CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 38—CLOAK

Chapter 38—Cloak

All the slimes leaped into the crate with excitement—Wob!

Little Slime kept gently picking up and hugging the shining crystals.

’What insane energy,’ Slime#47 mused, feeling pure mana emanating from the blue crystals with white stripes over them. The more white stripes, the purer they were.

All the aura crystals were similar, with gold stripes—the more gold stripes, the purer they were with aura.

Elder Slime slapped Little Slime on the top—Smack!—and pulled him out, scolding, "You can’t just jump into everything you find beautiful."

But the little guy hugged the crystals even tighter; old slime had to throw him out by force—Thud!.

Young Slime threw out the crystals to check if anything was beneath. Mama Slime and old slime joined in.

Little Slime gathered the crystals they threw out from the crate and neatly stacked them on the side while humming to himself.

Soon they removed every crystal from the crate and found—’A key,’ Slime#47 mused, feeling there had to be a hidden room somewhere.

The key was half as big as the crate, and the crate itself was half a meter wide, a quarter meter long—way bigger than the one they found in the farm below the trough.

"What does this key unlock?" Mama Slime asked, as nothing in the house looked locked for such a key.

While they wondered, Elder Slime sank into deep thought.

Little Slime hopped in and tried to lift the key—but Thud!

—"Ouch..." it dropped straight onto his body when his arms gave out, making his body wobble.

’So... cute...’ young slime grinned, feeling joy watching the actions of Little Slime.

"Careful, child," Mama Slime gently warned him.

Witnessing little slime’s actions, Elder slime yelled, "That’s it!" and snatched the key from his hands.

He was sad when Elder Slime pulled it away, but there was no time to comfort him.

"Did you find something, Elder?" Young Slime asked, and Mama Slime also glanced with expectation.

Elder Slime, with a playful smile, said, "Follow me."

Wob! He left the dressing room and went to the entertainment room, all the slimes following behind.

Little Slime wanted to sulk and stay behind, but Mama Slime pulled him along.

They all stood in front of a white screen.

’Why didn’t I think of it?’ Young Slime mused, glancing at the entire wall covered by a projector curtain.

As he’d expected, Elder Slime tugged the white screen down—revealing a plain wooden wall with a giant keyhole in the center. "Me! Me!" Little Slime shouted, bouncing—desperate to unlock it.

Old Slime nodded and gave him the key.

"Hehehhe!" Little Slime giggled, shoved the key into the slot, and twisted—Click!—Crack!—the mechanism rattled loudly as the key finished turning.

Graa!—

The wooden wall with the keyhole slid to the left, revealing a hidden room about three square meters wide.

"Woo!" Little Slime jumped up and down in excitement, clapping his hands.

The room behind was filled with used weapons, a bookshelf, and a few crates.

They all slid inside with wide grins. Young Slime tapped the floor—’Wood,’ He also noticed the brown wooden walls on three sides—they were plain without any furniture or delicate designs.

’Yeah, who decorates their secret room anyway?’ he mused, not surprised by the plain wooden compartment.

Little Slime ran—Wob!Wob!—around touching and patting every weapon and armor.

In the right corner was the bookshelf. Slime#47 glanced at the books and understood, even without reading—skill books.

One book had a diagram of a fireball; another showed a fist glowing red.

’Not useful...’ He lost interest because Elder Slime was a more knowledgeable and efficient teacher than the books over there.

The armaments were broken and dusty, showing no use in a long time. ’Retired doesn’t mean you threw them to dust.....You could at least sharpen and clean them,’ he scolded the slime farm owner in his mind.

They could only check the metal boxes, all just a little bigger than ordinary slimes.

Crack!Crack! He opened the crates one by one. There were four crates in total.

Two contained crystals, making Little Slime’s eyes shine like gems again—though getting many crystals was starting to dull Young Slime’s excitement.

In one of the other crates were maps. He handed them to Elder Slime because he couldn’t read the language on them.

He then glanced at the last crate.

’Huh?...sealed with magic....’ He frowned at the glowing magic rune on the metal lock.

"Boss Slime, open it, open it!" Little Slime begged, unable to wait.

Elder Slime smacked Little Slime on the top again. "Be calm," he said sternly.

"Ouch.." Little Slime fell quiet, sulking while rubbing the area.

Facing this metal lock, slime#47 knew brute force alone wouldn’t be enough, so—"Acid Fist," he slammed his glowing gray fist into the lock.

Crack!—The lock shattered.

As soon as it broke, "I will open it," Little Slime rushed forward and yanked open the lid.

Elder Slime’s smile froze.

’Wait... what’s this chill?’ Slime#47 felt an eerie coolness spread through the room. He knew this sensation too well. ’It’s Eldritch...’

As he expected, inside the crate lay a blue silk cloak with a closed yellow eye on its back center, red veins popping up around, the cloak’s edges were lined with golden, and its collar thick with golden soft fur— luxurious, yet no less menacing.

Young Slime didn’t touch it and instead glanced at Elder Slime.

"It’s an unholy weapon," Old Slime said, nodding at him.

"Is this a dangerous weapon?" Mama Slime asked as she pulled Little Slime away, who wanted to jump on it and shut the lid. She felt uncomfortable.

"No, it’s just wind magic," Elder Slime blinked at Young Slime, silently saying he’d explain later.

Slime#47 nodded. They didn’t want to discuss it in front of Mama Slime.

"Is that so?" Mama Slime eyed Old Slime doubtfully but stayed quiet. She felt it was dangerous somehow.

Then they rechecked the rest of the room and found some usable weapons and armory, but all were human-sized.

Slimes couldn’t use them, so at best, they could be sold.

’Of course... I can’t even sell these. What a waste,’ he mused, disheartened at the thought of some good weapons gathering dust.

Finally, they picked up the useful crates and left the room as Old Slime signaled him to follow.

End of Chapter.

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