That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

Cabal, Ellen and Gido tottered down the road.

Their faces looked exhausted as they stopped in front of the building they had passed by often. Then they weakly pushed the door open and entered.

It was a cheap inn and bar. As all three were rather poor, they came here often.

After securing their rooms, they met up at the bar.

Once they had let out a series of deep sighs, they opened their mouths in order to let out all of the anger that they had built up inside.

"That's why I argued against it!"

"Exactly. I remember saying that I had a bad feeling about it!"

"It can't be helped now! I never would have thought that a Twin Serpent would appear when we were just supposed to hunt some great snakes!"

"But, but we had already hunted four of them…"

"And there was only one left to hunt…"

"We should be thankful that we were at least able to negotiate it so that the quest wasn't a failure."

Cabal spat, as if to say there was no point in arguing. Cabal understood why the others wanted to complain. But being the leader meant you had to listen to the complaints of others.

Just then, their beer was brought over to their table. It was the perfect timing.

As if wanting to forget all those bad memories, the three of them immediately tipped the cups into their mouths. While they hadn't failed the quest, their reward money had been halved and the acidic saliva that the twin serpent had unleashed on them as they ran away, had made it necessary for them to have their equipment repaired. The more they thought about it, the worse their loss seemed. They could not go on without having a drink.

They didn't have enough money to buy new equipment, and so they had to make do with having it repaired…

"Ahhh. I want dwarf-made armor too. But they cost several pieces of gold even at the lower end…"

"That's too expensive, Cabal. I would like to buy new robes myself, but I know that I can't."

"We're way too poor… We should just be happy that we're even alive after what happened."

"True. We got away from the Twin Serpent. And they sent out a hunting party because of our report. We should just be glad that no civilians were hurt!"

"Yes, yes. Having our savings disappear due to repairs. That's no big deal!"

Cabal tried to be optimistic like Gido, but Ellen's words were enough to remind him of how depressing their reality was. Ellen also looked gloomy, and an oppressive air fell over them. Cabal was just about to suggest that they should drown their troubles in drink, go to bed, and start again tomorrow! When-

"Hey, did you hear about it?"

"Ah. You mean the mansion deep in the mountains passed Giena village? They say there is a quest that is offering ten gold pieces as a reward."

He heard the conversation of two men from the table next to theirs. They were quite drunk, and unable to tell that their voices were loud. The trio became sober at the mention of ten gold pieces, and they perked up their ears with serious expressions.

"So you get paid ten pieces of gold for killing the monster…"

"Hey, hey. That's ridiculous. Why would they pay you so much?"

"Well, it's a quest that is not going through the guild. So as there is no commission, you can earn more."

"But doesn't that mean that the strength of the monster is uncertain? Surely no one would be so stupid as to accept it?"

"Ten pieces of gold is mighty enticing. But Giena village is far away. I wouldn't go all the way over there if I wasn't sure that I could kill it."

The men said with a laugh. They soon forgot about the subject and went to boasting about their personal exploits.

Cabal, Ellen and Gido all looked at each other.

"Well, we just finished the last quest and have nothing to do…"

"Yes… And I hear that mountain vegetables are good this time of year…"

"It might be a good idea to relax and enjoy being in the mountains once in a while."

With matching opinions, they nodded at each other.

Their eyes were full of greed and it was clear that none of them gave the slightest thought to the danger.

◇◇◇

Cabal, Ellen and Gido ran desperately.

They were so close to the exit when the thing appeared in front of the door.

It was a lesser demon.

The lesser demon was 'B+' rank, and so there was no telling whether or not their party, which was 'B' rank, could beat it.

According to the guild, you were only supposed to fight monsters that were the same rank as you or lower. As there was no gurantee you could win against a stronger monster, it was considered an act of suicide.

But why had this happened to them in the first place…

The party had stayed one night in Giena village before visiting the mansion in the mountains.

That was where they heard the details of the quest. And as it was late, they were invited to stay for the night.

They did not realize that it was a trap until they sat down for dinner with the master of the house.

"Oh, do you really not mind that we eat all of this food?"

"Everything is so delicious!"

"You just leave this ogre bear to us. We'll handle it for you!"

"Hahaha. You young people are so reliable. Now eat up. We still have plenty more!"

"Thank you!"

"Yes, it is so good! Could you be fattening us up so you can eat us later on?"

