Syl: Chapter 201 (Patreon)

Chapter 201: Core Deals

When it was time to go to bed, I noted that Thern was true to his word and set up a warding at his door. Even with Vee's friendly attitude and my reassurance, he seemed determined not to take any chances.

Vee took a spot in the corner of the room near the ceiling and spun a little web hammock for herself. I had to admit it looked both rather cute and very comfy.

As for myself, I wasn't going to risk sliming out, so I had to use the bed provided and gave out orders for my [Sub-Cores] to be on the lookout for any nightly mishaps that could occur. While I didn't sense any foul thoughts leaking through our bond, and our cooperation was in her best interest, it still never hurt to be safe.

The next morning, I woke up before Vee. Looking at her, she had somehow contorted herself into being wrapped up entirely in her own web. It looked hilarious, and I had to stifle a giggle.

It's weird how I've become such an early riser lately. Oh well, I have more time to practice.

While waiting for everyone else to wake up, I took the time to practice with [Metal Slime]. I was so close I could taste it, and then I could finally chow down on that spare core of mine. Reminiscent of my days starting out with [Shape Slime], I started going through a gauntlet of replicas and imitations of various weapons and tools.

I also tried mimicking orichalcum, but it was beyond my current level, and the strange metal was turning into a mushy goop. I really wondered how the dwarves used silver slimes for their work. If they had one that had something crazy like adamantine or mythril, then it must be guarded like a national treasure if it had leveled up enough to integrate it without issue.

Or is it perhaps easier for them since [Metal Slime] is their primary trait? Like how [Mana Slime] is always active for me? Which makes me wonder what will happen if I evolve away from being a blue slime. I must say I've grown rather attached to my coloring, but that could be remedied no matter what slime I pick. If I lost my natural Mana capabilities, I could be in for a bit of a shock.

Gramps would need to offer me something amazing to pick an evolution over another mutation, though. Assuming I have some exciting ones left to unlock, I could always go for one of the eye-catching ones I had seen previously, like the alchemic slime.

My thoughts were interrupted by Vee finally waking up. She tried to violently shake herself free until she realized her situation, and then, using her trait, manipulated the threads until they untied and released her.

"Morning," I greeted her verbally before reaching out with [Telepathy (Lesser)].

Vee accepted the connection after only a brief hesitation.

"Morning..." Vee grumbled. "That was certainly embarrassing."

I chuckled and wondered how she would react if she saw me blobbing out in my bedtub. I really wished I could use it.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Vee asked.

"We have a meeting with Darmod and Kaldrour Flintheart," I replied. "I need to tell them the full story, get paid, and ask them for a few requests on my own."

"Oh... I hope they aren't going to be mad about me living in their mine for so long," Vee answered hesitantly.

"Darmod is going to meet with him first and explain the situation. That way, it won't be a bombshell when he suddenly is face-to-face with the monster that had been giving him greyhairs."

"Swell..." Vee responded.

"Don't worry. Even if the entire city went against us, I reckon we have a good chance of escaping," I replied. "You could use [Blink] to escape, and I could turn into a worm and tunnel away."

"The idea of you suddenly turning into a giant worm is frightening and absurdly hilarious," Vee giggled.

"Yeah... But I still don't think it would ever come to anything like that; like I said, I'm relatively high up with the guild, and even the elves have sanctioned our bond," I reassured her.

"And you mentioned having no connection to these elves?" Vee asked.

"None..." I shrugged. "I tried to speak to one, but he ran away. I plan on visiting their embassy directly and trying to get some answers or throwing a bag at them as a last resort."

"Very strange... But everything about all of this is truly bizarre!" Vee admitted.

I shrugged again. "Wait till you meet Trixie, then you'll truly see weird."

"And she's the pixie... Right?" Vee questioned.

"Yeah, she's a real prankster, but her heart is in the right place," I nodded.

"Of course, the fairies and pixies are pranksters..." Vee muttered.

We went downstairs when we heard Thern making breakfast; we both waved in greeting.

"Sleep well behind all the wards?" I teased.

"Like a baby," Thern grinned. "I hope your room hasn't become a spider's den."

I chuckled.

"I can't wait to tell Lisa about all the crazy stuff you've been up to. If the guild hasn't already informed her. This takes the cake, even beating out your flying island adventure!"

"Maybe, but there was an army of angry magical horses up there."

"True... Bloody beards, I hope they set up some kind of culling to get rid of that; otherwise, give it a year or two, and there might be another equine uprising," Thern chortled.

***

We waited a while, mostly chatting with Thern until Darmod arrived. It looked like we were using the adventurer's guild again as a neutral ground and having our meeting there.

Kaldrour was as I remembered him, although he looked much less stressed than normal. He flinched a bit when he spotted the tiny spider on my shoulder.

"I'd say you went above and beyond my expectations. I just wanted my mine back, but you even got testimony of the sabotage attempts against us," Kaldrour said cheerfully.

"Oh? I thought they said Vee's testimony didn't count," I responded curiously.

Kaldrour grinned triumphantly, "Well! Now that we have an official missive reminding us that the companion of an Elf is to be treated as an equal, her testimony has full legal credibility. Honestly, I couldn't think of a better outcome."

