The next day.
“U, uu… My head… It hurts…” [Reinhart]
I dropped by the Jamil family’s room to meet the ojousama, whom I couldn’t meet last night, but when I got there, I saw Reinhart-san with a terrible hangover.
“Oh, Ryouma-kun, good morning.” [Elize]
“Good morning, everyone.” [Ryouma]
“Ryouma-kun.” [Reinhart]
“You seem to be in pain. Would you like me to make you a medicine?” [Ryouma]
“…Well, you’re here now, so might as well, I suppose. Could you make me some?” [Reinhart]
I warped into town and got some medicinal ingredients that would work well for hangovers, as well as some fruits that could be taken with it without any problems, then I went back to the inn.
“Here, please drink this. After this you should make sure to drink a lot of water.” [Ryouma]
It would’ve been great if some kaki were available. That or clam miso soup. This world is know to have had a lot of otherworlders, so I wonder if I could get some somewhere? I should look for them next time.
“T.. Thanks… I’ll drink it…” [Reinhart]
“It would be best if you avoid drinking too much.” [Ryouma]
“My bad… Yesterday was… Uu… It hurts…” [Reinhart]
Reinhart-san tried to say something despite all the pain, but all that came out was a drunkard’s grumbles. The people of the government office wanted to curry favor from Reinbach-sama and Reinhart-san, so they kept offering them liquor and extravagant food. The ojousama and the madam too, of course.
The madam was alright, but apparently, because the ojousama didn’t have a lot of experience with that sort of stuff, Reinhart-san ended up drinking a lot in her place.
When I heard that I couldn’t help but become worried. Ojousama, will you be alright? When you become an adult you’ll be exposed to more and more of this stuff. I have Tekun-sama’s divine protection, so my situation is much better since I can’t get hangovers, though I’m not exactly sure myself how much I can drink with this body. I also have my experiences from my past life.
Maybe I should check once just how much I can drink.
While thinking like that to myself, Reinhart-san drank the medicine and the juice, then I left the inn.
It’s a bit late already, but I still decided to go to the store. After checking on the store a little, I left.
Everything seems to be going well, so that’s good.
Next stop is the abandoned mines. There’s something I want to try out, so I should catch some slimes along the way.
Also, since I’m going anyway, I might as well do a herb collection request.
“Good day, Maelyn-san.” [Ryouma]
“Oh, if it isn’t Ryouma-kun. Are you here for work?” [Maelyn]
“Yes. The employees can manage the store by themselves now, so…” [Ryouma]
“Having your own store with hired employees is a great achievement at your age, you know.” [Maelyn]
“I was lucky.” [Ryouma]
“I wonder. Ah, speaking of which, I’ve heard something good recently. It’s not a job, but it might be useful for you.” [Maelyn]
Something good?
“There’s a party of 5 adventurers that came from another town. That party brought an advanced slime variant with them.” [Maelyn]
What!?
“Can you tell me more?” [Ryouma]
“Catching a rare monster or just spotting one can fetch one a good price at the tamers guild. Well, as it turns out, that party of adventurers managed to find an advanced slime variant by accident, but when they tried to sell it, they were refused.
If it were a slime like your heal slime that could use some kind of magic, then it would’ve probably sold for a lot since it would’ve been quite useful, but clearly, that wasn’t the case for them. Those 5 adventurers are still young, so they probably made a mistake when gathering information. ‘Couldn’t a slime also sell for a lot if it’s an advanced variant?’ they said. They seemed pretty down.” [Maelyn]
“So you’re saying that that rare slime could be purchased as long as one has the money?” [Ryouma]
“Exactly. Want it?” [Maelyn]
“Yes. Very much. Would you happen to know where they’re staying?” [Ryouma]
“They’re staying at the badger pavilion east of town. The party’s name is Wharf of Shikumu. You’ll probably find them.” [Maelyn]
“Thank you. I’ll go now.” [Ryouma]
I immediately left the guild and hurriedly made my way for the badger pavilion.
My plans? We’re changing them! All of them!
