Slime Kingdom

The remaining four Slimes slid over to us.

We transformed back into our human forms.

The colors of the four Slimes were iron, red, yellow, and green.

The Slimes expressed their gratitude to us with vibrations that shook their bodies.

“Thank you for saving us!”

“Thank you!”

Lucy-nuna, unable to contain her curiosity, asked why they were fighting.

“Why were you fighting the Killer Bees?”

The iron-colored Slime came forward as their representative and said,

“Killer Bees are the natural enemy of Slimes. Do you see that Slime corpse over there? Its name was Bahti. Keueuk. Poor Bahti. The Killer Bees kill us and then dismantle us to take us away to eat.”

“That’s really too bad. Um… and seeing as the Killer Bees suffered almost no damage, why were you so easily defeated?”

“The poison from the Killer Bee’s tail stinger is fatal to Slimes. If we’re stung by that poison, our movements become sluggish, making us easily exposed to attacks. The Killer Bees smear that poison on their weapons to attack us or sting us with their tail stingers.”

“I see.”

“If you benefactors hadn’t helped us right away, we would have all become a Killer Bee feast. Thank you so much.”

Melissa shook her head, saying,

“We just did what was natural!”

The red Slime said,

“How modest. Still, thank you.”

Melissa asked something else.

“Why did you come out here when there are Killer Bees?”

The iron-colored Slime said,

“We’re an exploration team. Even just going outside our kingdom, the Killer Bees come to catch us, but we can’t just live locked up. We came out to find new plants, animals, or paths outside the kingdom.”

The green Slime chimed in, waving its Slime tentacles.

“Meeting you is also an achievement of our exploration! We’ve met a new race! Although we’re very sad that Bahti was sacrificed, our exploration is a success!”

The four Slimes started to bbyong-bbyong jump.

Melissa’s eyes sparkled as she muttered,

“Cute…”

Lucy-nuna, holding back a laugh, asked,

“Pfft. Why are you bbyong-bbyong jumping like that?”

The green Slime said,

“This is our gesture of joy. When we’re grateful, happy, or joyful, we bbyong-bbyong jump like this.”

Melissa urged me.

“Oppa! We found Slimes too, so let’s do a jump of joy!”

“Huh? Should we?”

Well, going with the flow seems fun too.

Except for Winston, me, Lucy-nuna, and Melissa bbyong-bbyong jumped along with the Slimes.

The green Slime, bbyong-bbyong jumping, shouted in a joyful voice,

“You’ve also discovered the charm of Slime etiquette!”

The yellow Slime, bbyong-bbyong jumping, said,

“To spread our Slime etiquette to other races! Although Bahti was sadly sacrificed, we’re happy!”

Everyone except Winston spent a few minutes bbyong-bbyong jumping in place.

Only Winston watched us from behind with an awkward face.

When the atmosphere had calmed down to some extent, I introduced us as the representative.

“Our introduction was late. I am Kyle, the King of Tentacles. These companions here are my wife and subordinates.”

The iron-colored Slime exclaimed,

“Oh! The King of Tentacles. It seems there’s also a Kingdom of Tentacles on a continent we don’t know about!”

“The Kingdom of Tentacles is a recently formed kingdom.”

“I see. We’ve been cut off from the world because of the Killer Bees. To not hear news of the world changing so quickly…”

“Could you guide us to the Slime Kingdom?”

“Of course. Slimes know gratitude. Once you become a friend of Slimes, you’re a friend of Slimes forever. Please, follow us.”

The four Slimes guided us to the Slime Kingdom.

From a distance, the Killer Bees were secretly following us, observing.

I ignored the Killer Bees since they didn’t approach us closely.

After walking for about a day, we began to see huge dome-shaped structures outside the forest.

As we got closer, we could see that the plains were densely packed with dome structures of various sizes.

Lucy-nuna asked with a curious face,

“Is that the Slime Kingdom?”

The iron-colored Slime replied,

“Yes, those structures are our homes and workplaces.”

“What material are they made of?”

“Those structures are made by hardening the soil with mucus from our bodies. It’s stronger than steel, so even Killer Bees can’t break it. Our Queen-nim is in the largest dome.”

Melissa exclaimed,

“Wow. To be able to make soil stronger than steel, that’s really amazing.”

The iron-colored Slime said politely,

“You are the benefactors of our exploration team. My older brother is the Grand General here. I’ll tell my brother to guide you to the lodging.”

I was surprised inside.

‘Eung? He’s more of a big shot than I thought!’

