ch19

Just InCommunityForumMoreRegrets and Wishes: One More Chance by jnscrtm Anime » Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken/転生したらスライムだった件 Rated: T, English, Hurt/Comfort & Romance, [Rimuru T., Ciel], Words: 104k+, Favs: 190, Follows: 196, Published: May 20, 2022 Updated: Jun 13, 202221Chapter 19: Interlude - The Adventurers' Journey

INTERLUDE - THE ADVENTURERS' JOURNEY

It was five weeks ago...

The man's name was Fuze. He was the guildmaster at the Free Guild branch located in the Kingdom of Blumund. His competence at his post was unquestionable, and even before then, his prowess as an adventurer had brought him to the rank of A-minus.

He was sitting on the sofa in the reception he always used for classified meetings while reading a scroll of letter. As he promised Baron Veryard the other day, he had quickly set off to conduct an inquiry of his own.

What his assorted intelligence contacts told him in the letter, however, was: "There is no sign that the Eastern Empire is trying to cross the Great Forest of Jura."

The empire was currently making no moves at all. It might stay that way—that was his hunch—but there was no room for error. "Not yet, at least," he said as he closed the letter and let it roll on the table.

Opposite to him sat three people—two men and a girl, all adventurers of B ranks. Their faces were visibly tired and their outfits had got some dirt and wrinkles. He already knew this group well.

The first member was Gido, a thief who excelled at reconnaissance.

Kaval, meanwhile, was an expert of defence. Being fighter class, he willingly served as a wall for the rest of his party, and he did his job well. He tended to crack jokes a lot and often at the wrong time, but he was no slouch.

Finally, there was Ellen, a sorceress whose skill set was geared towards the more unique types of magic. She had a wide variety of spells at her disposal, but her true skill lay in supernaturally enhanced movement. It was also worth noting that her careful planning always did wonders to boost her party's chance at survival.

That was the team Fuze had sent to examine the cave where Veldora had once been sealed in. His first reaction when seeing them was slight amazement that they got back in one piece and were actually safe.

That cave was more suited for people with B-plus ranks or higher; and if one took its master into account, tracking down an A-minus adventurer or two was usually one's safest bet. Even if Fuze himself ventured it—not that his responsibilities for the guild would ever let him nowadays—it would likely be quite a struggle if he took it by himself.

Regardless of their ranks, these were the people whom Fuze had sent to find out what was going on with Veldora at the moment. He had made the decision because of their bizarre talent for staying alive. The ability to avoid battle while gathering intelligence, in this case, was worth far more to him than employing a B-plus powerhouse.

If something had happened to them, though, he would've had to take the heat as the guildmaster. Sending people into areas they were unqualified for by rank was a clear violation of guild regulations. A branch head daring to try that would create a controversy if the incident became public knowledge.

But this was the group that Fuze wanted, and nobody was happier to see them back now than him.

"Our intelligence bureau is continuing to monitor them," he spoke, ever careful not to betray his emotions. "So, let's hear about it. How did it go in the Great Forest of Jura?"

"It was awful, man!" Kaval blurted out. "Can't you even say you're glad that we came back in one piece?"

"Let's hear about your report," Fuze said, ignoring his blabbering.

No matter how thankful he was inside, he made it a point not to offer them any reassuring words. The trio was used to this.

"Seriously?" complained Kaval. "We just got back, you know?"

"I so need to take a bath." Ellen whimpered.

"Yeah, the hardest part was that I had to listen to these two squabbling the whole time, I'd say," commented Gido.

Their debriefings almost always started like this; he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow in annoyance. Their eyes, however, were dead serious.

It probably was indeed awful, Fuze thought.

The report began with an anomaly that they found in the cave. It had been clear early on that Veldora was gone, but they had spent another week or so exploring the cave, just in case. The end result: definitely no guardian, or leader, to speak of inside.

"Here is one thing," Kabal said. "When we arrived at the cave, nothing was guarding the area."

"Nothing? Not even the tempest serpent?" Fuze asked.

"Yeah, absolutely nothing. The tempest serpent was already gone at the time."

"Right, yeah!" Ellen exclaimed. "Before we arrived, I had spent all some time figuring out how we would bluff our way past it... I feel like such an idiot!"

