Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: King Slime
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After leaving the Adventurer's Guild, I stopped by the blacksmith's for the first time in a while to prepare for the hunt.
Ting-a-ling. A bell sound I hadn't heard in a long time.
"Hey, old man! We're here!"
"What the hell, you're still alive? You hadn't come by in a while, so I thought you were dead."
"Come on, if I died, the world would end."
Honestly, the guy who possessed Arthur is an idiot. I'd say there's a 90 percent chance the empire will be destroyed if the original story plays out.
"Yeah, yeah. You're so great. You'll be an S-rank adventurer in no time."
"Of course. I'm already on a C-rank promotion quest."
"Wh-what? You're already C-rank, kid?"
"Talented people just climb the ranks quickly."
S-rank? For me, even SS-rank would be easy.
Not that SS-rank actually exists.
"More importantly, it seems like you have more women with you every time you show up, kid."
"What can I say? It's the unavoidable fate of a strong man to attract women."
"You've gotten even more obnoxious since I last saw you..."
You think this is a lot? For a guy like me, having only two is practically nothing, old man.
"This place is still dead as a doornail, huh?"
"Mind your own business."
Come on, you're just playing hard to get. I know you're happy I'm here.
"Luna, you need to buy anything?"
"Not really."
Skimping on hunting gear isn't a great idea.
A true hunter uses any means necessary, you know?
"What about you, Yui?"
"M-me?"
"Yeah. You."
Maybe because she was a shut-in until recently, her eyes sparkle with wonder wherever we go.
Just like right now.
"I'm a mage, so I don't think there's anything I need here."
Yui, that's what you call a stereotype.
A very dangerous thing that eats away at a person's imagination.
Who's to say a mage can't swing a staff and smash a monster's head open?
There are even magical girls who throw haymakers and call it a 'Magical Punch'.
A strength-based mage is pretty normal by comparison.
We live in an age where healers smash monster skulls with maces.
"Guess I'm the only one who needs something, then."
I took the limbs of the iron golem I'd hunted before out of my inventory.
"Hey, old man, can you make a circular plate out of this?"
"What did you bring this time?"
"An iron golem."
"An iron golem... A lot must have happened while you were away..."
"Not really."
A lot of things happened, but was it difficult? Not particularly.
In fact, everything I did was easy.
Was being reincarnated always this easy? It's so different from what I knew that it feels surreal.
Transmigrators go through all sorts of hardships even as extras, but since I arrived, I've only had people picking fights with me like crazy. I haven't had what you'd call a 'hardship'.
"Making it will be easy enough, but why not a weapon with material this good?"
"What's the point of having more weapons? I can't even use them all."
Honestly, I'm satisfied with the weapon I'm using now.
"If I'm going to change weapons, I'll wait and get something better later."
The weapon I'm using now was just something I had to make at the beginning because I had nothing else. It hurts my pride to make one from a mere C-rank monster.
Later, I'll crack open an S-rank monster's skull and use its parts to make one.
"If you say so. So, how do you want it made?"
"Just make it as wide and large as possible."
"Easy enough to do... but what are you going to use it for?"
"I need it for my C-rank promotion quest."
"Is that so... I still have no idea what you're up to. Alright. I'll have it ready, so come pick it up tomorrow."
"Okay."
***
The next day.
Right after picking up the item from the blacksmith, we immediately took a carriage to our destination.
Our destination was the Slime Hill, located far from the empire.
The fact that it's called Slime Hill is hilarious enough, but when I asked why it was so far away, they said it would be weirder for such dangerous monsters to be near where people live.
From what I knew, slimes were common monsters you could find in any nearby meadow.
I dredged up all the knowledge from my past life, but faced with a reality that defied all common sense and resembled nothing I knew, I was at a loss for words.
Clatter.
As the carriage moved along the unpaved road, I thought to myself.
'I'm bored.'
In my past life, whenever I had to travel long distances, I'd take an express bus or a car for several hours.
