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Chapter 13 – Goblins, Slimes, Tame Skills, and Preparing for the Travel
We arrived at the forest. I had always seen it from the hunting ground of the horned rabbit, but the thought of going inside made it look somewhat eerie. I wondered if it would be alright…
“Okay, let’s go into the forest. Wataru will be in the middle of us for now. If any goblins appear, we’ll leave one behind so you can try to fight it.”
“I-I understand.”
“Relax. If there is only one goblin, it is more difficult to fight with a fast rabbit. You will be fine, Wataru.”
Crack.
“Hyii”
I was startled by the sound of a branch being stepped on… It’s so embarrassing.
“…Well, let’s move on.”
They just let it slide. Everyone is so kind…
It’s so hard to walk in an unmanaged forest. There are roots sticking out in places, holes, stones, and many obstacles. As we were walking along, we heard voices and the sound of rustling bushes in front of us.
“Goblins. I’ll reduce their number to one for now, so Wataru, stay calm and hold your spear at the ready.”
“Yes.”
When the goblins spotted us, they charged at us while shouting… Aldo-san’s party easily defeated the goblins. It was so easy that I won’t be of any help to them.
“Go, Wataru!”
“Yes!”
I thrust with my spear, and the spear easily pierced the goblin’s face… It’s grotesque.
“Easy, right?”
“Yes, one seems to be manageable. But are goblins always like that? They make a lot of noise, and they just charge right into you without a second thought, don’t they?”
“Well, they are usually like that. But be on your guard. When there is a goblin leader, you have to use your head a little bit. You know, ambush and all that. But enough talking, let’s go get the magic stone and the right ear.”
“Y-yes.”
It’s gross, but I cut around the goblin’s heart and took out a small stone. The next step is to cut off the right ear. I’m not very good at this, even though I killed it myself.
“What are you going to do with the rest of the body?”
“You can leave it in this forest. There are slimes, and the miasma is thin. They will be digested before they turn into zombies or skeletons.”
“Is the miasma so low in this forest? Would we have to burn them if we were elsewhere?”
“Oh, yes. So this forest is for beginners to intermediate. If it’s a thicker area, you have to dig a hole and bury it or burn it. Alright, let’s move on.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, slime. Have you ever seen slime before, Wataru?”
“I’ve never seen one before. It’s so cute.”
The shape is like a rice cake, blue in color, and it’s wriggling. It moves slowly, stretching its body and moving back and forth. The way it moves is cute; I want to touch it and stroke it around.
“Is it cute?”
“It’s cute. Is it okay if I touch it?”
“If you touch it for too long, you will be taken inside and melted, okay?”
“So it’s okay if I touch it a little? Wow, it’s so plump! When you stroke it, it’s slippery. I’ll take this child with me. Can I keep him?”
“Calm down. Do you have taming skills? If you don’t, even though they are slimes, they are still monsters. You can’t let it into town.”
“How do I get the taming skills?”
“As I said, calm down. It’s not that easy to get the skill.”
“Mochimochifuoーー”
“What is this fellow? What is this slime doing?”
“Mochimochiooーー”
“…Have you calmed down?”
“I’m sorry. I’m a little distracted.”
“That’s not a little, though. Let’s get going.”
I was stunned, but I loved the feeling; if I had been alone, I might not have been able to come back.
“Well, slimes are not that dangerous, and they clean the forest, so unless you have a good reason, you should not hunt them. I’ve also heard that some slimes are poisonous, big, or use magic.”
“I’d like to see them.”
There are so many slimes. It’s a mochi mochi paradise. I want to plunge into it.
“Oh, goblins are coming. You’d better brace yourself.”
“Yes, sir.”
While enduring the temptation of slime, we hunt goblins one after another. Aldo-san’s party was well coordinated, with swords, spears, and bows all functioning properly. I study the battles in the forest, observing Aldo-san and his party as much as possible.
“It’s getting dark; we should get back.”
“Yes.”
I was nervous, but one goblin was no problem. If I have the ship summoning, I can handle any number of them.
But I would like to have a slime, a taming skill. Can I get it if I can befriend animals and monsters? Let’s check in the reference room.
We return to the guild and receive the subjugation reward. I told them that it was more than enough for them to take me with them, but they gave me 50 copper coins, saying that it’s basically split up among everyone. I should thank Aldo-san and the others for all the trouble and for dragging them down.
“Now, let’s go back to the inn and eat dinner. Wataru will eat with us, right?”
“Yes. I will join you.”
After returning to the inn, we put our luggage in our rooms and gathered in the dining hall.
“Well then, here’s to another safe return today and to Wataru’s first goblin defeat!”
“””””Cheers.”””””
“Phew, this after-work drink is irresistible, isn’t it? Wataru, how was it today?”
“Yes, it was good. I was able to defeat the goblins, but I learned that it’s impossible to get unscathed if they come at you in a group. If I were to go on a trip, I would either train more or hire an escort.”
“Yes, even goblins can be troublesome when they are in large numbers. Well, we will take you with us once in a while, so you can try different things.”
“I’d appreciate it, but I wouldn’t want to cause you that much trouble.”
“Hahaha, don’t worry about that. We have been getting paid more since you told us about the horned rabbit. We decided to buy a higher grade of equipment than we had originally planned to buy. Still, it seems we could buy it a lot faster than we originally planned. Everyone appreciates it, so don’t worry so much about taking you to the forest.”
I knew that horned rabbits were efficient. Well, that’s because it’s a big city in the west. If it were a small village, there would be too much meat for me to hunt alone.
“Then, I’ll take your word for it.”
“Oh, take it easy, take it easy.”
