※ Arito's POV
As the tests ended, we went for a small lunch in the bar adjoined to the Adventurers guild that served as a restaurant too. The food was really simple, but enjoyable. It certainly had the Pub vibes that I liked in my previous life's college life.
„Ladies and Gentlemen, please come with me, the Guildmaster wishes to see you," a brown haired girl with a third eye on her forehead came to get us. We followed her upstairs, where we found the guildmaster with an eyepatch over his left eye. He was a Dwarf with some silver hairs in otherwise black mane and beard.
„Good to see ya, kids. Take a seat before we will administer those guild cards for you."
„Isn't that what receptionists usually do?"
„Yeah, but we have some special circumstances, y'see?"
„Special circumstances?"
„We, or rather, the supervisors said you all have around C rank abilities as a party, but young lady Lena is E or D, miss Blanche is between D and C and you boy… you with your slimes were signed for B rank at the very least."
„Wow…" Lena looked surprised, while Blanche was profoundly proud.
„But, if I put you in B rank, you could not work with the girls so I was thinking of granting you a Special card."
„Special card?" I asked and he started explaining right away.
„I will place you all into H rank with permission to do jobs two ranks higher, instead of the usual one rank, if the guildmaster permits it. No need to say that if I put you to a higher rank, there might be questions about your competency and unwanted attention."
„I definitely don't want to be associated with some unsavory people," Lena said and I nodded along with her. Honestly speaking, being lower rank is beneficial to me as I can work my way up without anyone batting an eye to me.
„But Arito could be B rank…" Blanche pouted.
„Well, we will have to climb there together, then," I patted her head and she smiled happily, which made the guildmaster smile.
„Something the matter?"
„Nah," the guildmaster waved his hand and placed the cards on the table before us, „These are yours. Don't lose them. Especially you, Miss Elf, people have high prejustice against Albinos like you, so make sure you raise your rank quickly so not many people can touch you."
„Th-thanks for the advice…"
„You talk as if you saw it first hand, guildmaster," I remarked.
„Of course I do, my mother was an Albino Dwarf, so I would know… somehow seeing you two reminded me of my old folks," the guildmaster smiled somberly.
„I see. Thank you for looking out for us," I bowed lightly and Blanche followed suit.
„Naaah, I'm not looking out for you just because of that. I expect you to do great as adventurers, so do me a favor and accept some good quests," he smiled and hushed us out.
And so, we became one rank above the lowest, I rank. We quickly made it known to Kalvig who smiled happily and called for a carriage which he previously sent to the back of the guild, where the horses could rest with other monsters. I used this time to look into some I and H ranked jobs we could get, but as it turned out, most of these jobs were odd jobs like cleaning. Only a handful of extermination missions were possible for us and none of them were that great. There are some jobs my slimes can take care of by themselves.
We made it to the inn where we found the guards and ducal pair spread over the sofa.
„Mother, Father, what happened?!" Lena completely ignored Henretta, just like I did just now.
„There is too much…"
„We will have to stay here for a while. We found some unnatural movement of money so we are investigating it."
„Worst case scenario we will have to replace the town officials."
The three of them said defeatedly. Raven, handing each of them a cup of tea, smiled bitterly and started preparing tea for us as well.
„Will we stay here for long?"
„I believe it will last at least a week. It won't get into our main objective of Blue-Tailed Lizard taming, but we will have less time training."
„I see…" Lena looked a little dejected.
„In that case, we could accept a job with the Adventurers guild, don't you think?" Blanche said to raise Lena's spirit.
„That we could…"
„I already looked into jobs that could be safe for us to do, so why don't we decide on one?" I added.
„Really?!" The two girls looked at me with sparks in their eyes.
„You work fast, Arito," Henry said with an approving look.
„Well, as H ranks we have really limited options for jobs. Most of them are odd jobs and only a handful of extermination jobs."
„What kind of extermination jobs?" Laina asked.
