Ackster was momentarily surprised by the sudden splash of blood. He quickly resumed his movements. But he still couldn't understand where the blood came from. According to his understanding of the creature, there shouldn't be any blood. There were bones and muscles and the like, but there shouldn't be any liquids.
But his lack of understanding didn't stop Ackster from continuing to smash the goblin-like creature until it was nothing more than a droopy mess. The creature's skeleton slowly lost its hardness before even starting to lose its shape as the fragments that remained after Ackster's beatdown started blending with the melting muscles.
However, the creature's bones and muscles didn't mix with the splattered blood, which told Ackster that the blood didn't come from the creature. That solved half the mystery, but since he had to continue beating the Doppelganger Slime until it completely lost its shape, he decided to scour the clearing for any source of the blood after he was done.
And after only a few minutes of steady beating from Ackster, the slime completely lost its shape and returned to its original form. It was surprisingly small, considering it had imitated a goblin. But Ackster didn't care too much and shoved the colorless slime that was slightly bigger than his two fists inside a bag.
Since Ackster had beaten it so much, the slime would be dormant for a while, so he wasn't worried about it moving around. However, he had to sneak it inside the city somehow, so he prepared the bag to use as an excuse. He was officially leaving the city to collect herbs, so it only made sense if he had something to collect the herbs with.
Now that he had found his target, he had to carry the bag in his hand, so Ackster moved the Sun-kissed grass from his pockets to the bag. It would also serve as a way to hide the Doppelganger Slime in case the guards decided to inspect the bag upon his return.
After stuffing the slime and the herbs in the bag and securing it, Ackster felt giddy. He could barely stop his smile from reaching his ears. Now that he had found the slime that would help him fake his death, he had overcome possibly the hardest part of his plan.
Only the fact that it wasn't a guaranteed success and that he hadn't yet actually escaped The Hero's grasp helped Ackster calm down.
Ackster grabbed the bag before taking a look around the clearing. He didn't actually need to do it. But he wanted to know if the blood in the slime came from something in the clearing. Since it smelled like the goblin blood from last night, combined with the fact that the goblin corpse was missing, Ackster was a little curious.
He just wanted to appease his mind since it was more than likely that the slime had simply found another dead goblin to imitate and drink a little blood from. But Ackster couldn't quite let go of the feeling that the slime had somehow managed to copy the goblin from last night.
Thankfully, the clearing wasn't very big, and Ackster quickly found what he was looking for. Though he had to admit he was worryingly surprised by it.
Hidden behind a few of the rocks littered around the clearing was indeed the goblin's corpse from last night. The missing fingers that were in Ackster's room made it easily identifiable. Though, the lack of a head was also a clear sign.
However, what surprised Ackster wasn't the corpse itself. It was the dead hound laying next to it with a greenish forth still dripping out of its maw. The hound was dead, and if the froth in its mouth and the discoloration of its eyes were a sign that it had died from poison.
From what Ackster could see, the hound had died of poison after taking a few bites out of the goblin's corpse. He couldn't help but lift his shirt and look at the scars on the side of his chest.
Ackster didn't know if he should feel lucky that he had survived his encounter with the poison goblin, which was apparently potent enough to bring down a hound, which should have a more resilient physique than Ackster. Or if he should feel unlucky that he even encountered such a dangerous goblin on his first trip outside the house since his transmigration.
However, since the misfortune had balanced out by making him lucky enough to find the Doppelganger Slime, this time without encountering any other monsters, it made Ackster feel it was a good and a bad thing, but mostly good, to have encountered the poison goblin.
After putting his mind at ease and finding out the potency of the goblin's poison, Ackster turned around to start getting back to the Phileam estate before it was too late. Finding the slime but being caught trying to escape before he could prepare it would make his transmigration short-lived, after all.
However, when he turned around, Ackster caught something moving out of the corner of his eye.
"That's…."
Unsure of what to make of it, Ackster stuffed it into the bag before returning to the estate.
Since Ackster had said he was going to collect herbs while he was outside the city and came back with Sun-kissed grass poking out of the bag, the guards didn't bother searching him or the bag. Although, based on the looks on their faces, it could have been because they didn't want to touch him or his things.
Ackster felt a little discomfort at the guards' attitude, but since it let him pass through with ease, he didn't let it bother him.
The kind guard's shift had ended, so Ackster didn't see him.
Ackster walked toward the fountain and quickly rinsed his hair before heading toward the estate.
He was a little worried about how to go about things. But since throwing a stone worked last night, he threw two stones at the gate this time before sprinting to the back of the estate and sneaking through the garden to his room.
He had to hold on to the bag with his mouth, but it was still easier than climbing into his room with a broken arm.