But at least I had a smartphone back then. Now, the ride sucks, and there's nothing to see but fields and trees no matter where I look.
"Yui. I'm bored."
"Um... what can I do for you?"
"I don't know. Just do something."
"Even if you say that..."
Your master is bored. If you don't have anything, you should make something up.
"For some reason, I feel like killing you might be fun."
Hunting is the most fun, after all.
Even though she hasn't awakened, she's still a vampire queen. I'd probably gain about five levels, right?
My mouth waters just thinking about it.
"E-eek...! I'll do it! I'll do anything! Just please don't kill me!"
As I licked my lips, a startled Yui hurriedly raised her palms and created an orb of blood.
It was a technique that applied blood magic.
Soon, the blood orb took on a human form, and they began to fight in the palm of Yui's hand.
The soldier on her left hand fought with a one-handed sword and shield, while the one on her right fought with a spear.
It was a rather epic battle scene, and it was fun to watch, like a small play.
"Yes! This is it! Why didn't you do this sooner if you could?"
"Y-yes! I'll do my best!"
"..."
***
"We've arrived, sir."
After watching 'My Little Yui's' play for a while.
The driver stopped the carriage near a spot with a view of Slime Hill and let us off.
I asked why he stopped when we hadn't arrived yet.
He said something about not going too close to monster habitats for the driver's safety.
'As if a damn slime is anything to be afraid of.'
If a slime popped out, he could just run it over. I don't get why people in this world make such a big deal out of slimes.
We got out of the carriage and watched the driver turn back.
It wasn't a monster we could hunt in just a few dozen minutes, so I couldn't ask him to wait this time.
The driver didn't seem keen on waiting here anyway, so I just sent him back.
Besides, it didn't matter since I brought a tent, planning to camp on the way back today.
I took in the field before me.
A sea of green grass, dotted with sparse trees and rocks.
Even from a distance, I could see the squirming, translucent liquid forms of slimes, which could be mistaken for water at a glance.
It wasn't called Slime Hill for nothing; the only monsters around seemed to be slimes.
Seeing the occasional bones and melted chunks of flesh, it looked like stray monsters or wild animals had been caught and eaten.
On Slime Hill, besides the regular slimes, there were also the dark gray Metal Slimes I'd seen on a previous quest, as well as strange, colorful slimes, and there were quite a lot of them.
Without even trying to count, a rough estimate put their numbers well over 100.
"Seriously... just looking at them drains my motivation."
To think that a prospective C-rank adventurer came all this way to hunt slimes.
"Um... Luke. It's funny for a vampire like me to say this, but slimes are much more terrifying creatures than you think!"
Gone was the teary-eyed girl from moments ago; Yui was now speaking with her arms spread wide.
She looked exactly like a little girl in dinosaur pajamas roaring, 'Roooar!'
She was clearly trying to warn me, but surprisingly, she didn't look the least bit scary.
If anything, she was killing whatever tension was there.
"Listen carefully, Yui. There's only one reason for a person to be afraid of acid."
"Acid rain."
"It makes you go bald."
Honestly, as an ordinary person living in Korea, there was no way I'd ever encounter an acidic liquid strong enough to cause any real problems.
If you got something like bleach on your hands, you could just rinse it off with water.
'Slimes usually have endless applications, but here they're only useful for one thing. Tsk.'
If this were an erotic fantasy, you could use them as fleshlights or condoms, but in this world, slimes are made of acid, so you can't even use them as fleshlights.
Even outside of erotic fantasies, there are slimes with the setting that they only melt clothes, providing enjoyment to the readers.
In some worlds, you can even tame slimes and make them the strongest.
Compared to those, the slimes in this world are absolute garbage.
Not even fodder mobs, and they have no utility.
"Luke. How will you be hunting today? You haven't prepared anything besides that strange plate you picked up this morning, right?"
"That's all I need. What more could I want?"
What, do I need a nuke or something?
"But, I don't see a King Slime."
