Volume 3 Chapter 9: Priestess 3
"Hmm?"
It was the tenth day since the slimes began to gather in front of the Goddess' barrier.
Countless slimes, slimes, slimes, slimes that did not move from a certain distance as though they could see the invisible barrier.
The slimes didn't even look at the surrounding plants and flowers but were looking at the invisible barrier as though they were glaring at it.
There were more than a hundred of them in the eastern area alone, and they were in all directions.
No, the fact that there were only a few slimes on the southern side was probably a trap designed to make the people inside the barrier flee from there.
――Do the slimes have such wisdom?
At first, Reolra, the warrior priest in charge of the front lines on the eastern side of the sacred mountain, who was thirty-seven years old this year, thought so.
Everyone thought... It was just an inferior "slime".
For him, who had spent many years as a warrior, the slime was not a threat, especially for warrior priests who had a strong faith in the goddess and had slaughtered monsters with their miraculous power.
Literally the weakest monster.
It destroyed a country, captured one of the hero's companions who defeated the Demon King, and thus came within sight of the Goddess' barrier...... it looked more mysterious than the warriors and knights of any other country.
"I see, this is the effect of the poison that Kara has been waiting for."
Reolra muttered inside the barrier and exclaimed in admiration.
Outside the barrier.
One of the slimes, which hadn't attacked or even moved even though it was right in front of him, suddenly began to shake as it let out a slight bubble.
It trembled.
Blub, blub*.
It trembled, boiled, and gradually "collapsed".
In every moment for about 30 minutes.
The slime could no longer hold its shape, but whether by instinct or by command from its leader, it did not move from its place.
It melted and collapsed without moving, sinking into the spot like a puddle of rotten swamp water.
"Is it dead...?"
The soldiers commanded by Reolra muttered to each other.
There were about thirty of them.
It was a lookout unit, just in case the slime broke the barrier―― the main unit was resting elsewhere.
"Send a message to the main unit. There's something wrong with the slime at number nineteen. Have them inform Kara about it with haste!"
"Ha!"
The number nineteen was the number of poisoned guinea pigs that had been fed to the slime that Kara had captured in the research tower.
The slimes absorbed the poisons as they threw the poison together with an iron plate that could not be dissolved and was numbered.
He relied on that number to observe the slimes.
"But it was so sudden..."
"The number nineteen had been gradually decreasing in volume for about four days."
"We've received reports of that. But it just suddenly died......"
"I think It was enduring it. It might be holding it out."
"...With a slime that have no head?"
The person who suggested it was a research tower employee who was observing the changes in the slime with the soldiers on the front line.
Glasses and a white coat. He was wearing glasses and a white robe, and his hair was unkempt, as though he didn't care about his appearance.
The man gave him the impression of being unhealthy and resembled Kara in some way.
And the way he think was also the same.
Even though the slime had collapsed and died right in front of his eyes, he didn't feel any excitement like a chill, nor was he upset.
He simply recognized the facts and wrote down the situation in detail on the parchment at his hand.
"Kara-sama believes that the slime may have wisdom."
"......It was just a slime, you know? It's a creature without a face or even a head."
"But it is a slime that has taken in not only plants and animals, but also humans and demi-humans. The slime that used to be limited to attacking livestock can now prey on people with wisdom."
While firmly correcting himself, the researcher approached the barrier.
"Can someone please retrieve the slime's nucleus for me? Not by hand, but with a metal tool. If you use a wooden tool, it will be absorbed by the slime."
"Metal tools? Cooking utensils or something?"
One of the warrior priests who were on guard said sarcastically.
The warriors on the front line did not take kindly to a person who had been holed up in a research tower doing nothing but suspicious research, although anyone would think that it was inappropriate in such a situation.
In particular, the researcher had a bad personality.
No, it wasn't his intention, it was just that he often got on the other person's nerves for the sake of efficiency.
"No, we don't have much time to go back. I think the weapon on your hip is just fine."
"Huh!? This is a weapon for defeating monsters, not for picking up things――"
"It's fine. See...... is this okay?"
With that, Reolra used the mace hanging from his waist to retrieve the slime's nucleus.
Of course, he had a steel gauntlet in his hand.
Through the metal armor, he picked up the nucleus.
"Thank you. Here."
The researcher stuffed the nucleus into a metal box on his waist and sealed it tightly with a leather strap.
He then wrote the number nineteen on the box.
"Please bring this to the research tower."
"Understood."
Without raising his voice like his subordinates, Reolra received the metal box nonchalantly.
Whatever the contents of their research or the attitude of the researchers, they understood that the "tools" they produced were excellent and necessary to defeat the slime.
People were afraid of the unknown.
They instinctively fear what they didn't know, and refuse to understand it.
It was the same in every world, no matter how good a person was.
Even humans and demi-humans were wary of strangers, and if their appearance was different, they may turn against it for "that" reason alone.
Having stood on the front lines and fought monsters for many years, Reolra understood that very well.
In this case, it was the arrogance of looking down on a mere slime and the distrust of the newly created "unknown tool"...... he felt the same as the warriors under his command, but as a superior, he was trying to accept them.
As a researcher, a man who understood what it meant to create something new, and those new ideas were not accepted by the people around him, he had a slight liking for Reolra.
"Thank you very much. Now, let's go check on "Number Forty-One"."
"All right. Hey, let's move!"
"Understood!"
It was the daily life on the front line.
Protected by the barrier of the goddess, they could safely check the effects of the poison.
If the slime had any emotion or intelligence, it would have realized how foolish it was to gather in front of the barrier.
The researcher had already reported it to the research tower.
However, there was no reply from the research tower.
The only process was that the tower would send him a new poison, which he administered to the slime, observed its progress, and send back the information.
That was how it goes every day.
For ten days.
"What wrong?"
Reolra called out, noticing that the researcher's walking speed had slowed down.
Some of his subordinates noticed it, but they didn't seem to be worried about the researcher.
"No. Until yesterday, the new poison was sent once in the morning and twice or three times in the afternoon."
