Slime Tensei Monogatari Volume 1 Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – The Betrayal 2

Those guys who ran away just now into their den that appeared to have low strength, were goblin women and children. Having seen their situation, I was hesitant to attack, however I cannot discount the possibility of them attacking other people if left alone.

My level became 6, I advance my way following the road heading towards the origin of the river.
Next up is clearing the condition for the next evolution.

"Nono, adult goblins have overwhelming growth speed and their numbers are big so their meat are of no value, but inversely, goblin children's meat is quite rare. The child goblins are not leaving the nest but their childhood only lasts for three days, so they have to be killed before it ends. To think that I would obtain these much meat in this fas.h.i.+on!"

Just as suddenly as he disappeared, the butcher had reappeared and had begun taking the meat from the corpses. Thinking about it again, that job leaves me with a bad taste.

"It really does seem to be a good position, huh?"
"Yes, because of your a.s.sistance. Of course you have my thanks for that."

The sarcastic remarks were returned in the usual way.
Even though he p.i.s.ses me off, I can't say anything. It's thanks to his information that I'm even able to find this den.

I understand that well enough, but what the h.e.l.l! The fact that it's just me having these hards.h.i.+ps is infuriating.

For example, this situation closely resembles when the boss makes use of his subordinates to achieve results and yet, the rewards are entirely taken by the boss. Tte, that was my everyday bread and b.u.t.ter up till then.

That's not a problem, I feel that something is wrong but I am convinced. For some reason I feel like I would lose something.

While advancing, I pull myself together and any gra.s.s I find regardless of type that is growing around I throw into my mouth.

Once I have became level 6, I intended on returning to the riverbank without stopping to find the next prey. However, there is no loss in clearing conditions that can be cleared at that time. While advancing, it is possible to use one hand to eat the herbs.

It seems that absorbing many more poisonous and paralyzing herbs may satisfy the evolutionary conditions for changing into a Neo-Poison or Neo-Paralysis slime, I ate them all frantically without so much as a single indication. I seem to have no other choice but to be patient about it.

While doing those things, I arrived at the river. There was no prey as far as I could see.

(No choice but to wait huh)

Thinking so, I sighed. In any case, waiting patiently is exhausting beyond expectations. There is no meaning even if I hide if my presence is known, it is totally not the time to relax.

Though I had an idea of it already, tailing people like this is actually very tiring, so stalkers must possess an incredible amount of guts. It appears likely that I will be able to change into anything if I focus my efforts in this direction.

The prey won't just show up while I'm thinking these idiotic thoughts. Before I realized it, the butcher had disappeared. While enthusiastically eating gra.s.s instead of Anpan and Milk, I yawned for a little while, and suddenly from behind, I was poked.

(TLN: Anpan)
"Nn?"

Obviously such a thing can only be done by the butcher. As expected that guy was there with his finger on his mouth when I looked back, I was urged to keep quiet.

Perplexed about not knowing what he intends to do, I was beckoned to head down the river. I don't understand but he does not seem like the type to do this as a joke, so I decided to follow him for now.

After walking cluelessly for a few minutes, the butcher stopped and pointed in a certain direction. As if lured by the finger out of my field of vision, there was a rabbit. It seems to be drinking water at the edge.

No, if I look closely, it is not just a rabbit. There was a pair of wings growing out of its back.

"That is called an Angel Rabbit and it is not something you normally see. It is fast at escaping so please deal with it in a blow"

He whispered to me in a small voice.

There are exquisite meat in the butcher's shop, but because he can't take combat actions, he can't defeat opponents and therefore, he has to make use of me.

I as well, look forward to what powers i can gain from defeating such a precious guy, so I have no objections. I kill my presence and approach slowly as possible.

Defeat it in a blow; if the opponent is agile, it is best to set up my fastest attack against it. Skills which includes throwing something is out of the question because, it takes time to hit the opponent and it is the end when the skill is dodged.

However, the thrust which has the greatest speed can't be hidden near the surrounding of the river's edge nor the shade of the gra.s.s as I will expose myself when I come out. Considering the time taken to reach the opponent, it can be said to be not very desirable.

(I can try aiming long distance from here, I thrust out a tentacle like a spear at a fast speed.)

If a strike is made from a surprise attack then it shouldn't be possible to avoid it.

If there is an injury on the foot then I would not let it escape and aim there, the target is small so it cannot be helped. Impossible is prohibited after all.

I approached the prey to the very limit and wait for the moment the prey would make an opening.

The Angel Rabbit, who came to drink, made a step forward and set foot into the river.

"ttsu!"

It's the best chance, the movement of feet when it is in the water is dull. I cannot let go of this opportunity.

I had released the tentacle faster than I had thought. At maximum velocity, tearing through the air in the shortest distance, the end shot out towards the back of the Angel Rabbit. And then,

"Na!?" (SK: -ni)

I raised a surprised voice.

It was the best attack method and the perfect timing. It is a skill that was to the utmost limit of my current self, if this is avoided then there is no way I can handle it. It cannot be helped if the other party is more than that.

Therefore, I prayed that it did not sense that something was about to happen.

And that wish came true.

But, the other party was not me.

