An active hunter from Hokkaido was thrown into another world - Chapter 44

Chapter 44    Slime’s true identity

We’re heading to the forest area in a carriage. Team Elfang is with us.

It’s supposed to be a day’s journey on foot, but with horses, it might take half a day.

We have two horse-drawn carriages. Team Elfang is leading the way.

Tait, Andal, and Ginea are riding in the first carriage.

In our carriage, Elfang’s current leader, Beltas, holds the reins, while I sit beside him, packing the magazine of my M870 with backshot rounds, equipped with a smoothbore slug barrel. Saran is on the rear cargo platform, keeping a lookout.

The guild lent us the carriages.

“Where did you find the slime?”

“At a waterfall basin. We were hunting in the mountains and decided to camp there. We wanted to take a bath in the water, but there were slimes around the basin. They were in the way, so we slashed them, and suddenly they started gathering and merging, becoming larger.”

Well, that must have been surprising…

“And then, they turned red and got angry, attacking us. But neither swords nor spears were effective against them, so we ran away. I never thought it was a Lyle Slime. We managed to escape, but it seems like they can track our scent. They kept following us relentlessly, all the way to the city…”

“You guys went to the waterfall, right? There must have been a river. Why didn’t you follow the river downstream? Then you wouldn’t have been tracked by their scent.”

“Oh, right! We didn’t think of that!”

Saran’s suggestion causes Beltas to have a sudden realization on his face.

“When you encounter a Lyle Slime, run into the river. It’s common sense for elves, you know?”

“I apologize…”

Beltas looked disheartened.

“But if it’s a waterfall basin, there must be a high place nearby where you can overlook its habitat.”

“That’s right.”

“Please guide us there. Lyle Slimes are flat, so you can only destroy their cores by attacking from above. It’s safer that way.”

“Understood. That’s fine. However, it will be quite a distance away.”

“Just stop the horses for a moment.”

Beltas halted the horses, and Team Elfang’s carriage continued to move ahead.

“Yeah, is this distance okay?”

“With this distance!”

Yes, it’s about 100 meters away.

We entrusted the horses to a nearby farm and entered the forest on foot.

Team Elfang, carrying their gear, takes the lead as the guides, and we follow from behind.

After half a day of trekking through the mountains, it’s already well into the afternoon.

We stop to have a simple meal before climbing the slope and reaching near the river above the waterfall.

Dodo-dodododododo…

We can hear the sound of the waterfall.

As we emerge, we find ourselves at the waterfall basin.

Gently peering out, there were slimes wriggling and squirming below. There must be about twenty of them. Do I really have to shoot twenty times at those things? It’s getting quite tiresome.

“Let’s clear out this area and make it flat. Can you handle that?”

“Sure.”

The team members brandished their swords and machetes, creating a wide space. Meanwhile, Saran lay down and observed through binoculars.

“Something seems off.”

As I looked at the waterfall basin…

The Lyle Slimes, each about 5 meters in diameter, were piling up and gathering even more. They seemed to have formed two large mounds, with around ten slimes in each.

“Oh no… I can’t shoot like this.”

The already 1-meter thickness of the slimes, with cores buried 50 cm deep, appeared to have become even thicker! What should I do… This might not work.

“Ugh…”

The members of Team Elfang, who had finished clearing the bushes, cautiously peered out and were taken aback.

“What should we do!?”

“Let’s observe for now.”

“Observe? What if they get even bigger like this?”

“There’s something I want to check.”

If these slimes were a type of myxomycetes… Or maybe…

The slimes forming the base of the large slime mountain seemed to have dried up and hardened, becoming the foundation. The slimes on top merged softly and extended upwards, slowly but surely.

As I thought…

The ends of the extensions looked like round water droplets, resembling soft matchsticks.

“Let’s take turns keeping watch. The rest of us will prepare for the camp.”

“Such a laid-back approach!”

“At this point, we can’t attack anyway.”

After a simple meal, night fell, and we took turns keeping watch until morning.

A slender enoki mushroom sprouted from the dried slime mountain, forming a shape as if growing out of it. The tip was still rounded.

It’s a massive tree. Must be about 30 meters tall.

From each of the two original slime mountains, two giant trees emerged, one from each, creating a total of two.

The tips have not yet opened.

“It’s just as I suspected. Slimes are myxomycetes. They disperse spores from those tips over there.”

