"Guh—!?"
An improvised manual pile bunker, if you will. Glen-san’s blow didn't just drive the Metal Slime nail deep into the skull; it sent a massive shockwave through the Leader Rhino’s body, snapping the restraining vines like thread.
The creature's death rattle was swallowed by the thunderous boom, barely reaching my ears. With a final, violent spasm, the Leader Rhino lost all support and slumped over, nearly half its bulk vanishing into the murky depths of the swamp.
I managed to teleport back to solid ground just before the impact, but a sharp, throbbing pain radiated from the arm that had braced the nail. Even with Qi protecting me, the sheer force of the impact had been enough to splinter my bones. Glen-san’s power was truly something to fear.
"Did you break it? I thought you let go at the last second," Glen called out.
"I held on until the tip bit into the skull," I replied. "But I can fix this with healing magic, so it’s basically zero damage."
"Fixing yourself too? Between the magic and all the undead we’ve been seeing, you’re starting to look like a zombie to me."
"I see your point, but still..."
"It’s a compliment, kid. Mostly."
I wasn't entirely satisfied with the comparison, but the plan had worked. I checked on the Metal Slimes; thanks to their Hardening, physical resistance, and my Qi reinforcement, they were perfectly fine. With no other monsters in sight, I could officially declare the mission a success.
Still... I had to wonder how I would have fared alone. A spear loaded with Bloody Slimes aimed at the eyes or mouth would have likely done the job, but beyond that, I doubted my ability to pierce its hide. Even Glen-san had compared its durability to an S-rank monster. This experience was a clear sign that I needed to train harder and boost my personal offensive capabilities.
"Oh?" I turned to see the mother rhino approaching with her child. Her wounds had already finished regenerating. I felt no hostility from her, and just as I thought she was coming to confirm the kill, she raised her front legs, balancing on her healed hind limbs in a "banzai" pose. The calf immediately mimicked her.
"What are they doing?" Glen asked.
"I believe that’s the Cannonball Rhino submission pose."
I remembered reading about this while researching—it looked like an intimidation tactic to make themselves appear larger, but it was actually a gesture of surrender usually seen after a fight between two males.
"Is it because we took out the big guy? Did Kormi tell them about us?"
I asked out of habit, but they couldn't understand me. The calf’s legs merely began to wobble under its own weight.
"Stop overthinking it and just contract the thing," Glen prompted.
"Right. We won't be able to communicate otherwise."
Since the mother was undead, I focused my taming magic on the calf. The contract took hold instantly.
"So, you're officially my tamed monster now, okay?"
"Kyu!"
"First, let's head back to the village mansion. I want to report the news to Kormi."
I asked them to follow me, and the calf gave a chirp of agreement. The mother followed quietly. I could sense a swirl of complex, wordless emotions coming from her; I think she already knew what was coming next.
"Hey, Ryoma. If we don't haul this carcass back now, scavengers will pick it clean. How do we split it?"
"You can have the Leader Rhino, Glen-san. Just let me retrieve my slimes."
"I delivered the killing blow, but you created the opening."
"Honestly, I don't think we could split it even if we tried. I doubt normal blades could even dent that hide. Even with Qi, I'm not sure I could butcher it without ruining the materials, and it's definitely impossible for the goblins. It’s better to take it as a whole unit, just like your client suggested."
"Fair enough. I'll hang onto it. The vines are snapped, so just clear away the mud."
I drained the swamp water with magic and excavated the carcass while retrieving my Big Metal Slimes. The calf watched the process in silence. I wasn't sure what it felt seeing the leader of its herd—the one that had tormented its mother—being packed away, but as a creature of the wild, it seemed to understand the law of the jungle.
Once Glen-san had finished stowing the carcass in his item bag, we led the rhinos back to the mansion. Well, the mansion is Kormi, so saying 'back to Kormi' is a bit redundant, I mused.
Kormi was waiting by the gates.
"Welcome back!"
"We're home. The Leader Rhino is down, and the child is safe."
"I see..."
Kormi didn't have a face, but his sorrow was palpable.
