I’ve Been Reincarnated as a Tentacle Slime~ I Want to Live a Comfortable, Secure Life and Do Whatever I Want~ - Chapter 115

◆◆ Guild Master: Logan’s Side ◆◆

I never expected they’d reach the 5th floor this quickly…

I’ve heard he’s a slime-type demi-human, but what exactly does he look like?

He may be as different from humans as Ogres and Lizardmen are.

Even for a human being stared at because of your appearance isn’t enjoyable. I need to be careful.

This time, the plan is to first observe what kind of person he is and see if there are any problems with his personality.

Next, if we can confirm that Cruz-kun has explored dungeons in the past, we’ll arrange for him to access deeper floors.

Hopefully, he’ll see this as a gesture of goodwill.

While I was going over everything again—

“Guild Master, it’s Natalie. I’ve brought Cruz-san with me.”

“Oh! Come in!!”

The door swung open, and following Natalie—

A plain-looking human stepped in—?

He does have slimes on both shoulders and a Dungeon Wolf with him, but still…?

Damn, I ended up being surprised in the opposite way.

“Ahem! I’m Logan, the Guild Master overseeing the Spada Branch of the Adventurers’ Guild! I used to be a high-ranking adventurer, but now I’ve retired and help guide the next generation.”

“Y-yes! Th-thank you for inviting me. My name is Cruz.”

(His speech is really broken, huh?)

“Uh, the one transformed into a wolf is Raphael, the one on my left shoulder is Uriel, and the one on my right shoulder is Kouga.”

“My name is Raphael. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“I am Uriel. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Kouga! Nice to meet ya!”

“Uh. Yeah, likewise.”

(They can talk…? No, wait, this is incredible! We are actually communicating with slimes that normally can’t speak!?)

“Kouga, greet him properly.”

“S-sorry! Old… Cruz…san! Guild Master! I’m honored to meet you!”

“Hahaha! Don’t worry about it! Adventurers tend to be a rough bunch! That’s nothing to fuss over!”

(They seem to be communicating just fine, even if he turned out to be a normal slime tamer, it would be fine!)

◆◆ Cruz’s Side ◆◆

Ooooh—! So scary—!

What!? That guy! Ripped with bulging muscles! He’s completely tanned and totally a physical powerhouse!

With arms like that, he could squish me like a bug!!

Completely intimidated, I froze stiff and ended up speaking in broken speech…

My goal was just to get out of here safely, but if I end up making an enemy of him… Seriously, I’m a goner.

“U-uhm… may I ask why I… why I was called here this time?”

“Hahaha! No need to be so tense. I just wanted to see what kind of person Cruz-kun was, making it to the 5th floor at such an incredible pace!”

Ah, I see. So they just wanted to check if I was going to be trouble.

Then I better not just come off as harmless—―――but as useful too!

“Ah, I get it now. I’ll grow even stronger, keep progressing, and bring back all kinds of materials!”

I struck a guts pose to show my motivation.

“Hahahahaha! That’s the spirit! I’ve got high hopes for you!!”

All right, my pitch worked! I’ve definitely made a good impression.

“By the way, I hope it’s not too forward to ask, but… Cruz-kun, you look like a human, are you really a slime species demi-human?”

That’s true. Since I look like a human, it makes sense that they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

“That’s true… How should I make you understand――――”

I pretended to think, considering whether I should transform my body into slime.

The advantage of telling the truth is that I could gain a little trust.

The downside is that we have cores as our weak points, so they might realize that the head and chest aren’t the vulnerable spots. But then again, since I’m a slime species, they might not even think of that as a weakness in the first place.

If I don’t speak, the impact would be that I’ll lose trust by hiding it… If I drop my trust from 0 to negative, recovery would be tough.

Speaking up now seems like the best choice. If I lose trust here, I’ll distance myself even further away from the Snow Woman.

“This should be enough.”

I turned my limbs and head into slime, swinging my right arm like a whip. If I transform completely into slime, my core would be visible, so I kept my torso human.

“Wow, this is amazing. I’m sorry for doubting you.”

“No, since I’ve turned into a human, it would be difficult for me if it was too obvious right away.”

“I see, that’s good then! So, do the other three also take human forms―――?”

(Hmm, should I have the other three take human forms too――――? As for Kouga… he’ll be going down to the lower levels in my place, so it’s fine to show him. As for Rafa and the others―――― it’s unnecessary. They’re too beautiful, and attracting too much attention would be troublesome.)

