The next day, accompanied by fifteen adventurers dispatched from the Adventurer Guild, we returned to the site where we had fought the Elder Trent.
With their help, we began the massive task of recovering the timber. Aside from the amount that could be stored in Raypin's Dimension Home, the rest was to be kept temporarily in the town and guild warehouses. It was eventually decided that the haul would be transported to Gimul by carriage later on.
The reason was quite simple: the sheer number of Trents we had felled was staggering. Even the veteran adventurers sent to assist us were shocked to see that the total count had reached over a thousand.
Because they had been swarming in increasing numbers, we had been forced to kill them one after another. Everyone, myself included, had simply finished off any monster that came within range. When we finally tallied everyone’s kills, it resulted in this massive harvest.
Looking at so many of the forest's trees cut down, I worried briefly about the environmental impact. However, when I asked the local adventurers, they assured me it would be fine.
Apparently, the trees in this forest were a species called Torigiri. While they only grew in specific regions, they possessed incredible vitality and grew at an exceptional rate. Even if cut down to the stump, they would supposedly return to their original size within six months. Even a newly planted seedling would grow large enough to be harvested as lumber within a year.
Because of this, they explained that the forest would look the same by next year, meaning there was no long-term damage to the town’s primary source of income. Furthermore, loggers rarely ventured this deep into the forest anyway.
I accepted the explanation, though it served as another reminder that I was in a different world.
On Earth, it would take years or even decades after planting a seedling before it was ready for harvest, but here it only took six months. Common sense from my old life really didn't apply here.
"Right then, let us begin!" Asagi shouted.
The recovery work started, punctuated by the occasional skirmish whenever we discovered a lingering Trent.
Asagi and the others gathered the wood into piles while Raypin and I—the two with Dimension Homes—shuttled back and forth between the town and the forest.
Thanks to the extra manpower and our magical transport, the recovery process was finished by around three in the afternoon. To ensure the destination was prepared for the influx, I sent Eins to my shop with a message to contact the Gimul Adventurer Guild.
With the standard Trent lumber sorted, the assistants returned to town. However, our party still had one major task remaining.
"Now then... time for the final prize," I said.
We still had to dismantle and recover the Elder Trent.
The original request I had accepted in Gimul was specifically for standard Trent lumber, meaning the Elder Trent was outside the scope of the contract. In these cases, the materials belonged to the hunters. However, if we asked the guild to handle the felling and transport, we would have to pay the fees out of our own pockets. Given that Elder Trent lumber was considered top-tier material for mages' staves and fetched a high price on the market, it would be a waste to leave it behind. We decided to handle the recovery ourselves, even if the sheer size made it a daunting prospect.
"Well, it's our last job. Let's finish it quickly," Welanna said, pulling out a hatchet.
The first step was pruning. We used ladders to reach the lower branches, but the Elder Trent was so massive that many branches were far beyond their reach.
I left the lower sections to the others and took charge of the high-altitude pruning.
For this, I used a sturdy rope woven from Sticky Slime thread and enlisted the help of my Metal Slimes, who transformed into hooks and specialized clamps to secure me to the trunk.
I fashioned a loop and knot at the end of the rope and had a Metal Slime grip it tightly to create a grappling hook. I swung it to build momentum, took aim, and threw. The hook flew true, coiling around a thick, sturdy branch.
I tugged the rope a few times to test it. It didn't budge. Satisfied with the strength, I climbed up. From a safe distance, I used Wind Cutter to systematically drop the surrounding branches. Once an area was cleared, I moved to a new spot and repeated the process.
It would have been easier to fell the entire tree first, but the branches were more valuable than the trunk for making staves. If we cut the tree down first, the impact would shatter the precious branches, so we had to do it the hard way.
I worked in silence until the pruning was finally finished by the end of the day. The rest would have to wait until tomorrow. Climbing up and down that massive tree a dozen times had left me thoroughly exhausted.
The following day, we resumed the recovery of the Elder Trent.
Since the pruning was done, today’s task was to dig up the roots and section the trunk. However, something unexpected happened.
"Everyone! Please, come over here!" I called out.
While I was using Earth Magic alongside my Earth Slimes to excavate the base, I discovered a large number of decayed, collapsed wooden boxes buried directly beneath the Elder Trent.
"What's wrong?" "Did you find something?" "There's something buried here. Look." "Are these... wooden boxes?" "There are so many of them," Miya noted. "Why would something like this be buried here?"
"For now, let us take a few out and examine the contents," Raypin suggested. He carefully retrieved one and pried it open.
The box was packed with white, opaque stones.
"What are they?" I asked.
"Mana stones," Raypin replied. "Or rather, used ones. Mana stones are transparent like crystal as long as they hold mana, but they turn white and opaque as they are depleted. These... are all completely empty."
"We should probably report this to the guild," Asagi said.
"Wagahai shall go and inform them. Can the rest of you continue the excavation and verification?"
No one objected, and Raypin teleported back to town immediately.
The rest of us continued to recover the boxes, opening them one by one. Nearly all of them were filled with spent mana stones. However, we did find a small amount of stones that weren't entirely depleted—specifically No-Attribute and Dark Attribute mana stones.
Soon, the reason for the stash became clear.
"Wagahai has returned. Is there any change?" Raypin asked as he reappeared.
"Hello. I've been dispatched from the—Hieee!?"
The woman Raypin had brought with him started to introduce herself, but her voice died in a shriek as she looked down at our feet.
It was a natural reaction. Without mental preparation, seeing what we had just uncovered was a shock. They were human corpses.
"W-What are those?" she stammered.
