The Weakest Tamer Trash Picking Journey Begins

For the time being, they trusted Sora’s judgment.

That’s fine, but… Rickbelt-san couldn’t leave Sora alone.

He seemed to be quite fond of it.

Sora attacked him on the face because he repeatedly patted and poked Sora.

…This was the first time I saw Sora attacking people, but it seemed to be ineffective.

Rickbelt-san who was under attack had a gross look on his face…

The expression of Mr.
Rickbelt who was attacked is feeling…It’s too bad.

Sora bounced back and rolled over, then I quickly picked it up and separate it from Rickbelt-san.

 

“Hahaha, sorry.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen such an expressive slime.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.”

 

The more I know about Sora’s rarity, I’m even more certain that I can only let some trusted people see Sora.

The half-transparent color, personal judgment, and now, its expressiveness, all are rare qualities.

And above all, I haven’t told them yet but, Sora eats potion, along with the bottles.

…Sora is too rare.

 

Rickbelt-san was making grabby hands, looking at Sora in my hands.

The tent was cramped, but I stepped a bit further from him.

I trusted him, but Rickbelt-san is a bit…I felt like I made a mistake.

 

Borolda-san peeked into the tent, and looked surprised.

Then he grabbed Rickbelt-san’s clothes and dragged him out of the tent.

He protested, but was scolded for doing things on wrong time.

Certainly, that was the case.

Somehow thanks to Sora, the lingering gloomy atmosphere had dissipated.

 

“Sora, I’m sorry.
I have to go not since we still have things to talk about.”

 

I exited the tent and shut the tent opening tightly.

Someone was standing in front of the tent.

Rickbelt-san looked regretful as he saw me.

…I have to protect Sora.

 

“Umm, what is it again?”

 

I turned towards Saizerg-san, the tension had disappeared a little.

Somehow we all laughed together.

 

“Well, yeah.
First we will talk to Gilmas…but we won’t tell him about Sora.
It’s too rare.”

 

Saizerg-san smiled bitterly.

As I thought, Sora seemed to be a real rare species.

That was my thought after I listened to people, but it held more weight if a a top-ranked adventurer said it, huh…

 

“Then, let’s talk to those 4 today.
We’ll tell them it’s a gathering to celebrate work completion.”

 

“Alright.
Where should we talk? It would be weird if we use the item for too long.”

(T/N: I guess this item refers to the concealing item.)

 

“Then we’ll talk to them individually in our tents.
We need time to think and calm down.”

 

“Got it, Saizerg, please take care of the matters regarding our friends.
I will go to see Gilmas.
Rick…you go with me.
If I leave you here, looks like you will harass Sora.”

 

Rickbelt was watching the tent all the time.

He looked a little troubled about something.

 

“Eh, no, it’s all right.
I will wait here with Sora.”

 

“No way.”

 

“Eh~”

 

He looked like he really wants to stay though, is he alright?

I could do nothing even if you looked at me.

 

“See you later.”

 

As he said that, Saizerg-san and Borolda-san laughed at him.

Rickbelt-san had his head drooped.

 

“Although he looks like that, he actually likes cute animals, you know.
However, he often touches too much and ended up getting disliked.”

 

Rattlua-san looked exasperated.

But Sora is certainly cute.

People who likes cute things surely will like Sora.

But, to touch them until you get disliked…by the way, earlier, Sora was already…nah, I won’t say Sora hates him yet.

 

“Well, we have decided what we’re going to talk about, so let’s head to the guild.
Come on, Rick! Move quickly!”

 

Borolda-san dragged Rickbelt-san, who looked back again and again.

My image of him had completely shattered, what to do?

…I will prioritize protecting Sora for now.

Saizerg-san called for a gathering with his 4 friends, and left the area.

The one left was Rattlua-san.

 

“Um, Ivy is really nine years old?”

 

I was surprised he asked such a thing so suddenly.

Now that you mention it, when I said I was eight years old, for some reason everyone was surprised as well.

 

“Yes, that’s right, is it odd?”

 

What is it, is there anything strange about me?

I looked at my own hands, but…I don’t know.

 

“Ah, and one more thing.
Are you really a boy?”

 

I froze at the unexpected surprise attack.

And I should not have reacted like this.

What should I do…I couldn’t think of any way to wriggle out of this situation.

 

“Whoa, sorry.
Please do not make such a weepy face!”

 

I didn’t realize that I looked about to cry.

I quietly looked at Rattlua-san.

He just looked at me worriedly, without anger in his face.

I was relieved.

 

“Sorry.
I lied to you.”

 

“That’s not it.
You only took that step to protect yourself.
Because it’s dangerous for a girl to travel alone.”

 

“Thank you.
But I didn’t tell the truth although I had many chances to tell you.
Do the others realize as well?”

 

“Hmm, I think Borolda and Saizerg are aware? They have a ton of experience.
Rickbelt probably doesn’t realize…because he’s insensitive.”

 

Somehow when he talked about Rickbelt-san, he sounded a bit sinister.

I wasn’t sure though since Rattlua-san is so gentle.

 

“As expected, you found out about me, huh.”

 

What should I do next? I want to continue my journey.

 

“Hmm~ I just got a hunch since we stayed together for quite a long time.
By the way, I’m actually more surprised about you being 9 year old.”

 

Now that you mention it, he did ask before.

I wonder what he meant by that.

 

“Huh? Do you perhaps not realize?”

 

I tilted my head in confusion, and he pondered a little longer.

Then he looked at me with a weird expression.

What is it? I was really nervous.

 

“You see, you don’t look like a 9 year old.
I think you look more like 7.”

 

……What!

About 7 year old?

Well, that’s just because I grew up and my clothes became too small…huh?

Now that I think about it, from when I was 5 until I am 9 now, I only felt my clothes became too small once or twice?

Huh?

Does it mean I’m not growing up?

…Seriously?

 

“You don’t have to fell so down…if you grow up, you won’t look like a boy anymore.”

 

Then, is it better for me to grow up or not?

Probably better not so I don’t get found out.

But not able to grow up is kinda sad.

 

“We thought you are 7 before we asked for your age.
Nouga-san snapped at us so bad for letting a kid travel with us.
Then, after I know your age…I feel sad.”

 

“Sad?”

 

“Seeing you eat meals with us, you don’t seem to be sickly.
But I can imagine you have lived a harsh life seeing you grow up slowly.”

 

Harsh?

…Really?

Was my life harsh?

Everything changed when I was five.

Then I lived by myself with the help of a fortune teller.

You could probably say my life is harsh.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“When did you begin your journey?”

 

“I started this year.
But I have been living in the forest for 4 years.”

 

“I see.
Latomi Village’s head and nobles are pretty corrupted, huh.
According to the information from adventurer guild, roughly half of the villagers ran away.”

 

“…It’s that bad, huh…”

 

A lot of them ran away.

That village with a corrupt head had gotten so deserted.

So it became like that…

Long time no see T.T