CH 185

Chapter 185 – Relax

“W-where are you taking me? What the hell is this cave?”

“Shut up. Just keep walking. Do you want to be torn to pieces like a goblin? Huh?”

“O-okay, stop pointing that thing to me!”

I have been walking around kicking the ass of the surviving spy for about an hour. We were attacked by goblins on the way and bee-hived a few of them, but other than that; we made it to the cave that leads to Lime and the others’ hideout without any other troubles.

I kicked the spy’s ass some more, who was scared of where I would take him, and we proceeded through the cave and out into the sewers. The spy became restless and began to peek around the area as I did so.

“H-hey, isn’t it dangerous to go any further? This is the sewers of Merinesburg, right? They say there is a ferocious slime monster in this sewer.”

I silently kicked the spy’s ass. We continued on our way for a while. The unpleasant smell of the sewers faded, almost imperceptible to my nose. It was a sign that we were in the territory of Lime and the others.

“H-hey――”

“Welcome back. Who is this?”

Just as the spy was about to whine about something again, Lime appeared and called out to me. The spy was beyond astonished at the sudden appearance of Lime.

“He is the spy of the Holy Kingdom who followed me and tried to catch me. So I brought him here to have Lime and the others confirm whether what he said was true or not.”

“Hmm, so he’s an enemy.”

The voice I heard from Lime was the coldest I had ever heard from her, shaking with a shiver. It’s amazing… to hear such a voice from an innocent and jovial Lime.

“H-hyii…”

The spy dude seemed to be hunched over in front of Lime, who took on the form of a little girl. To sit back down at such a cute little figure, you miserable bastard. Slime girls are cute, aren’t they? Eh? Special proclivities, you say? That’s absurd.

“So, it pains me to have to rely on Lime and the others, but as I recall, you can peek ‘directly’ at this, right?”

When I pointed to my own head, Lime smiled and twitched.

“I can do it! But what about this person after that?”

“I’ll think about that later.”

“I see. Do you want me to do it?”

“No matter who it is, as long as the final goal is fulfilled. I just want you to focus on the accuracy of the information.”

“Then Poizo is good. I’ll take him with me.”

“Yeah, please.”

Lime, which changes her form with a gurgling motion, twists around the spy with blinding speed, seals his body movements and mouth, and takes him to the back of the sewers. The spy is already in a state of panic. He seems to be struggling while raising his voice, but it would be impossible for him to escape from Lime’s restraints by physical means. I think Sylphy or Melty might be able to shake it off with their magical power.

Then, I walked a little while looking at the spy who was entangled with Lime and struggling. Then, a light came into view ahead. It is the hideout of Lime and the others.

“Ara, welcome back… who is this guy”

“Is he a prisoner of war-nodesu?”

As soon as we entered the hideout, Beth and Poizo approached us. Grande seemed to be sleeping peacefully on Beth, who was spread out like a bed. Maybe she had been sleeping because I wasn’t there.

“As Poizo predicted, he’s a prisoner of war. Apparently, the mainstream of the Holy Kingdom’s mainland suspected some kind of connection between Ellen and the Liberation Army, so they dispatched him. According to this guy, he himself is not a spy for the mainstream Adol church, but rather a hired spy.”

“I see-nanodesu. So we just have to find out if it is true, right-nanodesu?”

“Yeah. I don’t care if he dies as a result. He’s seen me, he’s seen my gun, and either way, I can’t let him go back to where he belongs.”

“!!?!?”

The spy, whose mouth was still sealed by Lime, opens his eyes when he hears my words, grunts with all his might, and begins to lash out. However, that does not shake Lime’s restraints at all.

“You’re out of luck to have tracked me down, of all people. No luck for you, my friend.”

“Well then, I will go take a little peek inside his mind-nanodesu. Are you sure you want to leave the handling of the prisoner of war to me-nodesu?”

“Yeah. But the only thing I can’t allow is to let him out alive. Even if you mess with his mind and process his memory, he might be able to extract information by magic or some other method like Poizo’s.”

“I understand. Then I’ll take care of it. It won’t take that long-nodesu.”

Poizo, who received the spy from Lime, drags the spy away as if on the sly. The spy was also expected to go berserk, but the moment Poizo touched the spy, he lost his strength and was taken away without any resistance. I wonder if he was sedated or something in that split second of receiving the spy from Lime…? Poizo is really tricky, isn’t she?

“Let’s leave that one to Poizo and wake up Grande――”

I stepped out to wake Grande, who was sleeping on top of Beth and was suddenly entangled from behind. Beth is right in my line of sight, so it is probably Lime.

“What’s up?”

