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Volume 10 Chapter 273

The Elnor Family vs. Slime

The E-rank promotion exam──the battle against slimes began.
「Can our party take down one of them first?」
Yoko stepped forward.
「Yeah, go ahead」
「……My party will wait」
「Then it’s our turn next!」
「And after that, it’s our turn, darling」
「Alright then」
Yoko, Luke and then Citri, they decided to attack in that order.
For some reason, Tina seemed unwilling to participate in the attack.
I wonder if she’s onto me secretly enhancing the slimes?
Well, even if she is, Tina’s good at reading the situation and would handle it nicely.
For now, let’s have Yoko, Luke and everyone, lose according to the plan.
What about Citri?
She’s quite strong, even though I enhanced them, she might be able to defeat the slimes.
Hmm, it should be fine even if that happens.
Especially since the members who are prone to overestimate their own abilities are the ones fighting first.
Let’s see what the slimes have got.
「Alright, let’s do this」
「I’ll do my best!」
「We probably……don’t even need healing」
「They are just slimes after all」
The first to fight was Yoko’s party.
The members were──
Yoko, the Calamitous Fox, the Nine-Tailed Demonkin.
Hakua, one of the Strongest Coloured Dragon
Seira, the Former Holy Maiden
Elmia, the Former Captain of the Holy Knights
Elmia, in particular, was wearing a suit of Scarlet Gold armor, clearly not the attire of a novice adventurer.
These four targeted one slime.
「Pii」
The slime showed no signs of vigilance.
It didn’t even fear Yoko and her group.
When Johann summoned the slimes, one of them tried to jump on me suddenly, but I quickly utilized the connection of my Taming Magic to command the slimes to 『behave』.
They obediently followed that command, remaining docile.
「This one…… won’t even try to flee」
「It doesn’t even attack」
「Attacking it somehow feels pitiful」
「Y-yeah, you’re right」
The four hesitated to attack.
It’s hard to attack when they’re not resisting, isn’t it?
Thinking this, I was about to command the slimes to attack when Yoko made the first move.
「I’m sorry. If I don’t defeat you, I won’t receive praise from my master」
Flames appeared in her palm.
「Farewell」
She probably intended to finish it off in an instant.
A mass of flames, infused with far too much magical power to defeat just one slime, struck the slime.
「Pii?」
「 —-Huh!?」
Yoko was astonished.
Her magic had undoubtedly hit its mark.
The magic she released should have been something no slime could withstand.
Yet the slime remained jiggling on the spot as if nothing had happened.
「Yoko, you’re holding back too much」
「N-No…… it’s not that. There’s no way—-」
「That’s enough. I’ll take care of it──here I go!」
Interrupting Yoko, Hakua unleashed a flying punch at the slime.
Taught by Meldie, Hakua had also mastered the flying punch.
The flying punch of the dragon Hakua had the power to easily crush an A-rank monster under normal circumstances.
But Hakua’s flying punch──
With a light pop, it was swallowed by the slime.
「 —-Huh, huh?」
Like Yoko, Hakua couldn’t comprehend the situation before her.
Her attack, of a S-rank monster, didn’t affect the weakest F-rank monster.
「Yoko, Hakua, you’re going too easy on it」
Elmia raised her holy sword and struck at the slime.
The slime was split in half by Elmia’s sword.
However──
「N…… Nn!? Th-This is ridiculous!」
The slime, split in two, simply multiplied into two.
The two slimes, after a brief dance, rejoined to form one slime again..
「Come on, Elmia. You know slashing won’t work on slimes!」
Saying so, this time Seira conjured a spear of light in the air.
Having witnessed Yoko and Hakua’s failures, she decided not to hold back.
She probably thought that if the attack from all four of them failed, it wouldn’t leave a good impression on Johann, the exam supervisor.
Seira poured enough magical power into her attack to obliterate a B-rank monster easily.
「Holy Lance!」
The spear of light pierced the slime.
「Pii!」
「W-What……?」
The slime only jiggled in the spot.
Yeah. Alright!
That’s pretty good.
I felt pleased confirming that the slimes I bestowed with protection had considerable durability.
｟Milord~｠
Through my Taming Magic, I heard a voice that seemed to belong to the slime.
Impressive. They can speak?
Though I’ve tamed creatures like Magic Gnomes and Crenus before, which normally can’t communicate with humans, even through Taming Magic, they couldn’t converse.
｟Slime……?｠
｟Yes me~｠
｟You can talk?｠
｟Yeah~｠
It was a cute, heartwarming voice.
A bit soothing.
｟Do you need something?｠
｟Yeah. Should we not attack yet?｠
Ah, right, I had given them the command to『behave』
I see. So that’s why they didn’t counterattack.
｟You can counterattack if you want｠
｟Really~?｠
｟But, just a little, don’t go all out｠
｟Got it~｠
The next moment, the slime disappeared from Yoko’s group’s sight.
「It disappeared!」
「W-Where did it go?」
Yoko and Hakua frantically searched.
Oh, quite fast indeed.
I could see the slime’s movements.
It swiftly moved, approaching behind Yoko’s group out of their sight.
Tentacles extended from the slime.
Those tentacles bound the four members of Yoko’s party in an instant.
「Nngg!」
「I-It won’t budge!」
「Mmm, th-that’s not good~」
「Seira! St-stop! Noo──」
It was a bit suggestive.
Despite their struggles against the tentacles restraining their limbs, the slime’s binding seemed unyielding.
｟I’ve restrained them~｠
The delighted voice of the slime echoed through the Taming Magic.
「Ryuushin! Let’s help Yoko and the others!!」
「R-Right!」
「We’re coming too」
「We’ll join the fight!」
As Luke’s party, prepared to fight next, moved to assist Yoko’s group──
「Huh!」
｟I’m your opponent~｠
A second slime stood before Luke’s party.