episode_0043

“What will you do, Jazel?”

An hour before departure, timed for noon when the target would be most visible to minimize variables.

Killua abruptly called me over and asked about my intentions.

“What are you asking about?”

Unable to grasp the gist of her question, I tilted my head and asked her back.

“If I fail, this entire area will be covered in slimes in an instant.”

Killua surveyed Eton Village broadly and estimated the explosive proliferation of slimes if the pendant fragment were to be swallowed by them.

“Beyond the village… it would be covered in slimes all the way to that horizon.”

“By the time we realize something has gone wrong, everyone will already have been swallowed by the slimes.”

As if agreeing with Killua’s accurate prediction, I slowly nodded, imagining the horrifying sight of the entire area being covered in slimes in an instant, and swallowed hard.

“If you want to run, now’s your chance. If you leave now, you might barely escape the slime’s range.”

Killua looked back at me, who was gazing at the horizon she pointed to, and told me that this was the last chance to escape the danger.

At her words, I scratched my chin with a disgruntled expression, then looked back at Killua, who was watching me, and replied.

“Hmm… running away with my tail between my legs now would be ridiculous… And honestly, wouldn’t two people have a higher chance of success than one?”

If things went according to Killua’s plan, dealing with the giant slime monster wouldn’t be difficult.

If Killua and I adequately drew the slime monster’s attention, Rai, who was hidden, would snipe Ariel, whom the slime monster was holding.

With his explosive arrow, the fragment embedded in Ariel’s body would dislodge, and if we snatched it before it touched the slime on the ground, the situation would be over.

“I’m anxious.”

Killua stroked the bone whistle Rai had given her, which hung from her cloak, and murmured.

“Can Rai release the bowstring aimed at Ariel, his benefactor and former fiancée?”

“It won’t be easy, of course.”

It was a terrible act, potentially taking the life of his savior and fiancée, with whom he had promised a shared future, with his own hands.

However, Rai would also know very well that there was no other way to save Ariel and completely end the threat of the slime monster.

“But he will do it. Just as Killua-nim trusts Rai… Rai will also trust Killua-nim.”

“You think so?”

Despite my encouragement, Killua’s hand, stroking the bone whistle, showed a hint of worry and concern.

Watching Killua from behind, I forcefully pulled out the axe that had been stuck in a tree stump and slung it over my shoulder.

“That’s why I need to go with you.”

“Huh?”

“Rai will surely hesitate. During that brief moment, I will protect Killua-nim no matter what.”

“Ahahahaha…”

At my confident words, Killua chuckled slightly as if dumbfounded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“It feels really awkward hearing you say that, considering you were my secretary.”

“So. How many points will you give me?”

I theatrically pounded my chest, asking her for a score with a smile that clearly suggested an excellent score was inevitable.

“Ahahaha! I’ll give you about 85 points! If you had enough power to truly protect me, it would have been a full 100 points, but… I have to score objectively.”

Only then did Killua burst into bright laughter, her voice a little more vibrant, and gave me a high score I had never received before.

“I believe that Killua-nim will never fail.”

Approaching her, now with a little more vigor and laughter, I pulled out a small item from my pocket that she might like.

“This is…”

The witch’s eyes widened as she recognized the item I took out.

It was a small ornament, shaped like a fox, which I had received from Tom Bolt, with impressive fluffy tail fur that seemed to mimic a fox’s tail.

“Because the Brilliant White Mage-nim was the least fitting person for dark words like ‘failure’ and ‘frustration’.”

Killua took the fox ornament I offered and stroked its fluffy tail fur.

The tail fur, so soft and springy it felt addictive, wrapped around her small, white fingers.

Then, a gentle smile spread across her lips, as if she had realized something precious she had forgotten.

“Thank you. I’ll truly cherish it this time.”

Expressing her gratitude for my gift calmly, she securely tied the fox ornament to the opposite side of her cloak, where the bone whistle was not attached.

“I’m ready.”

Just then. The door to the workshop opened, and Rai, having prepared both body and mind, stepped out with a face filled with firm resolve.

He clenched the arrow, which had a powder pouch tied to its tip, as if pouring his wish into it. Then he glared at the Lime Forest where the slime monster was located.

“Let’s go.”

With his signal to depart, we began walking towards the Lime Forest where the slime monster was.