"Yeah," Gido said. "I brought along an illusion and heat-generating trap, and I didn't even use 'em at all. At least it saved us some time, though."

What was the meaning of this? This tempest serpent had a tentative rating of A-minus. It was absolutely the strongest presence in the cave. Not even Fuze liked his chances much against it. It was the whole reason why he had fretted over this trio's chances of a successful journey. Something had definitely happened over there. Fuze could tell that much, and he needed to know what.

"I now understand what happened in the cave."

"Then, we'll just be—"

"Alright, I'll give you three days off." Just when the trio was about to get up, Fuze already threw another statement at them. "After that, I'll need you back in the forest again. Not inside the cave this time—you'll be examining the area around the forest instead. Do not overlook any changes, no matter how small. Be thorough. Search every nook and cranny. That's all."

"'That's all,' he said!"

"Three days? That's it?! Give us a week, at least!"

"Yeah, yeah! You know he's not gonna listen to us, guys."

Fuze didn't let the protests bother him. He had some new information to stew over.

What could be going on in that forest...? He lost himself in thought for a moment...then opened his eyes, only to find three pairs of spiteful eyes staring at him.

He sighed. These guys...

"Why are you still here? Get out! Now!" he yelled at them as he always did.

The trio hurriedly excused themselves.

⁂

A person with a mask covering her entire face was seen walking towards a house.

The mask that the person was wearing prevents any guess at the face behind it. It was an ornate, beautiful mask, but it bore no expression at all. But the figure's body overall strongly hinted that the masked person was a woman.

"Excuse me." After she arrived in front of the door, she knocked it three times.

Someone came from the inside and opened the door. From the uniform this someone was wearing, she appeared to be a maid. "Yes? Is there anything we could help, dear guest?" she asked politely.

"I would like to meet Heinz. Is he available?" the masked woman replied.

"Heinz-sama is currently relaxing in the living room. Please go this way and wait for a moment." She led the masked woman to the guest room. She bowed at her then left to call for the man in question.

"Oh, Shizu-san." Came an old man's voice from the door between the living room and guest room just a few moments later. "Sorry for making you wait for long."

This old man's name was Heinz. He was already retired, since his son Fuze had taken over the guildmaster's role in his place.

"Ah, no, no. I have not been waiting for that long," she replied with a reassuring tone.

"I'm really glad to see you again, after all these times." Heinz sat on a sofa placed opposite to where Shizu was sitting. "So, were you going all the way here from Ingrassia?"

"Well, yes. I will have an important business to do in the Great Forest of Jura."

Heinz raised his eyebrows. "Great Forest of Jura? Is it a mission from the guild?"

"It is not. I have retired from being an adventurer, on top of that. This is for my personal purpose. Speaking of which, do you have any information about the situation inside the Great Jura Forest? I had heard some perplexing news about it when I was still in Ingrassia."

"Oh, you mean, the disappearance of Veldora the Storm Dragon?"

"Yes."

"Well, the guild is currently conducting a frantic investigation to find the cause. I myself don't know too many details." Heinz snickered. "They don't tell an old pensioner like me too much. I can tell it is troubling my son, though."

He must've trusted his son very much to speak of him like that.

Shizu remembered the first time she met Fuze decades ago. At the time, he was only an eight months old, tiny little baby. She opened her mask in front of him, and suddenly he cried so loudly; she had to hold him and calm him down.

During his younger days, Fuze had gone on several monster-hunting operations together with her. He was doing a fine job supporting her. Now, Fuze was out of the front lines and following in his father's managerial footsteps. It was clear that he had inherited all of Heinz's natural talent.

"Thank you," said the masked woman. "You have been very kind to me."

After her polite response, she stood up.

"You stay safe, too, Shizu! I think there's an expedition leaving here tomorrow, actually," he muttered, almost to himself. "If you're hitting the forest, you might as well join them for a while."

"Ah, Heinz, I should have expected nothing less. I suppose I will owe you to the very end, then."

"You owe me nothing, Shizu. And no talking about the 'very end' yet! I'd like another look at you sometime."

"True, I will be back," she said. She bowed then left.

