Slime Goodwill Ambassador*6
And so, in my hand was the Dungeon Master’s Bracelet.
It was there. It really was. Very much there. The engraved text was unmistakable.
But, there was the line, “The dungeon is waiting for its master.”
If that line was there... then that meant the dungeon’s master was dead... yeah.
“Eeeeh... what are you gonna do with that...? I mean, from an accident-prevention standpoint, bringing it back was admirable, I guess...”
The slime had squelched proudly as it brought these things back, but no matter how you looked at it, this was bad. Especially if the elves saw it.
Because if the elves learned that a Dungeon Master’s Bracelet existed, that knowledge would naturally lead to “You can control a dungeon.”
And worse, if they found out that “There’s a rift deep inside the dungeon that connects to my world, and information and mana pour in from there!”—then, depending on how things went, it could even affect my world! That absolutely had to be avoided!
“Asuma-sama! The slime came back!?”
“Ah~ y-yeah, it did, but wait, wait, just a second, Mishisia-san, aaaah, wait, wait, wait, aaaaah!”
But! Mishisia-san was approaching with nothing but good intentions! And the slime-loving big sister had also come over after seeing the slime return! And behind her, more elves… aaaaaaah!
In that single second.
All I could do was, squelch!, jam the Dungeon Master’s Bracelet into the Giant-Ass Slime’s head! Hide it, hide it, hide it!
“... Umm, Asuma-sama, that bracelet is…”
Look, Mishisia-san noticed immediately. Lisas-san also seemed to grasp the situation, with a “This is...!” expression. Laperesiana-sama was watching with apparent interest. And the elves, still hadn’t noticed!
“Ah~ looks like it found something. But it seems to have taken a liking to it, so please don’t take it away from the slime.”
“I-I see! Then it’d be cruel to take it away! Let’s not take it!”
Mishisia-san’s terrible acting really stood out, but since we were flustering about, the elves apparently interpreted it very favorably: So taking that away from the slime would cause trouble... They gently stepped back! Thank you! Thank you so much!
“... I would like to confirm what the slime brought back, at least.”
“A-ah... sorry, once the slime gets bored of it, we’ll return it, so please forgive us for now.”
The elf leader reached out with a “Confirm...”, but I shielded the slime with my back and swiftly blocked that hand.
“Ah, but it seems willing to hand this over. There, thank you, thank you. Okay, you go play inside that vehicle over there for now. Good work. Oh, Mishisia-san, could you put it in the car for me?”
“G-got it! Come on, this way…”
… I retrieved the necklace with the Grand Cathedral emblem from the slime, and quickly put both the Dungeon Master’s Bracelet and the slime itself into the vehicle to keep them hidden from the elves. Thanks, Mishisia-san. Much obliged.
“And this is it. Here.”
As far as drawing the elves’ attention went, this necklace alone was enough. This one item carried a ton of information.
“This is...!”
Seeing the emblem, the elves realized it immediately. Right. This was the Grand Cathedral’s emblem.
In other words, proof that those former Grand Cathedral people, the ones who’d annoyed everyone by coming to the elves with things like “Would you like a blessing?” and “We heard rumors that Panis Village has a World Tree”—had been inside this dungeon.
“So this was found inside the dungeon... then those humans were doing something inside it...”
“What were they doing, I wonder... I doubt they were controlling dragons, though...”
The elves immediately started analyzing the situation. Think hard, guys. I don’t know if you’ll reach the conclusion that they were controlling the dungeon, but it should buy us time!
More importantly... since there were no clues about how to control a dungeon, they should stop there. Good. Please. Please stop there.
“... However, the likelihood that those humans were doing something has increased. In that case, I’d like to examine the inside of the dungeon, but...”
“Ah, you really shouldn’t go in until ventilation is done. Also, we don’t know how much gas might still be left unreacted, so, well, if you could leave it alone for a full three days or so...”
“... Inconvenient.”
“No, it’s convenient, what are you talking about... without this, people might’ve died trying to clear the dungeon...”
The elves clearly wanted to investigate the dungeon, but they’d have to wait! That was the whole reason we used hydrogen cyanide in the first place!
My strategy knows no defeat!
Right.
So, inside the vehicle.
“... This bracelet was inside the dungeon, right?”
“Yeah. I told it, ‘If there are any personal effects, bring them back,’ and it brought this.”
