Thank You, Slime*3
“Laperesiana-samaaa! The slimes are readyyy!”
“Oh! So these are the slimes you spoke of! Come, let me have a good look!”
And so, we presented the candy-colored slimes to Laperesiana-sama.
All the candy-colored slimes cheerfully greeted her with a unified “ploon!” … Well, whether that actually counts as a greeting, I have no idea.
“Hoh…? They seem to differ somewhat from the colorless slimes.”
“Ah~ apparently they can’t help developing a sort of individuality. These guys were originally dungeon slimes, so maybe that’s why.”
These slimes had originally lived in another dungeon. After soaking them in hot springs, giving them oil massages, and teaching them that “slimes are supposed to grow crops on their heads,” they had somehow turned into “slimes more motivated than the ones in Panis Village.”
Why though.
“Hoh… so they have a rather earnest disposition.”
“Well, probably.”
It’s not like one can really know a slime’s disposition. But something about them leaks through, and in the case of these candy-colored slimes, that “something” is basically “kind of energetic and motivated.” Also a bit earnest.
“Maybe they think they won’t receive mana unless they work hard!”
To these candy-colored slimes, it might feel like:
“If we don’t show motivation, we’ll be thrown out! We’ll be forced back into the dungeon, waiting for humans and desperately trying to kill them again!”
That sort of crisis. Maybe that’s why they’re so motivated.
… Thinking about it that way makes me feel a bit sorry for them. I’d like to tell them, “You don’t have to work that hard. As long as you grow crops…”
But I will still plant crops on them. Absolutely non-negotiable.
“But these slimes can’t grow crops properly in the royal capital, correct?”
“Yes. I think the issue is mana. In Panis Village, slimes soak in mana-rich hot springs every day, and they bathe in mana-rich water and fertilizer every day, so…”
“Hmmm, when I think about it carefully… that’s quite luxurious. No, truly enviable. I almost wish I could become a Panis Village slime myself.”
… If Laperesiana-sama turned into a slime, the whole country would probably scream, so I’d like her not to.
But if someone asked me whether I’d want to become a slime, I mean, yeah, I kinda would. Isn’t that true for most people? Doesn’t everyone sorta want to try being a slime…?
“Which means, as long as we supply them with mana, I thought we could make it work.”
“Hoh.”
“And the result of that is—this!”
When I called out, Lisas-san heaved the “thing” out of the wagon with a heave-ho.
Because we loaded this thing, the wagon was cramped to bursting again… but even so, we had to bring it! This thing!
“What is this?”
“A bathtub. I think we can make bigger ones later, but for now, I created one small enough to transport by wagon.”
What Lisas-san took out was simply a bath. It had a drain hole, a stopper made of that slime-rubber-like stuff we also use on carriage wheels, and a structure for heating water with fire. That sort of thing.
… Basically, a bath.
“The bathtub itself isn’t special. I think we can mass-produce it.”
“Indeed. Its construction seems simple.”
“And… before putting the slimes in the bath, we do some prep work.”
“Prep work…?”
Yes. Prep work. I was about to prep the slimes themselves!
So first we heated the bath, then placed the slimes directly into it with a gentle plop. Swaying the crops growing on their heads, the slimes began enjoying their bath.
… And then—
“At this stage, we’re basically simmering the slimes in a hot bath. If left alone, the slimes themselves heat up nicely. Meaning… rather than boiling slimes in water to make a potion,
we boil something in the slimes, turning the slimes themselves into potions!”
“What?”
Laperesiana-sama’s confusion was only natural. This conceptual flip isn’t something to grasp instantly.
… Yes. In other words: We turn the slime into the solvent!
“If we create a potion for servitude using the slimes themselves, we can apply the blessing effect directly to the crops. And for the mana shortage… we can replenish it like this.”
I took a gemstone out of my pocket and handed it to a slime. The slime happily stretched its body toward the gem and slurp, absorbed it into itself.
… Yes. Slimes love gems. Back in Panis Village, I once saw a slime storing a dungeon gem inside its body. That must’ve been it trying to eat the mana inside the gemstone.
Thinking about it now… I feel kinda bad for taking that gem away from it back then.