"I know. There's no way Adela would have given us the wrong information."
She said it was several meters tall.
On flat land like this, it should be visible to the naked eye no matter how far away it is, right?
But I've looked everywhere, and I can't see any monster that looks like a King Slime.
"If it's not here, why don't we lure it out?"
"How?"
"If we start killing the slimes in front of us, won't it appear?"
"Oh... that's a good idea."
I don't know the details, but a King Slime is probably the parent of all these slimes here.
Whether it's the father or mother doesn't matter. If it's hiding and watching from somewhere, it won't just stand by while its children are being killed.
"Luring it out by killing its children right in front of it. Luna, you're finally starting to get smart like me."
"..."
Wow, the luring method is great and all, but isn't the Demon God crying somewhere after losing his job by now?
How can she so casually suggest beating up the children in front of their parent to lure it out?
But if there's no other way, then we have no choice.
"Alright. Let's lure it out."
We started immediately.
I took care of the Metal Slimes, which were at least vulnerable to physical attacks, while Luna and Yui handled the rest.
I suppose I could kill the slimes too if I lit my club on fire and swung it.
But Yui and Luna can kill them with a single spell. Why would I do something so inefficient and annoying?
We kept at it for a while.
We killed nearly sixty in total, about twenty each.
For some reason, I didn't level up at all.
At first, I thought the slimes they'd hyped up were just weaklings that gave no experience, but I soon found the answer to that mystery.
Just as I was getting tired and thinking about laying out a mat to eat before continuing, the slimes suddenly gathered in one spot and began to merge, as if they had been one being all along.
"Oh, ooh..."
When all the slimes on the field gathered, the volume was immense.
As the slimes merged, their mass grew larger and larger.
Before long, a giant slime, five meters tall, was formed.
Is this how Pikachu feels when it sees a Dynamax Pokémon?
The pressure from a mere slime growing bigger right before my eyes was no joke.
Even I, a human, felt this way. How would a Pokémon feel?
If it were me, I'd have smacked Ash-hole with an Iron Tail, knocked him out, and used him as a shield.
'So that's why I didn't level up. They were just parts of the main body, so of course I wouldn't.'
The things we'd been killing were just splintered parts of the King Slime. That's why my level didn't rise no matter how many I killed.
If I could level up by killing splintered parts while the main body was fine, I could have just leveled up by cutting off a monster's fingers or toes instead of killing it.
"I thought they were its children... but it was just the parent showing up?"
This is like cutting off its fingers right in front of its eyes.
I honestly thought slimes were devoid of emotion, but now I see that's not necessarily the case.
How do I know?
Well, for one, the previously colorless creature is starting to turn red. If that's not anger, what is it?
"You've finally appeared, Hans!"
"Hans...?"
"He's an executive in the Demon Lord's army."
"...?"
-Bubble, bubble.
Just then, bubbles began to form rapidly inside the King Slime's body.
It spat out a liquid from its body as if spitting saliva.
It did this three times in a row.
We weren't about to just stand there and take it, so we easily dodged the liquid.
-Sizzzle...
The trees, soil, and even rocks behind us melted away.
It seems to contain a very potent acid.
Maybe its pH level drops the angrier it gets.
Before coming here, I heard its weakness was fire, so I thought about giving it a Fire☆Hug. But now I see that would leave not even bones behind, let alone a corpse.
I took some popcorn from my inventory and threw it at the slime.
As expected. The popcorn disappeared in an instant, not even leaving crumbs.
"With that skill, it could definitely set a Guinness World Record for catching snacks in its mouth."
I playfully threw another one, and this time it shot acid at me.
"Oh, shit. How can a slime be more ferocious than a rabid dog?"
"Luke, what are you going to do now?"
"What am I going to do?"
"Listen, Luna. It's slow. The fact that it hasn't moved from its spot is proof."
"Yes."
"We'll use our legs, which it doesn't have."
"What's the plan?"
The plan is...
"Time to run away~!"