Offer a Tribute and Become an Archmage - Chapter 179



Only Noblemtl

Offering Tribute to the Archmage Chapter 179

Slime [1]

Episode 179.

Ronobe had a dream for a while.

-Mom! Mom!

It was a bizarre dream where something that looked like a mixture of a human and a bug emerged from the cocoon and called itself Mom.

It was a dream where I had wings and a caterpillar’s body, a human head, and the legs of several insects, and it also had multiple reproductive organs, so it was incredibly terrifying.

That weird guy was calling her mom and chewing on her breasts to suckle, so scary and creepy that she thought she’d wet her pants at night. Every time that happened, Ronobe would look at Kochi and whisper.

“A super beautiful female knight. The most beautiful girl in the province, no. The most beautiful female knight in the kingdom. You can’t have breasts or a dick. You can’t be a woman or a man, but only one of the two…!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Whoaaaaaaaah!! This is fucking shocking!”

It was Liam.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“How much did you hear?”

“I didn’t hear correctly. I heard it from the beginning, from the super pretty girl.”

“Then you heard everything… Do you want to die?”

“I’m sorry. I will report to your wife that your master told you to become a super pretty girl in Kochi and then be put on probation.”

Ronobé grabbed Liam’s shoulder tightly as he turned around.

“Are you having a hard time these days? Managing the private soldiers and all. Liam, you’ve really worked hard. How can I not know the hard work you do for me more than anyone else?”

“I’ve heard that since ancient times, compensation for hard work has been given in the form of money.”

“…”

“Madam!”

“Hey, hey! I’ll give it to you! I’ll give it to you!”

Ronobé gave him a silver coin from his bosom.

Liam looked at the silver coin with a blank expression. He didn’t even close his open palm.

It was an unspoken pressure to want more.

“What the hell…”

Ronobe held out another silver coin.

Liam didn’t move an inch.

“No! Even with two silver coins? Did this kid really get rich… Didn’t you see those guys in Kochi? With that kind of loyalty, you don’t get paid, right? Didn’t you learn from watching them?!”

“Madam!!”

“Oh, I got it! I got it! Okay!”

In the end, Ronobé, who had been ripped off for three silver coins, started to curse at Liam.

“But what were you really doing?”

“…I had a dream.”

Liam nodded when I told him about the knight’s dream of becoming a monster inside Kochi.

“If that happens, I will catch and kill him. Don’t worry.”

“Well, that’s true.”

It can’t be helped that you feel anxious.

‘Because Caterpillar wasn’t a magic that worked the first time.’

After a few tries, he was able to become what he wanted.

Rather, there were many failures.

In the end, he ended up losing his life because of his flashy appearance. That made me feel uneasy, wondering if a monster with multiple arms and legs would appear.

“But when is this coming out?”

“I don’t know either.”

It’s already been over a week since the day the kochi was made.

But there is still no news on how to fix it.

Just in case, I placed the Manchun totem next to me. I thought that if it was Manchun who could restore the body, it would be of great help.

“It might take about ten months.”

“why?”

“Doesn’t it take ten months to get pregnant and give birth? If it’s as you say, my lord, wouldn’t it take ten months for the body to completely melt and be rebuilt inside again? Even people need that much time.”

“I guess so.”

That might be the case.

Once Caterpillar got into Kochi, he didn’t come out for a long time. Every time he went in and came out, the surrounding scenery changed completely.

“Do I have to carry this around for ten months? That’s a bit…”

You have to go to the royal road and also to the north.

But having to carry this around all the time was ridiculous. It’s okay now, but when we head north, the luggage will be much heavier than this.

Going north is not an easy task, and since it is a cold region, there are many things to pack, so it would not be a good idea for such a large kochi to take up space.

“Should I sell it?”

“Who would buy that?”

“I heard that nobles have a hobby of collecting strange things. There must be one around here. Or you could sell it at the Frank County Auction House.”

Auction house.

It was a little tempting.

If you go in there, you’ll probably get about fifty gold coins from the competition of weird guys. Even if you take out the auction house bid, you’ll probably get about thirty gold coins.

“Isn’t there a trading post in another territory?”

