The Swamp's Atmosphere Is Way Too Bad

"I... I am a... Common Tongue... student."

Sunlight streamed through the window, spilling into the oak treehouse and warmly shining over a Slime and the book before it.

Chen Yu was using clumsy pronunciation to study the Basic Grammar and Vocabulary that Yano had brought back.

Although his pronunciation was far from standard, he could understand basic Common Tongue well enough. Communicating would not be much of a problem.

It was just that a Slime had no vocal organs. He could understand it, but if he wanted to speak, he still had to rely on the Sound Transmission Technique.

Even so, the Slime was already quite satisfied.

As he practiced, notifications of "Proficiency +1" kept popping up on his panel. At last, he saw what he had been waiting for.

[Common Tongue Lv.1 → Common Tongue Lv.2]

Phew, that had not been easy... He had finally leveled up.

Chen Yu was moved by his own diligence.

At Lv.2, he should be able to understand most of the local humans' everyday conversations, right?

Too bad Yano had gone back to Iron Boot Town. Otherwise, he really wanted to test it on him.

Just as he was feeling regretful, he heard someone calling from outside the castle.

"Boss, it's me! Something urgent has come up!"

There was a trace of anxiety in Yano's voice. It seemed this urgent matter was why he had returned to Iron Boot Town only yesterday, yet turned around and came back today.

Chen Yu realized that he could understand what Yano was saying. But that was not the important part. He opened the Illusionary Formation and bounced down the stairs step by step to greet Yano.

"Have the Corrupted Lizardfolk attacked?"

Yano accepted the dew passed over by a Stinger Bee and drained it in one gulp, soothing his throat, dry enough to smoke.

"N-No."

"Boss, you know I attended knight training before. That training was actually meant to recruit new knights for the kingdom's Border Garrison Legion."

"J-Just today, I received word that Instructor Alice from the legion stopped by Iron Boot Town."

Chen Yu was puzzled.

"Huh?"

"You brought this up... don't tell me you're some kind of legion deserter, Yano, and she came to drag you back?"

"Cough, cough... Actually, Instructor Alice brought observation reports from the weather station. They say Mana is gathering and surging deep within the Swamp, and a massive rainstorm is coming!"

"While gathering information at the Old Oak Tavern last night, I heard that quite a few adventurers have been attacked by those corrupted monsters lately. I suspect... before the torrential rain arrives, they won't be staying quiet."

After Yano's reminder, Chen Yu felt that made sense.

Ever since he had used the adventurers of Iron Boot Town to drive away those Corrupted Lizardfolk, he had rarely heard any news about them.

Now that he thought about it, they were probably plotting something, preparing for a major move to reclaim their former territory.

To the west of the Swamp were Corrupted Crocodiles; to the south were corrupted jackals and hyenas; and along the riverbank to the southeast, two Demihuman tribes—the Lizardfolk and Gnolls—were still huddled there. Both had embraced the corrupted faith.

As a conductor Slime, he had to say that this battle line looked deeply worrying.

If the Corrupted Lizardfolk really reclaimed the eastern riverbank, he would be surrounded again.

He might wake up from a nap one day to find the outside of his castle packed with corrupted believers here to usurp his title as overlord.

Uneasy.jpg

Extremely uneasy.

But compared to him, the Rotten Moss Tribe seemed even less willing to see that band of faith traitors return.

Yano mentioned that the Rotten Moss Tribe intended to hire human adventurers to encircle and suppress the Scaleclaw Tribe.

Chen Yu handed his stored Moonlight Moss to Yano and dispatched a squad of Stinger Bees to accompany him to find Seja, hoping to help the Rotten Moss Tribe recruit more adventurers.

That way, while the Scaleclaw Tribe's Lizardfolk were being encircled and suppressed, he could quietly sneak around behind them... and strike the Lizardfolk from the rear.

