Episode 3 : New, Slime
"What's wrong, Mariabelle? I thought I told you that we would be the ones doing the gathering of information."
As Mariabelle and Fenelieka were walking through the village, they were approached by Fornelis, who was walking with five elf knights in tow.
It was not a big village, so it was not unusual for them to see each other, and Mariabelle was not surprised and lightly bailed.
"We thought it would be quicker if we helped out too."
"I see. I appreciate that, but it's important to rest your body when you can."
"I know, right? I'm really in trouble because she's so serious."
"I'd like to see you work a little more, Fenelieka, since you can fly."
Fenelieka smiled at Fornelis's words and dropped her shoulders.
Apparently, she did not intend to fly according to the words of the princess warrior.
"Well, that's okay", Forneris muttered and looked at Mariabelle.
"I've just gathered some information and I was just about to head back to the camp...... Meltia and that Scientist from Lishlua were together?"
"We were together a few minutes ago. We talked about splitting up and gathering information......"
"I see. The opinions of the scientists were also useful in the recapture of Fonteau. I would be grateful for her opinion......"
As she spoke, Fornelis gave instruction to one of the elven knights who was standing behind her.
She seemed to have instructed her to look for Kara, and he went back the way they had come, accompanied by two knights.
"And this probably has nothing to do with Frederica, but I hear that slimes are infesting the area near the village."
"When you say "near," do you mean so close that it would affect the surroundings?"
"Yeah. Fenelieka, can you locate the slimes from the sky? They said that they were often seen on the east side."
"Mou. I thought I could relax today."
"Haha, don't say that. This is a job only you can do, please."
"Alright, alright. I'm not the kind of kid who would throw a tantrum, and it's easier for me to be ordered around."
That said, until a year ago, humans and monsters were enemies.
Fenelieka did not feel bad that such a relationship had changed in just one year to the point where she was now being asked to do something for them.
Unlike when she was asked to work, now that she had been asked to do something, she felt comfortable floating up into the sky.
However, she was dressed in an outfit that would seduce men―― dressed in clothing that was enticing for men.
A red and black dress that made her bright red hair stand out even more.
Her long skirt hid the view when she was on the ground, but underneath she was wearing stunning net tights and a garter belt that adorned her beautiful legs.
Not only that, the higher she flew, the more one could peek inside her skirt, and to Mariabelle's eyes, even the passionate bright red panties under her skirt were in full view.
Captivating and obscene.
A design that made Meltia's face blush and exclaimed "I'm sorry".
Only the crotch part had cloth, and the rest of the panties were so small and tiny that they could almost be called strings.
Mariabelle, who saw it, felt embarrassed and looked away, even though she was also female. The elven knights, who also have good eyesight, awkwardly turned their gazes from the sky to the ground.
"Jeez. Is she that defenseless, or is that the nature of the succubus?...... It seems to be poison for the men's eyes."
Fornelis looked at the knights who unnaturally averted their gazes, but said nothing more.
Fenelieka was an attractive woman even from Fornelis's point of view.
It was the nature of the succubus to develop a figure that attracted the opposite sex.
But these women would starve if they didn't emphasize their attractiveness in such a way to obtain semen from the opposite sex.
Just as people eat various kinds of food to sustain their lives.
The succubus could not survive without taking in the semen of the opposite sex.
A succubus like Fenelreka would have to eat a male.
An incubus, a male counterpart, would have to eat a female.
Since it was the succubus who was with them, they could not blame her if she showed her underwear and fascinated men.
They understood such a thing and welcome her as a companion.
"Well, then, let's go back to the camp. They should have finished asking questions in the village by now."
"Y-yes, that's right."
Still a little embarrassed, Mariabelle answered as she raised her voice. Fornelis felt that she looked more like an innocent girl than a female hero, and her mouth relaxed.
She was the second princess of Fonteau, who was expected by many people to act like a hero.
But when she thought that even she had a part of her that looked younger than her age, it made her feel closer to her.
The image of the black-haired hero who traveled with her suddenly came to mind......
Now spoken of in songs and engraved in everyone's memory as a hero.
He was indeed a hero, but he was not perfect.
And that was what she loved about him......
"What's wrong, Fornelis-sama?"
"No, nothing."
She was about to say that Mariabelle was becoming more like her father but she stopped.
Mariabelle is Mariabelle, not her father.
She felt subconsciously that she did not want her best friend's daughter to carry that kind of life―― a one-sided imposition of hope as a hero.
...
"Hmm, so this is all the information gathered."
"The mage who is working with the slime is just a human being. So they probably don't think that someone who is wanted all over the continent would be in a village like this, where people don't stop by."
Frederica's sighting was much less than Kara had expected.
As Fornelis said, people know that criminals exist, but they didn't think that their neighbors were the criminals―― as they were trying to be optimistic.
It might be they felt that they were safe and that they would not suddenly find themselves in big trouble.
