The leader of the bandits, who had taken Hawane along for a hunt, was baffled by the scene before him.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“Pant! Pant! Pant!”
Boing! Boing!
Skol was sprawled out, panting heavily, and the slime was bouncing joyfully on top of Def’s head.
“Oh, boss, Hawane, you’re back? Hehe, did you catch a deer by any chance?”
To Def’s hopeful question about dinner, the man pointed behind him at Hawane, who was holding their catch.
“We caught a rabbit.”
“A rabbit…?”
As Def looked disappointed, Hawane gave a sinister grin.
“Hmph, at least we caught something. You can’t even catch a rabbit.”
“Still, a deer would’ve fed us more…”
“Tch, pig.”
“Stop whining, Def. Explain what happened.”
“Y-Yes, boss. Well…”
Def began to explain everything that had happened while the two were out hunting.
Hearing the story, the two looked at Skol in disbelief.
“Skol, did you lose to the slime?”
“Khuk! Pfft! He’s weaker than a slime, khuk!”
“Pant! Pant! I didn’t lose, boss! Hawane! How dare you laugh at me!”
“But you did lose.”
“I did not!”
The leader of the bandits turned to Def.
“Then why is it sitting on your head?”
“Uh… I-I don’t know. Hehe, maybe he just likes it up there.”
Boing!
“He sure isn’t coming off.”
‘To think it’s agile enough that even Skol couldn’t catch it…’
Skol lying there defeated might have looked pathetic, but the leader knew how skilled Skol actually was.
If it were a normal slime, Skol should’ve easily been able to catch it.
Speed was his specialty, even with a small frame.
This slime, unexpectedly agile and friendly enough to play on someone’s head…
‘This might actually sell for a lot.’
Creatures with unique traits that could be shown off usually fetched higher prices.
The bandits immediately started preparing a meal with the rabbit they had caught.
They cleaned the rabbit, carved some sticks into skewers, and roasted it over the fire.
‘Roast rabbit!’
The slime stared at the sizzling rabbit roast.
At the mansion, it had always eaten luxurious and nutrient-rich meals.
But that didn’t mean it disliked or refused simpler food like roasted rabbit.
Though it had developed taste preferences in addition to nutritional assessment, it was still a slime.
In the end, it could eat anything and enjoy it.
Once the rabbit was cooked, the bandits each grabbed a skewer and began gnawing on the meat.
Chomping quietly, they munched on the rabbit.
‘I want some too!’
The slime bounced eagerly around Def.
“Wh-What’s up? Do you want some of this?”
‘Yes!’
Boing!
“A-Ah, no can do. This one’s mine.”
When Def refused, the slime stopped bouncing and slightly lowered its body.
Its posture resembled that of someone hanging their head in disappointment.
“Uh… want this instead?”
Def pulled out a fruit from the pouch he had and placed it in front of the slime.
‘Fruit!’
Back when they passed through the Blue Elven Forest, the slime had eaten fallen fruits along with rabbits and deer, so it immediately jumped onto the fruit and absorbed it.
“Wow, so that’s how a slime eats.”
“Hey! You idiot! Why are you giving fruit to that damned slime?!”
Still not over the fact that he lost to the slime, Skol stood up and snapped at Def.
“But… we’re all eating rabbit and the s-slime was just sitting there hungry…”
“Hungry my ass! Slimes can eat the grass around here! And now we have to go find more fruit again!”
“Pffft, like you’re going to be the one picking them. You’re too short to even reach.”
“Shut up!”
“Quiet down, Skol. Just eat.”
“S-Sorry, boss.”
Skol, who had been complaining, immediately sat down at the boss’s command.
“Def, you can give the slime more fruit. But you’ll replenish them tomorrow.”
“Yes, boss. H-Hey, slime. Want another?”
Boing!
The slime received three fruits from Def.
▶ This human knows nothing. Where’s my steak?! LOL this ain’t the big human nest LOL
▶One rabbit per guy LOL I could eat better
The viewers, who had enjoyed seeing Skol’s ridiculous defeat, now laughed at the difference between the luxurious meals at the mansion and the rough food of the bandits.
***
Crackle crackle.
Only the campfire flickered, casting light into the dark night.
Since there were no monsters nearby besides wild animals, the bandits lit only the fire and all went to sleep.
Amid this, Def woke up and sat up.
‘I’m hungry.’
A single rabbit wasn’t enough for someone of his size, and he had woken up due to hunger.
Sitting up on the ground, Def accidentally made the slime, which had been sleeping on his belly, roll off.
‘?’
Rolling off suddenly woke the slime as well.
Boing!
“Oh, you’re up? Sorry.”
After apologizing to the slime, Def’s stomach growled loudly with hunger again.
“Ugh.”
Rubbing his plump belly, Def muttered quietly.
“I’m hungry… I want some meat.”
A tiny murmur.
But the slime heard it.
‘Hungry? Being hungry is bad!’
Knowing full well how tiring and painful hunger could be, the slime wanted to help Def, who had given it fruit.
Boing! Boing!
Seeing the slime suddenly bouncing around, Def tilted his head.
“Huh? Are you hungry too? Is it because you only ate fruit?”
