"What kind of slimes did the slimes evolve into?" [Ryouma]
"All sorts. That's about all I can really say. I mean each time they would evolve into something different…" [Robelia]
Robelisan held her head as if remembering something when she said that.
I wonder if something happened…
Putting that aside, though, what were they feeding the slimes at the lab?
“What were you feeding the slimes?” [Ryouma]
“Food? We just gave them whatever… Right?” [Tony]
Tony said in an asking manner, and the other two nodded.
“They wouldn’t give us any budget, so it was hard to procure food for the slimes. Usually, we’d just get the leftover feeds from the other departments and feed that to them. Our salary is barely enough just to support ourselves, so we cut down on costs as much as possible.
There were even some researchers who ate the meat meant to be used as feed, so I doubt there was anyone willing to use their salary to feed the slimes. ” [Robelia]
“Slimes can eat anything, so they were just fed whatever was available. Besides, slimes are creatures that lived in completely different environments by eating whatever was available.” [Tony]
When I heard Robelisan and Tony-san say that, my jaws dropped to the ground.
It’s true that slimes will eat anything if you order them to, but…
Well, I understand why they did it, but because of that the slimes ended up evolving randomly. And because of that they failed to pursue one of the main objectives of their research.
Man… Assumptions are really scary.
Unconsciously, I ended up holding my head. When I lifted my head, the three of them were looking at me.
“Boss, what is it all of the sudden?” [Tony]
“Umm…” [Ryouma]
What should I say?
…Do I just give it to them straight?
“Actually… The conditions for the slime evolution is… food.” [Ryouma]
“Huh?” [Tony]
“What? …” [Caulkin]
“What do you mean?” [Robelia]
“Like I said. Slimes evolve depending on what they eat.” [Ryouma]
I told them about my research findings about the evolution of slimes back at the forest. I told them all the evolution conditions I knew. And when the three of them heard everything, they were shocked.
“U-Unbelievable…” [Robelia]
“The theory we believed was wrong…?” [Tony]
Robelisan and Tony-san held their heads as they said that.
I’m sure it must be hard to accept.
…Huh? Why is Caulkin-san oddly quiet—!?
“Caulkin-san!?” [Ryouma]
Caulkin-san stood frozen on the spot with his head hung down, not making the slightest eek, when out of the blue, he suddenly started crying.
What!?
“Boss…” [Caulkin]
“Y-Yes…” [Ryouma]
Caulkin-san suddenly started talking quietly.
“I fully believe your explanation just now.
Actually, when I was at the lab, I was looking for a way to make the slimes evolve into a Big Slime.
During the process, I noticed that there were many strong monsters in the places that the big slimes could be found, so I hypothesized that slimes might evolve into a big slime if they were fed the meat of powerful monsters.
It was a theory I came up with after seeing everyone else fail to get results. I thought I’d look at things from another point of view.” [Caulkin]
Do they think the big slime is simply another evolution of the slime?
Regardless, he sure got pretty close to the truth.
“Just as Robelia said a while ago, slime researchers already struggle with just feeding themselves, so feeding the slimes with the meat of strong monsters is simply impossible.
But I was a noble and I had some money.
I wanted to get some results and be moved to another department, so I used my own wealth to hire adventurers and feed the slimes the meat of strong monsters.
Of course, I also had to cover the transport of the meat.
I continued that for a year, and eventually, the slime evolved.” [Caulkin]
A slime that ate nothing but meat? I wonder what slime it evolved into.
“in the end, the slime didn’t evolve into a big slime. Instead, it evolved into a meat slime.” [Caulkin]
“Meat slime? Meat? That meat?” [Ryouma]
“Yes. Meat. The feed is meat. Meat. But…” [Caulkin]
Caulkin-san suddenly cut his words and bit his lips.
“It’s not just the feed. The slime itself became… meat.” [Caulkin]
“The slime became meat?” [Ryouma]
What is he going on about?
“I know it’s hard to comprehend. I also don’t have any other way of explaining it other than that the slime is meat. It’s a slime that looks like a lump of fresh meat squirming about.” [Caulkin]
“Fresh meat squirming about…” [Ryouma]
Ugh… That’s a really sickening image.
“I think you could tell already, but the resulting slime evolution was really disgusting, and I was immediately fired.
I poured so much of my wealth into my research that I spent pretty much all of my wealth including my house.
Because of that I couldn’t continue my research anymore.
If what you said is true, then that would explain why my slime ended up becoming a meat slime.
That’s why I believe your theory.
I know it’s a bit too late to be saying this, but I wish I’d known earlier. And when I think about how things could’ve turned out had I just continued my research… It’s just too frustrating!” [Caulkin]
As Caulkin-san said that, he started crying again.
That certainly is frustrating. After all, had he continued his research, he might have uncovered one piece of the puzzle.
Jeff-san mentioned that Caulkin-san blew all of his money on research. Apparently, this was the story behind that.
I better make sure that Caulkin-san gets a proper treasurer when he becomes a manager.