyzed it yet, so we don’t know for sure. But we were able to catch the traitor because he ran wild. He’s an old friend of the guild master’s, apparently. Anyway, he’s got a loose tongue. Garitt said all it took was a little coaxing and he sang like a canary.”

An old friend of the guild master’s? I hope he’s doing okay…

“He gave us some info about a certain person of interest which made it easy for us to figure out everyone who was in on the conspiracy. Early in the morning, the watchmen started securing everyone involved. Before I came here, they said they’d apprehended just about everybody, so the incidents that took place in this village should be resolved very soon.”

I don’t know what it was, but…he worded that strangely, didn’t he? It sounded like something still needs to be done…

“In other words, this problem affected more places than Hataka?” my father asked.

Zinal nodded. “The summoning circles used on Hataka were placed here under somebody’s orders. I’m sure they’ll investigate this person, but the captains think it’s highly likely the church is involved, and so do my men and I.”

“Oh, what a mess. They aren’t an easy group to investigate.”

“I know. Even if we have the proof we need to take them down, it’s not easy to get a warrant.” Anguished creases appeared in Zinal’s face. He looked almost resentful…

“Are you sure it’s okay for Ivy and me to hear all of this?” my father asked.

Zinal stared hard at me. His eyes scared me a little; I wondered if I was just seeing things.

“Well, you both seem like easy targets.”

Yes, indeed. I regret to inform you that we always find ourselves in the middle of some plot without realizing it.

“Besides, it’s scarier if you don’t know, right? If you’re aware of what’s happening, at least you have a chance to try and avoid it.”