abcnovels
Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Volume 3 Chapter 72 part1
The next day.
I woke up in the morning, got ready, and gathered the slimes.
It was the usual routine, but then… A slime caught my eye.
What is this slime?
Before me was a slime I didn’t remember.
Strangely, though, it was indeed contracted with me.
I used Monster Identify on it…
Medicine SlimeSkills:
Produce Medicine Lv3
Poison Resist Lv3
Disease Resist Lv5
Physical Attack Resist Lv1
Jump Lv3
Digest Lv3
Absorb Lv3
Split Lv3
Spear Mastery Lv1
Medicine slime, huh. I don’t remember contracting this guy, so he must’ve evolved.
“Since it has the Spear Mastery skill, then… It must’ve been a poison slime!” [Ryouma]
When you think about it, medicine can be poison depending on how you use it. The same holds true the other way.
“I’ve never had a slime evolve a second time after evolving once, but it seems there really is a second evolution. But why all of the sudden? Did I clear an evolution condition somewhere?” [Ryouma]
It’s been proven that slimes evolved according to what they ate, so the medicine slime’s evolution condition is… medicine?
But when did I ever feed a slime with that?
Hmm… Come to think of it, the medicine I dropped the other night was cleaned by itself. I thought for sure a cleaner slime had cleaned it, but could it be that it was this guy who cleaned it instead?
To test that hypothesis, I gathered the poison slimes and poured a vial for them to drink. When I did, 5 slimes approached and started drinking.
“Ohh, they’re drinking. So, I guess it really was a poison slime then.” [Ryouma]
Last time I spilled a vial and one slime evolved, so it should stand to reason that 5 slimes would need 5 vials to evolve. I’ve already given them a vial, so I guess I’ll be needing four more.
I went ahead and made some vessels while the slimes were drinking, then I gave an order to the medicine slime.
“Show me which medicines you can make.” [Ryouma]
As I said that, I pushed the vessel toward the medicine slime. The medicine slime then started pouring out liquids one after another.
There were all sorts of liquids from more viscous ones to smoother ones.
I used Identify on the various liquids, and this was the result.
Ointment
Styptic
Antidote
Poison (Immediate Effect)
Poison (Delayed Effect)
Paralyzing Agent (Instant Effect)
Paralyzing Agent (Delayed Effect)
Antibacterial Medicine
“Ohh, that’s a lot… I suppose it can produce both medicine and poison… What’s with this antibacterial medicine, though?” [Ryouma]
I used a more specific Identify on it, and this came out:
Antibacterial Medicine
Produced within the body of the medicine slime. A liquid that possesses strong sterilizing effects.
Destroys all bacteria and virus when applied.
Quickly evaporates in an airtight container if not properly stored.
Harmless to humans.
This is an antiseptic solution! This is great! I was actually worried about going to territories other than the Jamil Territory because of hygiene reasons, but with this, that won’t be a problem anymore!
…Speaking of which, time sure flies! I better get to the store.
I hurriedly gathered the slimes and went to the store, but the store was already open.
I entered the employee entrance and met Carla-san.
“Good morning, Boss.” [Carla]
“Good morning, Carla-san.” [Ryouma]
“Boss, what have you been up to lately?” [Ryouma]
“Hmm? What do you mean?” [Ryouma]
“You came only after the store was already opened yesterday and today too. Did something happen?” [Carla]
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just too busy with work.” [Ryouma]
“Really? Well, that’s fine then, but be sure to talk to us if you have something or your mind.” [Carla]
“Thank you.” [Ryouma]
Volume 3 Chapter 72 (2/2)
“Oh, and could you start coming around this time?” [Carm]
Around this time?
“Why?” [Ryouma]
“If you come before the store opens, you’ll definitely end up doing the store preparation, so the lower-positioned employees won’t have anything to do. They need to do that as part of their training, so please leave it to them. Please do get used to leaving work to your subordinates, Boss.” [Carm]
They took my job…
“Well, alright. I guess it can’t be helped…” [Ryouma]
I can understand if it’s for a reason like that, but with this, I have even less work to do… Oh, right. I need to talk to her about the windows.
“Oh yeah, Carm-san. Are Fei-san and Leelin-san free right now?” [Ryouma]
“Fei-san’s tending to the store, but Leelin-san should be in the break room right now. Do you need them for something?” [Carm]
“Actually, I have an idea to toughen up the store’s security and would like to talk to them about it.” [Ryouam]
“I see. In that case, please wait at the office. I’ll call them over.” [Carm]
I waited at the office just as he told me, and he immediately brought Leelin-san.
They were just in the next room, after all, so it came as no surprise. In fact, I could’ve just called her myself. There was no need for him to get her.