„There were only four in our rank. They were about exterminating Fishlegs, Giant Leafhoppers, Sewer rats and Slimes that overpopulate septic in the southern part of the town."
„Ueh."
„Stinky…"
The two girls were not on board with this.
„But there are jobs better suited for us. The Sawmill asks for cleanup of their wood storage and yard."
„Sawmill?" Blanche asked.
„Well, this is a town of lumber, so there are a lot of sawmills that work with wood. Where exactly is this one located?"
„On the bank of the river in the north. They apparently had a lot of withdrawing workers due to the death of Treants that were living in the nearby forest where they collected the wood. They are about to close off the sawmill until the forest regenerates or until the remaining treant saplings in there grow up into fully mature Treants."
„Wow, you collected a lot of information in such a short amount of time," Henry was surprised.
„I just overheard some adventurers pondering about the job in question when I was collecting the info," I said with a weak smile.
„Let's take it! We have spells and skills for that!" Blanche seemed pumped up about it.
„What about you Lena?"
„I would like to try that extermination mission for Giant Leafhoppers, but cleaning jobs are also important. Let's take it!"
„Oh, my…"
„Our little girl…"
The parents were over the moon with their daughter's maturity. It kinda blows the feeling for me when I realize she was a grown up once before…
***
The next day the three of us made our way to the adventurers guild after a big breakfast at the inn. We were going by foot so Lena could train her body on top of her magic. The proceeding of the request was quick and we were even provided with a simple hand drawn map to the sawmill in question.
„It should be around… ah, over there!" Lena was first to spot the sawmill. It was a big building with a water wheel at its side and a massive amount of wood from the other side. All the wood here was about five meters long and one meter wide. The workers took the dried up wood and were whacking off the bark which littered the ground everywhere. In some places it was a dry pile of trash, in other places muddy and smelly puddles.
„Who are ya kids?" a burly man came over to us with an ax over his shoulder.
„We were sent by the adventurers guild. You posted the clean up job, correct?"
„Ye. Y'see I posted the job. M'name is Glut, the boss 'ere."
„Nice to meet you. My name is Arito and my companions Blanche and Lena."
„Nice to meet you."
„Hello."
„Right. Nice to meet ya too. Lemme take ya to the wood store where we need dat cleanin'."
He led us to the shack behind the sawmill where the stench was even worse than in the rest of the places.
„This is our shed where we store defective materials. All o'those can be thrashed. If ya want ya can dump it into da water, but r'member dat the folks in the town office like to cut our pay fer dat."
„I see. Then will it be okay if I have my Slimes eat it?"
„Slimes? Ya a tamer?"
„Yes, however I was sent here as an adventurer because this job was posted there."
„Ya can see people adventurin' 'cause their monsters ain't aquatic so they can't take jobs in Summoners guild, so I understand ya, kid," Glut nodded several times before leaving.
The shed was around twenty meters long and six meters wide. It was also five meters tall with shelves every half a meter.
„Let's start then,
„Alright you guys, prepare for some hard work. We have to clean up all the shelves. Just drop it to the ground and have the slimes eat it. Let's get into work."
We started in the back of the room and continued to the front. There were more barrels with trash then I originally thought. There was sawdust, leaf litter and sticks almost in every single one.
„EW!!! This stinks!" Blanche said as she covered her nose. As she said that, however, five regular slimes were already munching on the contents of the barrel.
„What is it, Blanche? Show me," I came to her and saw a white-ish foam and mold in the edges of the barrel. I used an appraisal on the barrel and five others next to it and found out that they were a mix of fruits that were going through fermentation.
„Those fruits stink… they are ready to be incinerated," Blanche wanted to destroy them as soon as she could.
„I see, they're fermenting… Let's leave them to the slimes for now. I wonder if they evolve after eating it into Drunk slimes."
„That's an interesting hypothesis. I would definitely like to see that."
„Right? Hey! You four take these barrels out."
„Yes boss!" The ogres saluted and went right to it.