The Angel Rabbit back stepped at that position and flies down. It was heading in my direction. it seemed to be floating in the air by using its wings.

However, measurements based on observations are off but it is definitely easier to aim at a approaching target. Tentacles are in the end, part of my body; there is no such thing as trajectory correction with things similar to hands. I suppressed my upset feelings and aimed at its back once again.

And then, as a result, my tentacles very easily penetrated the body of the Angel Rabbit. There is no response, I killed it perfectly.

Why did the Angel Rabbit purposely jump in my direction? The reason is simple.

Before I managed to attack, there was someone whom attacked from its front. The evidence is the arrow stuck to the ground where the angel rabbit was at previously. The Angel Rabbit sensed the presence of the one attacking and fled, which happened to in my direction; was what happened.

There was one hunter besides me, and this was the result of attacking without noticing each other.

『Level 9 has been reached

Also, all skills obtainable by level for this species has been completed

「Recovery Medicine Production」「Paralysis Recovery Medicine Production」「Confusion Recovery Medicine Production」 has been acquired』

It is rare that my level would go up by three in one shot. I am curious about my skill too, and I can proceed to the next evolution but, now is not the time for that.

The other hunter who hunts with a bow and arrow is a human.

Since there is a precedent, it is obvious what will happen after this. I quickly pulled back my tentacles and turned back to escape when,

"Excuse me"
"Ha?"

A voice came from my back and I was pushed from the back at the same time. I could not deal with what happened suddenly and just like that, I got out forwards. Because I ended up outside of my hiding spot, my figure was in full sight.

There isn't even a need to consider whose voice it was.

And so, the other hunter who would obviously follow the escaped prey, appeared. I met that person opposite the river.

The one whom jumped out was a bow wielding girl. While lightly dressed, she is wearing something like an armor, which is clearly combat wear.

Blond hair till the neck with blue eyes, like a foreigner but short. Her eyes is clear while her nose bridge was high, it was a bishoujo that would make you unconsciously admire her.

However, those ears were sharp and did not seem like a human's, but I don't think that this is weird at all. Rather, it is so natural such that balance is achieved.

More than anything, is the big breast overflowing from the light armour. If this wasn't an emergency situation, I would've loved to keep seeing it forever.

(Is this a time to be thinking about these things!?)

Both of us upon seeing each other, stilled our breath and stopped our movements. Even though I want to go with running is winning, she can immediately move and shoot an arrow. I felt that on my skin.

"Butcher! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I will kill you later so remember it!"

He can even push others into dangerous situations, not being able to take combat action is bulls.h.i.+t. It is a dangerous enough action already. If this is valid, the entire combat action restriction is a joke.

It’s my bad that I left everything to anger and shouted thinking that she won't understand anyway, but she prepared her bow stance while running forward. It seems that she did not mind that there was a river there, and she clearly aimed her bow here while crossing the river.

Incidentally, this river has a depth that only reaches the knees of a small girl and a short width, so I can't even count on it to hinder her. This is the worst indeed.

If I move, I get shot, but if I stay still, her accuracy will increase when she closes the distance. When that happens, it would be too late; I have no choice but to bet it all on this.

When I thought of that,

"Kyaa!"

The girl raised a shriek and collapsed suddenly. Due to her momentum, considerable amounts of splashes were raised. It is clearly a chance but it's strange, no matter the water resistance, there doesn't seem to be anything which can cause a fall.

It felt strange but for the meantime let's retreat, I hide myself in the bushes. This way I would not be found out so easily.

However, I want to know the answer to my question but when I observed the little girl, I understood the cause.

There is something in the river. There are 2 animals, from the silhouette it would seem to be a fish and an obviously big one judging from it's size. Both of them did not let the girls escape and simply encircled them around with a guruguru.

"K, kuuu!"

The girl stood up and bravely raised her pained voice. No, it looks like she cannot stand up in that state. But, why on earth. It seems that they are not attacking directly. Although they are just swimming around, what on earth is happening?

"Ah, that's it."

A face appears (bone only) so suddenly that I panicked and thrust with all my power in it. No questions ask, I had a slight intention to kill.

But, the attack was stopped, as though there is an invisible wall, just before hitting the butcher's body. I do not think that I am able to break this wall, judging from the response.

"You, how dare you appear in front of me"

"Now now, I will apologize properly later. Do you not want to know what is going over there then?"

"……if you think that it is bad then do not beat around the bush and talk."

It seems that it is impossible to attack in any way, I urged to get to the point.

"That fish-like monster that is in the water is called a Sparkfish, it can generate electricity as the name implies even though it is a weak one, she may be suffering from an electric shock and that there is a high chance that she is probably paralyzed."

It is easy to pa.s.s electricity since it is water. At this rate, the two will continue paralysing; there wasn't any need for words.

"For the meantime I would tell you this piece of information as an apology. You should be able to evolve if you take away the skills from those 2."
" I would have to help in other words"

My mood plummeted. Ain't I just being used just like his goods?

But, I still cannot help this girl. It is impossible for me to kill them by myself.

"s.h.i.+t! I just have to go, just have to go!"

