Mitsuki continued through the forest, punching every slime he encountered to death. The damp ground cracked beneath his footsteps, and small fragments of rock flew through the air every time one of his blows destroyed a Stone Slime.
His new friend helped too, but it was noticeably weaker than the other slimes since, despite having better magical abilities like Stone Edge and Tentacle Fists, a feint and a tackle were enough to knock it onto the ground.
Whenever that happened, the slime would roll across the grass like a ball of gray jelly before awkwardly getting back up again.
With some effort and a good amount of fun involved, they managed to defeat and clear out the entire area of enemy slimes. Mitsuki was now collecting the few mana crystals left behind.
"For a moment, I thought your power level was average for slimes. Turns out I was wrong; you’re way too weak."
The slime trembled sadly.
"But don’t worry. Everyone starts somewhere. I got destroyed in one hit the first time I went to Nemoria, so you’ll see that with time you’ll level up too. Someday you’ll become a Slime King."
The slime trembled enthusiastically.
Mitsuki smiled. This slime was really curious and funny. It wasn’t aggressive either. In fact, it had become pretty friendly after getting its ass kicked. It would definitely make a great friend.
The creature even started bouncing around Mitsuki as if proud to be receiving praise.
"This is the first time I’ve ever seen an adventurer become friends with a slime," a female voice suddenly said.
A chill ran down Mitsuki’s spine. Out of pure instinct, he pulled out his shotgun and aimed outward, slowly turning in place to properly target whoever had spoken.
The tree leaves swayed gently in the wind. The forest had been so quiet that the voice had appeared like a ghost.
"What? Who are you? Are you here to hunt slimes too?"
"You’re exactly how they described you," the voice said without answering his questions.
Mitsuki frowned. The Stone Slime looked frightened, hiding behind him while its body trembled. Its button-like eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for whoever was responsible.
When he turned around to aim in another direction, he found someone standing there.
She was a very tall woman with a toned body. Her hair was yellow and red like blazing fire, styled so that it truly resembled flames. Her eyes were green like emeralds, and she wore barbarian armor with animal pelts strapped around her body like belts alongside black leggings and boots lined with soft fur.
The presence of that woman was overwhelming. Even while standing still, she gave off the feeling of a resting beast.
Mitsuki almost pulled the trigger out of fright, but he remained cautious.
The woman, however, approached him and placed her hand on the barrel of the shotgun. Then she looked at him closely, analyzing him.
"You really do have a very feminine face. If it weren’t for your scent, I’d mistake you for a girl."
"You have no idea how many times that’s happened to me," Mitsuki replied without backing down. "Are you the Guild Master who’s come to break my legs?"
The woman burst into loud laughter at those words. Her laughter echoed through the trees and scared away several nearby birds.
With overwhelming strength, she slapped Mitsuki on the back, knocking the air out of his lungs in a second. Then she wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"So you already know, huh. I would’ve preferred it to be a surprise, but my daughter probably warned you. Anyway, I’m Leona, the Guild Master of the Serpent of Amaria. I came to personally bring you to your rank promotion evaluation."
Mitsuki sighed.
"I was already expecting this, but I didn’t think it’d happen so fast."
He crouched down and picked up the slime in his arms.
The slime’s body was cold and hard on the outside, though it still retained some gelatinous elasticity.
"If you have any proof that you’re the Guild Master, now would be a good time to show it. Trusting strangers wandering around the forest isn’t a good idea; it was advice my father used to give me all the time."
"Oh, well. I do have a plaque the king gave me, but I don’t have it with me right now. But you’ll know it’s me once we enter the city and everyone starts running away."
’Wouldn’t that just prove you’re a terrorist?’ Mitsuki thought while looking into the slime’s eyes.
The stone creature shook its body as if it understood they were in trouble. Neither of them even realized they were already walking at Leona’s pace, with her practically dragging Mitsuki along.
The difference in size between them was honestly ridiculous. Mitsuki was basically being carried forward by the woman’s strength.