We continued with the cleaning and once we made it to the doors, I went in by myself and used
„Alright. Let's get a look at the barrels outside," I nodded to myself and went outside the shed where I met up with the girls.
„Arito! Those slimes!! They evolved!" Lena smiled happily and I used Monster Appraisal on them.
Fermenting slime
Extremely rare slime variant that evolved after eating fermenting fruits. Roughly thirty centimeters in diameter. Fermenting 6, Alcohol resistance 8, Alcohol production 4, Distillation 4, Absorb 3, Dissolve 6, Split 2
Their form looked more like a liquid compared to regular slimes, just like the Bloody slimes, but were more watery, compared to those. As far as the skills went, the last three were a standard of all slimes so the real trouble came from the remaining four. The Fermenting skill most likely took freshly ripe fruits or overripe fruits and forcefully fermented them. Alcohol resistance is another skill that was rather self-explanatory, what worried me was that he had higher resistance than me. I could drink beer like water in my last life, not to mention other types of even stronger alcohol. I was quite the booze connoisseur in my past life… Does that mean there is something stronger? Maybe some liquor that is 90% alcohol? Don't tell me there are drinks that are pure alcohol too! There are dwarves so I guess I wouldn't be so surprised, though.
Distillation skill allowed for creation of distilled liquids, like pure alcohol. Finally, the last skill that piqued my interest was Alcohol Production. As it turned out, the Fermenting slime could make liquors from Appo fruit, Plun fruit and Peench fruit. I guess their earth equivalents are apples, plums and peaches, right?
„Amazing… if we have a fruit farm we could make as much alcohol as we want…"
„Arito?!"
I probably made a scary face as it made Blanche and Lena scared.
„Tell me Lena, do you like to drink?"
„You mean alcohol? Well, just small doses. My alcohol resistance is only level 2."
„I don't mind wine, but liquors are not my favorite," Blanche added.
We once got a barrel of wine from a bandit loot and drank it together. Back then, she liked the taste so much that she asked me if we could make it. I didn't have the knowledge to do it, but this slime solves the problem. I wonder if feeding it malt and some types of grains will allow us to make beer… I miss beer so much…
„Slimes gather around.
„Cheers for good work," I lead toast with Peach—that is Peench—fruit liquor.
„Oh, wow…"
„It's sweet and light! So good!"
The girls took a liking to it.
„Arito, do you think it would sell?" Lena asked me.
„I guess I could sell some, but it would only be in small doses. After all, I don't have the means to produce much. I would need farms for fruits, someone to collect fruits and feed them to the slimes. Someone to collect the segregated alcohol and so on."
„Hmm… that is really a problem… Wait, why don't you ask my parents? I'm sure they will help you."
„I can't have them help me with everything. They already helped me with moving to the town, getting my Status card and even registering with the guilds. I would turn spoiled if I had them back me too much."
„You are awfully earnest, aren't you?"
„That's what I like about Arito though!" Blanche smiled happily as she finished her glass.
„Well, let's leave the rest to after work. These two are the stronger variants, after all."
„Yeah."
With that we went to fetch Glut and had him look over the work.
„Oh wow! Ya really workin' fast fer lil' kids! Good work though! Here is the slip for the job well done… now dat I think 'bout it, do ya want to do the harbor too? I would pay ya here as it ain't on the guild posted job."
„Well, it's still early, so as long as it's paid properly, then I don't mind doing it."
„Yer a lifesaver kid! Look, the job was 150 Alba per person, so what 'bout same amount?" Glut asked me and I looked for confirmation with the girls, who agreed readily.
„Okay, consider us hired."
„Thanks a bunch! Now lemme show ya where the harbor is."
Glut led us to the main building where they were working on the wood. There was a dock made from stone. The water around it was still and filled with trash.
„This place is separated from the main stream of the river so the boats have to come in and out the same way. We will have to drain the water and clean this place off. The best thing though would be to clean the entire thing."
„Ya just need to clean the piers. The rest shoulda be cleaned by those town hall guys."