“Good morning, boss. You needed me?” [Leelin]
“Good morning, Leelin-san. It’s about the store window. Don’t you think it’d be quite easy to break those and get in?” [Ryouma]
“Indeed. All you need is a hammer or an axe and you’d easily be able to break them. We’ve taken that into consideration and are keeping an eye out for them.” [Leelin]
“Thank you as always. So, I was thinking of making those windows unbreakable.” [Ryouma]
“That would save us a lot of trouble, but… how?” [Leelin]
I took out one plank of concentrated hardening liquid from my Dimension Home.
When Carm saw that, the color of his eyes changed.
“Is that a glass window?” [Carm]
“Not quite.” [Ryouma]
“But this shape and transparency… Surely, it must be glass window. And even if it’s not glass window, we can use it instead of glass window! Did you make this, Boss?” [Carm]
Looks like he’s taken a liking to it.
I do intend to use it as a replacement for glass window, but I have no intention of selling it right now.
“Sorry, but I’m not planning to sell it right now. The production rate isn’t there yet…” [Ryouma]
“I see… Sorry, I got ahead of myself.” [Carm]
“It’s fine. And besides, you’re actually right in that I was thinking of using this in place of glass windows. It looks like glass, but unlike glass it’s actually quite durable.” [Ryouma]
I hit the glass with my bare fists.
When Leelin-san saw that, she narrowed her eyes.
“Boss, could I give it a try?” [Ryouma]
“Sure. I have plenty of spare, so feel free to destroy it.” [Ryouma]
I let Leelin-san have a go at it.
She hit the plank several times, but it didn’t even crack. She used reinforcement magic after that, but a crack was the most she could muster.
“…It really is tough. If we outfit the entire first floor with this, our assailants will surely have a hard time getting in. But at the same time, we won’t be able to break the glass to run away if driven into a corner. Please also take that into consideration as you plan the store security.” [Leelin]
So, there was a downside to it!
“Now that you mention it, I should definitely come up of a way to make it easy to open from inside. I’ll need to think about it.” [Ryouma]
“Aside from that one downside, though, it’s very good for defending against intruders. If we outfit them here and there, we should be able to reduce the places that could be broken into. Well, at least that’s one way to go about it. And also, if we know what’s coming, we can deal with it much easier too.” [Leelin]
“I see. So, you’re alright with replacing the store windows with this, right?” [Ryouma]
“Yes.” [Leelin]
Like that we started upgrading the store’s wooden windows with these concentrated hardening liquid planks.
We first changed the windows at the back of the store, where there were no customers, then we worked on the side facing the nearby stores, then the side facing the road, and then lastly, the store front, the windows facing the residential district… Or at least, that’s what we were planning to do when all of the sudden we heard someone yelling from the store.
“What did you to my clothes! Does this store have a policy of tearing its customers clothes into pieces!? Well!?” [Angry Customer]
We hurriedly entered through the store entrance, and there, we saw an ill-bred man arguing with Fina-san.
Fei-san was in the process of breaking them up.
Atop the counter was a piece of clothing that was torn from the collar all the way to the bottom… But it’s impossible for this to be our fault since we don’t wash laundry here in a way that could do something like this. I doubt this happened while the employees were transporting it too.
Even though I know it’s just false accusation, it sure still feels bad. A proper claim would actually be better. Anyway, I have no intention of accepting false claims like this.
At times like this, it’s important to firmly deal with the malicious claimant.
I called out to the man.
“What seems to be the problem, sir?” [Ryouma]
“Boss?” [Fei]
Volume 3 Chapter 72 part3
Fei-san responded before the man could.
I passed the man a fleeting glance, then I looked at Fei-san to signal to him that I would be dealing with the man.
Fei-san was able to understand my signal, so he allowed me to come close, though he kept alert.
“What’s your problem, brat!? Get lost!” [Angry Customer]
“That won’t do, as I’m the owner of this store. Do you have a problem with our store?” [Ryouma]
The man’s eyebrows twitched and he started arguing with me.
“You better believe it! Your little store tore apart my only good suit! I want compensation!” [Angry Customer]
“Could you show that suit to me?” [Ryouma]
After receiving the suit, I examined it. I need to make it look like I’m properly listening to the claimant’s complaint, or my reputation will go down. I don’t particularly care what this thug thinks about me, but the curious onlookers and the customers are important.
The torn cuff of the suit clearly shows signs of having been cut with a blade of sort. From there the tear seems to have been exacerbated through brute force. It’s certainly possible for this to happen while washing it, but the cleaner slimes just eat filth. They don’t do anything that could cause a tear.
This is clearly a false claim.
It’s impossible to use this to find fault with our slimes. And he clearly hasn’t done his homework. I already announced on the first day of opening that the slimes are responsible for doing the laundry here, so if he wanted to find fault, he should’ve brought a melted piece of clothing instead.