“There must be one. Should I look into it? If I ask around, there’ll probably be at least one rich noble. It looks expensive at first glance. I think I could make a few gold coins just by selling the thread…”

As expected of a country bumpkin, he was blinded by money. When Ronobe became a little angry, he quickly sold them and started pressuring them to strengthen their weapons.

“Armed?”

“Yes, I need it.”

“hmm…”

Liam pointed behind him.

There were prisoners there who called themselves bandits. They were regular soldiers of Djerba, but they were captured as bandits. Ronobe was waiting for the right time to accept them as his private soldiers.

“Those guys are poorly armed. Maybe they were trying to look like bandits.”

“That’s true.”

The weapon is so poorly equipped that it is completely obsessed with the concept. Even if he had received regular military training, he would be defeated after a few battles with such an weapon. At the very least, he should have been properly dressed in leather.

“Would leather be okay?”

“At least it has to be armored.”

“Gloves? How much is a set?”

Chalgap refers to armor that is connected with strings like fish scales.

Even if you sew bones together, it’s called armor. Even if you sew leather together, it’s called armor. Even if you sew pieces of wood together with string, it’s called armor. But Liam was talking about armor made of iron.

“It depends on who the blacksmith is, but even so, a set of armor would cost about fifty silver coins.”

“It’s too expensive. I don’t have money to buy winter clothes. And armor? Just put some cloth or leather on them! If we’re going north anyway, what armor would I need?”

“If the private soldiers are well-armed, they will protect their lord with their bodies. And it’s not just important in battle. If the private soldiers are well-armed, they won’t have to fight even when there’s trouble. And you can just sell them for money.”

“hmm…”

Liam has a point.

Fifty silver coins for a set of armor.

That was probably the minimum, but it was a price that could easily be covered by selling the sled.

“No, but still…”

You can’t sell the kochi.

If that guy was born as a real human, he would have been worth more than a hundred gold coins. Since he was also indebted to Ronobe, he would have at least the power of the red level. Since he used the dreaming cocoon, it would have to be more than that, not less.

But you’re selling this for a pair of armor!

“Why the armor? There are many others. There are chainmail and plate armor. Oh, and is it too expensive?”

“Chain armor is the cheapest. Chainmail armor rusts easily and is difficult to maintain.”

“Really? Well, it’s a chainmail armor.”

Moreover, the finished product created by each blacksmith is different.

The purity of iron also varies depending on who makes it, so if the maker is a gangster, he might make armor that can be broken even by a wooden sword.

“Chainmail is vulnerable to arrows and spears. It’s hard to maintain, and most of all, it’s noisy whenever you move. Rather, it’s better to have chainmail, which is easier to maintain and repair. It’s also easy to add other leather or tough tree bark when it gets punctured.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and the prices in the royal capital are on a whole other level than in Gradas. You need gold coins to buy even one set of clothes. Do you think you can buy clothes and new weapons in a place like that? I told you you can’t buy even one.”

That’s right.

But it was weird when Liam did it.

Liam is a country bumpkin who has never left Gradas, so why is he so crispy?

“Where did you hear that?”

“As the quality of the water is what I was talking about.”

“Are you close with Jill?”

“When training soldiers, we give them some advice and sometimes even have them spar with each other when they are bored.”

“Really? Are you okay?”

“There’s a lot to learn. He’s a bit of a slacker, but he’s solid in his fundamentals, so he does it when he has to.”

“… Really? Well, it’s red.”

This is a cider you will see often in the future.

I feel relieved that we are becoming close on our own.

“I asked about this and that.”

“what.”

“Was your master originally that strong in magic? What was he like at first? Was he not an illegitimate child of noble blood?”

“I guess I look a bit cute.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“If you’re jealous, say so. I wasn’t originally this handsome. As I ran toward the top, I naturally became manly.”

Liam looked at Ronobé, who was pretending to run, with pity.

“Where are you going to run? You are usually stuck in a carriage and can’t even walk. Your bones are wearing out.”

Liam was a little worried because he wasn’t exercising and was just lounging around in the carriage like a horny monkey.

“Ahem, am I like a knight? As a wizard, of course I have to use my head more than my body.”

