Counterattack
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And then an hour pa.s.sed.
I returned to the inn and continued to monitor the enemy through the slimes…and then the enemy started to do something.
They had entered a building that was hidden inside a forest–and they began to pull away the floorboards.
“So that’s how they hide it…”
From the outside, the building just looked like a small shed where hunters would store their supplies.
But it seemed that opening the floorboards revealed a pa.s.sage to their base.
‘Are you sure that we aren’t being followed?’
‘Yeah. We’re good.’
The two a.s.sa.s.sins said as they looked around before going in.
And then the floorboards were closed over them.
As the slimes were hiding away from them, they were shut out…
‘Slimes. Can you get in?’
‘No problem!’
The slimes said as they slipped through a small crack between the boards.
If you wanted to keep a slime out of something, it had to be so tight that water could not seep through.
And the enemy had not been so thorough.
Well, it was an unnecessary measure unless your enemy was a slime.
‘Reporting.’
The a.s.sa.s.sin didn’t even say his name as he began to talk into a magic communication device.
After a short pause, a cold, calm voice came from the other end.
‘What’s the situation?’
‘We followed the Adventurer Yuji. But he’s no threat to our order. This is a man who takes E-Rank quests seriously.’
‘…Isn’t there a chance he realized he was being followed and so pretended to be a normal Adventurer? Isn’t he a B-Rank Scout?’
So they even knew that I was a scout.
Well, it was clear that I hadn’t been put on their list by accident.
‘That’s impossible. He showed no signs of noticing that we were following him. …Besides, there is no way any human would have taken notice, the way we were following him.’
‘Scouts have that certificate because of their ability to track monsters. It requires different skills when dealing with humans.’
‘…Very well, then. Now, go on to the next mission.’
The calm voice continued.
It seemed that though they had finished one mission, there was no time to rest when you were an a.s.sa.s.sin.
‘Tailing Father Shtyle? …Can’t you let us just a.s.sa.s.sinate him instead?’
‘…Matters have made it necessary to postpone the monitoring of Father Shtyle. But as you wish, the next mission is an a.s.sa.s.sination.’
‘YES!’
One of the a.s.sa.s.sins cried out with glee.
I couldn’t understand why he was so happy about killing…but I was glad that the next mission was an a.s.sa.s.sination.
Because if it had been another tailing mission, they might think the next target was the one to kill the a.s.sa.s.sins. And that wouldn’t end well for the target.
And I wanted to avoid making things worse for others.
‘The a.s.sa.s.sination target is Adventurer G.o.da. Can you do it?’
‘I don’t care as long as I can kill them. We’ll contact you when it’s done.’
So saying, the a.s.sa.s.sin broke the connection.
Then they pushed away the floorboards. One of them started shouting.
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‘Yes! Let’s go and kill!’
‘Yeah. I want to get this over with.’
…It seemed that I wouldn’t be getting any more information from them.
Unfortunately, the enemy had not gone directly to their headquarters. They just contacted them with this device.
I thought regretfully as I activated some magic.
‘Magic Transfer—Area Freeze – Medium.’
When I said this, the magic was unleashed from the slime.
And before they knew what was happening, the two a.s.sa.s.sins were frozen to death.
‘Now… Go and gather anything that could be useful.’
‘Okay!’
So saying, the slimes started to pick up things off of the floor.
As these a.s.sa.s.sins looked like they were at the bottom of the organization, it didn’t seem likely that there would be much…but anything was better than nothing.
In a short while, the shed became completely empty.
…Good.
‘All right, now get away from there! I’m going to set it on fire!’
‘You’re going to burn it?’
‘Yeah. …Because if I don’t, the enemy will know that I used ice magic. I’m going to destroy the evidence.’
‘Okay!’
And so the slimes left the shed.
Once I saw that they were gone, I chanted the words.
‘Magic transfer–Fireball.’
And then the structure went up in flames.
It would not take long for the whole thing to burn up completely.
Had I used their communication device, I might have gotten more information—but it was possible that they would end up detecting me instead, and so I didn’t.
‘Continue to watch the shed. …Members of the Blue Moon of Salvation might come to see what’s happening.’
They would find it suspicious that they are no longer able to contact them.
And so if I left slimes there, I might be able to track the members who came to see what had happened. And they could lead me to their base.
…But then again, the enemy might think it’s dangerous and not come at all.
‘Okay! …How long should we watch?’
‘For 2 days. If it’s hard, you can take turns.’
‘2 days is nothing! Besides, there’s lots of tasty food here!’
The slimes said as they started to eat the gra.s.s that was growing around the shed.
Slimes were very good at adapting to their environment.