"......hasn't come today, has it?"
"Yes"
"Didn't they run out of poison to try?"
One of his subordinates, who was listening to the conversation, said so.
"No, there are more than a thousand types of poison. Even if they are distributing the poison to other units as well, they haven't even tried half of them yet......"
"T-thousand...?"
"Most of the poisons don't have much effect on the human body."
The researcher turned his gaze in the direction of the research tower, returning a light tone to the soldier's worry.
Of course, there was no way he could see the tower, which was located far away from here on the other side of the mountain.
"Maybe they've found a useful poison."
"I hope so."
The front line was tense, but relaxed because they were in a safe zone.
The slime had not broken the barrier until today.
Some of the slimes began to die, as though the poison had slowly permeated in the air.
And then...
"Ah, by the way, was it today or tomorrow."
"What is?"
The researcher tilted his head at Reolra's words.
"You must have received word that the princess of Fonteau is coming. She is now taking refuge in Grabalt, and there are rumors that she is coming to gather troops for recapturing Fonteau......"
"Ah, elves―― half-elf."
"I only saw her once, and I know you'll say it was inappropriate, but she was very beautiful."
"...Oh, is that so?"
"What? Are you not interested in women?"
"Not really, but if she's such a beautiful princess, how can you possibly make contact with her? I don't like to waste my thoughts on useless things."
"Just looking at her is enough. It's called eye candy, right?"
Some of his subordinates let out words "ah" or "sure" when they heard that.
As he listened, the researcher sighed.
(Can't help it if I let my guard down right......?)
In a safe barrier.
As long as they have that immunity, they couldn't feel a real sense of danger―― the researcher let out another sigh.
Noon.
The country was surrounded by slimes, but the Goddess' barrier had a track record that even the Demon King, who tried to destroy the world, could not break, so the people were not noticeably worried.
They were worried and wondering what would happen next, but the reassurance that nothing would happen right now supported the people of Lishlua.
All the people were praying to the goddess Fasalina, thanking her for their peaceful days, and keeping their minds balanced in that way.
She would talk to those who were anxious and reassure them, talk to the children and tell them they were safe, and sober up drunks who were desperate and trying to act out by spraying them with water using magic.
She was a popular person.
She was one of the heroes who traveled with the hero who defeated the demon king.
She was a beautiful woman who was called a saint.
She had spent half a day reassuring the people, and now she had the job of going to the front lines to help the warrior priests who were working hard every day.
Although her vestments were highly breathable, she would sweat if she walked around for half a day.
Jenna gently wiped the sweat from her forehead with her handkerchief so that the people around her would not notice.
"Fuu."
"Hey, Saint-sama."
She was resting in the shade of a building, tired from walking, when she was approached.
He was young―― but his voice was high.
She looked down and saw three boys, about five years old, looking up at Jenna.
"When can we go outside and play, Mom says we can't leave the house too much?"
"It's okay. See."
Jenna smiled at the boy's words and pointed to the research tower in the distance, visible from the city of Lishlua.
"There's a really smart person working hard over there. So you'll be able to play outside with everyone soon."
"Really?"
"Yes. So don't worry about it. There's nothing to be afraid of, you know."
Jenna smiled and said, and the boys ran off with big smiles on their faces, as though they were no longer worried.
"They're so cheerful."
Jenna put the handkerchief in her pocket, smiling at them.
Then she started walking.
The people she passed bowed their heads, and Jenna greeted each of them as she walked by.
After interacting with the people of Lishlua, it was already past noon.
Before going to the front lines to watch the warrior priests, she would say her daily prayers.
But something was different today.
(...What is it?)
When Jenna visited the temple, there were about fifty warrior priests gathered in front of the cathedral where the statue of the goddess was placed.
The atmosphere was somber.
They were neatly lined up and fully equipped. Iron armor and shields, each with their own favorite weapon.
Their expressions were tense, as though they were on the battlefield, and there was no private conversation.
(Did something happen on the front lines...?)
Jenna thought, but they have as many men as they could put on the front line.
What was left in the temple was at the very least a backup force in case something goes wrong.
Most of the recruits were still young and inexperienced.
As Jenna wondered if there was such an emergency that even they had to be sent to the front line, a young warrior priest came walking from the back of the temple, probably to lead these young warriors.
"Are they going to the front lines too?"
"Eh? Oh, Jenna-sama. No, not in the front lines..."
"You can tell her."
The young priest-warrior mumbled.
He seemed to be wondering what to do, but then someone behind her told him.
Jenna looked behind her and saw one of the bishops who ruled the temple standing there.
An old man.
His hair was all white, his skin was wrinkled, and his eyes lacked strength.
His leaning body, which looked as though it might collapse at any moment, was supported by a cane and two female priestesses standing by his side.
"Good morning, Bishop"
"Yes, good morning, Saint Jenna"
The bishop looked at the warrior priest as he greeted her.
"There was a problem in the research tower last night. They are to be dispatched to seal off the perimeter."
"Problems in the research tower...? What's wrong with Kara?"
"Things are a bit more serious."
The bishop cuts his words and looked to the warrior priest again.
The warrior nodded, cleared his throat, and then opened his mouth.
"The safety of all the staff in the research tower is unknown."
"...unknown?"
"A merchant visited the tower in the morning to bring food, but he said there was something strange with the tower."
When Jenna heard the word "strange," she had a bad feeling about it.
She covered her mouth with her hand, her expression clouding.
"No way, you can't mean that Kara..."
"... Yes. The monster's mucus has blocked the entrances and windows, making it impossible to see what's going on inside the tower."
"Monster mucus, you mean a slime?"
"That's what I've heard."
Jenna held her long thin fingers to her chin and let her thoughts wander.
It was a daily routine for Jenna to look around Lishlua, interact with the people, and gather information.
It included the research tower, which Jenna knew had been uneventful until yesterday.
If so, the problem would be what happened last night...
"I thought we had increased the number of warriors on watch the other day."
"There is no word from them. The bishops believe that they may have been captured before they could escaped from the research tower."
