"That's the fifth one found."
My Rimur Birds scouted from above while the slimes used their numbers to sweep the ground. I followed behind to confirm and record the findings. With the labor divided according to our respective strengths, we were uncovering nests in no time. The job was technically finished once I had enough to report, but finding them this easily left me feeling a little restless.
The request only required me to locate the nests, but since I had the time, I wondered if I could improve the quality of my report. It would be much more helpful if I could determine the size of the nests or the number of enemies inside. I could send slimes in to investigate, but they would likely run into ants deep within the tunnels. If that happened, the mission would probably shift from a scouting expedition to a full-blown battle before I knew it.
It would be fine if I could wipe them out, but with such high numbers, a few might escape. Tunnel Ants were burrowing monsters, after all.
"Detection."
No good. The narrow, winding tunnels seemed to make the mana flow too complex to read. I could only make out the area near the entrance. I could try flooding the area with mana to map it like a mold, but the consumption would be astronomical.
I spent five minutes pondering my options. Then, I happened to look down and saw a clear footprint pressed into the overturned soil.
...Maybe I should give that a try.
I cast Detection again. However, this time I used earth-attribute mana instead of no-attribute. Just as I did with Rock or Break Rock, I focused on the image of my mana permeating the ground itself.
"Detection... Oh!"
It was a success!
The mana spread through the earth, stopping only where there was no soil. The empty spaces that appeared within my search range vividly conveyed the shape of the nest. As for the Tunnel Ants... there didn't seem to be any reaction from them.
Since I wasn't searching for life signs within the nest, I couldn't know the exact number of enemies, but it also meant I wasn't provoking the ants inside. Furthermore, based on the size of the nest compared to the size of a single Tunnel Ant, I could roughly estimate the maximum capacity of the colony.
I decided to create a rough model of the nest's shape with Rock before I forgot the details. I also noted the time of the investigation. Alright, from now on, I’ll include these earth-attribute sweeps. Though, "earth-attribute detection" is a bit of a mouthful. Since it's a specialized form of detection... I think I'll call it Earth Sonar.
"On to the next one!"
I led the slimes toward the next candidate site.
There were multiple paths to the left and right, but which way should I go? Wait...
Eins's field of vision showed a group of six pulling a small cart. Judging by their height, they were children. They looked familiar. Ah, it was Beck and the others.
"I might as well go say hello. Hey there!"
I called out to the group while they were resting, making sure to announce myself so I wouldn't startle them as I approached.
"If it isn't Ryoma. We've been seeing a lot of you lately," Beck said. "Are those slimes behind you?"
"Well, we both work in the same town. These are Metal Slimes and Iron Slimes."
"Th-that's an incredible number again..." Wist stuttered, his face twitching. He really didn't seem to be a fan of slimes.
"So, do you need something?" Beck asked.
"I'm scouting for Tunnel Ant nests on a job for the Tamer Guild. I happened to see you, so I thought I'd say hello. Are you all here for the same thing?"
"We're here for extermination. Sort of," Marta the half-elf replied.
"Our main goal is the Tunnel Ant carapaces," Phinia the half-dwarf added.
"An older guy from the slums is apprenticed to an armor craftsman," the dog-kin siblings, Ruth and Rumir, explained. "If we bring him the materials, he'll make us gear for cheap! He calls it practice, but the master says the armor is the real deal!"
"It's just as they said," Beck continued. "Ant carapaces are lighter than metal and sturdier than leather, so they're great for armor and shields. He said if we bring extra materials, he'll give us an even bigger discount. Since the guild pays for the extermination too, we want to take this chance to get equipment for everyone."
"Besides," Wist added softly, "this plain is where we usually gather medicinal herbs. I want it to go back to the way it was before as soon as possible."
"I see..."
However, looking at their cart, they only had one Tunnel Ant corpse.
"Well, it's as you can see," Beck admitted.
"We just can't find any of them," Marta complained.
"Maybe we should try coming out at night," Rumir suggested.
"The lady at the Guild said they're more active then," Phinia noted.
"But it's dark at night, and we don't know how many will come out," Ruth countered.
"It would be bad if there were t-too many..." Wist whimpered.
They seemed to be properly considering their safety margins, at least.
"In that case, shall I show you where the ants are?" I proposed.
My job was strictly scouting. I only had to find the nests and didn't actually need to clear them. However, whenever I approached a nest, several sentries would emerge, forcing me to deal with them. I figured I could just guide the kids to the nests and let them handle the sentries instead.