I asked,

“Thank you. Is it possible to meet the Slime Queen?”

The iron-colored Slime replied,

“Since my brother is the Grand General, I think you can ask him.”

“I understand. By any chance, what is your name?”

“Ah! I haven’t told you my name yet. I’m called ‘Chidi’.”

Chidi guided us to a 20m-high dome.

There was an arched entrance on one side of the dome’s wall.

“This is the house where my brother and I live. Please, come in.”

Entering the dome, we saw a ceiling about 5m high and arched pillars.

The floor was just dirt, but grass and flowers that lived in dark places grew.

There was a small pond in one corner.

It seemed to be a replica of nature.

Chidi boasted about the house.

“Isn’t the house quite beautiful? I had a hard time getting this moss here. The slippery feeling from above is superb. I’ll guide you to the second floor.”

There was a slope on the wall side leading to the second floor.

It seemed to be a slope instead of stairs because they were Slimes.

The surface of the slope wasn’t as slippery as I thought.

Going up to the second floor, there was a 3m-tall iron-colored Slime and iron ore piled up around it.

Chidi shouted happily,

“Hyung! I’ve brought the benefactors!”

The Slime called Hyung spoke in a dignified male voice,

“Benefactors, you say? Did you meet them on the exploration you left for a few days ago?”

Chidi explained to his Hyung what had happened from beginning to end.

The Slime called Hyung thanked us.

“Thank you so much for saving my younger brother.”

The Hyung Slime also praised Chidi.

“You’ve met a new race, so your exploration was a success, Chidi!”

The Hyung Slime introduced himself to us.

“My name is ‘Chike’ and I’m the Grand General here. We Slimes respect each other’s freedom, so we work from home like this.”

I also greeted him.

“Nice to meet you.”

Chike said,

“Once you’re a friend of Slimes, you’re a friend of Slimes forever. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I am the King of Tentacles. I came to negotiate with the Slime Kingdom. I want to meet the Slime Queen.”

“Ooh! Is this the first diplomacy in decades! I’ll guide you to the Queen-nim. Chidi, you can rest now.”

“Okay, Hyung.”

Chike happily led us outside.

Melissa asked something she was curious about.

“Why is there so much iron ore there?”

Chike said,

“It’s a food storage. Slimes can eat anything, and if they eat a lot, they acquire that characteristic. I’m an iron Slime.”

“Ah. Then you must be very tough?”

“That’s right. Because of this toughness, the Killer Bee’s spears or tail stingers don’t pierce me, so I became the Grand General. If Chidi eats iron ore for a few more years, he’ll become as tough as me.”

“Amazing!”

“Hahaha. Since various Slimes live in this kingdom, there are various characteristics. There are many characteristics that seem better than mine.”

Chike guided us to the largest dome in the center.

I asked,

“Do you happen to know about ancient Slimes?”

“Who is an ancient Slime?”

“Are there any Slimes alive since the Tentacle War?”

“Our Queen-nim says she’s been around since the Tentacle War, but no one can verify the truth. You should talk to the Queen-nim.”

“I understand.”

I quietly said to Winston,

“Maybe the Slime Queen is the ancient Slime we’re looking for.”

“My liege. I think so too. Since she’s been around since the Tentacle War, she must be very strong, and it makes sense that she became the Queen of the Slime Kingdom. Since she’s the Queen of a country, it will be difficult to recruit her.”

“If we can’t recruit her, let’s at least form an alliance.”

“I understand.”

I threw another question at Chike.

“Do Slimes have genders?”

“Why are you asking something so obvious? Slimes also have males and females.”

This time, Lucy-nuna asked,

“I saw a Slime giving birth to a baby Slime by itself?”

Chike explained,

“We can reproduce sexually and asexually. If we reproduce asexually, a child with the same personality as us is born.”

Lucy-nuna said with a face that had found the answer to a mystery,

“The ecology of Slimes was shrouded in secrecy, but now the secret has been revealed.”

This time, Chike asked,

“Are there many Slimes beyond this kingdom?”

“Of course! There are a lot of Slimes on this continent!”

“Hearing that there are many Slimes on the continent makes me feel proud. Ah! If it weren’t for the Killer Bees, we would have spread out to the continent too, it’s a shame. I hope we can meet Slimes from outside someday.”

We arrived at the entrance of the huge dome.

Entering the dome, we saw a ceiling of tremendous height and arched pillars.

Inside the dome, there was the largest golden Slime, about 50m high.

Small Slimes were wandering around the golden Slime.

