Published: August 25, 2025
Today, four chapters posted simultaneously.
This is the fourth chapter.
After lunch
Full from the soup and sandwiches Mr. Sebas and the others made, we were now enjoying an elegant tea time. Thanks to the slimes’ hard work, the mountain cabin was clean. However, even before the cleaning, I had a slight concern… it felt cramped for ten people to stay here.
There was only one large room besides the toilet, and with no furniture, we would have to sleep in a group on the floor at night, unable to separate men and women. Maybe we were just too many people, but wasn’t this a bit of a problem?
“This place is only a temporary residence for land management and miasma purification work. As long as you can sleep here, it’s sufficient. Also, we don’t know how many apprentices or assistants the responsible cursed sorcerers will bring. Having one large room rather than many smaller ones makes management easier.”
“I see. Since it’s only used a few times a year… that also makes cleaning easier.”
“That’s right. But that was in the past. Now that you’re the manager, if necessary, you can make improvements going forward.”
“Understood. I’ll build some temporary rooms later.”
“? Later?”
“With slimes and magic, building a cabin about this size won’t take more than 30 minutes.”
Using the huge bush slime to cut grass, then slime magic with the soil slime to check and prepare the ground, and finally asking the huge rock slime to quickly finish the foundation. Then, on top of that, we’d place a 3D-printed building created with slime magic involving the sand slime.
That should be enough for a temporary stay… However, Lord Rosenberg didn’t seem to understand well since he wasn’t familiar with my construction achievements. So Mr. Sebas, who was serving, started explaining to him.
“Well, anyone would think that. Ryoma is the odd one here.”
“If we hadn’t seen the city renovation at year-end, we probably would have had the same reaction.”
From the opposite side of the table, I heard Mr. Jeff and Wellanna laugh. Indeed, slimes are so convenient that it’s understandable to be confused if you don’t know about them.
“Alright, we should get going to work soon.”
“There’s more if you want seconds.”
“One cup is enough for me.”
“We haven’t done much work so far anyway; if this keeps up, we’ll be reward thieves.”
“I’ll thoroughly investigate the safe east side, leave it to me.”
“If you decide it’s okay to enter the west side, tell me. I’ll help.”
Led by Wellanna, the adventurer team each gave me a word before heading out to investigate.
“They’re diligent people.”
“Yes, and good people.”
“Treasure these good relationships. Since cursed arts utilize negative emotions, one misstep can cause those emotions to consume you, leading you astray or causing physical and mental illness.
People who support you to prevent that, notice and stop you if you start slipping, and help you if it happens — building good relations with others is even more important and valuable for cursed sorcerers than ordinary people.”
Sister Remily had also told me this. The mana used in cursed arts is mana altered by negative emotions. Since this is similar in nature to miasma, even though the goal is miasma purification, pushing too hard carries those risks.
“I’ll keep your advice in mind. But regardless of cursed arts, I want to cherish my bonds with them—and of course, with everyone here.”
“…It seems that won’t be a problem. Once you finish this tea, shall we head out to investigate? Let’s try using the magic tools I taught you earlier.”
“Yes!”
And so, equipped with magic tools, we set out to the settlement ruins. The afternoon class began practical training, but…
“Is everyone alright!?”
“Somehow… if we go slowly, it’s manageable.”
“The road is worse than described in the materials.”
“Originally, it seems it was a bandit hideout; they probably made it hard for enemies to attack easily.”