We had searched quite a lot, but there wasnât a single Maneater Bass in sight.
I had heard that they could be difficult to kill, but I hadnât heard anything about them being difficult to find.
âŚAnd yet the slimes having their detection ability dulled just a little bit was enough to keep them hidden.
As I wondered about this, a certain possibility came to me.
âWhat if the Maneater Bass are at the bottom of the river?â
âThe bottom?â
âYeah. Isnât there a part of this river that is very deep? A place that is deeper than 10 meters. Perhaps thatâs why you canât detect them?â
Upon hearing this, the slime said something very surprising.
âThen, should I swim?â
ââŚSlimes can swim?â
âUhâŚcan anyone swim?â
One of the slimes askedâthere was no answer.
Apparently, none of the slimes that were with me could actually swim.
âYes, we canât swim!â
âRight. Then Iâll think of a different way.â
I said. Then I used Shared Senses to borrow the slimesâ detection ability to search the area for other monstersâthen I found a rat-type monster nearby.
âItâs the perfect size. Letâs use that.â
I said as I began to chant.
âMagic TransferâArea Freeze - Medium.â
The rat monster was taken by surprise, and it froze in an instant.
Flash freezing. Perfectly fresh.
âCan you bring that monster over here?â
âOkay!â
After a few minutes, the slime returned to me.
And then it took the frozen rat out of storage.
âHere!â
âAh, thanks.â
âWhat are you going to use it for?â
The slime asked me doubtfully as it handed over the rat.
Monster rats were not good for food or for anything, really. Most people ignore them.
However, I had a use for it.
âLike this.â
I said as I defrosted the monster ratâand then I cut it lightly to draw blood before tossing it into the river.
The slime seemed to understand then.
âBait?â
ââŚIâm surprised you knew about that.â
You didnât use bait without a trap or a fishing pole.
So I hadnât thought that the slime would know.
âYes! Scary monsters use delicious leaves as bait! And then they eat slimes!â
âMy mom told me not to go close to strange leaves!â
I see. So there were monsters that trapped slimes.
They got evaporated by Lesser Fire Dragons and trapped by othersâlife as a slime could be hard, it seemed.
As I mused over thatâa giant dark shadow appeared in the water.
It was the same shape as the Maneater Bass I had seen at the guild.
âA monster!â
âIt took the bait!â
It seemed to be going well.
I should have done this in the first place.
I wouldnât even have to transfer magic at this distance.
Still, magic involving bullets seemed like they wouldnât reach itâŚ
âArea Freeze-Medium.â
I chanted. And then a giants sphere of ice grew in the area that the shadow had been.
The river water within the area of effect had all turned into ice.
So now I knew that the area of effect for Area Freeze was a nice sphere.
And with that thought, I pulled out the sphere of ice from the water.
âAll right, mission accomplished.â
That being said, I couldnât bring the entire block of ice with me.
I had to break it somehowâŚ
It was while I was thinking this, that cracks started to appear on the block of ice.
âHuh?â
Perhaps it would just break naturally.
I thought hopefullyâand then the cracks began to spread.
Then there was a loud cracking sound, and then the block of ice cracked in half completelyâand the Maneater Bass jumped out.
âItâs alive!â
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