Chike introduced the Queen-nim and called out in a loud voice,

“This is our Queen-nim. Queen-nim! We have guests from outside!”

Winston gave his impressions after seeing the Slimes’ behavior.

“They’re more free than I thought.”

Chike explained,

“All Slimes are equal. A job is just one way to enjoy life.”

“That’s an amazing way of thinking.”

“The Queen-nim is doing the Queen thing because she likes it so much. I also enjoy being the Grand General. All Slimes have pride in what they do.”

“To work because you like it… I also serve my liege because I like it. I think I can understand.”

The huge golden Slime approached us.

The golden Slime asked in an intelligent yet seductive female voice,

“What brings you to our Slime Kingdom?”

The golden Slime spoke informally, but considering she’s lived for over 1000 years, I decided not to mind.

I replied,

“I am Kyle, the King of Tentacles. I would like to negotiate with the Queen-nim.”

“The King of Tentacles, you say? The world must have changed a lot while I’ve been stuck here.”

“I have completely occupied the human village northeast of the Bohak Forest with tentacles. I would like to negotiate with the Queen-nim.”

“Eung. How did you occupy it?”

“I have the ability to evolve, gaining new characteristics, and the ability to turn the other party into my subordinate, a Tentacle Hero.”

“Hmm… that’s similar to Kamait-nim’s authority~”

Lucy-nuna shouted,

“The King of Tentacles is Kamait-nim himself!”

The Slime Queen denied Lucy-nuna.

“That can’t be. I received Kamait-nim’s baptism. If he’s Kamait-nim, he should be able to control me as a subordinate right now, but I don’t feel that way.”

I quickly said, setting the scene,

“I lost most of my memories and abilities because I was sealed for a long time.”

“Heuung~~ Let’s just say that’s the case. Are you perhaps a hidden child with Kamait-nim’s genes strongly inherited?”

“Why do you think so?”

“The ability to evolve, gaining new characteristics, and the ability to turn the other party into a Tentacle Hero were Kamait-nim’s unique authorities that other tentacles couldn’t do. You seem to be about the residue of Kamait-nim.”

“I see.”

I got to the point.

“We came to recruit the Queen-nim into our kingdom.”

“Really? Well, I’m interested.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“All Slimes are free. If I want to go, I’ll go. Actually, looking at you, I’m also curious about the outside world.”

“Then…!”

“But there’s a problem?”

“Is it perhaps because of the Killer Bees?”

“Yes. If I leave, all the Slimes here will be raised by the Killer Bees. I’m not irresponsible enough to abandon my friends.”

“Then what should we do?”

“I have to protect this kingdom, and the other Slimes are weak against the Killer Bees. If you bring me the head of the Killer Bee Queen, I’ll seriously consider it.”

I started to think.

The Queen said once more,

“For reference, there’s no such thing as making the Killer Bee Queen a Tentacle Hero or making a peace agreement. You have to bring her head, no matter what. And if you want to recruit me, you can’t accept other Killer Bees.”

I thought a little more.

The Slime Queen, who experienced the Tentacle War, would be more valuable than the Killer Bees.

Soon, I made a decision.

“I understand. We’ll do that.”

“Eung~ You made a good choice. I’ll attach Chike to you. Chike~!”

“Yes, Queen-nim.”

“Help these kids complete their mission.”

“I understand. For reference, my younger brother Chidi was attacked by Killer Bees during his exploration, but these people helped him return safely to the kingdom.”

The Slime Queen bbyong-bbyong jumped with joy.

Kung kung kung

Seeing the Queen jump, I understood why they built the dome so big.

“Really? Thank you, kids. You are the benefactors of the Slimes, so you can go anywhere in this kingdom. Chike will help you a lot.”

Chike replied,

“Yes, Queen-nim.”

I quickly asked what I was curious about.

“What is the Queen-nim’s name?”

“My name? I’m Lime~”

“There are two letters after Slime?”

“Kamait-nim called me Lime.”

“I understand.”

We came out of the huge dome.

Lucy-nuna asked Chike,

“Is there a place where we can sleep?”

“There are a few empty domes, so I’ll guide you there. Use them as you please.”

Melissa made the first move.

“Give us one for three people and one for one person!”

“I will.”

Chike guided us to a dome for three people and a dome for one person.

Chike said,

“I’ll have my friends bring you horned rabbit meat, so rest well today.”

As we waited, Slimes up to our knees brought horned rabbit meat.

We ate deliciously, dug holes in the dome floor, and slept.