It was roughly half a day after the attack on Serge. Night had deepened, the date had turned over, and the hour had come when most souls were fast asleep.
Thick clouds choked out the moon and stars. Within the pitch-black streets of Gimul, pinpricks of light flickered to life one by one. Accompanied by thunderous roars like a series of lightning strikes, they heralded an all-too-early dawn for the town’s residents.
"Wh-What was that?!"
One man, shaken awake by the roar, looked around in a daze. His eyes landed on the window, and he froze in shock for several seconds before bolting toward the door.
"Hey! Wake up! Everyone, get up!!"
"What is it, dear? You're being so loud in the middle of the night..."
"This is no time for sleeping! The house across the street is on fire!"
Hearing this, his wife scrambled out of bed and ran to the children, who were still rubbing their sleepy eyes. The man rushed outside to alert the neighbors. Panic and dread rippled through the neighborhood in an instant. Soon, the area around the burning houses was engulfed in the clamor of people screaming for evacuations and water.
Such scenes were unfolding in various parts of the town as the pre-dawn hours ticked by.
"Water! Open the reservoir! Hurry!"
"Is everyone accounted for?! Pound on the doors of anyone still sleeping!"
"Take the children somewhere safe!"
"Someone get word to the Guard Force!"
"Th-This is a disaster!"
"I can see that! Just keep moving!"
"N-No! It’s not just this fire—well, it is a fire, but that's not what I mean! Smoke is rising from the shops on the next street over, and other buildings too! Fires are breaking out all over the place! There aren’t enough people to go around, and we can't gather any more! The Guard Force is stretched thin—they won’t be coming to help us anytime soon!"
The news delivered by the breathless man sent the neighbors into even deeper distress. The residents of the house right next to the blaze watched with despair, realizing it was only a matter of time before the flames jumped to their own roof.
In that moment...
"Please clear the way!"
A boy’s voice rang out, loud enough to drown out the surrounding chaos, followed by the heavy rushing of water. When the crowd turned toward the sound, they saw a torrential river flowing down the street from the distance, with a small boat riding atop the current. Two figures were visible on the vessel, one of whom was a boy dressed in unusual clothing.
The pieces fell into place immediately; everyone knew exactly who it was.
Without waiting for the acquaintances in the crowd to call out, the torrent and Ryoma’s boat swept through the path the people had cleared and skidded to a halt in front of the burning building. Without a second’s delay, the flood carrying the boat surged upward into the sky, pouring back down like a waterfall onto the inferno. Or so it seemed, until the mud and snow on the ground were sucked into the vortex, turning the water into a heavy sludge that swathed the structure.
As if a colossal slime were attempting to devour the building, the muddy water surged once, then twice. With each pulse, the flames died down, and within ten seconds, the fire was completely extinguished.
With the immediate threat neutralized, relief washed over the faces of the onlookers. However, one man stepped forward.
"H-Hey, you!"
It was the same man who had been frantic about the state of the town. He rushed toward Ryoma’s boat with a desperate expression and began to shout.
"Just what is going on?! I heard fires are breaking out all over the city! You're working with the Guard Force, aren't you?! If you know something, tell us! And while I'm grateful you put out the fire, what if there were still people inside?! Doing it like th—eek!"
The man, who had been ranting aggressively, suddenly recoiled. He found himself staring into Ryoma’s eyes—inorganic, emotionless eyes looking down from the boat. Because the fire had died, the street had fallen back into shadow; only the man directly in front of Ryoma noticed that chilling gaze, but the crowd fell silent as they watched him stumble back.
"Lead, your eyes are scary," Yudum interjected from beside him. "I know controlling the magic is a heavy lift, but still."
"My apologies. I suppose I ended up glaring," Ryoma replied as if nothing were wrong. He then addressed everyone present.
"There is no one inside this building. I checked with magic before acting, so please rest assured. As for the current situation, I know nothing beyond the fact that fires have broken out in multiple locations. I simply rushed out because I felt fire suppression was the first priority. However, my Security Company is currently coordinating with the Guard Force and the Adventurer Guild to investigate and fight the fires."
The people murmured among themselves, their anxiety dampened but not gone. Ryoma continued.
"I will not tell you to rest easy! Please maintain a high sense of crisis and make your personal safety your first priority! Beyond that, if you are able, please assist with evacuation guidance and firefighting efforts elsewhere! We need every hand we can get! Please, I'm counting on you!"
Ryoma raised his voice to ensure he was heard over the din and bowed deeply.
Seeing this, the bewildered residents finally began to move with purpose.
"Of course! I'll help!"
"We can't just stand around!"
"Thank you! Also, we are preparing to accept evacuees and the injured at the Security Company and its affiliated hospital! If you judge it necessary, please do not hesitate to go there!"
Ryoma called out to the busily moving crowd before turning his attention back to the man from a moment ago.
"You."
