Chapter 284: Destination and New Slime (1/2)

“As expected, the situation isn’t good.” [Schieber]

Before the sun set, when the sky was turning faintly red, we arrived at our destination, the Town of Departed Spirits, but… The sight that greeted us made the adults, who had a wealth of experience subjugating monsters, make a difficult face.

The Town of Departed Spirits was the ruins of a huge prison built right at the center of a land excavated in the shape of a mortar. Around it were eight watchtowers arranged in a regular octagonal shape to prevent prisoners from escaping.

We’re right at the entrance of a long road built between cliffs that leads to the actual entrance of the prison, and with the gates closed, there was no way for us to see what was inside. However, a portion of the gate has broken and undead have poured out enough to fill half of the road. It was a similar condition to that time yesterday when we spread oil and lit them up to wipe them out.

Also, despite the great weather and the breeze of the winds, it’s unusually suffocating. I don’t feel particularly bad, but there’s a sense of discomfort that I just can’t get rid of.

“There’s miasma pouring… Are you alright?” [Remilie]

“It won’t be a hindrance in combat or general movements.” [Ryouma]

“That’s good then. If it becomes too much to handle, don’t hesitate to say so. Miasma is a kind of mana, so it’s unpleasant even if you’re unaware of it. This amount of miasma will just make you feel unpleasant at most, but that unpleasant feeling will continue as long as there’s miasma nearby. That’s why you can’t push yourself too hard.

Also, if the miasma looks like a black haze, be careful. It’s proof that the miasma is thick enough to be visible, and if you’re exposed to that stuff, it could kill you. Miasma Pools must be avoided as much as possible. And if there are undead clad in miasma, we need to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Be sure to follow these rules thoroughly.” [Remilie]

“Alright.” [Ryouma]

I’ll pay attention to my condition, but what should we do from here on?

“Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the time to be concerned about the Everlasting Darkness (Herb). Let’s focus on getting rid of as much undead as we can.” [Schieber]

“Yeah, even I don’t want to prioritize it when the situation is like this.” [Remilie]

“Same.” [Ryouma]

“Should I head to Teressa to make a report?” [Sebasu]

“I think it would be faster if I just called a dragon and burned them all. It will take awhile for word to get to the lord of the territory, and then even more time for the army to be dispatched.” [Reinbach]

“Before we report anything or start burning things, I think it would be better if we gathered some more information first. How about going to nearest watchtower first before making any decisions?” [Schieber]

…Looks like they’re more leisurely than I thought. This group of adults is just too reassuring.

The way to the nearest watchtower required us to go down the stretch of road before us, then climb up a narrow connecting staircase; however, that meant having to deal with the horde of undead before us.

“Are we going to create a defensive line again?” [Ryouma]

“No, we can just do that after reaching the watchtower. Remilie, can I entrust it to you?” [Schieber]

“Okay. In exchange, please take care of the ones above. Also, Ryouma-chan, I’m going to use a big move to clear that horde, so can I ask you to block the bottom of the stairs with your slimes afterwards?” [Remilie]

“Alright.” [Ryouma]

I doubt she’d make any irresponsible claims at a time like this, so she probably really has a way to deal with the undead. But what kind of spell does she have in mind? I must get a good look.

“Alright, let’s start before they notice us. 『Laser』” [Remilie]

Remilie-san jumped out alone toward the center of the road, then performed a chant. In the next moment, a ray of light shot out from the end of her staff. It was just like the laser pointers from my previous life. Depending on the power, they could burn the skin or cause blindness, but they definitely weren’t strong enough to deal with a horde of undead.

Yet every undead that light touched vanished. It wasn’t until a moment later that I realized that the light was penetrating the undead and annihilating them.

Then Remilie-san moved her staff from the right to left while that ray of light was shooting. In just a few seconds, Remilie-san had taken out all of the undead crowding a part of the road.

“…Huh? That easily?” [Ryouma]

“This spell is highly penetrative, so without any cover, this is what happens. But it consumes a lot of mana, so I can’t cast it consecutively. Please secure the stairs as quickly as you can.” [Remilie]

“Oh, right!” [Ryouma]

I quickly moved and commanded my Emperor Scavenger Slime to secure the stairs. I told it to split itself, transforming it into a great ooze of slimes, then I instructed them to deal with any enemy that dared approach.

Upon securing the bottom of the staircase, we cautiously climbed up the stone staircase. Apparently, there were also undead in the watchtowers, so zombies and skeletons appeared even in the narrow path up, but that just made it easy to kill them with my buckshot.

“Lightshot.” [Ryouma]

“Oh, it’s that spell you came up with while we were competing.” [Remilie]

“It works quite well in tight places, so maybe it’ll be effective indoors too?” [Schieber]

“It was effective during your competition with Remilie.” [Reinbach]

“Yes. I was taken aback at first, but now, I think it was good that we competed.” [Ryouma]

“Maybe I should give it a try too.” [Remilie]

As she said that, Remilie-san started copying me and provided support fire. The first shot did not scatter that much, but when she asked me for tips on how to use it and I taught her, she was more or less able to master it perfectly after three shots, so we were able to proceed along our way even faster.

“I know I asked you to teach me, but I think it’s better if you don’t teach this spell to others so easily.” [Remilie]

“Ah, yes. It certainly makes it easier to identify me as a Child of God because of the shotgun.” [Ryouma]

“Oh, that’s not it. You can just say you were inspired by an old tale if the shotgun angle comes up. The problem is that this spell is just too convenient, so a lot of people might appear, asking you to teach them.” [Remilie]

I was immediately able to use it, but apparently, while my Lightshot could kill a lot of undead at a small cost to mana, it required a certain amount of skill and experience, such as ‘a high degree of understanding in mana control’ or ‘wit’ to maximize its efficiency.

“All spells are affected by a person’s combat experience and training, but light magic is much harder than normal… If you teach people and they fail to learn the spell, it’s still fine if they just acknowledge their lack of ability and leave, but there are a lot of people who can’t do that, that’s why it’s problematic.” [Remilie]

Remilie-san was an expert at magic, so a lot of people have asked her to teach them magic plenty of times. When they couldn’t learn, some of them would blame it on her inability as a teacher, or unjustly suspect her of withholding knowledge, believing that she didn’t actually want to teach them anything.

Even if one wishes to teach another person out of the goodness of their heart, there’s a chance it’ll only lead to trouble, so it’s best to choose what to teach and who to teach. Also, unless I want to become a teacher, it’s best that I only teach things on the basic level… Or at least, that’s the advice she gave me.

Sebasu-san, who was listening from the side, agreed. Apparently, he too had a similar experience with dimension magic. I’ll keep their words in mind.