“Is this it?” [Ryouma]
I easily found the badger pavilion, but it looked really worn out. What is this? An abandoned building?
For the mean time, I tried entering the store. When I did I noticed an old man by the counter.
“Welcome. Are you a customer?” [Old Man]
“I have business with the Wharf of Shikumu, which should be staying here. Are they here?” [Ryouma]
“Yep.” [Old Man]
As he said that he pointed toward the door to the right.
“Beyond that is a cafeteria that also serves as a bar. They’re eating there right now. One of them has been drinking and grumbling since morning, so be careful.” [Old Man]
“Thanks.” [Ryouma]
Curt, but he seems like a good guy.
I opened the gate and went into the cafeteria. When I did, I immediately found the party of 5 that I was looking for. I immediately recognized them. They all seemed to be in the latter half of their tens.
“Excuse me, are you guys the members of the Wharf of Shikumu?” [Ryouma]
When I called out to them, they all turned to me.
“Hmm? You are?” [Party Member 1]
“Pardon my belated introduction. I am Ryouma Takebayashi. I am a monster tamer and an adventurer.” [Ryouma]
“Hmph! A little brat like you is an adventurer?” [Sein]
“Stop it Sein. Sorry. This guy’s in a bad mood…” [Party Member 1]
“I’ve heard your circumstances. You brought a rare slime to the tamer guild and tried to sell it.” [Ryouma]
“Oh, so—” [Party Member 1]
“Hah!!? So you came here to pick a fight!?” [Sein]
The man called Sein stood up, but before he could walk toward me, he was stopped by a party member.
“I’m not here to pick a fight.” [Ryouma]
“What? So you’re here to make fun of us then!? Made fun of by some brat… Fuck!!
Fine! Laugh! We’re idiots, alright! We dragged our sorry asses all the way out here to try and sell a rare monster, but in the end we couldn’t make a single suit!! But why do we have to be insulted by a brat like you too!?” [Sein]
After Sein said that he broke down crying. Looks like he’s so drunk he’s seeing things already.
“Sein.” [Party Member 1]
“Calm down.” [Party Member 2]
“I’ll bring Sein to the room. You can’t talk like this.” [Party Member 3]
“I’ll go too.” [Party Member 4]
Two of their party members left the table and brought Sein back to his room.
“Let’s start over. We are the Wharf of Shikumu, and I’m the leader, Shin.” [Shin]
“I’m Kai. The guy making a ruckus is called Sein. Sorry about that.” [Kai]
“It’s alright.” [Ryouma]
“Thanks for being understanding. So, why have you come to look for us?” [Shin]
Right! That’s the important part! Who cares if there’s a drunkard or not!
“Right. Just as I was saying awhile ago, I would like to purchase the slime you couldn’t sell.” [Ryouma]
“That slime?” [Kai]
“I’d be grateful if you could get it off of our hands, but why? The tamer guild just insult us when we tried to sell it.” [Shin]
“Because I’m a collector of slimes, as well as a researcher. If there’s a rare slime I don’t have, it’s only natural that I would want to acquire it.” [Ryouma]
“As long as you give us a good price, we won’t have any complaints. We were planning to deal with it by tomorrow anyway.” [Shin]
“I see. Can you show me the slime? If it’s a slime I already have, I won’t pay much for it, but if it’s a slime I don’t have yet, then I’ll pay you handsomely.” [Ryouma]
“Sounds good to me.” [Shin]
“I’ll bring it now. Just wait here for a bit.” [Kai]
Kai-san left after saying that, then 3 minutes later he came back with a box made out of stone.
“There’s a slime inside this. Please be careful when you open it.” [Kai]
“Excuse me.” [Ryouma]
Carefully, I lifted the lid of the box and peeked at the slime inside.
The slime was dark red and had a much more syrupy body, making it a lot closer to liquid compared to normal slimes. After confirming the slime, I closed the lid.
