Armed Nation Dwargon.
It was the kingdom of the Dwarves.
One thousand years had passed since the first Dwarf Hero King, Gran Dwargo, founded the nation.
They had protected and developed their history, culture, and technology throughout all that time.
The current King,
He was a great hero, renowned as a wise king who governed this land fairly.
Such was the land ruled by this wise king.
A free trade city and the hub of commerce between different races. For that reason, it also bore the face of an absolutely neutral city.
The wise king would never permit acts of violence within this city.
Even the Eastern Empire avoided openly provoking Armed Nation Dwargon!—that was a well-known fact among adventurers.
They were so ruthless in utterly destroying their enemies that they had earned the saying: once you picked a fight with the Dwarves, there was no second time!
The name "Armed Nation" was no empty title!
A wall of heavily armored infantry guarded high-firepower magic divisions.
Any opponent who couldn't even break through the infantry wall would be annihilated by magical bombardment.
For a thousand years, the undefeated Dwarf military's strength had been legendary.
What truly backed up that reputation...
Was the equipment produced by their superior technology.
Weapons and armor crafted with cutting-edge techniques far surpassed anything made by other races.
That was precisely why!
Humans chose friendship over conflict with the Dwarf race.
And that was why even those under their rule rarely made the foolish mistake of starting fights when encountering monsters.
A city where humans and monsters mingled.
It was one of the most unusual places on this earth.
A nation that enjoyed peace, despite being the very place where tools of war overflowed.
That the headquarters of weapon merchants was furthest from conflict was, in a sense... perhaps rather ironic.
A line had formed in front of the gate.
The grand gate, built to seal off the natural massive cavern.
This gate only opened during military movements, reportedly once a month.
Unfortunately, it was closed today.
Beneath it, a small entrance-only door had been installed.
The line was forming on the left passage. The right side was apparently reserved for nobility and other important figures.
Standing in the left passage and observing my surroundings, I came to that conclusion.
Even on the left side, there was variety—some entering freely with a pass, others being checked in a separate room.
It was a thorough security system befitting the name "Armed Nation."
Once inside, you could apparently move around with relative freedom...
But what a line! Waiting here might end up taking more time than the journey itself...!
While I was thinking this, "Hey, hey! There's a monster here! We're not inside yet, so wouldn't it be okay to kill it here?"
"Yeah, what are you lining up for! How rude, you lot! If you don't want to die, give up your spot!
And leave all your baggage behind. That way, we'll let you off this time!!!"
—meaningless declarations like these, or rather, hostile voices directed our way, could be heard.
Right now, only
After all, I'd decided to go with just Gobta and me as guides. Parading around with a group wearing nothing but loincloths would attract too much unwanted attention.
Rigul had wanted to come too, but I'd turned him down.
The rest of the group was camping at the forest entrance, waiting for our return.
So it was just the two of us—but had we made too easy a target?
A pair of adventurers who didn't want to wait in line had apparently set their sights on us.
"Hey, hey, Gobta—can you hear that?"
"Yeah, I can hear it..."
"Did you get harassed like this last time too?"
"Of course! I got beaten up here, and a bunch of Kobold merchants picked me up! If they hadn't picked me up back then, I might've died~"
"...So you got harassed. Well, I guess there's nothing to be done about it."
"It's kinda like the fate of weak monsters..."
So he had been harassed. And apparently, that was just how things were.
I would have appreciated being warned about this ahead of time.
Gobta was hanging his head with a look of resignation, as though he'd come to terms with it all.
He'd only just gotten comfortable enough to talk to me normally—would this incident set him back?
I was a little worried.
"Hey! You crappy little monsters, don't you dare ignore us!"
"Like, talking slimes are pretty rare, right? Couldn't we sell it as a sideshow?"
The annoying pair continued their barrage.
I'd been called as compassionate as Buddha on occasion, but even my patience was wearing thin.
"Gobta... Do you remember the rule I mentioned before?"
"Yes! Of course!"
"Good. Then close your eyes and cover your ears for a moment. And whatever you do, don't look this way!"
"Huh? I don't really get it, but roger that!"
Now then. If I, the one who made the rules, broke them first... that wouldn't exactly set a good example.
I'd already asked Gobta to close his eyes, so... time to do some tidying up!
At that moment, the man on the right shifted his gaze.
I followed his line of sight... and saw a trio watching with smug grins on their faces.
