What should I do? I wondered.
My answer? I'll tell them.
To me the process is more important than the result. I started researching slimes because I was interested in them and because I enjoyed the process. I didn't really care about the result; and besides, I've already told them. It's a bit too late to try and be secretive now.
"It's alright… The conditions for evolution is, diet.
Different diets, result in different variations.
Green caterpillars, lead to sticky slimes.
Poisonous herbs, lead to poison slimes.
Slimes have, preferences. If you feed them, what they prefer, they'll eventually evolve.
If you don't give them, what they prefer, they might still evolve, but slower; alternatively, they might die…" [Ryouma]
"I see, so that's how slimes evolve." [Elia]
Seeing the young lady nod interestedly, I nodded and continued.
"More food, will make the slime evolve faster.
You can pick from, poisonous herbs, green caterpillars, and the washed bones of monsters…
Those three can give you, poison slime, sticky slime, or acid slime." [Ryouma]
"Which type did you say I couldn't pick?" [Elialia]
"Cleaner slime, scavenger slime, heal slime. Their abilities are, the real thing, though." [Ryouma]
The four members of the ducal family did not know of the slimes I mentioned except for the heal slimes, so they couldn't help but glance at each other.
"What kind of slimes are the cleaner and scavenger slimes?" [Elize]
"They have the clean, and deodorize, skills." [Ryouma]
"Clean and deodorize? I don't believe I've heard of those before." [Elize]
"I can guess what deodorize does, but what about clean?" [Reinhart]
"…It would be faster, if you saw it, for yourselves… Please wait, a moment." [Ryouma]
I left the guests for a moment and went to the kitchen. There I took a cloth and dipped it in rabbit blood. I took that cloth back with me along with one cleaner slime.
"Sorry to keep, you waiting… This is a cleaner, slime. Please, look." [Ryouma]
"A blood-stained cloth? What are you going to do with that?" [Elize]
"This." [Ryouma]
I ordered the slime mentally.
As soon as I did, it took the cloth in my hands and took it into its body.
The cloth spun around the nucleus of the slime.
I've seen this scene countless times, but no matter how many times I see it, I can't help but be reminded of a washing machine.
10 seconds later.
The slime stretched out a part of its body and handed the cloth to me. I spread that cloth open for the others to see. When the four members of the duke's household saw it, they looked at it with inquisitive eyes. The butler and the two maids in particular where quite taken.
"The blood is gone, huh. The color's changed too. Was it digested?" [Reinhart]
"It was sucked by the slime, right? Is that it?" [Elize]
"No, madam. That's not all." [Maid]
"Arone?"
The one who answered their questions was one of the maids, a middle-aged woman by the name of Arone.
"Ryouma-sama, I believe that slime has the ability to eat 'filth'. Am I understanding this correctly?" [Arone]
"It is as you, say." [Ryouma]
"What does that mean?" [Reinhart]
"That cloth wasn't just filthy with blood. There were other substances mixed in. Its current color is its original color."
When you don't wash dirty things, the filth piles up, until eventually, its no longer possible to easily remove them. In some cases, the original color is lost forever.
So, in other words, the 'clean' skill is a skill that can clean even the filthiest things! Am I correct?" [Arone]
"You are… However, it's not just, non-living things." [Ryouma]
I mentally ordered my slime, and in the next moment, it took my hand and the cloth into its body.
"Wha!?" [Elize]
"Don't worry." [Ryouma]
Slimes would normally digest anything they put inside their bodies, so it was understandable why the members of the duke's household cried out when they saw my hand enter the slime. In fact, it wasn't just them. Every person in the room made a stiff face when they saw my hand enter the slime.
Five seconds later, I took out my hand.
"Are you ok?" [Reinhart]
"The cleaner slime, only digests filth… They won't digest human, or animal meat, unless ordered to." [Ryouma]
"Who would've thought there would be a slime like that?" [Reinhart]
"Please don't do that again. It's bad for the heart." [Elize]
"My apologies… I've already gotten used to it, and… I really didn't want to touch, this cloth if possible." [Ryouma]
"Well, it certainly wasn't very clean awhile ago." [Elize]
"It used to be a goblin's loin cloth, after all." [Ryouma]
Everyone's face twitched when I said that, but the maids became even more interested.
Apparently, that was because a goblin's loincloth was considered to be the filthiest thing in this world.
"With this slime no matter how dirty or how disgusting something is you can make it as good as new… Moreover, you normally can't, take a bath while traveling, right?" [Ryouma]
"Yes, at most I can just wipe myself. This was my first trip, actually. It feels so wrong not being able to take a bath at least once a day." [Elialia]
"Rest assured then, with this slime… All your problems can, be solved." [Ryouma]
After I said that, the young lady of the duke's household looked at me with lasers coming out of her eyes. Eek! I thought. This is really scary! For various reasons!
To make things worse, the madam and her 2 maids' eyes also magnified.
"Because, this slime, can eat filth, bad odor, all the dirty things." [Ryouma]
"That's the one! I want that slime! Please help me get a cleaner slime!" [Elialia]
…Oops. Didn't I just say she couldn't pick this? Why oh why did I pitch it to her then? Not to mention this was the worst of them all! Ahh, damn it! I lose myself too easily when it comes to slimes… At the very least, I should have pitched the scavenger instead!
"This is no goo-" [Ryouma]
"How could you say that after showing me such a wonderful thing? How cruel!" [Elialia]
"Ryouma-sama, I am a maid of the Jamil Household from a family who's served for generations. I too have studied the basics of monster taming. If it's no trouble, may I also know the methods of acquiring a cleaner slime?" [Arone]
"I'd like to know too~" [Elize]
The women seemed to go mad after being pitched such a wonderful slime. Their zeal was so great that the men actually faltered; the guards too…
"Ryouma-kun, please don't excite the women any more than this." [Camil]
"The method is, hard to say to women…" [Ryouma]
"You can't teach women?" [Camil]
"I don't mind teaching, it's just hard, to say." [ryouma]
"They want to know, though." [Camil]
Camil-san decided to help me out by leading most of the men and I to a corner of the room.