———————————————–

“It’s this way. Not far.”

Though the Lime Forest was vast and immense, finding the slime monster wasn’t difficult.

As the monster began its full activity, Killua could easily detect the massive flow of magical power beginning to surge within its colossal body, even from afar.

Rai and I, following Killua’s guidance, pushed through the forest, rapidly closing the distance with the monster.

“You should be able to see it with your eyes now. Prepare yourselves.”

“Okay.”

At Killua’s signal that they were close to the slime monster, Rai quickly surveyed the surroundings and found the tallest sturdy tree, easy to climb.

“Blow the whistle when you’re ready.”

Rai, having found a suitable tree, took out simple climbing gear and began to ascend the tree quickly and skillfully.

He then pointed to the bone whistle he had given her, hanging from Killua’s cloak, indicating that she should signal him at the appropriate moment.

“Rai. It will be difficult… but I’m counting on you.”

Killua, worried about Rai’s hesitation until the very end, pleaded with him once more.

Then Rai gave a thumbs-up as if to say “don’t worry,” and began climbing the tree vigorously.

“Then I will prepare myself as well.”

In preparation for any unforeseen circumstances, I took out a handful of beeswax powder and spread it onto the lumberjack’s axe.

Though it would only be for one strike, the axe thickly coated with beeswax powder would be able to perfectly halt its attack.

“Well then… shall we do it?”

Taking a deep breath to bury her anxious thoughts deep in her chest, Killua pushed through the bushes obstructing their path with slightly trembling hands.

“Phew… it’s quite big.”

Then, in the middle of a large clearing, the slime monster, its colossal body undulating, came into their view.

Perhaps it hadn’t yet grown accustomed to the eyes, mimicking biological pupils, created in the center of its massive core.

The monster rolled its eyes around, repeatedly expanding and contracting its pupils, trying to adapt to the act of seeing things with its eyes.

Growl!

Did it detect their movement through the ground’s vibration as soon as they stepped into the clearing?

With a heavy gurgle like boiling mud, the monster rolled its eyes, floating in the slime, in their direction.

“It’s coming!”

The moment its eyes caught them. The ground around the giant slime monster began to lightly ripple.

Immediately after, tentacles with sharpened tips dug through the shallow, soft ground and shot towards them in a surprise attack.

“Whoa!”

It was a quicker attack than they had anticipated, given that they had observed the slime monster moving ponderously and slowly.

But because it was such a straightforward, linear attack, Killua and I easily dodged its assault by simply throwing ourselves sideways.

“Be careful! Its reaction is quite fast!”

The monster’s reaction, far more agile and sensitive than they had expected, instantly tightened the tension.

“We need to get closer!”

To catch the fragment that would bounce off when Rai’s explosive arrow detonated, they had to close the distance with the monster even more.

At Killua’s shout, reminding me of that fact, I gritted my teeth, pushed off the ground, and charged towards the monster to become a target in her stead.

“Magic bullet!”

I had to make the monster perceive me as a more threatening enemy than Killua.

With that thought, I unhesitatingly gathered the magical power from my body into my hand, condensing it into a single mass.

And then, I unceremoniously threw a magic bullet towards the target, which was too colossal to require precise aim.

Boom!

The pure mass of magical power, upon contact with the target, exploded its condensed magic in all directions, delivering a massive shock to the monster.

Rumble!

Though the monster’s body was torn to shreds by the magic bullet, the overwhelming magical power circulating within the slime monster’s body reconstructed it even faster than it was torn apart.

“It’s Ariel!”

When my magic bullet caused significant damage to its body, the monster hoisted Ariel’s body, its source of magical power, high into the sky to protect it.

The monster, having lifted Ariel’s body so high that they couldn’t reach it, created a reverberation like boiling mud, as if mocking them.

“Ugh!”

As if reacting to the monster’s mocking laughter, the ground I was standing on began to writhe like a living creature.

“No way, is the entire ground below…?!”

I couldn’t help but be horrified by the ground’s abnormal writhing, making it impossible to stand properly.

The monster had extended its body widely beneath the large clearing, like tree roots underground.

Soon after, the monster began to move its body, hidden underground, to ensnare me, who had fallen into its trap.

“Damn it!”

Not a single attack or touch could be allowed.

The moment one touched its tentacles, slime venom would be injected before one even had a chance to realize it.

