novel
| ← Ch.063 | Ch.065 → |
It's been a month since I parted with the Jamil Household.
In the past month I've finished building my house, I've furnished the tunnels with other facilities on top of the storage room and the alchemy room, and I've also made a 2 story house that will serve as a guest room along with a reception room in front of the tunnel. I also created a garden and a field of medicinal plants using wood magic along with soil from the forest and the scavenger slime's fertilizer. Finally, it's starting to look like a house.
In my free time, I was also finally able to spare some time to investigate Melzen's spear. A magic weapon is able to invocate magic whenever magic power is poured into it. Melzen's spear is able to use the two spells, "Ignition", and "Fire Ball". When I brought the spear to Tigger's Armory before, I found out that there were two kinds of magic weapons. The basic one could use only one, but the ones that could invocate several magic can only be created by a skilled artisan. In other words, Melzen's Spear is the work of a skilled artisan.
I also found out after testing the weapon, that putting more magic power into the spear doesn't affect its damage output. The strength of the magic seems to have been set. Moreover, while it's possible to pour any attribute of magic power into the spear, using a similar attribute to the magic being invoked will cost less magic power.
The most efficient attribute for Melzen's Spear is fire. Next is neutral. Aside from those two, everything else is mostly the same, but they're all inefficient.
... Honestly speaking though, this isn't really all that interesting... Like alchemy, I could just use 'Flame' or 'Fire Ball' by willing magic power and using the spells, so it's not particularly useful for someone like me who can use fire magic.
It's convenient when fighting against ghosts and magical beasts that are weak to fire, but aside from that it's just a spear that can shoot out fire. It's the kind of weapon fit for someone who can't use fire magic.
The spear also seems to have been made with an expensive material called, Flame Ore. It's probably because it shoots out fire. A normal iron wouldn't last, so the craftsman must've used this to keep that from happening. And because of this, it's a first-class spear. So even though the fire magic isn't that useful, I can still use it. Still though, it's kind of hard to come to grips with the fact that its enchantment is just an added value.
As for the store, the ruffians have started coming nearly every day since a few days ago, but since dealing with them is easy, the store is doing quite well. Especially since my proposal to sell the cleaner slime's deodorizing liquid has had a bigger effect than I expected, and was a big hit amongst the beastmen and the dragon newts. Nowadays it has spread even amongst the normal customers, and you can see a large number of people coming to the store every day to buy some.
I do wonder if the supply will match the demand once it starts to rise though. So I discussed with Caulkins-san and the others whether I should get the scavenger slimes to help as well. But in the end we decided that the cleaner slimes alone are enough.
Speaking of which, the cleaner slimes now number a hundred and twenty-three. They've been washing clothes every day, so after their split, they ended up this many. With this many cleaner slimes as long as there's food and water for them, there shouldn't be any problem spitting out more deodorizing liquid. In other words as long as they have enough laundry water to drink, then they'll be able to produce deodorizing liquid. They use some of their nutrients in order to make the deodorizing liquid, so their splits have become slower compared to before. But even then, it's still a level faster than back in the forest, so there's no problem in particular.
The cleaner slimes also seem to have become better at handling their deodorizing liquid, and they can now produce over twice the amount of diluted deodorizing liquid in their bodies. Right now, they have three ratios of concentration that can be used.
First, there's the normal liquid, which is good enough to deal with the bad odor from sweat or other things that one would normally get in one's day-to-day life. Then there's the super liquid that can deal with the things that the normal liquid can't deal with like the armor of the adventurers that have become stuffy because of sweat, or the smell of blood or beasts. And if that's not good enough, then there's the hyper or undiluted liquid.
If that's not good enough, then there's no choice but to give up. I've never seen it fail yet, though.
The cleaner slimes were doing just fine, but I still wanted to reduce their burden, so I researched on whether or not it was possible to make a dilution with Caulkins-san. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a method to create one by ourselves. We tried mixing the deodorizing liquid with water, but for some reason it lost its effect. The slimes, themselves, are diluting the liquid inside their body with the water they drink, and yet... I wonder what it is that we're doing different.
I also found something interesting. When I used 'Sensory Link' on the cleaner slimes as I made them work, I found out that they neither became mentally or physically tired. So as long as they had enough food and water, they will apparently be able to make as many deodorizing liquid as I ask them to. And when I checked the other slimes, they too didn't suffer from fatigue.