"......So, there is no confirmation that Kara is safe?"
"Yes. And the front lines are reporting that some of the poisons are effective against slimes. All we need to do is mass produce the poisons and distribute them to the warrior priests on the front lines......"
Then.
"Now that we know their weakness, they'll want to destroy the source......"
"Eh?"
"......No, it's nothing. But if we've found a way to do that, we need to get Kara out of there as soon as possible."
"Umu, But then the protection of the Goddess statue, which is the key to the Goddess's barrier, will be thin. Jenna, I know you were planning to go give a speech to the front lines today, but can you help guard the chapel for a while?"
"That would be fine, but how would you like me to explain this to the other bishops?"
"If that's the case, I'll tell them that much myself."
The old bishop said that, and looked at the female priestess behind him, a tall, elven priestess.
With that intention in mind, the female priestess bowed to the bishop and Jenna, and then left.
She was now going to tell the bishops, who were still arguing pointlessly during the meeting, about Jenna's plans for the day.
"Besides, there's a messenger coming from Grabalt...... no, Fonteau today. It's been a while since you guys saw each other, hasn't it?"
"I wouldn't let my personal interests take precedence in this crisis, would I?"
"You can at least say hello to her, and I'm sure she'd like to talk to you. They're suffering from the loss of their mother and their country."
"Thank you for your concern."
Jenna bowed her head deeply.
She was supposed to be on the front lines again today. And she already knew who it was...... Fonteau's messenger.
――Meltia.
It was the daughter of her best friend and comrade, Leticia.
A princess with half-elf blood running through her veins.
Not as much as the slime problem, but as a saint, Jenna had a lot of work to do...... and to put it bluntly, the bishops, who were jealous of her position, have restricted her travel outside the country, so she hadn't had time to visit them.
Fonteau's Queen. Grabalt's war princess.
The jealousy of Jenna's talent and connections―― it had been many years since they had last met.
So, even though Jenna knew that it was an urgent situation, her voice was slightly excited.
In fact, she felt calmer because of the urgency.
"But the young people can't deal against the monster......."
"Please rest assured. We are only going to secure the perimeter of the research tower. We're going to need some of our frontline forces to help us defeat them."
The young warrior priest raised the corner of his mouth, saying that he was just buying time until then.
However, his expression was very tense.
Jenna smiled and grasped his right hand with both of hers, knowing how he felt.
"Please take care of them."
The warrior priest blushed as he felt the warmth of the saint's body through the iron gauntlet.
"Y-yes! Please leave it to me!!"
The warrior priest raised his voice and with a jerky movement made his way towards the group that was about to head for the research tower.
As Jenna gazed anxiously behind him, the old bishop gave a coughing sound.
She straightened her posture and turned her gaze to the old bishop.
"Jenna."
"Yes."
"This is the final point. As long as there is no danger here, the barrier of the Goddess will protect Lishlua and the people who live within it."
"I know."
It was the key to the barrier that even the Demon King could not breakthrough.
As long as the beautiful statue of the goddess at the back of the chapel was not defiled, Lishlua would not be defeated.
Jenna took that to heart once again and watched the group head off to the research tower.
(...Kara. Be safe.)
She was one of the people who could overturn the situation.
At least, that was what Jenna thought of Kara.
Going back for about half a day.
It was already deep into the night.
A thin crescent moon floated in the night sky, and the light of the stars was faint.
Even the residents of the world who were used to seeing at night couldn't see anything at night like this―― such a pitch-black night.
Kara, who was at her private office on the fourth floor of the research tower, was glaring at the papers while being illuminated by a candle this evening.
"Hmm... If it's this efficient, I'm starting to get worried."
"Yes, it does."
In addition to Kara, there were three other people in the room.
There were two men and one woman.
All of them wore white lab coats and were scientists.
What they were looking at were several documents.
They were looking at a few documents sent from the front lines, showing the progress of the slime that had been administered the poison.
"There are three that are working well, especially the one using the Valhari flower, which is showing the fastest effect."
"Valhari" was an uncommon flower that bloomed in Fonteau.
The small petals of the flower were called pretty, and it was a beautiful flower that was often displayed at weddings and other celebratory occasions.
Valhari was not normally associated with the word "poison," but it had the property of storing mana, and the more mana was around, the longer its freshness lasted.
The juice squeezed out of the Valhari temporarily disrupted the flow of mana, and Fonteau used its juice to train magic in a state where mana could not be conjured properly.
That was its use.
When it was administered to a slime, the slime was unable to use magic, and then the liquid disintegrated and was killed, according to reports.
It was not a natural creature like a lizardman or a goblin that did not mutate as they were born through the Demon King's mana.
For the slime, whose source was mana from which it got its liquid body, the disturbance of mana may be a bigger life-threatening problem for slimes than humanity.
Kara and the other researchers in the research tower were paying attention to that point.
"Even if its liquid doesn't disintegrate, there are reports that it is at least rendering its magic useless. If this isn't a trick and their magic is really disabled, then we can reduce the threat of the slime by one."
"Yeah. How many of the Valhari poison do we have left?"
"Considering the number of mutants we have to kill, I'd say we have enough for 20 more."
"I see."
(Is it just a coincidence...... or did the mutants attack Fonteau first in order to get rid of the country where the poison grew that affects them?)
She didn't know now, but it was no coincidence that the mutants first targeted Fonteau―― Kara laughed at herself for thinking that.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, I was just wondering if the mutants were aware of their weakness and destroyed Fonteau due to that."
"No way."
Yes, no way.
She didn't think that was possible, but if it was a slime with wisdom, it was possible......
"Anyway, let's first prepare twenty poison. Let's ask someone to collect the Valhari flowers."
"I see."
"It's a flower that disturbs mana. I'm betting that the mutants are also avoiding this flower."
Kara did not want to lose the effective countermeasure against the mutants she had finally found.
If there was even the slightest chance, she would have to take the risk and go for it.
The information coming from the front lines wasn't just about the progress of the poison.
Day by day, the number of mutant slimes increased, and they were increasing so fast that she thought they would soon surround Lishlua.