"That's great!" I replied happily.

Vee nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention your offer of paying back the repercussions has put you in an extremely positive light!" Kaldrour responded. "And do not worry, with the amount of obsidianite you found, you will still have more than enough leftovers!"

"Good to hear; it's actually something I wanted to discuss with you," I replied.

"Is this about your silver cores? I have been sourcing them," Kaldrour asked.

"Well, I figured I'd ask since both you and Darmod are so well-versed in the merchant side of things," I explained. "I'm looking for more variety in slime cores, and I also heard mention of a pet violet slime."

"Oh!" Kaldrour responded, "My wife had one growing up. She absolutely loved the thing until it ended up killing itself. She cried so much at the time, and she used the thing like a nightlight, so it became quite an inconvenience."

Why!? Why do you damn slimes keep killing yourselves? How can you be that dumb!? You're giving me a bad name!

Vee giggled across our mental link.

"Unfortunate..." I said, masking the second-hand humiliation I was feeling. "But yes, I heard they were a thing, and I was wondering if it would be possible to get one for me; even the core would be enough."

"It's certainly possible, I can start poking around my contacts," Darmod responded.

"I can ask my wife if she kept the core," Kaldrour added. "I don't know if she did; it was ages ago, after all... Either way, I could ask my contacts, too."

"Wonderful! I don't suppose it would be possible to buy a pink core?" I questioned.

Both dwarves winced together. "That... You probably have the money, but I don't think anyone would politically be willing to give one up," Kaldrour finally responded.

"I was really hoping enough money would grease the hands," I admitted.

"Normally, I'd say yes, but from what I understand, anyone with a pink core is keeping it for an emergency," Kaldrour explained. "An elixir made from grinding up a pink core is said to fully heal anyone, even from the brink of death. The fact that live ones can be harvested for health potions makes the cores rare enough already, as why would you sacrifice a steady supply of money?"

"I guess that makes sense," I reluctantly admitted. "Well... Keep your ears out for any slime cores. Silver is still my priority, but I'd love to get a violet one, and the remainder can go to any others."

Both dwarves nodded in agreement. It felt good to use the power of two merchants to hopefully fulfill my desires.

I also gave the names of every individual I'd encountered yesterday so that they had a full list of names to investigate—the ones who had tried to bribe me and the ones who attacked me.

Kaldrour was beyond happy, "I honestly think you might have saved my family's business with this. I don't know how I can repay you for this."

"Slime cores, I bet," Darmod joked as I opened my mouth.

I chuckled and nodded.

"Well, I do have another silver one," Kaldrour admitted. He placed it on the table and rolled it towards me with the flick of his finger. I hastily grabbed it and couldn't stop smiling.

"I'm glad to see you're happy. I'll make sure we both work on trying to acquire some more for you," Kaldrour replied.

"Why the hell do you want something like that?" Vee interjected. "Sure, it's a little shiny, but you're a slime, not a magpie."

"I eat them," I responded mentally.

I felt a little shudder from the spider on my shoulder.

"Well... To each their own," Vee replied. "I can't say it looks too appetizing myself... Now that steak we had last night, on the other hand! Delicious! Exquisite! Spectacular!"

I had to hold back my laughter at Vee's attitude as I stared longingly at the slime core I was twirling between my fingers.

I was so desperate to eat them; I now had two! But I knew there would be no refunds for the lost experience, so I needed to exercise patience even though it was causing me mental turmoil.

"So, what's your next plan? More quests? Sightseeing? Going on a spending spree?" Darmod asked.

"I was wondering if there was a dungeon or something nearby?" I asked curiously. "I'd like to start training Vee here and deepen our bond."

Kaldrour and Darmod both looked at each other and chuckled.

"A dungeon, huh?" Darmod asked.

"That can certainly be arranged!" Kaldrour winked.

"I feel like there's a joke I'm missing..." I grumbled.

"Sorry for teasing, I'm just surprised you haven't noticed or heard about it," Kaldrour responded. "So we dwarves have conquered an entire dungeon."

"Conquered?" I asked, tilting my head.

"It's been subjugated," Kaldrour answered. "We effectively control and regulate its spawns and everything and make a tidy profit out of it."

"A very tidy profit," Darmod emphasized, nodding happily.

"How?" I asked. After everything I knew about dungeons and their masters, it sounded preposterous.

"Well, we built an entire city on top of it!" Kaldrour declared and pointed down below us. "The dungeon was themed around elementals, so it's great for profits! You can either harvest their crystal centers or, in the case of ones spawned out of rare materials, you can harvest their literal body."

Ugh... An elemental-themed dungeon? That's terrible for me, but probably good for experience and training...

"Some lucky dwarf encounters a gem golem, and they can make a wonderful profit by reselling its corpse," Darmod explained.

"It almost reminds me of the slime farms..." I muttered.

"Bah, these are even better than the slime farms, as you get profits and experience simultaneously!" Kaldrour scoffed.

"And you don't have to worry about an unfortunate accident," Darmod added. "Nothing like losing your prized blue slime because someone nicked its core."

It took all my effort not to shudder.

"Wow... Sucks to be a slime, I guess?" Vee joked.

I was not amused.