But I still think it's too much to make them work the entire day every day, so I limited their production to mornings and afternoons every day. This much is more than enough to respond to the demand anyway, so it's fine. And I better continue the research regarding the deodorizing liquid. At any rate, after we got the deodorizing liquid from the slimes, we bottled and stocked them in the store's cellar before selling them.
I don't understand the slime's mind and body very well, but there's no other way to describe it other than amazing. And although they're more resilient than me or anyone else, they're not completely immune to it. Really, I wonder what's going in a slime's body... I guess I'll ask Caulkins-san and the others about it later.
"Good work today, everyone." [Ryouma]
"Thanks for today, boss!" [Everyone else]
We managed to complete today's work without any trouble again. Although I haven't been able to come here to close the store, because I've been living at the abandoned mine, I'm here today. Why? Because from now on I'm going to get chummy with the new hires! Putting it bluntly, I just want to talk about the slimes, but they're interested in it anyway, so isn't it fine?
I went to the break room along with Caulkins-san, Tony-san, and Robelia-san, while everyone else went back to their own rooms.
"Well it's already been a month since I've hired you three. How is it?" [Ryouma]
"This is the best place I've ever worked at." [Tony]
"We're treated well, and at the same time we're able to do a job that's worth doing." [Robelia]
"And more than anything, it's a wonderful thing to see slimes raking in profit!" [Caulkins]
The other 2 nodded at Caulkins-san's word.
"It's a kind of happiness that I didn't get to taste back when I was at the research lab." [Tony]
"It can't be helped though, after all, the slime research lab back then was a place with no future and reeked of despair." [Robelia]
"Despair, huh?" [Ryouma]
"Boss, you might think it's too much, but that's because you haven't seen the misery of the researchers that have been made to work at the slime research lab. Although slime researchers have a somewhat better lifestyle than those from the slimes, they're treated worse than slaves." [Caulkins]
"Really!?" [Ryouma]
Seriously!? It's a research lab, so I thought they would at least... No, that's wrong. There are definitely places that treat people cruelly. Even in my previous world that had the labor standards act, there were still companies that abused their employees. It's because of companies like those that the term 'slave' became widespread.
"When it's been decided that a researcher will be sent to slime research, half the time the researchers will instead choose to retire and leave." [Caulkins]
"Slime research has become a place where people are sent to in order to be driven out of the company. So it's only a given that the treatment would be poor. Even the master of a slave would have some sort of duty to ensure that their slaves would be able to live to some extent, but slime researchers are just paid their salaries without any assurance on how they will be living." [Robelia]
"And while it's true that you'll get paid, it's cheap, so it's not possible to live luxuriously. Moreover, they'll cut your salary for the pettiest things, making your life a living hell." [Tony]
So the slaves of this world has some kind of assurance for their lifestyle... Unexpectedly, it would appear that the slaves of this world and the corporate slaves of my world find little difference in whether they have a collar attached or not.
"What kind of petty things?" [Ryouma]
"The most common one is not being able to bring out results." [Robelia]
"The goals of slime research are the slime's ecology and the method of taming a big slime, but that's something that hasn't been answered for over 300 years already." [Caulkins]
"It's precisely because it's that kind of research that they're using it to demote people." [Tony]
... I figured it out by myself, but... could it be that I've actually done something amazing?
"Why couldn't you figure out the slime's ecology?" [Ryouma]
"Well first of all, the slime's living grounds are too vast, and the number of variations the slimes have are far too many. The place they're living, the environment, and their strength. Building a hypothesis from all these is important, but because there's too variations, there's definitely one of them that'll be an exception." [Caulkins]
"Moreover, the information is just not sufficient to make a hypothesis. When researching other magical beasts, we dissect them in order to understand more. For example, just from seeing the shape of teeth it's possible to make a conjecture on whether it's a herbivore or a carnivore. But when slime's die, the only thing they leave behind is their nucleus, so we can't dissect them. And there's also no point in dissecting their body since they're transparent to begin with. As for the nucleus it's brittle, so although it might have some sort of function as an organ, we don't know. In the end we don't know anything about their mode of life." [Robelia]
Come to think of it, slimes do disappear when they die... Before I started taming them, I killed a lot of slimes, and each time they'd only leave behind their nucleus while the rest of their body disappeared. At the start I thought that was just how this world worked. Things would die, and without leaving a trace, just leave behind their loot. But then the other magical beasts didn't disappear after dying... Then again, if you can't take apart the beasts after killing them, then it won't be possible to get meat or other ingredients. I did think it was strange, but I was too caught up in the evolutions, so I just let it pass
"When we were researching the slimes, there were plenty of times when they evolved into a different slime, but we couldn't figure out the evolution conditions." [Tony]
Eh? The slimes evolved, but you couldn't figure out the conditions?
