Chapter 11: Slime Rescues the Hime-miko

While avoiding monsters as much as possible, we steadily proceeded deeper into the forest.

「Orphe-nee, there’s a corpse here. Judging from his equipment, he seems to be a travelling adventurer」
「He probably came here to save Elesia-chan just like us」
「As expected, something’s wrong with this forest. There’s too many monsters, and too strong at that」

Up until now, there had been an unbelievable number of monsters appearing.
And they’re all strong.

Receiving influence from miasma, ordinary animals mutated into powerful monsters.
And frightened by the powerful monsters, the monsters who had made the parts deep in the forest their territories rapidly descended to the foot of the mountain.
If this goes on, it’s only a matter of time before monsters appear in human habitation.

「Another one!」

Nikola didn’t equip tools or knives, but a cane.
A straight machine cane without curves. (TLN: Machine cane sounds awkward, but my brain can’t find anything else. Lit. mechanism/machine cane)

Straightening it out, she pulled the trigger.
A magic silver bullet was shot out and a cartridge flew out.
The bullet which surpassed the speed of sound, struck the abdomen of a gigantic dog the size of a tiger which leapt out at us. The gigantic dog’s body was split right in half.
At first glance, it seems like magic, but this is an invention called a gun.
One of my inventions which should never be shown to the public. If we were to speak about its individual power, then it falls far short from elite magic arts users. However, it’s different from knights and magic arts users who have to take several years to train, the gun needs practically no practice for a peasant to be given offensive power and range of a powerful magic arts user. If this appears in market, the concept of wars will change.

「Phew, we can’t fight such dangerous monsters directly」
「Right? We’ve also seen adventurers who had been eaten and scattered about」

While saying that, Orphe sniped a chimpanzee type monster’s head with her prided 【Ice Spear Spiral】.
Originally, Nikola’s machine cane and Orphe’s composite magic art are the type of secret arts which should be shown as little as possible.
However, the surrounding monsters are strong to the point that there isn’t room to hide them.
We beat them to the punch and defeated them, but all of them are monsters so dangerous that we have to to that.

I deliciously 【Absorbed】 the monsters two defeated and cotinued evolving.
Since we have to rescue Elesia, I do my best in quickly eating them.
This is necessary. ……The gang who kidnapped Elesia isn’t just this strong.
Their ability exceeds that of the guard knights who protected the Hime-miko. I know the true strength of the guard knights. That’s exactly why I’m scared.

「Pyui!」
「Sla-chan, you finished eating. Let’s go then」

I obtained 【Smell Enhancement】 and 【Arm Strength Enhancement】 from the gigantic dog monster, Grudge Dog and the chimpanzee monster with enlarged arms, Throck Chimpa respectively. (TLN: グラッジ・ドッグ、スロック・チンパ. Suggestions appreciated)
Both of them are useful Skills.
The problem is 【Arm Strength Enhancement】, this slime body doesn’t have arms.
Let’s try using it once. Ooh, I feel strength welling up throughout my whole body. It seems like I can move fairly faster with this. (TLN: Though called arm strength, can also mean physical strength. Reason i used arm is because of him mentioning arms)

◇

After that, we were attacked by monsters and discovered the corpses of a few adventurers.

「Pyui, pyui! (Look, look)」

I made a great racket. I wanted Orphe to notice the traces remaining on the corpse.

「Sla-chan, what’s wrong? ……This corpse. So that’s the case. Nikola, be careful, from here on, we need to be vigilant against something other than monsters」
「Mn. This person was killed by magic arts」

This corpse didn’t did because of an attack by monsters. There are traces of magic art remaining.
In other words, the enemy’s base should be near to where the gang of assailants attacked the Himemiko.
I did not stop using 【Presence Sensing】 at all.
Then, we finally arrived at our destination.

「This is the place Elesia-chan was attacked」
「The problem is how we should go about searching Elesia from here on. Orphe-nee, can you search the wind’s memory?」 (TLN: Author typoed Nikola-nee)
「The wind’s strong today so it might be difficult. The wind which knows about Elesia seems to have gone somewhere」

The two people started talking about searching the surroundings.
It can’t be helped, this is where I’ll show the power of a father.

「Pyui! (Leave it to me)」

I let out a cry and hop around Nikola.
There’s a proper guide.

「Sla, what’s wrong? Why’re you running wildly around my feet」
「Nikola-chan, perhaps…… take out the ribbon you received from Elesia-chan」
「What are you planning to do with it?」
「Just take it out」

Orphe, nice assist.
Nikola held out the hand holding the ribbon to my face.
This ribbon is the one Elesia handed to Nikola at the ryokan, telling her to dress up. It’s interesting that her kindness is connected to her rescue.

I activated the 【Smell Enhancement】 Skill which I just obtained.
Sniff sniff.
It smells good. I memorise it.

「Pyui! (Over here)」

Advancing in the direction Elesia’s scent is coming from, I looked back and called for the two.

「Sla, do you possibly know Elesia’s scent?」
「Pyui! (Heh heh)」 (TLN: Prideful laugh)
「I’ve never heard that slimes have a good sense of smell」

While playing with her silver coloured hair, Nikola let out a voice of surprise from the bottom of her heart.

