Thank You, Slime*1
“At present, there are two possible ways to use slimes.”
Alright.
With that, I proposed to Laperesiana-sama and the others an “efficient farming method using slimes.”
“One is the method where you plant the crops directly on top of the slime’s head.”
“That matches the condition of that slime over there right now.”
Laperesiana-sama glanced toward the back. Over there, a massive slime was wobbling around at a leisurely pace, its head sprouting radish leaves that swayed as it moved.
“As for this method, we’ve already seen that if the slime’s mana is low, the efficiency of growing crops drops dramatically. So this only works when mana supply is secured.”
“I see. And the other?”
“The second method is to simmer a slime slowly at a low temperature to make potions.”
“Si… simmer it?”
Laperesiana-sama was giving me a “what kind of method is that?” look, but honestly, I think this one might be the correct answer.
If you want to retain moisture in the soil, just use a potion that’s… well, moist. It’s a pretty straightforward idea.
“Specifically, you heat it a little hotter than body temperature, but not so much that it causes burns…”
“In other words, a bath.”
“Yes! A bath! If you soak a slime in a hot spring, its soft, springy mana seems to dissolve into the water…”
“… So that was the secret behind Panis Village’s hot spring.”
Yep. That’s pretty much it, Laperesiana-sama.
When you bathe with slimes, your skin becomes springy and silky. And the moisturizing finish is excellent.
If we applied this to farming… I think the soil’s moisture retention would improve. That should reduce the amount of potion needed for work… probably.
Actually, potions require mana-infused water to make, so that means you still need mana for this too…
“In the end, mana is necessary. I suspected as much…”
“Well… yeah.”
… Ultimately, unless we discover an efficient way to use mana, or an efficient way to collect mana, there’s no hope of triggering a fantasy-style industrial revolution. Judging from how everything in this world seems to have at least some mana, maybe researching collection methods should come first?
“… And as an alternative that doesn’t use slimes…”
Still, it would feel dishonest not to mention it, so I also offered a non-fantasy option.
“There’s something called hydroponics.”
“… Hydroponics?”
“Yes. A method of growing crops without soil, using only water. Back in my homeland, research on it had advanced a lot.”
As far as I know, there were already facilities like lettuce hydroponics farms—more like factories than fields. The crops were grown under red and blue LEDs, filling the room with a pink glow, and fed with nutrient-enriched water.
“But that method would require developing new fertilizers suited for it. And you’d also need constant bubbling… umm, a system that continually sends air bubbles into the water.”
I mean, I don’t know the specifics on what fertilizers hydroponics needs. I’ve just heard that if you don’t supply oxygen to the roots, they’ll rot, so it’s a hassle in its own way…
Still, I’ve heard it’s more efficient than soil cultivation. I’d like to try it someday…
“I’m interested in this hydroponics, but it sounds difficult.”
“Yes. That method would take a long time to research, I think.”
“I see… Then for now, I shall try the method of planting crops directly onto slimes.”
And so, apparently, research into slime-based agriculture began. I hope it goes well. Really hope so.
“As for mana supply, we’ll have to think on that later… but first, let’s try giving them water infused with potions and see if we can supplement it that way.”
“Ahh, that makes sense. Water with potions mixed in would naturally contain mana…”
As far as the biggest hurdle, mana supply, goes, we settled on trying to handle that via the potions themselves.
Then… the next issue is fertilizer.
Well, that’s something to work out later…
“… Now then, the problem is acquiring the slimes. As for increasing the number of docile slimes like the ones in Panis Village…”
“Leave that to me!”
And then, the biggest hurdle of all, “a stable and safe supply of slimes.”
“I have a tiny bit of an idea!”
… If my hypothesis is correct, this should work.
And so—
“Uwaaaah! Lisas-san! It went that way, it went that way, it went that way!”
“Damn it, catching them alive is tough!”
“Kyaaa! It fell from the ceiling! It fell from the ceiling, Lisas-saaaan!”
“Hang on! I’ll be right there! Keep it distracted! But take a little distance! It’s dangerous!”
… We were making an incredible ruckus.
Yep. The place: Lisas-san’s usual dungeon.
And what we were doing: capturing those violent slimes alive.
These slimes wriggle, they’re amorphous, and above all, they’re colored.
Uh… yellowish-brown? With some murkiness, slightly opaque.