"Kormi, a parting is inevitable, but there's no harm in taking a little more time."
I wanted them to have no regrets. Kormi nodded vigorously.
"You two wait inside the mansion for a bit," I said, entrusting the rhinos to Kormi. I had one more task.
"Where are you off to?" Glen asked.
"There's likely a Doping Bee nest near the pond. I can't leave that risk standing if we're using this place as a base. Besides, I should give them some privacy for their goodbye."
"Fair point. I'll head off and hunt something nearby then."
An hour later, I found it. I’d expected it to be a needle in a haystack, but following the game trails the Leader Rhino had carved made it easy. The nest, roughly the size of a drum, was lodged in the high branches of a heat-radiating tree.
Climbing up there was out of the question, and I wasn't about to risk a sting. I summoned my Spider Slimes and a Big Sticky Slime from my Dimension Home.
The Spider Slimes wove a dense, multi-layered perimeter of webs around the tree to ensure no escapees. Then, I sent the Big Sticky Slime up the trunk. It enveloped the nest entirely.
The bees swarmed out to defend their home, trying to drive their venom into the intruder, but they couldn't reach the slime's core. Every bee that touched the slime's surface was instantly snagged by adhesive fluid and pulled in. Those still inside the nest suffocated as the slime sealed the air holes. Thirty minutes later, the colony was wiped out. A few might have been away from the nest, but complete eradication in the Sea of Trees was an impossible goal anyway.
I collected the nest and the carcasses and returned to the mansion. The mother and calf were lying together by the gate, their eyes fixed on me. They had been waiting.
"Are you ready?"
"Kyu."
"Gwon."
"They're okay," Kormi interpreted. "She says, 'Thank you. Please look after my child.'"
The two rubbed their necks together one last time, and then the Mother Rhino simply faded away, vanishing as if she had never existed.
"Did she pass on?"
"Yes. They aren't like humans; it's a very clean departure."
The calf stood up and walked to my feet, rubbing its neck against mine just as it had done with its mother. It had accepted its loss and chosen to move forward. As its new leader, I would make sure it was looked after.
The next day arrived.
"Are you really leaving already?" Kormi asked.
"My work here is done. I'm not in a massive rush, but I can't stay forever."
If I didn't return soon, the people in Gimul would think I’d died. Or worse, they might send a search party into this death trap.
"Don't look so sad. I'll be back. I told you I can use space magic to jump back here much faster now."
I had placed Stone Slime markers at regular intervals along the path, equipped with pots of food to sustain them. While I couldn't teleport to Kormi in a single hop, I could chain teleports through those markers to make the trip in a single day. Kormi knew I wasn't lying, but the loneliness was still there.
The goblins were all in my Dimension Home for the journey since they weren't yet equipped to survive here without me. I wanted to give Kormi something to occupy his mind. He was currently in his mannequin form.
"Why don't you try changing your look?"
"My look?"
"Back in my world, we have things called 'avatars.' You can customize them however you like—it's a way to represent yourself. People spend hours just perfecting the details."
I suggested he stop borrowing other people's faces and create his own. He read my memories and shifted from a black mannequin into a small child. He used me as a template—black hair, black eyes, wearing a child-sized jersey. He looked exactly like a younger version of me.
"You look like my little brother."
"Little brother? ...Brother!"
He began darting around excitedly, checking out his new limbs. I wasn't sure why being my brother was such a highlight for him, but I was glad he was happy.
"I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. Keep an eye on the place for me, okay?"
"Okay! Next time, I'll show you a different avatar!"
"It's a promise."
I held out my pinky, and he mirrored the gesture with his small, new finger. We made our pinky swear, and I met up with Glen-san outside.
"Ready?"
"Yes. He’s in good spirits now."
"Kids usually are after a tantrum. He’s pretty well-behaved, all things considered."
I turned back to wave as we walked away. Kormi was standing in the gate, looking like a perfectly normal human child, waving back with everything he had.
"Come back soon!"
I waved once more and focused on the path ahead. I had promises to keep—to Kormi in the forest, and to my friends outside of it. It was time to head home.