“Wow... personal effects...”
Mishisia-san, Lisas-san, and Laperesiana-sama were all in a meeting with me. But there was nothing we could do. Or rather, there was truly nothing we could do!
“Ah... so one of the former Grand Cathedral priests became the dungeon master, then?”
“That’s probably the case. And, well, he’s definitely dead.”
“The bracelet’s right here, after all...”
I clasped my hands together reflexively. I had no good memories of the former Grand Cathedral people, but thinking that he died either from hydrogen cyanide itself or from it igniting... yeah, at least a prayer felt appropriate. I basically killed him, after all... Ugh. Guess that makes me a murderer now...
“So that means, if someone wears this bracelet, they become the dungeon master, right?”
But there was something more important to deal with before wallowing in guilt.
Yeah. What do we do with this bracelet!?
Even now, it was floating lazily inside the Giant-Ass Slime, but this thing was on the level of causing a massive disaster. If you misused a dungeon, you could probably do something on the scale of nuclear war. If you wanted to, you could do almost anything. Seriously.
“This is undoubtedly a Dungeon Master’s Bracelet... yeah. It looks the same as the one Asuma-sama has.”
Right. It also looked exactly like the one attached to Uparupa’s foreleg. In short, a Dungeon Master’s Bracelet. Okay.
“It’s a strange thing. It doesn’t look like it holds any particular power... Hmm, is something written on it? I can’t read it.”
“Huh… oh, you can’t read this?”
Apparently, Laperesiana-sama couldn’t read the text engraved on the Dungeon Master’s Bracelet.
“Umm, Lisas-san, Mishisia-san, can you read this?”
“Nope! Can’t read it! What language is that?”
“I’m afraid I can’t read it either...”
I-I see... What language is this? And who can read it? Ugh...
“Alright then, it says this on the bracelet...”
So I read out the text engraved on the bracelet inside the Giant-Ass Slime.
“‘A dungeon is a mechanism that devours all matter and converts it into mana. A dungeon is a mechanism that uses mana to create all things. A dungeon acts in search of new mana. A dungeon does not perish, even as it sleeps...’ Huh?”
… As I read on, I stopped.
“W-what is it, Asuma-sama?”
“... It’s gone.”
And that was the terrifying part.
“‘The dungeon is waiting for its master’—it’s gone...”
“Huh?”
… On the bracelet inside the slime, the words “The dungeon is waiting for its master” were gone.
“It was there just a moment ago! It was! What, what does this mean!?”
“E-eh!? Asuma-sama!? Something happened!?”
“Something big happened!”
Isn’t this bad!? Does that mean the dungeon has a master right now!?
When I checked earlier, the line was definitely there. Could something inside the dungeon have revived since then...
… No, wait?
“... Hey, Slime-kun. You didn’t, by any chance, become the dungeon master, did you?”
When I asked cautiously, the Giant-Ass Slime squelched and trembled, jiggling the bracelet inside its body.
… Answer me!
But the Giant-Ass Slime’s answer came in a different form.
“W-what is this!? What’s happening!?”
A rumbling, earthshaking sound echoed, and we heard the elves’ panicked voices, so we hurriedly jumped out of the vehicle.
… And then.
“There’s a hot spring.”
There it was, a hot spring, bubbling gently and sending up steam.
My brain nearly short-circuited. What is this miracle slime?
And the dungeon’s changes didn’t stop there.
The hot spring continued to steam, plants and flowers grew pleasantly around it, trees sprouted and grew from the once-burned land...
And then!
Squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch...
… About ten slimes crawled out from the dungeon entrance!
“Slimes! Slimeslimeslimeslimeslimes!”
“Whoa~ hey, that big sister is seriously terrifying!”
Naturally, the slime-loving big sister lunged for them. Scary, scary, scary. Her eyes were gone. That’s terrifying.
“E-eh, um, Asuma-sama!? Is that maybe, did this kid do all that!?”
“That’s very likely! But hey, Giant-Ass Slime… no, Master Slime-kun! Stop it for now! If you don’t, you might get subjugated!”
I had no idea how much Master Slime-kun could understand, or how much he’d follow instructions, but this was bad. This was really bad!
If we didn’t do something here... I, the world, and even Master Slime-kun himself were all in danger! I’m begging you! Please!
~Read Chapter 108-135 in advance on Patreon~
What do you think about this chapter?
