“…Can you really run?”

‘Yes! I may be a scrub, but I’m still a monster!’

And a coward…

Still, it really was a monster and had no trouble running with me on its back.

And the speed itself was much faster than when I was on foot.

“I’ll arrive by night at this rate. …Can you keep up this pace?”

‘If it’s at this speed, I can do it all day!’

The Proud Wolf said. Then it started to run even faster.

Perhaps it was still worried that I would kill it.

“…Don’t push yourself too hard.”

‘Un-understood!’

The Proud Wolf said, but did not slow down at all as it continued towards the mountains.

And then…it became evening.

‘We…arrived! So please don’t kill me…’

Hmm. It really had been worried after all.

But I didn’t have any intention of doing that.

“Thank you. …What do you want to do now? I can search for a different monster to get back, so you can leave now…”

‘No, I will go with you!’

“…Does that mean you’ll take me back?”

‘Of course! Besides, I’ll be safer from other monsters if I’m with someone strong like you!’

…Hmm.

It was as shameless as ever. But if I got a free ride home, then it was something to be thankful for.

“Alright. Then you can come with me.”

I said as I put the slime on my shoulder and started to walk with the Proud Wolf.

According to the guild, the Dria plants grew somewhere in this area.

However, I couldn’t find anything that resembled them.

And so I decided to ask the slime.

“Hey, do you know where these Dria flowers can be found?”

‘Hmm…I don’t know. I’ll try asking!’

“Asking?”

‘Yes.’

So saying, the slime got off of my shoulder and then split into random sized slimes before spreading out into the forest.

…After a while, I used Shared Senses and saw another slime in my vision.

It wasn’t one of my tamed slimes, but a stranger.

They had said they would ask…which I guess meant the local slimes.

Well, I didn’t know much about how slimes interacted, but I thought I would let them do their thing.

‘Hello!’

‘Hello!’

Greetings were first.

I didn’t know slimes did that.

‘Let’s go to Yuji. It’s nice and safe. And there’s food!’

And then slime immediately started inviting the other slime.

But the other slime didn’t even know who I was.

As for food, they were just eating monsters we killed or grass from around the place.

It would clearly reject this offer—

‘Okay!’

Or so I thought. For some reason, the slime agreed.

And just as they entered my vision, there was a ring and a window popped up.

—————————————————-

‘Monster: You have tamed a Slime.’

—————————————————-

Slimes were too easy…

They had no sense of caution at all.

…Well, at least I got the help of a local now.

“Hey, do you know about Dria flowers? They look like this.”

I said as I drew one in the dirt.

I was not very good at drawing, and so it looked a little deformed.

But hopefully, it was good enough.

‘I know that!’

…My prayers had been answered.

“Oh. Do you know where I can find them?”

‘They used to grow around here…’

“Used…to?”

What did it mean by that?

“Do you mean that there aren’t anymore?”

‘Yes. They are all gone now!’

…Damn it.

I came all this way here for nothing…?

If I remember correctly, if you fail a quest, there is a penalty and it becomes harder to raise your rank…?

That would be…very bad.

“Uh, do you know of any other places where they are growing?”

‘Hmmm…there were. But they are all gone now.’

…All gone.

Was this due to some king of abnormal weather?

As I considered this, another slime returned with another local slime.

From what I could see, it had already persuaded it, and the Taming finished just as it entered my sight.

…And like that, the easy slimes kept gathering around me one by one.

However, none of them knew where any Dria flowers were growing…

It was just as I was giving up when a certain new slime said something interesting.

‘Oh, I know the reason that there are no more Dria flowers!’

“…The reason?”

‘Yes! Should we go meet the Dryad?”

…Dryad?

It sounded like Dria flower…so maybe this person was related to it somehow.