episode_0170

Slime Using Magic

“Ah, really!! Zeke-nim!! What I told you yesterday, it’s all fine now, so please don’t worry about it!!”

“Mmm.”

“Oh, come on!!!”

Having heard Aria’s shocking past, I woke up earlier than Aria the next morning and was preparing breakfast. It had been a while since I cooked, but fortunately, my cooking skills hadn’t rusted, and it was even more fortunate that I could wake up earlier than Aria. However, Aria, uncannily, noticed that the reason I was waking up so early to cook was because I felt sorry for learning her past so late, and she was trying to stop me. No matter what, it feels bad to have learned it so late…. To think the reason Aria expressed such clumsy emotions until now was because of that damned cult… Ugh… I’m so pathetic…!!

“Uwaaaah!! Zeke-nim, why are you so strong today?! You couldn’t usually beat me in strength!!”

“That’s partly because you’re still trying to go easy on me…. And have you forgotten that I’ve been training my body since I was young for exploration? Besides, no matter how much you tell me not to worry…. I can’t help but feel incredibly embarrassed and ashamed about giving you all sorts of advice and scolding you without knowing anything until now!!”

“Huh?! Was it really that shocking?!”

When I revealed that I felt greatly ashamed that all the advice and counsel I had given her until now was done without knowing anything about her, Aria was startled and asked if it was that shocking. Of course, it’s shocking!! And if I had known her heart was broken in the first place, I would have treated her better!!! Feeling deep regret for not treating Aria better until now, I vigorously stirred the stew with a ladle and shouted at Aria.

“So today, I’ll make you a meal with all my heart, just watch!”

“…! With all your heart…. Ughhh…. If you do that…. I can’t refuse…!! Uwaaah!!”

When I shouted that I would cook with all my heart, Aria, as if tempted by my words, became flustered and greatly troubled. While Aria was screaming and at a loss for what to do, I diligently made the stew, and thus, I was able to serve the finished stew to Aria. Aria then stirred the stew in the bowl held in her hand with her spoon and said to me.

“Hahaha…. In the end, I just screamed and couldn’t stop you, Zeke-nim… I really seem to be beyond saving….”

“Don’t say such foolish things, Aria… By the way, this seems to be the first time I’m serving you a meal…. I wonder if my food suits your taste?”

Watching Aria lamenting in resignation that she ultimately couldn’t stop me, I recalled that I had never served Aria a meal before and worried if my stew would suit her taste. Aria immediately took a spoonful of stew, put it in her mouth, chewed the vegetable chunks for a while, then smiled and said to me.

“It’s delicious, Zeke-nim! It’s so warm and…. so delicious that I can feel your heart in it…!”

“Ah… Ahahaha…. I wanted to make a meat stew like yours, but…. *Sigh*… it seems there are no monsters around here. So I substituted with mushrooms…”

“I think that’s actually the secret to making it your unique stew, Zeke-nim. I always make meat stew with meat to serve to you… I never thought I’d get to eat such a clear stew…. Hehe… It seems you’ve only given me warmth since yesterday…. To be honest, I didn’t expect you to sympathize with my past this much at first. It’s not a good story, so…?”

“…..”

When Aria revealed that she hadn’t expected me to sympathize with her past this much when she told me about it the day before, I froze, so shocked that I almost spilled the stew I was eating, and Aria, seeing my reaction, became even more flustered herself. I then jumped to my feet, pointed a finger at Aria, and shouted.

“What nonsense is that, Aria!!! Have you forgotten that I clearly said I remembered you as a good person?! So of course, it’s natural to sympathize with your sad past!! It was definitely not something I could just ignore!!!”

“Yes…. Yes, sir!”

“…. Haaah… Sorry for suddenly getting so worked up…. It just reminded me of how I gave you all sorts of advice and counsel without ever trying to understand your past until now…. I’m incredibly embarrassed right now….”

Seeing Aria startled by my scolding, I revealed that I was reacting so excessively because I was still embarrassed, then slumped onto a log and sighed. *Sigh*…. Thinking about it again, it’s still embarrassing… What advice did I give without knowing anything? *Sigh*… I was foolish too… arbitrarily imagining Aria’s past due to the prejudice of her being a Saintess…. Just as I was lamenting bitterly, Aria put her bowl down beside her, approached me, and embraced me with both arms, saying.

“Ehehe…. As expected, Zeke-nim is the best, isn’t he? Where else would I find someone so kind… But you don’t have to worry, Zeke-nim. Whether you knew my past or not…. The advice and counsel you’ve given me until now have been the greatest gifts to me!”