"…I get you." [Reinhart]
"Who would've thought it would be something like that." [Camil]
"That's certainly not something you can say to a woman." [Zeff]
"I think not even other women could easily say it." [Jill]
"Well, I'm sure it'll sort itself out." [Hyuzu]
Hyuzu-san, however, did not share our sentiments. He turned around without a care for the world, and—
"Ojousama! Madam! Arone! I know the method!" [Hyuzu]
—he proclaimed it with a huge smile on his face.
What is he doing!? Does he know of a good way to say it?
"Really!?" [Elialia]
"Yeah! You just have to bathe and use the water as bait!" [Hyuzu]
He said it!! He said it super directly!!
Ah… There goes the slap.
When the women had finally calmed down, Reinhart-san explained the details.
If you put used water alongside clean water, most slimes would go to the clean one. For some reason, however, some slimes would prefer the used water.
Those are the slimes that have the inclination to become cleaner slimes.
After picking out the slimes with talent, all that's left is to feed them nothing but water and filth. Sebum and sweat would probably work best.
"I can't believe such a slime actually exists." [Elize]
"Sorry." [Ryouma]
"Umm, it's not your fault, Ryouma-san." [Elialia]
"I think it's… not easy for… women to catch cleaner slimes." [Ryouma]
"Ryouma-san." [Elialia]
"?" [Ryouma]
"I think… I'll go with a cleaner slime, after all." [Elialia]
It seems the young lady hasn't given up just yet.
"Then which of the guards…" [Ryouma]
"That won't be necessary. I may only be an apprentice, but I'm going to be a monster tamer from here on. I can't possibly rely on others for this." [Elialia]
"…You don't need… to do everything, by yourself…" [Ryouma]
"Even then, I believe I should take the first step on my own." [Elialia]
"…Your call…" [Ryouma]
"I-I… I'll do it! Can I have some water please?" [Elialia]
Everyone teared up at the young lady's speech. Her face was beet red, but she endured it.
She doesn't really have to go so far.
What's with the atmosphere, though? It's almost as if a protagonist has just made a life-changing decision.
Anyway, it felt bad just bringing out some water, so I decided to suggest she use the bath. As a former Japanese, there are times when I really want to go for a dip, so I built a bath when I was building my house. Who would've thought it'd be used for something like this, though?
"There's, a bath here. Please use it." [Ryouma]
"You have one? Thank you so much!" [Elialia]
I filled the bath with water magic and heated it with fire magic. When the water was at the right temperature, I called the young lady over. The entire preparation took just a few minutes. Magic's seriously convenient.
After the young lady came with the two maids, I went back to where the others were.
"Ouch! Man, they really glared at me." [Hyuzu]
"You deserved it." [Camil]
"It's because you didn't have any of 'that'." [Ryouma]
By 'that' I was obviously referring to delicacy. I was often told I didn't have any back on in my previous life, but even I wasn't as bad as him… Or at least, I think I wasn't.
I mean… When I grew up I had to watch my mouth, or risk getting accused of sexual harassment. It would have been social suicide if I wasn't careful.
"Ah, Ryouma-kun. Welcome back." [Elize]
"Umm… Madam, I…" [Ryouma]
"It's fine, don't mind it. She's made her decision and it's not like you lied, right?" [Elize]
"Of course." [Ryouma]
"Then that's that. Besides, I'm happy to see she's serious about becoming a monster tamer. That being said, she could've just gotten the cleaner slime by asking one from you, though." [Elize]
…What did she say?
"What?" [Ryouma]
"I said she could have just gotten one from you. That didn't cross your mind?" [Elize]
Ha, ha ha ha… Why didn't I realize something so simple. If I'd realized that earlier, we wouldn't have had to go through all this mess.
Maybe being here in the forest all this time has finally taken its toll on me. It's been three years since I started living here, after all.
"Good grief…" [Ryouma]
"Oh, well it was interesting in any case. I thought 'that's youth for you', or something. Anyway, I'm glad to see my daughter's resolve." [Elize]
"Is that so…" [Ryouma]
I feel so tired for some reason…
After the young lady left the bath, she took the water and searched the river for slimes. Meanwhile, I consulted the maids on the fitting of my new clothes.
The young lady's luck seemed to be good, as she came back early, about the same time when I was done talking to the maids.
The young lady brought the slime with her and contracted it in front of everyone.
By then it was already dark, so I suggested for everyone to stay the night. I let them use the bath and cooked supper for them.
The butler and the 2 maids offered to help, but I rejected their offer.
I'm happy for the offer, but the kitchen is too small. We wouldn't be able to fit with 3 more adults. Not to mention, everything was built for a kid to use, so if they're unlucky, they might just end up breaking their hips.
Incidentally, our menu for supper was fried beast meat with grated jija, my otherworld version of pork fried with ginger. Reinhart-san seemed to enjoy himself, and the others praised me too.
It was a weird taste for a Japanese like myself, though. Of course, I've gotten used to it by now.
It's a pity but it can't be helped since there's not a lot of rock salt to get from the cliff, and I even have to use alchemy to purify it because it's a mishmash of various minerals. If it weren't for alchemy, I probably wouldn't have stayed here for 3 years.
The ingredients here in the forest are enough to live off of, but they're not enough to satiate my Japanese stomach.
Well, at least they're happy.