⁂

Three days after their report, Kaval, Ellen, and Gido were preparing for the forest trip.

"That is barely any time off..." moaned Ellen.

"You said it, girl," Gido replied.

"Could you stop complaining just for a moment, guys?" Kaval, the more-or-less leader of party, admonished with a lack of conviction that indicated his agreement. "You're just depressing me now."

They had a few routes into the forest to choose.

The monsters had been growing incredibly active recently, to the point that not even merchants were willing to send wagons into the forest. Hiring bodyguards was out of the question—they would lose money on this if they did.

If they wanted to visit the forest, it'd have to be on foot for the time being. They would have to walk at least a little, since the path to the Sealed Cave was too treacherous to navigate in a house cart.

As a result, preparation was the key. Procuring several weeks' worth of preserved food was a challenge in itself. But without it, they stood every chance of starving to death before they even reached the destination. Ellen's magic, at least, guaranteed them portable water whenever they need

"Excuse me."

When they were largely done and it was time to head off, a person approached them from behind, speaking in a voice that was somewhere between young and old, male and female.

"Who are you?" Kaval asked.

"If you are headed for the forest, would you allow me to join you along the way?"

It was Shizu, the same masked woman who visited Heinz's house yesterday. But since the trio had never met her, they had no idea who she was.

"Fine by me."

"Wh-whoa! I'm the leader here, Ellen! What's your problem?!"

"Why not? Travelling is best with companions, and life is best with compassion."

"Ahh, you know her. Once she decides on something, there's no changin' her mind," commented Gido.

"Eren, Kaval, Gido." Ellen introduced herself and the boys, ignoring their preaching.

"Shizu." She introduced herself in return.

"Welcome to our party, Shizu-san!"

"Thank you." Those words of gratitude were all Shizu says before silently following behind them.

...

Demon Lord Leon Cromwell was the one Shizu was looking for.

To reach his territory, as far as she remembered, she needed to cross the Forest of Jura. Knowing her own condition, she could only hope that she could hold until then, at least as long as she was still together with these young adventurers.

There was, to say at least, some trouble along the way and even before they reached the forest. When they were sleeping in an inn, still within the area of Kingdom of Blumund, Ellen hugged her as if she was a bolster. Next morning, she felt like she had become a log.

After some time, they successfully infiltrated the forest. When the night fell and they made a bonfire, Shizu cooked them pork miso soup, a recipe from her homeland.

...

"Mom! Mom, I'm scared! Our house is on fire! People are burning! The sky is all scorched!" she shouted with all her might.

She ran through the burning town, panting, desperately trying to find the one whom she loved. "Everyone is burning! Everyone is disappearing! I can't see you, mom! Mom, I can't find you! Mom, I can't remember what you look like!"

This isn't where I belong...

...

"Shizu-san!"

"It's okay, Shizu-san. It's okay."

"?!" Shizu opened her eyes. The first thing that greeted her sight was the trio's worried expressions.

"It's all right," Ellen reassured while gently caressing Shizu's forehead. "Everything's fine. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"We're right with you!" Kaval added.

"Do you need some water?" Gido offered.

"See?" Ellen emphasized her point. "We're all here with you, so it's going to be alright. Okay?"

They quickly prepared themselves to continue their journey.

"Are you really okay?" asked Gido. "It looked like you were really sufferin' back there."

"I'm sorry, I caused you so much trouble."

"I bet you had a nightmare 'cause you weren't feeling well," Kaval said. "That happens to me sometimes, too."

"On the days when Guildmaster got mad at me, he popped into my dream like this." Ellen mimicked the annoyed expression that Fuze often made whenever they met for a debriefing.

"That gotta suck!" Gido laughed.

"Stop that!" Kaval hissed.

Shizu felt like she was filled with energy, oddly enough. She thought they were just a bunch of foolish kids. She thought she would have to carry them through all this. But they were supporting her instead.

"Alright you guys!" Kaval exclaimed. "Let's get goin'!"

She resolved to keep advancing onward with them, until she reached her destination. Thus, her journey with them continued on.

"Oh!" Kaval pointed at a boulder with a hole just nearby. "That hole looked really fishy! Wanna check it out?"

