Slime Girl

- Shari -

I can't stop gawking.

A view that was denied to me as a child.

In hindsight, it definitely lives up to my expectations back then.

And we're talking here about the almost mystical expectations of a child, honed over the years.

The first glance is already overwhelming.

Those walls are certainly the best I've ever seen in my life.

Okay, if you count the fence around the Count's estate, my experience is limited to three different ones till now, but one of those was the wall around the capital, and while not necessarily higher or thicker, these just seem like they're better.

Almost white, incredibly even, and adorned in ornaments, they are their very own work of art, combined with a sense of distinctive practicality.

But apparently not finding this to be enough, on top of these, some machinery has been placed on a number of platforms and even towers.

Some I can vaguely recognize as catapults, a concept not totally foreign to me, albeit the design is nothing I’ve ever seen before.

But others just look like some form of giant crossbow.

Those must be ballistae.

I've only heard of those, but if they work as I think they do, then I definitely don't want to stand in their way if their respective bolts get shot, even with my nearly invulnerable body.

In total, I need to admit, I'm impressed.

Involuntarily, I'm asking myself how things would've developed if I had taken the road to the right, back then, when I started my journey.

Now, I'm definitely coming under different circumstances.

Which calls me back to awareness.

I'm not here for sightseeing, as impressive as this may look.

No, my parents were abducted to this place, and I'm going to find them.

First things first, the next part is crucial, so I can't allow for anything to go wrong.

I don't believe that Vela is going to be unprofessional here, which leaves one particular weak link in our group.

"Liqu, by now I trust that you know the drill. But more than ever before, we simply can't afford to be exposed here. Is that clear?" (Shari)

"Yes, absolutely! I can do this!" (Liqu)

She sounds quite eager and confident, but I still need to point out her flaws.

"Sigh. Then please, try not to sound so cheerful. And if possible, more like a human man. We supposedly lost a bunch of our comrades, and you're 'male' right now." (Shari)

"Oh, right. Ahem. Is that better?" (Liqu)

Wow.

It's truly astonishing how she can just change her voice to one that sounds realistic.

I had to practice a lot on the way until it sounded natural and remained consistent.

"I guess by now I have sufficiently commented on how concerning I find that." (Vela)

Yes, that's very good.

What about the other thing I asked you to prepare?" (Shari)

"It's done! But it cost me a little. So... could I?" (Liqu)

Right, no way around this.

I take a flask from my stash with a blue liquid lingering inside.

The thing is, my usual poison stashes were emptied out, and as they served no other purpose, I decided to fill them with something else.

My slime, as energetically concentrated as I could pull off.

After all, this stuff is, in its own way, clean, so I can later on swap it out with any other filling.

Yet at that time, I rather made use of the fact that I could fill them with anything useful.

I spent quite a lot on this last fight, and now need to claim any advantage I can to make up for it.

Regarding how I made up for it...

Yes, you got me, I dissolved some more bodies.

It's not like they could complain anymore.

However, while we were on our way to the city, I got a thought, something that I thought we should prepare before we enter, and subsequently asked Liqu if she could help me out with her prowess on that matter.

And yes, she could.

Yet in return, she wants the considerable amounts of slime back that she expended to be refunded.

And I had no other choice but to oblige.

Therefore, I hand Liqu now the potions.

And she, so as to not blow our cover, simply uncorks them and gulps down the content.

Okay, she's drinking me.

That's off-putting.

But I have neither time nor mental capacity to dwell on this.

"Bluargh" (Liqu)

And now she retching up her spent green slime.

She's truly working hard on distracting me.

Which I just can't afford at the moment.

Because now we're closing in on the town, where people are milling about their daily lives.

Actually, already the suburbs, outside the walls, are impressive.

The size and luxury of these stone buildings show are proof that the last monster attack on this place was long enough ago to allow them to build them up like this.

The style is interesting, as some of them seem to have a terrace instead of a roof on top of them.

I suppose this is the kind of rich people architecture Siras is known for.

Yet the path leads us quite a bit through these buildings, further North, until we finally reach a slight slope that leads to the main gates.

As Siras is the point furthest west of Rakis, and, if my studies got it right, has been developed as a last fortress against the great orc invasion I've heard about, there's only one great set of main gates serving as the entrance.

This makes processing what and who gets inside the town a lot tighter, but also defending the whole place a lot easier.

And of course, there's also quite a number of soldiers around here when we approach.

Just good that we don't wear any of Rakis' colors.

The drop symbol on our plates should be too unknown for anyone to care.

Which is why they probably think we're normal adventurers, headed to register at the gate.

If we approach the gate like regular folk, there's no reason to engage with us.

Especially, as we are here on their assignment.

At this thought, my lips smirk a bit.

Or, well, my slime that plasters the inside of the skull raises the sides a bit.

Did I mention that getting the facial expressions right took the longest of all our preparations?

"Halt, who goes there?" (gate guard)

And for the first time in my new life, I do something I wanted to do since it began.

I roll my eyes.

Hah.

So appropriate!

"We are the very adventurers you sent out. So may we get back in, please?" (Shari)

It might not be perfect, but even as limited as I am, I can somewhat reproduce the voice of the one I took over.

God knows, she talked more than enough to give me samples.

I just shouldn't meet anyone who knew her closer, or I might raise suspicion with the only half-matching voice.

For the guard at the gate, it should definitely work.

"Do you have your guild cards with you? We'd require them as a means of identification." (guard)

Identification?!

It doesn't seem like that man knows us.

Guess adventurers are all too common.

Fortunately, I managed to loot the cards from the bodies.

"Risa and Bowan. B-Rank adventurers of the group Harrowhounds. Where's your team? And who is this?" (guard)

He points at Vela.

The issue is, she obviously has no adventurer card, and whatever identifies her as an officer, I'd argue against showing it here.

But what are we to do in this situation?

Well, make a scene, I guess.

"Are you for real?! You guys sent us out, and now you're giving our comrade shit when we get back? Do you have any idea what we went through?! Get a grip!" (Shari)

I continue a long tirade, making this guy appear increasingly uncomfortable.

Yet exactly this sense of deflection might get us through here.

However, it seems my exclamation caused a bit of a ruckus.

I get a bit in an alert mode, but they don't seem outright hostile.

It seems like the guard I already prepared isn't the one who's going to handle us.

Instead, an officer comes marching towards us.

"The adventurers?" (officer)

"Ehm, yes? Were you expecting anyone else? We are expected, aren't we?" (Shari)

"Ehm, no, your arrival comes a bit unexpectedly. Is there a reason for your coming?" (officer)

"Well, the mission we were sent on. Was there anything else that could be relevant?" (Shari)

"I see. I fear I'm the wrong person to discuss that matter. If you'd follow me, please. I'll immediately send word about your arrival. Just remain here, for the time being." (officer)

Actually, I didn't plan on making this too big a thing.

I only wanted to enter.

But right now, I also see a chance.

Therefore, I follow the officer inside, with my comrades right behind me.

We might only be in a military checkpoint, but already from here, I can tell how ridiculously special this city is.

All the structures are so clean, their material is of such high quality, and barely a speck of dust on the very streets.

Those are even completely made of stone.

And not just paved, but placed so close and well-fitting together that they're almost perfectly smooth.

It's just so unfathomably extreme.

Yet, for now, we are brought over to a building adjacent to the checkpoint.

There we are told to wait, which we do.

After quite a while, a man with a neatly trimmed beard walks through the door.

I should probably be glad he wasn't accompanied by an army.

"I see you returned from your mission. Why don't we start right there?" (?)