“You have a wrinkle in your hair, you know?”

Lime then reached out with several tentacle-like tentacles to touch me between my eyebrows and squeeze me. Not only that, she started touching and rubbing my cheeks, neck, shoulders, and all over my body.

“I will try to put all my energy into it. When that happens, you shouldn’t move, okay?”

Lime must have sensed something from the way I was looking at him because when she said this, she pulled me into her body without asking me any questions. I was helpless to do anything about it as Lime, who had somehow become enlarged, took me in, with only the top of my neck protruding.

“So? How many were there, those men?

“…Three people.”

“Then two, huh? Well, that doesn’t feel good. I don’t think you should worry too much about it. It’s not doing anyone any good.”

“That’s the way it is.”

“That’s the way it is. But not caring too much is a problem, too.”

“That’s the way it is.”

“That’s the way it is, huh?”

“It’s hard.”

Beth offers a kind of counseling to me while Lime gives me a full-body massage. Whether I’m still excited or not right now, I’m just surprised that I’m less shocked than I thought I would be. Yet, I still can’t help but feel like the achievement is doing something to me. I mean, before I know it, my armor has been removed, and I’m in my underwear.

“Lime?”

“Just relax.”

Apparently, they were simply dressed comfortably. The full-body rubdown feels so good that it makes me sleepy. Ah, it’s soothing.

“It’s going to take a little while for Poizo to get things out of the captive. You must be mentally exhausted, so get some sleep.”

“Yeah… I understand.”

I feel Beth’s voice, with her calm tone, echoing directly from my ears to my brain. Well, the magic of this world shouldn’t work on me, so it must be the power of Beth’s voice, which is not magic or anything.

“Good night.”

I can hear Lime’s bell-rolling voice in my ear. And it somehow sounds nice. I feel like I remember this smell…? Such thoughts passed through my mind, but my head, which was already on the verge of turning off, could not turn any further, and my consciousness fell into darkness.

☆★☆

“…Huh?”

“Yaaann.”

As soon as I wake up and try to raise my body, my hand is buried in something soft and sloppy. So I tried to get up and found that my hand was buried in Lime’s body, which had become my bed.

“Sorry, I was sleepwalking.”

“It’s all right. Are you feeling better?”

“Hmm? Oh… my head feels clearer somehow.”

Waking up was exhilarating. Perhaps it was the mental shock of having disposed of my pursuers with my own hands, but I felt as calm as if I were on the surface of a lake with no wind. I don’t think I had any particular dreams or anything, but I guess the whole body rubdown of… Lime and the best sleeping environment had a tremendously relaxing effect? Was there something that bothered me before I went to bed, you say…?

“You’re a sleepyhead, Kosuke.”

“When Grande told me that, that means I’m screwed in many ways…”

“I’m not a lazy person. In fact, I’m an early riser for a dragon. Even today, I only dozed off for a few minutes.”

“Sleeping from morning till late afternoon and then taking a little snooze… the timescale for dragons is huge…”

As I said this, I looked around, but it seemed that only Lime and Grande were at the hideout. Beth seems to have gone out somewhere.

“Hasn’t Poizo come back yet?”

“She came back a while ago, you know?”

“Oh. She said that the information obtained by Kosuke had been verified. So she’s going to see if there is any other information they can squeeze out of him. But she said it will take some time.”

“I see… Then I guess I’d better leave the interrogation to Poizo while Grande and I go back to Erichburg first. We can share the results of the interrogation with the Golem communicator.”

“Is that so?”

“Hmm… that might be a good idea. Should we go back as soon as possible?”

“Yeah… sorry, I won’t be able to greet Beth and Poizo.”

“I’ll send them your warm regards.”

Then Lime makes a hand shape with her whole body and gives a goofy thumbs up. Hmm, it looks super strong if you punch it as it is.

“I get it. Then, I’m sorry, but please give them my best regards.”

“All right. Are you coming again?”

“Yeah, I’ll be back soon. Grande, please.”

“Mm, leave it to me.”

After saying goodbye to Lime, I proceeded with Grande through the underground passageway and headed out via the sewers. For some reason, Grande, who was walking next to me on the way, looked up at me sullenly as we walked.

“What’s up?”

“Hmm… no, it’s nothing. The Slime… no, the spirit is a big deal, I just figured.”

Grande shook her head and gently patted me on the hip with her large hand as if she cared about me.

“…?”

Inwardly tilting my head at Grande’s suspicious attitude, I continue walking.

Well, it’s probably nothing to worry about. Now I have to get back to Erichburg as soon as possible. It will be hard on Grande, but if we take a quick flight, we should be able to get there by the time the sun goes down.