The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 440

Chapter 440:

Ciel Is Smaller?

 “MR. ZINAL, please rest for a bit.”

If I begged him to sleep for the day, he wouldn’t listen. But his fatigue was showing in his face—he needed to take at least a little rest.

“No, I’m fine. Besides, I’m supposed to be guarding you. I can’t sleep at my post.”

Um, yeah, but you’ve been acting weird since you got here. And didn’t you yourself say you were too tired?

“I’ll be fine. My father’s here, right?”

“Yeah, you really should lie down for a bit. You’re not at your best right now.”

“True…but still…” Zinal wavered. How could we get him to lie down?

“Oh, and if something happens, we have Ciel to protect us!”

“Ah. Ciel…”

Mrrrow? Ciel woke up at the sound of its name.

“Sorry to wake you up.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” my father agreed.

Zinal stood up and walked over to the adandara. “Hey, Ciel, it’s okay for you to take your true form inside this house. Take good care of Ivy and Druid for me, okay?”

“Huh?!”

“Heh?!”

Mrrrow!

Er, not so fast, Ciel! I mean, is it even okay for you to be in your real form right now?

“Damn, pure majesty.” Zinal smiled in satisfaction at Ciel’s adandara form.

“The room feels much smaller now.” My dad shot Zinal a frustrated look, but he showed no sign of trying to stop them as he said what he thought of the room.

Er—is this really okay? It can’t be, right? I thought Ciel’s magic energy was too powerful and people were sure to detect it… Wait a minute, Ciel recently learned how to mask its magic energy. So does that mean it’s okay now?

Mewww…mew! Ciel cocked its head and meowed tentatively at my father. After a while, the sound got softer and softer until Ciel’s body shrunk a little.

“Wow.”

“Whoa!”

My father and I rushed over to Ciel, who was now about two-thirds its original size. At this smaller size, Ciel’s physical appearance gave a different impression—it was cute. Of course, Ciel was cute even at full size, too.

“Ciel can change its size?” Zinal asked.

“This is the first time I’ve seen it, sir.”

“What?!” he yelped in surprise.

“Ciel, you’re incredible!” I told my adandara. “I had no idea you could change size without shapeshifting.”

Mrrrow.

I petted Ciel’s head, and its tail swished violently back and forth. So cute. Ciel truly was adorable at this smaller size.

“It looks exactly the same…except dangerously cute,” my father said.

“I’m surprised you two aren’t surprised, seeing this for the first time,” Zinal gave us a frustrated look. “Aren’t you worried about Ciel being a different size?”

“Not really. That’s Ciel for you.”

“Is it really that simple? Most people would be shocked.”

“Our adandara can turn into a slime. Why would we be shocked by it shrinking a little?” my father asked.

Zinal cocked his head. “I think you’re missing the point…” He gave Ciel a few restless pats. “Ooh, I didn’t know how soft adandara fur was!”

“Yes, sir, it’s very soft. Feels great, right?”

A smile crept onto Zinal’s face as he petted Ciel.

“You have a nice nap now, Mr. Zinal. Feel free to use the bed in the next room.”

Zinal looked a bit troubled by my offer. “Aww, can’t I stay just a little…”

“No, sir. Ciel worked hard to get smaller just so you could feel safe enough to take a nap.”

I don’t know whether it really was hard work for Ciel or not, though…

“Oh, if you insist. Well, if something happens, I can get out of bed in a flash.” He looked at Ciel, exhaled softly, and then stood up.

“Sleep well, sir. Be sure to stay in bed at least three hours.”

“What?!”

Unless I said otherwise, he’d probably only stay there for one hour.

“Do rest up, okay, sir?”

Zinal shrugged his shoulders in defeat and headed into the next room. When I heard the door close behind him, I was sure he would get some good sleep.

“Thanks, Ciel.”

Mrrrow.

I petted Ciel for a while, then went back to where I was before to drink some tea with my father. Ciel wandered over to us and lay down on the floor.