“I’m not quite sure I understand, but should we destroy that thing?”

“Yes, we should. Everyone, please stay alert to your surroundings.”

I took out a Remington M700 .375 H&H Magnum from my magic bag and placed the front end on a tripod with a shooting bench rest. I aimed while sitting down. Saran watched through binoculars, observing the impact.

I handed over earplugs.

I also put on earplugs and lined up three .375 H&H Magnum rounds on a cloth. I loaded the M700 with one round, operated the bolt to chamber the cartridge, and aimed at the neck of the massive enoki mushroom.

“I’m going to shoot――!”

“Yes――!”

Bang! Bang! (Bang! Bang! Bang!…)

The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the waterfall basin.

“Direct hit!”

Through the scope, I could see that about one-third of the enoki mushroom’s cap and stem had been blown away, causing it to tilt. When you shoot with such a powerful large-caliber round at supersonic speed, anything with high moisture content tends to explode and scatter like a shockwave.

Kashatchakki.

Bang!

The cap dangled, hanging by a thread, swaying back and forth.

Bang! Bang!

Thud!

The massive cap fell, crashing onto the rocky riverbank, and flattened.

Shinashinashina…

The towering enoki mushroom, dripping with water, suddenly shriveled, and its limp body touched the ground.

“It seems to have worked. One more.”

I aimed at the other enoki mushroom, which had also transformed into a giant tree.

Again, with three shots, we were able to blow off the cap.

Looking back, the Elfang members were covering their ears and watching us from behind…

“Are you all on guard?”

After removing their earplugs, Saran replied, “Well… there’s no way we could overlook this. That’s amazing…”

“Let’s clean up. Let’s head down to the waterfall basin.”

We waded through the river and reached the waterfall basin.

There, two large, dried-out mushrooms were growing. There was no movement; it seemed all the slimes had merged into them.

I purchased a gallon of camp fuel from the magic bag and distributed it among everyone. It was about four liters, but why do they still use gallons in America? Four liters would do just fine…

“We’ll pour the oil and set it on fire. Sprinkle it all over, including the fallen caps.”

“I’ve never seen containers like these. Elves’ technology is impressive to make iron like this. The oil is smooth, but it smells strange.”

Let’s just attribute it to elves’ technology. In this world, there is no petroleum; oil is solely derived from plants.

Carefully, we splashed the oil all around, even on the collapsed caps.

I attached cloth to the end of a long branch and soaked it with the fuel.

“Saran, use fire magic.”

“Sure thing!”

“Everyone, stay back!”

Saran casually tossed a small fireball, igniting the cloth at the end of the branch. With that, we went on to ignite the soaked areas with the camp fuel one after another.

Whoosh!

The flames quickly spread.

“Wow…”

“Everyone, be cautious about the fire’s spread. It would be troublesome if it turned into a forest fire. Fill the cans with water and sprinkle it in areas where the fire might spread.”

Even after setting it on fire, they still didn’t move, huh?

So, they transformed from animal-like slimes into plant-like forms, huh?

They’re truly mysterious creatures.

The area was covered with gravel, so there was no risk of the fire spreading, allowing us to burn them completely.

While keeping watch and taking turns eating until the smoke ceased, we monitored the situation.

Once the flames had subsided, we poured water to fully extinguish the embers.

It turned into white ashes. Now, we could feel relieved.

“…Darn it, what about the proof of subjugation?”

“It would be troublesome to carry anything back. We’ll have to explain and earn their trust.”

Yeah, let’s give up on that.

“Shin, thanks. With this, we’ve completed our final job.”

The current leader of the Elfang, Beltas, extends his right hand.

I take his hand and shake it.

“We need to figure out what to do next…”

“I’m retiring as a hunter. I’ve had enough of this. I’m going back to my family’s home.”

“At least we’re not thrown in jail, so that’s something.”

“Hey, how about we start a business together, even if we can’t be hunters anymore?”

“If we had that kind of entrepreneurial spirit, we wouldn’t have been hunters in the first place!”

“Hahaha! You’ve got a point!”

The Elfang laugh heartily, as if trying to blow away various emotions.

I don’t want to say it, but Bal, I think he believed that if things continued as they were, these people would lose their lives.

He’s not just a strict person. I believe he made this decision after considering their well-being.

I pray that good things come their way in their future lives.

“Alright, let’s go back.”