I returned to my room after a pleasant meal and a drink. Even though I drank alcohol, did I overspend 30 copper coins? I’ve had enough to drink, so I’m going to skip today’s practice. I’ll just check my status and go to bed.
…My level has gone up by one. The experience gained from goblins seems to be better than from horned rabbits. Speaking of which, I wonder what is the level of Aldo-san and his party? I’ll ask them when I get a chance. Good night.
＊＊＊
It’s morning. Shall I hunt horned rabbits again today? No, let’s go to the reference room and check our taming skills first. I’ll find a way to tame a slime.
After eating breakfast, I took my lunch and headed for the guild’s reference room.
“Good morning. I’ve come to take a look at the documents.”
“Good morning. Try not to make a mess.”
Well, which book is it in? Tamer’s book is… not. I hope it’s in the skills encyclopedia over here…
…It doesn’t have any requirements for learning to be a tamer. It seems that people who have animals and stuff can learn it comparatively easily, but it doesn’t seem to be absolute, and you need a base to have animals.
At the moment, there is no animal I want to keep other than slime. But I don’t want to give up on slime. I’ll have to ask the tamer for more information or find a better book. In the meantime, I’ll ask the guild’s instructor if there are any tamers.
“Good morning. This request, please.”
“Yes, I have accepted it.”
It’s the beautiful fox-eared Onee-san; she’s as beautiful as ever. But I don’t even know her name yet. I’m kind of embarrassed to ask her now.
“Um, is there a guild instructor who can teach me about tame?”
“Tame, is it…? I apologize. We can’t introduce you to someone who can teach you the tame skill because the conditions for learning it have not yet been determined.”
The conditions for learning the skill have not been determined? I was a little shocked, although it was not listed in the skill dictionary, and it was to be expected. I guess I’ll just have to make it on my own. I’m not going to give up on the slime.
“Is that so? Thank you very much. Well, I’ll do my best for my work then.”
“Have a good day.”
For the first time ever, the beautiful fox-eared Onee-san said goodbye to me. I was so happy that it surprised me. I wonder if I should ask her name? It would not be very pleasant to talk to the next adventurer who went back to work… if things were not going well. Let’s work hard.
＊＊＊
After earning three silver coins from hunting horned rabbits and completing my training, I return to the inn to eat. But I can’t continue living like this forever, can I?
What should I do from now on? Yes, let’s have closure. One month from today, I will leave for the southern city. So let’s prepare for the trip and how to get to the southern city while hunting horned rabbits and training.
If I am going to travel, I will need food. Fortunately, I heard that if I load the food on the ship, the time will not pass during the repatriation, so I’ll tell the landlady to make two daily lunches and store one in the storage ship.
After that, if I stock up on some food stall skewers and fruit, I should be fine. As long as I prepare properly, I will not starve.
After setting the one-month limit, I went to the forest with Aldo-san and his party, hunting horned rabbits, training, and replenishing my food supply every day.
In the latter half of the month, I went to the forest alone a few times. If I used the ship summoning, I could handle any number of goblins, and I could gain skills in spears and bows by defeating goblins coming toward the boat with spears and bows. Real-world experience is important.
I stroked and hugged the slime for the taming skill. I tried to give the goblins I killed, but I still couldn’t get the tame skill…
I asked the beautiful fox-ear Onee-san from the guild how to get to the southern city. According to her, the common way is to head to the royal capital and follow the road south from the capital or take a boat down the river that passes by the royal capital.
The river seems to be an important route connecting the royal capital and the southern city, and many boats are said to come and go. I thought about summoning a boat to go down the river but decided against it because it would be too conspicuous to go down by boat alone.
However, there is also a river between the western city and the royal capital, and it is said that this river also flows to the southern city. This river has a difference in elevation, and its width is narrow in some places, and there have been plans to improve it, but they always end in failure.
This river is more discreet and will allow you to reach the southern city, so I plan to go down this river. I heard that it takes four days from the royal capital to the southern city by boat, but I think I can get there in 10 days even if I have to take a boat down the river, which is not well maintained.
What made me happy was that the beautiful fox-eared Onee-san thanked me for my help. Thanks to me, the number of adventurers who hunt horned rabbits increased, and the number of requests for horned rabbits began to increase.
Since the rabbit hunt was unexpectedly profitable, new adventurers were able to gain experience, and a virtuous cycle was created in which new adventurers, equipped with slightly better equipment, took on the goblins, and the number of wounded decreased.
I asked if there were any escort requests to the southern city, which I failed to do, and was told that I had to be at least an E-ranked party or D-ranked if solo to get an escort request.
I asked how many more requests I would need to receive to move up to D rank and was told that I would need to complete at least 30 goblin subjugation requests. I have only taken about five goblin-subjugation requests with Aldo-san and the others.
I asked if there was any way for me to go on the road alone, and they told me that I could accompany the merchants on the condition that I cooperate with them in case of an emergency, although I would not be paid for my services. I would also have to pay for my own meals. I would accompany the merchant team to the riverside town and go down the river from there. I had gained four levels and skills. I will be able to make it to the southern city.
Finally, tomorrow is the departure for the southern city. Aldo-san and the others are buying dinner for me tonight, so let’s go hunting for horned rabbits and have two whole roasted rabbits cooked for us.
Name: Wataru Toyomi
Age: 20
Race: Human
Occupation: Ship’s captain
Level 20
Physical Strength: 480
Magic Power: 46
Strength: 50
Intelligence: 60
Dexterity: 56
Luck: 15
Skills:
Language Comprehension (Unique)
Ship Summoning Level 1 (Unique)
Spearmanship level 1
Archery level 1
Balance: 3 gold coins, 63 silver coins, 85 copper coins