“What kind of hair did you use?”

“What… this and that? This guy is one of those types of heads. What would a guy with a brain full of muscles know? Because I’ve accumulated knowledge like this. Your heart beats slower and you’re stronger, which is nice.”

“Tsk.”

It wasn’t a wrong statement.

Since Ronobe is trying to continue his adventurous life by coming up with his own ideas, he has Liam, Gochi, his private army, and his territory.

That’s right.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but looking at that unlucky bastard, I get so angry that I just want to refute him.

“But you had a duel with Jill? Did you win?”

“Of course I lost. In terms of strength, technique, and speed, he’s one step ahead of me. As of now, I absolutely can’t win.”

Quality is the red knight.

As for the current Liam, he couldn’t defeat Jill even if he died and came back to life. To become a knight, one had to have physical abilities as well as various skills and fighting abilities.

“Aren’t you the only one who wins?”

“Um… stamina? I definitely had good stamina.”

“Isn’t it because the quality is poor that you did it roughly?”

“No. The quality of my stamina is as good as that of an orc.”

“Really? Oh… but did you ever fight an orc? What orc?”

“I once saw an orc slave captured in Aulot. He was an orc who was being used as a slave by some pirates. He had incredible strength and stamina, and he was good at rowing.”

“There’s everything.”

Maybe because it’s a port city, there are pirates and such.

A pirate who enslaves orcs.

There is a certain romanticism to it.

“I don’t mind if my lord commits a crime. Even if he becomes a pirate.”

“What the hell are you talking about… Why do you always say things like it’s an established fact that I’m the one who committed the crime?”

“It just feels that way.”

“And you still think it’s my article?”

“That’s right, I’m here with you. If not, I would have run away a long time ago.”

“But this little brat doesn’t say a word?”

While they were bickering indifferently, Peter and Lirun came over.

“What’s going on?”

It’s pretty early because I just woke up. Liam is a crazy guy who wakes up early and trains, but the kids aren’t.

So what’s going on?

“What is this?”

There was something slimy in a glass bottle. It was something green, but it had no particular smell and I couldn’t tell what it was.

When I asked what it was, Lirun answered.

“I think there’s slime!”

“Slime?”

Peter nodded.

“Peter kept saying that he felt like there was something nearby, so I went to check it out, and there was this stuff on the trees and the forest floor? I think there might be slime living nearby.”

Lirun’s eyes sparkled.

It seemed like they were going to do a slime extermination.

After all, a kid is a kid.

I was looking forward to defeating the slime without thinking about the danger and damage it would cause.

“It’s slime…”

Basically, if you’re a man, you probably know about slime. Isn’t it the typical tentacle-playing monster in games or comics where the armor and clothes of a knight who gets caught in slime melt away?

Ronobedo also owed a lot to that kind of person in the past, when he was preparing for college.

“Liam, is slime dangerous?”

“It’s dangerous.”

Slimes have a reputation of being weak by default, but that’s only true in games. In reality, slimes are one of the most difficult monsters to defeat.

“Slime is basically a body made of mucus. Swords and spears don’t work well against it.”

Plus the heart of the slime.

That means you have to find the core and stab it. The slime here is very large.

It is basically a mucus-like substance the size of a house and is said to not be that transparent. It is said to have a high opacity and to cover or protect the nucleus with leaves and the like.

And above all else.

“There’s nothing to be gained by catching it.”

Slime is slime.

When you catch a monster, you have to get a byproduct, but slime doesn’t have that. It means that there is nothing left after catching it.

There is no reason to go through the trouble of catching him unless a bounty is offered.

“Isn’t the core of the slime a rock?”

“It’s a little different. It might be a monster, but it might not be.”

It’s usually a matter of probability, like with monsters, so if the monster doesn’t appear, you lose.

“There’s no particular use for mucus.”

Mucus, similar to digestive fluid, seems excellent at dissolving feces and fertilizers, but in this day and age, why would we throw away feces and fertilizers? They are all useless because they have a place to be used.

As a result, there is no reason to catch slime.

‘Because they’re not kids.’

Ronobe is the master of a territory and the leader in charge of the party’s journey. He cannot afford to waste time or exert unnecessary effort to catch a useless slime.

