Chapter 1 Episode 19: Working with Other Adventurers
Ryoma’s Side
The preparations were done. I had gotten everything ready in front of the cesspit before everyone else had arrived. Or rather, my clothes stood out so much I would have attracted even more attention if I had several adventurers trailing after me. They each had their own preparations to make, and I had to check the bacteria hadn’t gotten out beforehand anyway.
All that was left now was to wait for the first squad on the job. Oh, there they are now.
The footsteps stopped, and the door leading outside opened. Three people from the meeting that was held looked back at me, including the client of my previous job, Miya, and the one I had met at the guild before, Jeff.
“Thank you for your work.”
“Yeah, though we haven’t done anything yet.”
“It’s been two days since then, Ryoma. You seem to know me and Jeff already, but I’ll just introduce myself again, nya? I’m the cat beastkin, Miya Catt. Please call me Miya, nya.”
Miya waved her brown furred ears and tail at me, as though emphasizing how she was a cat beastkin.
“Ah, like I said before, I’m Jeff Grange. Just so you know, I had a rough upbringing. I don’t like to speak stiffly, and you don’t need to be polite, either. Just talk to me casually.”
“Thank you, but I’m not particularly forcing myself to speak this way.”
“No worries, then. Next is...”
“That would be me.”
Next was a man I hadn’t met before, with brown, near-black hair that had been roughly chopped short. It didn’t really bother me during the earlier meeting, but his words were straight out of an ancient drama. And the weapon he wore was a katana... judging by its length, a tachi. It was my first time seeing one since coming here. They had never shown up among the bandit loot either, so just who was this person...?
“I am called Asagi. A wanderer from the village of dragonewts, journeying to better myself. I have settled in this town as an adventurer for the present. ‘Tis been said that even a chance meeting can lead to a deep bond, such as I hope is our fate.”
“I’m Ryoma Takebayashi, it’s nice to meet you too. So you’re a dragonewt.”
Dragonewts were also called the dragonfolk. Like their name implied, they were people that had the traits of dragons. I couldn’t see any of said traits at all, so I had thought he was a regular human. It seemed like Asagi noticed that.
“Were you unaware of my dragonewt status?”
“Sorry, it’s my first time meeting one...”
“No need for concern. Dragonewts have not predetermined characteristics like other species, such as cat beastkin. Most possess scales over part of their body, some grow small horns, though this is rare. Everything else be identical to humans. If the scales are in an inconspicuous location, it would be difficult to spot the difference. Such as myself.”
As Asagi spoke, he opened his collar to show scales that were of the same color as his hair. But I was more curious about his way of speaking and the weapon he had.
“Sorry, could I ask you one thing?”
Figuring it would be rude to suddenly ask about his speech, I asked about his hometown. Apparently, the dragonewt village was a settlement on a faraway island — established by someone who I suspected was another world transferee in the past.
“Dragonewts have tougher bodies and greater pools of magic energy than humans. This has remained unchanged from the past, but the dragonewts of old arrogantly used their power as a shield to believe other species to be far inferior. However, the one who created our village was not only a human, but a master swordsman who could best a dragonewt. It is said that he single-handedly brought down the dragonewt tyranny towards humans with that sword arm of his. But he mercifully spared the dragonewt he defeated, which awed them into thus becoming his disciples. They relocated to an uninhabited island and settled down away from the frightened eyes of others, where we have inherited their samurai spirit to this day. This was the tale of our exile and subsequent formation of our village.”
For the record, Asagi was the grandson of one of those dragonewt disciples, and his manner of speaking was passed down through the generations. The origin of his name also came from a samurai group that appeared in a folktale of theirs — the color of their kimono, apparently. And the person who transferred worlds highly respected that group, or something.
...The more I listened to it, the more I felt something odd about this otherworlder’s actions. Perhaps the stories had become distorted as they were retold throughout time, but it kind of felt like I was listening to a foreigner with a slight misunderstanding about Japanese culture.
“...Hey, your conversation’s real interesting and all, but shouldn’t you get to work already?”
“Oh, fair point.”
“Looks like we got carried away.”
Jeff’s words brought us back to the present, and we got back to work.
“I’m going to open the door now, but first take this handkerchief and soak it before wrapping it around your face.”
I gave the cleaner slimes an order to fill the container I prepared with their deodorant solution.
“What is that?”
“This is the deodorant solution of the cleaner slimes. It reduces bad smells dramatically. Poisons and other toxins won’t enter your body this way.”
“I see.”
The three of them watched me soak my own handkerchief and wrap it around my face before copying me.
“I’m going to open it now.”
Then, I opened the door...
“I’ll be back la-”
“Urgh! Geh...”
I was halfway through my farewells before heading off to work when Asagi suddenly started retching.
“Are you okay?”
“Forgive me. I was prepared for a stench when the door opened, but couldn’t smell anything so I let my guard down. Dragonewts have noses as sensitive as beastkin. The moment the handkerchief slipped, I ended up like this.”
Oh, so that was why. I was the same at first.
“Well, that’s just how it is. I’m a human and the same thing happened to me yesterday. It smelled so bad, it reached my eyes. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if it weren’t for my slimes. I’ll leave the deodorant solution here, so please use it freely. Now, I’ll be off for real this time.”
When I entered the cesspit with the slimes, I found it to be in the same terrible state as yesterday. I appraised it to see if I could identify the bacteria before I began cleaning, and this came up:
Idake virus: A pathogenic bacteria that occurs on rare occasions where filth has accumulated in large volumes and remained in a humid environment for long periods of time. Chance of outbreak increases the longer it is left untouched. Originally a harmless inhabitant of the human body, it turns pathogenic with mutation. Outbreak can be prevented with appropriate disposal of filth, such as burial or incineration.
