Thereafter of An Exiled Magician - CH 91
“What, is this thing..?”
The thing entering the hall I was in, had a cloudy-liquid like body and was the size of a shed.
From its body, numerous tentacles were sticking and wriggling about.
One of those tentacles then shoots towards me.
“Ku!”
I desperately dodge its attack.
The tentacle bent like a whip, and left a small hole where I was standing.
It wouldn’t end well for me if I got hit by that.
“It’s a slime.”
“Slime?”
It was the first time I’d heard of such a monster.
I tried wracking my brain, but I didn’t recall anything about it from books in the royal capital, nor from Lain’s explanations.
“Your ignorance was expected. Let me explain it to you. That is an artificial organism from the era of the ancient magician civilization. It can devour anything. Apparently, there used to be a way to control it during that time, but that method is long lost.”
“Aritficial…organism…”
“That’s right. Even the Knight Commander of this kingdom can’t defeat it, so there’s no way you have a chance, is there?”
That reminded me, I had heard of there being many such organisms in those times.
The golem which Kili is trying to make is also one of those.
(If it’s like those golems, then it’s not like it can’t be defeated!)
I shifted the torch to my left hand, and pull out the sword hanging from my waist with the right.
“…Oi, Ruko. That dropout is still fully-armed.”
“My apologies. She was already fully armored when I visited her. It would have seemed suspicious had I asked her to remove it, so I didn’t request her to disarm.”
“I see. Then it can’t be helped… [Fireball].”
Rigul shot a fireball towards me while talking with Ruko.
“Wha!?”
I immediately slashed the fireball with the sword in my right hand.
“As expected, that’s the magic sword that cut Dale’s fireballs in half. Oi failure, hand me that magic sword.”
Rigul says so satisfactorily, after seeing me cut down his fireball.
What did he mean?
Magic sword?
Certainly, it was crafted in order to let magic easily pass through it, but otherwise it was just a normal sword.
“…If you handed it over, I might consider saving you.”
Rigul looks at me with a disgusting face.
He most likely had no intentions of saving me even if I handed it over.
Even if that wasn’t the case, my answer was already decided.
“Not even if I died!”
It’s true that this was just a sword.
However, it was designed for me by Lain, repaired countless times by Kili, and was a comrade that protected me and my friends till now.
I would never hand it over to such a coward.
“Hmph. Insolent. [Fireball], [Fireball], [Fireball].”
“Ku!”
I dodged Rigul’s fireballs.
The slime’s tentacles were waiting for me where I ran, and I narrowly escaped those as well.
(I can’t fight here)
Rigul’s fireballs won’t hurt much, but they would surely stop me in my tracks if they hit me.
If I’m attacked by the slime’s tentacles in that gap, it would be the end.
“What should I…”
But the slime won’t wait for me.
It raised its tentacle for its next attack.
(There’s no time to think!)
I prepared to attack as well.
However, its target wasn’t me this time.
The slime swung its tentacle in Rigul’s direction.
“Rigul-sama!”
“Uwa!”
Ruko frantically pushed Rigul away.
It seems that it was repeating its attacks indiscriminately.
Rigul must have alerted the slime by his use of magic.
“Rigul-sama, let us retreat.”
“Damn it. This is why I detest monsters. To not even recognize my nobility.”
(Now’s my chance!)
I ran in the direction opposite to the slime, while it was distracted by Rigul.
***
“Damn it. That failure ran away with my magic sword.”
As I stepped away from the hole, the slime stopped its attacks.
The slime won’t step out of the sewers.
Apparently it was set that way while being made.
If that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t have created an entire capital above it.
The slime soon went after that failure.
I take a peek inside the hole once it was gone.
Aria wasn’t there anymore.
Her magic-countering sword wasn’t left either.
I suppose she took part in the tournament because she got her hands on that sword, but once you know the trick behind it, there’s nothing to fear.
Still, I would have found some use for it, so she should have quietly handed it over.
“In the end she’s just a failure, so reasoning is wasted on her. More pressingly Rigul-sama, is it fine to let Aria escape?”
Ruko questioned me worriedly.
Well, she was guilty of pretending the name of an aristocrat.
If exposed, it wouldn’t be strange for her to get executed.
“It was your first seeing seeing her. Don’t worry. Even if she survived, no one would believe the words of a failure. Surviving is not an option for her in the first place though.”
“? Why do you say that? That slime didn’t seem that fast, so it’s entirely possible for her to escape from it.”
I pulled Ruko close and grin.
I then tell her the reason why she can’t escape.
“That slime is not alone down there.”
Hearing that, Ruko surrendered herself in relief.
“My match is tomorrow. I can’t spare too long, but will you accompany me tonight?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
Ruko blushes in my arms.
We got on the carriage and head back to the mansion.