episode_0012

As soon as we received the request, we moved to the plain where slime is said to appear.

Did it take about 30 minutes to walk out of the castle gate?

On a vast plain without a single person in sight, several blue slimes were seen moving slowly.

“I found it, sister! It’s slime!”

Yuna, who discovered the slime, memorized a spell.

“Ice Spear!”

Suddenly, small ice spears created around Yuna were launched towards the slime.

The attack was very effective against slimes.

The problem was that it was too effective.

“Ah, ah?! Do it, nuclear…!”

A slime’s body is made of liquid.

If the temperature around you suddenly drops, you will freeze.

The slime was frozen as it was, stabbed by small spears, and the core could not be removed.

“I can’t take out this guy’s core. Is it possible to melt it?”

“Ugh… I’m sorry. I specialize in ice magic…”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll try it this time.”

For some reason, no other magic was used.

Well, there is something strange when a wizard with light-colored hair suddenly uses fire magic.

I slowly walked towards the slime moving around me.

Then, the slime seemed to have noticed that I was approaching it, and a large part of its body was turned towards me.

···How did you notice?

How on earth can I approach slimes when they don’t even have eyes? An interesting topic came to mind.

Do you check with ultrasound or something like a bat? Or the vibration of the ground?

As I was imagining such a useless thing, the slime slowly came towards me and attacked me.

“···sister?”

Yuna expresses doubt as she stays still instead of avoiding it.

He raised his hand to signal that it was okay.

Slime crawls up your legs and your clothes slowly begin to melt.

As I stood still, ignoring my increasingly soggy legs, something tentacle-like stretched out from the slime’s body.

However, it only cut through the air and did not touch my body.

Of course, it doesn’t work.

I refrained from sighing, put my hand inside the slime, and grabbed the core.

When the core is removed, the slime instantly collapses and turns into slime.

“Sister, why didn’t you avoid me just now?”

“I have something to test.”

“···test?”

Yuna’s question was not answered.

If I tell a child who nags me for being careless that I tried to see if I could get a virgin with slime, he will get scolded.

Yuna doesn’t need to know!

“So, are there nine left?”

“No, there are eight left.”

“Eight?”

Obviously, there were ten things I had to bring, right?

As I looked at Yuna with that question in mind, before I knew it, Yuna had taken out only the frozen core from the slime ice statue.

“Hehe, I cut it up as much as I could and took it out. Wouldn’t it be okay to just let it thaw like this?”

As soon as those words were finished, the ice statue broke and collapsed.

It seemed that the core could not maintain its shape if it went beyond a certain range.

I was about to pat Yuna’s head to say she did well, but stopped.

Yuna, who was closing her eyes while hugging the staff tightly in the approaching hand, looked at her with questioning eyes when she did not feel the hand, but soon understood.

Because my hands were covered in slime.

I immediately used Clean to remove the mucus from my hands, but did not pat my head.

I also didn’t want to touch my slime-covered hands.

Since Yuna is a girl, she would be more sensitive to things like this.

Do I have to get my hands covered in slime every time I catch eight from now on?

…I don’t like that.

While I was thinking about how to catch slime easily, a brilliant idea occurred to me.

“Yuna, that magic from earlier. Can you make it a little bigger? One is enough.”

“Huh? It’s possible…”

Why are you asking for this? Yuna, with an expression like this, created the ice spear by increasing its size as I requested.

I snatched up the created spear and swung it around.

In the corner of the eye, there is a message saying that 1 damage was taken from the ice spear.

“Sister?! You shouldn’t touch that…!”

“Hmm, it’s quite useful. Yuna, please keep this from disappearing.”

“···.”

Yuna looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Ignoring Yuna, he swung his spear at a slime passing by and pulled out the core in an instant.

“Well, there are seven left. It will be over soon.”

I like not having my hands covered in mucus.

Yuna is good because she doesn’t have to use magic wildly.

This is a win-win.

We have to get home by dinner, so let’s finish quickly.

“Request has been confirmed.”

The receptionist seemed a little surprised that we had solved the problem shortly after receiving the request.

“Slime is difficult for beginners to defeat because it corrodes weapons… but it looks like you defeated it easier than you thought.”

“It wasn’t that difficult. All you had to do was take out the nucleus surrounded by mucus.”

“There are quite a lot more people than you might think who can’t do that.”

is it?

Well, it was the same on Earth.

Because there are people everywhere who can’t do very simple things that anyone can do.

“Okay, here’s the payoff.”

“Thank you.”

As I was about to leave the guild after receiving my reward, I heard a murmur in front of the guild door.

“What is going on?”

“Well, I hope it’s not a fight.”

The closer you get to the door, the more people gather and the sound gets louder.

“What on earth is going on?”

Unable to contain her curiosity, Yuna ran straight ahead, stuck her face out through the crowd, looked around outside, and then came back.

“···What’s going on?”

“Well, there were three people wearing armor in front of the guild, looking at papers and people passing by.”

“Pedestrians?”

“Yes. I thought you were looking for someone?”