Latency period: Onset begins within 10 hours of infection.
Symptoms: Develops in the order of dizziness, fever, chills, numbness in limbs, full-body paralysis, mental deterioration, cardiac arrest. Life-threatening.
After-effects: Paralysis in limbs may remain.
Transmission: Oral infection.
Remarks: Weak to heat and aridity. Remedy available.
There really was a terrible bacteria present! I cleaned it all before I noticed last time, so I didn’t get to appraise it. I should have done it yesterday! Then I could have offered more concrete information. And wait, there was a remedy?! The moment I found out the disease name, the corresponding medicine and recipe just surfaced in my head like I was recalling something I knew. It seemed like it was in the knowledge I received. I should inform those above about this.
“Everyone, can you hear me?”
“What’s wrong, nya?”
I cleaned myself and the surrounding area before the door and opened it a little, which Miya noticed immediately.
“I used Appraisal before I began cleaning. As a result, I discovered the toxicant is a source of an epidemic called the Idake virus. Furthermore, the Idake virus has a remedy. I returned to pass on this information.”
“Is that for real, nya?!”
“Yes, there’s no mistaking it. The remedy will require several expensive ingredients, and it may be too late for us to prepare it now, but could you send a message to the guildmaster anyway?”
“I’ll go. If I tell the old man the disease name and remedy, he’d probably prepare enough for us, even if it’s expensive. I don’t know how long it’ll take to prepare, so make it quick.”
“Wait a minute. Tell him how to make the remedy at the same, that way all you need is the ingredients and an apothecary.”
“You even know how to make the remedy?!”
“It was one of the things I learned from my grandmother.”
“That is most reassuring to hear. If you could impart that knowledge, I shall write it down.”
Asagi promptly took out writing materials he had prepared in advance, and I informed him of the medicine’s formulation. He didn’t seem to understand all the technical terms, but he wrote everything down smoothly when I told him how to spell the words. I hadn’t written anything with a brush for a long time. I’ve only been using quills or pens made from wood since coming here. But I never used brushes in past life either, apart from writing New Year’s greetings.
“Done. Will this do?”
I read over the contents once to make sure there were no problems, then Jeff immediately went running off with the note. Then I headed into the toilet pit.
I didn’t need any more information from the filth. It was time to dispose of it. I’m counting on you, slimes!
At my order, the slime by my feet expanded its body like a balloon until it filled the entire space in the staircase of the cesspit. After yesterday’s splitting, the total number of scavenger slimes surpassed a thousand. Their combined form was titled King Scavenger Slime instead of Huge, the size of its body being significantly larger than yesterday. It seemed like a thousand slimes formed a king slime, but it seemed capable of combining further, so it was possible it could change again.
I didn’t know how far it could go, but... the skills were as follows:
King Scavenger Slime x1
Skills: Disease Resistance 7, Poison Resistance 7, Foul Feeder 8, Cleanse 8, Deodorize 8, Deodorant Solution 5, Stench Release 7, Nutrient Reduction 6, Physical Attack Resistance 3, Maximize 4, Minimize 6, Jump 3, Gluttony 1
Consume and Absorb had disappeared in exchange for a new skill called Gluttony. When I tried using it, the king scavenger slime maximized its size to reach the ceiling of the pit and started clearing through the filth at a speed several times faster than before. With its bigger body, it was able to reach the walls and ceiling that the regular scavenger couldn’t, so it might be a good idea to let it split again to have two kings on each end of the corridors with regular slimes filling the middle.
However... was it because the skill was still level 1? While the speed of a single slime was exponentially faster, the 730 slimes from yesterday seemed to work faster. It might be better to work with numbers for now. Having reached that conclusion, I ordered the slimes to break apart and clean that way, working on the ceiling and walls myself.
The doubling of the scavenger slime numbers really had a big impact. I worked nonstop until the first cesspit was cleaned, but today’s work took two hours less than yesterday. After finishing my work, I cleaned up my clothes and belongings and stepped outside. Then...
“Yo, is something else up?”
“I’ve finished cleaning here. Please confirm it’s clean before I move on to the next.”
“Already, nya?!”
“Was it not meant to be one pit a day?”
Huh? Ah! I see, yesterday I cleaned one pit in a day. Based on that information, the three of them assumed I could only clean one a day.
“It seems like there was a slight misunderstanding. The truth is, after I finished cleaning yesterday, the scavenger slimes were triggered into splitting. I was forming contracts with the split slimes in the cesspit, which took some time. The actual time it took to clean one cesspit was around 5 hours, but the numbers doubled through splitting too, so it goes by much faster now.”
“But even if the numbers doubled, it just went from 1 to 2, right? How much faster could they possibly, well... eat?”
“This slime is normally shrunk with a minimize skill, but it’s actually an advanced type of scavenger slime called a king scavenger slime. Do you know of big slimes?”
“Yeah, I do. The big-ass slimes, right?”
“The advanced species above big slimes are formed by combining groups of the same species of slime. That’s why what looks like one slime is actually a lump of many.”
I made the scavenger slime split into 20 slimes before the three of them.
“Wha-nya?!”
“Whoa... Are you serious...?”
“This is...”
“I learned the other day that barely any research has been done on slimes, so the only ones who know this are myself and my acquaintances. Since I have always researched slimes, I believed it was common knowledge when I talked to everyone. I’m sorry.”
“No, if the work can go smoother then it’s for the better. But how many of these scavenger slimes are gathered in this one slime?”
“1464 slimes.”
“A thousand and...?! No, excuse me... If there are that many, then this speed is most reasonable.”
“Please keep the slimes a secret as part of the confidentiality of this mission.”
After that conversation, they confirmed the pit had been cleaned and I moved onto the next cesspit... rinse and repeat.
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