In fact, it would be rare for a person to imagine being attacked by another person in the middle of a conversation, and the likelihood of such a thing happening in reality was close to zero.
The inhabitants of this nameless village were unaware of Frederica's true identity, didn't care about her, and were only aware that she was just an adventurer.
"Well, that can't be helped."
Kara wrote the information that Fornelis and the knights had gathered on a piece of paper and spread it out on a table inside the tent for Mariabelle.
On it, starting with Frederica's appearance, what kind of things she had purchased at what stores, which stores she had visited days before, and with whom and what she had talked about.
And.
"Hmm, this is..."
"Was there something on your mind, Kara-san?"
Kara picked up a piece of paper as she wrote down what she found interesting.
It said that Frederica, the blonde female mage, always returned to the forest on the east side of the village.
"The mage had always exited to the east side of the forest, huh? East, that would be in the direction of Lishlua."
"But it would take seven to ten days to walk from this village to Lishlua, and walking through the forest could cause unexpected problems."
"Is there anything else in that direction? Ruins, villages, etc."
When Meltia asked Fornelis, she unfolded the Grabalt's map in her mind and thought that there was no such thing.
"Maybe there are ruins we don't know about yet......?"
"It's unlikely."
But Kara dismissed that possibility.
The reason was simple.
"Sure, when ruins are found in the forest, it's always dirty with dust and muddy rain, and even monsters were present...... it might be difficult to imagine them living there."
"Slime aside, Frederica Rene is a human being. I think she would need a reasonably well-prepared environment in which to live."
"To make those arrangements, you mean she knew that she would inevitably stand out."
"Yeah. Besides, I've done a little research over the past year, and it seems that this mage, Frederica Rene, is even better than I thought."
"Better?"
Unable to understand Kara's words, Mariabelle asked back.
"Yeah. Amazingly, even though she went missing a little over two years ago...... many adventurers in Fonteau still remembered her vividly."
"Really?"
"A brilliant, beautiful female adventurer. Men were charmed by her beauty, and women envied her for her abilities that rivaled those of men...... She was such a talented adventurer, they said."
"And?"
Fornelis urged her to go on.
"I heard she was so good that people remembered her so much and took the knighthood exam on Fonteau...... do you think she would do something like leaving a trace?"
"Knighthood exam?"
"I heard she failed because she didn't have enough mana capacity."
Mariabelle and Meltia knew what their country's knighthood exam entailed.
Physical and mental strength.
Tactics and magic.
The test was to demonstrate these qualities and welcome the best into the castle as a knight.
The level of difficulty was so high that only about ten people a year were accepted.
Many people fail the exam, but since it was difficult to qualify for the exam in the first place, that alone showed how excellent Frederica was.
"I did not know……"
"Meltia-sama was busy rebuilding the country."
Kara was extra odd when she explained the information about Frederica, who was excellent.
"Then, by letting us know this information is..."
"I don't know, but I don't think she would easily leave information about her whereabouts."
If so.
Kara stared at a few sheets of paper for a few dozen seconds.
Meanwhile, Mariabelle picked up another piece of paper.
"The slimes were sighted near the village."
"Yeah. Fenelieka checked it out, and they said they are often seen on the west side of the village."
"I think Jenna-sama, Fiana-sama, and the others are headed in that direction. Are they all right?"
"The beastmen I entrusted to them are skilled at fighting in the forest, and both Jenna and Fiana-dono have a lot of experience in battle. No matter how many slimes they are up against, if they understand the threat, they should be fine."
When they fought the Black Ooze for the first time, it used its abilities...... magic, resistance, and acted in a way that no slime had ever acted before, killing men and violating women.
Their tactic was to use mimicry and hide, and they were good at surprise attacks.
Above all, she was upset by the way the slimes worked together like an army under a single commander.
But now, a year later, it had become a matter of course, and she never let her guard down or become upset.
The slime was etched in the memory of mankind as a clear threat.
"But why only the West?"
Kara muttered and grabbed a few more sheets of paper.
The slimes were always sighted in the west.
Frederica...... the female mage was leaving the village from the east, and the beastmen in the village seemed to think so.
But it was unnatural.
"The slime was certainly acting with intelligence, but isn't it therefore unnatural that it would only appear on the west side?"
"Hmm... what do you mean?"
"Well...... putting yourself in the position of leading an army. If you're going to put troops in place, it's because there's some significance to that location, right?"
"Hmm...... That's right."
"Securing supply routes, defending strongholds. Anything. No one will divide their forces for nothing."
What Kara said was simple and straightforward.
They were not monsters that move on instinct without any thought.
Slimes have intelligence and the wisdom to think about strategy.
That was what everyone felt during the decisive battle at the royal castle in Fonteau.
The slimes used the streets of Fonteau to surprise Fornelis' team, who had attacked the castle town and showed them living women to lure them in and set a trap for them.
So, because of their wisdom, Kara thought that the slime's actions must have a certain meaning.