"Don't!" Shizu warned. "You better not!"

They didn't hear her warning and just kept coming closer to this "fishy" hole.

"GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

Alas, it was too late.

⁂

"AAAAAAA!" A quite loud scream could be heard in the distance, echoing throughout the forest.

All four of them were running for their dear lives

"This is all your fault, Kaval!" Gido accused while running. "How the hell did you even think to stab a giant ant's nest?!"

"Shut up!" Kaval retorted. "Don't complain about your leader!"

"For a leader, you're way to careless!" yelled Ellen. "If I die, I SWEAR I'LL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU!"

"Hahahaha! That's impossible! 'CUZ I'LL DIE WITH YA ANYWAY!"

It had been three days they spent their time constantly in run, losing all their possessions in the way. It all happened because they drew their swords and stabbed it a little bit, only to wake up an entire nest of giant ants.

Shizu was so baffled by this trio's absurdity and excessive carelessness. It had happened not a moment after she told them not to come closer to "that hole". Never in her life did she imagine they would actually try such a dangerous thing.

Shizu was impressed, in a way, that they had attained a ranking of B at all. They had the battle technique such a rank implies, but if she had to sum up everything about their team in a word, it would be "nonsensical."

"Stop yelling and focus on running!" She admonished, still running without looking back.

She may seem composed and calm from her tone. But in all honesty, she was truly horrified inside.

She had the power to control flames. Her flames could have torched those giant ants instantly, she imagined. But by the time she realized how hard it was to control that power, she had already started to feel her body deteriorating.

It remained physically young thanks to a high-level spirit's presence inside her. But as her power over him dwindled, it rapidly began aging—or it could also be said that it went back to the age it should always have been.

Would this aggressive high-level spirit be released once her body gave in? Or would he crumble and fall apart with her? She had no idea what would happen until it did. That was why she always hesitated to pull out her fire. But she had to kill those ants as soon as possible. Otherwise, they all would end up returning home only in names.

Shizu stopped her run and turned back, directly facing the chasing giant ants.

"Shizu-san!" Ellen cried out.

"Don't do that, Shizu!" Kaval shouted in panic.

"Don't mind me, you all! Keep running!" She held the handle of a sword hung on her left waist. If she were to die right here, it would be better that she died to protect her companions and buy them more time to run, rather than to keep running then get caught together by the ants.

"Over there!" A firm voice was heard from the side-line.

Several people appeared and jumped right in front of the giant ants. They split up in two directions. Four people were going towards Shizu and the trio, while the others were going towards the ants.

What Shizu and the trio saw were some green-coloured humanoid creatures, similar to goblins, but they were mostly as tall as humans. Every one of them was riding upon a magical wolf.

Each of the four was approaching them: Kaval was approached by a male with white bandana, Gido by a male with red bandana, Ellen by a female with dark grey hair, and Shizu by a female with silvery hair.

"Please, quickly!" The white-bandana instructed Shizu and the trio to quickly climb to the back of each wolf they were riding.

Without wasting time, they climbed to the wolves' back.

"Please hold on tight!" He turned his face forward. "Go!"

The moment the white-bandana stated his one-word command, the wolves ran with an incredible acceleration, reaching their maximum speed under three seconds.

After a minute, they slowly slowed down and finally stopped running.

"Are we...saved?" Ellen panted.

"Are all of you okay?" the white-bandana asked.

"Barely..." replied Kaval while struggling to breathe. "We're...really tired...and hungry."

"Did you lose your possession?"

"Yes...we did...because...of...the ants..."

"Then, how about you rest in our town?" he said. "We would provide you some food."

The trio's faces brightened up a little bit, although still exhausted.

"Please...we'd...really...appreciate it..." Kaval answered as the more-or-less leader in behalf of his party members.

The wolves continued to move. Not running this time, but more like walking quickly.

Shizu, meanwhile, had been dumbfounded the whole time.

Being saved by monsters? Nothing like that had ever happened to her before.

These were hobgoblins. It would have been one thing that they understood a few broken words of human speech, but these were intelligent creatures. The way the white-bandana was speaking was clear and eloquent; they had also tamed what was clearly a high-level monster species.