In fact, Kara thought that they shouldn't be increasing that much.
Slime breeding was done with a human mother.
They nurture life in the womb and grow from birth.
It was true that they were overwhelmingly faster than human children, but that didn't mean they could fight from the moment they were born.
As proof of that, the slimes surrounding Lishlua's barrier were all above a certain size, and no small slime that could be considered a child had been found.
"The question is, who to ask."
"It's troublesome―― it's a problem if they didn't take it back."
"Troublesome is not a strong enough word to describe it."
The male researcher's words were rebuked by the female researcher.
Perhaps it was because they weren't on the front lines, or perhaps it was because being a scientist was a job that required a lot of thinking, but most of the people working in the tower understood the current situation very well, even if they weren't there.
They couldn't win if they continue like this.
The number of slimes continued to increase and the number of humans continued to decrease.
When the number of "multiplying mutants" reached a certain number, and the country of the mages, the natural enemy of the slime, was the first to fall, the war was already doomed.
In fact, Kara thought that the war was not even fair in the first place.
The world after the demon king was defeated.
Just as the monsters unilaterally continued to reduce their numbers, it was now humanity's turn.
"I'll talk to Jenna-sama tomorrow. I've heard that tomorrow there will be a messenger coming from Fonteau. I'll try to negotiate with her to see if I can borrow some mages."
That was when she spoke.
Suddenly, everyone in the room felt a violent tremor, as though an earthquake had occurred.
"What is that!?"
One of the male researchers shouted, and there was another tremor.
The furniture in the room bounced as the stone floor seemed to ripple, documents on the desk and research equipment on the shelves fell, making a rumbling sound.
"No way, did the mutants came by taking advantage of the darkness of the night!?"
"There is a barrier of the goddess though!?"
"What were the guards doing!?"
The researchers were calm because they were in a safe place.
As soon as they think the place was not safe anymore, they started to panic.
"Calm down! It's important to know exactly what happened, isn't it?"
In the midst of that, Kara took the sword that was hanging on the wall, pulled it out, checked the condition of the blade, and sheathed it.
She put the sword roughly into her belt at her waist.
Even though she had been away from the front lines for a long time, her calm mind was natural.
Kara was surprised, but she didn't hesitate to check and assess the situation downstairs.
(Someone is rioting......?)
It was the fourth floor of the research tower. She was almost dismayed to learn that someone had broken into the third floor, but then she thought better of it.
"When was the last time you experimented on the mutant?"
"It was after noon, as I had finished testing the poison for today."
"Has anyone else come into contact with the mutant since then?"
"No, I don't think so."
Kara and the researchers left the room and looked towards the stairs, the only way to escape.
The tower was devoid of magic lamps or anything else that could affect the power of the goddess, and the only light was the weak glow from candles.
The staircase at the end of the dim darkness was completely dark, and she could not see beyond it.
The jet-blackness seemed to lead to an abyss, and the vibrations from downstairs caused everyone to gasp.
"Are they coming up?"
"Kara-sama, what should we take with us?"
"Just the documents, and if they get in the way of your escape, you can throw them away."
The research and the necessary knowledge were already in everyone's head.
It was a decision that they should value their lives more now that they didn't know what was going on.
Kara stepped out of the room, checking the condition of the sword at her hip by stroking the hilt.
"Hiii."
The first to scream was the female researcher.
Something in the darkness moved―― almost as though a bloated mucus of slime had risen from the passage.
A pungent smell hit their noses.
It seemed to be many times thicker than what she had smelled when she was researching it, purely because of the increased mass of the thing that emitted the smell.
It came crawling up, covering the entire staircase.
"Kuh――"
Kara wavered for a moment.
Should we stay in my room and think about our next move, or should I move to the fifth floor of the tower―― the top floor?
The top floor was where the equipment used for experiments was stored. There were no chemicals stored on the second and third floors, and there was no way they could resist even if they run away.
She didn't have to think about it, as she knew there was no way out either way.
The important thing was which one could "buy more time".
"Why is the mutant!?"
One of the male staff members shouted, and the slime reacted sensitively to the sound.
As though it had eyes, several tentacles extending from the front and turned towards Kara and the researchers.
It was like that of an insect's sense of touch, and Kara subconsciously got goosebumps.
(Why?)
The same question popped into Kara's head as she suddenly found herself in a critical situation.
"Let's split up. Lima, Imshu. You two, take the top floor."
"But... How do we escape......?"
"You can't escape if they're holding the stairs. If you endured until morning, reinforcements will come from outside. Until then, somehow block the door and stay inside."
The two who were called by name did not say anything more back, but ran to the opposite side of the slime's ascent and climbed the stairs ahead.
Kara and the other male scientist closed the door without seeing the two and then blocked the door by knocking over the couch and bookshelves to prevent the slime from entering.
"How did the mutants suddenly......"
"I don't know, but something must have happened without us noticing."
While answering the male staff member's questions, Kara began to rummage through the room for something she could use.
Unlike the top floor, there were a few prototype potions here―― though she had been too busy lately to look through the reports on the prototypes.
"Not this one. Not this one either――."
Kara read the labels on the test tubes and discarded them each time.
All of them were ordinary potions that were ineffective against the slime and did not have the blessing from the goddess. If she used such things, they would not only repel the slime, but also cause strange changes in the enemy.
The male staff member who had been rifling through the chemicals, knowing Kara's intentions, decided that some of them would be valuable items but tossed them aside at random as soon as he saw the labels.
"What should I do―― we're going to......"
"It's just the way things go, you know, when you're in the middle of something like this."
Kara looked out the window of her room and looked down.
"If we jump, we will definitely die."
"We're on the fourth floor."
"In that case, I should have prepared a rope ladder for emergency escape."
She touched the sword on her hip, but even though she had one of these, it would be useless against the slime.
As she calmly assessed the situation, she couldn't help but sigh at the reality that there was nothing she could do.
Her expression was as calm as usual, but in reality, Kara's heart was beating so fast that it was about to break.