“Yes. However, only Kouga is fully equipped――――Kouga.”

[Appear in the same leather equipment as me.]

“Alright!”

Kouga jumped down from Cruz’s shoulder――――

◆◆ Guild Master: Logan’s Side ◆◆

One of the slimes on Cruz-kun’s shoulder took on a human form, revealing a handsome young man with blonde hair and a mischievous vibe.

He’s wearing the same leather armor as Cruz-kun.

“Oh? You can turn into a human whenever you want? What about the other two?”

“Yes. But they don’t have any equipment, so it wouldn’t be right to have them stand here naked.”

“I see, then it can’t be helped.”

I kind of wanted to see it, but I guess it can’t be helped.

More importantly, there are four slimes here who could live normally in the city if they take human form. I almost want to thank the fool who let them go.

After that, we chatted about trivial things, and I made sure he didn’t have any negative feelings toward the city. I also confirmed that Cruz-kun isn’t someone with ill intentions and is cooperative.

(Now, I need to ask about the main point this time.)

“By the way, returning back to the topic of the dungeon… Let me ask directly! Have you ever ventured into a dungeon in another city?”

◆◆ Cruz’s Side ◆◆

(――――！？？Why is he suddenly asking about that!? There wasn’t anything about dungeons in the earlier conversation! Damn, I need to cover this up somehow! But how――――?)

I panicked and couldn’t say anything, stumbling over my words.

“Yes, We’ve gone into a dungeon in another city before.”

In her wolf form, Raphael answered Logan-san’s question affirmatively.

[Is that alright? You’ve confirmed that we’ve explored dungeons before.]

[It should be fine. He mentioned dungeons in other cities, so there must be dungeons outside of the one in our town as well.]

I definitely remember him saying that.

“I thought as much. By the way, may I ask the name of that city?”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot answer that.”

Raphael answered with a dignified attitude. No, she’s seriously reliable. Even when I’m panicking, she’s covering for me, which is reassuring.

(I’m beginning to regain my composure.)

“I see. Then I won’t pry. It’s not my place to dig into someone’s past. What’s important is the future, where you’ll be contributing to the guild, not the past. By the way, you’re not a criminal, are you?”

(He backed off surprisingly easily? Well, I’m relieved. He mentioned that future efforts are what really count, so my promise to bring back a lot of materials must’ve worked!)

“In the past, I did kill some bandits during a bandit extermination request…”

(It should be alright… after all, they were the ones who kidnapped and raped others.)

“Ah, if they were bandits, it’s not an issue.”

Thank goodness. There was no issue.

◆◆ Guild Master: Logan’s Side ◆◆

So, you really are an experienced dungeon explorer. In that case, we can move on and talk about the next thing.

“If you’ve been in other dungeons, there’s a rule that intermediate or higher-level adventurers can verify your strength and escort you to the lower floors.”

“Is there really such a thing!?”

Cruz-kun is really interested. He must want to get to the deeper floors quickly.

“That’s right. There is the condition that you must be experienced in other dungeons. Each dungeon manages floor progress individually. So even if you’ve reached the 20th floor in another town’s dungeon, here you have to start from the 1st floor. It’s a dungeon rule and there’s nothing we can do about it!

Each dungeon has a different structure, and its size changes greatly depending on how many stay inside. That’s probably why each dungeon tracks floor progress separately.

However, forcing capable adventurers to start over at floor 1 is a disadvantage for the guild. It benefits both sides if they can be active on the deeper floors.”

“So, you mentioned that you’ve been in other dungeons, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I also thought it would be nice to get information about that noble, but there’s no rush on that.

“If we appoint an adventurer active in this city as the leader, you can advance to the floors they’ve reached, right? We’ll use that rule to help you get to the lower floors. The dungeon rules are somewhat flexible, so we’ll make use of what we can.”

“Oh! The fact you’re telling this to us means――――?”

“That’s right. The adventurer who will evaluate Cruz-kun is waiting in the next room.”

◆◆ Cruz’s Side ◆◆

(This is incredible! Just how deep can I go in one trip?! Logan, you’re seriously next level! I’m so happy I could probably complete all those pending requests!)

“Alright then, Natalie. Could you go fetch Sir Brave for me?”

“Yes, I’ll go get him right away.”

(Oh yeah, I need to tell him about Natalie’s child…! Now’s probably the best time, while only a few people know. Mika said I should use it as a card too.)

