âYuji. I would like for you to monitor the monsters.â
âMonitor?â
âAye. You are a rare B-rank Scout. And while you are still a newcomer, you should still be much more capable than the average Adventurer when it comes to watching the movements of monsters.â
Monitoring monsters.
Well, it did seem like it would be easy enough if I just randomly sent some slimes out to watch their movements.
ButâŠ
âThatâs all you want me to do?â
That was just one of many things that my slimes were capable of doing.
If that was all I had to do, I would probably get bored.
âAll? You do realize that it wonât be like watching your tent during the test? In fact, you will be monitoring groups of monsters whose movements are unpredictable.â
âBut Iâll just be monitoring a group while hiding and waiting for one of them to move, right? So that just means I need to scatter my slimes around and itâs finished?â
So saying, I made my slimes separate from each other.
I had about eighty of them when I first came to this town, but thanks to the Dryadâs forest, I now had one hundred.
âWhatâŠhow do you have so many?â
âUhâŠtheyâre just about one hundred.â
âYou really tamed all of them?â
âYeah.â
Though, I kind of hoped that news of this wouldnât spread too much⊠But this was an emergency.
It would be the worst if hiding my powers resulted in more casualties.
âWe-well, you are right about the numbers⊠However, that wonât mean much if they canât contact you!â
âBut I can contact my tamed monsters from far away?â
The manager heard this and tilted his head doubtfully.
âWell, there are some Tamers who can talk to monsters, yes, but I am sure it is quite impossible to talk to them over a long distanceâŠâ
Really?
âŠNow I was getting worried.
I would test it then.
âTeam Dryad. Can you hear me?â
âWhat is it?â
âUh, nothing. I just wanted to test to see if I could really talk to you.â
âOkay!â
I tried talking to the slimes that I had left with the Dryad, and they replied very quickly.
So it did work after all.
âIt seems like I really can talk to them from far away.â
ââŠBut, I donât even think B-rank Scouts should be able to⊠In any case, you are saying that with this, you can monitor a wide area by yourself?â
âYeah. Andâwait a second.â
As we were talking, a slime suddenly contacted me.
âYuji. Do you know about the magic stone?â
âMagic stone?â
âYes. Like the one you destroyed. There was another one in a different place.â
âThe Dryad said so!â
âShe said she is fine because itâs out of her domain. But itâs dangerous!â
âŠSo there were other ones.
In that case, perhapsâŠ
âDo you think that has anything to do with the monster outbreak?â
âHmm. I donât know!â
âThe Dryad said that monsters might come out!â
âŠI see. So there was a possibility.
I would have to tell the Manager about all of this.
But maybe not about the Dryad. I would feel bad for her if people targeted her to get more of the flowers.
âI was just talking to a slime that is stationed far away. I think I might know the reason for this outbreak.â
âThe reason?â
âYeah. When I went to pick these flowers, there was this cursed magic stone nearby. And when I destroyed itâŠmonsters started coming out. According to monsters that were close by at that time, the stone was put there by humans.â
âA cursed magic stone!? âŠAre you sure!?â
âŠHis reaction was stronger than I was expecting.
Perhaps he knew something about it.
âDo you know where it might have come from?â
âNo, I donât⊠But Yuji, as lacking in common knowledge as you are, surely you have heard the story of the Kingdom of Eigia?â
âKingdom of Eigia?â
No, hadnât heard of it at all.
ââŠYou really donât know?â
âYeah.â
Was it really that famous?
Well, it wasnât as if I was raised in this world. So of course, I wouldnât know.
âLong ago, the Kingdom of Eigia was destroyed by a cursed magic stone. Though, we donât know if the magic stone was the real reason⊠But what is true, is that a magic stone had suddenly appeared and that the great kingdom declined and fell in only three years.â
I see. Well, that was a story.
However, the magic stone I had seen didnât seem like it could destroy a great kingdom in three years.
It was probably a different one⊠Well, I should at least ask about its distinct features.
ââŠBy the way, this magic stone that destroyed a kingdom. What did it look like?â
âWe only have a little information that reached the guild before the kingdom fell. âŠBut it was black in color and did not shine. It destroyed anything it touched, so that it could not be moved or broken. Humans would die. AlsoâŠall vegetation would wilt as well. But we donât know how that led to the fall of the kingdom.â
âŠDamn it.
It was practically a perfect match.
Liked it? Take a second to support Novels on Patreon!