She was sweating uncomfortably on her back.
"What should I do now......"
"There's no time to think about it!?"
"I don't want to give up thinking because I can't do anything―― is there anything I can do, anything to let us escape......?"
In order to get rid of that anxiety, Kara dragged out all the things on the shelves and checked them one by one.
All of them were ornamental weapons, and none of them were expected to be effective as weapons.
She was just about to check the chemicals she had rolled on the floor again, when it banged.
The furniture that was blocking the only door made a loud noise.
"...It's, here..."
"I know."
The two of them whispered to each other and moved to the opposite wall to get as far away from the door as possible.
Clang*.
Once again, the furniture made a noise.
Thump, thump*. The thumping of her own heart was annoying.
For some reason, even at a time like this, Kara remembered the memory of being a great swordswoman.
Ever since she could remember, she had been interested in swords.
She remembered her father getting very angry with her when she pulled a sword out of its sheath that was much bigger than she was.
She was too young to understand that it was dangerous.
Since then, she had been kept away from swords for most of her life, but there was still a corner of her mind that was interested in them.
When she grew up, she bought a dull-edged sword at a junk shop in town without telling her parents and pretended to use it every day.
She still loved swords, but she had come to believe that they would not be needed in the future.
Because she learned that the Demon Lord was dead.
She understood that there would be no one left to swing the sword.
Goblins, lizardmen...... monsters. They would eventually disappear. They would become extinct.
People would continue to chase monsters until they were destroyed.
Monsters were the enemies of mankind. They were natural enemies. She understand that they were both incompatible.
That was why she stopped wielding swords.
Instead of swords, she made tools and potions that could be used in the future, because she realized that it would be more meaningful.
Slam*.
The sound of the furniture blocking the door brought Kara's thoughts back to reality.
The male researcher, who had also been thinking about the past, looked at the door with a flabbergasted expression.
"Either I'm going to be eaten by the slime, or I'm going to jump out the window, one way or the other......"
"Either way, it would suck anyway."
Staring at the creaking door, Kara and the male researcher tugged at their mouths helplessly.
Shortly before Kara and the researchers were trapped in an incomprehensible situation.
Alp and two other male warrior priests were standing in front of the research tower.
Even though it was night, it was an important research facility for the country. Especially now, it was a place where they were making tools that were effective against the slime.
Even though she thought that no one would approach the place with harmful intentions, a certain number of people were assigned to guard the place.
Today was a crescent moon.
Moreover, it was a thin, thread-like moon in the night sky whose light did not reach the ground.
Looking up at the moon, Alp moved slightly. A rugged mace that seemed out of proportion to the beautiful woman with a soft expression and feminine body at her waist.
One of the warrior priests looked at the mace, which looked like it could break even a rock.
"Can you really wield something like that?"
"Eh? Ah, yes. It's okay."
It was true that the mace felt quite heavy even when it was just hanging from her waist.
One could see that Alp's torso was firm and she was used to the weight.
Even so, all the men who met her wondered if the peach-haired beauty, who was smaller and less muscular than men, could wield such a mace.
Alp didn't seem particularly bothered, unfastened the clasp from her belt and lifted the mace with her left hand alone.
Incidentally, her dominant arm was her right.
"I told you so, didn't I? She's really strong."
"I can't believe it..."
The warrior priest who asked the question looked at Alp, who wielded her mace with ease, his expression so surprised that it was recognizable even in the darkness.
The other warrior priest had asked Alp the same question on the day she was assigned to the research tower and had been surprised to see the same look on his face.
(As always......)
It hurts a little, Alp muttered in her mind.
I'm a girl, too.
(Yes, I'm a little stronger than most people, but...)
That said, as a woman, she felt hurt when people were surprised to see her monstrous strength.
However, the person she was talking to was her senior in terms of age and years in battle.
They did not show such dissatisfaction on their faces, but rather wielded their maces lightly in service, while Alp passed the time on guard.
Recently, the soldiers on guard have been sent out to the front lines, and ten priest warriors have been assigned to guard the research tower.
Until the other day, the first floor of the research tower was not so lonely even at night, but now they have to ask permission to use even a candle as a light source to conserve resources.
Today, even though it was the night with almost no moonlight, there was only one candle in use.
It was a very lonely night watch.
"But it seems that the slimes are surrounding the barrier on the outside, but it's so peaceful inside the barrier."
"That's true. It would be nice if the problem could be solved without any problems."
The men talk to each other in a carefree voice.
Even the warrior priests on the front lines were protected by a barrier and lack a sense of danger, just as those who were not even on the front lines were no different from those in a peaceful time.
That was why.
The three of them couldn't react to the sound of walking in the distance.
"Eh?"
In the darkness, the person who had been talking a moment ago suddenly disappeared.
"Um?"
There was not even a scream.
There was no disturbance of mana or any signs of a presence.
However, just suddenly, a person disappeared.
He could hear the buzzing of insects, the blowing of the wind, the swaying of the grass and trees mixed in with the darkness of the night―― all distorted in an instant.
The cries of the bugs disappeared, a sound different from the natural wind could be heard splitting the sky, and the plants and trees shivered as though in fear.
"Who――"
Immediately after, the other warrior priest also disappeared from sight.
She stared into the darkness.
The reason the two disappeared without a sound was that they were "lifted into the air".
A thick cord―― no, a tentacle.
They were thick in places, like that of arms of a well-trained human.
In the darkness, a little moonlight illuminated its outline, making it even harder to believe that it was a tentacle.
"Who's there!?"
Alp shouted out faster than she could think on helping her colleagues who were lifted up.
She felt the warrior priests who had been resting on the first floor of the research tower wake up at once behind her.
It was fortunate.
Alp had taken a step back to shout behind her.
Thanks to that, she succeeded in narrowly avoiding the tentacle attack that lifted the other
warrior priest up.
However, the impact caused the gravel to scatter and hit her body that was protected by her vestments.
Although she felt no pain, Alp was confused by the attack from beyond the darkness and swung the mace in her hand wildly.
