Establishing the Slime Chain of Command
I gathered the slimes together to assess the problem. "Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to do with you idiots."
What to do with these things. They shut down the factory because they couldn't catch a single goblin? Were the slimes really that weak? And not just one, but dozens of them?
I eyed the jellies with half-lidded eyes.
"...Sigh, whatever. Can't blame them for not having heads to think with."
Blackie and Whitey stared back at me with their dumb faces. They probably didn't get a word I said, but the jellies looked all downcast anyway. Seeing them like that cooled the boiling rage in my gut a bit.
What's the point of just yelling? I needed a solution first.
And these days, I had to be careful with how I handled them. What if I pushed too hard and they all tied red headbands on like some rebel army? I pictured it in my head—Blackie and Whitey with headbands knotted on, leading a wave of jellies charging at me with a flag that read "Slime Revolution."
And me buried under them, turned into a slime blob.
"Ugh—"
Just thinking about it was nightmare fuel.
Pii...?
Whitey approached with a worried look as I suddenly clutched my arms and floated up a bit.
"N-no, it's nothing. Let's think of countermeasures first."
My voice came out a little embarrassed since, in my imagination, Whitey had been leading the charge at the front.
Can't push them too hard.
"Alright, let's figure out what the problem is."
I assembled the slimes again and looked around.
If the results were bad, there had to be an issue somewhere. They say the answer lies where the problem is, right?
I wanted to see for myself what happened when slimes fought goblins without my orders.
"Hmm... but where the hell are they?"
I was looking for the goblin that should've spawned, but...
Tong- Tong- Tong-
By the lake. In the forest. Nowhere.
If no smoothie got produced, it meant the goblin was still alive somewhere in the gate. But no matter how much I searched and poked around, it was all just grass.
No sign of that ugly goblin mug anywhere.
"Whitey, where'd the spawned goblin go? Blackie, you didn't see anything?"
I'd looked so much it wasn't turning up, so I asked the two witnesses inside the gate.
Shake. Shake.
They both shook their heads at my question...?
What the hell did that mean? They weren't pointing in any direction, just shaking their heads, which left me confused.
Wait a sec. By genre conventions, if there's a spawn, there's usually a despawn.
A bad feeling crept over me.
Did that mean...
"...No way, it disappeared?"
Nod— Ah, shit.
It really despawned?
I couldn't believe it. So all this time, goblins kept vanishing and we just took the loss?
I looked at Whitey and Blackie again, but their answer didn't change.
"Ah... stress."
I clutched my pounding head.
If they'd stuck around, I could've had them catch it and make up the loss. This goddamn life never goes my way.
"Haa— so it's gone, right?"
Pip!
Blackie jumped up brightly in response.
"Why the hell are you so chipper about it?"
Thwack— Piiik!
Couldn't you read the mood? I'm pissed and exhausted...!
I gave Blackie a light flick on the head and headed back to the lakeside.
"Tch— annoying as hell."
No choice then. I'd have to summon one myself.
With a sigh, I pulled up the gate management screen in front of me.
Familiar functions and layout, nothing new.
Summon Goblin?
[Y/N]
"Y-yeah, summon it."
Don't ask, I'm busy right now. Isn't there an option like "don't show this for 7 days"? Patch in some convenience already.
I grumbled pointlessly and hit Y.
Kerruk—!
"Yeah, welcome or whatever."
The button clicked, and an ugly face and gross cry echoed out. Had to be the goblin.
"Let's see just how badly you fight."
I left the slimes and goblin without orders and stepped back. I even pulled Blackie and Whitey to my side.
I needed to check the jellies' abilities on their own right now.
Tong- Tong- Tong- Kerruk?
The slimes approached warily. There were over twenty jellies by eye, and just one goblin enemy.
No way they'd really lose, right? Well, they did, since no smoothie.
I watched quietly.
Tong-!
The lead slime charged first. Good momentum. Worth watching.
But.
Thud— Kek-kek-
That was it. The slime flew off without the goblin even swinging hard.
The difference between jelly and primate was clear as day. So they'd figured that out themselves. Or they should've.
Gang up! Overwhelm it! What good is numbers if you attack one by one?
But.
If things went my way, it wouldn't be a "problem."
Tong-! Kerruk-!
"Agh! So frustrating, I'm gonna die."
Sure enough, they bounced off one by one. My insides were erupting.
Was swarming really that hard? This wasn't some train ride.
Watching them get picked off individually was killing me. I slowly approached the slimes.
At this rate, the goblin wouldn't die—I would.
The system said no control led to this, so I'd add some control.
"Surround it. And kill."
Simple encirclement and annihilation order. Honestly, I didn't have high hopes. One command wouldn't change much.
Tong-tong- Kerruk?!!
It did.
Their movements changed the instant my order went through. A brief flinch, then they formed ranks.
Clean and swift like soldiers. They circled the goblin and—
Crunch-crunch-
Swarmed it into paste all at once.
"...So they do fine as long as they get 'orders.'"
What now? The gap between me being there and not was huge. One command turned a tough goblin into that...
The hopelessness hit harder. I couldn't live in the gate forever. I had my own stuff! Wanted to climb the tower too.
But no one to man this post...
Pip?
Blackie, Whitey? They popped into view.
"Maybe... it could work?"
An idea formed.
Factories need mid-level managers for workers. And our jellies followed these two well.
It might work. The conclusion narrowed.
"You two, follow me a sec."
I took them to the lakeside plain. Of course, I ordered the slimes to follow properly.
My hypothesis: These two could lead the slimes in battle.
"Rookie training time."
But a hypothesis needs testing. How? Fight, obviously.
And with cooldowns, I'd have to fight myself.
Not like I wanted to legally smack them or anything. Training. Training.
I stretched and beckoned the slimes.
Piii...?
Whitey gave me a "what's going on?" look.
"No long talk—all of you, come at me."
Pip, piii...?
God, so frustrating. They hesitated, wouldn't charge.
It's an order? Please just attack.
How deep was their loyalty?
Then—
Piiik—!
Something black charged from the front.
"Oho— as expected, Blackie's got the initiative."
I knew without looking. Blackie, our hyper prankster.
"Heh, that's more like it?"
Blackie swung a sharp stick at me like spearwork. Looked decent, but.
No way it'd land.
Tap— I grabbed the tip as it thrust.
And.
Pip, piip?
Threw it right back at the slimes.
Nice flight. Soared like a golf ball, then plopped weakly in front of them.
Pip!
Seemed unhurt, full of energy.
"Ugh, you morons. Hey! Blackie, Whitey—you two are temp captains, so all at once."
I tossed the words like handing over light command.
The moment I spoke, Blackie looked at the slimes.
Pip-pip- It thumped its chest twice like "follow me," then took stance.
Something's happening.
Slimes gathered behind Blackie one by one. It was working.
And next to Blackie—Whitey, with easily three times the slimes.
Whoa, that's an outlier.
I was surprised by Whitey's leadership. Blackie had about six; Whitey nearly fifteen.
No wonder it was pulling some cult-leader shit when we first entered.
Looks deceptive; not your average slime.
"Looks ready then."
I slowly took my stance too.
I'd shaped what I wanted. Time to test if it rolled well.
"Here I come this time."
How far could they hold? A thrill rose, having grasped a clue.