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Updated to Ch.4
Chapter 2
The Case of Royal Slime 2
"On that hill, there is a palace," Jevan said, sipping tea from the cup in his hand.
"That palace used to be a royal summer palace among many palaces of the king. The king had a daughter, but... well, let's just say the king had twelve daughters. Unfortunately, one of them decided to... follow her heart and now resides in that palace as a Mayor. So, the palace has become the City Hall."
Zolto sat quietly across from him.
"The princess enjoys raising peculiar animals. The stranger, the better. So don't expect it to be something ordinary, like the creatures you see in fairy tales. Swan, for example, is a no-go. The unicorn is also outdated..."
"But I thought that princesses in stories raise unicorns, sire."
"Not at all," Jevan shook his head. "Princess, love strange creatures. As you can see, there's slime melting everything in front of our shop. Its name is Glueyrine. Coupled with the fact that the entire garrison threatened you this morning, it all adds up to being undoubtedly the princess's possession."
Zolto remained seated, staring blankly at the unfolding situation.
Zolto Eshan began to develop a headache trying to make sense of the situation. He understood that slimes were a peculiar creature with a slimy, mucous-like appearance typically found in marshes. The most troublesome aspect of Glueyrine was that it belonged to a dissolving breed, capable of dissolving anything in close proximity.
However, the young man couldn't control the dissolving slimes like the princess could. Additionally, he couldn't fathom why Glueyrine was at his shop and didn't comprehend the soldiers' involvement until they arrived, pressuring him into this bizarre situation.
"As far as I understand, Glueyrine has been severely mentally oppressed," Jevan continued sipping his tea. "Slime is a creature with delicate emotions. That's why it escaped from the castle and sought refuge here. Moreover, there always used to be the company of weird animals that fled from the castle and nestled here. Master Cythene even sent them back every time. The soldiers hope that you'll send Glueyrine back too, Young Master."
Zolto's shoulders dropped, contemplating the disparity between the princess's pet-naming preference and his uncle's unconventional business methods. What could be more perplexing than this?
"But I'm not my uncle, and another thing..." The young man blurted out, "I don't plan to inherit this shop, sire."
"Is that so?" Jevan asked.
Zolto hesitated. He just realized the significance of his words. In the morning, he had a serious issue of beheading on his hands, and as soon as noon he already said “No more”, when the problem landed he chose to abandon Jevan to fend for himself didn’t he?
"I... I don't..." The young man stammered, "I don't know how to move Glueyrine, the dissolving slime breed, back to the castle with the dragons. I think you must know. Uncle must have told you, right, sire?"
"Master Cythene has extraordinary abilities. Even if I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn't replicate it," Jevan spoke calmly. "So, I don't know how to move Glueyrine back to the castle, Young master."
"In that case... What will we do if the soldiers come, sire?"
The older man raised the corner of his mouth slightly.
"Well, probably beheading."
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Zolto stood at the edge of the pit. The pit had a radius of about half a meter. However, at this moment, it seemed that the soil around the pit had begun to collapse slightly.
The young man didn't want to think too much about it, but according to his understanding... the royal slime named "Glueyrine" residing in the pit, seemed to be expanding slowly and dissolving the soil in the pit, deepening it each time.
He could barely see Glueyrine, but it didn't seem much different from the bouncy, sticky, purple mucous moving in the pit. Glueyrine, along with its croaking sounds, was picking and grabbing in the pit.
At first, Zolto didn't handle the loud noises well, but when he tried throwing a stone into the pit, the young man heard a retaliatory croak, saying, "Glueyyyyyyyyeeeee," and the stone quickly dissolved and disappeared.
...Indeed, it was Gluey.
The young man scratched his head before crossing the road back home. Meanwhile, Jevan was in the back store working area, appearing to be checking account books. With one hand, he was spinning a charcoal pencil, and with the other, he tapped on the wooden table thoughtfully.
"Sir Jevan..." Zolto called.
"Jevan is fine. Young master," Jevan replied.
"I would like to call you Sir Jevan, well, in the city... besides the princess, is there anyone else raising slimes, sire?"
"Well... I don't think so," the other side answered without looking up. "I think most people don't want to raise slimes... they aren't very cute."
...That's true, without fur… Zolto thought and then added the phrase "Slimes listed in the 'Animals Without Fur and Disgusting' category" in his mind.
"In that case..." The young man hesitated. "Is there anywhere I could buy books about slimes, sire?"
Jevan stopped spinning the pencil. The middle-aged man raised his face to look at the other side.
"What would you do with a slime book?" he asked.
"When Jamis has a problem, first, I will ask others who also raise Jamis..." Zolto tried to explain. "But if I can't find any, I have to... read. Is not that right?"
Jevan was not so sure about his assumption, but he nodded anyway.
“Back at home, when we need a book, we go to the Sir teacher.” Youngman kept explaining. "But here in a city, my elder sister told me we shouldn’t rely on anyone, we should buy it ourselves.”
…It’s indeed a fact, though… Jevan thought to himself.
"I have some money... it's not mine, really, but the eldest uncle, my sister, and others gave it to me. They said I should have some when coming into the city; it could be tough because I’m always thinking about Jami. So, I must have some money, and it's strictly prohibited to use it if not necessary."
"I'm asking you something, Young master," the middle-aged man said, lifting his voice. "Why is it necessary to buy books about slimes?"
Zolto stopped and looked back at the other side.
"I think Sir Jevcan is concerned about the store... no matter how, you always check the accounts thoroughly," the young man said.
"I think I need to thank you. Even though I don't understand the matter with the Dragon shop and don't plan to work here after this, though, I won't let you take the blame. Definitely... Sir Jevan, don't worry, sire."