"That would definitely help us, but why are you doing this?" Beck asked suspiciously.
"Hmm... I can only say it's on a whim."
Our first encounter hadn't been the best, but they were working hard in their own way. Having seen them out here several times, I felt like giving them a little support. That was really all there was to it.
"You're a weird one," Beck said, then grinned. "But we won't say no to help."
He turned to the others and told them their break was over. They seemed motivated.
With the six of them joining me, I resumed my work.
"Alright!"
We reached the seventh nest since we teamed up. The sentries were taken down almost immediately. Beck and his group were fighting aggressively. Meanwhile, I acted purely as a luggage watcher. Since they said they wouldn't hold back, I thought they might rely on me a bit more, but it turned out they only needed me to find the nests. Since my familiars did most of the actual searching, I was barely doing anything at all.
"Ryoma, let's make the next one our last," Beck called out.
"Are you sure?"
"We have enough materials now, and we won't be able to fit any more on the cart."
The cart already held twelve corpses. They could have fit more if they butchered them for the carapaces on the spot, but apparently, the craftsman had warned them that if amateurs tried to do it, the quality would suffer. Since I had no experience butchering ants either, I wasn't about to argue.
I could have put some in my Item Box, but if we headed back after the next one, we could definitely make it home before the sun set.
"Understood."
They loaded the defeated ants onto the cart and we set off at a leisurely pace.
Still, to think there were this many nests... was it the breeding season? In many ant-type monsters, there was usually a queen. However, I had heard that Tunnel Ants built nests and reproduced regardless of whether a queen was present; a queen's presence simply meant the colony would grow much larger. It was hard to tell for sure.
"It's around here."
While the six of them prepared themselves, I confirmed the location and scale of the nest with Earth Sonar.
Wait.
"...Beck. This one might be dangerous."
"Is it a huge nest?"
"The opposite. It's much smaller than the others. That means the entrance and the deepest part of the nest are much closer together. We might not get away with just fighting the sentries this time."
It was about a third of the usual size. Because the nest was small, the total number of ants would be lower, but based on what I'd seen of the group so far, they could only safely handle three or four at a time.
"Should we pick a different one?" I asked.
"Let's see... but I want to get used to fighting groups," Beck said, looking at his friends. "Could you wait a bit?"
The six of them huddled together to discuss it. After a minute, Beck turned back to me.
"Ryoma, we want to fight here. Something like what happened the other day might happen again, and we need to be ready."
I see. Well, they wouldn't die against Tunnel Ants.
"Then I'll join in too."
"Is that okay?"
"I'll just provide support."
Being like this reminded me of my old life at the company. I could pick apart the flaws in my former subordinates all day if I wanted to, much like the kids in front of me. But mistakes and weaknesses are to be expected from rookies. There are very few people who can do everything from the start. On the rare occasion, you find someone clever who learns the job quickly, but the only ones who can truly do a full day's work from day one are mid-career hires with experience from another company.
Inevitably, rookies have to be trained. Having been at my company for so many years, I had handled that task many times. Unfortunately, my leadership skills weren't particularly high, but I prided myself on one thing: I had more patience than anyone else.
If a full-fledged employee could handle ten tasks, a rookie might only manage zero or one. If my own workload was ten and the boss demanded ten from the rookie as well, the nine tasks the rookie couldn't do would fall to me, making my workload nineteen.
Even so, I would first give them one task so they could learn to handle that one thing reliably. Once they were used to it, I'd increase it to two. If I increased the work to five before they could even do one properly, then even that first task would become sloppy, and the whole effort would be pointless. Nineteen tasks was still better than twenty. It was fine as long as they were gradually approaching ten.
With that philosophy, if there was a deficiency, I would supplement it. If there was a mistake, I would point it out. If I was asked a question, I would answer—no matter how many times they asked the same thing.
Beck and the others weren't strong yet, and it might be a long time before they could find nests on their own. However, they were capable of taking down the ants right in front of them.
So, for now, they just needed to master the art of fighting Tunnel Ants. There was plenty to learn from it: how to move, how to coordinate, and how to stay calm. Once they mastered that, they could find a new opponent or move on to learning how to scout.
To make that happen, I could provide the skills they lacked and balance the scales.
Most of my old subordinates would have thrown in the towel after only three tasks, though...
"Ryoma? Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
I was remembering things I didn't need to. Beck and the others weren't my employees, so it didn't count. They were different from those guys.
Dismissing the thought, I pulled out another Iron Slime. I transformed it into a katana and finished my battle preparations.