I am in the middle of self loathing. I wonder what I am trying to do even if I don't have enough lives from now on if I keep doing this.

(I knew it! The Butcher is irratating, I will do what I want to do!)

Bearing a half grudge, I jumped up from the gra.s.s I was hiding in and landed at the edge of the river. From there, my tentacles like the forest, pieced the water where the two are. But, it doesn't hit.

Even though I keep repeating the same actions, the water is the enemy's territory; the water resistance slows the speed of my attack and I'll get
"Then I just have to pull it out of the water"

As I said that, I jumped into the water and enlarged. At the moment of landing, the water in the lake exploded beyond comparison to the previous splash.

If such an explosion happens in a narrow river, even they would be blown off to land. The girl whom was meant to be protected was also caught up in the blast but at this degree, it won't kill her.

I look around for the figure of the monster. The girl lost consciousness and laid on the land without moving an inch. But there was nothing else.

"Where did it go?"

Of all things, did it get blown into the forest? There is a considerable distance to the forest so I don't think that should happen at all.

Just when I was thinking about it, a shadow was hanged suddenly. When I looked up to confirm its ident.i.ty,

"……Eel?''

The eel-like thing had a body charged up with electricity, floating in the air. No, I know its ident.i.ty. There is only one answer. Fishes are fishes and eels are fishes. It is not wrong at all.

But, why are eels monsters in this alternate world? Using electricity is easy to understand if I look at it, but there are various weird feelings that I can't shake off.

"It hurts!"

The flying electric eel, no, the super spark fish, with or without seeing, sent electricity increased to its limits at me, this is considerably painful. The butcher explained that there won't be that much power but just by looking at the state of the girl, it’s obvious that she has sustained quite a bit of damage.

"The conductivity in liquid state is good huh?"

I don't know why but I want to avoid bearing the unwanted damage. I will clean this up in one go.

No matter if he flies in the sky, he is not in the water. There is no more water resistance and refraction.

I quickly skewered it and the battle is over.

A bit of electricity flowed into my body and shocked me when I was killing it.

I would also have to be careful of those who are resistant to electricity. Maa, perhaps it was the intention of the butcher for me to obtain the skill before I would evolve.

『スパークフィッシュを倒したことにより能力の一部を簒奪しました

進化条件「微帯電獲得」をクリアにより時間制限スキル「未熟な進化の可能性」が発動しました

現在進化可能な一種類に加えてスパークスライムに進化できるようになりました

・ハーブスライム

・進化しない』

「Minute Electrification」has been acquired

From now on, evolution to the species which conditions has been fufiled is possible

Which will you evolve into?

・Spark Slime
・Not evolving』(SK: I have no idea how to translate 微帯電 to english at all… ) (ED GO: Minute Electrification)

Herb slime is chosen. Acquiring recovery abilities is important afterall. If I have that, I don't need to worry about most injuries and continue activities, while the difference between having recovery abilities and not is the difference in the feeling of security.

『Evolution permission to Herb Slime has been confirmed

New skills has been acquired from evolution

Furthermore, evolution at arbitrary timings is possible as other evolution conditions has been met』

When the flow of events ceased and I returned to reality, I approached the girl without losing vigilance.

She seemed to be completed pa.s.sed out as even if I pushed her cheeks, there was no response. It seems that the Spark Fish's attack was more effective than I thought.

Although my waves of attacks was the finisher, we'll leave it for later. (SK: help?) Because that can't be helped, it was a forced measure.

However, I became troubled.

I can't leave the unconscious girl here alone. She would be visible to monster attacks if left alone here.

Also, it would waste all my efforts in finally saving her, and even if that was not the case, it would be awkward to leave her here.

Since it is decided, it is good to hasten. We won't know who might attack here and since it is an open s.p.a.ce, It will be difficult to protect her.

"For now, let's return to the earlier cave"

The butcher guided us back to the cave, if it is that cave, there is no nest nor will monsters come. I treated the girl like how I treated the previous child and fixed her head in place.

"Tto, thats right. Come out, butcher"
"What may be the matter?"

I have various things to say but for now, about the cave. My business for calling him out was not for that.

"It seems that you possess the Angel Rabbit's meat. It was perfect for you when I dropped it"

It is not a question, but a confirmation. In that confusion, I dropped the Angel Rabbit that I took down with all that trouble, and this guy won't overlook that. He would definitely take it.

"It is not a big deal, what are you going to do with it? There is no meaning in you eating anymore?"
"It's not for me, it's for this girl"

Although I did not know, it became such that I have stolen her prey. It was due to her attack that I was able to defeat this guy, and if she wishes so, I could at least share some meat with her.

Of course, it is another matter if we could converse.

"This is again, a kind soul with a bad mouth"
"Shut up, don't laugh"

Even if he says that while laughing, it only feels as if he is making a fool out of me.

"No no, that was a praise. I understand, on my name as the devil butcher, here it is"

While saying so, the butcher who lowered his head with hypocritical courtesy, smelt of human for some reason.

Translator’s Corner:

Well folks I would like to thank SnowKiss for this chapter. She translated almost all of the chapter with me being left with little translation and editing. Join the discord channel and show her some love