“This should hold for now. Just make sure you get proper treatment at the hospital later.”
“Thanks. You’ve been a huge help...”
“Boss, I’m all done here. No serious injuries, luckily.”
Ryoma and Yudum had finished suppressing the group of adventurers who had been attacking the townspeople. Now, they were using light magic to illuminate the area while providing emergency first aid to the wounded.
“Thank you for the help. I didn’t see the whole thing, but you were quite efficient.”
“I once aspired to be a knight, so I can handle basic first aid.”
As they spoke, the sound of neighing horses drifted from the distance.
“Is that them?”
“Looks like it. Three carriages.”
Ryoma watched the lights of the approaching carriages draw closer. When the lead carriage was finally visible through the gloom, the coachman shouted.
“Guard Force! Is everyone all right?!”
“We’re fine!”
“Hurry, over here!”
Relief washed over the crowd as they guided the carriages toward the scene. The newly arrived guards leapt down and immediately took charge.
“We received word that a mob was rioting here. Are these the guys piled up over there?”
“That’s right! These two took them down!”
“Understood. We’ll take them into custody. Anyone needing medical attention should board the following carriages. And you’re Ryoma-kun, correct?”
“Yes, I’m Ryoma Takebayashi.”
“A message from the Security Company headquarters: ‘The number of fires is decreasing, but casualties are high. We request your assistance at the hospital.’”
“Understood. I’ll head there immediately. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
With that, Ryoma and Yudum departed for the Guard Force Headquarters Hospital.
Meanwhile, inside the waste processing plant, five men had infiltrated the facility with a single covered carriage. They were busy hauling jars of oil out of the wagon, dousing the lattice-shaped disposal slots in the floor and the piles of trash nearby.
“That’s the last of it.”
“Time to light it up. Get back from the slots.”
The leader waited for the others to clear the area before unleashing his fire magic. A small fireball bloomed in his palm and streaked into the oil-soaked trash. The fire surged down into the disposal slots, and flames erupted across the room in a flash.
“Let’s scram—wait, what?”
As the men turned to flee, they were stopped by a sudden, violent roar of fire.
“Hey, why is it burning like that?!”
“N-No way... we used oil, but this is insane!”
“Was there something explosive in the trash? Or is it those slimes people talk about? Don’t some plant-monsters store oil in their bodies?”
“Who cares? We did the job. Let’s get out of here before the guards show up or we get caught in our own—”
The man’s voice cut off abruptly. As he moved to board the carriage, a movement caught his eye. A translucent tentacle was wriggling in the shadows.
It was as thick as a log, stretching toward the high ceiling like a snake rearing its head. In the blink of an eye, the massive limb swept through the trash as if licking the flames, dragging the burning debris into its gelatinous mass.
“Get away from the carriage!!”
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
The tentacle lunged. The men scrambled out of the way, narrowly avoiding a direct hit, but the debris falling from the massive limb struck them like stones. The carriage wasn't so lucky—the massive weight of the tentacle crushed the frame and cover, leaving the wagon a splintered wreck.
The two horses hitched to the carriage, which had remained calm despite the fire, finally panicked. They thrashed in their harnesses, and with a sickening crack, the wooden shafts of the carriage snapped.
The horses bolted for the exit. One of the men reached out to grab a trailing rein, but his eyes widened in terror.
“Wait... no, nooo!”
Another tentacle had snaked out from the floor. It coiled around his leg and began dragging him toward the inferno within the disposal slot.
“Let go! Let go of me! Damn it!”
He pulled a knife and hacked at the tentacle, but the blade merely slid off the slick surface. He couldn’t even leave a scratch.
“Why won’t it cut?! Why won’t it pierce?!”
In seconds, his feet were dragged over the edge of the pit. The intense heat scorched his shoes, and then the flames climbed up his clothes, engulfing his entire body.
“Aaaagh! It burns! Help me!”
The man writhed in agony, screaming for his life.
“We’ve got our own problems! Die on your own!”
The other four men didn’t even look back. They were only together for the paycheck—there was no loyalty, no bond. They only cared about their own survival.
“How many of these giant slimes are there?! They’re coming out of every hole! We’re trapped! Is there a way out?!”
“This side’s blocked too! If blades won’t work, try magic! Burn it!”
“It’s no use! The magic barely singes the surface, and it heals instantly!”
“No matter how big it is, it’s still a slime! It has a core! Find the core and crush it!”
The four men scanned the room, but they saw nothing but the wreckage of the carriage and each other. Surrounding them was a solid, towering ring of overlapping tentacles.
“If we can’t see the core, is it still down in the pits?!”
“It’s getting bigger... it’s not just a ring, it’s a wall! Wait... is this just one creature?!”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me! How big is this thing?!”
“Fine, it’s big, but I can still make it! Physical Strengthening! Hraaaah!”
One of the intruders enhanced his body with magic. He took a running start, using the wreckage of the carriage as a springboard to leap over the wall of tentacles. It was a massive jump—he would have cleared a house—but as he reached the apex...
“Oof!”
A new tentacle shot up from the wall and slammed into him. Instead of falling, the man was simply absorbed into the gelatinous mass, sinking deep into the slime’s body.
“S-Stop! Let go!”
“A trained monster... damn it.”
Realizing that jumping was impossible, a Dwarf among them suddenly collapsed to his knees.
“Hey! What’s wrong now?!”
“My head... it suddenly...”
“Damn it, this is no time for a headache!”
“Wait, is it poison?!”
“I didn’t... feel an attack... ugh...”
Before he could finish, he slumped over, unconscious.
“God damn it! What kind of monster is this?! I knew this place was smelly and disgusting, but nobody said anything about this!”
“Stop screaming and think!”
“Shut up!”
Driven mad by fear and desperation, one man began hurling debris at the walls of slime. Wheels, metal scraps, burning wood—he threw anything he could find. Everything he threw was either bounced back or swallowed whole.
His tantrum achieved only one thing: the slime recognized him as a threat.
“If I finish this job, I can go back to the top! I’ll kill slimes, I’ll kill guards, I’ll kill anyone in my way! I won’t die in a place like—”
A blast of hellfire erupted from the slime. It engulfed the man in an instant, killing him before he could even scream. He likely never even realized what had happened.
The last man standing had tried to calm his companion and narrowly avoided the fire, but now his vision was blurring. A sudden, acute lack of oxygen left his head spinning.
“Fire? No... a burning wind?” he whispered. “So that’s why the guards left this place alone... I should have just fled to another country. At least there would have been... hope...”
With that final regret, the last man slipped into unconsciousness.
The processing plant fell silent. The divided tentacles set about their work, sweeping up the remaining embers and debris. When every hazard had been neutralized, the tentacles quietly withdrew back into the disposal slots.
The facility was as tidy as if nothing had happened, leaving only the faint, lingering scent of scorched air.