Idake Virus

~Side Ryouma~

Preparations complete.

I went ahead of the others and made my preparations in front of the latrine pits. My outfit is too conspicuous, so if I'd gone with the others, we would have definitely garnered some attention. Besides, I'm sure they have their own preparations to make, and they might also want to check if the virus really hasn't spread yet.

With my preparations all done, all that's left is to wait for— Oh, speak of the devil.

When the footsteps ceased, the door opened and three people came in. Of the three, one was Miya-san, whom I worked for before, and the other was Jeff-san, who I met after cleaning Miya-san's place.

"Thanks for coming." [Ryouma]

"Sure, but we haven't done anything yet." [Jeff]

"We met just the other day, but I think we should still introduce ourselves, nyaa. Let me start; I am Miya Cat, nyaa. Call me Miya, nyaa." [Miya]

Miya-san's light brown furry tail swayed while she introduced herself. It was almost as if she was trying to appeal her being a member of the catman tribe.

After her introduction Jeff introduced himself.

"Like I said before, the name's Jeff Grange. I was raised poorly, so I'm not fond of manners and etiquettes. You don't have to be polite with me. Just talk normally." [Jeff]

"Thank you, but I'm not forcing myself or anything." [Ryouma]

"That's fine then. Next is…" [Jeff]

"This one, de gozaru." [3rd Adventurer]

The adventurer this time was someone I hadn't been acquainted with yet. He had shortly cut dark brown hair that was almost black and talked like someone from a historical play. He used a katana too. No, judging from the size, it's an o-katana (big katana). That's a first seeing one since coming here. The bandits didn't have any katana with them. Just who is this guy?

"This one's name is Asagi. I left the dragonewt village and embarked on a journey in hopes of honing my blade. Currently, I have settled in this town and am working as an adventurer. There is fate between us, let it be a pleasant one." [Asagi]

"Ryouma Takebayashi. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. So you're a dragonewt." [Ryouma]

Dragonewts are also known as the dragonman tribe. Just at the name implies, they are said to look like dragons, but he didn't look like one at all, so I thought he was a human.

Asagi-san noticed that.

"Did you just realize that this one is a dragonewt, de gozaru?" [Asagi]

"Sorry, this is my first time meeting one." [Ryouma]

"It is fine. Dragonewt features are not as obvious as other tribes like Miya from the catman tribe. Most have scales in one part of the body, while a very few grow a horn. The rest are no different from humans. With such minute difference that cannot even be seen openly, it is perfectly understandable that you were not able to recognize one, de gozaru." [Asagi]

While we were talking, it finally occurred to me that there was in fact a scale – the same color as his hair- extending from his neck to his chest. But I was more interested in way he talked and the weapon he carried.

"Sorry, do you mind if I ask you something?" [Ryouma]

I thought it would be a bit strange to ask about his accent right off the bat, so I asked about his hometown first. As it turns out, a person who was most likely an otherworlder was indeed responsible for creating the dragonewt village in a faraway island.

"Many of the dragonewt possess greater physical prowess and magic than the human race. That has been the case since long ago, and it is said that it was because of that that we once lorded with hubris over other races.

The person who created the dragonewt village was not a dragonewt, however, but a human who possessed a body stronger than even that of the dragonewts. He was also a master of the sword. It is said that that person defeated all the dragonewts that oppressed the humans, but he did not kill them and instead spared their lives. That left a deep impression on the dragonewts then and they came to be his disciples.

After that they followed him with the rest of the dragonewts who didn't oppress others to an uninhabited island and created a village. To this day we carry his soul and techniques as samurai, de gozaru. This is the legend of our village's origin, a verse from the 'exile'."

Asagi-san is a descendant of those dragonewt disciples. and his accent is something the dragonewts inherited from that otherworlder. Amusingly enough, it turns out even his name was taken from the color of the kimonos when the samurais first made their appearance.

Looks like that otherworlder really liked samurais.

…It feels off, though. I don't know if the story merely changed after all the years, but that otherworlder really feels like a foreigner sorely mistaken about Japanese culture.

