Published: August 25, 2025
Today, four chapters are posted simultaneously.
This story is the second chapter.
“Let’s depart!”
From the foot of the mountain to the planned experimental site, we travel by riding on slimes.
Leading the way is a huge bush slime carrying five adventurers on its back. Just like when it was active in the great tree sea, it is cutting through the dense foliage here, creating a path on the mountain slope wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Following behind is an emperor scavenger slime carrying me and four nobles. It smooths out the path made by the huge bush slime ahead, while clearing away branches and leaves the adventurers have brushed aside as it goes.
Both advance at a slow pace, but considering they are climbing a mountain slope in a single vertical line of five people, and on a pathless trail at that, their speed is quite fast.
“...I feel kind of strange...”
“I understand sliding down a mountain slope, but sliding up is a first for me...”
“Unlike horses, it’s a unique sensation...”
“Well, we’ll get used to it soon enough. There’s not much shaking.”
“On the contrary, too little shaking gives a weird feeling too.”
Except for Mr. Sebas, who has ridden a slime before, everyone seems somewhat puzzled by the slime’s ride comfort, with the four beastmen especially restless.
I asked if they were alright, and it seems that due to their keen senses as beastmen, the unfamiliar feeling is particularly noticeable to them. I remembered people at companies and clients who had kept pets saying animals take time to get used to a new environment—perhaps it’s something like that?
However, just as Mr. Jeff said, you get accustomed to it if you keep riding. If it really doesn’t work out, you can just get off and run, so there’s no problem. We continue on as is; if we fuss too much, it might make them feel more uneasy.
“Well... it’s my first time riding a slime, but I’m beginning to want one myself,”
Oh? Lord Rosenberg sitting behind seems genuinely interested in the slimes, not just making polite conversation. When I glance back lightly, he’s repeatedly touching the slime’s body beneath his feet.
We greeted each other when we joined up, but since we moved here so quickly, we haven’t had much chance to talk. Last time we met, I was just a customer consulting with a cursed sorcerer, but from now on, we are teacher and student. This is a good opportunity to deepen our friendship.
“I’m glad to hear you say that. With this build, slimes can carry quite a bit, and since they handle rough terrain well, they’re perfect for moving through places like this.”
“That’s wonderful. Cursed sorcerers don’t just remove curses but also manage miasma zones. However, even with regular purification to suppress the miasma, people often flee from the surrounding area, and roads leading to the problematic land often become ravaged.”
According to him, without management, damage from the miasma spreads. So even if the roads are rough, there’s no avoiding going there.
“Cursed arts often require special tools and preparations, which must also be carried along. Support from spatial magic users would help, but they are always in high demand. Basically, we rely on carriages and walking for travel.
Patrols and treatments for one location happen only a few times a year... but I once had to take on the work of three people after predecessors retired, for about a year until replacements arrived. I don’t want to remember that time. Still, thanks to that experience, I truly understand the value of these slimes.”
“...It sounds more physically demanding than I expected.”
I had a similar impression when we met before—the cursed sorcerer field smells a bit like a black industry... I’m interested in cursed arts and want to study countercurse and miasma management, but if asked whether I want to become a sorcerer myself...
Noticing my thoughts, Lord Rosenberg chuckled and explained more about the circumstances.