“How is it?” [Shin]
“It’s a slime I don’t have yet, so I’m willing to pay a high price for it. If you don’t mind me asking, how much have you spent so far to get here?” [Ryouma]
“5,000 suits for all 5 of us. We did as much as we could to cut down on expenses, but it still cost us that much.” [Shin]
When I heard that, I took out two small gold coins from my Item Box.
“In that case, I’ll give you 10,000 suits for the slime and another 10,000 to cover your travel expenses.” [ryouma]
When I said that, Kai and Shin became flustered.
“Seriously!? That’s 20,000.” [Kai]
“Can a single slime really sell for 2 small gold coins?” [Shin]
“It’s fine. After all, it’s thanks to all of you that I could get my hands on this slime.” [Ryouma]
“R-Right… Well, no complaints here. You’re okay with this too, right?” [Shin]
“Of course, I am.” [Kai]
“Then it’s a deal.” [Ryouma]
I handed over the money to Shin.
“I’ve received the payment.” [Shin]
“I’ll be taking this slime then. Thank you.” [Ryouma]
“We should be thanking you.” [Kai]
“With this we won’t have to worry about our expenses for the mean time. Sein should also calm down.” [Shin]
II can somewhat understand that man’s feelings… There are times when you can’t help but worry when there’s no money. I also had times like that.
Speaking of which, wasn’t a big job coming out soon?
“If you want to make some coin, it might be better for you to stay in town a bit longer. The season for a monster outbreak in a nearby marsh is almost here. Supposedly the guts of that monster has medicinal effects, so they sell for a lot. You can earn a lot so long as you can endure the stench of the marsh.” [Ryouma]
“Really?” [Shin]
“Yes. You can confirm with the guild if you want. I don’t know when exactly the outbreak is, but it should be soon.” [Ryouma]
“Thanks!” [Kai]
“Thanks for the info. Is there any way we can thank you?” [Shin]
I don’t really need it, but since they’re asking, I guess I could advertise here.
“Then how about dropping by my store? I own a laundromat as a sideline, you see. Although it ended up being a bit too big for a sideline.” [Ryouma]
“A laundromat?” [Shin]
“Yes, we’ll wash all the clothes you can fit in in our bags. You purchase the bags from us, of course. The laundry fee will only run you about 1 medium copper coin. We also have a service catered toward adventurers that washes all equipment and armor for only one medium copper coin and 5 small copper coins.” [Ryouma]
“There’s a store like that?” [Kai]
“Alright. It’s affordable, anyway, so we’ll drop by.” [Shin]
“Thank you. It’s just before the residential district to the east. We get a lot of adventurers as customers, so if you get lost just ask around and you should be able to find it quickly.” [Ryouma]
“We’ll definitely go.” [Shin]
“Thank you.” [Ryouma]
After that I went to the abandoned mine.
Here I don’t have to worry about my surroundings, so it’s the best place to do slime research.
When I got to the mine, the first thing I did was to start the treatment of the waterproof cloths. I’m here anyway, so I figured I might as well. Today I made 50, then after doing some other stuff, it was finally time to form a contract with the rare slime I just bought.
Gently, I lifted the lid of the stone box, then while peeking at the slime inside, I chanted the spell for the monster tamer contract.
Immediately, the liquid body of the slime rippled fiercely, then it gradually weakened down, until it was no more.
Contract success!
Well, I expected this, though.
When I used monster identify on it, this came out:
Bloody Slime
Skills:
Blood Suck Lv4
Deodorize Lv3
Disease Resist Lv3
Poison Resist Lv1
Act Dead Lv10
Digest Lv2
Absorb Lv4
Split Lv1
Bloody slime, huh. It possesses the blood sucking skill too, so it’s food definitely has to be blood. Other than that it also possesses the deodorizing and disease resist skills. Moreover, although a little low leveled, it also possesses the poison resist skill. What’s up with this Act Dead, though? Is it really going to act dead? …Well, whatever. We’ll just check the skills later.
The problem now is food. If it’s food really is blood, how am I supposed to procure that?
“Should I hunt some random beast or monster?” [Ryouma]
I ordered the slimes to do as they please as long as they don’t go too far, then I took the bloody slime with me and went hunting.
