Lowest Slime 003

Chpt. 003 – Per Goblin, Knight

The Labyrinth of Chaos. I didn’t know it was called that. It must be because it’s in a different world from the one we came from.

You can use transfer magic to get to the Labyrinth of Chaos, which can only be used by Dungeon Fairies.  There are many wild monsters here.

Among them, this grassland floor seems to have a lot of weak monsters, but I can’t let my guard down. They say you never know what will happen here.

Having heard that, I was prepared for it to be a pretty bad place, but, “I wish you brought lunch for me.”

It feels like we’re on a picnic.

I’m looking out over the prairie.

I was worried about if the transfer magic would work, since I have the “magic invalidation” skill, but Ciel’s transfer magic connects one space to another, and it doesn’t seem to be a problem because it doesn’t affect my body itself.

“Is this really a labyrinth?” (Ciel)

“Labyrinths don’t only come as caves. There are also towers, and castles, or other buildings. There are labyrinths in the form of Temples dedicated to God, and others that take the form of forests. There’s a labyrinth that took the form of a strait. (tl: think ‘Strait of Gibraltar/Magellan,’ etc)

“Come to think of it, I’ve heard of a Forest of the Lost. Is that also a labyrinth? By the way, Ciel, why have you been looking all around like that?” (Tard)

I see in all directions simultaneously, and had noticed that Ciel was watching the surroundings carefully. (tln: this is more the ‘feel’ of the translation (if mtl has a ‘feel’) than the direct translation)

It’s clear that she’s wary, but she’s too wary on this open prairie. 

“I can’t help it! I’ve read about Chaotic Labyrinths in textbooks, but it’s my first time to see one. Aren’t you afraid? You’re a slime, so if a goblin comes, you’ll be killed. How do you scout monsters in the first place? I can’t fight by these rules.” (Ciel)

“It’s ok, Ciel. That’s why I brought these guys.” (Tard)

I showed Ciel a small slime that was following me – a baby slime.

“You know, even if you have ten baby slimes, you won’t be able to fight. Some monsters carry them as portable food.” (Ciel)

“Yes, so look at this.” (Tard)

And I showed Ciel the remains of a fallen fruit on the ground. (tln: again, a fix to the mtl so it fits the story…)

“An apple core?” (Ciel)

“Ah. Probably 9 out of 10 people or goblins eat an apple like this. And it’s still fresh. Goblins patrol a fixed route when they’ve built a village. In other words, if we put a trap here, we’ll catch a goblin.” I gloated.

“To use your friend as a sacrifice,” Ciel chides me.  Although this paints me as the villain, my conscience isn’t hurt.

“Don’t tell me you made the pitfall with magic for your strategy after hearing that,” Ciel asks, as we watch the pitfall we made from behind a rock.

There’s a baby slime waiting patiently there, on my order.  Baby slimes are very weak, but a bit sweet and a favorite food for goblins.

After waiting for three hours, a monster approaches from a distance.

Ugly, like a hairless green monkey, with a red bandana on its head, carrying a wooden stick.  Just a common goblin. As an aside, nobody knows why they have the red bandanas on their heads.

The goblin approaches slowly, and on seeing the baby slime, runs up swinging the wooden stick.

I think if I ran hard, I could escape becoming prey – but if the baby slime ran, the goblin could catch up.  In fact, the goblin seems disappointed that the baby slime didn’t try to escape, and his speed dropped dramatically.

The moment the goblin approaches the baby slime, the surface of the ground collapses under his weight, and gravity took them both into the pit.

“Success!!”  Ciel and I rush over to the hole.

“You seem to have fallen into my sublime trap.”

“It’s just a pitfall.”

“Goblin, now that you have a glimpse of my ability, become my subordinate! I’ll feed you three baby slimes every day!” (Tard)

The highest priority for goblins is to secure food.

Of course, just as I thought it would become a friend, the goblin shouts while swinging his stick.  Is it saying it will be a friend?

“He said, ‘Did you dig this hole?  Get me out, or I’ll come after you!”  He doesn’t seem to understand Tard’s words at all.” (Ciel)

“Then, Ciel! You’re the interpreter!” (Tard)

“I got it.” (Ciel)

Ciel starts saying “Gobugob.”  I have no idea what she’s saying, but her words seem to get through to the goblin.

“Who’s going to be under a slime!” she translates.

“What the hell! Then say this! If you don’t become a friend here, I’ll pour in a dissolving solution over you!  My dissolving solution has the power to melt clothes! So, next to the hole, write on the ground ‘Please don’t disturb me while I’m doing lotion play.’  Now you’ll become known as a perverted goblin! Hey, Ciel, translate that!”

“No, I don’t want to say that!”

“It’s an order!”

“Wow, ok, I got it.”

Her face red, Ciel tells the goblin what I said.

The goblin responds with one word.

“It said, ‘Ki, kill me.’  After all, becoming a slime’s subordinate seems to be so distasteful that he’d rather die.  If we fight fair, the story might change, won’t it?”

“‘Damn, kill me… ‘ is this some female knight? We can’t kill a goblin like this.”

I can only give up on persuading this goblin.

And then~

Persuasion by use of traps is impossible.  However, I can’t possibly fight in a straightforward manner.

Now I thought over what happened as we walk across the prairie.  “I really did put the solution in the hole and leave the message on the ground.  It was pretty hard to squeeze out that much solution. The goblin was weeping.”

“It can’t be helped, because if you don’t follow through on your threats, goblins won’t be intimidated by your threats in the future.  You just had to turn your heart into a demon and do that.” (Ciel)

“To do a devil’s job, I made my heart like a demon’s.  Do you think it died?” 

“It should be ok.  Goblins look like a clever race, so his friends will help. We also left baby slimes as food.” (Ciel)

“I wouldn’t want to be helped.”

Ciel sighed as she looked back at the hole the goblin fell into.  “So, what will we do now?”

“Don’t ask me that.  What other kinds of monsters are there aside from goblins?”

If we don’t know, we can’t deal with it.

“I’ll try to investigate a little,” and Ciel put her hand to the ground and chanted her magic,  “My nemesis, Show me here! <Enemy Detection!> Tsu!”

“Magic is said out loud, but did you really have to shout so loud at the end?”

Ciel shyly responded, “… it’s the atmosphere.”

After all, it’s the atmosphere.

“I found out.  There are nine kinds of monsters in this area. Oh, but baby slimes were dropped in the hole earlier, and Tard is a slime, so I wonder if there are seven kinds?”

“Seven kinds? There are also goblins, so there are six types remaining. Tell me.” (Tard)

“Earth-eating moles, grassbirds, killer ant, queen ant, battle rabbit, sword goblin.  The mole is a monster that will be happy to just eat earth, and it could also help you to build the labyrinth, so why not persuade it?  Although it only eats a small amount of dirt in a day.”

Ciel’s proposal seems to be the model answer from an honor student.

“… Ciel.  Is it spring in this labyrinth?  How many days are in spring?”

“The season is the same as outside the labyrinth.  There are 62 days in spring.”

“Then, there is a better way,” I said.  There are monsters we can make friends with just because of the season.

“Let’s go get the strongest companion that can defeat a dragon.”

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Current Assignments (Quests)

Let’s solicit goblins (failure)

Let’s solicit another demon (new)

Let’s expand the dungeon

Let’s earn 100 points