The pair in front of me consisted of a swordsman and a lightly equipped man—probably a Thief-class job.
The trio was made up of two figures in robes that looked like magic users or priests, and a large warrior.
I put the pieces together. All five of them were in the same party. The two in front would drive us out to secure their spot in line. Then the three would silently dispatch us once we'd been pushed aside, and rejoin the two with innocent faces.
That was probably the scenario.
This was likely how they'd been killing weak monsters and stealing their belongings.
Clever little scheme, I had to admit.
But this time... they'd picked the wrong opponents!
"Hey, hey! Respect the line! I'm a generous guy, so I'll let you off this time. Get to the back of the line, now!"
The provocation began.
The pair went blank for a split second, then their faces turned bright red.
These were some hot-headed individuals.
"You crappy little monster, don't you dare look down on us!"
"Hey, you're dead! I was going to let you go if you left your stuff behind, but forget that now!"
They started spouting small-time thug lines.
Heh. In the general contracting business, you had to be able to boss around scary-looking old guys with nothing but a nod. Some of them even had playful tattoos scribbled all over their bodies.
Threats from young punks like these didn't faze me in the slightest.
"A crappy little monster? Are you talking about me?"
"Of course we are! A slime is the lowest of the low!"
"Get over here. Since you can talk, I'll spare your life and make you a monster slave!"
A monster slave? Did those actually exist?
Let me put that aside for now.
The surrounding merchants and adventurer-looking folk were starting to notice the commotion.
First, I needed to draw more attention.
I didn't know if there was such a concept as self-defense in this world, but if someone could provide even a little testimony afterward, that would be ideal.
But was there no kind soul who would step in to help?
If I were a beautiful girl, maybe someone would have. But being a slime, that was out of the question.
"Look at you, putting on such a bold front! And calling me a slime?"
"No matter how you look at it, you're a slime!"
"You're asking for it...! Being mocked by a pipsqueak like you is unforgivable! That's it, I'm killing you!"
The pair drew their weapons.
Ah, they'd finally unsheathed them.
Tch. My first human interaction, and it was with these guys... what bad luck. Even monsters were friendlier.
The people around us began backing away, keeping their distance.
The gate guards had apparently noticed the commotion too and were starting to move quickly.
Well then.
I stepped forward slowly.
And then— "Heh heh heh. I'm a pipsqueak, you say? A slime?...Since when was I a slime? You've been under the wrong impression this whole time!"
I said it in a deliberately cryptic tone.
I looked exactly like a slime, obviously. There was no way they hadn't assumed that from the very start.
This was for dramatic effect! ...Probably.
"What did you say? Cut the tough act!"
"Hmph! If you're not a slime, then show your true form right now! Once you're dead, you won't be able to make any excuses!"
It seemed they were actually willing to wait for me to transform.
Everything was going according to plan!
I was confident I could win even while remaining in slime form.
But! It was hard to hold back—I might accidentally slice them clean in half.
Fine-tuning my power to merely knock someone unconscious was tricky.
"Very well. I shall show you my true form!!!"
I roared, and deliberately released a trickle of Demon Aura.
Of course, only a small amount.
I scanned the surroundings to see if anyone had noticed the small burst of Demon Aura.
A few people watching from a distance seemed to have picked up on it.
The two fools in front of me and their apparent associates showed no sign of having noticed.
These guys really were all bark and no bite.
I'd seen enough observing them. Now then, what should I transform into...
A black mist erupted from my body.
It enveloped me... and once the mist cleared, a monster stood where I had been.
A black wolf.
Huh? When I'd first used Mimicry after Predating the Fang Wolf tribe, I'd taken on the shape of a Fang Wolf...
But now, I had the same black fur as the evolved
And a frame that even surpassed Ranga's.
Two horns protruded from my forehead.
Mimicry: Black Storm Star Wolf ...It seemed that when the monster I'd Predated evolved, those changes applied to my Mimicry as well.
This felt like the next step beyond Ranga's evolution. I could sense overwhelming power.
Surely, the two fools would at least run away once they saw this form.
That's what I thought, but— "Hah! Changing how you look doesn't change the fact that you're a slime!"
"Like we'd be scared into running away by that!"
...They hadn't noticed a thing!!!
Come on, this was visibly dangerous on a whole other level!