"What kind of slime did they evolve into?" [Ryouma]
"There were all sorts. The slimes evolved into a different one nearly every day." [Robelia]
Said Robelia-san as she held her head and let out a breath of sigh. I wonder if something happened... Well I guess I'll let it be. That aside, what's going on? What were they feeding the slimes?
"What did you feed the slimes?" [Ryouma]
"Feed? Well we just fed it whatever we could get our hands on... right?" [Robelia]
Said Robelia-san as she asked the other two for confirmation. Tony and Caulkins-san nodded.
"We barely had any funding for our slime research, so we couldn't feed the slimes anything special. So instead we just fed it the leftover feeds that other researchers fed their magical beasts. We didn't really have much of a choice, since even our salaries were only barely enough to let us live. So we just fed the slimes with whatever was available.
There were also researchers who would steal the feed of the slimes when it was meat, so there were very few researchers who would pay out of their own pocket to get the slimes good feed." [Robelia]
"The slimes would eat whatever you gave it, so we took that as proof that it was fine to feed it anything. After all, slimes are magical beasts that can even live off the food in completely different environments. Such an adaptable magical beast would definitely be fine eating anything." [Tony]
I couldn't keep my jaw from falling when I heard Robelia-san's and Tony-san's explanation.
You're kidding, right? It's true that slimes can eat anything if you order it to... but still... Then again, it's not like I don't understand the reason. But at the same time, it's precisely because you fed it randomly that the slimes evolved randomly. And because of that you couldn't figure out the importance of feeds to slimes, and you even failed to grasp the evolution conditions as a result. Man, assumptions are scary.
As I thought that, I couldn't help but unconsciously hold my head. When I brought my head up, the other three were looking at me.
"Boss, what's the matter all of the sudden?" [Rbelia]
"No, it's just..." [Ryouma]
Well, alright... Now what? Should I just drop the bomb at their face?
"Actually, the evolution condition for the slimes lie in the feed." [Ryouma]
"Eh?" [Robelia]
"......" [Tony]
"What do you mean?" [Caulkins]
"I said the slimes evolve depending on what you feed them." [Ryouma]
I explained to them my findings from back in the forest, and all the evolution conditions of the slimes I have with me now. The three were dumbfounded.
"N-No way..." [Robelia]
"To think that our theory was actually wrong... And to think that very thing was actually the evolution condition..." [Tony]
As Robelia-san and Tony-san muttered that, they held their heads in depression. Huh? Caulkins-san is actually being quiet... !?
Caulkins-san!?" [Ryouma]
Caulkins-san stood their quietly with his head hung in shame. Then all of the sudden, he started crying without letting out his voice! What's going!?
"Boss..." [Caulkins]
"Y-Yes?" [Ryouma]
Caulkins-san suddenly began to quietly speak.
"You're explanation, I get it. Actually, when I was working at the lab, my research was about how to evolve a slime into a big slime. Big slimes in general lived in places with strong magical beasts, so my hypothesis was that if I fed a slime the meat of strong magical beasts, then it would eventually turn into a big slime. No one else was able to bring results, so I focused my attention on something different." [Caulkins]
So they thought big slime was a slime evolution. It's unfortunate that Caulkins-san wasn't able to see the importance of feed, but he still got quite close.
"Just as Robelia had mentioned a while ago, the researchers themselves already have their hands full just trying to feed themselves, so it wasn't possible to feed the slimes with the meat of strong magical beasts. But I had some leeway since I was a noble."
A slime that's eaten nothing but the meat of strong magical beasts? I wonder what kind of slime it'll be.
"After a while the slime evolved. But it didn't turn into a big slime, instead it turned into a meat slime." [Caulkins]
"Meat Slime? Eh? You mean... meat as in meat?" [Ryouma]
"Right, but..." [Caulkins]
Caulkins suddenly stopped talking, and he bit his lips.
"It wasn't only the feeds that were meat, even the slime's body was meat." [Caulkins]
"Even the body?" [Ryouma]
What's that supposed to mean?
"The slime turned into something that looked like a wriggling lump of raw meat.." [Caulkins]
"Wriggling raw meat..." [Ryouma]
Uwaah... That sounds disgusting...
