“What happened!?” [Ryouma]
I followed after Roche-san to the back of the carriage and found the place designated for handling quarry noisy .
“What happened? Is anyone wounded?” [Roche]
“When they tried bloodletting, the tub of blood suddenly started moving . They were just startled by that . No one is wounded or anything . But what was that? Did an animal fall or something?”
“Oh, those are just my slimes . I placed them in the tub… Still, this sure is strange, though . I wonder why they’re panicking all of the sudden . ” [Ryouma]
The bloody slimes appear to be panicking because of something .
I don’t sense anything that could be an enemy…!
“Gazel-kun! Which quarry did you bleed before this happened!?” [Ryouma]
“Quarry? That one at the end . ” [Gazel]
“Identify” [Ryouma]
I examined the hanging meat .
Grass Rat corpse .
An herbivorous rodent . Lives in plains with many plants and vegetation .
Its body is fresh, but it’s been poisoned .
This poison is harmless when taken orally unless the mouth is already wounded prior to taking it .
It can still be eaten .
“As expected . This grass rat is poisoned . ” [Ryouma]
“Poison!?” [Gazel]
“But we didn’t use any poison!” [Adventurer 1]
That’s what Gazel-kun and his friends say, but the results of Identify is clear . Still, it doesn’t seem like they’re lying .
In that case, there must be something else to this… Found it!
“It’s this . ” [Ryouma]
It’s hard to see because of the blood and the fur, but there are two holes at the inner part of the forelegs . They were lined up horizontally .
“The bite marks of a snake . This grass rat was probably attacked by a venomous snake before you guys caught it . ” [Ryouma]
It probably just barely survived . But then while it was hiding inside its nest, Gazel and his friends came and attacked it . All the while, the poison in its blood remained, and that poison fell to the tub of blood slimes .
The reason the slimes were moving violently is probably because they were trying to avoid the poisoned blood, but…
“Oh? They calmed down . ” [Roche]
“…It seems the blood slime drank even the poisoned blood . ” [Ryouma]
“It that alright!? Do you need medicine?” [Roche]
A venomous snake’s venom from these parts . Moreover, the sort that’s harmless when ingested orally . It should be the bush snake . I do have medicine to help with that, but it’s only meant to be taken orally . It’s not something to be injected directly into the blood . First, I should dilute the poison as much as possible .
I retrieved the bloody slimes from the other tubs and gathered as much blood as I could .
“There are still 7 grass rats left, right? If those rats aren’t poisoned, do you mind if I take their blood? This isn’t related to the training camp, so I’ll pay for it . ” [Ryouma]
“This is our fault in the first place, so you don’t have to pay us . Right, boys?” [Gazel]
“Y-Yeah . I mean if it’s blood, you can just get as much as you want . ” [Adventurer 1]
“We’d just throw it away anyway . ” [Adventurer 2]
“Yeah . ” [Adventurer 3]
“Thanks . ” [Ryouma]
I quickly examined the 7 grass rats and bled them out .
“Hopefully, this’ll be enough to dilute the poisoned blood… And even if it’s not enough, this much blood should have given them plenty of nutrients . ” [Ryouma]
The bloody slimes are in pain, but they’re not in any danger . The poison of a Bush Snake is weak anyway, and the bloody slime has Poison Resist . Although their resistance isn’t strong enough to resist real poison, a lightweight like this should be no problem . I’ll watch the slimes’ condition for a while after this attempt to dilute the poison and give them nutrients . In the worst case, I’ll have to use medicine that’s never been tested on slimes before .
“I’ll let their situation stabilize like this for now . Thank you, Gazel-kun . ” [Ryouma]
“You don’t have to thank me . I mean I didn’t even do anything . ” [Gazel]
“Just giving me blood is plenty . This is also my fault because I wasn’t paying attention to the slimes, so please don’t mind it so much . You three too . ” [Ryouma]
The three of them replied positively, but they seemed uneasy .
Roche-san went behind them and lightly hit their back .
“It might be a bit hard not to mind, but even if you mind it, nothing will change . So don’t be discouraged, and instead reflect on this and think of how to make the most out of this experience for next time, alright? Ryouma, you’re fine with this, right?” [Roche]
“Yes . ” [Ryouma]
Although the poison was basically harmless as long taken orally, they still might have ended up eating meat without realizing that it was poisoned . If the poison was effective even when taken orally, then it could’ve been bad . If the worst case scenario where to happen, they would find themselves be in a perilous situation .
“Listen . When people get used to doing something and they start getting complacent, that’s when mistakes happen . Complacency is a fatal mistake for adventurers like us . Let this experience be a reminder for you four . Never let your guard down even if it’s at something you specialize at like hunting . ” [Roche]
“Yes!” [Student Adventurers]
“Carry on then . Ryouma, I don’t know much about how to heal slimes . But if there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know . I’ll do my best to cooperate . ” [Roche]
“Us too!” [Gazel]
After Roche-san said that, Gazel-kun and the others also said that they would cooperate .
They wanted me to ask them for help if there was anything I needed .
The morning of the next day, when the sun was yet to rise…
“Ah, is it time to switch?” [Ryouma]
“Yep . ” [Teacher 1]
“Good job . Let’s switch then . ” [Ryouma]
I held my post while carrying a jar filled with bloody slimes . After a while, someone came to switch with me .
“I heard your slimes ended up drinking poison . How are they?” [Teacher 1]
“They’ve mostly calmed down now . ” [Ryouma]