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

“『Lightshot』 …With this, we’ve more or less dealt with the undead around here.” [Ryouma]

We were able to safely arrive at the watchtower. Beside the cylindrically shaped tower was a shed likely used as a break room by the guards. It was plain as one would expect from something that was merely attached to the tower. Despite being an old building within the ruins of a large prison, however, it still maintained its shape. Around it was just the bare ground, and there weren’t even any handrails to prevent falling.

It seems like it would be dangerous in the dark, so maybe there were handrails before, but they deteriorated with the passage of time. However, the lack of unnecessary objects did make it easier to take over the watchtower.

After securing the place, we looked at the Town of Departed Spirits. I was understandably anxious to go up the tower, but fortunately, the tower was somewhere higher than the prison, so I could already more or less see what was going on inside the prison without going up.

Past the gates was likely a world meant only to accommodate criminals. Rectangular and unadorned massive stone buildings could be seen neatly arranged, and at the center stood a tower that looked like a larger version of the watchtowers.

The structures of the Town of Departed Spirits understandably felt abandoned since they were, but it felt like that even as a whole. There were moss and cracks here and there, and some buildings have collapsed too. I couldn’t see inside the buildings or behind them, but I didn’t see any of those Miasma Pools they told me about.

“Hmm… From the looks of it, only weak undead have spawned in great numbers. The miasma has spread wide, but it’s thin.” [Reinbach]

“Though it should be dealt with as soon as possible, the situation isn’t pressing by any means.” [Schieber]

“That’s a silver lining, I suppose.” [Remilie]

The way I saw it, it looked just like something akin to the final scene in a zombie movie, but it looks like the situation is still okay. I wonder what kind of situation they’ll consider bad?

It was when I could afford to think of nonsense like that that…

“!” [Ryouma]

“Ryouma, what’s the matter?” [Schieber]

“Did something happen?” [Sebasu]

“Some of the slimes protecting the bottom are… Oh, but they aren’t feeling any sense of danger or anxiety, so the situation seems alright.” [Ryouma]

For a moment, I thought the slimes might have eaten too much undead, but this is probably an evolution.

I gave a few words to everyone before going down to check, and as expected, there were about 10 scavenger slimes showing signs of evolution.

I had the other slimes surround them to protect them while they were releasing and absorbing mana. They’re probably defenseless during the process. That’s why they usually evolve in places where I could protect them or somewhere away from people’s eyes.

…I wonder what would happen if I touched them during evolution. I seem to recall hearing that if you touch an insect during molting, it could cause deformities and other negative effects… But I don’t remember it all that well…

I wonder what would happen in the case of slimes. It’s got me curious, but I’d feel bad for them if something weird happened. Besides, it’s the first time a slime is evolving from eating undead, so I might as well just quietly watch over them.

I turned my attention away from my pondering to focus observing them, and I noticed that they were spewing more mana during evolution than usual. It might also just be because there were several of them evolving at the same time…

“Huh, so this is how slimes evolve.” [???]

“!　Oh, you scared me. Remilie-san, Schieber-san, you came.” [Ryouma]

“Reinbach-chan and the others said you might let your guard down from being too engrossed observing your slimes, so we followed after you. You really are quite engrossed, aren’t you?” [Remilie]

“Sorry, I didn’t notice at all.” [Ryouma]

“It’s not good to let your guard down, but don’t worry about it so much. She did go out of her way to use Hide after all.” [Schieber]

Schieber-san pointed out with dismay. Apparently, she used that presence-erasing spell again. When I turned to her, she smiled at me like a mischievous child.

After that we watched over the slimes until they finished evolving. It was Schieber-san and Remilie-san’s first time watching a slime evolve too, so they watched with interest.

“…Looks like they’re done.” [Ryouma]

All the scavenger slimes that evolved from eating undead had a darkish earth color to them. They were also much bigger than the other slimes, being about 60cm in diameter, making them just right for sitting. Not that I plan on sitting on them or anything.

I used Monster Identify on them and found out that they were a type of slime called ‘Gureibu?’ Slime. Glaive? …Isn’t that a weapon like the naginata?　But why?　When I checked their skills, I realized my mistake.

Name: Grave Slime
Skills: Attract Ghosts Lv1; Absorb Ghosts Lv3; Enshrine Remains Lv3 Disease Resist Lv7; Poison Resist Lv7; Miasma Resist Lv8; Lead Belly Lv6; Clean Lv2; Deodorize Lv7; Physical Attack Resist Lv2; Jump Lv3; Digest Lv7; Absorb Lv3; Split Lv2; Taijutsu Lv2
Attract Ghosts, Absorb Ghosts, Enshrine Remains, and Miasma Resist.

I realized that ‘gureibu’ could also be read as grave in English, so the name finally made sense. Skill-wise, their Clean has gotten weaker, and the Deodorizing Liquid is also gone. In exchange were the three new skills. The fact that they didn’t lose the skill they learned while training with me must be because they got it from training.

When I checked what attributes of mana they liked, I found out that they liked earth, darkness, and dimension… Dimension!?

“What a surprise.” [Ryouma]

To think there would be a slime that would like dimension attribute mana. No matter how much I gave a slime dimension mana, it never evolved. I was starting to think that it was impossible, but then the possibility for a slime that could use dimension magic appeared.

I should experiment with the new skills too. Let’s start with the Attract Ghosts. From the name, it’s probably a skill that attracts undead, so I asked the scavenger slimes, who were still eating the undead, to make way.

…The results were just as expected. The Grave Slimes released a bluish-white light that looked like a human’s soul, then the undead that have been randomly attacking whatever was nearby suddenly walked straight for the Grave Slimes.

Then with Absorb Ghosts, they all took the undead inside them. Moreover, most of the undead were swallowed without any resistance. They would still resist when the scavenger slimes ate them, but this time there wasn’t any of that at all. Is this the power of Grave Slimes?　After awhile, it even looked as if the undead were taking the initiative to be eaten.

Last was the Enshrine Remains skill. Apparently, the Grave Slimes can store undead-type monsters inside them without digesting them and let them out whenever. If it’s limited・・ to the undead, then I don’t think it’s very useful, but if the ‘remains’ of animals are included too, then they might prove useful for the transport of spoils.

“This is worth researching!” [Ryouma]

“Ryouma-chan, are you finishing soon?　We don’t know much about slimes, so we’d like to ask a few things.” [Remilie]

“Ah, yes. Right. Let’s go back up. That should make it easier to talk too.” [Ryouma]

Like that, we went back up again, but… The whole time we were climbing the stairs, they were looking at me like I was a kid who would run off again the moment they took their eyes off me… Their eyes did seem full of warmth, though.