Who are you looking for?

It smells like an incident.

Aren’t these situations usually where you find the bad guys?

In order to clearly assess the situation, I left the guild and looked at them.

Just as Yuna said, she was checking and comparing papers with passersby from time to time.

Looks like they’re looking for a criminal.

Well, it’s only been a day since I came here. It probably doesn’t really matter.

“Are you Airi and Yuna Maybelle?”

As I was thinking about that and was about to pass by, one of them called me and Yuna’s name.

“···Is that so?”

Do you know us?

how?

Was it us who were looking for it?

All kinds of thoughts were swirling around in my head.

No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think we’ve ever gone around talking about our name like that.

I looked at them with that question in mind.

“The lord has invited you two. If it’s okay, would you please accept it?”

However, the story they brought out made me and Yuna more confused.

···Lord?

suddenly?

“Welcome, warrior.”

After following them into the large mansion and waiting in the living room, a handsome man approached me with two maids.

“Thank you for accepting my sudden invitation. Please, please have some tea, even though it is not enough.”

As soon as the words were finished, the maids on both sides prepared tea and refreshments with a restrained gesture.

It was a really delicious-looking refreshment, but I was too focused on the current situation to notice it.

“So, what’s the point?”

Was he embarrassed because he didn’t even look at the items he had prepared?

The man laughed awkwardly.

“Haha, the hero of this team seems to be quite in a hurry.”

“I asked what it was for.”

“Oh, sister!”

As I continued to react sharply, Yuna caught me in embarrassment.

You must have guessed that man’s identity.

Well, in the first place, there is only one person who would appear from this mansion with a maid and the person who invited us there.

“I understand. The hero wants to get to the point, so let’s get straight to it.”

The man who said that took out several trinkets from his pocket and laid them out on the table.

“···This?”

I frowned at the ominous energy I could feel from those accessories and asked, but the answer came from next to me.

“···Demon energy. Demon energy of the demon race, and that of a fairly powerful high-ranking demon race.”

“···That’s the correct answer. You know me well. After all, you are the hero’s colleague.”

I realized this as I looked at the man’s face, which became serious as he agreed with Yuna’s words.

It smells like the main story.

The lord of a city displays items containing the magical energy of high-ranking demons in front of a warrior?

···There is something.

“These are items belonging to suspects in crimes that have occurred in recent days.”

“Are they even part of a criminal organization?”

“No, it would have been more convenient if that had happened. They were just people living in the slums, begging day after day. Their crimes were petty misdemeanors like theft and pickpocketing.”

These are items belonging to those who do not belong to a criminal organization but commit crimes for a living.

No matter how much I think about it, it is definitely suspicious.

“It looks quite expensive for a product belonging to criminals who make a living.”

“Yes, we were curious about that too, so we asked them… but they all responded that they didn’t know.”

“What are the chances that they are lying?”

“Nothing. Beyond the threat to his life, he even executed a person who had been sentenced to death right in front of his eyes, but he said he didn’t know.”

At times like this, I feel resentful of my poor brain.

I need you to remember these things properly…!

Even if you just remember who the culprit is, it’s an easy task!

“So, while I was struggling, I heard the news that a hero had appeared… Could you help me? I apologize once again for calling you out of the blue.”

I became confused when I saw the lord asking politely.

No, why are you so polite with that kind of appearance?

He looked like an obviously evil lord, and the maids he brought along had very short skirts, so I thought he was clearly a strange person.

He was a sane guy than I thought.

If this happens, I’m the only one who’s weird for being wary that something might happen to Yuna.

“It’s late at night, so I’ll give you an empty room in the mansion. Could you please take your time and think about it before tomorrow morning?”

When the answer was a little late, the mistaken man gave me a grace period.

···No, I was planning on accepting it.

Well, you can listen to the story leisurely starting tomorrow morning.

“Okay, thank you. By the way, can I ask you one thing I’m curious about?”

“Yes? Of course it’s okay. Just tell me.”

“How did you know the hero’s name was Airi?”

I asked about the question I had been wondering since I was invited to this mansion.

No, the fact that he was a warrior was known to a few people when he entered the city.

How did you know my name? If only it had been revealed that a hero had appeared, but I didn’t say my name that often.

Yuna only calls me unnie, but she never calls me by my name.

The man who heard the question smiled and answered.

“Do you remember the garrison commander who helped you?”

“Defense captain? Ah, it’s him.”

The sight of him slashing his subordinate’s shin in an instant is still vivid in my eyes.

But why him?

“That guy went around bragging all over the neighborhood, saying he got the hero’s autograph.”

···ah.

Come to think of it, I signed his armor.

“Then, I think your curiosity has been answered… After you get some rest, think slowly and then answer.”

As the man waved his hand, the maids waiting next to him immediately started clearing the table.

“Airi-sama. This way.”

“Yuna, please come this way.”

The maids immediately began guiding us to our rooms.

Ah, damn it… I’m embarrassed.

I was wary of it being useless.

That big boy. Next time I see you, I’ll hit you.