One month after spreading the rumor.
“Good work out there, guys..” [Ryouma]
“You too, Boss.” [Everyone]
Work at the store concluded today too without any problems.
The employees left the break room in droves as they headed back to their dorm.
The only ones who stayed behind were me, Caulkin-san, Tony-san, and Robelia-san.
“It’s already been a month since you started working here… Well? How is it? Do you have any difficulties in work that you wish to address?” [Ryouma]
“Not at all, Boss! This is the best place I’ve ever worked at!” [Robelia]
“Not only do I not have any complaints with our treatment, the work is also fulfilling.” [Tony]
“More than anything, it’s such a joy to see the slimes bringing in so much profit.” [Caulkin]
The other two nodded to Caulkin-san’s words.
“That’s good to hear. I asked you to help with researching stuff on top of training you, so I was worried I might’ve been pushing you too much.” [Ryouma]
“Forget about us, Boss. What about you? The customers have been increasing lately, and… That man came today too, right?” [Tony]
Ever since publicizing my contract with the rimel birds, rumors attacking Guild Master Taylor have gone down. But in exchange, more and more people have been wanting to meet with me.
“He left quickly… but what was up with that man?” [Caulkin]
“Apparently, he’s a middleman for selling monsters. Rimel birds sell high because there are plenty who are willing to pay for them, alive or taxidermized. And there are also those who wish to use them to carry letters.
Anyway, it was all money talk, so after finding out that that’s all he wanted to talk about, I asked him to leave.” [Ryouma]
It was either selling the rimel birds or to hire me.
I’ve already decided not to sell the rimel birds, so that one’s out of the question. As for hiring, if he wants to hire me, then he needs a letter of reference.
“It wasn’t all that problematic for me since I did refuse his abrupt request for a meeting. Still, thank you for worrying for me.” [Ryouma]
“It would be troublesome if something happen to you, after all. Our situation now is really good. It’s even better than when we were researchers at the lab.” [Robelia]
“Yes. Much much better than when I was just a researcher in name.” [Caulkin]
“Back then the future held nothing but despair…” [Robelia]
“Was it really that bad?” [Ryouma]
“It’s because you don’t know how terrible the lab is, Boss. The work conditions there are so bad that people living in the slums are better off. They treat their researchers worse than slaves.” [Caulkin]
“Really!?” [Ryouma]
You’d think a lab would treat their employees right, but apparently, there are some pretty terrible labs. But then again… Even back at my world, despite all the labor laws, there were still companies that abused the hell out of their employees. Such employees even popularly came to be called ‘corporate slaves’…
It seems that even though the world has literally changed, people are still the same as ever.
“The only ones who stay after being sent to the slime department are those obsessed with research like me or those with nowhere else to go.” [Caulkin]
“It’s a position specifically meant for people the lab doesn’t like or outsiders, so it’s only natural that the people in the slime department would be treated poorly… Slave owners need to ensure the livelihood of their slaves, but the lab only needs to pay the wages of the researchers. Their livelihood be damned…” [Robelia]
“That being said, they do pay a big enough salary to live off of, but it’s just barely enough. Not luxurious by any means. Moreover, they will cut that wage over the pettiest of things, so you’ll be forced to cut on your living expenses… If you complain, they’ll just tell you to resign, so you have no negotiating power whatsoever.” [Tony]
Yep. That’s a corporate slave, alright.
“What do you mean by ‘pettiest of things’?” [Ryouma]
“Well, the most common reason is not being able to get results.” [Robelia]
“The main objectives of the slime research department is to explain the slime’s mode of life and to grasp the taming method of the big slime. Unfortunately, no one has a clue how to achieve those.” [Caulkin]
“And that’s why it’s used to demote people.” [Tony]
“So, why can’t you explain the slime’s mode of life?” [Ryouma]
I know even Earth, with all of its development in science, has animals they’ve yet to figure out, but…
“For starters, slimes can be found pretty much everywhere. They’re too varied, be it in environment or abilities, so even if you come up with a theory, there’s bound to be a slime somewhere out there that goes contrary to that theory.” [Caulkin]
“Moreover, there’s simply too little information. When researching other monsters, you start by dissecting the monster. From there you look at various stuff, like the shape of their teeth and use that to infer information, such as whether they’re carnivorous or herbivorous.
But when slimes die they just leave behind their nucleus while the rest of their body disappears, so you can’t even dissect them. Not that there would be any point in doing so, since their bodies are transparent and you can see everything. But with the nucleus they leave behind being nothing more than a brittle stone, we can’t even tell if they actually have any organs…” [Robelia]
Now that he mentions it, slimes do disappear when they die…
When I got to this world for the first time and I defeated a slime, it just disappeared and left behind a nucleus.
For a moment, I thought the world had a drop item system going on, but when I defeated other monsters, their body didn’t disappear, and I couldn’t loot them without gutting them first.
Because of that I also wondered why only slimes disappeared upon being killed.