「It’s probably the dog monster’s Skill from before. Sla-chan’s an infinite evolving slime, after all」
「Orphe-nee, do you understand what Sla is saying?」
「Somehow. We are connected through 【Slave Seal】 so its feelings are transmitted」
「I’m a little envious. I also want to know what Sla’s thinking about. It’ll be useful in magic creature research」
「Pyui!?」

While talking about such things, both of them followed behind me.
We steadily approached Elesia’s scent.
Furthermore, the miasma is getting stronger.

「Nikola-chan, don’t use the cane from here on out」 (TLN: Author typo-ed Nitola-chan)
「Understood. It’ll be noticed by the gang who kidnapped Elesia」

The machine cane is powerful but makes a loud noise.
It’ll alert them.
We have two people and one slime. I hope to avoid battles as much as possible and save Elesia.

There’s a reaction from 【Presence Sensing】. It’s probably a human.
As I let out a soft cry, Orphe guessed my intention.

We still haven’t decided whether he is a kidnapper, so we didn’t deal a preemptive attack and made a detour, and got closer to Elesia.
We proceeded amidst the greenery so unpleasant and thick, people would be unlikely to approach.
If Orphe didn’t manipulate the trees and made a path with 【Earth】 magic, we would probably have trouble even advancing.
As I looked around my surroundings attentively, as expcted, there are a lot of traces people pass through here.

「Sla-chan’s done a great deed. This is the right path. There are a lot of traces of being trampled on. There aren’t any ordinary people who would approach such a place. Especially that cavern, that place looks suspicious」
「Pyui (Correct)」
Sla-chan, Elesia-hime’s in that cavern, right?」
「Pyui!」

The place we arrived at is a small cavern.
The miasma is thick to the point of nauseating.
Now then, what should we do from here? There are countless enemies lying in wait within the cavern. On the other hand, there aren’t any alternative routes.

「Orphe-nee, leave it to me. It’ll be convenient if they shut themselves up in the cavern. I can safely incapacitate them」
「I’ll leave it to you then, Nikola-chan」
「Mn. Sla, please give me Gussuri-kun number two」 (TLN: Gussuri = Sound asleep)
「Pyui!」

I took out Nikola’s invention, Gussuri-kun number two, from inside my stomach.
It is a small metal tube with a cord attached to it.

Nikola held that tube, and while she hid in the thickets and approached the mouth of the cavern, before pulling on the cord which was attached to the tube and flung it with all her strength. It made clunking sounds as it rolled into the cavern.
Then, after ten seconds, white smoke billowed and overflowed out from the mouth of the cavern with a terrifying force.
Nikola returned.

「After five minutes, we’ll rush in. That thing is heavier than air. It’ll naturally permeate throughout the interior of the cavern. Then all of them will be fast asleep」
「That’s convenient. Shimazu-chan and the others bring them around constantly」

Nikola’s invention, Gussuri-kun number two, is a strong sleeping gas.
Its original purpose is to suppress rioters who barricade themselves indoors. The effectiveness is outstanding when used in such caverns.
With this, we can safely rescue Elesia.
After ten minutes, we go into the cavern.

◇

「There aren’t any monsters, huh」
「Mn. Even if there are monsters, animal types won’t be a problem. They’ll be fast asleep. But insects will be spared」

It’s bright since there are torches set against the walls of the cavern.
There are traces of the torches replaced a few times. It has been months since they stated using this cavern.
As we approached Elesia’s scent, the number of artifacts like engravings and statues increased.
Orphe’s expression became stiffer.
That’s natural.

「Don’t tell me, this…… no way」

Orphe knows these engravings and statues.
These are symbols of the religious organisation which worships seven certain evil gods.

Also, that group of heretics is the gang who had destroyed the forest of elves, the Protectors of Wind in which Orphe had been born in and raised.
In order to revive one of the evil gods who had been sealed by the family of elves, they ingeniously curried favour in the elves’ forest, destroyed it from inside, and in the end, forcibly overran it.

I came to save the forest of elves, but the only one I was able to rescue is Orphe. The seal of the evil god had been undone, and I couldn’t defeat the evil god whose seal had been undone, and I also couldn’t reseal it with ordinary means because the keystone of the seal had been destroyed…… I used my last resort.

I thought that it wasn’t true, but I never thought that my prediction was spot on.
If they are the mastermind, even the fact that the Mikohime came to this village was arranged by them, and they planned to use the Hime-miko from the beginning. It definitely wouldn’t be something good.

「Let’s hurry, Nikola-chan. Elesia-chan’s in real danger」

Orphe quickened her pace. Her expression is stiff. Recalling the former tragedy, the worry she had towards the person she consider her younger sister increased.
On the way, a few people were standing watch, but all of them had fell asleep thanks to Gussuri-kun number two. They probably won’t wake up in half a day.

And then, we finally arrived at the innermost place.
A gigantic magic square was drawn, and on top of it is Elesia, who had lost consciousness and bound to it. Around it are the heretic priests which are sleeping due to Nikola’s 【Gussuri-kun Number Two】. (TLN: Why suddenly the bracket, author?)