“….. Haaah…. Thank you for saying that…. Shall we eat again?”

“Yes!”

As Aria embraced me, easing my heart even a little, I finally felt somewhat relieved. Having finished our meal, we reorganized our belongings and set off, and then Aria rubbed her stomach and said to me.

“Hehe. Eating what Zeke-nim cooked isn’t bad either. But still, serving you food, Zeke-nim, is the greatest joy for me. So next time, please let me cook. Alright?”

“*Sigh*…. Alright… By the way, it’s a relief my cooking skills haven’t rusted…. Well… it’s still a bit disappointing that I couldn’t find any meat around here….”

“It’s fine, really! Even though I look like this, I used to live on only vegetables during my Saintess days, you know? So this kind of diet is familiar…? Huh…?”

“…? What’s wrong, Aria? Suddenly?”

When I expressed regret about not being able to prepare meat, Aria tried to comfort me by emphasizing that she had lived only on vegetables in the past, saying it was fine. But then Aria suddenly made a perplexed expression, as if realizing something important, and I tilted my head, bewildered. Why did Aria’s expression suddenly freeze like that?

“Aria?”

“Um… Zeke-nim. It just occurred to me…. I’ve hunted monsters around here before, you see? But that was about five years ago, by this world’s standard…”

“…? Five years ago…. Huh? Come to think of it, when we stopped here before, you caught and cooked a Basilisk, didn’t you? And this place was originally where intermediate and advanced monsters would appear…. Why is nothing happening?”

Something was wrong. This place was where Aria and I had stopped before, a place where monsters would appear. But even if five years had passed, there wasn’t even a shadow of a monster here? Something was terribly wrong. Wait a minute…. Come to think of it… Arvina, the village chief in Cartoon…!!

“Aria… are you thinking the same thing?”

“Even so, it’s too strange…? Slimes are low-level monsters, so there’s no way they could defeat monsters like Basilisks just by using magic, right?”

“…. But what if… that slime… is a new species that hasn’t even been discovered until now, so much so that it’s not even in the encyclopedia…? And what if that slime drove out all the monsters around here…? Then wouldn’t the warning Arvina, the village chief, gave us make some sense?”

“A new variable…!! Z-Zeke-nim!!”

“…? Why suddenly th—!!! What?!”

Just as the speculation arose that the slime here might be a powerful, undiscovered species that drove out the surrounding monsters, Aria suddenly rushed behind me. I was bewildered, not knowing why Aria had shouted at me so urgently. Then, feeling a presence behind me, I turned around and was greatly shocked to see a blue light there. Because the identity of that light was none other than…

“A… magic bullet?!”

“How dare you attack Zeke-nim!! Haaahp!!”

As the blue magic bullet rapidly flew towards me, I was greatly shocked, and Aria spread her arms to create a yellow barrier. The magic bullet hit Aria’s barrier and exploded, and I, enduring the wind pressure from the explosion, was utterly stunned and greatly shocked, as I had never imagined such a powerful magic bullet would fly at us. Th-that magic bullet just now…. Its power was similar to the fireball Mr. Dio V Runner emitted…!! No…!! More importantly…!!

“Aria!! Are you okay?!”

“Yes! I can easily block magic bullets like this with my barrier! So quickly…!! Zeke-nim!! It’s below us!!”

“B-below? ….!! What is this now?!”

When Aria sensed something and shouted “below,” I looked down. Seeing the ground begin to glow blue, I was greatly flustered. I hastily pulled out Trahan and plunged it into the ground, channeling magic into the earth. The blue glowing ground then began to return to its original state, and realizing through my magic that some energy was pervading the earth, I felt where the energy was coming from and pointed to the right, shouting to Aria.

“To the side, Aria!! The one attacking us right now is to our right!!”

“Understood, Zeke-nim!! Oh, Almighty One in the Heavens!! With your power, bring judgment upon the sinner!! Haaahp!!”

As I located the attacker with my magic, Aria immediately prayed, then unleashed a powerful beam of light from her staff in the direction I pointed. The beam from Aria’s staff passed between the trees, and as if it struck something, an explosion occurred beyond. I pulled Trahan from the ground and said to Aria.

“Do you sense a presence, Aria?”

“Yes. It seems to still be alive. But something’s strange. This presence… it’s a bit alien to be a slime.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

“How should I put it… it’s an ambiguous presence, like it might be a slime… and yet it might not be…? But this presence… it feels somehow close to a human’s presence, so I can’t understand it at all…!”

“What?!”