“With the slimes simmering like this, we’re not extracting mana with water, the slimes extract the mana from the gemstone themselves, creating potion-like material!”
“And a living, intelligent slime would then use that mana on its own… I see. So that is how it works.”
“Yes!”
… The quickest way to supply mana will still be using dungeons.
But this does not have to be limited to the Panis Village dungeon. This is a solution that works for the entire nation.
Dungeons produce mana-rich gemstones… and they also produce monster materials.
Until now, people mostly cared about fangs, pelts, stuff like that… but we can use anything. Bones, meat—whatever.
As long as the material contains mana that a slime can extract, anything goes.
Throw mana-rich material into the slimes soaking in the bath, and the slimes act as the solvent and extract the mana!
Mana shortage solved! Probably!
Also… the ranking of dungeon loot is about to change dramatically.
Bones, meat, all the stuff that used to be tossed aside will now have value as “fertilizer.”
This could make adventurers’ lives easier. They won’t need to take unnecessary risks for lots of kills, just bring back bones and meat and sell them. That means fewer injuries and deaths.
… Though after that, I’m sure we’ll have a phase where “the dungeon panics because its mana income drops,” but that’s a future problem.
“That’s all for the improvements to the slime farming method!”
“I see… it is reminiscent of the ‘hydroponics’ you spoke of before.”
“Oh, yeah… I guess so…”
Laperesiana-sama nodded, impressed, as she watched the slimes—who were swaying the crops on their heads as they soaked in the bath.
“You truly came up with something remarkable. To think you would perform a process akin to potion creation using the slimes themselves.”
“Uhh… rather than coming up with it, it just kind of… happened… See, slimes really like baths…”
“I-I see…”
This idea was born from baths and slimes. If slimes hated baths, I’d never have thought of it.
Thank you… thank you, slimes…
After that, we shared another piece of slime-related knowledge with Laperesiana-sama.
“And there’s one more idea for mana supplementation… Come on over, slimes—c’mere.”
I called the slimes over and began taking out the tools.
“What is that?”
“Scented oil. We started producing it in Panis Village a few days ago.”
I poured some scented oil into a bowl, releasing a pleasant aroma. Not bad at all.
We’d started producing this oil from Panis Village herbs recently. The number of slimes in the village had increased, so we’d also increased herb-growing slimes.
We harvested tons of herbs from them, steam-distilled the herbs to extract essential oils, blended several types, diluted them with newly produced grapeseed oil, and thus created Panis Village Scented Oil.
We could’ve sold it in blue-white porcelain potion bottles, but since it’s a luxury item, we opted for crystal bottles instead. A noble-oriented souvenir with plenty of essential oil.
We also sell a cheaper version with fewer essential oils.
“Okay, line up, everyone.”
I prepared the scented oil and instructed the slimes, and though they probably didn’t understand the words, they all lined up very neatly.
So I massaged each one in turn with oil, mochi mochi, mochi mochi.
“Mishisia-san originally did this to calm the slimes down… but apparently it has other effects too.”
“Hoh.”
After finishing one slime, I moved to the next. Mochi mochi… then the next.
The slimes grew smooth, glossy, shiny, and plump with a “ploon” bounce.
“Apparently they absorb the mana within the scented oil, becoming even more energetic and earnest. The slimes that receive oil massages grow more attached and raise crops better than the ones that don’t.”
“I-I see… Truly, it seems the slimes of Panis Village live blessed lives…”
Yeah. We massaged all the Panis Village slimes for this experiment…
So recently, they’ve been living a life of entering saunas, soaking in hot springs, drinking lots of mana-rich fertilizer and water, and relaxing with oil massages.
Honestly, I’m jealous.
“So slimes captured near the royal capital’s dungeon can also be converted into agricultural slimes with this method!”
“I see… Very well, I shall have the royal researchers reproduce this.”
Good. If this method spreads across the kingdom, using slimes for agriculture…
Then even without Blessings, crops will grow well, and everyone will be able to live.
… And when that happens, the nation will finally be freed from the Church’s control.
Well then. How will the remnants of the Church respond, I wonder?
Can’t wait to see! Hee-haw!
What do you think about this chapter?