In the first place, if a slime could transform, even if they couldn't tell whether it was an illusion or not, they should at least be on guard.
Yet these two showed not a shred of concern.
Maybe they were reassured by the fact that their hidden companions—those three—were nearby...
I now had several usable skills.
Super Sense of Smell, Thought Communication, Intimidation, Shadow Movement, and Black Lightning—five of them.
Shadow Movement was a skill Ranga and the others were currently practicing.
The goal was to hide in the shadow of a paired partner and appear when called upon!
For now, they were still practicing entering shadows, so it would be a while before it was practical.
That left Black Lightning... I didn't need to test it to know what would happen. If I did, the sorry men in front of me would end up as charred husks.
My predictions tended to be optimistic, so the actual result could be even worse. Which meant I didn't really have any usable skills.
If only Intimidation worked on idiots! In a sense, were idiots truly invincible?
After all, some of the onlookers were so scared they'd gone weak in the knees.
"Sigh... forget it. This is getting tedious—just come at me!"
I yielded the first strike.
What would happen if I took damage while in Mimicry form?
I'd experimented once before with the lizard form.
When I took repeated damage and it exceeded a certain threshold, the Mimicry dissolved.
At that point, there was no damage to my slime body.
The theory was that the Mimicry formed a body using Magicules, so damage didn't reach the real me.
The limitations were that it took about three minutes before I could use Mimicry again, and each transformation required Magicules as a cost.
The amount of Magicules was negligible for me, so it wasn't an issue. There was no time limit on how long the Mimicry lasted.
In other words, I could let them attack freely with no problem.
Even if the opponent was strong, the moment the Mimicry dissolved and I returned to slime form, I could simply escape.
To my words— "Heh, die!"
"RAAAARGH!!! Wind Cleaving Slash!!!"
The light warrior hurled a dagger at me.
And the swordsman—was that a skill attack? His blade glowed green as he slashed toward me.
CLANG!!!
CRACK!!!
Throwing three daggers simultaneously was impressive, but they lacked the power to pierce through my stiff bristles.
The swordsman, meanwhile... the poor thing. His prized sword had snapped clean in half.
"Did you just do something?"
I asked in a deliberately mocking tone, the way villains always do in stories.
Or rather, had they actually done anything? I genuinely couldn't tell—I'd taken virtually no damage.
Was that skill just for show?
"I-Impossible! What kind of stiff bristles are these...?"
"This can't be... This can't be happening!!! My sword is made of silver! It has an enhanced damage effect against monsters!!!"
...Well, yeah, silver was brittle. What was he even talking about... this guy.
"Hey! You guys, help me out!!!"
Having lost all pretense of composure, the swordsman called for his companions. So the trio really were his allies.
"Heh! You're done for!"
"Oh my... who would've thought we'd actually get a turn!"
"A slime's transformation magic? Interesting. Let's dissect it once it's dead!"
"That one hasn't been moving this whole time. Moving probably breaks the spell, right? Am I right? Hit the mark?!"
They were shouting various things amongst themselves.
Then the five of them fanned out around me and attacked simultaneously.
The light warrior lunged with a short sword.
The swordsman channeled a spell and unleashed a wind-tempest blade strike. (Honestly, he was pretty capable.)
The heavy warrior roared "Heavy Cleaving Slash!!!" and brought down a great axe in a single devastating blow.
The magic user cast "Fireball!"—a straightforward magical attack.
The priest was building up magical defenses, preparing for any counterattack from me.
As a party, they were fairly well-balanced.
The only unfortunate thing for them was that none of their attacks had any effect whatsoever...
I gave them a quick glance.
They were too stunned to even make a sound.
Now might be the right moment for Intimidation.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!
I unleashed Intimidation through a thunderous roar.
But this was a huge mistake...
Even the onlookers were fainting and... all sorts of bodily functions were being released...
In short, it had turned into a complete disaster.
Oh no... what was I going to do? I was left clutching my head in dismay.
Huh? The five of them?
They'd taken Intimidation at point-blank range.
Well then...
As you can all imagine.
With my Magic Sense, I could detect the Dwarf security squad charging toward us at full speed.
One word: a mess.
Watching them as they leaked all manner of substances, I started to mentally escape into denial, thinking that cleaning up that aftermath was going to be a nightmare—someone else's problem, really.
Status
Name:
In truth, the deal was supposed to happen this time...