“(No way, you… Slao!?)”

Forgetting all about chasing the boar orc, I directed my question to the slime in front of me.

This guy had evolved into a Long Beast, but… there was no doubt about it.

This sheen, this color, this roundness. From every angle, it had to be Slao.

“(Who are you? I’ve never seen a weird-looking slime like you before.)”

“(Weird-looking!?)”

I agree I am cube-like but I am still a slime…No, that’s not important right now.

“(It’s me, it’s me! You know, we used to hang out together back in the day.)”

“(Who…?)”

“(Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten! We used to pick nuts together, remember!?)”

“(Slimes in a group generally pick nuts together.)”

Fair point.

“(Slasu, it’s me, Slasu. You remember, don’t you?)”

“(No way. Slasu was just a puny weakling. He wasn’t this big. Plus, his color was gray.)”

“(Evolution is the reason You punk, I evolved! When you evolve, you grow bigger, and… well, sometimes your colour changes too, right…?)”

I wasn’t entirely confident about the last part, and my tone became weaker. Slimes don’t evolve very often, so I’d only ever thought about my own case. I didn’t actually know if other slimes changed color when they evolved.

Then again, I’ve been a Arsenal Slime ever since my evolution, so I’ve always been light blue.

Maybe if I had become a Ruby Slime or something, the color would’ve been different.

“(Anyway, forget that for now. What are you doing here? I told you not to venture into areas with dense mana.)”

“(Leveling up my Soul Value, obviously.)”

“(What? What the hell are you talking about? You’re a Long Beast, so maybe you can handle it, but dragging a bunch of Lesser Beasts along… Are you out of your mind?)”

Slao had a few slimes following behind him, but they were clearly Lesser Beasts.

I’d chased the boar orc quite a distance, and while we’d moved out of the Grand Beast zones, this area was still dense with mana.

“(Sacrifices are necessary to get stronger. A slime group has plenty of members. Losing a few isn’t an issue.)”

“(That’s insane… Does Slate know about this?)”

“(Of course, this is Slate’s order.)”

“……”

I was speechless.

What the hell do they think their comrades’ lives are worth…? Ah, that fucker I shouldn’t care about him…but these slimes were clearly not the ones form my time.

“(Damn it, stop this nonsense right now! I’ll go talk to Slate myse—)”

Driven by righteous anger, I started shouting, but my voice trailed off. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt like it wasn’t really my problem.

It must’ve been because my human memories had returned—I couldn’t feel the same kinship with slimes as I used to.

I couldn’t lump them in with other magical beasts, thanks to my time as a slime, but my sense of attachment to them had weakened, to just a fondness.

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“(Slasu, you’re an outcast. Outsiders shouldn’t interfere.)”

“(Shut up, I don’t care about you or that mother***** slate!!)”

“(Don’t ever appear before me again Slasu!)”

Slao’s forceful tone made me even angrier, and I gave a rough response. After that, Slao and his group resumed their exploration of the forest, while I hesitated about stopping them. Then, a flash of light suddenly struck from behind.

“Explode Cannon”

──Ooooooooooon!

An overwhelming explosion shook the forest, and a dazzling shockwave swept through the area.

The ground was torn apart, and the heat wave from beyond the trees burst against my body.

“‘Slaaaa!’”

The direct hit left me unharmed, but the shockwave alone was fatal to everyone else.

The dying cries of the slimes echoed through the forest.

But in a way, they were lucky.

Those closest to me didn’t even have time to scream before they perished.

“(Wh-what the hell is…?)”

“Still an incredible amount of power. Think it worked?”

“Uncertain. There’s a definite response for the surrounding Lesser Beasts. But I’m not sure if my magic can affect a Grand Beast Arsenal Armoury Slime.”

“You’re not as arrogant as usual, huh?”

“True magic practitioners understand themselves. No overconfidence, only fair evaluation.”

From beyond the smoke, two female voices rang out.

They looked to be in their late teens or early twenties. It seemed the attack had been their magic.

“S-Sla…”

“(Hey, Slao! Are you okay!?)”

Right now, the identity of the attackers didn’t matter—saving the survivors did.

Through the dense smoke, I rushed to the slimes. But in the end, only Slao had survived, though even he was fatally wounded.

The heat from the shockwave had burned him, leaving his body slowly disintegrating into gel-like decay.

When I’d asked if he was okay earlier, it was more out of reflex than anything else.

I already knew there was no saving him.

“(Damn it, even though I wanted to take my revenge…it was not by killing them---!)”

Even though slimes have 360-degree vision, I’d been too focused on Slao and his group, and had let my guard down in other directions.

That’s why I’d reacted too late. If I’d used Cover, I could’ve protected every slime here.

To think I’d just been saying I couldn’t feel kinship with slimes anymore—now I wanted to punch myself for it. Watching them die like this filled me with endless regret.

“(I’m sorry, Slao, everyone…)”

“(Hmph… you… don’t need to… feel bad for me… I’m fine…)”

Maybe he’d sensed my guilt. Slao was kind enough to say that.

I felt even worse for making a dying slime comfort me, and I found myself looking for excuses to absolve myself of responsibility.

“(Why the hell are we being targeted anyway…? Of all the creatures, why us? We’ve always avoided humans to survive!)”

Ah, but I knew. My anger was misplaced.

Slimes kill magical beasts to live, too. The only reason we didn’t attack humans was out of fear of retaliation—it was a calculated decision.

It wasn’t a promise or a treaty.

Besides, the main reason we were attacked was probably because I was here. The attackers must’ve wanted the exp I carried.

Slao and the others were just collateral damage.

“(What are you saying…? Don’t lump us… in with weaklings like you… We’ve attacked… humans… plenty of times…)”

Wait a second.

“(I told you, didn’t I? Never attack humans…!)”

“(We… don’t fear… humans…)”

Just then, voices came through the smoke again.

“By the way, sis, that was awful. First time I’ve heard of an adventurer getting hit by a rock-throwing slime.”

“Right? Thanks to the party leader ordering a retreat immediately, we only ended up with a bump this big.”

“That’s getting off lightly… though I guess you wouldn’t agree.”

“Totally! If there are any survivors when the smoke clears, I’m gonna chop them to bits!”

“Poor visibility after use is Explode Cannon’s drawback. Improvements are necessary.”

At that moment, the majority of Slao’s body had melted away.

The remaining parts dissolved at an accelerated rate, turning completely into a gel.

That’s how slimes die.

“……”

A complicated feeling surged within me.

But there wasn’t time to dwell on it.

After paying my farewell to the fallen slimes, I quickly fled the scene to avoid being “chopped to bits” by the humans.

I will come back, you humans.