The stiff blow was not powerful enough, but it easily blew off the thick tentacles from Alp's monstrous strength, scattering a spray in the darkness.
(The attack worked!?)
The feeling of crushing solid flesh made Alp feel better, and she followed up with another attack.
She smashed the tip of the tentacle that struck the ground with her mace and turned her gaze to the depths of darkness. Of course, she couldn't see what was beyond that.
"Are you okay!?"
Five warrior priests appeared one after another from behind.
There were not many of them, but in the darkness, it was impossible to tell how many they were.
The remaining two were in the research tower, on the lookout for unidentified enemies.
"Who――!"
――"Who is it"
Just as one of the warrior priests was about to shout, there was a cutting sound in the sky.
As soon as the senior warrior priest lined up next to Alp, he could no longer speak again.
"Eh?"
Alp felt something warm hit her cheek with great force.
She wiped it off with her finger.
She couldn't see it in the darkness, but it was liquid.
Then the warrior priest who was supposed to be standing next to her―― that lump of flesh lurched and fell to the ground. Only the sound lingered vividly in her ears.
"N――"
The moment she was about to scream, Alp's body was pushed from the front.
She couldn't even stop her momentum.
As Alp was pushed back due to the push, her back slammed into the stone wall of the research tower.
"W-what...?"
Both of her hands could move.
And so was her body.
Alp tried to let her whole body go wild, but her body was as heavy as though she was in the water.
Her vestments and the undergarments that wrapped her entire body became heavy as they absorbed the mucus and stuck to her skin, restricting her movements even more.
Alp was familiar with that situation.
Rather, the feeling of the mucus reminded her of an unpleasant memory.
After all, the mucus that wrapped her entire body was teasing her limbs that were being captured.
"Hii."
An unintentionally trembling scream escaped from her mouth.
She struggled to keep from fainting and tried to inform her colleagues who were unaware of it.
"Mugu!?"
As though it was waiting for the moment that she would open her mouth, a tentacle stretched out from the mucus enveloping her body entered her mouth with great force.
"O-obo, guge, eh, oeeh...!?"
The mucus that entered her mouth went all the way to the back of her throat, and the startled Alp struggled to spit it out, leading the mucus further inside, blocking her airway and making her eyes roll back.
Still, her instinct to not die made her shake her head, move it up and down, look up at the sky, and shed tears.
(Help, someone, help me.)
In her mind, Alp desperately called for help from her colleagues.
The only sound that came out of her mouth was a muffled scream, and her colleagues, who were on alert, were unable to react to her voice.
(I, kii―――― ikii, Gah.)
No oxygen was reaching her lungs.
Even though she desperately tried to take in oxygen with her nose, which was the only part that wasn't blocked, her breathing would stop in the middle of her throat because her airway was blocked.
Her cheeks turned red from the lack of oxygen, and she began to lose consciousness.
(Not good......)
It was the moment when Alp was about to let go of her consciousness.
The tentacle released Alp.
"Gah, haah, hiiu―― haah, haah!"
The moment she was released...... not with her head but with her instincts, Alp roughly took in oxygen.
There was no time to worry about what was going on around her, she just breathed frantically.
She inhaled, exhaled, coughed, and inhaled again.
In just a few moments, Alp's good looks were stained with sweat, filthy mucus, and her colleague's blood.
At the same time, the situation of being pinned to the wall of the research tower was still the same at this moment, and Alp was able to move her body, but she was not able to get out.
"Kuh."
As she was thinking that, she saw one of her colleagues that must have been inside the research tower.
He came outside with a candle in her hand.
"What the hell is this!?"
To his surprise, Alp's small body was covered in a sticky mucus that was sticking to the wall.
"C-candle."
"Are you okay, Alp!?"
"Candle, no, the fire."
Alp told him, breathlessly.
When he approached while holding the candle, the mucus avoided the fire that seemed like it had a will of its own, as though it was afraid of it.
Her right arm, which had been secured, immediately came free, and she wrenched the mace from the mucus in her left hand and slammed it with great force against the wall of the research tower behind him.
"Wha!?"
The one who was surprised was the warrior priest who was holding the candle.
The thick stone walls of the research tower were shattered by the blow, creating a hollow space. Alp let her small body escape into the cavity and dexterously escaped from the mucus restraints.
"Kuh."
And then, with people watching her, but deciding that it couldn't be helped, she took off her mucus-covered vestments.
Illuminated by the candlelight, her innerwear glistened wetly.
Despite being restrained by her innerwear and underwear, her huge breasts swayed almost audibly as she breathed heavily, and the fabric of her underwear bit into her ample buttocks.
In spite of the situation, the warrior priest that was holding the candle gulped and swallowed his saliva.
It was not that he was single, but his position as a priest meant that he lived a life with certain restrictions on sexual matters.
The man's gaze was nailed on her body, which was so rich that he could see it even through her innerwear.
Still, the maiden, Alp's cheeks blushed at her arousing wet black innerwear, but she didn't have time to worry over it.
"We have to get out of here."
"We can't do that――"
Alp said in a terrified voice, but the warrior priest tried to tell her that it was impossible because they have to guard the tower.
However, perhaps drawn by the weak light from the candle, a tentacle suddenly extended from the darkness and pierced the man's chest.
Right in front of Alp's eyes, another person died.
"H-"
She covered her mouth with both hands and swallowed her scream.
The candlelight was extinguished due to the attack, and the area was enveloped in darkness again.
It reacted to sound―― that was what Alp felt, and she ran into the building, trying not to make a sound.
(Why? What's going on? We're inside the barrier!?)
Alp could only think that it was just a bad nightmare.
Monsters couldn't pass through the Goddess' barrier.
That was why there had been no damage on the front lines, and they could safely create the poison to fight the slime―― Alp, who was attacked by the slime before, had a hard time mentally and was put on guard duty at the research tower―― they were safe because of the Goddess' barrier.
Her legs shook.
(Why―― h-how...?)
Her confused mind was occupied by a single thought.
How?
How did the slime break through the barrier?
"Who are you?"
