Translator’s Note: I changed “Superior Individual” to “Evolved Monster(s)”. Other than that, please enjoy the chapter.
Everyone looks at Aka who has evolved.
“It hasn’t changed…”
“It hasn’t indeed…”
“Wan!”
“… Furu Furu.”
Its appearance is almost identical to how it was before. A red hemispherical slime. Just like Momo, does Aka’s evolution not involve changes in its physical appearance? I should check its status.
Aka
Fake Slime LV 1
Aka’s race has changed. Apparently, it has evolved into what is known as a fake slime. Fake – something that is either not real or an imitation of something else. It is an evolution befitting Aka who has obtained the ability to “Mimic” by consuming the magic stone of a mimic. If its “Mimic” skill has become stronger, it would be a great addition to our strength. I lift Aka with both hands.
“Congratulations, Aka. I’m expecting a lot from you in the future.”
“… Furu Furu.”
It looks like Aka is trying to say ‘I’ll work hard’. Watching Aka Furu Furu-ing with great vigor is a bit relieving. Now, while I’m curious about Aka’s abilities now that it has evolved, we should first move away from here. This place is eye-catching, so I want to go somewhere we can relax. For the sake of resting peacefully, we move to an apartment nearby. We didn’t enter the shopping center for Ichinose-san’s well-being. Ichinose-san doesn’t have “Stress Tolerance”. It’s better if she doesn’t witness the mountain of corpse. In reality, she almost threw up when I briefly mentioned it. In this regard, Ichinose-san seems to possess normal mental strength. For this reason, we casually enter a building nearby.
“Some parts of the roof and the wall are broken, but it’ll do as a place for rest.”
“Yes.”
I prepare for lunch while looking at the blue sky though the collapsed ceiling. What should I make? Hmm, curry should do. The retort type. I heat the retort curry and rice with warm water (TN: the rice is from サ◯ウ, does anyone know what it is?).
“What a nice smell.”
Ichinose-san is excited at the prospect of eating curry. As I thought, everyone likes curry. Just then, I hear a growling sound from Ichinose-san’s stomach.
“…”
With a shy expression, Ichinose-san turns away… though she wasn’t facing me to begin with. Nonetheless, her face and ears are both slightly red. Huh.
“Here you go. Oh, please add whichever seasoning you like.”
I proceed to take out some seasonings from the “Item Box”. Even though it’s just retort food, adding pepper and garam masala could alter the flavor drastically. Personally, I like to add garam masala and grated ginger. The ginger must be fresh, not like the ones in tubes. That is the kind of flavor that I enjoy.
“Ah, then I won’t be holding back…”
Oh, so Ichinose-san likes to add sauce? And it’s something with a moderately strong flavor. This girl, she isn’t bad.
“Wan!”
Momo also gobbles up the dog food as if it is delicious. Aka… is freely eating at a nearby dump.
“”Wafu… curry is delicious, isn’t it?”
Right? The spoon moves without rest. Oh, yeah. It’s been a while since I had a meal with someone. I was alone at home, and I didn’t eat with others at work either. While I didn’t feel lonely with Momo accompanying me ---
“This isn’t a bad feeling.”
“Eh?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
I casually dismiss the notion and concentrate on eating. Yeah, curry is delicious.
Now, having finished the meal, it’s time to check Aka’s abilities. I’m sure it’s somehow related to mimicking… When I inquire Aka about what it can do, it shakes and transforms. This is---
“A weapon… is it?”
It’s the orc’s knife which I’m using. Aka mimicked that. When I hold it on my hand, it doesn’t feel out of place. It feels like the real deal. Can it actually be used like this?
“… Furu Furu.”
Aka encourages me to use it. As such, I slash at a random furniture around me. It cut through smoothly. Ohhh, that’s amazing. It’s no different from the original… wait, isn’t this even sharper than the real one? Rather---
“Aka, when have you eaten something like the orc’s knife?”
Aka should only be able mimic things that it has absorbed. Did this change due to its evolution?
“… Furu Furu…Furu Furu…”
Hmm, I see.
I don’t understand. No, well… I do vaguely understand what it’s trying to say. According to Aka, it memorized the shape and the sharpness of the weapon that I used during combat while it was mimicking as my clothing. As its ability to mimic got enhanced during its evolution, it is now capable of recreating something to a certain degree without needing to absorb it. Furthermore, depending on my imagination, it is possible to change the blade into a whip or extend the handle to make it a spear… Isn’t this child too good? I’m a little surprised.
“Cheat slime.”
Ichinose-san whispers. Yeah, I think so as well.
“… Furu Furu!”
Take that back! Aka protests. Punsuka (TN: Google it guys)! Seeing this, I feel relieved. By the way, while the range of things that Aka could mimic has increased, it can’t mimic a living creature yet. But then again, if it could mimic a living creature, it will actually be a cheat. Even without that, however, Aka’s ability to mimic a weapon is truly great. Along with its defensive ability, Aka is gradually becoming more reliable. Now, with Aka’s new skills figured out, we should move on to deciding what we will do from now on.
“Aren’t we just going to level up by slaying monsters?”
Ichinose-san is still in support of the Operation Sparta. As an antisocial person who is also a Hiki Komori, I wonder why she is so a.s.sertive in this aspect.
“I get what you’re trying to say, but we should also consider gathering resources and information.”
Food, drinking water, and a safe place to sleep. In this world overflowing with monsters, all of these are necessities needed for survival. With the inclusion of Ichinose-san who can provide ranged a.s.sistance, the balance of the party has become better. Considering the previous battle, we shouldn’t be at a disadvantage facing regular monsters unless we are confronted with Evolved or Named Monsters. Since that’s the case, we should take other things into consideration as well.
Today marks the fourth day since the world has changed. It isn’t weird if most people already gathered together to form ma.s.sive groups. Like Nis.h.i.+no-san. These people are most likely in emergency shelters like schools, government offices, and athletic parks. We should gather information from those people. I’m also curious as to what the government and the defense force are doing. In the end, despite their annihilation, I am still curious as to why the JSDF bothered coming here. I doubt any politician can move about properly in this world though. Even so, there’s no harm in being informed.
“Kudou-san, let’s first a.s.sume that we can acquire the goods without any problem. Are either of us capable of negotiating with other people?”
“Ugh.”
She touches on a sensitive topic. But I know what she’s trying to saying. Painfully so. The fact that both Ichinose-san and I have communication skills that can leave people in despair. That’s why we’re going to go about doing things secretly. Also, I have a skill called “Negotiation” that I haven’t acquired yet. If I acquire this, my interpersonal relations.h.i.+ps should improve… I think.
“Ichinose-san, everything will work out if we try hard enough. Don’t you think that ‘possibility’ is a wonderful word?”
“But no matter how much you try to bet on something with 0% of success, it’ll remain as 0%.”
Stop saying that. I’m hurt. Ichinose-san is also sulking. That was a suicide attack. It’s hard to endure the gaze from Momo and Aka.
“F-For the time being, let’s aim for the city center. We’ll hunt monsters along the way and search for places where survivors are likely to have gathered.”
And then we will secretly gather information from the dark. Ichinose-san isn’t good with strangers and I don’t like interacting with others either. This is probably the safest way. Ichinose-san seems to approve of this plan too…
Are? How is this any different from before? …No, I shouldn’t bother too much. Still, the city center, huh. I wonder how my company colleagues are doing. Are they alive? Are they dead?
“…”
Well, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t have a deep relations.h.i.+p with anyone, and it’s unlikely that we will meet again. Now then, we should start moving.