Published: August 2, 2025
Today, episodes 9 and 10 are posted simultaneously.
This story is episode 9.
“Found the fifth location...”
The limule birds scouted from the sky, the slime used their numbers to search, and I confirmed and recorded. With each of us assigned to tasks suited to our abilities, the nest was found in no time. Now all that was left was to report... but finding it so easily felt a bit unsatisfying.
The search request was to find the nest, but since we had time to spare, couldn’t we improve the quality of the report? It would be great to know the size of the nest and the number of enemies inside... Sending slimes in could allow for investigation. But we’d likely encounter the ants deep inside. If that happened, it might no longer be just an investigation.
It would be ideal if we could exterminate them, but if there were too many, some might slip through. Especially the tunnel ants, magical beasts that can move underground... ‘Explore.’
“...No good.”
Maybe because the ant nest’s passages were narrow, the flow of mana was too complex. I could only sense near the entrance. Using a large amount of mana to create a mold-like image was... too much mana consumption.
I pondered for five minutes.
Then, looking down, I noticed footprints left in the freshly dug-up soil.
...Could it be...? Should I try?
I used the exploration magic again, but this time with earth-attribute mana instead of neutral. Like with Rock and Break Rock, I imagined the mana seeping into the ground...
“‘Explore’... oh!”
It worked!
The mana spread through the earth and didn’t pass where there was no soil. The blank spaces in the search area vividly revealed the nest’s shape. There was no reaction from the tunnel ants...
Since I wasn’t surveying the nest’s interior, I couldn’t determine the exact number of enemies. But it seemed I wasn’t disturbing the ants inside either. Considering the nest’s size and the size of one tunnel ant, I could roughly estimate the maximum number of ants inside.
I should make a basic model of the nest’s shape before I forget. Using ‘Rock’ makes it easy. I also added the investigation time to the notes... Alright. From now on, I’ll use earth-attribute exploration for investigations. Saying “earth-attribute exploration” is kind of a mouthful... Since it’s exploration but not neutral attribute, I’ll call it ‘Earth Sonar.’
“Let’s move on!”
Leading the slime, I headed to the next candidate site.
Which way should we go, right or left, since there are several options...? Huh?
In Ains’ sight, there was a group of six pulling a small cart. Judging by their size, they were children. They looked familiar... Ah, it’s Beck and the others.
“Let’s greet them.”
“Hey!”
Carefully raising my voice so as not to alert them, I approached the six who seemed to be resting.
“You’re Ryoma, right? We’ve been running into you quite often lately... Is that slime behind you?”
“We’re both active in the same town. These are metal slime and iron slime.”
“Wow, that’s quite a number…”
Wist-kun’s face twitched. Maybe he’s not good with slimes?
“So, what brings you here?”
“We’re searching for tunnel ant nests. It’s a job from the Tamer Guild. Since we happened to see you, we called out... How about you?”
“We’re on extermination duty. More or less.”
“Our main goal is the tunnel ants’ shells...”
That was Half-Elf Marta and Half-Dwarf Finia, right? And their goal was the shells?
“The elder brothers in the slums have apprenticeships with armor craftsmen. If we bring them materials, they make armor cheaper in return.”
“They say it’s practice, but the master acknowledged it as proper armor!”
The Canine Tribe siblings added their explanation.
“Just like Luce and Loomil said, the ant shells are lighter than metal but tougher than leather, so they can be used for armor and shields. If we bring extra materials, they even give us some discounts. The ants we exterminate can be sold too, so we want to prepare equipment for everyone during this opportunity.”