When Aria said the presence she was feeling was more like a human’s than a slime’s, I was greatly shocked. A slime with a presence close to a human’s?! What on earth does that mean?! I already couldn’t understand how the attacker, presumably a slime, was using magic, and now it feels like a human presence?! Just as I was greatly shocked by her words, Aria sensed something and frantically plunged her staff into the ground, chanting a prayer.

“Oh, Almighty One in the Heavens!! Protect us with your power!!”

“What now…. No, what in the world is that…?!”

As Aria frantically unfurled a barrier from her staff to envelop us, I wondered what she had sensed. At that moment, seeing countless magic bullets flying towards us from multiple directions between the trees, I was greatly shocked. No…. Even though they were smaller than the magic bullet I saw earlier… no human could use magic bullets that quickly and in such numbers!!! What in the world is its true identity?!

“Zeke-nim!! The ground again…!!”

“….!! It really doesn’t give us a moment to think!!”

When Aria, who was blocking the magic bullets with her barrier, said the ground was acting strangely again, I immediately plunged Trahan into the earth and channeled magic into it. The ground, which had begun to glow blue, started to return to normal, and I tried to locate the attacker again. Then Aria, maintaining the barrier, cried out urgently.

“It’s no use, Zeke-nim! I’m sensing a presence right now, and…”

“….!! W-what is this?!”

“I’m sensing the *exact same* presence from multiple directions right now!!”

As Aria spoke of sensing the same presence from multiple directions, I simultaneously realized that energy was flowing from various directions and was greatly shocked. W-what?! Surely there isn’t more than one of these slimes?! No wonder monsters don’t even think about coming near here!!!

“Damn it…!! What do we do?! We’re facing multiple enemies right now!!”

“No, Zeke-nim! I’m sensing it now… these are smaller presences than the one I just felt! It seems… the enemy really is a slime, and it’s dividing to attack us…!!”

“What?! That’s a completely troublesome opponent!!”

When Aria said that what was attacking us was a slime and that it was now dividing and attacking us from multiple directions, I was greatly shocked and began to ponder how to break through this situation. Think… think…!! Should we endure until the opponent’s energy… their mana… is depleted? No… no matter how amazing Aria’s barrier is, it would be impossible for Aria to continuously maintain it…!! In that case…. Is there only one way?!

“Aria!! If you sense a presence preparing to attack, tell me!! While you protect me, I’ll somehow launch an attack at the presence that creates an opening!!”

“…!! Kyaaa~! A joint operation with Zeke-nim…!! And one that can only succeed if you completely trust me…!! This Aria… is so happy, I feel like I’m about to explode right now!!!”

‘Even in this situation, she can’t help but be happy about anything involving me…’

As Aria fawned and greatly rejoiced that it had become a situation where I had to completely trust her, I gave a wry laugh at Aria’s positivity even in this situation. At that moment, Aria created a small opening in the barrier and shouted to me.

“An enemy at 5 o’clock is preparing to attack, Zeke-nim!!”

“Good!! Iruvan!! I’ll need your power again!! Go!!!”

When Aria said that a presence at 5 o’clock was preparing to attack, I immediately created a fireball from Iruvan’s flames in my hand and threw it in that direction. Suddenly, the magic bullets that had been fiercely attacking us stopped, and Aria smiled wryly and said to me.

“That was splendid, Zeke-nim. The fireball you threw accurately eliminated one presence. That’s why all the presences seem startled and have stopped attacking.”

“Phew…. Still, it’s a relief it succeeded…. By the way, I underestimated them because they were slimes…. I never thought we’d be cornered like this in reverse….”

“Even so, if I fight alongside you like this, Zeke-nim… I think we can win without me having to resolve it with the Divine Ring’s Radiance. It seems the enemy realized we’re not an easy opponent and is re-merging.”

When Aria said that the slimes seemed to have realized we weren’t easy opponents and were re-merging, I took a deep breath and became wary of my surroundings. *Whoosh*…. Calm down…. Now the opponent will face us with their true intentions… Don’t let your guard down… Just as I was repeating to myself to take a deep breath and not let my guard down, Aria suddenly flinched and said to me.

“Z-Zeke-nim? The presence right now… it’s coming towards us…”

“What…? What do you mean by that…?”

“Haaah…. Humans are quite capable. To counterattack in that situation.”

“…? Huh?”

No sooner had Aria finished saying that a presence was approaching us than a voice suddenly came from somewhere. I was greatly flustered and turned my head with Aria towards the direction of the voice. Then, a blue-haired woman in brown attire appeared from behind a tree, glaring sharply at us with blue eyes, and I was so flustered that I couldn’t even speak. Huh…? A… a human….? It’s a human, isn’t it?