CH 84

T/n: Lime’s way of speaking is childlike here, but I’m just going to make it clear because it’s tough to follow her original way of speaking.

And here’s the chapter, enjoy~

“Lime, where are we going?”

I asked about the destination while following Lime, who showed me a variety of ways to move. I mean, I can understand the “poyopoyo korokoro” because she bounces and rolls. But the sliding movement, the “shubaba.” How does she do that?

“Lime and the others home.”

Oh, I see, home. That’s not what I want to hear, is it? Well, I have to follow her for now, but…

“Lime and the others, you say? Are there many people there?”

“Hmm? There’s Big Lime, Big Beth, and Big Poizo!”

“Big..?”

What does it mean by “big?” Is there some kind of main body? No way. No, it’s a slime… Also, there’s Beth and Poizo? I don’t know if it’s the three of them living together.

“Do the three of you live together, Lime, Beth, and Poizo?”

“That’s right. If a scary person finds us, we have to change our house.”

“Scary people?”

“Yes, that’s right. They are terrible. They hit us with magic, pour poison into us, and pour oil into us to scald us.”

In a voice that sounded like she was angry, Lime said something quite tragic. Are they all right with magic, poison, and oil?

“That’s terrible. Are Lime and the others okay?”

“Lime and the others won’t die so easily. We don’t get injured easily. We’re very good at it.”

When she said that, Lime spread out on the floor and became transparent and invisible. And then she immediately returned to normal.

“Isn’t that skillful?

“Excellent.”

“Nfuh.”

Lime makes a joyful sound as I praise her. In fact, if I didn’t know it was a pretend death, I’d probably think she was dead… She was just like a puddle of water.

So, while chatting with Lime, I proceeded through the dark underground passage. But I was mostly just listening.

I didn’t know the details because Lime’s words were vague and Lime’s own memory or knowledge was unclear, but it seems that Lime and the others have been hiding in the underground of this royal capital ever since the Merinard Kingdom was defeated by the Holy Kingdom and made a vassal state. It seems that Lime and the others can only live in places where there is plenty of water, and it was impossible for them to escape across the Great Omit Wilderness to the Black Forest.

“Besides, there’s the king and the others in the back. We can’t leave them, can we? No?”

“Is the royal family of the Merinard Kingdom still in the castle?”

“Yes.”

“Hou…”

This was a new piece of information. According to Sylphy, Danan, and others, they told me that the royal family of the Merinard Kingdom had been taken to various parts of the Holy Kingdom as slaves… What does this mean?

I’m not sure if Danan’s information is wrong or if Lime’s information is inaccurate… I’ll have to check this out.

“This is the entrance.”

“This is the entrance…?”

Lime bounced beside the lattice set into the floor. It’s a pretty big lattice. They don’t seem to have rusted at all, even though the underground is very humid. I wonder if it’s not made of steel.

“I don’t think I can get through here…”

“Can’t you just do it like this?”

“I can’t just do that…”

“You can’t, huh…”

Lime shows me how to liquefy half of her body and bypass the lattice, but I can’t do that. I’m not that inhuman, you know.

“Is it okay if I break the floor next to the lattice?”

“Hmm? Maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe big Lime will be angry at you? Maybe?”

“I’ll apologize when that happens. I’ll fix it anyway.”

“I’ll go with you to apologize, too.”

I was so relieved to hear her bouncing around and saying kind things. Lime is so cute. She makes me feel relaxed. I wonder if I can make her mine? I guess I can’t since she’s not a dog or a cat.

Anyway, in order to proceed, I used the stone ax to destroy the floor next to the lattice so that I could go down. It took a while, but the excavation was completed without any problems.

“It was amazing! Kosuke is amazing!”

“Hahaha, I know, I know.”

I was praised by Lime, who bounced up and down with excitement, and I felt pleased as well. In the Liberation Army, even if I did a lot of things, people would just look at me warmly and say, “Oh, again.” Or maybe it was more like an enlightened look.

I descended to the bottom of the lattice on a stone floor excavated in the shape of stairs. It’s not that high. Maybe five meters? I didn’t want to jump, but it was high enough that I wouldn’t be able to jump down. Like me, Lime came down the stairway through the stone floor.

“Do you usually go down by slipping on that lattice?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m always slipping and jumping down! It’s fun, you know?”

“Are you sure it’s all right to jump from that high…?”

“It’s okay.”

It seems that Lime is fine with jumping from a height of five meters. She’s quite strong in physics, as expected of a slime.

The place we went down was like an underground sewer. I thought it was a sewer, but it didn’t smell too bad.

“What is this place? Isn’t this a sewer?”

“Hmm? Sewer? That’s right.”

“Eh, really?”

It doesn’t smell that bad. I was expecting more of a smell that would make me throw up.

“The water that flows here is the water that Poizo and the others have cleaned. It’s beautiful, right?”

“Hou…”

So Poizo is treating the sewer, huh? Considering its name, is it a kind of poison slime?

“Is your home still far away?”

“We’re almost there.”

Lime bounced up and down and started to move, so I followed her. After a short walk, I saw a light ahead. That peculiar light was familiar to me. It was similar to the magic light that Isla had used.

