My Demons

After collecting the bodies, Luke stood before the pile of ratmen corpses, holding a long six-foot pole (quarterstaff) in his wrinkled hand.

“Vernut’sya vel pyl’….”

With a low incantation, Luke’s hand released a gray mana.

Zzzt.

The gray mana flickered like a dying flashlight as it began to devour the ratmen’s bodies, causing them to fade in and out. It was a Rank 1 decay magic spell, “Touch of Decay.”

In the game, this spell had a short range and was quickly discarded, but seeing it in reality felt rather eerie.

As the ratmen’s bodies slowly disappeared, Ellen, standing next to me, grumbled with pursed lips, “When are we supposed to wait until? Wasting time on a ratman funeral of all things.”

Though she pretended to talk to herself, it was clear that she expected a response. Usually, Ellen ignored everyone else’s words, so it made sense that she was directing this at me.

I wanted to ignore her as well, but Luke’s advice to be kind to her came to mind, so I reluctantly replied, “If we just leave the bodies, other monsters could feast and multiply. There’s nothing wrong with getting rid of them.”

“Ha, does it look like they’re rotting away?”

“…Then what?”

“It’s impossible to completely erase something. It may seem like they’re disappearing, but in reality, they’re simply breaking down into small, invisible particles.”

She always babbled about balance and conservation, but now she was echoing something akin to the Law of Conservation of Mass.

I pondered this, and Ellen continued her speech, “Eventually, those bodies will become nutrients and fatten up smaller organisms. The ratmen will then hunt and eat those organisms to reproduce, and the cycle will start all over again.”

“Well, that might be the case in a few months. But should we worry about that now?”

“So it’s about short-term effects? Hmph, we’d be better off killing more ratmen during this time.”

“Rather than thinking so complexly, let’s just say it’s interesting to watch while we take a break.”

Despite my explanation, Ellen continued to grumble.

When Luke finished his work and turned around, he noticed Ellen and chuckled, “I apologize for making you wait, Ms. Ellen. I would have moved on if the bodies weren’t so numerous, but I couldn’t just leave them be.”

“Don’t talk to me, old man. You’re ruining my mood.”

… She seems to maintain her arrogant wizard-like demeanor even with strangers, huh?

Even during her time as a wand stand, she was just as disrespectful. Truly, a consistent character.

Suppressing my irritation, I reprimanded her in a low voice, “Ellen. Didn’t I tell you not to speak like that?”

“What did I do? I didn’t call him a stinking old man.”

“Hey, you, really – huh. I’m sorry, Luke.”

I apologized on behalf of Ellen and turned to look at Luke.

“It’s alright. It is true that I’ve caused a delay. I’m sorry, everyone.”

He chuckled lightly.

It seemed he had heard her complaining about the stench of the corpses… Is this the calmness of an elder?

Looking at Luke, it didn’t seem like he was pretending to be okay; he genuinely didn’t seem bothered. I couldn’t help but inwardly admire him. I would have whacked her head with the pole I was holding.

Arnal, who was stretching, broke the silence after my admiration.

“It’s fine, grandpa. Yawn Thanks to you, we got to rest. I wish we could do this every time we encounter a monster.”

“I appreciate you saying that.” 

Grania, who was replacing a torch, shrugged her shoulders, expressing her concern.

“I’m worried about Luke. Using magic in a place like this might drain your power for when we need to fight….”

“There’s no need to worry about that. The training I’ve accumulated over the years isn’t in vain; I have ample mana.”

“Well, if you say so.”

Obviously, in Middle World, a difference of a year or two in age didn’t dictate one’s rank.

In any human society, respect for the elderly, like Luke, was considered essential. It wasn’t merely because of his age that he commanded respect, but rather because surviving to old age in such a harsh world suggested he possessed extraordinary qualities. This fact significantly influenced the two mercenaries to treat him well.

Regardless of Luke’s age, it was hard to imagine anyone disliking someone with commanding and mystical spells, combined with humility and kindness. Anyone who held such dislike would undoubtedly be considered crazy.

“Annoying old man.”

…There you go again, you lunatic.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…No reason.”

“What do you mean, no reason? What’s wrong?”

As I sighed deeply at Ellen, who was toasting white fish cake, I couldn’t help but wonder if the 4th floor of the sewer had always been the territory of the Ratmen.

After dispatching nearly fifty Ratmen, there were hardly any monsters left. Despite searching the area for over two hours, we found no trace of any other creatures.

Just as we were beginning to relax our guard, an unexpected ambush startled us. Out of nowhere, something fell from the ceiling.

My mind failed to react, but my character, Phoenix, with an agility score of 20, instinctively swung the torch I was holding to strike the unknown enemy.

“Ugh, what is this?”

The unidentified foe was pushed back by the heat of the torch, adhering to the wall.

And then, it started crawling towards Ellen.

“Um, what is that?”

It was dissolving something inside its slimy body. The creature would shrink to the size of a head and then expand to the size of a calf, climbing the wall at an alarming speed.

It was a jelly-like creature with a black sheen.

Ugh, it’s disgustingly nauseating.

“Everyone, be careful! It’s a slime!”

As Luke yelled out, the attacker that had ambushed us turned out to be a slime.

It must have been hiding on the ceiling, using its adhesive properties, and then attacked me when I walked under it.

