Chapter 135:
Confusion...and Grasping the Situation
THE MAN SAT in front of me, and next to him were Ciel, Sora…and Sora? What should I even do?
Mrrrow.
Ciel’s familiar meow made my muscles relax. That’s right. I’m already in this mess, so I’d better suck it up and face the music. First things first…
“This big creature is called Ciel. It’s my friend, so you don’t need to worry.”
“I see… Um, an adandara…wait, did you rescue me? No…the one who rescued me was that slime over there? Huh?”
Aha. So this guy is just as confused as I am. This is his first time meeting us, so it makes sense that he’s confused… I guess I’ll have to explain what happened. It’s all you, Ivy!
“Uh, so it’s like this, you see. Sora has the power to heal.” Huh? You’re done already, Ivy?
“Um…thanks.”
Okay…part two! “Oh, don’t mention it, sir. I’m afraid your arm couldn’t be saved.”
“Yeah…looks like it. Well, no wonder—a gurbar bit it off and ate it. It’s a miracle I’m alive at all.”
“A…gurbar?” Was that one of the monsters that attacked them? Was it in any of my books? I don’t remember a monster with that name.
“So, kid.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Which one of those slimes is Sora?”
I followed the man’s gaze to Sora and…Sora? Which was which?
“They’re…both Sora?”
“Hm? They both are?”
“Hmmm, it’s Half-Sora and Half-Sora.”
The man fell silent. It wasn’t like I was lying, though. One Sora split into two, so they’re each Half-Sora… Okay, Ivy, so far, the only thing you’ve managed to communicate to him is that you’re freaking out. I took several deep breaths. Don’t panic!
“Pu, puuu.”
“Te-ryuuu.”
Their voices were still weak, and it was hard to figure out the emotional tone of the red one’s cries.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard slimes speak. And the healing, too… These monsters are quite rare.”
Oh no! That’s right, I’d forgotten it was unusual for slimes to speak! Oh, what should I say? What should I even do now? I’m completely in the dark here.
“Are you okay?” the man suddenly asked.
“Huh?!”
“Oh, you just looked like you were about to cry… Is it because of me? Sorry. I’m a little out of sorts.”
I’m not sure why…but he seems really nice. Maybe I should ask him for help… No, first I need to make him give me his word.
“Um, I have a request for you, sir! Could you please not tell anyone about Ciel or Sora?”
“Hm…? Why, yes, of course! Having all these rare creatures in your care is pretty dangerous. And you saved my life. You have my word. I won’t tell a soul.”
What a relief. I pretty much just have to trust him because of the situation, but I wish I didn’t have to…
“Phew. Anyway…what a tragedy,” the man sighed, looking around the clearing with a growing sorrow in his eyes. No wonder he was sad. He’d just lost his companions.
“Did anyone else survive?” he asked.
“No, sir. All twenty-one were dead.”
“Twenty-one? Not thirty-five?”
Thirty-five? Some of the bodies were a little difficult to identify, but there were definitely twenty-one of them.
“Well, um, the way some of them died, it was a little hard to tell, but I do think there were twenty-one bodies.”
“I see… I guess that means some of them might have escaped.”
So there were thirty-five in the party… If some of them escaped, they probably would have run for Oll. It would take me half a day to walk there, but adults fleeing danger would make it there faster. Even if they stopped and hid from monsters along the way, a rescue party from Oll would probably be here in a few hours—which was bad news for us. There were the Soras to deal with, and Ciel would need to hide somewhere, too.
Mew!
I turned toward Ciel and saw it was pointing its nose toward the forest. Is the rescue party already here? I focused and searched for human auras…and found several coming toward us at incredible speed.
“Ciel, I want you to take the Soras with you and hide somewhere. Can you do that?”
Mrrrow.
