- Shari -

I'm rather sure today is going to mark my life. At least, there's no way to ever take back that hundreds of people saw me and Liqu. Word will spread, and eventually everyone will know about the two slimes working for the crown. Not to forget that there's still Nia. Yet if we are already going to be the talk of, presumably, the whole nation, the very least I can do is work on a positive subtext. Unchaining the very group that is going to do the spreading from their slave collars should be the best thing in this regard.

So I approach them as Liqu tells me what to do.

"You need to focus on the energy source. There's some stone at the front." (Liqu)

"Thanks. Good to know." (Shari)

Would've been embarrassing to mess this up. Well, and probably deadly.

The woman I chose as my first target gets startled, as she didn't notice me coming close to her while being focused on Liqu. Which shouldn't surprise anyone that she did so.

"Hey, I'm going to take this off. Please, no quick movements. I'm not as proficient as she is with focusing the reaction." (Shari)

"Wah- You... You are..." (woman)

"Yeah, I'm a slime. As I said, please bear with me. This might feel a bit weird, maybe itch a bit, but I promise, I'll only target the collar." (Shari)

She flinches a bit when I extend my arm, but doesn't outright run away. Maybe the fact that Liqu's former victims are still up and about helps sell my proposal. Or maybe she's just too weak after all she went through. Anyway, once my slime settles on the surface of the device, and of course touches her skin a bit, I wait before getting started, as to not mess this up if she moves. It could be that I too want to settle down a bit before using dissolving so close to someone's body. Be this as it may, eventually I have to begin.

"I'll start now." (Shari)

She doesn't say anything, so I activate the reaction.

"Zsch"

"Iieehk!" (woman)

And instantly break it off again.

"Hey! I said don't move! Do you want me to burn a hole in your throat?!" (Shari)

"Ehp..." (woman)

Not much to get out of her, but at least I think I can resume the task. As I'm still quite topped up, since nothing I did was unreasonably consuming, aside maybe the drain of operating two bodies via high-speed processing, the dissolving proceeds smoothly, and I didn't even mar the woman's neck.

"Clck"

This makes me free to go to the next one, who flinches before I'm even close.

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"D-don't touch me!" (man)

"Are you fucking serious?! We are trying to help you out here! Just before, you cried how you don't want to die if we go through the passage. Now we offer you an alternative that has absolutely no downsides for you, and you won't take it?! I'd very much suggest you take me up on my offer. Otherwise, you lose any rights, as well as empathy on my part, for staying in my way, as this would be a very clear case of 'your fault'!" (Shari)

He doesn't seem to know how to answer this, which provides an opening for me to grab his collar, glue my hand against it, and pull him close. When we are face to face, I speak.

"No moving, or your neck is a goner, understood?" (Shari)

"Y-yes." (man)

"Fantastic." (Shari)

So I go in a rather unemotional manner about the task. As this doesn't require too much concentration if the subject isn't struggling, I'm free to look around and see that, by now, Liqu is doing three collars simultaneously. I decide not to fall too far behind in comparison and begin doing the same, the huddled captives thankfully no longer giving any resistance. Yet while I'm dissolving those things, I become progressively more aware of how the dissolving reaction consumes energy I don't get back. Liqu should be fine, given how she's probably fully stocked up after consuming the ones at the barrier, yet I obviously didn't do so and therefore should take care of the issue.

"Hey! While we're at it, I want someone to go looking for meat, or anything else that's edible! This takes quite a lot out of me!" (Shari)

"Do you want me to..." (Liqu)

"No, Liqu, I don't want. Especially not in this situation." (Shari)

This slime really has no social awareness. Speaking of which, one look at her naked form brings up something else for me to deal with.

"Also, could anyone please go and fetch Liqu's clothes?" (Shari)

"Awh!" (Liqu)

Seriously, this should've happened much sooner. I certainly don't intend to let her wander around naked all the time. If we've already exposed ourselves to the populace, I won't have it that this kind of exhibitionism is going to be our image.

In this manner, we proceed. Even if there were a bit short of a hundred people, due to each of us taking three at once while being relatively fast, we are reasonably quickly done. I barely had time to eat the rations a soldier brought. Fortunately, the uniform for Liqu came just in time. Not only because not being sure about its whereabouts made me quite anxious, as I certainly don't wish to replace the queen's high-quality gifts, but also, because I'm very sure Liqu would've taken the chance to opt out with an "Awh, too bad" approach.

To be honest, I kinda hoped for a generally more appreciative response to our good deed. While there were some thank you's under tears, fear and distress were most prevalent. I hope they'll only have to sort out their feelings, as otherwise this might pose an issue. However, I don't have the time to help them on this matter, as we really need to get started now on getting back on track with our pursuit of those escaped nobles. I don't seem to be the only one thinking like this.

"Finally! Do you have any idea how much time this cost? They already had a head start when we arrived here. Catching them again will be a huge pain in the ass!" (Peras)

I don't waste any time arguing directly back to him and instead opt to follow him into the tunnel. Then I start arguing.

"We're talking about nobles. Do you really think they'll be going at such a fast pace?" (Shari)

"Maybe not, but as soon as they reach the other end of the tunnel, the way they're taking won't be as easy to discern, and I didn't bring any trackers. Not to forget that they could simply scatter, which will make this even harder. I didn't bring scouts for this, and we simply aren't set up for a longer expedition into the Evergrove. And do I need to mention the monsters?" (Peras)

Probably one of the reasons why they didn't use this way directly and instead kept up the siege as long as they could. Though, bait might also be one of the intended usages of the prisoners they brought with them.

"Well, we have an adventurer team, and if I remember right, Vela can also track a bit." (Shari)

"That's very nice of you, but this isn't my expertise." (Vela)

"In addition, the fact that the Evergrove tends to grow over any traces doesn't make this any easier. One of the reasons why time was crucial." (Peras)

"Well, you don't need to worry. You may not have brought scouts, but you have us, right, Liqu?" (Shari)

"Sure! I have their traces! Should be easy!" (Liqu)

It probably is. Even I can catch up on this distinct combination of elements that marks their group in such a narrow space. I'd guess at least one of them even put some kind of perfume on. Well, that's a noble for you. It should pose no issue to follow that. So we move onwards.

"Let's hope the others found something already." (Zeon)

Naturally, some troops already went through before we finished. It won't really matter, as they won't overcome this distance to the nobles in time for them to warrant making use of the device and therefore be a threat to those people. It actually helped convince some of the last, rather unwilling ones, to partake in our collar-dissolving exercise.

Interestingly, my old team, as well as Jacob's group, are still with us. The former are, by now, confirmed to have been ordered to follow us around, while Jacob probably thinks that it's the safest bet to follow us. Both regarding safety and because we somehow always end up where all the action happens, and are therefore needed.

After some more time, the path comes to an end, as light welcomes us at the exit. The earthen ceiling gives way to the green canopy of trees. Once more, I'm in the Evergrove.

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