„I see. Okay, That will do, then.
The Grime Slimes jumped into the water and started drinking it. Suddenly though, the slimes started to get afraid and made a semicircular clearing around one place.
„What's da matter?"
„There is a monster down there. Probably one stronger than them. Combine you guys and get out!"
The Grime slimes combined onto Big Grime Slime and jumped out of the puddle that remained in the separated part of the harbor.
GUGRIIIIIIIII
A monster's call made us step on tips of our toes as we watched bubbles of air escape the mud. Soon after that a head as big as mine raised from the mud and a pair of black eyes scanned the surroundings of the monster.
„Oh, a Mudnewt eh? Those bastards are quite tough to take out as physical attacks bounce off or slip off of their muddy hides," Glut spat out.
„Well, good thing I have magic for this.
„Electricity isn't really working… I guess this guy have some kind of resistance. In that case,
„Grime Slime take it out of there," I ordered the slime and watched him raise the Mudnewt's corpse to the pier. „Cleaning slimes eat up the mud please. Grime slimes split up and continue eating."
The slimes worked as I ordered them and had Lena and Blanche help me with the Mudnewt, mostly to have them earn their pay. I had Blanche show Lena how to skin monsters who's hide could be used for armor and I continued cleaning the pier.
„Now what is this…" I raised an old, half rotten rope on which was a cluster of round objects.
River Sahuagin's eggs. River Sahuagins are lesser versions of regular Sahuagins living in the ocean. They are called Goblins of the rivers by any waterside dwellers.
I see, they are River Sahuagins… I guess I could keep them in my Dimension home until they hatch.
„Did you call me, master?" Romi asked me when I opened the Dimension home.
„Romi, I have some River Sahuagin's eggs. Make sure no one harms them," I handed her a container made from earth magic filled with water and the cluster of eggs which I cut off with the rope.
„Understood my lord, I will make everyone understand."
„Thanks. How is the training of the Ogres going?"
„Urza started teaching them how to speak human language, but it will take some time. Their leader however showed great promise as an asset to us."
„I understand. Good work."
„Thank you," Romi bowed before I closed the dimension home.
From there the cleaning of the pier continued for the next two hours in which we finished and I broke off the earth wall and water returned to the piers and harbor.
With the job completition we took out money and returned to the guild and reported on the job well done. We also sold the Mudnewt materials for some extra change.
***
That evening we happily chatted about our first day of working and I took out the alcohol my slimes made.
„Alcohol made by the Slimes? You never stop surprising us… and these containers are amazing too," Henry said when he looked at the liquors I offered them.
„The Peench liquor is amazingly delicious!" Lena said with another bottle in her hands. This world doesn't have an age restriction for drinking so no one's saying anything… Not like they could stop me from drinking my own alcohol!!!
„Hmm, this certainly is good, though I like the Plun fruit one better," Edgar, the Dwarf butler said with glass in his hand.
„If you decided to sell this, you could make quite a lot of money," Laina said as she finished her Appo fruit liquor.
„Could you make wine too?" Kalvig asked with three empty bottles right in front of him.
„Sadly, not. I will need to experiment with the Fermenting slimes more before I can know for sure, but at present, the slime can not make wine."
„I see, that's too bad."
„If Arito could make Spring Sun wine, nobles would fight over him."
„Spring Sun wine? What is that?"
„It's a brand of pink wine that has an orange-ish color. It's quite popular among nobles too. And sells out almost immediately after arriving on shelves."
„I see."
„Anyway, Arito. What will you do tomorrow? Lena will have combat training in nearby woods and magic and Taming practice with me, would you like to join us?"
„I'm fine with that, what about you Blanche?"
„I noticed that herb gathering quests can be accepted after bringing in the herbs in question to the guild, so I will accompany you and try to find some in the forest while you practice taming magic."
„Sounds like a plan," I smiled at her and we went to sleep.
With that, we headed to bed, happily awaiting the next day.