Book 4: Volume 7 Chapter 2, Farming Slime

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Kousuke had come to the fourteenth Floor with Floria for the first time in a while. Although Sol would occasionally report on the Goblins’ status, Kousuke himself hadn’t visited this Floor in some time.

 

This particular visit was prompted by a casual mention of the Goblins that had sparked Floria’s interest. The Goblins she remembered were still building a pseudo-culture, but from Kousuke’s story, she realized they had advanced far beyond that initial stage. She wanted to see the progress for herself.

 

Sol came to greet them as soon as they arrived on the fourteenth Floor. She responded so quickly that it made one wonder when she had even noticed their arrival. Kousuke hadn’t contacted her in advance, yet it was as if Sol had known they were coming.

 

“You’re very early. Was someone on guard?” Kousuke asked curiously.

 

Sol shook her head. “No. Just somehow.”

 

“Just somehow?”

 

Kousuke wondered if Sol’s race, the Angel Children, had some kind of unique skill, but there was no such skill listed in her abilities. Curious about this, he pressed Sol, who seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head with an apologetic look.

 

“I’m sorry. It’s a feeling I can’t put into words. I just instinctively knew that Lord Kousuke had arrived.”

 

“I see,” Kousuke nodded, but Floria, who had been listening to their conversation, laughed.

 

Kousuke noticed this and looked at her. “What?”

 

“Well, nothing. I just thought you two were overthinking it.”

 

“Yes?” Kousuke and Sol tilted their heads at the same time, puzzled by Floria’s amusement.

 

Perhaps finding something strange about their synchronized reaction, Floria laughed again before answering. “Aren’t Goblins a species that’s sensitive to things like Human presence? There’s no way Sol, who evolved from them, would misread Kousuke’s presence. And he’s also received Kousuke’s Blessings. It’s not surprising that he has similar powers to Peach’s.”

 

“Ah, I see.” Kousuke nodded at Floria’s convincing explanation. Now that he’d heard that, it didn’t seem so strange after all.

 

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Upon arriving at the Goblin village, Floria was astonished at the changes. The last time she was here, the people had just learned how to farm, and the settlement had barely resembled anything close to civilization. Now the place has changed dramatically.

 

Even Kousuke, who had heard about the developments from Sol, was surprised to see it with his own eyes. The houses, which had once seemed nothing more than shacks, were now lined up in similar structures, as if they had been built according to some kind of pattern. Just from that alone you could tell that they were built by a fairly organized group.

 

Kousuke aside, Floria was the Queen of a country, and such details were easy for her to deduce. The house in front of them was made primarily of timber, which would have been an extremely difficult task for a single Goblin to carry alone. No matter how you looked at it, the construction clearly required multiple workers collaborating together.

 

The wooden houses were not just simple square buildings either. They were ingeniously constructed throughout, and according to Sol, they were based on the first building constructed using the tower’s functions. Of course, the design had been simplified so that Goblins could build it, but it was still remarkably advanced.

 

As Sol guided them around the Goblin village, Kousuke and Floria were filled with admiration. In terms of their level of civilization, it still felt like they had only just learned how to farm and were just beginning to develop a civilization. However, that wasn’t what Kousuke and Floria found most interesting.

 

Taking the buildings for example, while they were certainly based on existing structures, there were ingenious touches here and there that were unique to Goblins. Some things might not be necessary to Kousuke and Floria as Humans, but were clearly important to Goblins. These differences would have a significant impact on how their civilization developed.

 

While impressed by the various examples of Goblin ingenuity, Kousuke and Floria were most interested in what they saw when they visited the farm. As they watched the Goblins and demons working, Kousuke was the first to notice something unusual.

 

“Huh? Is that a Slime?” He noticed several Slimes in the vegetable patch.

 

“Huh? Yeah, that’s right. What’s the guard doing?” Floria, noticing Kousuke’s remark, grabbed her sword and went to kill the Slimes, but Sol stopped her.

 

“Wait a moment.”

 

“Huh? Why stop?” To Floria, Slimes were monsters to be hunted, not ones that should be left alone.

 

However, Kousuke, scanning the surrounding fields, noticed more of them. “Huh? Oh, there are some over there too. Are the Goblins using Slimes for farming?”

 

“What?!” Kousuke’s remark caused Floria to exclaim in surprise, while Sol looked impressed.

 

“You noticed? As expected.”

 

“No. I just had a feeling,” Kousuke waved his hand dismissively.

 

However, neither Floria nor Sol took him at face value. Kousuke’s intuition, or rather a living god’s ‘feeling’, had already become something of a proven fact. Only Kousuke himself seemed unaware of this reputation.

 

Kousuke watched the Slime with clear interest. To be precise, it wasn’t Goblins that were using the Slimes, but a species even higher than Demons. From Kousuke’s perspective, it seemed they were skillfully guiding the Slimes, which were moving around like ducks released into a rice paddy.

 

“I see. So if you use Slimes well, they can pick off insects and weeds instead of eating vegetables?”

 

“Yes. That’s right,” Sol nodded at Kousuke’s words.

 

The first thing the Goblins did was teach the Slimes what foods they shouldn’t eat. Slimes, after all, will digest anything if left alone, which is precisely why they’re considered monsters and targeted for extermination.

 

Floria, who knew all about this, tilted her head in confusion. “But how can a Slime that isn’t even a Goblin’s kin be able to distinguish between things?”

 

“At first it was difficult, but one of our allies was able to communicate with the Slime, so he taught it to us.”

 

“What!?” Floria cried out in surprise at Sol’s casual words.

 

Slimes, who lack even the simplest thoughts, are considered difficult to manipulate. Naturally, there’s no way they could communicate with other species. That was common sense in the human world, at least.

 

“Of course, even though they communicate, it seems they only understand very simple things. I don’t have that kind of ability myself,” Sol added.

 

“Incredible.” Floria looked around at the Goblins and Demons working in the fields, with an expression that seemed both impressed and astonished.

 

From what she could see, the Slimes hadn’t attacked the Goblins or Demons. In fact, they seemed to be quietly helping out with the farm work, perhaps knowing that they were being protected from other threats. The strange sight made Floria groan involuntarily at the unprecedented nature of what she was witnessing.