Chapter 272

Side chapter - Rimuru's Elegant Escape Play - 08

The next morning, I was unconscious due to the pain all over my body.

The first thing I felt was that something was wrong with my back and legs.

Was it just me? I wondered, but then the piercing pain started to rush through me.

In the blink of an eye, it spread through my entire body, and not being able to bear it any longer, I woke up.

—Hey, Ciel! My body whole body hurts for some reason!?

<<There is no problem. It is only sore muscles.>>

Ciel said with a lack of concern.

What? Sore muscles...!?

For a second, I didn't even understand what it was that she said.

This was because I never got sore muscle ever since I was reincarnated into a slime.

Not only that, I had 'Pain Nullification,' so I wasn't supposed to feel any pain...

<<I was obeying your order of not wanting to be suspected and made you close to a human. Should I turn the pain off?>>

Ciel said, and I finally understood.

I see. Yes, having sore muscles would not be strange if I were human. Actually, it would be the most natural thing.

I was moving nonstop yesterday, and my feet were tired. And sleeping in a tent without a real bed meant that my body would not be recovering all that much.

It wasn't only me, but Marsha and Aina also looked like they had not slept well.

If I cut the pain off now, it would draw attention as being very strange. After all, I was a terrible actor.

And so I gave up on being relieved of the pain and decided that I would just have to bear it for a while.

The others awoke, and the second day of our survival began.

Breakfast was just rations, and we used the containers to hold water to replace water bottles.

It was good that the water that had taken so much effort to get yesterday was useful now.

The exploration group was cheerful today as well.

I didn't see anyone who was still affected by the fatigue of yesterday.

They were trained differently to me.

Actually, I now had a body that had no training at all, so that only made matters even worse...

In any case, the exploration group did their roll-call in full gear in front of the magic circle, and then set out after the physical boost magic had spread to all of them.

After watching them leave, the rest of us that remained started to act.

I wanted to do something about the salt today.

And I had also planned to gather any kind of seeds that could be used as a replacement for pepper.

You only needed a little salt and pepper to enhance the flavor of meat.

To be honest, while I could bear the pain of my sore muscles, I could not bear having to eat bad food.

I felt like I was whipping my sore body as I walked over to the others in the group.

"You look like you're in pain. Are you alright?"

Mondo said with some concern.

To be blunt, this pain which I had not felt in over a decade, was quite severe.

However, my pride did not allow me to be the only person to give up.

"Of course, I'm alright. More importantly, where are we going today?"

"Huh? Aren't we going fishing today as well?"

I said while pushing back the pain. George looked at me with surprise.

"I thought that it was fishing today again."

"Me too."

Marsha and Aina also thought we were going fishing.

Mondo was nodding, so he must have been thinking the same thing.

"Considering what happened yesterday, we probably won't catch much. I don't think we should go fishing today. Besides, we ran out of salt yesterday. Unless we find something to replace it, we won't be able to eat our catch in a way that tastes good, you know?"

I explained, and everyone agreed with it.

"It seems like everyone else is going towards the watering hole anyway. And I want to explore in a different direction from yesterday..."

That way, it would be only us who would be acting separately from the gathering group. There weren't enough instructors to escort us, and it was a little risky from a safety perspective, making it the most realistic to investigate near the watering hole.

"Alright. Let's gather all kinds of plants and seeds today!"

George declared excitedly, and we nodded in agreement.

The students that had been out gathering yesterday were only looking for fruits that were edible.

However, today I intended to search for herbs or seeds that could be used as condiments. They could probably be used as a preservative for the meat from the hunted monsters as well. So acquiring plants with those properties would be important.

Well, perhaps it wasn't all that important, given that this was only one week.

That being said, it wasn't a waste, since this was primarily aimed at educating the students.

And like that, our day of gathering had begun.

◆◆◆

It was a block in the city which was surrounded by a gigantic wall.

Diablo moved boldly through the streets, not caring about the eyes around him.

Not only did he rarely leave the central office building in Tempest, but he was able to freely travel anywhere through 'Spatial Travel,' so the act of walking the streets was very refreshing to Diablo.

It was Souei who walked next to him.

He wasn't wearing his usual attire, but wore the same kind of casual clothing that the city residents wore.