Chapter 18 Is it Gone Again?

Before leaving the village, I looked for a butcher. When I enter one of the butchers, an uncle with a good smile welcome me. There are some dried meats, but….. the amount is smaller even though the price is the same 100 Dal.

"Sorry, but thanks to the snake bastard, the number of wild rats are decreasing so the price for the meat is rising"

Perhaps seeing me puzzled while looking at the dried meat, he told me why the price is rising.

"Thank you very much for the explanation. Then if I hunt wild rats, will you buy it?"

"I'll be very grateful if you do. But, if you aim at wild rats, the snakes will come for you"

"...Really?"

"Aa, because those who went hunting wild rats in their nest made a noise that made the snakes irritated"

"I see….. thank you"

"No problem, I hope your wild rats hunt goes smoothly!"

After buying a piece of dried meat, I left the store. The snakes will likely become a problem, the snakes in question is probably a monster. It was said that it occurred on the village road that leads to the next village, but could it be spreading more widely?1 I'll go to the forest and check it a little with my own eyes.

Which reminds me, even if I say it is a monster, what type of monster is it?2 Does it magic power contain poison, or it can release magic….. if its magic, let's escape immediately.

Should I hunt the wild rats? I hunt by putting a trap in the place where the wild rats run to. Will it get trapped together with the snakes? If it's impossible after trying once, I might have to think of another way.

…..Speaking of which, will he buy the snakes if I get one? I forgot to hear about it.

I leave the village and walks through the forest, but I can't feel the presence of the snakes. Like I thought, Its place is still limited.

While keeping an eye on the surroundings, I go to a tree with a big trunk that's easy to get on to that I had found near the dump. Looking around from the top, I can see a small animal running.

At that time with the huge ant, all small animals had disappeared over a wide area. So, is it mean that the snakes aren't that strong? N~, let's gather more info about the snakes in the village tomorrow.

I sit on the big tree and put sora on my lap.

"Are you okay?"

Like always, he is shaking his body. I felt sorry when looking at him.3 No no no, not good... let's finish what I have to do first.

I have to arrange the potions that were originally in the magic bag, and the potions that I just picked up. And check its color and stock. I take out he potions from the magic bags, but.... again, the blue potions are gone.

"Again?"

I try to turn the bag over, but as I thought, it really is gone. It's the same situation as at the dump before. Thinking whether something was the same as before, I looked at sora.4 The same thing is none other than having Sora in it.

"Sora? …..Could it be"

Now that I thought about it, what does sora eat? Normal slime is a monster that processes organic matter. Inorganic substances are also possible if it's a rare slime. What about the crumbling slime? The missing blue potions….. Perhaps a potion that heal wounds?5

But, it's still strange. Slime can only process organic or inorganic substances. Potions are organic, but the containers are inorganic.

…..What's going on?

I don't know even if I think about it, so I bring discolored blue potion from nearby dump. I'm a little worried, but I put the potion in front of Sora. My heart starts pounding.