"M-Me?"
"I'm sorry to ask this, but could you go to the Guard Force guardhouse as a messenger? I need you to inform them that the fire here has been extinguished."
"O-Oh, if that's all..."
"Thank you! In that case, please get on board."
"Eh?"
"I'm heading to the next fire site now. I’ll take you halfway; it’ll be faster."
Ryoma’s tone allowed for no refusal, and given the emergency, no one thought to object. If anything, the bystanders glared at the man for hesitating, as if telling him to get moving.
Yielding to the silent pressure, the man hurriedly hopped onto the boat.
"Here we go!"
At his command, the muddy water enveloping the building collapsed like bursting bubbles, flowing back into the stream to lift the boat and propel it forward. As the vessel accelerated, Yudum spoke to their passenger.
"Sorry about that. Our lead can be a bit forceful."
"No, I was the one being rude earlier. I suppose I was just out of my mind with worry."
"It's a help to hear you say that. Like I said, just maintaining this magic is an enormous burden for him."
"...Is it really that difficult?"
"You have no idea. It drains mana like crazy and requires incredibly delicate control. Especially at this speed—if he doesn't stay focused, we’ll crash. He can't even hold a conversation right now. That’s why I’m on board to handle everything else... oops, looks like I’ve got some work to do."
Yudum moved toward the rear of the boat to begin his tasks.
The man began to subtly observe Yudum and Ryoma in turn. He waited until Yudum was distracted and confirmed that Ryoma was looking straight ahead. Judging that neither of them was paying him any mind, he quietly reached for his waist and drew a knife.
He lunged forward, aiming to bury the blade in Ryoma’s back while the boy was occupied with his magic.
"Gyah?!"
Suddenly, Ryoma whirled around, swinging a Wire Slime down to strike the man’s wrist.
The man cried out and dropped the knife. Before he could react, Yudum seized his arm from behind, pinning him down and slamming his face into the floor of the boat.
"H-How..."
"Because I was on guard from the start," Ryoma said coolly. "Just as I thought—a saboteur."
Ryoma quickly looped a Wire Slime around the man’s neck and choked him into unconsciousness.
"Well done," Yudum said. "But are you sure about this? We aren't going to question him?"
"We don't have the time, and based on his behavior, he's likely a disposable pawn. I doubt he has any high-level information."
"If he were important, his comrades would have helped him escape or silenced him by now... either way, he wouldn't be out here like this. It would’ve been nice if capturing him laid the whole plan bare, though."
"His job was probably just to fan the flames of panic and increase the chaos. He targeted us, but our meeting was likely a coincidence. Most likely, he realized we were interfering with the plan and felt his superiors would blame him, so he got desperate to prove his worth. When I acted like there was an opening, he bit immediately."
"I suppose that makes sense. Still, how did you catch him? He seemed like a professional, even if that last move was sloppy. His act wasn't that unnatural given the chaos."
"Regarding that... it seems I unknowingly acquired the Malice Perception and Hostility Perception skills. It happened today—well, yesterday now. After the attack on Serge-san at noon, a guard named Yashuma pointed it out to me. I hadn't checked my Status Board in a while, so I only just realized it. I might have had them since back when we first met, Yudum-san."
"Ah, you were pretty on edge back then. You might not have realized it, but you'd become sensitive to the general malice and hostility of this town while it was in such a rough state."
"I suppose so... though looking back at that period of my life feels more like a dark history. Lately, I haven't been exposed to much malice. Most of the people around me now are kind and gentle. It’s like a starving person suddenly eating a massive feast—their body can’t take it and they just throw it up. At least, that's what I'd like to believe."
Ryoma gave a dry laugh as he recalled his past mistakes.
Yudum shrugged. "But those skills are why you stopped the attack at noon, right? That’s a win in my book."
"True. Being able to sense it just before it happened was key, but I also think I was lucky that the Mana Body Perception and Scouting using Slimes techniques I've been practicing lately worked so well against the enemy's abilities."
"Malice and Hostility Perception are famously hard to learn on purpose, and they're highly sought after for security work. There's no downside to having them. But seriously, slimes have sensing abilities that impressive? I've never heard of that."
"It's probably impossible unless you have a very high compatibility with slimes. Also, until you get used to it, it causes a massive headache. It's difficult to use and hard for others to notice. I managed to endure it mostly because my interest in slimes was stronger than the pain."
"I've met a lot of people, but I've never seen anyone with as much passion for slimes as you, Lead."
"There are plenty of people with passion. You probably didn't know, but there are three former slime researchers working at my laundry branch."
"Wait, really?"
"I don't intend to lose to them in terms of enthusiasm, though... More importantly, we're almost at the next fire."
"Understood. I'd better get back to work, too."
"Let's do everything we can."
Ryoma pushed the boat to even greater speeds, his eyes fixed on the smoke rising into the dark sky.