Knowing that fact well, I gripped the axe, which I had prepared for this one crucial opportunity, tightly with both hands.

“Haaaa!”

As I had learned from the hero, I used all my strength and elasticity to plunge the axe into the ground with all my might.

The axe, unusually massive at its tip, combined with my strength and weight, tore through the soft ground and plunged directly into the hidden slime’s body within.

Screech!

The massive and sharp axe blade pierced the soft ground, easily tearing through the slime’s epidermis before burrowing inside.

Simultaneously, the beeswax powder applied to the axe seeped into the monster’s body, rapidly absorbing water, the slime’s largest component, and inflicting unbearable pain upon it.

“It feels pain?!”

Unlike ordinary single-celled slimes, the slime monster, which had attempted to evolve into a higher being, seemed to have awakened to the sensation of pain.

Countless bubbles, as if embodying the monster’s screams, boiled within its colossal body, and its massive form began to writhe erratically.

“Now’s our chance!”

While I captivated the monster’s full attention and inflicted immense pain upon it, Killua also arrived near me without delay.

It was the perfect position to catch the pendant fragment when it bounced off from Rai’s arrow’s explosion.

High-pitched whistle! Whistle. Screech!

She put the bone whistle, hanging from the end of her cloak, into her mouth and struggled to blow it with her ragged breath from running non-stop.

Then, a sharp, eerie sound, like a piercing shriek, began to echo from the end of the whistle.

“Ugh! Wh-What kind of whistle is that?!”

It was an eerie sound, fitting its gruesome bone appearance, loud enough to make one cover both ears.

At that sound, not only Killua and I but even the slime monster seemed to feel dread, stiffening its entire body.

“Its movement stopped?!”

And that eerie sound created an undeniable, perfect opportunity.

The monster, which had been writhing in pain, stopped abruptly as if a pause button had been pressed by the whistle’s eerie sound.

Then, Ariel’s body, held captive by the slime monster, was clearly exposed in Rai’s line of sight, without any movement or obstruction.

“Now, Rai!”

Killua looked towards the tree where Rai was hidden and shouted to him.

But was the distance too great for Killua’s shout to be heard?

Or perhaps the whistle sound hadn’t been heard.

“Rai?”

At the arrow that did not fly, Killua’s eyes began to flicker anxiously.

“Killua-nim! The whistle again!”

Perhaps it hadn’t been heard clearly because she had blown the whistle with ragged breaths.

At my suggestion, Killua frantically grabbed the bone whistle hanging from her cloak once more.

High-pitched whistle! Screeeeeech!

Even knowing a dreadful sound would emerge, Killua squeezed her eyes shut and blew the whistle with all her might.

But there was no reaction from the tree where Rai was hidden.

“Damn it!”

Unable to wait any longer, I snatched the bone whistle from Killua’s hand, almost tearing it away.

My rough action caused the string connecting the bone whistle to the cloak to snap.

But with no time to delay, I put the bone whistle to my mouth and blew with all my strength.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!

A sharp, sky-splitting sound, incomparable to Killua’s, reverberated.

Crack!

However, as if it couldn’t withstand such a loud sound itself, a crack formed across half of the bone whistle.

Hissing sound…

As the crack formed, only a hissing sound of air escaping emerged from the bone whistle instead of the eerie reverberation.

“Rai… Rai?”

Despite blowing the whistle so forcefully, the promised arrow did not fly from the forest.

Killua murmured Rai’s name, even knowing he couldn’t hear her from where he was hidden in the forest.

Tears slowly began to well up in Killua’s eyes as she murmured his name.

“Killua-nim! Snap out of it! We have to get out of here!”

Rai’s betrayal was shocking, but they couldn’t just lose their minds and give up everything like this.

Now, while the monster’s body was still stiff from the remaining pain and the bone whistle’s eerie sound, was the last chance to escape from it.

Thud!

“Oh, damn it…”

But as if it wouldn’t let them escape easily, the monster extended a part of its massive body, blocking their retreat.

Grrrrowl…

The monster emitted a sound clearly conveying menace and rage, glaring at them with bloodshot eyes, a result of the negative sensation of pain it was experiencing for the first time.

It seemed to be planning to return a sufficient reward to them for the terrible pain and tormenting noise they had bestowed upon it, a reward that would satisfy itself.