The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 116

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 116   Tourism and strange things

“Excuse me. How is this made?”

“Huh? Ah, that. Brace yourself— the ingredients used for that are slime.”

“Slime…”

“…Huh?”

We asked, wondering if they would answer. But the response we received left us speechless. Slime? Could you actually eat that?

“…Slime, is it edible?”

“Yeah. Well, it involves a slightly special process, but as you can see.”

Usually, dishes like this are kept secret, but the shop owner here generously shared the information. However, judging by their mischievous smile, they seemed to enjoy the astonishment of the customers asking about the ingredients.

“Some people may dislike it because it’s monster-derived, but those who say that should try it at least once. If you do, your perception might change. You managed to eat it, right?”

Indeed, we were surprised by the ingredient itself, but as a dish, it was quite intriguing.

“Indeed. It had an interesting texture.”

“But the taste was a bit…”

“Well, there’s no helping it. After all, the base is slime. If it was a sweet slime, I think my impression would have been different… Well, that’s not the case.”

“Of course. What’s the point of a slime making its own body sweet? Well, it might become sweet by continuously consuming tree sap or fruits, but at least for now, there haven’t been any confirmed cases like that. Or maybe it’s just that nobody tried eating slime to realize it’s sweet.”

“Surprisingly unexpected. Slime as a food ingredient.”

“Normally, when you defeat them, they melt and disappear.”

A slime has a nucleus about the size of a ping pong ball, surrounded by acidic slime, a typical monster.

However, once you break the nucleus of the slime, a rather typical aspect, it dies. In fact, there’s no other way to kill it.

You can burn the surrounding slime with fire, but if the nucleus remains, the slime will regenerate eventually. However, even if you somehow manage to deal with the slime and then burn the nucleus, it will die.

So, even though the slime dies when you break its nucleus, its slime melts and disappears. Well, logically speaking, the slime doesn’t move on its own, so the nucleus is probably magically doing something, and it makes sense that when the nucleus is gone, it turns back into a mere liquid.

I think extracting liquid from such a slime is quite difficult, but it seems it can be done if you figure it out. There must have been a lot of trial and error leading up to that.

“Well, I learned about it too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. From relatives in the royal capital, they taught me. It’s not considered a weird food there, but at a monster cuisine specialty shop. I learned about the minor ingredients they don’t usually serve.”

“So, can it be eaten in the royal capital too?”

“Well, even though I learned about it, I haven’t replicated it exactly. This taste is exclusive to my place.”

I see. So, this taste can only be experienced here. Well, it’s worth walking around the town just for this. I thought there was nothing, but there’s something here after all.

Nevertheless, a monster cuisine specialty shop. Should I go and try it?

“Is there anything else you’d like to see?”

After leaving the squishy stall, we resumed our exploration of the town.

“Ah, a seed shop. Well, the selection is probably similar, but there might be items I don’t have yet that I’d like to collect.”

“I’ve been collecting various types of seeds since my time in Karakas, but perhaps I might come across rare ones.”

“…Come to think of it, I haven’t planted the sacred tree’s seeds yet. I didn’t plant them at the right time, but since I received them, I’d like to grow them properly. Sometime in the future… well, it’ll probably be over a year, but when the time comes to grow them, I’ll make sure to do it right.”

With these thoughts in mind, I continued my sightseeing.

“There were certainly interesting things, but I’m running out of things to see soon.”

After walking for a while, it was getting late in the evening, and it seemed like the sun would set completely soon, so we decided to head back to the inn. After returning to the inn, we discussed today’s reflections or rather, an overall review. Street performances and stalls selling homemade dishes had some slight variations in content, but fundamentally it wasn’t much different from other cities. If I had to pick, it was just fluffy things.

As an event, we were attacked by bandits, but we dealt with them casually and that was the end of it. While turning them in to the guards would bring in some money, it seemed troublesome, so we just let them rest in peace.

“Shall we depart tomorrow? Or is there something specific you’d like to do?”

“No, I don’t have any particular plans. The capital is only about two days from this town, so we don’t need to stock up on ingredients, and we can depart anytime.”

“Then let’s aim for tomorrow morning.”

“Yes.”

And so, we decided to leave Elvale the next day and as usual, we spent the day training our skills and then went to bed.

“Is it fine if we just go straight from here?”

The next day, we set off from the town as we had decided, resuming our journey by carriage towards the capital.

“Yes. There’s a route that goes through the forest and another that goes around it. This time, I’m thinking of going through the forest.”

“What’s the difference between the two?”

“Simply put, it’s the level of danger and the time it takes. Especially recently, there have been many reports of bandit attacks, so the route through the forest is often avoided.”

