Possible Lead And Old Grudges (Part III)

"Not to mention that they could digest any clothes we wear." I added another reminder in case some muscle heads think they're safe from brute strength alone.

Janis nodded and thanked me for my suggestion. Now that they had seen a problem, a more detailed plan would need to be made.

"You mentioned that the blue slime effect was unknown, correct?" The white-haired witch asked in a cold yet sharp tone. I nodded in response, remembering that I had said that.

Instead of adding more, the witch stayed silent and didn't speak more. My lips and eyes couldn't help but twitch, and I felt that I wouldn't be able to get along with this person. She gives off the vibe of being commanding while being bitchy about it.

~

"We're here," Janis said.

A few hours later, after talking while we were traveling, the destination we had wanted to reach appeared. It was a boring adventure, as we just walked in, sensing if anything was blocking our way.

Upon arrival, the environmental damage to the surroundings was severe. Since we were still in a forest, what surrounded us were trees and a green field. The trees nearby have fallen, with some on the verge of collapsing.

As for the grassy, greenish-blue floor, some of them were ripped out, and a few holes of dirt made the landscape unpleasing to the eyes. The forest, which was supposed to be a peaceful place, was now a broken mess. None of us could relax, knowing that this battle was not something we could take lightly.

"I don't sense any presence before we move forward aimlessly. Let's search for clues." Janis made this judgment, and no one opposed it.

Everyone went their separate ways to investigate their surroundings. Janis went on her own, leaving me by myself. 

This was a chance for me to find clues that might be hidden. The more we spread out, the more clues we could find. However, it still made me nervous when there was a chance that we could get ambushed.

~

Thirty minutes later, the leads I thought I could find were useless. This was normal but demoralizing for someone with no tracking or investigating experience.

Soon, Janis returned with the clues she had found. She let me in on it before she discussed it with the others.

"Roy, do you want to hear the bad or good news first?" After checking our surroundings, Janis concluded and told me what was happening.

"Let's start with the bad."

"It's confirmed that there are five slimes. Over in that direction, I saw a purple residue of slime. This slime is probably the most dangerous, unlike the blue, red, and pink. The residue coming from it is corrosive." Walking to the north, I saw a purple substance, only to see a dead plant covered in it.

I couldn't help but shudder, thinking I was somewhat lucky that the purple slime wasn't a monster I had encountered. I would have met a painful death.

"The white slime should be the next. Unlike the corrosive slime, its effects aren't so obvious. Unless we have someone test out how it is, we won't be able to judge how we should deal with it." Further up in the northwest, a different color of slime appeared. 

"Even if we could see five, we should always prepare to meet some more. Don't think five will be the limit." Who would have thought this would escalate? I had wanted to blow off my steam for all the mess I got into, and this problem had only gotten more troublesome.

"Then what's the good news?" Janis looked away to the side as I mentioned this.

Don't tell me that there weren't any. I stared at Janis in disbelief. If there was no good news, don't tell me there was one in the first place. The little hope I had for this good news was instantly crushed.

"It's a partial good and bad news. All of the slime had gone down their separate paths. We would have to split up if we wanted to wrap this up quickly. Let's return to the group and ask for everyone's opinion." When we arrived, only one group had returned.

"Hey!" Greeted by the one who had called me out for how I dressed, the bull woman was accompanied by the human leader and two other companions, making them a team of four.

"Did the four of you find anything worth sharing?" Janis asked the four.

"There wasn't much lead we found, but there was an additional colored slime we found." My eyes twitched in annoyance. Let's just hope that this was a slime Janis had found.

"What color was it?" To ensure the monsters didn't overlap, Janis had to know the slime's colors. There might have been multiples of the same color, but with our little information, we could only hope.

"It was the color yellow. Just touching the tip of the leftovers was revolting. It caused an infection, and luckily, we had a way to recover. That's why we returned early." Confirming these four, there were now six slimes we needed to beware of.

"We have found two extras, a white and a purple slime. The effects of the white slime are unknown, but the purple slime is highly corrosive, probably the most destructive." We shared the information on our side, which left them perplexed.

Soon, one by one, the other group arrived. More information was gained, and the more we hear about it, the messier it gets.

There was one more, and it was the black slime. Like the group that tested out the effects of their slime, it caused mental damage.

The red slime causes paralysis, the pink causes lust, purple is corrosive, yellow is an infection of the disease, and black is mental damage, with blue and white being unknown.

Seven slimes for seven teams. If all of them went in different directions, the most effective would be to split up into a team of seven, which was perfect for us, if not convenient.