“I’m home… I brought Kosuke…”

When I entered the light-filled room, I was momentarily dazzled by the brightness. No, it’s not that I’m dizzy; it’s just that the underground passage is too dark. The torches were bright enough, but my eyes were used to the darkness.

When I entered the room, there were three women there. No, there was something that looked like a woman.

“Yees, welcome back.”

Lime dives into the rich bosom of something that looks like a light blue woman who says that in a bright voice and disappears. Disappear? Eh? What’s happening?

“Hmm, you’re certainly human.”

The slender humanoid made of red slime looked at me in some confusion and said something like that.

“You seem to be surprised-nanodesu.”

This time, a bubbling green slime humanoid makes such a sound. Yes, I am surprised.

“I never thought it possible, but there really is such a creature as a slime girl…”

I thought there might be a slime that could talk, but I didn’t think it really existed until I saw Lime. And where did Lime go?

“Where’s Lime?”

“I’m Lime, you know?”

The light blue humanoid slime… Lime smiled at me. Then she separated her body parts and created the same one that had been accompanying me a while ago.

“The Lime that was with you and this Lime are the same beings. I’m Beth, by the way.”

“We can split our bodies to create a duplicate body. I’m Poizo-nanodesu.”

The red humanoid and the green humanoid also introduced themselves. I have a lot to think about, but for now, I’ll just introduce myself.

“I’m Kosuke, and I’m a member of the Liberation Army, and I’m… Princess Sylphiel, or should I say Princess Sylphy? I’ve been working with Sylphy. I was captured by the Holy Kingdom army for various reasons and escaped from a cell, where I met Lime or Lime-san? Nice to meet you all.”

“You can just call me Lime.”

Lime smiles cheerfully as she says this. Hmm, it is soothing.

“The Liberation Army of Her Highness Princess Sylphiel. I’ve heard rumors. The military and the church are doing their best to hide the war situation, but the rumors of the Liberation Army are all over the capital.”

“It was said that they attacked all the way to Erichburg in a short period, defeating the Holy Kingdom’s army at a furious pace. Is that true-nanodesu?”

“That’s true. We had already conquered as far as Erichburg. Now, while defending Erichburg, we are exterminating the Holy Kingdom army from south of Erichburg…”

The three of them were interested in what I said, and I told them what I knew about the Liberation Army’s war situation. The three of them listened to my story in silence with great interest. Maybe they were hungry for outside information since they were holed up in the underground like this.

“I see. So what’s your relationship with Her Highness Princess, Kosuke? Are you close friends?”

Lime, who had been listening to my conversation with little interest, asked me with a glowing expression. She’s getting close to me. The other two were also interested and gave me an overtly exciting look.

“Sylphy and I have a very close relationship. We even share a bed.”

“You share a bed with her?”

“Yes. That’s right. Of course, we are in that relationship. “

“In that relationship.”

Close, close, Lime, you’re so close. I know you’re curious, but it’s too close. The other two are also so close that they’re touching my neck and forehead.

“What’s that?”

“We can share information by touching each other.”

“It’s just between us-nanodesu.”

“I see… Is it really only between slimes?”

“There is nothing we can’t do. All we have to do is go in there and rub a little bit.”

“Get in where? What does that mean? Hey? I’m scared.”

“You want to try it? It’s addictive, you know?”

No way, Lime extends her thin, thread-like tentacles. It’s scary!

“No, I’ll pass.”

“It feels so good, you know.”

Lime retracts the thin tentacle in disappointment. It’s scary… As I thought, these girls are probably some kind of dangerous creatures with a voice like “Tekeli-Li.”

“You should not do that, Lime. He won’t be able to come back for about three days. With mine, he can be back in a day.”

“I can make it in half a day-nanodesu.”

“Your stuff is addictive…”

“Let’s not talk about it for now. Yes, stop!”

They started to talk about something horrible, so I forced them to break the conversation.

“So, I’d like to ask you some questions as well, if that’s okay.”

The three of them looked at each other at my words and, at the same time, turned their gaze towards me.

“Kosuke’s not hiding anything, is he?”

“As long as you tell us everything.”

“We’ll answer whatever we can too-nanodesu.”

They said that and stared at me. Ah, yes. That’s right. About who I am, what role I play in the Liberation Army, and why I was kidnapped, of all people. I’ve been deliberately hiding those things from you, haven’t I? Yeah, that’s right.

“Kosuke, can you trust us?”

“Just so you know, if we wanted to do something about you, we would have done it by now.”

“We’re on your side. We are still protecting the capital and the royal family, you know-nanodesu?”

There was another mention of royalty. That’s something that’s bothering me.

“All right, I’ll tell you everything. But in return, please provide me with the information I want. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes, yes, that’s fine.”

“Finally. Now, spit it out.”

“Beth is so impatient. Just take your time-nanodesu.”

Lime is smiling, Beth is looking high and mighty for some reason, and Poizo is taking it in stride. I think I’m starting to understand the relationship between the three of them.

“Okay, so I’m going to tell you the story… and it’s going to sound pretty ridiculous, so be prepared.”

And so I began to tell my story — the story of my arrival in this world and my encounter with Sylphy.