“Bandits… Quite late for that realization. We were attacked in this town too, after all.”

“Yes. So, there’s not much difference in choosing either route.”

Even if I choose the safer route, I still feel like we might be attacked. In that case, it’s probably better to choose the faster route.

“By the way… why do they target me so precisely? There were other people in the town, so why did they aim for me? I think I look like an ordinary citizen at first glance…”

“Indeed, at a quick glance, that may be the case. However, upon closer inspection, Lord Vesnar’s attire is of high quality, so with a discerning eye, wouldn’t they realize?”

“I see… But rough clothes don’t feel good against the skin.”

Because there’s no artificial fabric like polyester, cheap clothes tend to feel rough. I’ve gotten used to wearing clothes in Japan and the expensive ones my father provided, so I really don’t want to wear clothes that common citizens wear, if I can help it.

“Moreover…”

“Hmm?”

“Carrying a woman dressed as a servant, isn’t that a clear indication of having money?”

“…I forgot.”

It was already too late to worry about it, and I had accepted it as fine, but true. Well, yeah. Sofia was dressed as a maid. Of course, that would attract trouble. It’s like drawing a lottery ticket that never loses. Well, it’s a definite ‘loss’ in a different sense than money.

After recalling this, I shifted my gaze from top to bottom to confirm Sofia’s attire once again.

“Well, it’s fine.”

In the end, I decided it was fine to leave things as they were.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah. Because that’s what you want to wear, right? Now that we know the reason, as long as we consider that, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

After all, if Sofia wore cute clothes, it would be more enjoyable to watch. Even though we’re traveling, I still think a bit of flair is necessary.

“So, shall we get going soon?”

“Yes.”

We stopped at a fork in the road and decided to head towards the shortcut that leads to the forest.

“The forest is getting closer. …Expecting to encounter bandits?”

“Most likely.”

“Well, we’ll just have to stay vigilant. It’s a good opportunity for passive skill training.”

While having this conversation, we continued on in a light-hearted manner. However, that tranquility was about to be shattered.

In the distance, we saw someone running towards us. The person seemed to be in a hurry, and was dressed in a manner that could be described as ‘just the clothes on their back’—in other words, they had nothing on them except their clothes.

Their running speed was quite fast, and I assumed they were probably using some sort of movement skill.

Surprised by this sudden dash, we slowed down the carriage, wondering what could be going on. It seemed that the person ahead had noticed us too, as they waved and approached us.

“Hey, you guys! D-Don’t go any further! It’s… it’s dangerous. Monsters, I tell you! A horde of monsters just emerged from the forest! If you keep going, you won’t be able to avoid them! We have to run!”

The man who had approached us stopped in his tracks as he reached us, panting heavily and explaining what had happened.

Monsters, huh? First the commotion with the bandits, and now monsters… things aren’t going our way.

However, I wasn’t too surprised, as I had some information about both the bandits and the monsters. I presumed they had been too preoccupied with the bandit situation, resulting in a delay in dealing with the monsters. This probably led to their rampant increase.

“How many were in the horde?”

“How many? How many, you ask? There were just so many! I didn’t have time to count! There were hundreds… no, there might have been thousands!”

Thousands… at the maximum, that means—no, considering the worst-case scenario, we should think there were at least five times that number?

Five times… five thousand. Well, it’s not an impossible number.

“Understood. Sorry for stopping you.”

“Yeah. I’m heading to the town to report. You all should run as soon as possible!”

With those words, the man started running again. He probably went to report to the town, just as he had mentioned.

“What do we do?”

“It depends on the opponent, but if it’s around a thousand, I can manage somehow.”

However, I couldn’t help but think that this report might turn out to be unnecessary. After all, if it’s just a swarm of monsters, I can handle it.

I wanted the experience of facing an army at least once. Not that I wanted it to happen, but in the worst-case scenario, there might be such an opportunity.

Can’t you understand my position? The prince, who was supposed to be dead—no, I who was supposed to be killed, turned out to be alive. It’s entirely possible that he might come after my life again, and if the assassination fails, they might send an army to the location where I’m based. At that time, having experience in dealing with armies might make a difference.

Of course, it’s better not to have it, but experience won’t go to waste, and this swarm of monsters this time seems just right.

“Then, is it safe to proceed without changing the course?”

“Yeah.”

Moreover, changing the path now would take time, and even if we turned back and took a detour, there’s no guarantee that there won’t be a battle along that route.

So it’s better to straightforwardly push through this way—it’s faster and safer. If we can wipe them out while they’re in a group, we won’t face any surprise attacks from scattered monsters.

With that in mind, we ignored the warning from the man and continued to move forward.