「Elesia-chan」

Orphe rushed over, and lifted Elesia in her arms.
However, she wasn’t put to sleep but was brought into one part of the magic square. Orphe, who had seen through it, used all her power as the Enlight of 【Magic Arts】 and started work on recovering Elesia.
Elesia’s soul was captured through a magic ritual. If only her body was torn off, Elesia would probably become a cripple.

「This might be bad. They’re the worst. This sealed ground and this cavern is connected to a ley line. The seal is interfered from here through the ley line. The magic ritual used to capture Elesia-chan is the composite of 【Unleash】 and 【Inversion】. And quite high grade at that. ……For there to be people who could make something like this other than Otou-san and I. After forcibly extracting the Mikohime’s 【Purification】 power, they inversed it and washed the seal down If they did this…… depending on the limit, far from the magic ritual collapsing, a resonance ripple would instead occur」
「Orphe-nee, speak in words I can understand」(TLN: I second this.)
「They are trying to undo the seal by using the power originally used to strengthen the seal, inversing it and striking it. Not only that, they are processing that power so that it becomes food for the evil god」
「That’s bad. But we’ll have to save Elesia-chan」
「I’ll check inside it. Wait for a while」

Orphe listened to the earth’s voice using 【Earth】 magic arts, permeate her magic power, and see through what cannot be seen.
Her face then became pale.

「This, such a thing, why, why is this here. The seal’s already useless If it’s already been broken this much, we can only buy time. Even if we are buying time, without the Mikohime’s power…… I’ll first release Elesia-chan from the magic ritual with all my power. Analysing the path with the soul, construct camouflaged key, connect, formation of detour path, concept conversion, sever, release」(TLN: Read the next line to understand what the author’s babbling on about.)

With skill that even I am fascinated with, she cancelled the connection between Elesia and the magic ritual, and carefully overwrite the seal so that it isn’t stimulated.
After ten minutes, Elesia was released.

「Nikola-chan, wake Elesia-chan up by any means necessary. We need the Mikohime’s power to gain control of the barrier which is on the verge of bursting open」
「Mn. Understood」

Nikola took a potion out from her bosom and tried to get Elesia to drink it, but she who was sleeping spat it out.

「Sla!」
「Pyui!」

I took out a syringe on Nikola’s request. Nikola filled the syringe with a concentrated fluid, directly poured the potion into her vein.
As expected of the Enlight of 【Alchemy】, I would say.
Elesia slowly opened her eyelids.

「Orphe-nee, why, am I, here?」
「We’ll talk later, Elesia-chan. Unleash all the purification power you can. I’ve reconstructed the magic ritual which captured you into that kind of magic ritual. ……I think it’ll be tough, but just muster all your strength without thinking」
「Y, yes, I’ll do it」

It seems like she doesn’t understand the situation, but since that’s what Orphe said, Elesia activated the Hime-miko’s power with all her power. (TLN: Author, please be consistent. Mikohime or Himemiko???)
Although it seems to be difficult for her to use all her power after having her power thoroughly squeezed out of her, the seal seemes to have somehow recovered a little.
Elesia’s face turned pale. Because she is the Mikohime, she probably felt that the condition of the seal is becoming extremely bad.
With the urgent danger passed, Orphe felt relieved.

「With this, we bought a little time. After this, we’ll have to strengthen the magic ritual and even just a little……」

At the moment she started to say that.
*Thud*, *Thud*, we heard the sound of footsteps.

「You shouldn’t have done that, we were so close. How much trouble do they think we went through」

That man was a wicked priest.
Judging from his voice, he’s probably a young man, but I can’t really see his face, since he’s wearing black glasses and a black mask.
He stinks…… really, really bad. It’s the stench from the other party.
This guy isn’t an ordinary human. He has already entrusted his body to another world’s power and stopped being human. He’s become an underling of an evil god.
I see, the protecting guards were helpless against him.

「Bad kids must be punished」

Five more people appeared from the man’s back.
They received the evil god’s power, but they seem to still be in the category of humans.

……We made a mistake regarding this man.
We had our attention attracted to something else, so they were able to attack us by surprise.

I am angry.
They made Elesia, who I took care of like family, though it was only for a short while, suffer through this. And they’re trying to repeat the tragedy that had struck Orphe.
This body may be a slime, but I am the Great Sage. I’ll show you that I can easily eat up an evil god’s follower.

————————————————
Race: Forbidden Slime
Level: 9
Name: Merlin Enlight
Skill: Absorb | Storage | Presence Sensing | Familiar | Flight Ⅰ | Horn Charge | Language Ⅰ | Thousand Needles | Smell Enhancement | Arm Strength Enhancement
Belongings: Strong acid potion | Various medicinal plant components | Pyroxene of Evolution | Great Sage’s inheritance | Forest Rat materials | Pidgeotto materials | Horn Bambi materials | Denkul Rat materials | Needle Bear materials | Grudge Dog materials | Throck Chimpa materials
Status:
Physical strength E+ | Endurance E | Agility E+ | Magic power E | Luck F+ | Uniqueness EX