"Then let’s not waste time. I heard some very good things about you, like how you defeated an SSS-rank specter alongside the Lord of Green and his companions. That’s a tremendous achievement that deserves recognition from the guild."
"It wasn’t really SSS-rank. It was just an S-rank boosted by the Curse of Ash. Besides, I didn’t do much; Monar was the one who stopped all of us from dying. He sacrificed his eyes and one of his hands to maximize our abilities. He’s the one who deserves the credit."
As he spoke, Mitsuki briefly remembered the condition Monar had ended up in. The image caused his expression to tighten slightly.
"Oh, sweetheart, don’t be so humble. Besides, the Lord of Green is a great friend of mine, and I know he’s as strong as anyone in the SS-rank, but he wouldn’t lie when it comes to judging others."
"Yeah, sure. But one thing doesn’t cancel out the other."
Leona shook her head and grabbed Mitsuki’s shoulder with her powerful hand.
"Well, you all had bad luck exploring the wrong place, and that led you straight toward certain death. What a surprise that you survived the impossible, but that’s what being an adventurer is all about... I’d love to hear all about the adventures you had there, but let’s get to the important part before lunchtime."
"Sounds good, I guess."
’I’m not sure this is a good idea... Though I can always run away with Ash Propulsion. I don’t think she can catch me once I become intangible.’
It was a pretty broken ability, honestly.
As they walked, the forest gradually began to clear. Sunlight pierced through the branches and reflected off Leona’s armor and flame-like hair.
***
They arrived at the city surprisingly quickly.
Still, it was obvious this woman was Lionel’s sister. The flame-like hair gave it away, though so did her large...
Mitsuki shook his head. Being this close to the woman was giving him the wrong ideas.
The slime looked at him as if judging him.
"I should give you a name..."
"Hm? A name for the slime?" Leona asked after noticing Mitsuki muttering to himself.
"I just can’t think of what to call him. I can’t just call him Slime. That’d be like someone calling me Human. Though Ellegaard actually did that..."
"Hm... Why not call him Rocky? It fits him."
"Rocky... Do you like that name?" he asked the slime.
The creature remained silent as if offended by such an unoriginal name. It was practically saying, "You’re calling me Rocky because I’m made of rock? How hilarious, you idiot human!"
"You don’t like it, huh..."
"I’ve got no other ideas. My brain can’t do any better," Leona added.
That made Mitsuki think more deeply.
’I could use a Japanese word. I doubt a slime from another world would understand it anyway.’
With that in mind, the name appeared.
"What about Ishimaru? Do you like that name?"
The slime became startled. It seemed to like the name because it trembled like jelly.
"Looks like it does," Leona said.
Mitsuki almost laughed.
’No way... Ishi means stone in my country...’
The creature had rejected a name that meant the exact same thing as the one it had just accepted. That was... strange, but since it seemed to like the name, Mitsuki decided that from now on, this slime would be called Ishimaru.
Ishimaru even started bouncing around Mitsuki with more energy than before, clearly satisfied with his new name.
"It’s surprising seeing adventurers from all over the world keeping impossible creatures as pets. I remember that girl Red Hood, who has a damn Shadow Wolf imported directly from Derwick. Though a slime is a little less dangerous."
"Are you talking about Rose? She’s in the city. At least, if she hasn’t left already."
"That prodigy girl is here? Amazing. I’ll stop by to greet her later."
Many people looked at Leona with a bit of fear, but no one ran away. In fact, some people looked at her with admiration.
Several adventurers even stepped aside the moment they saw her approaching.
Mitsuki noticed this and realized she truly was the Guild Master.
His future rank promotion was right around the corner, his soul was healing, his emotions were returning, and there was money in his pockets. Since arriving in this world, Mitsuki had never been doing this well.
Even the atmosphere of the city felt different now. Brighter. Calmer.
What he didn’t expect... was how horrible his rank promotion would be.