Jevan jaws drop.
"I... I may not understand much, but I'll try to handle it... I've dealt with situations like this back when Jami had an epidemic that almost swept through the entire coop. I managed to save them; there were no casualties," Zolto Eshan continued, "If Sir Jevan, finds it inconvenient, I can go into town myself. There must be bookstores in town... I'll go buy a book there."
"Hold on, Young master," the middle-aged man found his voice, "At morning, I..."
"No need to worry, sire. I'll take care of it myself," the young man said before hastily leaving the shop, leaving Jevan with the remainder of his words at the door.
"...didn't mean it that way."
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In the town of Zeele, there were several bookstores. However, when Zolto tried entering one to inquire about books on slime, instead of finding tips on raising them, he stumbled upon a book titled "Self-Sufficiency in Exotic Animal Slaughter" that detailed ways to kill slimes:
1. Use various weapons to bludgeon until the slime breaks into small pieces.
2. Use pesticides (available at general drugstores, the same type used to combat plant enemies).
3. Threaten until the slime dies willingly.
In reality, there were many more gruesome methods listed under the third point. However, Zolto felt a resemblance to himself, reading a book on how to torture animals. With this realization, he promptly returned the book to the store owner and took a deep breath.
"If you're looking for unusual books, why not try the library?" suggested the shop owner, who seemed to sympathize with the young man.
"Is there a library here... really?" Zolto Eshan asked, surprised.
"You came to this town... and haven't seen the Library tower, huh?"
Zolto turned his gaze to where the owner pointed... across the intersection. There was indeed a large tower there, towering like a lightning rod. In fact, it was the first thing the young man saw when he arrived in the town of Zeele.
"That's the Aida Library," the shop owner said, then smiled for a moment before asking in a low voice, "You didn't know before, did you, that Zeele has the largest library in the region?"
Yes, it was the largest library in the region.
With this, when Zolto entered, he was faced with a grandiose map that he had never thought he would see in his lifetime. The map, engraved on a bronze plate, covered an entire side of the lower floor, indicating where each category of books was located. The young man had to crane his neck, scanning back and forth until he got tired before finally finding the word "Exotic Animals" written at the bottom of the map. However, just as he was happily reading, his gaze shifted down to the next line:
Next to the word "Exotic Animals," are “on the 29th floor, shelf 19 - 203.”.
Zolto blinked for two seconds. Then, he slowly looked away from the map... towards the stairs.
... Help.
Unfortunately, no one came to Zolto's aid. Eventually, the young man began dragging his limbs up the stone staircase, one step at a time. At first, he counted the steps to feel progress, but then he stopped around the two-hundredth step. Afterward, in Zolto's mind, there were only words:
Help, help, help...indefinitely.
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He dragged his body up to the 29th floor at last.
However, upon reaching the actual entrance, the young man had to face a fate worse than climbing a myriad of steps.
In front of him, there were only towering bookshelves reaching the ceiling, forming an endless array. Zolto could vaguely recall from the map that it stated "ExoticsAnimals" were in cabinets sixteen to two hundred and three, which, according to the understanding of those who interacted with the abundant books, meant he had to check every book on every shelf in every cabinet, totaling more than a hundred of them.
"Help..." the young man cried out weakly.
"What can I help you with?" a voice asked.
Zolto was startled, and then he saw a figure emerging from the gap between the shelves. It was a woman with tied-up red hair resembling a high ponytail and glasses perched on her nose with faint freckles.
"So, How may I help you?" Glasses girl asked.
"Um..." The young man thought of the school library near the village... this woman might be the librarian. "I'm looking for books about Slimes."
"Why? Killing slimes is easy; they die easily. Slimes are spineless," she replied.
"No... It's just that I don't want to kill slimes. I want to understand them, understand what they are," Zolto explained.
Glasses girl adjusted the book strap on her shoulder and thoughtfully tapped her chin.
"Oh, is that so? That's quite unusual. Anyway, I'll help you find them," she said.
The book titled "Slimes: Species, Diet, and Habitat" was tucked away on the edge of the shelf in cabinet number 195. It was a thin, dusty book, barely noticeable without Rena's (the bespectacled girl) expertise.
Despite its intriguing title, the content seemed just as dull as the cover. This reminded Zolto of the scholar who came to his uncle's farm to "study and improve the farming of Jamis." However, he can’t even separate male and female Jamis.
The book described one type of slime, large, about the size of a rice bowl, and blue.
After flipping through the pages with disappointment, Zolto tossed the book aside.
"Bad!" Rena scolded. Then she pointed at the book and made him pick it up.
"But it's not as big as a rice bowl," the young man murmured as he climbed up to put the book back on the shelf. "Besides, it's not even blue. Books like this should be burned."
"You can't do that. Books are a source of knowledge, and they should be respected differently," Glasses girl said, folding her arms. However, after seeing Zolto's downtrodden face, she seemed to feel sorry for him.
"Here..." she said. "I like studying various things in this library for real. But, some books can't tell everything, unlike encountering the real thing. You have to gain real experiences, meet the real thing, and truly understand it. Otherwise, reading another thousand books won't make you understand anything."
Zolto pondered those words for a while. After descending the 29th floor and returning to the store, he went in to grab his firewood and pillow.
" Young master, what are you going to do?" Jevan, who was still at the shop even after his work time ended and waiting for him, asked.
"I'm going to light a fire and talk to Glueyrine, sire," the young man said. "When I don't know what to do with Jami anymore, I'll light a fire, chase away mosquitoes, and talk to it."
"But..." a middle-aged man protested as the young man walked past him.
"...Mosquitoes don't bite slimes."
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