Before I left, though, I noticed that several dozens of slimes took their staffs sand spears and started practicing on their own.
Although I just taught them so they could defend themselves, there sure are some passionate ones among them.
The slimes lined up perfectly and started repeating the basic spear/staff movements that I taught them. There were also some who partnered with each other and started sparring. Their movements gradually improved.
It’s good that they’re practicing, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t normal.
While thinking that to myself, I took the bloody slime and looked for a prey. After a while, we found a rabbit with a horn. A horn rabbit, in other words.
I took out a bow and arrow from my Item Box, then with a single shot, I ended the rabbit’s life. After that I told the slime to have his meal.
The slime approached the horned rabbit that laid lifeless on the ground, dyed with the red of its own blood, then it started to suck the blood straight from the wound.
So it drinks the blood from the wound. We have organisms that drink blood back on Earth too, like the mosquitoes or the fleas… Oh, speaking of which, there’s also a bird that drinks blood. Well, basically, it’s something like tha—!?
While I thought to myself as I watched the bloody slime do its thing, the bloody slime’s body that was already more liquid than other slimes suddenly started to become even less viscous, then before I knew it, it had disappeared inside the body of the horn rabbit.
“It went in through the wound?” [Ryouma]
Well, that was unexpected.
The bloody slime’s body is a lot less viscous than other slimes. It’s not really a syrupy liquid anymore but more of a smooth one. It seems it uses that near-liquid property of its body to enter the veins of an organism and feed on its blood.
“This slime is… very different from all the slimes so far. Who would’ve thought there’d be a slime like this?” [Ryouma]
While I was being surprised by the actions of the bloody slime, the bloody slime suddenly exited the horn rabbit’s body.
It’s body is dark red, so it looks like blood is spouting out of the horn rabbit’s corpse. It’s a little creepy, honestly.
After the bloody slime had completely exited, I used Identify on the horn rabbit.
How is it?
Horn Rabbit Corpse
Its skin, meat, and horn can be harvested.
It was instantly killed by an arrow shooting through its neck, so there’s little injury to its horn and pelt, making their quality high.
The blood has also been drained exceedingly quickly, so the stench has been greatly reduced and its meat is of the highest quality.
I get the horn and pelt part, but did it just say that it’s blood had been drained? That must be because of the bloody slime then. But I wonder if it’s safe to eat. You won’t catch anything, right?
I used Identify again, and it seems everything was safe.
“It seems this slime is going to be really useful for adventurers and hunters.” [Ryouma]
When I got back to the mine, I gutted the horn rabbit and cooked it. When I tasted it, the odor was completely gone and it was really delicious. The odor disappearing might have something to do with the bloody slime’s deodorize skill. With such convenient skills, it seems purchasing this slime was money well spent.
It seems I’ll be needing blood if I want to make more bloody slimes, though.
“Just how should I procure all that blood to feed my experiments… I can’t possibly hunt all the beasts and monsters around here, now could I?” [Ryouma]
After all, if I did that, then the ecosystem here would turn into a mess. Not to mention, I’d be taking work from other adventurers.
“I know! Let’s talk to Zeke-san.” [Ryouma]
There’s a dish back at earth that uses animal blood as an ingredient, but there’s no such dish here.
As for why, that’s because th mana of a living creature is present in its blood. If a human drinks it, the mana within will also enter his body, exposing him to mana intoxication should he consume too much.
It’s no different from mana overconsumption, so there’s no need to treat it, but it’s something that should be avoided.
Zeke-san is a butcher. Adventurers bring meat to him and he buys them. If he does the blood draining at his store, then it might be possible to acquire a lot of blood from him.
I’ll drop by his store when I get back to town.
As I thought that, I suddenly recalled that I’d forgotten to capture some new slimes to experiment with, so I looked for some in the tunnels and caught myself 3 fresh slimes. I formed a contract with them successfully.
The cloths still aren’t done drying, so I decided to start the experiments.