"…Hey, not that there's anything wrong with your story, but don't you think we should be getting started soon?" [Jeff]

"Ah, right." [Asagi]

"Time really passes when talking." [Ryouma]

Recalling what we were supposed to be doing, we went back to work.

"I'll open the door now, but before that, please take a towel and dip it into this." [Ryouma]

I ordered the cleaner slime to spit out some deodorizing liquid into a bowl.

"What's that?" [Jeff]

"This is the deodorizing liquid of the slime. It should dilute most of the stench. Don't worry, it's not poisonous." [Ryouma]

"I see." [Jeff]

After seeing me dip a towel in the deodorizing liquid and wrapped it around my face, they followed suit and covered their mouth and nose.

"I'll open it now." [Ryouma]

And so, I opened the door…

"I'm off—" [Ryouma]

"UGU! …*COUGH…" [Asagi]

Just when I was about to leave, Asagi-san suddenly choked.

"Are you ok?" [Ryouma]

"Sorry… I'd braced myself for the smell when you opened the door, but I didn't smell anything, so I thought there wasn't anything to worry about. Putting my guard down was a mistake. Dragonewts have noses as sensitive as the beastmen tribes, de gozaru. The moment I removed the towel this happened." [Asagi]

Ahh, so that's why… I was like that too yesterday.

"It can't be helped. I was no different yesterday, and I'm human. The smell is so bad it even gets to your eyes. I probably wouldn't be able to stand it either without the slime. I'll leave some deodorizing liquid, so feel free to use it as you please. Alright, I'm going now." [Ryouma]

After that went in with my slimes. As expected, this latrine pit was in a horrible condition just like the one yesterday.

I figured I might as well check if the latrine pit really was diseased before cleaning it, so I used Identify on it.

This is what appeared:

Idake Virus: A virus that grows in filth. Causes the Idake Disease.

Incubation Period: Activates 10 hours after entering the human body.

Symptoms: Dizziness, fever, cold, numbness in the limbs, general paralysis, obnubilation (mental cloudiness), cardiac arrest.

Prognostic Symptoms: Numbness or paralysis may remain.

Infection Method: Oral Infection

Note: Weak to heat and lack of moisture. A special medicine exists for this disease.

So there really was a virus! I couldn't confirm yesterday as I'd already cleaned everything by the time I've thought of it, but it would've been great if I was able to check beforehand. That way there wouldn't have been any room for doubt. Wait a moment, there's a medicine for it!?

The moment I learned the name of the disease, the corresponding medicine and its concoction method appeared in my head as if I were merely remembering something I already knew. Looks like it's included in the knowledge Gayn and the others gave me. I should share this information with the others too.

"Guys, can you hear me?" [Ryouma]

"What's up, nyaa?" [Miya]

After cleaning myself and the surrounding area in front of the door, I opened the door a little and called out. Miya-san immediately noticed me.

"I thought I'd get some info first before starting, so I used Identify, and as it turns out, the disease is called Idake. Apparently, there's also a medicine for it. I came back to pass that info." [Ryouma]

"Really, nyaa!?" [Miya]

"Yes, there's no doubt about it. The medicine has a couple of expensive ingredients, so it might be too late already, but can you still tell the guild master about it?" [Ryouma]

"I'll inform him now. If we tell him the name of the disease and the fact that there's a medicine for it, the old man will surely buy enough to cover us even if it's expensive. I don't know how long he'll need, though, so we should get the news to him ASAP." [Jeff]

"Wait, tell him the concoction method too. That way he can have someone concoct it immediately." [Ryouma]

"You know the concoction method too!?" [Jeff]

"Yeah, I recognize the medicine back when my grandma was teaching me." [Ryouma]

"That is most reassuring. Speak and this one shall write it down." [Asagi]

As Asagi-san pulled out some writing tools, I immediately told him the formula and concoction method of the medicine. He didn't understand what the medical jargon meant, but he still managed to write everything down.

Come to think of it, I haven't used a brush in forever. I've been using nothing but feathered pens since coming here, but then again… It's not like we used them a lot in the previous world either. At most, brushes were only used to write a New Year's card.