"Hahaha…what? What did you just say?"

"Uh, umm… Could you be fattening us up so you can eat us?"

"…"

"...…"

Ellen's joke caused the master to laugh uncomfortably.

It was so unnatural that even Ellen forced a smile.

"Uh…are you…actually serious?"

"Hehehe. Ahahaha! Very good, you humans. This isn't exactly going the way I planned, but I'll just kill you here and take your flesh."

The master said. Then he dispelled his disguise, revealing his true form.

The three of them decided to retreat the moment they saw it. And that's how their desperate escape began.

It was after much running that they finally arrived at the door.

"We should prepare to meet our fate now! Let's kill it!"

"Lady, that's easy to say, but… Oh, very well."

"Hey, hey. I'm the leader here. Alright, let's do this!"

The two men agreed with Ellen. And so began a battle where they used all their items, fully aware that they would be ruined after this was done.

Several hours later.

"Tsk…no… How can I be defeated by mere human scum… If only…I had been able to maintain this flesh…"

With those last words, the lesser demon vanished. He was not dead. He was just no longer able to maintain the body which was not whole. And so the three had been victorious.

"Ye-yes! We killed the lesser demon!"

"We did it! I knew that we could accomplish anything if we tried!"

"Good. I am so relieved. I was so sure we were going to die…"

They celebrated for a moment, but then the coming flames made their expressions change.

"Damn it! The fireballs he unleashed are starting to burn up the building!"

"This is bad! We have to get out now, or we will be burned into a crisp!"

"Don't stand there in shock. Let's hurry up and get out of here."

The three of them frantically began their escape.

Thankfully, the door had been destroyed during the fight, and they were able to get out…however…

"By the way…the ten gold pieces…"

"Don't talk about that! We just came here to rest. Right?"

"…Yes. The mansion is burned down and…"

"What! So we worked for free again!? But I want to live in luxury already! I was thinking about buying beautiful robes with the reward money!"

"I told you, don't bring that up! It'll only make you sad."

"Well, I'm hardly surprised this happened again. I guess we should just be happy that we're alive!"

"Ugh, it's always that… We say the same thing every time."

Still, in spite of the complaining, all three of them looked cheerful. This kind of thing happened all of the time, and they knew from experience, that as long as you were alive, good things will come to you.

◇◇◇

They finished making their report at the nearest guild and then stayed in a bar until late into the night.

After that, the three of them were summoned by the guild master.

They nervously entered the room.

"It seems that you let greed get the best of you again, and you took on a job that you never should have."

The guild master said, before Gido had even closed the door behind them.

"Oh, but we didn't make any money. Please don't punish us!"

Cabal said frantically.

However, the guild master just snorted and continued.

"Well, that's fine. If you survived it, you must have gained something at the same time."

They were at a loss over how to react to this. But they were at least relieved that the guild master seemed to be in a good mood…

"Still, you three are too reckless! Idiots!!"

The guild master continued in a fashion that was scarier than any ogre. The lecture continued for hours, which was odd, considering how busy the guild master should be. Things just kept getting worse for them, and they wanted to cry.

Finally, the guild master said to them,

"However, the Twin Serpent was discovered because of your report. It was far from the village, just outside the forest. That was because you lured it over there, right? Well done. And you made it out alive. Next time you should be more careful."

"No, we weren't thinking about anything but running. And we only went in the opposite direction as the village by accident. You know…we don't have the best sense of direction…"

"Yes, yes. It was so frantic!"

"How clumsy of us. There would have been soldiers waiting for us in the village."

They said in denial, but the guild master seemed to see through it and said, 'Fine. That will be all,' and then turned away from them and towards some documents. That was the guild master's way of showing gratitude.

The three of them bowed and left the room behind them.

Several days later.

The three of them had come to a certain village for work.

"Ah, miss! Thank you for killing that scary monster last time!"

Small children shouted as they came running towards them to crowd around.

They were all smiling.

When the three of them had come here last time, the children were all worried about their parents and couldn't stop crying—but there was no hint of that now.

"Just seeing your smiles is all the reward that I need. That's what I think!"

"Yeah. Not bad."

"True. There are things that are more important than money!"

The childrens' smiles were infectious, and it did not take long for the three of them to smile as well.

And just like always, they looked forward and started to walk.

Their adventure had only just begun.