I shoved Blue Sora and Red Sora into the Sora Bag. When I lifted Red Sora, I felt my heart race. It reminded me too much of the collapsed slime I’d met on that fateful day. It would be horrible if I messed up and let it die. I lowered it slowly into the bag, worrying all the while. I’d never put two slimes in the bag before.
“Are you okay, Sora?”
“Pu, puuu.”
“Te-ryuuu.”
I guess they both really are Sora? Gosh, this is confusing. I hung the bag around Ciel’s neck. Ciel gently sealed the opening with its mouth and bounded carefully off. The man watched the whole exchange with wide eyes. Did we do something strange?
“Wow, kid, you’re an amazing tamer!”
“Huh?! Oh, no, no, don’t say that.” He probably thinks I tamed the adandara. Maybe I should just let him believe that? It’s so difficult to explain.
As Ciel disappeared into the forest, I caught myself staring longingly after them. I was suddenly alone, and I was scared.
“Oh, that’s right. I didn’t thank you yet. Thanks for saving me,” the man said, looking me in the eye and bowing deeply.
“Oh, no, sir! Um…” As I stood there stuttering, he smiled with a twinkle in his eye… I’m so glad I was able to save him.
“By the way, why did those creatures leave?”
“Oh yeah! Well, a rescue party will be here any minute.”
“A rescue party?”
“Yes, sir. I can sense human auras approaching us.”
“I see. Sorry about that, I’m not very good at sensing auras.”
I remember Rattloore saying some of the adventurers in his party couldn’t read auras. Oh right, we need to get our story straight. I can’t possibly tell the rescue party I saved this man from death’s door.
“Um, sorry, sir, but I have one more request.”
“I’ll just tell them a monster bit my arm off, and I lost consciousness. Then you happened to come upon me and helped revive me.”
“Huh?” I looked sharply at the man. He nodded and smiled gently back. He seemed to have gathered that I wanted him to keep quiet about Ciel and the Soras.
“Thank you so much, sir,” I bowed. I’m really glad he was the one we found. Maybe Sora knew he was a good person and that’s why it rescued him.
“No, I should be the one thanking you. But how will we explain my healed arm wound?”
“Ohhh, you’re right, that is a good question. Do you think they’d believe I healed you with a potion?”
“Well, the stub is incredibly clean, considering a monster ripped my arm off. Maybe we can say we used several potions.”
The whole lower half of the man’s arm was missing. I looked at the wound and agreed—it was very clean. I was relieved for his sake…but it was a little too clean for someone who had been viciously maimed just hours ago.
“Well, it’s the only idea I’ve got. Can we use it?”
“Yes, sir. If they ask, we’ll say we poured several blue potions directly on the wound.”
“It wouldn’t get this clean from blue potions alone, so we should probably say we poured all sorts of potions on it in the heat of the moment.”
Aha! That way, they’ll think it was some unknown combination of potions that healed him so well. Maybe they’ll buy that? Well, I guess it’ll have to do since we can’t think of anything else.
“Understood, sir.”
“Oh, right. I’ve forgotten something.”
What did he forget?
The man stood up straight and met my eyes. For some reason, he looked quite solemn. It scared me a little.
“I am Druid, a mid-level adventurer from the town of Oll.”
“I’m…Ivy. Nice to meet you.” My heart was racing so much that I was a bit slow to respond. I had a feeling that this was the start of something. I wasn’t expecting us to exchange names.
“Ahhh, but I failed my mission and lost all my money. Guess I’ll have to be a slave?”
“A slave?”
“Hm? Ha ha ha! Don’t worry about it. This’ll be my second time.”
Druid’s seemingly carefree attitude calmed my nerves a little, but there was still something that concerned me.
“Um, you should know that there was blessed balm in one of the carriages.”
“What?! No…there couldn’t be.”
“No, sir, Ciel found it and carried it out of that burning carriage.”
“The one who assigned me this mission was riding in that carriage.”
Blessed balm…in the carriage of the person who sent Druid on this mission. I had a really bad feeling about this.
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