While the fruit Def gave was enough to fill the slime, he had no way of knowing that.
Boing! Boing!
The slime hopped a little away from Def and then activated its sensing ability.
‘Found it!’
Detecting a nearby deer, the slime started heading in that direction.
“Huh? H-Hey, where are you going?”
‘This way! Over here!’
The slime stopped for a moment and jumped in place while keeping some distance from Def.
“You want me to follow you?”
‘Yes!’
Boing!
Though they couldn’t speak to each other, Def felt like the slime was calling for him.
“W-Wait a second.”
Def stood up and rummaged through his pack.
“I’m sure it was in here... Ah, found it.”
Rustle.
What Def pulled out from his pack was a mana stone lantern.
It was a magic tool that would absorb mana and emit light when a mana stone was inserted into the base.
He placed one of the remaining mana stones into it and gave it a gentle shake, causing a soft glow to emit from the lantern.
Def held the lantern and approached the slime.
‘A lantern!’
Seeing a familiar item, the slime was pleased.
It had seen the servants at the mansion carrying them around during late-night patrols.
As Def got closer, the slime slowly moved in the direction where it had detected the deer.
“L-Let’s go together.”
Def followed the slime with the mana lantern in hand.
‘Where are we going?’
Though he was vaguely following the slime, he couldn’t help but wonder about the destination.
‘Maybe it wants more fruit? There were three more in the bag...’
Remembering how the slime had eaten fruit, Def thought it might be leading him to pick more.
‘If we're getting fruit, we might as well grab a bunch.’
Hungry himself, Def figured it would be good to fill up on fruit and restock for later.
He could have questioned how the slime knew where the fruit was, but he didn’t overthink it.
While he was pondering this—
Boing! Boing! Boing!
The slime suddenly sped up.
“Wh-What’s going on? S-Slow down!”
Def rushed after the slime, which had quickened its pace.
And at the end of the trail—
There were two wolves gnawing on a deer’s neck and legs.
‘W-Wolves! What do I do?!’
Seeing them, Def hastily drew the sword from his waist.
Boing!
Meanwhile, the slime leapt joyfully at the sight of the wolves.
‘Meat! More meat!’
The reason the slime had suddenly sped up was simple.
While tracking the deer it had detected, it saw that two creatures had suddenly appeared and attacked it.
Once it reached them and saw their identities, it was delighted to find two wolves it could consider food.
Boing! Boing!
The slime headed straight toward the wolves.
“A-Ah! That’s dangerous! Slime!”
Def shouted in panic as he saw the slime approaching the wolves.
-Grrrr!
The wolves, just about to eat the deer they had hunted, snarled and bared their teeth at the suddenly appearing slime.
They were about to eat, and some puny-looking slime had showed up out of nowhere.
From the wolves’ perspective, it was understandably annoying.
And then—
Boing-swoosh!
The slime pounced on one of the snarling wolves with a bounce-tackle.
WHAM!
A strike strong enough to bring down a deer landed squarely on the wolf’s jaw.
With a sound of bone cracking, the wolf flipped over.
It collapsed with a single blow, not even able to twitch in response.
“Wha?!”
Not only Def, but even the other wolf—closest to the attack—stared wide-eyed at the slime.
Sensing danger to its life, the remaining wolf turned to flee—
Boing-swoosh!
WHAM!
But the slime was faster, launching another bounce-tackle just as it landed, smashing into the wolf’s jaw.
The second wolf also fell with a broken jaw.
It hadn’t even taken ten seconds to take down both wolves.
A surreal moment in an impossibly short span.
Def blinked, wondering if what he had seen was real.
But the scene in front of him remained unchanged.
Boing! Boing!
‘Meat! Got it!’
The slime hopped back toward Def.
An ordinary person might have been scared or suspicious after seeing a slime take down two wolves so easily.
But—
“A-Amazing.”
Def, gentle despite his size, simply expressed pure admiration instead of fear.
‘Incredible!’
Pleased by the praise, the slime bounced back and forth between the fallen wolves and the deer.
‘Meat!’
That alone was enough for Def to understand what the slime was trying to tell him.
Grrrgle…
“Ah!”
Never mind how the slime had defeated the wolves—right now, there were three animals in front of them, ready to be cleaned and eaten.
One deer and two wolves.
Def’s growling stomach told him exactly what he needed to do next.
“Meat.”
‘Meat!’
Dragging the deer and wolves, Def returned to the hideout.
“Hehe… Meat. Thanks, slime.”
Boing! Boing!
Grinning wide at the thought of roasted meat, Def expressed his gratitude to the slime.
And once they reached the hideout, Def placed the deer and wolves nearby and shook the boss awake.
“Boss, wake up.”
“Ugh… What is it.”
“L-Look at this.”
“What are you showing me… Huh?”
Rubbing his eyes, the boss’s gaze landed on the two dead wolves and the deer.
“Don’t tell me… you caught those?”
The boss looked at Def in surprise.
Though he was strong for his size, Def was not known for being swift—it was hard to believe he had managed such a hunt.
Def simply smiled innocently and shook his head.
“No, not me…”
‘Must’ve gone with Hawane or Skol. Makes sense then.’
“The slime caught them!”
“What?”