“Hey, Dad, you changed the subject on purpose back there, didn’t you?” I wanted to make sure I knew how my father felt about all of this.

“Yeah… It’s not that I don’t trust Zinal and his men, I just think my skill can probably change people.”

I nodded in understanding. Even the best of people might change for the worst if they found out there was a way they could increase their number of stars.

“Sorry, Ivy. I know you trust Zinal.” He really did look guilty.

“You have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

My father’s skill could change another person’s powers, and since there were a lot of people in this world who wanted to have more stars, my father had made the right call.

“Also, I know for sure the church has been investigating me.”

“H—really?” When he said that, he startled me so badly I bit my tongue. After staring at me in stunned silence for a couple of beats, my father laughed. “Dad…”

“Sorry. Back when I didn’t know what my skill did, I went to the church many times. I think I remember going there because they summoned me.”

I guess the church was trying to figure out if they could use him.

“When my brothers’ stars disappeared and we found out that my skill stole those stars, I remember the church stopped reaching out to me.”

“Do you think they were scared of losing their stars?”

“I guess so.”

So even though they were interested in his skill, they didn’t want to lose their stars. So, in a way, his skill had saved him.

“Then it might have been for the best that I stole my brother’s stars. If I’d given him more stars, I might have lost my freedom.”

That absolutely would have happened. I felt bad for his brothers, but it really was for the best.

“Pu, pu?”

I looked toward Sora’s voice to find that the slime was bouncing around Ciel and staring curiously at it. The slime was probably trying to figure out where we were since Ciel was in its true form.

“Sora, we’re in the guild master’s house right now.”

Sora stretched itself in response. “Puuu?”

“Mr. Zinal said it was okay for Ciel to take its true form inside this house.”

Sora gleefully bounced up and down.

“Just don’t go too wild, Sora. Okay?”

“Pu! Pu, puuu!” Sora merrily bounced over to Ciel. As it bounced, Ciel sat up and slapped a paw on the eager slime’s head.

“Pu!”

Mew!

My cheeks softened at the ever-adorable pair. Sora stopped and stared at Ciel, then did just one bounce, for some reason. 

“Pu?!” After Sora landed, it opened its eyes wide and gave Ciel another scrutinizing stare. I watched on. I had no idea what the slime was doing, but it looked startled.

“Think Sora noticed Ciel got smaller?” my father asked.

Sora’s eyes darted to my father.

“Looks like it. That’s right, Sora, Ciel shrank a little so the room wouldn’t feel so full.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.” Satisfied by my explanation, Sora slammed into the curled-up adandara’s belly.

“Sora was probably trying to figure out Ciel’s height earlier by jumping,” my father said.

I nodded in agreement, but that level of brain power seemed a little too advanced for a slime.

“By the way, Ciel, were you always able to change your size like that?”

The adandara was silent.

No answer. I guess that means it couldn’t do it before.

“Did you just start doing it?”

Mrrrow.

Okay, so it’s recent. Wow, that’s amazing.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if this was literally Ciel’s first time trying it?” my father asked.

I smiled at him, knowing that was a silly idea.

Mrrrow.

Huh? What were you saying “yes” to? Wait, you mean the thing about this being your first time trying it?

“Ciel, is today the first time you’ve tried changing your body’s size?”

Mrrrow.

So it was the first time. What a wonder you are.

“Well, you did a great job.” My father petted Ciel’s head, sending its tail swishing gently back and forth. Our adandara was in a great mood.

“So when the captain and guild master come by, we’ll hear what they have to say…”

“Yeah.”

“…and if there’s nothing wrong, we’ll get ready to make tracks out of Hataka.”

“Good idea.”

They had signed contracts to help hide our identities, but we didn’t want to trouble them any more than we had to. Plus, there was no telling when the people from the capital would arrive. We needed to leave Hataka—the sooner the better.