"They were buried along with the boxes," Asagi explained.
The bodies were almost entirely decayed, but judging by the skeletons, there were several men.
"We found some of their belongings as well," I added.
"Thank you..." she said, trying to steady herself.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine with blood or injuries, but... I’m not very good with remains in this state. I'm sorry, could you help me with the inspection?"
Her face was pale as we went through the personal effects together. We discovered a ledger among the remains that identified the deceased as Magic Stone Merchants—specifically, illegal ones involved in smuggling and black-market distribution. This massive cache of mana stones had been their inventory.
Whether they had been trying to conduct a deal in the deep forest or were using this as a secret warehouse, we couldn't say. However, it was highly likely that the Elder Trent had grown to its abnormal size by absorbing the mana from the stones buried beneath it.
The mana from the stones likely fueled its ability to spawn so many lesser Trents and its proficiency in Dark Magic. It was also speculated that the reason the Elder Trent hadn't moved from this spot was because it was physically anchored by the massive weight of the smuggled boxes.
"Thank you for your cooperation. You may resume your work now. If you'll excuse me!"
The investigator finished her confirmation of the scene and practically fled the area.
Watching her retreat, we got back to work. We used the large saws formed by the Iron Slimes and Metal Slimes to section the fallen Elder Trent, and I stored the pieces in my Dimension Home. With that, our business in this town was technically finished, but the grim discovery at the end left us with a somewhat muted sense of accomplishment.
So, I made a suggestion.
"Shall we have a drink tonight?"
To dispel the heavy atmosphere, we decided to hold a small victory party after dinner to celebrate our hard work. The venue was my Dimension Home.
"The journey back to Gimul still lies ahead, but we have secured more than enough Trent lumber. We can consider this mission a success. Tonight, let us drink! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" everyone shouted in unison.
We began drinking to Asagi's toast and dug into the appetizers. Today’s menu was tempura.
Wild mountain greens grew in abundance in the forest where we had been hunting, and they were being sold in large quantities at the town's greengrocers. Aside from Asagi, no one knew what tempura was, but they had taken an interest since I had been serving Japanese-style meals throughout the trip.
To my surprise, I learned that people in this country rarely ate fried food at home.
"I thought French fries were a common sight at the recent Founding Festival," I commented.
"They are," Silia explained, "but frying requires a massive amount of oil that you eventually have to discard, right? We're told that reusing oil too many times is bad for your health, so it feels like a waste of money."
"Plus, if you don't know what you're doing, it's a fire hazard," Mizeria added. "That's why fried food is considered festival food."
For those reasons, it was generally avoided in ordinary households.
Personally, I thought it was more of a waste to avoid it entirely, but it was true that it used a lot of oil. As for the health concerns regarding oxidation, I could just use Alchemy to separate the oxygen from the oil. As long as the oil itself didn't get filled with debris, I could reuse it indefinitely.
Actually, I could just use Alchemy to filter out the impurities as well. I’ve been using Alchemy to tweak juices and oils and other cooking ingredients for a while now; I wondered if this was technically a proper use of the skill? Well, even if it wasn't, it was far too convenient to stop.
"Still, Ryoma, your slimes really are something else," Welanna said.
"Slimes are omnivores, so it is not strange for one to consume alcohol," Raypin noted, "but still..."
"It's definitely savoring the drink," Silia added. "And it's eating the snacks, too."
Indeed, in addition to the seven of us, one of my slimes had joined the party.
Ever since I had given it some ale once before, this particular slime would hop over whenever I was having an evening drink. At first, it would just dive into a bowl of alcohol and gulp it down like water. Lately, however, it had started using a tiny sake cup I made specifically for it, sipping slowly to match my pace. It had even started pouring refills for me and nibbling on the snacks.
As I was telling the others about its habits, the slime suddenly began to tremble.
"Oh, could it be?" I muttered.
"Is something wrong nyan?" Miya asked.
"The slime is starting to evolve."
"What!?"
There was no mistake. When I told them, everyone's attention snapped to the slime. Just like my others had in the past, it spent about ten minutes releasing and absorbing mana before the transformation completed.
"It has stopped moving," Raypin observed.
Let’s see... the evolved slime was...
Drunk Slime Skills: Alcohol Creation Lv4, Disease Resistance Lv3, Digestion Lv5, Absorption Lv1, Division Lv1 Divine Protection: Divine Protection of the God of Wine Tekun
Wait a minute. I could understand the name "Drunk Slime" since it had been drinking, and the "Alcohol Creation" skill made sense as a result. But why did Tekun's divine protection show up? Can slimes even receive divine protections?
...Well, I’ll have to ask Tekun about that some other time. For now, I checked its preferred mana types: Darkness, Water, and Wood.
"Ryoma, what happened?" Raypin asked.
"Oh, right... it evolved into something called a Drunk Slime. It has a skill called Alcohol Creation. I think it can probably produce alcohol from its body."
"Another strange slime," Raypin chuckled.
I brought out a clean container to test the skill. As expected, the liquid the Drunk Slime produced smelled strongly of alcohol. I used Appraisal and found it was about 80 proof and harmless to humans, so I took a sip.
"Phew... It’s definitely alcohol. But..."
"But?"
"It’s just strong. There’s no flavor to it."
Since it had no real taste or aroma, it wasn't exactly pleasant to drink on its own. However, it might be perfect for making plum wine or other fruit-infused spirits. I’d have to make that a future research project.
As I pondered the possibilities, the others called for another toast to celebrate the slime's evolution. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying our drinks and snacks, bringing the day to a pleasant close.