One of the warrior priests outside shouted.
A fierce voice echoed in the darkness.
But―― there was one more thing. It stood, just one.
"Kuh... what are you doing with our companions?"
(Are you talking to......?)
Then it means "someone".
Shaking all over with fear, Alp cautiously looked out from the entrance.
It was dark outside. Jet black.
She couldn't see anything. All she could hear were voices.
"Is this the last of them?"
It was a woman's voice.
A dignified, cool voice.
It was a young woman, and the voice was unfamiliar. At the same time, she felt the warm air flowing in on the wind.
It was a familiar smell.
Alp held her mouth as quickly as she could.
"Uuu."
The smell reminded her of an unpleasant past, and her stomach cramped as she let out a sound.
"There is still someone on a lookout... but you didn't kill it huh?"
(She is not alone...?)
Alp crawled to the guard post, trying to make as little noise as possible.
There was only one candle lit.
After extinguishing the candle and making the room completely dark, Alp crawled her way to the corner of the room and curled herself up.
Biting her teeth, she tried to suppress the shaking of her body as much as possible.
(Don't make a sound. Don't make a sound. Don't make a sound.)
Repeating over and over again, sitting on the floor and hugging her shoulders, desperately trying to suppress her trembling.
As she wondered how much time had passed.
(......not coming?)
Alp noticed that the presence of something that was supposed to be outside had not entered the research tower at all.
(Is it thinking that there is a trap or something?)
If that was the case, it was convenient.
There was nothing she could do if they attacked her when she was trembling with fear and feeling weak.
Alp took a slow, deep breath and grasped the mace she had been holding tightly to make sure it felt right.
(Alright.)
After a few more deep breaths, she began to feel calmer.
She was still afraid of the slime, but it was obvious that if she didn't do anything here, she would be in worse trouble than the other day, so she have to fight it. In order to save herself.
(What can I do...)
Alp thought so and quickly came up with an idea.
(I have to tell them about this.)
Alp and the guards were informed that there were several researchers working overnight on the upper floors tonight.
She also knew that Kara, the overseer of the research tower, was among them.
She was sure that informing them first and then working together to come up with a countermeasure would yield many times better results than working alone.
After completely regaining her composure, Alp climbed to the second floor without making a sound.
(Eh?)
She felt as though her clothes had moved.
The black innerwear that was tightly wrapping her entire body, she felt as though her innerwear had moved.
That shouldn't be. Just when she was about to chalk it up to just an illusion, she felt her clothes move again, this time more eagerly than before.
(W-what!?)
It was hard to tell in the dark, but because it was so close to her skin, she could feel it clearly.
It wasn't the clothes that were moving, but a small thing that was hiding inside her clothes.
(What is, there's something inside my clothes!?)
Once she became aware of it, her thoughts followed the movements of the tiny thing.
Her shoulders, chest, abdomen, thighs, and calves...
(H-how many!? How many are there!?)
Alp was about to hit the tiny thing on her innerwear, but decided against it, as she didn't want the sound to alert the intruders to her location.
However, while doing so, the thing that had burrowed inside her clothes did not stop moving and was crawling over Alp's skin.
(Ki, it feels so gross...)
In the middle of the stairs leading to the second floor, Alp stopped in her tracks.
She put her hand against the wall and slumped her shoulders.
The weak light of the moon shone through the peephole in the wall of the staircase, and her vision that was accustomed to the darkness saw something stand out.
A thumb-sized thing was crawling inside of her innerwear.
"Hii."
It made Alp scream, and she quickly slapped the thing from the top of her innerwear.
A dry sound echoes in the darkness.
(Oh no!?)
Alp quickly resumed her ascent up the stairs and went to the second floor.
She hid in one of the countless desks used by the researchers.
(Wha-what is this!?)
Then, she looked down at her body wrapped by her innerwear.
Even now, there was a creepy thing crawling underneath her innerwear. Because it was on her skin and as she was aware of it, the feeling became more vivid and Alp felt goosebumps all over her body.
(This is.)
It didn't bite her, as though it didn't mean any harm.
Alp took the chance and crushed the thumb-sized thing with her fingers on her innerwear.
"Uuu"
The feeling of the mucus spreading under her innerwear was inexplicably unpleasant.
The fact that a sound escaped immediately would be a natural reaction for a person with common sense.
But......
(No way, this is a slime too!?...... It slithered into my clothes when I was pinned to the wall downstairs earlier!?)
The thing that was supposed to have been crushed gathered together as though nothing had happened and crawled again under her innerwear.
In order to hide at the desk, she sat down on the floor hugging her knees, which caused Alp's ample breasts to be crushed by her knees and obscenely reshaped.
The slime crawled all over her body, making a bulge in her innerwear, and Alp desperately tried to suppress her voice.
The intruders might come.
The fear of that made her unable to move right now.
However, regardless of Alp's situation, the slime underneath her innerwear continued to move. It was as though it was searching for something.
"Ah."
As she wondered how much time had passed.
The intruders had not yet ascended to the second floor.
Alp felt as though she had spent a long time hiding, but in reality, it was only a few minutes.
However, she was mentally exhausted, and the unexpected stimulus made her scream.
She had just been licked in places.
(Th-there.)
The slime that had been crawling near her breasts and on her lower body started to go for her sex zones.
Namely her nipples and pubic area.
Even though she had been attacked by the slime once, she was still untainted, and her disgust was overwhelming, but she stifled her fear by remembering the intruders.
(Voice, don't make a voice...)
"......, ――"
She stifled her voice in the darkness, but Alp's inexperienced body took the sexual sensations she was being given in stride and began to tremble each time.
(In my underwear...)
The slime had no such notion of discretion.
When it sneaked inside her underwear that wrapped Alp's overly rich breasts and buttocks, the movement slowed down a bit, as though the tightness of her underwear was tighter than her innerwear.
Even so, it quickly moved in her soft body with dexterity to get to the places it was aiming for―― her nipples and clitoris.
(Uu, uuu.)
Alp bit her finger and tried her best to suppress her voice.
