After petting them for some time, Aka asked me this question.
Apparently, Aka was able to raise its abilities through fusing with other slimes.
It would be very convenient for me, but was Aka really okay with it?
They were the same time of species, maybe there would be an aversion to doing it?
I asked, but Aka said there was not.
Slimes seemed to not have any sense of solidarity amongst each other.
Well then, I had no complaints about it.
Momo and I started to catch slimes and give them to Aka.
Not only were there slimes in the rice paddies, but also in the drainage basins.
As they allowed the water to take them anywhere, they must have ended up collecting here.
And so we were able to give Aka a lot of slimes.
“Alright then. We should move along now.”
I didn’t want to stay in any one place for too long.
Just as we started to move away from the rice paddies, ‘Scout’ detected something.
It wasn’t a human it was a monster.
And it seemed much stronger than anything I had sensed before.
I immediately had Momo use her shadow, and Aka its disguise.
I too hid and used Conceal in order to see what it was.
Then I used ‘Telescope’ to look in the direction where the presence was detected.
“That ”
My eyes widened when I saw the monster.
It was obese and massive, with the head of a pig.
An orc.
Its nose twitched as it scanned at its surroundings, then it started to come closer to use.
Was it searching for something?
It was only one orc.
Should I run, or should I fight
CH 47
The Battle with the Orc, and Foreboding Developments
I stare quietly at the orc while remaining hidden.
The orc was checking its surroundings, section by section.
Was it searching for prey?
No, it’s movements were too unnatural for that.
It looked like it was wary of something.
Its nose twitched now and again.
“Sniff! Oink!”
And then, it’s gaze moved towards me.
Could I have been–caught?
“FFGHAAOO!”
The orc brandished its weapon and started moving towards me.
There was no hesitation in its movements.
There was no doubt about it. This guy knew that we were here!
Now that I think of it, don’t pigs have a superior sense of smell compared to dogs?
Maybe that also applies to orcs as well.
Damn! It wasn’t just shadow wolves, but ‘Conceal’ didn’t work against orcs either! This is the worst.
I cursed in my heart, but I had made my decision.
Thankfully, ‘Scout’ told me that there were no other monsters nearby.
Even the ‘Danger Detection’ alarm was not that bad.
Orcs should probably be equal to shadow wolves, or maybe a little stronger.
And it was only one orc as well.
I had a chance of winning if I kept my cool and fought.
“FFGHAOO!”
The orc started to run faster as soon as it saw me.
The distance was shrinking by the second, he was now within reach of my skill.
Now!
Momo’s ‘Shadow’ shot out and stretched towards the orc. It would try to capture it if it could.
“FFGWAAHOO!”
But the orc used the knife in its hand to forcefully fight it off.
Impressive. But at least it was keeping him busy.
Now I can finish him!
I unleashed some heavy machinery over its head.
“!?”
The orc stood in shock at the sudden appearance of the object.
He makes a desperate attempt to run, but it’s too late.
Momo’s shadow gets in the way and blocks his path.
The orc is resisting with all of its strength, but there is no escape now.
This was the end for it.
Judging by what I witnessed of the fight with the defense force and the people at the shopping center, normal orcs are not that resilient. Unlike ‘him.’
I should be able to crush this one.
I was confident in our victory.
However, at the moment, ‘Danger Detection’ started going off.
The orc had thrown his knife at me.
He was clearly aiming it towards me.
The blade shoots forward at an incredible speed.
Damn damn!
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to dodge it in time, so I tried to create a wall from the Item Box instead.
“–(shaking)!”
But Aka moved before I could.
Aka had been disguised as my clothes.
His body had now swollen up! It caught the knife that was flying towards me.
The knife lost all momentum, and it stopped when it was enveloped by Aka’s body. And then Aka let it drop to the floor.
The orc looked at this with shock.
And then the huge mass above him crushed him.
The voice announced the death of the orc.
Ah, that was a close one I barely made it out alive.
My heart was beating loudly, an uncomfortable sweat was dripping from my back.
“Thank you, Aka. You saved me ”
I said as I petted it. Aka shook with visible pleasure.
“Ahh ”
I had let my guard down.
And the orc had seen it and moved.
I was reminded that these were real monsters that I fought against, and they had their own will.
They were just as desperate as I was.
They didn’t want to die, and they would fight back until the last second.
I retrieved the heavy machinery and picked up the fallen magic stone and the knife.
When I put them in the Item Box, they were displayed as ‘Orc Magic Stone(small)’ and ‘Orc Knife.’
“Sorry, Momo. But can I give this one to Aka?”
Momo nodded, and so I gave the stone to Aka.
It wasn’t much for a reward, but I still wanted to give it to Aka.
Aka’s body shivered with joy as it took the stone into its body.
“Now, shall we keep moving ?”
Just as I was about to stand up again, ‘Scout’ started to react to something again.
It was the same direction that the orc had come from.
But this time, there were many.
“Could it be that orc’s pack ?”
I used ‘Telescope’ and looked in the direction that Scout indicated.
And what I saw, was a pack of shadow wolves.
There were so many of them. More than ten.
The shadow wolves were sniffing at the ground as they came towards me.
Had the orc been running away from the wolves?
That would at least explain why it was moving so strangely.
Was it a fight between monsters then?
No, I’ll think about it later.
I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.
I had no intention of fighting that many shadow wolves here.
“Damn I guess I have to return the same way that I came ”
It took me so much time to get here, but now I had to go back.
We all felt quite solemn, as we turned around and walked in the direction that we had come.
At the same time, on the roof of the apartment–.
Natsu Ichinose was staring at her Mail screen.
He wasn’t replying.
What on earth was happening here?
Was he fighting monsters now?
Or did he simply forget to answer her?
“ Maybe, did I send too many messages?”
It might have been overkill to send 45 messages to someone she didn’t know.
While it was a bit late, she finally realized this.
“I hope he doesn’t find me annoying to deal with ”
It would not feel good to lose this potential party member and that adorable doggy.
She wanted to be friends with them if possible. And she wanted to pet the doggy.
It would probably be best to slow down with the messages for now.
“I guess I will just wait for a reply ”
She would only check her Inbox once every few minutes.