Fortunately, it’s just me, Natalie, and Logan-san in the room.

“Ah, could you wait a moment?”

“Hm? Something the matter?”

(Is now really the right time to say it? No, her belly’s probably going to start showing tomorrow. She’s already about three months along, waiting until the baby’s born would be too late.)

“Uh, I wanted to talk about the child Natalie is carrying—”

I explained that Natalie is already pregnant with my child.

“Well, congratulations! But what’s the issue? It’s not like you raped her or anything, right?”

Logan-san looks at me with a face that says, “What the hell is this guy suddenly talking about?”

It wasn’t rape per se, though… I suppose I did influence her mentally?

“Ah, this is about the birth of your species, the Tentacle Slimes, right?”

“Yes. In order for us to take human form and speak, we need to perform the Rite of Humanization. That’s why we’d like to take custody of the child.”

I push the preplanned explanation to make it seem like a valid reason to take custody.

“Hmm, if something like that is necessary to take human form, then I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“After the Humanization Rite, half will return to this town to work as adventurers. I plan to have Natalie receive ten percent of their earnings as thanks for bearing the child.”

Hopefully, this will show that we’re valuable to the guild.

◆◆ Guild Master: Logan’s Side ◆◆

(What!? Natalie’s child will become an adventurer? That means some of them are guaranteed to operate in this town.)

The unexpected offer excites me. Just when I was thinking how to get him on our side, talk about perfect timing.

So he’s even offering a reward for the mother? Is he hoping someone in the guild will volunteer to bear Cruz-kun’s children?

“That’s a generous offer. Are you sure about it?”

“Yes. But I ask that they be treated the same as other adventurers. If they’re overworked, I will take them back.”

“We would never treat them that way. You can rest easy.”

His concern about treatment probably stems from past trauma. It’s possible some children were taken by nobles and never returned.

“Um, excuse me! How long does the Humanization Rite take?”

“Six months, Natalie. We’ll train them during that time so they can live on their own. You don’t need to worry about their safety.”

“That’s faster than I expected. If the children will grow up safely, then I’ll leave them in your care, Cruz-san!”

Each demi-human race has its own code. Ogres, for example, follow a lot of strict traditions.

“Also, is it really okay for me to receive 10% of their earnings…?”

Naturally, as a follower of the Dungeon religion, that would concern her. Even they earn just half of what Cruz earns, that’s 10 silver coins. Natalie would be receiving 1 silver coin regularly.

That means she’ll be able to donate more money to the church.

“Yes, I think 10% is fair. They’ll still earn enough to live comfortably.”

“So they’ll return to this town already that strong?”

“Yes. Maybe just a little weaker than we are now.”

Oh! So they’ll be strong enough to go beyond the 5th floor right away? That’s great to hear. Only about half of adventurers make it past the 11th floor. Getting a few mid-rankers in six months is excellent.

“That’s excellent! Now I really want to see how strong you are, Cruz-kun! May I call in your evaluator?”

“Yes, please call them in.”

◆◆ Cruz’s Side ◆◆

(If this helps even a little to increase the number of guild girls who’ll bear my child, that would be good… I wonder if it got across? As expected, saying it directly would be too much… Well, even if that fails, I can just earn a lot and buy slaves.)

While Natalie was off calling the examiner adventurer——

“By the way, I’m looking for a slave trader…”

“Ah, I know one, but… why? You don’t need a porter to carry your gear, do you?”

“The village we’re indebted to needs more hands. We can handle the heavy labor, but the side work and such…”

That’s the cover story, what I really want is to buy slaves and breed more slimes.

“Hm, then I’ll look into it. What rank are you thinking? There’s a high-ranked slave trader in the upscale residential area, an ordinary one in the commercial district, and one in the slums. The ones in the slums might be missing limbs and such… I wouldn’t really recommend them… There are others as well, though…”

Probably, the former is expensive and the latter is cheap.

“I’m after manpower above all, so if you could share info on the slave traders in the slums and commercial district.”

“Okay, I’ll find out as much as possible. Could you give me about a day? I’ll have Natalie deliver the information.”

Alright! I’ll work hard, move forward, save money, and buy as many as I can.

“Guild master, I’ve brought him here.”

“Yes! Come in!!”

A man entered together with Natalie.

・The guild master is a former high-ranking adventurer and overwhelmingly strong. As Cruz predicted, if you oppose him, you’ll be crushed like a bug.

Chapter length 6298 characters.