"I think you might have figured it out already, but it was ludicrously eerie... I was fired right after that. I'd completely used up all my fortune by the time I was fired, and I've even had my properties seized, so I wasn't able to run any more tests. If your evolution conditions are correct, then that would explain why my slime turned into a meat slime. That's why I understand... Saying it now might not make a difference, but I wish I had known earlier. If only I had continued that research! It's so vexing to know that I was so close!" [Caulkins]
Caulkins-san began to tear up again as he said that.
That's certainly frustrating. If only he was able to continue researching a bit more, then he might have been able to uncover one of the slime's mode of life... Come to think of it, when I met him for the first time, Jeff-san told me that he spent all his fortune in his research. So this is the reason, huh? When he's in charge of a store, I'll definitely have someone else who can manage money work with him.
"I-Isn't it fine, Caulkins-san!? After all, we're already working at this store!" [Robelia]
"That's right! From now on we'll be able to work under the boss, and make other people understand how useful slimes are!" [Tony]
"You're right... you're exactly right! I don't have time to regret! I'll use this to make myself work even harder!" [Caulkins]
Looks like Robelia-san and Tony-san were able to help Caulkins-san get back up. It's good that he's even more fired up than before... and more than anything, it's good that he's not the type to be sour. Only, I do know how to make the slime into a big slime. But if I tell him now, I'm sure he'll be depressed again...
I don't have the skills to tell him about it without causing him to be depressed, so I better just keep it to myself for now.
"Oh yeah, what were we talking about again?" [Caulkins]
"We were explaining to the boss about how the lab treated us poorly." [Robelia]
"And then from there we got to the evolution conditions. Boss, do you still have any other questions?" [Tony]
Questions? In that case, the slime variations.
"What kind of slimes were there in the research lab?" [Ryouma]
"In my research lab, the type of slime I've seen is the same type as the boss is raising, a sticky slime. My lab's hypothesis believes that slimes will evolve into a big slime when they become stronger, so we caught a bunch of slimes and made them fight other magical beasts. The slimes kept dying, so it was very rare for them to evolve." [Tony]
Well yeah, they won't evolve like that.
"As for me, the slimes we were raising evolved into a slime called, Tree Slime." [Robelia]
Oh! A new slime!
"What kind of slime was that?" [Ryouma]
"It was the same as a normal slime at the start, but as time passed, a tree sprouted from its nucleus." [Robelia]
A tree grew from its nucleus? Is the nucleus of a tree slime a seed?
"And then?" [Ryouma]
"That's it." [Robelia]
"Eh?" [Ryouma]
"The tree grew bigger and bigger, and eventually it rooted itself on the ground. At that point, it just became a normal tree. There's a nucleus inside the tree, so it seems to be alive, but it's become completely unable to move." [Robelia]
"Isn't there some sort of practical application for it?" [Ryouma]
"Nothing in parti... Well I guess you could say it's quite strong, so as lumber, perhaps." [Robelia]
Lumber, huh?
"You know, Boss. It's actually quite rare to find slimes that are as useful in day-to-day life like yours. At most there's the sticky slime, whose sticky liquid is used as glue." [Tony]
"But since it's fine to use a normal glue or paste, there's not a whole lot of demand for the sticky slime's adhesive." [Robelia]
"Evolved slimes aren't really a target of research at the lab, so they're being treated as failures." [Tony]
Doesn't seem like there's any passion or love amongst researchers regarding slimes. I guess they don't feel like researching much, since they're treated poorly, and it doesn't look like there's any future in slimes. But I still think it's a bit too cruel... Then, should I seriously start to popularize the slime's usefulness? Yeah, I'll consider this as one of my goals in this world.
After that, the three told me all about the slimes they had confirmed until now, the variations, the features, and the population distribution of the slimes.
Incidentally, I also asked them at the last moment about the importance of my research. Apparently, it would depend on how much information I release.
If I publicize the information on the slimes' evolution conditions, then research on it might progress. But with just that, the only ones who'll find it interesting are the slime researchers.
But if I were to mix that along with the cleaner slimes' and the scavenger slimes' ability, then it might make a huge commotion when people start to realize the value of the slimes. But that situation might cause the current slime researchers to be at a disadvantage.
The slime researchers today are all generally people who have been demoted. Once people understand the value of slime, there's no way they'll be allowed to continue to work on it. Instead they'll probably be fired or be demoted to do something else. Or so anticipated the three.
... Eh? Could it be that I was on the verge of causing mass layoffs? I should keep this moment in mind. It's probably not going to happen anytime soon, but in the unlikely case, I could pick up some unemployed people. Provided they're trustworthy, I'll be able to secure more manpower too.
I ended up thinking about all sorts of things, today.
| ← Ch. 063 | Ch. 065 → |