In the darkness, the weak moonlight coming through the window illuminated her mucus-soaked hair and her mucus-soaked innerwear.
Every part of it was moving.
There was more than ten mucus inside her innerwear, and every single one of them was searching for Alp's sex zones.
She didn't know all of it―― was it fortunate or unlucky for Alp, who just felt uncomfortable all over her entire body, not realizing it?
"Uu......"
She felt the movement of the mucus in her innerwear as her knees obscenely crushed her breasts.
By curling her body tightly, she crushed the mucus with her large but firm breasts and knees, which were obstructed.
On the contrary, Alp crushed her nipples with her knees and was confused by the sweet feeling.
(What was that...?)
Thinking it was a bad idea, she released her knee from her breast.
Then the mucus, which was no longer obstructed, wrapped around her nipple which was shrinking under her underwear.
It was about the size of the tip of her pinky finger.
Most of it was still buried in her overly rich breasts, probably because they were not erect, but the thickness of its tip suggested that they were obscenely large in proportion to her breasts.
The same goes for the areola.
The areola was large and beautifully circular, as befits its size.
Her wet innerwear brought out the lines of her underwear underneath, so much so that they even appear to be seen in the weak light from the moon.
"Haah, ah, ah..."
Alp moved her tightly closed legs, slightly.
Her innerwear that stuck to her skin rubbed against her skin, making her feel the strong touch of the thing directly against her skin.
The tightness on her legs, her calves, and the backs of her knees were places she normally wouldn't pay attention to, but just the thought of slime crawling on them made her strangely aware of them.
(My body, felt disgusting.)
Even as she thought that, Alp was aware that her own body temperature was rising.
Even though she was desperately trying to control it, her breathing was erratic and her heart was racing.
She became aware of her left nipple, which was covered with slime, as though her nerves were exposed, and she even felt the mammary glands at its tip and the pores of her areola.
Her right nipple had not yet been stimulated, which made the different sensation even more bewildering and confusing to the inexperienced body, which knew little about sexual sensations.
"Haah, ah... nhh."
She let out a hot breath and licked her lips with her tongue.
Alp didn't realize it, but the saliva dripping from her lips was flowing in strings and falling to her lap.
Her breasts swayed violently even with the slightest movement, and the fabric of her underwear and the fine fibers of her innerwear stimulated her entire skin.
It was enough to make Alp's left nipple harden, making the top stiffen.
Alp's nipple was appropriately large for her huge breasts.
Even wrapped in underwear and innerwear, her lumpy nipples were hard and pointed, as though to show off their presence.
"No way......"
When Alp looked up to check for the intruder, the tip of her left breast, which was trembling greatly, lifted her innerwear stiffly, as though her little finger was standing on it.
"Ah... n-no..."
Alp muttered without power.
She could see the slime crawling under her underwear, this time towards her right breast.
At the same time, the slime that had burrowed into her lower underwear and been crushed by her large buttocks crawled again, this time to her pubic area―― and then to her clitoris.
"Uu, uuu..."
She wanted to scream, but she couldn't.
Alp crawled out from the desk where she had been hiding, wanting to cry.
There was no sign of the intruders coming. So she decided that she should proceed while she still could.
She wanted to get out of this shameful situation as soon as possible.
There was a faint hope that someone upstairs might be able to help.
However.
"Haah, haah... no way."
As soon as Alp stepped out of the desk, the slimes that had been squeezed into her skin and innerwear by sitting down began to move.
The slime effortlessly made its way to her right nipple and clitoris, where it bit them.
Of course, it didn't have any teeth, but sure enough, the slime "bit" Alp, the most vulnerable point of all women.
"Ahh~~~~"
Her knees bent, her hips slumped, and though she swallowed her scream, she slumped back and rested her weight on the researcher's desk.
The equipment on it fell and made a loud noise.
"Damn――"
Gasping for breath, Alp quickly tried to leave the area.
But.
"D-don't move."
It didn't matter that Alp had climaxed to the slimes that were burrowing under her innerwear.
Rather. The fact that her climax had loosened her mental defenses and caused a small amount of mana to flow out of her made her feel better, and it tried to make Alp climax even more by licking and sucking on both nipples, her clitoris, her armpits, her back, and the valley between her buttocks.
"It's, a lie... this, is――"
Alp couldn't take it anymore, and using her mace as a cane, she still struggled to reach the stairs.
With each step, her nipples were sweetly bitten, her areola licked and sucked, and her clitoris was kneaded.
Relying only on the moonlight streaming in through the window, Alp, who was walking like an elderly person, headed for the third floor of the research tower.
It would normally take her no more than a few minutes to get there. Even the stairs were not that long.
But from the second floor to the third, Alp climaxed five times in that short distance, and by the time she reached the third floor, she could barely stand.
She also hid behind a researcher's desk in desperation, not having time to pay attention to the presence of the intruders who were supposed to be downstairs.
As she hid in the desk, Alp curled her body with all the strength she could muster.
(Stop, stop, stop. Please stop already, please stop.)
Her curled-up body trembled many times.
Both of her nipples were so hard and pointy and her clitoris was so hard that just rubbing it against the fabric of her underwear would send sweet electric shocks through her.
Alp wanted to cry as she was made aware of the sexual sensations in places she had never been aware of before, such as her armpits and cleavage.
Her breasts, which had grown taut from the stimulation, were crushed by her knees, changing their shape so obscenely that they almost made a gurgling sound.
The wetness of her innerwear was making not only the lines of her underwear, but also the cleavage of her buttocks, the hollow of her belly button, and even the swelling of her labia stand out clearly.
The peach-colored hair stuck to her sweaty cheeks and neck, and she was out of breath, even though she hadn't done any fighting.
In such a state, Alp was――.
(Please, stop.)
Her entire body trembled especially strongly.
After three, four, or even more than ten convulsions.
"Hii, ahh―― ahh, ahh."
With her face buried in her knees, Alp let out a sweet voice that she didn't even realize she was making.
――Cutlet*.
At the same time, she heard someone coming up from downstairs.