Chapter 174 - The Forest Was Devoured

The Forest Was Devoured
Apparently, even Baozard didn’t quite understand the amount of influence he had.
He was rather taken aback by the unexpected chaos that had erupted.
‘So, what are you going to do about it…?’
‘Uh… I’ll think of something.’
And then Baozard opened his mouth.
I hoped that whatever came out, it would actually fix this situation this time.
“Wait. That guy… Yuji is my friend. I will not permit you to hurt him.”
“Fr-friend…?”
The landlord looked stunned after hearing this.
And then he fell to his knees in front of me.
“I-I’m terribly sorry! We didn’t know that you were a friend of the Dragon God…”
As if obeying him, the others then moved away from me and started to apologize.
While they no longer misunderstood me…I felt like they were taking it too far away.
“Uh…no, please don’t worry about it.”
“After this, my friend Yuji and his slimes will enter my lands in order to pick some fruit. My request was that you not get in their way…that is all.”
“Of-of course. However, how did you meet him…?”
Now it seemed like the slimes would be able to eat the fruits without any problem.
As the slimes seemed like they were ready to riot after having their fruits taken away, I decided to give them permission.
‘…You can eat the fruits now.’
‘Yay!’
‘Eat!’
As soon as I gave them permission, the slimes charged towards the forest at a ridiculous speed.
I was sure that there wouldn’t be a single fruit left by tomorrow.
Still, it had taken a while just to get permission.
I don’t know. I felt like this town would be pretty uncomfortable to live in now.
“I will leave out the details…but I am here thanks to Yuji. And Yuji has enough power to destroy this town in a flash if he so wanted. So be warned, do not hurt him.”
And just like that, Baozard started saying things that were completely unnecessary.
Perhaps he thought he was being considerate, but it couldn’t have been more unwelcome.
‘Hey, you didn’t have to say that…’
‘Really? I thought I should make their position very clear. I thought it would make it easier for you to live here…’
Even as he said this, the landlord and residents were falling to their knees and asking me what they could give me to show how sorry they were.
I had wanted to use this town as a base so I could go to Baozard’s lands, but that clearly wasn’t going to be easy now.
So…what could be done about this situation?
The next day.
After things had somehow settled down, I left the town in order to head towards Baozard’s territory.
Ultimately, the town’s way of apologizing to me was allowing me to stay at the best inn for free and feeding my slimes(who ate all of the fruits but said they were still hungry).
While it was very uncomfortable, Baozard had ordered, ‘Yuji is not something to be gawked at. So leave him alone.’ Things weren’t too bad after that.
‘How is the mountain?’
I asked while riding on the Proud Wolf.
‘I haven’t noticed any changes yet. The only thing that is different from normal…is that there are fewer plants on my land.’
That…is probably because of the slimes…?
They didn’t always eat this much… But once their appetites were stimulated, I was no longer able to control them.
‘…Let me know if they’re eating too much. I’ll try to think of a way to deal with it.’
‘No, I don’t care if there are fewer trees and grass right now. …That is nothing compared to the Red Herald Dragon.’
The Red Herald Dragon, huh.
I had come all of the way here in order to find information about it.
If what the Blue Moon of Salvation were saying was true, it would be returning soon…
But they weren’t always right.
‘If there is no change yet, then maybe it won’t return for a while.’
‘No. I do feel its presence. I believe that it will be soon.’
‘I see…’
I would have preferred it if it didn’t.
I didn’t want to fight against an enemy I couldn’t win against.
I thought about this as I climbed the mountain that the slimes had eaten their way through.