In short.
"Is Kara trying to say that there is something they are protecting in the west?"
"Yeah."
"Jenna and her team are in that direction, but I'm not receiving any reports of them finding anything."
"And it's only been a day since we split up."
"I'm back~."
As Meltia said that, a bright voice echoed through the tent.
It was Fenelieka, who had finished flying around.
With her red hair disheveled, she walked to the table where everyone was gathered with light steps.
"Your looks are as tense as ever, Hero-sama, Kara."
"I'm trying to think hard enough to be happy about your nonsensical voice right now."
When Kara replied to Fenelieka's sarcasm, which was spun in an easygoing manner, without considering the mood, the atmosphere in the tent seemed to lighten just a little bit.
Perhaps that was her intention when she called out to them.
The female succubus, who always puts on an air of cheerfulness without reading the mood, had been living amongst other people since the Demon King was defeated, and she had a great ability to read the mood.
"Ah, that's right. I've finished my rounds, beastmen's princess."
"I don't think the term "princess" fits too well...... So, how did it go?"
"As you guys said, I saw a slime on the west side. Only it wasn't the slime I know, it was in the form of a goblin or an orc."
Fenelieka said she saw the slime in a place about half a day's walk from the village.
The problem was its shape.
During the decisive battle at the royal castle in Fonteau, the Black Ooze took a shape that looked like an arthropod, a centipede, rather than the oval shape that everyone knew.
It was probably because it thought it would be easier to fight with than an oval shape.
In fact, its huge body, which could easily crush a human being, and the countless magic that it unleashed from each of its legs were a difficult opponent next to impossible even for Leticia, the queen of the elves, who was said to be the strongest mage in the world.
Changing form.
Moreover, they change their shape to different monsters.
"What is the point of changing their form to different types of monsters, instead of the usual form?"
Not only Fenelieka, but Mariabelle and the others tilted their heads.
The slime took the form of another monster.
They had no idea what it meant.
The same was true for Kara, but as she said before.
"I still don't know, but I'm sure it means something. After all――."
"――Because the slime has wisdom?"
"Yes.... that's right."
Kara responded to Mariabelle's words, then nodded her head in agreement.
"Fenelieka, take us to the place where you found that slime."
"Eh!? I just came back though!?"
"As you found the slime, there was no sign of a battle in the vicinity, right?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah."
"Fiana-sama and the others were headed west, too, so there was no way they wouldn't have noticed the slime. Perhaps the slimes had passed over Fiana-sama's group."
"What do you mean?"
"Letting Fiana-sama and the others go ahead and intercept the reinforcements....... They might be thinking that.
"......We can't say now that it's just a slime."
A decade ago, the slime would have been quickly chopped up and burned while laughing, saying, "It's only a slime".
Now, however, it was an opponent that they must be prepared for, with countermeasures, and all the preparations necessary to take it on.
Paralyzing poison that rendered them immobile on contact.
Depending on the individual, powerful individuals use powerful magic that rivaled that of mages who have fought many battles in the past.
Their mimicry was so elaborate that they were indistinguishable from the real thing.
Above all, their numbers.
Although monsters should not increase with the death of the demon king, they continue to multiply by impregnating women.
It would be surprising, but not impossible, if such a slime were to use a "strategy" this time, such as letting one group advance and stall the reinforcements.
Fornelis, after hearing Kara's opinion, told several knights who were waiting outside the tent to gather the knights who were still gathering information in the village.
Soon, they would come back to the camp.
"We were going to clear out the slimes on the west side before Jenna and the others got back. We'll head out to take them down while we check on them―― Mariabelle and your group should get ready.
"Yes, I understand!"
"Kara, do you have any tools or anything you need? You can use the knights."
"Thank you, Fornelis-sama. Now, I'll be needing a sturdy iron box of any shape and......"
When it came to action, the army moved fast.
The knights scattered throughout the village were quickly assembled, and it was only a few minutes later that the tools Kara had requested were ready.
By that time, the knights had already gathered outside the camp and were lining up.
At the frontlines were Mariabelle and Fornelis, who had excellent intuition, and Kara to check on the slime.
Meltia, who had the greatest firepower of the group, was protected in the middle and was surrounded by Fonteau's elven knights and Lishlua's warrior priests, who were also skilled in magic.
The knights who did not have outstanding magic and the beastmen, who were small in number but excel in athletic ability, were in the rear guard.
"All right, let's go! Pay attention to your surroundings and coordinate closely with the others! You never know what those slimes are mimicking!"
After Fornelis' instructions, a group made up of about 50 people, who could respond flexibly in the forest where their movement was restricted, entered the forest.
The remaining 100 or so remained at the camp, ready to inform Grabalt and Fonteau without hesitation if the group did not return by nightfall.
Everyone here understood that in a fight against the slime, unforeseen circumstances could happen.
That was why they were taking all possible measures.
They split up the troops to avoid being annihilated.
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