The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 9 - Chapter 445

Chapter 445:

Requirements for Taming

WHEN I HEARD the long hesitation before Sol’s answer, I didn’t know whether to feel sad or happy that the slime had chosen me. I laughed it off but wound up in kind of an emotionally complicated place.

“Pefu?” Sol’s eyes, innocent and curious, made me want to press the question a little harder. Would I regret the answer I got?

Argh, yeah, I’ve really gotta know.

“So, um…what about now? Have you ever felt like leaving us lately?”

“……”

Oh, thank goodness! Unlike the last time I asked the question, Sol stared earnestly at me in reply without any conflict in its eyes. Spending time together must have helped us forge a good bond.

“Happy for you both.” My father patted my head and Sol’s too. I nodded and Sol jiggled happily in reply. “You know, we can, never keep a conversation serious for long, can we?”

Huh, he’s right. We always get so laid-back when we talk. I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow, and Sol stretched itself tall and proper for some reason. So. Stinking. Cute.

“It’s just how we roll,” I said with a smile. My father nodded. As the two of us shared a laugh, Sora jumped onto my father’s shoulder.

“Pu! Puuu.” Sora sounded a little upset. It was probably jealous that we were spending all that time talking only to Sol.

“Sorry, Sora. We were talking about something important.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.” As I petted Sora, Flame hopped over to join us. I petted them each in turn, and they all jiggled contentedly in reply.

“Sol, let us know if you ever sense a magic energy that interests you. We’ll try to help you get what you need.”

Whenever we were in the forest, we would frequently go off the path or deep into the trees if Ciel or Sora asked us to, so we could take some detours for Sol, too. I wanted to travel in a way that made everyone happy.

“Pefu! Pefu!”

Ooh, Sol looks very happy about that. I hope we weren’t stopping it from having fun all this time. I gave Sol’s head a gentle pat. “Oh! What?! Um, Dad! Sol has a symbol!” As I was patting Sol’s head, a taming symbol began to glow on it. But, um, why? I didn’t give Sol any magic energy.

“Wow, I’m impressed.” My father walked over to us and touched Sol’s symbol. “This is your magic energy, Ivy. I’m sure of it.”

Sora and Flame merrily bounced around the room. And Ciel’s tail… I’ll clean that up later.

“Sol, are you sure?”

“Pefu!”

Sol looks happy, so I guess it’s okay? Still, I really have no clue what the requirements for taming are. What happened in that moment? I learned something about Sol, and I decided I’d do what I could to give it what it wants… That’s all, right?

“Maybe both parties opening up to each other is what you need for taming,” my father suggested.

Opening up to each other? But doesn’t that just sort of naturally happen when you spend time with someone? It’s weird to have a relationship where you’re both closed off all the time.

Knock, knock.

“Hm, Zinal and Eche, maybe?” my father said.

Right, it has been a while since Zinal left for the captain’s house.

“I’ll go answer.”

“Thanks. I’ll make some tea for Zinal and Eche.” I made my way to the kitchen.

“Good day to you all.”

Wait, was that the guild master’s voice?

“Ivy, three teas, please.”

“Okay!” I got another cup going and picked out several different snacks. I was starting to feel hungry myself. I carried everything into the dining room, where I found someone I didn’t know as well as Zinal and the guild master.

“Huh?!”

Is it okay for Ciel to just be out like that? Er, it’s not okay, right? I looked at my father, who just smiled sheepishly back at me.

“So, um…”

“Are you feeling well, Ivy?”

“Huh?!”

The person before my eyes was a short man, yet I was stunned to hear a woman’s voice come out of him—a familiar woman’s voice, at that. I stared at the man, but I still didn’t recognize him. I tried to place his voice instead…

“It’s Eche… Wait—you’re Eche?” I finally noticed the man had her voice.

“Er, what are you… Ohh! I’m sorry, I forgot I was in disguise.”

Even though she looked completely like a man, she had a lady’s voice. It all felt completely surreal.

“Why do you look like that?”

“So nobody will know it’s me. Perfect disguise, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” To my eyes, she was a man I’d never seen before. “It’s an incredible disguise—I don’t recognize you even though I know it’s you.”

“Oh, my disguises got quite a lot of mileage in my old profession.”

You mean when you were an assassin? Yeah, no…I can’t ask her that.

“Oh, really, ma’am?”

“Yes, the closer I could get to a person, the easier the job was to carry out.”

Yeah…definitely an assassin.

“Right! So I heard you weren’t feeling well?” she continued.

“Huh?”

“That’s not quite right, ma’am. We feel fine now—we just need someone to check us,” my father explained.

Eche shot Zinal a look.

“Oops, did I say the wrong thing?” he said.

Eche sighed. “Seriously, Zinal… Well, it’s okay. I’ll just send some magic energy through you both to see if anything’s wrong with you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Since Eche looked different from her usual self, I felt oddly nervous. It also felt anything but comfortable to hear a woman’s voice coming from a man. My heart raced as I stuck out both hands toward Eche. She gave my hands a gentle squeeze, closed her eyes, and slowly sent her magic energy through my body. I felt it softly ripple out of me.

“Thank you, ma’am. So you were a doctor all along.”

I remembered when I used to think she was an apothecary.

“A doctor can come in handy in a number of ways.”

Handy, you say?

“Doctors can easily infiltrate any space.”

That made sense. Eche proceeded to give my father a checkup while I looked on worriedly, but she said everything was fine. What a relief.

“By the way, that’s an incredible monster you’ve got in this room. I’ve only seen them in books. It’s, um…an adandara?” Eche looked at Ciel with awe.

“Have some tea, ma’am.”

“Oh, no thanks, I’m not staying. I left that foolish impulsive patient of mine on his own. Hee hee hee!”

Is she talking about the captain? What did she do to him…? Her eyes were seriously scary just now.

“Did you do something to him?” my father asked Eche, curious about the same thing I was.

Eche smiled innocently at him, and I could practically hear the sparkles in her eyes. I’m glad I didn’t ask…

“That old fool decided he needed to test it on himself, so he tried to operate that summoning circle with that frail body of his. Hee hee hee!”

Yikes… She’s utterly terrifying. But so’s the captain—what the hell was he thinking?!

“Well, we just got a message from the capital, so I doubt I’ll try anything foolish anytime soon.”

A message from the capital? Was it about the summoning circles?

“What did it say?” my father asked.

“They found another village besides Hataka that was being used for summoning circle experiments,” the guild master said.

“What?!” we gasped.

It’s happening outside of Hataka, too?

“What’s the damage?” my father asked.

The guild master looked grim. “Complete annihilation. It was a tiny forest village in the middle of nowhere, so nobody noticed there was anything wrong. When communications stopped coming from the village, the capital sent out an investigation team…and they found what was left of the village a week ago.”

Complete annihilation…

“Wow, I’m sorry. Were there any other villages?”

“I haven’t heard of any more since I came here, but if there’s anything else, I’m sure the captain will find out about it for us.”

Eche chuckled. “He sure will. The captain is a master at getting information out of people. I’m sure he’s picking up the most important facts as we speak.”

Maybe we can ask him all sorts of questions later.

“Okay, I’d better be on my way. I’m sure the captain’s okay, but I still worry about him. He really is a pain of a patient.”

“Gee, it almost sounds like you don’t trust the guy,” the guild master teased her.

“Only a fool would,” Eche responded solemnly. It was an answer only somebody who had gone through a lot with the captain could give.

I wonder what they’ve been through together? A part of me wants to know…but I’ll keep my mouth shut. I don’t wanna see that creepy smile of hers again.