They look like entirely different creatures from the Panis Village slimes.
… And since they attack us, capturing them is a real chore.
“It’s sticking out of the bag! Lisas-san! It’s sticking out! Sticking!”
“Hit it a little! It’ll calm down if you smack it!”
“Hit it!? Hit the slime!? Seriously!?”
… While Lisas-san gave us a look like “maybe I should’ve come alone,” I grabbed a nearby stick and lightly thumped the bagged violent slime.
Ah~ this feels like pounding octopus with a daikon radish… thump thump thump…
… And so, battered and exhausted, we left the dungeon carrying five bagged violent slimes.
“… I never want to do that again.”
“Same. Who knew bagging slimes and carrying them home would be this hard… Ah, hey, stop squirming! I said stop it!”
The real MVP this time was definitely Lisas-san.
If it were a normal extermination, it wouldn’t have been this hard, but he put in a ton of effort for the sake of capturing them alive…
“Well, well, let’s look forward to these slimes turning into docile, springy, jiggly ones! Right!?”
“Yeah… Ah, Mishisia-san. You should probably hit that bag a bit. The mouth looks like it’s coming open.”
“What!? Ah~ waaah, you’re right! You’re really too energetic! Honestly!”
… Right.
A journey isn’t over until you get home, and a slime capture operation isn’t over until you bring them back to base.
It still wasn’t over yet…
Carrying our troublesome cargo, “slimes that will try to escape unless occasionally thumped”, the five of us somehow made it back to Panis Village.
“Welcome back! …Oh? What’s that?”
“Ah—! Edele-san! Don’t come close! It’s dangerous! These ones are dangerous! Dangerous!”
“Hm? Oh my… the bags are wriggling.”
“Because there are slimes inside! Really aggressive ones! We’re heading straight to the back hot spring!”
Being given an “oh dear, oh my” look by Edele-san, we dashed toward the hot spring.
Not the public one everyone uses, but the private one I use.
No way I’m throwing violent slimes into a public bath…
“Alright! You guys! It’s bath time!”
And so we tossed the violent slimes, bag and all, into the hot spring with a splash.
The slimes violently thrashed inside their bags at the sudden immersion, but since they floated on the water, they weren’t scary.
Nice. This works great.
“Oh, they’re calming down a little?”
“Whether that means they’re calming down, exhausted, or feeling faint from the heat… we won’t know until we open the bag.”
Well, our goal isn’t to incapacitate the slimes, it’s to reform them.
Uh… what do you call that? Discipline? Training? Whatever, turning violent slimes into mild slimes.
I suspected that slimes become violent when they lack mana.
That would explain why our slimes are soft and mellow after soaking in mana-rich hot springs, and why violent slimes attack humans…
… So, we occasionally poked the bags, kneaded them a bit from the outside, and waited.
Then—
“Alright, I’ll open one. Ready?”
“Bring it on.”
We nervously opened one bag.
With me and Mishisia-san holding our breath, Lisas-san sliced the bag open and pulled out the slime…
“Oh! It’s getting rounder!”
“It is!”
… The slime that emerged was no longer an amorphous wriggling blob, but had started to take on a soft, springy, plump shape.
“Oooooh! This means the experiment was a success!?”
“That’s right, that’s right, Asuma-sama! Look! This one’s so docile! It’s not attacking even when my hand’s near it!”
It seemed the violent slime had indeed become calm.
It looked a little confused, maybe overwhelmed, but it didn’t attack!
Nice, nice! This is great news!
Whether my hypothesis was correct or the slimes just happened to enjoy baths, I didn’t know, but at least for now, they were much gentler!
… No, not yet. We couldn’t be sure until we checked the other four!
“Let’s open the rest.”
“Go ahead!”
Lisas-san opened the remaining bags, and the slimes inside oozed out… then wriggled back into the hot spring and began soaking.
“… There’s room to speculate whether they like baths or just like mana.”
“Why not both? Look, Asuma-sama, they seem happy.”
“Their shapes aren’t perfectly round yet… maybe still low on mana? We should keep watching…”
… Well, at any rate, we might have saved five poor slimes.
Maybe.
Probably.
We’ll need to investigate more…
“… They’re kind of cute.”
“Yeah…”
Well, whatever the case, watching five slimes stretch out and relax in the hot spring… it warmed our hearts just a little.
What do you think about this chapter?