Unfortunately, I never really got to answer that since my interested turned toward the evolution paths of the slimes.
“We also have countless incidences where the slimes evolved into a higher variant, but we have no idea how to make the evolutions happen.” [Tony]
Hmm? They don’t know the evolution conditions?
“What kind of slimes did the slimes evolve into?” [Ryouma]
“All sorts. That’s about all I can really say. I mean each time they would evolve into something different…” [Robelia]
“What kind of slimes did the slimes evolve into?” [Ryouma]
“All sorts. That’s about all I can really say. I mean each time they would evolve into something different…” [Robelia]
Robelia-san held her head as if remembering something when she said that.
I wonder if something happened…
Putting that aside, though, what were they feeding the slimes at the lab?
“What were you feeding the slimes?” [Ryouma]
“Food? We just gave them whatever… Right?” [Tony]
Tony said in an asking manner, and the other two nodded.
“They wouldn’t give us any budget, so it was hard to procure food for the slimes. Usually, we’d just get the leftover feeds from the other departments and feed that to them. Our salary is barely enough just to support ourselves, so we cut down on costs as much as possible.
There were even some researchers who ate the meat meant to be used as feed, so I doubt there was anyone willing to use their salary to feed the slimes. ” [Robelia]
“Slimes can eat anything, so they were just fed whatever was available. Besides, slimes are creatures that lived in completely different environments by eating whatever was available.” [Tony]
When I heard Robelia-san and Tony-san say that, my jaws dropped to the ground.
It’s true that slimes will eat anything if you order them to, but…
Well, I understand why they did it, but because of that the slimes ended up evolving randomly. And because of that they failed to pursue one of the main objectives of their research.
Man… Assumptions are really scary.
Unconsciously, I ended up holding my head. When I lifted my head, the three of them were looking at me.
“Boss, what is it all of the sudden?” [Tony]
“Umm…” [Ryouma]
What should I say?
…Do I just give it to them straight?
“Actually… The conditions for the slime evolution is… food.” [Ryouma]
“Huh?” [Tony]
“What? …” [Caulkin]
“What do you mean?” [Robelia]
“Like I said. Slimes evolve depending on what they eat.” [Ryouma]
I told them about my research findings about the evolution of slimes back at the forest. I told them all the evolution conditions I knew. And when the three of them heard everything, they were shocked.
“U-Unbelievable…” [Robelia]
“The theory we believed was wrong…?” [Tony]
Robelia-san and Tony-san held their heads as they said that.
I’m sure it must be hard to accept.
…Huh? Why is Caulkin-san oddly quiet—!?
“Caulkin-san!?” [Ryouma]
Caulkin-san stood frozen on the spot with his head hung down, not making the slightest eek, when out of the blue, he suddenly started crying.
What!?
“Boss…” [Caulkin]
“Y-Yes…” [Ryouma]
Caulkin-san suddenly started talking quietly.
“I fully believe your explanation just now.
Actually, when I was at the lab, I was looking for a way to make the slimes evolve into a Big Slime.
During the process, I noticed that there were many strong monsters in the places that the big slimes could be found, so I hypothesized that slimes might evolve into a big slime if they were fed the meat of powerful monsters.
It was a theory I came up with after seeing everyone else fail to get results. I thought I’d look at things from another point of view.” [Caulkin]
Do they think the big slime is simply another evolution of the slime?
Regardless, he sure got pretty close to the truth.
“Just as Robelia said a while ago, slime researchers already struggle with just feeding themselves, so feeding the slimes with the meat of strong monsters is simply impossible.
But I was a noble and I had some money.
I wanted to get some results and be moved to another department, so I used my own wealth to hire adventurers and feed the slimes the meat of strong monsters.
Of course, I also had to cover the transport of the meat.
I continued that for a year, and eventually, the slime evolved.” [Caulkin]
A slime that ate nothing but meat? I wonder what slime it evolved into.
“in the end, the slime didn’t evolve into a big slime. Instead, it evolved into a meat slime.” [Caulkin]
“Meat slime? Meat? That meat?” [Ryouma]
“Yes. Meat. The feed is meat. Meat. But…” [Caulkin]
Caulkin-san suddenly cut his words and bit his lips.
“It’s not just the feed. The slime itself became… meat.” [Caulkin]
“The slime became meat?” [Ryouma]
What is he going on about?
“I know it’s hard to comprehend. I also don’t have any other way of explaining it other than that the slime is meat. It’s a slime that looks like a lump of fresh meat squirming about.” [Caulkin]
“Fresh meat squirming about…” [Ryouma]
Ugh… That’s a really sickening image.
“I think you could tell already, but the resulting slime evolution was really disgusting, and I was immediately fired.
I poured so much of my wealth into my research that I spent pretty much all of my wealth including my house.
Because of that I couldn’t continue my research anymore.
If what you said is true, then that would explain why my slime ended up becoming a meat slime.
That’s why I believe your theory.
