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nThere was a crowd of people outside the carriage’s windows, as though they had gathered here just to welcome the duke. The crowd wasn’t just made up of the people living in the temporary housing area but also of the city.

n“I’ll be going ahead to prepare.” Ryouma

nThe duke and the madam would be standing before that crowd, so I told them that respectfully. They nodded back calmly in a manner befitting that of a noble, then gracefully exited through the open door.

nI wonder how the people felt when they saw the duke and his wife. Even as I pricked up my ears, I couldn’t hear any cheers or jeers, just silence. But from what I could make out through the door, the crowd was entirely focused on them.

nAs the security escorted the two nobles, I took the opportunity while the attention was on them to alight the carriage and head to my business.

n“This way please!” Government Representative

nI met up with the person in charge of the place that was dispatched by the government office and inspected their progress.

n“Where are the wagons?” Ryouma

n“There are five wagons waiting along the road.” Government Representative

n“‘Hmm… They’ll only be transporting splinters of wood, but I don’t think five will enough. We’re planning on making building stones out of the rubble; can’t we get more wagons?” Ryouma

n“We could certainly request for more, but couldn’t we just swap them as they finish loading? I heard you wanted to transport the lumber and the stones separately, but…” Government Representative

n“The method I have in mind is different from the usual, but it’s more efficient. Anyhow, I’d like to have the wagons be able to line up along the rubble.” Ryouma

n“I-I understand. It would be problematic if we got in the way of the traffic, and there are the traffic rules to consider as well… It would take us until around the time the duke’s speech ends, but we should make it in time.” Government Representative

n“Thank you. I’ll leave it to you then.” Ryouma

nWe worked out the details after that, but the duke still wasn’t back, so we examined the sequence of the operation too.

n“H-Hey, you.” ???

n“Huh?” Ryouma

nA quiet voice called out to me from behind. I did notice there were some children, but I didn’t think they’d call out to me.

nWhen I turned to the voice, I saw that there were five of them. Four of them were smaller than me, and the youngest appeared to be five years old, but just one of the boys looked to be at the age of a middle-school student. He might’ve been tasked to watch over these kids. I feel like something like this happened before too, but…

nFrom the angle the voice came from, it was probably the middle school kid that called out to me, but he kept glancing around him restlessly.

n“Is something the matter?” Ryouma

n“Yeah! Here!” Kid 1

nWhen I replied, the one that answered was the boy closest to me. He reached out his hands toward me, and on them could be found what looked to be a simple, faceless, snowman made out of two snowballs.

n“Are you giving this to me?” Ryouma

n“Yeah! It’s thanks for saving me!” Kid 1

n“Save? Ah!?” Ryouma

nIt was then that I realized it. This is that same kid that was kidnapped a few days ago.

n“Looks like you’ve recovered since then.” {Ryouma

n“Yeah! Mom and the others were there when I woke up!” Boy

n“This kid heard about you from his parents, and he said he wanted to thank you.” Older kid

n“I see, thank you. In that case, I’ll happily accept this――huh?” Ryouma

nI reached out my hand to accept his present to me, but the snowman suddenly moved. I was sure of it. The boy hadn’t moved the snowman; it moved on its own, or to be more precise, the snow ball on top avoided my hand. Could this be…

n“Ah, you can’t do that!” Boy

n“This one doesn’t like being touched by hands.”

n“He’ll run away if you try to touch him directly!”

nWhen the children said that, I was sure of it, so I went ahead and used Monster Identify.

n“So it’s a slime! Moreover, not the ice variant, but the snow variant! That’s my first time seeing one!” Ryouma

n“We found it while playing in the snow. They heard you liked slimes, so they insisted on giving this slime to you as a present.” Older Kid

n“There’s no need to look apologetic, I’m really happy to receive the slime! Thank you so much!” Ryouma

n“O-Oh… You really do like slimes, huh…” Older Kid

nI thanked the older kid, who’s really concerned about the surrounding people, and the kids, then I formed a contract with the Snow Slime. The snow slime is bad with heat just like the ice slimes, so I made a cold box using the rubble and my spells.

nI didn’t think I’d happen into a new slime at this timing. It probably has a similar disposition as the ice slime, but I wonder what makes it different. What caused it to branch out? Surely, it’s not just the humidity and the temperature.

nBut while I was thinking that…

n“Oh? Friends?” Elize

n“Looks like you’re having fun.” Reinhart

n“Oh, you’re back already.” Ryouma

nReinhart-san and Elize-san came back earlier than expected. The people of the city could be seen crowding behind them along with the security personnel. But the children that gave me the slime were all making a troubled face, and the oldest one among them had gone pale.

n“*Cough, excuse me, Your Grace, I misspoke. Due to some circumstances, I ended up saving them recently, so they came here to express their gratitude. They’re good children. They even gifted me a precious evolved slime. I’ve yet to ascertain whether the slime could be used for anything, but it’s a precious sample that will surely prove useful to my research.” Ryouma

n“Fu fu, I see. To aid in Ryouma-kun’s research is to aid our Jamil House, and by extension, our fief.” Reinhart

nReinhart-san said with a smile. The boys too smiled, but only the oldest child bowed so many times he looked like that drinking bird toy. The duke wasn’t mad, but it was better to dismiss them out of consideration for the kid’s heart. Besides, now that they’re here, we have work to do.

n“Your Grace, shall we begin?” Ryouma

n“I wasn’t trying to hurry you, but… If you’re ready, then we can start. See to it that these kids are brought somewhere safe.” Reinhart

n“Understood! Now, children, this way please.” Security

nAt Reinhart-san’s behest, one of the security personnel courteously took the boy away.

nI turned to my left, and there on the road facing the rubble of the lumber store site were 10 carriages lined up. I asked the person in charge if we could begin removing the debris, and they said okay. Or to be more precise, they said they couldn’t possibly make the duke wait, so we started the operation.

n“In that case, let’s start.” Ryouma

nToday’s job is to remove the remaining rubble. I could clean everything in one go with slime magic, but I want to use a different method today.

n“Dimension Home.” Ryouma

nIt was that same dimension magic I’ve long gotten used to, but this time, a giant, thick, transparent tentacle came out of it.

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