And what if you get hurt while holding it? That would be really stupid.

“No, I don’t want to, go back.”

Lirun and Peter returned with sullen faces.

“Liam, watch them. Don’t let them go anywhere.”

“Surely not?”

“You never know where the kids will run off to.”

They may decide that it’s worth a try and sneak off to catch some slimes.

“Kids are kids because you never know what they might do.”

“…”

Liam’s gaze towards Ronobe was very rude. It was as if he was saying, “Aren’t you like that too?”, but Ronobe didn’t blame him.

“Where are you going?”

“I think you’re going somewhere.”

“…”

Slime?

Children are dangerous.

It could also be detrimental to soldiers.

But Ronobe is not alone.

“Let’s go catch some slime~”

Slime? It’s a liquid anyway.

Then there is no reason why it cannot be frozen.

I couldn’t sleep because of the nightmares, but it was the perfect way to kill time before leaving.

“Don’t come too late.”

“Aren’t you worried?”

“What are you worried about when you’re going to go even if I tell you to?”

“That’s true.”

If you think it’s dangerous anyway, just turn into a sparrow or a crow and run away.

Knowing this, Liam was also going to leave him alone. In the first place, even if he fought a wizard, he was the one who would win, so why would he worry about something like a slime?

Ronobe transformed into a crow and flew around to find places where slime might be by smell and sound. When he came down to the forest, he transformed into a cat and wandered around, and since it was really nearby, he was able to find it right away.

There are traces of the mucus-like substance everywhere, so it is impossible not to notice.

“Is it green slime?”

Since this is a lush forest, the slime seems to have a color that matches the forest.

The smell is also a bit strong.

“If I were to do it, I would rather have a pretty girl slime.”

However, it seems a little difficult to hope for something like that.

Because the level of slime seemed higher than Ronobe had thought.

“hmm.”

There were bones everywhere.

They appeared to be animal bones, but there were also quite a few human bones mixed in.

A huge cave that exists in a place where bones are piled up.

I could sense it.

“It’s a dungeon.”

If it’s just slime, it’s not worth any money.

But it’s a different story when it comes to dungeons.

“There is a reason why dungeons exist…”

The source of the dungeon. The root is a rock or something, and it definitely becomes money. It’s a bit ambiguous because it’s slime, but money is money.

There is a reason to take on the risk.

But there is one more problem.

‘I didn’t know there would be passengers.’

In front of the slime dungeon.

It was crowded with people seeing it for the first time.

Just by looking at their first impressions, you could tell they were wizards. They looked like three wizards who had brought a bunch of private soldiers with them.

“This is it.”

“Is that okay? If I just subdue this place, I can really get the Blue Badge?”

“Of course. If we do this, we can get a title too.”

Looking at the story going back…

‘Is it a kingdom magic test or something?’

It seems to be a kind of promotion quest to get promoted to the Blue Badge.

“You went in first.”

It seems like we’re getting closer to the king.

It’s strange to suddenly see three wizards who would normally be hard to find.

It’s a shame, but it’s not something to be greedy about.

Didn’t you go in first?

In that case, they would have exclusive rights to the dungeon. If you followed them in without permission, you could get cursed at or attacked.

“Shall I just take a quick look…? No.”

If they get a rare treasure while sightseeing, I’ll probably die of hunger.

I can’t help but feel sick to my stomach because of Ronobe’s personality. It’s better to just turn away than to see something like that.

“You’re lucky. If it were someone like Kael, he would have been beaten and killed.”

Ronobe returned to the campsite with light steps, feeling as if he had done something good.

After a while.

I must have had a meal, but I was about to set off in my carriage to head to my next destination.

“Please, spare me…! Please. I will be more than grateful!!”

A man covered in blood appeared from the forest and stopped the carriage.

“Surely not.”

The moment the soldiers took out their swords and were about to strike him down.

“I, I am the Green Wizard of the Kingdom! I have a badge of honor to prove my identity! So… So please, help me!!”

I wonder if that’s true.

“Those guys from earlier.”

No, now it’s not ‘the’ but ‘one’.

“What’s going on?”

The story was worth listening to.