The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 19 Slime Slayer

In a passageway of the dungeon, Rorna temporarily removed her helmet, and a greatsword completely wrapped in cloth stood to the side.

The campfire chased away some of the darkness, and the flickering flames illuminated Rolna's face.

Thin and withered, she resembled a withered rose. Compared to her tough armor, her body seemed frail and powerless, making it hard to imagine her wielding a giant sword heavier than a corpse.

After confronting Lord Vorian that day, although Rolna desperately wanted to kill the cunning snake at the cost of her life, it was just a momentary impulse, and reason had long since overwhelmed her anger.

What she should do is take advantage of the time she still has to find Yanami.

There might still be a chance, maybe she's still alive. She should at least use the time she has left to try to make amends. She should search along the route taken by Yanami's team.

The dungeon at night was too dangerous, and even though Lorna was in a hurry to get there, she had no choice but to stop. Along the way, the effects of the demonic tide began to show little by little, and she went through many tough battles.

Crack! The firewood exploded.

In the silent night, Lorna seemed to hear something.

Pick up the helmet and put it on, then place the greatsword beside you.

Pat-pat-pat... It was the sound of footsteps, getting closer and closer, and there were five people, possibly two women and three men.

Those who travel in the dead of night are not weak.

Lorna knew this very well and gripped the greatsword beside her tightly.

After a while, the group of five broke through the darkness and arrived at Lorna's side.

Humans, humans, wolf-like beings, elves—the last one is of an indistinguishable race.

Judging from their appearance, they are a black-haired female mage, a red-haired female swordsman, a black-haired male assassin, and a blond male monk.

There was another man, similar to Rorna, covered in full armor and carrying a greatsword, but his armor was black.

"Friends, we mean no harm. It's just that it was already dark when we arrived here, and this is the only way we could get here."

The golden-haired elf approached and struck up a conversation, and Lorna nodded slightly in response. Lorna hadn't seen an elf in a long time.

Seeing that Lorna seemed to have no ill intentions, the blonde elf smiled.

"We'd like to camp here too, would you mind?"

"It's alright."

"grateful."

The others nodded in agreement.

In reality, one should keep their distance from strangers in such a situation in the wild, but Lorna could sense that their strength was not simple, and if they really had bad intentions, they would have already made a move.

After all, she was all alone.

With Lorna's permission, the five set up camp not far from her and lit a campfire.

After a while, a black-haired girl and a red-haired girl came over carrying something. The red-haired girl walked up to Lorna, holding a bowl in her hand.

"Miss, would you like to try this dish?"

That was a dish, uh... blue? A long, translucent blue object, with what looked like syrup drizzled on the surface.

Lorna stared silently at the dish, unsure how to respond.

"Ah, please don't worry, it's safe."

As she spoke, the red-haired girl used a fork to pick up a long strip of food and put it in her mouth.

"Would you like to try it? It's delicious."

"Please, please give it a try."

The red-haired girl was very enthusiastic, while the black-haired girl was shy.

"Okay... I can give it a try."

Lorna took out her fork, speared a piece, then turned her face away, opened her helmet, and ate it.

It's smooth, sweet, and slightly sticky.

"How is it?"

Both the black-haired and red-haired girls looked at Rolna with expectant eyes.

"Not bad, what is this thing?"

"This is iced slime gel, a new slime recipe we developed."

Slime...?

The black-haired girl nodded, and then the red-haired girl waved to the others behind her.

"Cassius! She thinks it's delicious!"

"Huh? Are you kidding me, Georgina?"

The other three also came to Lorna's campfire.

"Miss, you really went to eat something? That's slime!"

"People are different from you, you pretentious fool."

The blonde elf was retorted by the red-haired girl, and the two started bickering.

After a while, they realized something was wrong.

"Ahem, let me formally introduce myself. We are the Slime Slayer Squad, a team that specializes in hunting down slimes. This is our captain."

As he spoke, he pointed to the armored greatsword warrior who had remained silent.

"I am the Slime Slayer."

"Sorry, we don't know his name. Our captain is a strange person; he has never revealed his name to anyone."

Then the lively redhead girl stepped forward.

"I am Georgina Barfield."

Then the black-haired female wizard Anna Rhodes

Cassius Brook, the golden-haired elf monk.

Black-haired assassin Spinka Rhodes.

"I am Rolna Valentine."

After introducing themselves, the Slime Slayer Adventure Team enthusiastically shared with Rorna various slime foods they had researched.

"We created this team because everyone has a connection with slimes, and we came together because of our captain, Mr. Slime Killer."

"The captain is a complete weirdo."

"So that's how it is."

Seeing the golden-haired elf and the red-haired swordsman agreeing with each other, Lorna smiled and nodded under her helmet.

"Speaking of which, Miss Valentine—"

"Just call me Lorna."

"Miss Lorna, are you traveling alone? The demonic tide should have started by now, isn't it too dangerous?"

Lorna shook her head.

"I'm looking for someone."

"What kind of person? Perhaps we've met them before."

"She has—"

Lorna hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"Blue hair and eyes."

"Blue?! Ah... no, well, we haven't encountered that before, sorry."

Lorna gave a wry smile beneath her armor, seemingly used to their surprised reactions.

"It's okay."

The atmosphere froze for a moment, then the red-haired girl scratched her head.

"However, we will keep an eye on it."

"...If you encounter her, if possible, please help me take her to a safe place. Her name is Yanami Renata. I'm sorry, this is a selfish request."

After speaking, Rolna lowered her head to them. The red-haired girl, Jokina, seemed a little lost and looked at the silent captain, Slime Slayer.

He nodded.

"Okay, if we run into her, we'll protect her."

Lorna doesn't have much time left, and she needs to use every means at her disposal. Fortunately, she has met some good people.

"You're... going to slay a demonic dragon?"

"Huh? No, we don't have that kind of strength, we can only bully slimes."

After the red-haired girl finished speaking, the blonde elf added another sentence.

"We're hoping to take advantage of the demonic tide to see if we can encounter the legendary slimes. Maybe they'll be scared away by the dragons and then we'll run into them."

"The legendary slime?"

"Actually, we don't really know what it is either. Slime Slayer said it exists, but he won't tell us what it is. Having a captain like this is really a headache, hahaha."

Afterwards, Lorna chatted with them for a while and learned a lot about slime, such as how some slime is suitable for skincare and some is suitable for consumption.

Although this knowledge was of little use to Rolna.

"Anyway, we'll go to Tide Lake first, it's more humid there and there are more slimes, we want to try our luck. After that, we'll go to Wild Dog Forest. If you encounter any danger, you can come to us."

"If needed."

"Slimes, you're dangerous. Be careful. Your weakness is your core."

The weakness of a slime is its core, a consensus known to almost everyone in the world, as slimes are the most common monsters found in damp environments.

But Lorna simply looked at the Slime Slayer who had suddenly spoken and nodded seriously.

"I see."

Tonight is the only relaxation for Lorna during her dull journey.

The next area on their journey is the Stone Statue Forest... Yanami and the others must have passed through there before heading to the Wild Dog Forest.