“Dear Customer, it’s troubling for us if you bring up this sort of false claim.” [Ryouma]
After examining the suit, I faced the man and said that.
“What was that!? A false claim!? This torn suit is right in front of you and not only are you not apologizing, you’re saying it’s my fault!!? Nice store you have here, you immoral merchant!!” [Angry Customer]
The man said that out loud so as to let the other customers hear it.
“Then, allow me to prove it to you.” [Ryouma]
“Hah?” [Angry Customer]
The man made a confused face in response to my words, while the attention of the surrounding customers gathered to us.
“Please wait a moment. I will give a demonstration of how this store does its laundry. After seeing it, you will immediately understand why this sort of accident can never happen.” [Ryouma]
I left the scene to Fei-san for a moment, while I went inside to get a cleaner slime.
“In order to perform the demonstration, I will be needing some laundry. Is anyone willing to volunteer his laundry? If you participate, your laundry will be washed for free.” [Ryouma]
Voices rose sporadically.
“That person over there. Thank you.” [Ryouma]
As I received a single-person-laundry-bag from a male customer, I laid out its contents over the counter.
Laid out were a blood-stained pair of pants and a shirt. It was normal clothing, but considering the man’s strong body, he is probably an adventurer.
“Please watch.” [Ryouma]
I ordered the slime to wash the clothes. It took the clothes into it as usual, and before anyone knew it, all the blood and filth were gone from the clothes.
When the crowd saw that, they cried out voices of shock.
The entire process took no more than a few dozen seconds.
“Are you satisfied, dear customer? Just as you’ve witnessed, because of the way we do laundry here, it is impossible for your clothes to be torn apart.” [Ryouma]
“N-No way…” [Angry Customer]
“If you believe this was merely a fluke, then we can repeat this until it pleases you.” [Ryouma]
After doing about 10 person’s worth of clothing, the man couldn’t say anything anymore. To put the nail into the coffin, I spoke one last time.
“It’s simply impossible for slimes to cause this sort of tear in your suit. After all, they neither have fangs nor claws. In fact, they don’t even have the strength to make this sort of tear.
This store’s slimes takes the clothes into their body and eats the filth on it.
Unlike the normal method of doing laundry, wherein one uses force to rub off the filth, our slimes don’t use force. That’s why it’s impossible for anything to get torn.
I have been washing my clothes in this way for the past 3 years and have yet to experience a problem. As such, I can say with full confidence that your suit wasn’t torn because of our store.” [Ryouma]
When I said that, all the customers other than the thug were able to understand that we weren’t negligent in any way.
Good. With this our reputation won’t be affected. Now that that’s taken care of, this thug doesn’t matter anymore.
“Well then, since you’ve interfered with our business, we will be handing you over to the guards. Please behave and come with us.” [Ryouma]
“!!? Like fuck I will!” [Angry Customer]
The man sent his fist flying toward me, but I twisted my body, took his arm, and sent him flying with a throw.
The onlookers would surely not appreciate getting caught up with a thug, so I made sure to throw the thug somewhere no one was around. A large dull sound resounded throughout the store as the man’s legs hit the counter and his body fell into the ground.
“GOHA!?” [Angry Customer]
The man writhed in pain as he slammed into the ground.
“This is legitimate self-defense, dear customer.” [Ryouma]
Our reputation will take a hit if I beat him up too much, but this much should be okay.
“Fei-san, please take care of him.” [Ryouma]
“As you wish, Boss.” [Fei]
Fei-san quickly took the man and brought him inside.
Next, I’ll need to call the guards… Oh.
While I was thinking that, it suddenly came to my attention that the cleaner slime was hard at work cleaning the counter.
Apparently some mud had fallen off the man’s shoes and onto the counter when I threw him.
…Seeing the slime like that was a healing moment for me.
After that the store went back to business as usual and the guards came to take the man away. By the time the situation had been settled, it was already afternoon. Everyone gathered at the employee area of the store to eat.
Fina-san thanked me and Fei-san.
“Boss, Fei-san, thank you so much.” [Fina]
“This is part of my job. And also, I didn’t really do all that much today. It was all the boss.” [Fei]
“I am the owner, after all. I should at least deal with those sort of people when I’m around.” [Ryouma]
“Boss was so strong~” [Maria]
“But was that really alright, Boss? Washing the laundry for free?” [Leelin]
“That much won’t affect the store’s income. It was more important to let the other customers know that the man was just slandering our store. Otherwise, if they believed we were the ones in the wrong, then less people will go to our store.” [Ryouma]
“I see. You’re right.” [Carla]
I didn’t think everyone would accept me right from the start. I’m sure there are people unhappy with my business, but that’s their right. It’s impossible to deal with all those people, but it would be problematic if they made other customers hate me.