"Done. Will this do?" [Asagi]

After confirming that the written information was accurate, Jeff-san took the note and ran. I myself went back to the latrine pits.

Now that that's done with, I don't have business left with the filth, so it's time to wipe them out. Slimes, eat them all!

At my behest, the slimes by my feet inflated like a balloon, filling the staircase to the latrine pits with their body.

Their splitting yesterday resulted in their numbers going past 1,000. Because of that they didn't become a huge scavenger slime after merging but a king scavenger slime. It's a lot bigger compared to the huge scavenger slime.

Also, it may be called king, but it's still possible to grow into an even bigger version so long as their numbers increase. I don't know far they can go, but the skills of the king scavenger slime are as follows:

King Scavenger Slime x1

Skills:

Disease Resist Lv7

Poison Resist Lv7

Lead Belly Lv8

Cleaning Lv8

Deodorize Lv8

Deodorizing Liquid Lv5

Stench Lv7

Produce Fertilizer Lv6

Physical Attack Resist Lv3

Enlarge Lv4

Shrink Lv6

Jump Lv3

Overeat Lv1

The king scavenger slime possessed the Overeat skill in place of Digestion and Absorption. When I tried using it, the king scavenger slime used the Enlarge skill to make itself big enough to reach the ceiling of the latrine pit, then it consumed the surrounding filth with a speed several times faster than before.

Moreover, because the slime was now big enough to reach the ceiling, it could clean even places it couldn't before. Later on I should be able to split the slimes into two king slimes to cover both sides of the latrine pit, while having a couple of scavenger slimes to deal with the middle.

With my mind made up, I ordered the slimes to deal with the filth, then I worked on the ceiling and the walls myself.

Doubling on the slime numbers really was a big help as expected.

I know we're working without rest, but still… We finished a full 2 hours faster than yesterday. That's something.

After successfully cleaning this latrine pit, I cleaned my clothes and belongings and went outside just like yesterday.

When I did…

"Oh, did something happen again?" [Jeff]

"Oh, I'm done here. So I'd like for you to run your checks, so we can proceed to the next one." [Ryouma]

"Already, nyaa!?" {Miya]

"Didn't you need a day to clean a latrine pit?" [Jeff]

Huh? …Ah! I only cleaned one latrine pit yesterday. They were probably told that, so as a result, they think I need a full day to clean one latrine pit.

"It looks like there's a misunderstanding. Actually, the scavenger slimes did their splitting yesterday, so I had to form a contract with the new ones. I actually only needed 5 hours to clean the latrine pit yesterday. But it's even shorter now as the slimes have doubled their numbers." [Ryouma]

"Doubled? Wouldn't that just give you two slimes? How could two slimes cl— erm, eat that much?" [Jeff]

Ah, they don't know about the slimes merging to form the big variations.

"This slimes is usually in small form, but it's actually a king scavenger slime, an advanced variant. Have you heard of the big slime?" [Ryouma]

"Yeah, it's a giant slime." [Jeff]

"Slime variants of the big class are actually a colony of many slimes of the same type. So while it may look like just one slime on the outside, what you're seeing is actually an entire colony of slimes." [Ryouma]

As I said that, I ordered the scavenger slimes to split 20 times.

"Unyaa!?" [Miya]

"Woah… Seriously?" [Jeff]

"This is…" [Asagi]

"From what I've heard in the past few days, the slime is rarely researched, so the only ones who know about this are me and my acquaintances. I've always been researching slimes, so I tend to forget that it's not common sense. My apologies." [Ryouma]

"Nah, so long as you can do your job, it's fine. By the way, how many scavenger slimes are in that thing?" [Jeff]

"1464." [Ryouma]

"1,000!? *COUGH Excuse me… No wonder you can work so fast." [Jeff]

"Please consider the information regarding the slimes confidential too." [Ryouma]

After that they ran their checks, and when they were sure everything was clear, we went to the next latrine pit, and then the next… And so on and so forth.