Yano hurriedly left Oak Territory. Following Chen Yu's instructions, he traveled to the Rotten Moss Tribe north of the riverbank. After spending some time searching, he found the Lizardfolk named Seja and handed the talismans and Moonlight Moss to her.

Seja did not seem surprised by Yano's arrival. She merely asked curiously, "Are these two leaves from Envoy?"

Envoy?

That should be referring to his boss.

Yano was not very familiar with the Demihuman language, so he did not pay much attention to it.

"That's right. Boss said they were called... uh, I forgot. Anyway, they should be something like blessed items."

After explaining how to use the leaves, he hurried back to Iron Boot Town.

"Something from Envoy... then it must be good."

Seja carefully put away the two strange leaves. Just as she turned to leave, she spotted Semiya in the distance, staring at her.

"Sister?" Seja was startled, and her tone immediately turned guilty and flustered.

Semiya withdrew her gaze from the Moonlight Moss piled at Seja's feet and sighed softly.

"Seja."

"Ever since we left that swamp, you've been hiding something from me."

"Is this something even I can't know?"

Seja hesitated, struggling as she whispered, "I just thought you wouldn't believe me..."

Semiya walked over and gently stroked her cheek.

"Silly child. If I can't even trust you, then who can I trust?"

"Mhm..."

In the end, Seja told her about encountering the Puto Envoy in the swamp.

"The Puto Envoy... is a Slime?"

Semiya pondered.

Though she found it absurd, if these words had come from her younger sister, who worshipped nature, then they were undoubtedly true.

She merely offered a few devout prayers and said nothing more, seeming to tacitly accept it before turning to leave.

"Sister, wait. Keep this safe."

Seja handed one of the leaves to Semiya.

"J-just in case something happens, the Envoy's power can protect you."

Semiya looked at her, then finally accepted the leaf.

"Nature protects those who do not believe in nature... I hope so..."

Yano had only been gone for half a day when a light drizzle began to fall over Swamp Forest.

[Lesser Arrow Technique Lv.2 → Lesser Arrow Technique Lv.3]

[Devour and Digest Lv.3 activated—Giant Leech traits recorded. Talent incubating (8/10)]

"Chomp chomp chomp..."

A Giant Leech lay weakly beside the swamp, its body hollowed out, its Magic Organ now inside the Slime beside it.

Perhaps even at death, it had never imagined that it would be hunted by a blob of Slime.

"Burp..."

Chen Yu let out a satisfied belch, gurgling bubbles out.

Fishy.

It tasted awful, yet the Slime simply couldn't stop eating it.

What strange food.

Icy raindrops pattered against the Slime's head as Chen Yu bounced deeper into the swamp.

The Demihumans were going to war, and he was planning to go join the fun.

But before that, his Demonic Beast rank seemed to be on the verge of breaking through to Bronze Tier.

That was a major event for a Slime.

He was just about to gather the Giant Leech's talent, so he might as well head deeper in to hunt and see what his neighbors were up to.

Chen Yu felt his way into the darkness. Before long, the wet, soft marsh beneath him gave way to broken stone bricks, and crocodilian roars seemed to echo from ahead.

Chen Yu quietly crept closer to take a look. At first, he thought the crocodiles were fighting, but once he saw clearly, he realized—

Seven or eight powerfully built Corrupted Crocodiles had formed a semicircle around a clearly smaller member of their kind, cornering it against a collapsed stone wall and ramming it again and again with their bodies.

The poor little thing was still curled up, trembling.

Huh?

So swamp creatures bullied their own kind too?

Who exactly had ruined the atmosphere around here?

Why were all the native swamp residents such tyrants?

He had to eat them hard—ptui, criticize them!

He had to properly clean up this rotten tyrant culture.

Then Chen Yu saw the Little Crocodile shakily rise to its feet and, like a sacrificial pawn, walk at the front while several Corrupted Crocodiles followed behind it.

And the direction they were heading...

Hm?

Why was it his castle?