“Still, you should say beforehand when you’re going to deal with the situation. I was sweating buckets.” [Fina]
“We didn’t know you were that strong too…” [Jane]
Oh, yeah. I look 11 on the outside… I keep forgetting that from time to time.
I didn’t have the opportunity to show my strength to the workers until now too.
“Sorry, I forgot to mention it.” [Ryouma]
Report, communicate, consult! These three are important!
Although we had to take care of this incident, we were able to safely replace the store windows of the store.
Some time before evening, I dropped by Serge-san’s store. I wanted to buy some vials from him. And there’s also the medicine slime.
“Welcome, Ryouma-sam.” [Serge]
“Good afternoon, Serge-san. I came today to buy something for myself.” [Ryouma]
“I see. What will you be needing?” [Serge]
“I’d like to buy a large number of vials for medicine.” [Ryouma]
“Vials for medicine? In large number?” [Serge]
“Yes. I learned how to make medicine from my grandmother, so since I have time now, I figured why not use the time to make some medicine. It’s not unusual for me to be exposed to danger as an adventurer, after all. So, in preparation for that.” [Ryouma]
“I see… But if you wish to procure a large number of vials, then it would be best for you to register at the merchants guild as a pharmacy, then the guild will sell to you the vials wholesale, allowing you to get them much cheaper.” [Serge]
Now that he mentions it…
In the end, I took Serge-san’s advice and didn’t buy from his store.
I also had more time now, enough to spare to make medicine, so I took some more cloths from him to turn into waterproof cloths.
When I got to the merchants guild, I was brought to the reception office again.
“What’s do you need? More people?” [Grisiera]
“No, I came for something else this time.” [Ryouma]
I told her what I came for.
“I see. So you came here to buy some vials, did you? So, how good are your medicines?” [Grisiera]
I took out a vial from my Item Box and handed it to her.
The guild master used Identify on it, and then she grinned.
“Not bad. This more than passes as a product. If you can make this, then you can definitely open a pharmacy.” [Grisiera]
“I don’t have such plans for now, though.” [Ryouma]
“I suppose… since you’ll have more than enough if you just open a branch store. But you should still consider it as a backup plan in case something unexpected happens. And you could also sell them on the side to help with your branch store’s capital. Or if you want, I could buy them from you.” [Grisiera]
“Is that alright?” [Ryouma]
“I’m expecting a lot from you, after all. Besides, I was also an expert in medicine before I became the guild master. The quality of your medicine is good, so if I use my connections, I should be able to sell as many of them as I want.” [Grisiera]
So, the guild master was an expert on medicine… I didn’t know that.
“Thank you very much. At that time, I’ll rely on you.” [Ryouma]
I thanked the guild master. I took the opportunity to also purchase all the tools needed to make medicine like the pot and the funnel. I also bought some food along the way to the gate before going back to the mines.
The sun still hadn’t set, so I ran back home instead of using magic.
I passed some adventurers along the way. They seemed to be coming home from hunting grell frogs.
As I thought that while running, the smell from the marsh wafted to my nose.
I dealt with the stench by wetting a towel with deodorizing liquid and putting it over my mouth.
Hmm… Can’t I sell this deodorizing liquid?
Deodorizing goods were a thing back in my previous life, so…
I should talk with Carm-san and the others about it.
That night.
I had supper a little earlier than usual, then I spent the time investigating the medicine slime. Unfortunately, I lost track of the time and ended up sleeping late.
Thanks to my investigations, though, I was able to confirm that the poison slimes I gave antidotes to all became medicine slimes. It seems my hypothesis was correct. In that case, the other slimes must also have other evolutionary paths… Slimes sure run deep.
I was feeling fairly satisfied after seeing the slimes evolve, so I took out the goblet I got from Tekun and drank by myself. But then an unexpected problem arose.
“I got it out of good will, so I’m not complaining, but… Isn’t this thing too thirsty for mana?” [Ryouma]
Wine appeared in the goblet when I let mana course into it just as Tekun had told me, but I had to consume 30,000 points of mana just to fill the goblet once.
I checked it with my status board, so that figure is definitely correct.
Even with my mana pool at full, I can only fill this goblet 6 times… Actually, isn’t 6 cups too much when I’m just drinking by myself? How many would a person normally drink when alone?
Hmm… Maybe it’s just because I’m creating wine out of nothing that the mana consumption is so high. But regardless, I think I can manage if I just watch the amount of wine.
I’ve only drank with others for the sake of socializing, so I don’t actually know how much I’m supposed to drink when I’m by myself, but for the meantime, I decided to just drink two cups.
I went to bed after drinking the goblet’s winne.
Today’s wine was delicious, but it’s too bad I didn’t have any snacks again. I’ll make sure to prepare some next time.