Volume 3 Chapter 39 Sewer Construction XV
Cain moved to a spot hidden from the forest and created a path leading to a large open space. Tony, seeing this, stood with his mouth wide open in surprise. From the newly made entrance, Barvish led the way forward.
"Ooh, wow!!!"
Tony glanced at the vast open area and shouted loudly, his voice echoing all around.
"Tony, you're a bit loud."
Cain covered his ears with both hands and complained to Tony.
The entrance, connected from the forest, opened roughly in the middle of the large space. A slope was added to allow easy descent. This slope would later be used by slimes entering from the forest.
"But, Cain? If this space is so big, doesn't that mean we'll need a lot of slimes?"
Tony, who had walked down into the space and was looking around, asked.
"I think so too. We'll need at least more than 100, right? Hey, Tony, how fast do slimes multiply?"
"Eh, I don't know. When I first made a contract with them, there were 5. I let them live in the forest, and they grew to 15."
"Starting with 5 and now 15... that's tripling in 5 days. So, 45 in 10 days, and 135 in 15 days. I wonder if we can manage that?"
Cain muttered to himself, calculating the slime growth rate.
"Sir Cain, I don't think it will be that easy. First, we don't know what conditions slimes need to multiply. Even if they have food, that doesn't mean they'll automatically increase."
Barvish looked at Tony's slimes and commented.
"Barvish, it's our job as retainers to help you figure that out. And we still have time before everything starts, so let's try different things. Okay!?"
Gardy, prodding one of the slimes, suggested to Barvish.
"That's true, but... Tony, what do slimes eat?"
Barvish, perhaps resigned, began to think positively about increasing the slime population.
"Hmm, they're mainly omnivores, so anything works? Grass and stones are fine, but... monster meat, since it contains Mana, might help them multiply more easily."
Tony shared an interesting point.
"Alright, let's try everything now! Barvish, could you request a goblin extermination quest from the Adventurer's Guild?"
Cain instructed the two to head to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Sir Cain, I can hunt goblins myself, so there's no need to request it. Also, I'm worried information might leak before the sewers are operational."
Barvish showed reluctance to involve the Adventurer's Guild.
"That's right, I could defeat goblins too. And if we use the slimes to fight, it will help level them up as well."
For some reason, Tony was enthusiastic about Barvish's plan.
"""Sir Cain?"""
The three crowded around Cain.
"Alright, I got it. Let's go hunt goblins, but safety first."
Cain reluctantly agreed. In his mind, he grumbled, *Really, why do they want to fight so badly?*
* * *
The next day, Cain, Barvish, Gardy, Tony, and the slimes were hunting goblins in the forest. Goblins could sometimes be found near New Town Street, but for a quicker hunt, they headed to the Great Deep Forest.
Being there reminded Cain of the recent stampede, so he was more alert than usual. At the slightest noise, he flinched and almost fired magic.
"Sir Cain, please relax a bit more. If there are any monsters nearby, I can detect them with my [Presence Detection]."
Barvish said, noticing Cain's tension.
"Well, I trust you, Barvish, but it seems like I'm just being overly sensitive."
Cain admitted, a little embarrassed.
"It's a good thing. It's important to stay cautious."
Gardy added.
After advancing a while in the Great Deep Forest, Gardy stopped. Tension ran through Cain and the others.
"Three goblins are approaching from the front right. They're about 50 meters away, and since we're downwind, they haven't noticed us."
Gardy found the goblins.
"Sir Cain, can we go?"
Gardy confirmed with Cain.
"U, yeah. I'm fine. My Mana circulation is working, so I can go anytime."
Cain responded, a little hesitantly.
"Then, once we're within visual range, use magic on the goblins. Once the magic hits, I'll take the left, Gardy will take the right to engage in close combat. Tony, can you handle the remaining one?"
Gardy explained the plan.
"Understood," "Got it," "Of course."
Cain, Gardy, and Tony replied.
Then, rustling the underbrush, the three goblins came into Cain and the others' sight. As the distance narrowed to about 20 meters, Barvish signaled Cain.
"Phew, alright. [Stone Cannon]."
Cain released the magic. A stone mass, like a bowling ball, flew straight toward the goblins. On impact, the goblin's body exploded.
After the magic hit, there was a brief silence.
"Sir Cain, you might have overdone it. The goblin was reduced to pieces."
Barvish quietly pointed it out.
Nearby, Tony shouted, "Cain! That was amazing!"
All three goblins were reduced to upper-body fragments and had died. Cain reflected on whether he had used too much Mana but managed to regain his composure. He wasn't panicking like during the stampede.
The shattered goblins were quickly absorbed by the slimes. Within 20 minutes, they were completely gone.
"The slimes are incredible. I can't believe they can absorb them this quickly."
Cain muttered as he watched the slimes.
"Cain, don't worry. It's fine. They don't need to absorb this much every day. Even if they don't absorb anything for about 2 weeks, the slimes will be fine. Otherwise, the forest would disappear, right?"
Tony preemptively answered Cain's concern.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!