This was absolutely the kind of "suspicious event" this adventuring trio had been sent out to investigate, Shizu thought.

Her destination was the castle of Demon Lord Leon. His domain occupied the lands just beyond the forest.

She should have chosen that moment to take her leave of their party. But she wanted to see, along with these adventurers, what kind of home these monsters had made for themselves.

...

It was a strange place indeed, the town their rescuers lived in. It was no dank lair or stinking, filthy dan. She had thought that the white-bandana was just exaggerating when he said "our town", but it turned out that she was the one who had the wrong idea the whole time.

The shock Shizu and the trio felt was beyond comprehension. It wasn't some rude shelter or some glorified hole in a mountain. It was a proper town, one that they had built for themselves from scratch.

It was still under construction. It had been surveyed and laid out, and building materials had been placed in each section, ready to be converted into houses. There were already some completed buildings. But in majority, they were still living out of neat rows of tents. But they had even completed their work on the underground infrastructure.

The soon-to-be houses were placed not too tightly, giving some room for water to be absorbed and for trees and flowers to grow. She had never heard of anything like that in this planet.

As they kept walking following the white-bandana's lead, they saw a spacious green area—a sort of green park grown with many kinds of trees and flowers complete with some benches and small shelters.

It was a bizarre settlement. It was clear that this town's outline had been planned extra carefully with so many considerations taken into account.

But it was bustling with energy. The residents, despite being monsters, truly seemed to enjoy working on it. Most of them were hobgoblins, but they seemed to share their lands with some kind of black direwolves, but a tad different from the ones they were familiar with.

"Father," the white-bandana greeted a huge, muscular hobgoblin in front of them.

"Ah, Rigur," he greeted back. "Who are these people?"

She was sure she heard the huge hobgoblin mentioned the name "Rigur", and it was directed to the white-bandana. He must be a named monster. No doubt about it. Not just him, but maybe even all hobgoblins living in this town.

It sounded like an insane idea, giving all these hobgoblins names, but nothing beside that could explain how there were so many hobgoblins in the same place.

"They are human adventurers whom we found being chased by giant ants, father," he replied politely. "It would seem that they lost their possession as they ran."

"I see," he replied. "Please follow me, dear guests."

Shizu and the trio got off the wolves and followed him behind. They kept walking until they arrived in front of a medium-sized building.

He opened the door.

"Welcome to our town's cafeteria," he said while walking in. "Please sit down on the seats you like and wait for a moment."

They went to a table in the frontmost line seen from the entrance door's perspective. They then sat on the chairs around it.

The white-bandana's father ordered a few hobgoblins and goblinas working in the cafeteria to prepare some food and drink.

A few minutes later, the food was ready to serve.

One hobgoblin and one goblina came, each of them respectively bringing a tray of food and a tray of tea cups. The two walked closer towards their table then put four bowls of food and four cups of tea on it.

"We hope you enjoy your meal, dear guests." Afterwards, they bowed at them then silently left the scene.

"I will leave for a moment to inform Rimuru-sama and Ciel-sama," he said. "They would definitely be happy to meet all of you. So, if you would, please excuse me."

He also left the scene.

It was another surprise for Shizu. She had imagined that he was the most intelligent among them and was the leader of the hobgoblins. But it turned out, he wasn't.

She heard two names that were especially mentioned with so much reverence: "Rimuru"and "Ciel". She immediately presumed that these two names were the names of these hobgoblins' real leaders.

As for why they recognized two masters at the same time, Shizu imagined, it was perhaps because the two masters were considered equal in degree. If one was male and the other was female, perhaps they were a couple linked by marriage, union, or just simple partnership.

The food served to them was some kind of roasted meat dish with some vegetables. She quietly took a pair of chopsticks and picked a slice of meat. She ate it—using a special technique that allowed her to eat even when her mask was still on.

While the food's appearance was quite typical, the taste was strangely familiar—especially the kind-of sauce used for the roasted meat. She had mostly forgotten since it had been nearly seventy years she got summoned into this world, but it strongly reminded her of her hometown.

Whoever these Rimuru and Ciel were, they must be amazing people, Shizu thought as she kept eating.

~TO BE CONTINUED~

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