I know it’s a bit too late to be saying this, but I wish I’d known earlier. And when I think about how things could’ve turned out had I just continued my research… It’s just too frustrating!” [Caulkin]
As Caulkin-san said that, he started crying again.
That certainly is frustrating. After all, had he continued his research, he might have uncovered one piece of the puzzle.
Jeff-san mentioned that Caulkin-san blew all of his money on research. Apparently, this was the story behind that.
I better make sure that Caulkin-san gets a proper treasurer when he becomes a manager.
“I-It’s alright, Caulkin-san! We’ve already been employed by this store!” [Robelia]
“That’s right! We’ll be working under the boss from now on, so from now on, we can work to prove to other people just how valuable slimes are!” [Tony]
“Right… You’re exactly right. This isn’t the time to be frustrated! If anything this is the time to be working even harder!” [Caulkin]
Robelia-san and Tony-san’s words seemed to have resonated with Caulkin-san, and in no time at all, he was back on his feet. He even appeared to be really motivated.
Actually, I already know the method to tame the big slimes, but if I tell that to them, they’ll probably become depressed again.
I neither have the courage nor the ability to reveal that without letting them get depressed, so I’ll just bring it up another time.
“Where were we again?” [Ryouma]
“We were just explaining to you how poorly the slime laboratory treated the slime researchers.” [Tony]
“Right. And then from there we ended up talking about the evolution condition. Boss, do you have any other questions?” [Tony]
I’m interested in the types of slimes.
“What other kinds of slimes evolved in the lab?” [Ryouma]
“Hmm… From the ones I’ve seen, there were at most the sticky slimes like the ones you have. One theory proposed that if the sticky slimes were to accumulate enough combat experience, they would eventually evolve into a big slime, so they were often made to fight to the death against other monsters.” [Tony]
Well, that certainly won’t help it evolve.
“In my case, the slime I was raising at the research lab evolved into a tree slime.” [Robelia]
Oh! That’s a new one!
“What kind of slime is that?” [Ryouma]
“At first, it was just like any other slime, but as time passed by, a tree grew out from its nucleus.” [Robelia
A tree grew out from its nucleus? Is that slime’s nucleus supposed to be a seed?
“And then?” [Ryouma]
“That’s it.” [Robelia]
“Huh?” [Ryouma]
“The tree gradually grew bigger and bigger, and then it rooted itself into the ground. The nucleus was functioning properly within the tree, but the slime couldn’t move anymore.” [Robelia]
“Was it useful for anything?” [Ryouma]
“Not particularly… I suppose you could harvest it for lumber.” [Robelia]
Lumber?
“You know, Boss. Useful slimes aren’t usually easy to find. Even sticky slimes are just used for their adhesive.” [Tony]
“And you could use glue anyway, so it’s not in demand either.” [Robelia]
“Slimes that have evolved also means one less specimen for research, so they’re usually treated as failures.” [Caulkin]
From the looks of things, the researchers at the lab just aren’t all that enthusiastic about slimes.
Not only are the researchers treated poorly, they also don’t have much to look forward to in terms of future prospects, so that’s probably why. Still, I think this sort of thinking is just too bad.
Maybe I could tell other people about the usefulness of slimes? And then I could make it my life goal in this world for everyone to know about it.
Actually, I don’t really understand why they’re not used much. I know they’re weak, but even the lower variants are plenty useful.
“Although slimes are weak, they’re really sensitive to danger, so they can immediately notice when monsters or bandits are nearby. They’re also easy to feed since they can live off of morning dew or water. And they’re also able to get various important information in order to survive in the wild.” [Ryouma]
“I’ve thought this before, but you sure are compatible with slimes, Boss.” [Caulkin]
“Indeed. You also control so many.” [Tony]
“That’s true too, but I was actually referring more about his understanding of them.” [Caulkin]
Understanding?
“Just because a person is compatible with his monster doesn’t meant that their personal differences won’t get in the way. For example, even if you gather a bunch of tamers and pair them with a specific monster they’re compatible with, not all of them will be able to understand their monster.” [robelia]
Apparently, there were many different ways for monster tamers to understand their monsters. Some would do it purely by understanding their feelings, while some would infer from their gestures to understand them.
“A monster tamer can’t really be said to have good compatibility with his monster if he can’t understand his monster sufficiently. Unfortunately, such people are extremely rare. But such people do actually exist. And you’re probably one of them, Boss.
As for me, at most, I can tell when my slime is unhappy.” [Robelia]
“Boss, if everybody could understand slimes the way you do, the slimes would probably be an invaluable monster by now.” [Tony]
I see… Apparently, my ability to understand my monster is vastly different compared to most monster tamers.
I do believe it’s limited to just the slimes, but this might be the reason why research on slime hasn’t progressed much.
After that I asked them for more specifics about that last topic, and then I also asked more about the different kind of slimes and their characteristics.
We continued talking like that, then before we knew it, it was already midnight.