Ellen, who was walking absentmindedly, noticed the creature charging towards her and tried to chant a spell calmly.

“Kyaaa!”

Instead of the spell, she screamed upon seeing the horrifying form of the slime.

“Shoot a fire arrow at the slime!”

Ignoring my voice, the pale-faced Ellen stepped back without reacting.

Damn, she seems to have panicked.

“Damn!”

With gritted teeth, Arnal swiftly shot an arrow.

But physical attacks don’t work on slimes!

True to form, the arrow hit the slime, but it didn’t seem affected at all, merely wriggling with the arrow stuck in it.

In fact, not only was it unaffected, but it was also quickly dissolving the arrow.

Ugh, fear spells don’t work on slimes, and Luke’s magic was useless. The best approach would be a heat spell, but with Ellen in this state…

“Wait, Grania?”

As I rushed towards Ellen while contemplating how to deal with the slime, I was startled.

Grania, who had been covering the rear, had jumped out from behind Ellen and charged at the slime.

“No, it’s dangerous-“

Before I could finish my warning, the slime rushing at Ellen noticed Grania approaching and bounced up like a rubber ball.

Surprised by the slime’s sudden leap, Grania instinctively raised her shield.

The expanding slime enveloped her shield, and Grania quickly threw it away and backed off.

The slime made a strange sound and started to spray acid all around.

“Damn it,”

Quickly turning her head, Grania managed to avoid a face-full of acid, but her armor began to steam and dissolve.

The acid was particularly concentrated on her left arm, and after melting through her leather armor, it began to blister her skin.

“Argh!”

“Grania!”

Arnal and I diverted the slime’s attention by throwing torches and shooting arrows at it.

Meanwhile, Luke, using his quarterstaff forcefully, managed to hurriedly grab the moaning Grania, who was in pain, and successfully pulled her back. As the slime, which had spit out the half-melted shield, sluggishly approached us again, I clenched my teeth and drew my weapon.

In that moment, Luke moved Grania to safety and stepped forward once more.

“Dusha, plot’, plamya!” With these three powerful words, blue flames surged above Luke’s head. The will-o’-the-wisp flickering in the air followed Luke’s gesture and charged towards the slime.

Squeak.

As the elongated will-o’-the-wisp wrapped around the slime’s body with a hissing sound, the creature began to thrash about, flipping its insides and outsides.

Slosh, slosh.

The slime was hiding the parched and burning surface inside while exposing the moisturized surface, resisting the will-o’-the-wisp. Unlike a blue gas flame, the heat emitted by the will-o’-the-wisp wasn’t particularly strong.

Even though Luke summoned more will-o’-wisps, it seemed like they couldn’t kill the slime. As I held off the slime with my torch and blocked in front of Ellen, she too composed her startled mind and aimed her crossbow.

“Shoot the flame arrow! Shoot it!”

“Uh, uh, no, that won’t be enough.”

“What do you mean it’s not enough?”

“Fire is the weakness of the slime, but for one of that size, a bit of heat isn’t going to do it. Not with just the flame arrow.”

As she said this and began fumbling around in her sling bag, I realized her intent and quickly snatched the crossbow from her.

“I’ll do it, you focus on the spell!”

“But-“

“Do it now!”

As I skillfully rummaged through the sling bag and pulled out a bottle brimming with red energy, she seemed relieved and quickly started chanting the spell.

“Influ-unt flammae.”

Just before the spell was complete, I aimed the crossbow with the flame bottle at the slime. I narrowed my shoulders as much as possible to steady the grip and placed my hand on the trigger, waiting for her signal.

“Satus!”

The moment the slime, which had somehow absorbed the will-o’-the-wisp, leaped towards Luke, a flame arrow that originated from Ellen’s fingertips instantly pierced it. As the creature was engulfed in flames, I swiftly pulled the bowstring.

Thump.

The fired flame bottle landed squarely in the center of the slime. However…

Squish.

“Huh?”

“…Hey, you idiot! What are you doing!”

Damn, the bottle didn’t break because it was buried in the slime’s gelatinous body!

Seung-soo, you fool! You should have shot it near the ground to break it or at least ignited it before shooting!

Squish, squish. 

The slime, enveloped by the weakening flames, twisted its body ferociously and rushed towards us.

Just then, a sharp shout rang out.

“Stand back!”

The one who yelled was Arnal.

With fierce determination in her eyes as she drew her bowstring, she fired an arrow after a brief pause. The arrow traced a perfect trajectory, piercing the slime.

Clink.

It hit the flame bottle covered in slime and shattered it!

The distance wasn’t far, but hitting the unpredictably moving slime accurately was no ordinary feat.

Anyway, as a result, the flame flower oil, mixed with sugar and other substances, exploded from within the slime’s body.

Whoosh.

The orange flames soared up to the ceiling momentarily.

Enveloped in ferocious flames, the slime began to shrink, making a ‘squish, squish’ sound.

The slime began to die, letting out a silent scream. Its glossy black body melted down, and the items it had been digesting inside gushed out.

“Uh, ew.”

At the disgusting sight, Ellen turned her head away, gagging.

Why are slimes so gross? In foreign RPG stories, they look incredibly cute. Is this why people insist on playing domestic games…

I suddenly disliked this world.