Chapter 5
Landing on the grass and retracting my wings, I realized that these colorful dots were slime-like things.
Slimes. They’re just puddles of mud. No matter how brightly colored they are, or how much they look like pudding and jelly, they should fundamentally still be monsters. The things in front of me didn’t look like edible food no matter how I looked at them. Obviously, they had also noticed me and were hopping towards me. So, it’s time to try out magic. I aimed my hand at these strange slimy creatures and shouted:
“Fireball!”
A ball of fire with a long tail like a comet flying towards the slimy creatures, creating a low-pitched explosion—that was what I had imagined.
The result was that nothing happened, only the squishing sound of the slimy creatures landing on the grass.
“Fire magic, Fireball!”
……
“Then… Magic activate! Fireball Jutsu!”
……
Is the posture wrong?
I assumed a horse stance.
“Fireball Jutsu!”
……
Ugh, so shameful.
Could it be that I need materials? Like bat guano and sulfur balls? Or do I have to chant an incantation? Strike a specific pose?
“Pfft!”
A slimy creature bounced towards me.
As a former human who was always hit squarely in the face by balls, whenever something flies towards me, I habitually block with my hands to prevent facial injury. This has become an unchangeable reflex arc.
“Splat.”
My palm slapped against the slimy creature’s body. The creature was instantly shattered into pieces by this slap, splashing all over the ground.
However, my hand started smoking almost simultaneously.
“Hiss hiss hiss…”
Clearly visible corrosion wounds appeared on my hand; the skin fell off, revealing the bright red flesh inside.
Fortunately, as a vampire, my regeneration speed was evident. It was as if paint was being applied; the corroded wound disappeared rapidly. Just in case, I shook my hand. No more skin fell off; it had truly healed completely.
The important thing was that it didn’t hurt at all. I felt nothing. Corrosion causes continuous pain, which would be unbearable for human nerves; if not death, it would cause fainting.
But I still haven’t figured out how to use magic.
“Watch out!”
The sound of slime exploding came from behind me.
“That was close.”
Turning around, I saw a tall young man. There were two puddles of slime on the grass. It seemed a slimy creature had attacked me from behind just now, and he helped me kill it. Although this slimy creature couldn’t cause me any harm, I should thank him for saving my clothes.
“Thanks, Uncle.”
“Uncle… Sigh, have I really reached that age?”
The young man had messy black hair, stubble on his face, and a foxtail grass in his mouth. He wore nondescript cloth clothes, a belt similar to a swordsman’s on his leather pants, and a sword hanging from each side of his waist. One of the long swords was already unsheathed, stained with slime and smoking. The smell of corroding metal filled the air.
“Hey—Sharon, did you catch a hare?!”
A flat-headed man holding a longbow emerged from the bushes near the grass. dressed similarly to the young man, except he had a quiver with more than ten feathered arrows hanging from his belt and carried a basket on his back, panting heavily.
“No, I saw a little girl.”
The man named Sharon responded to his companion.
“A little girl? In a place like this?”
“What’s your name? Are you a noble child from somewhere?”
Sharon asked me.
Looking at the two suspicious faces, I fell into thought.
Wearing such gorgeous clothes, it’s understandable to be considered a noble. Uh… what should I do? I can’t say I’m the Demon Lord. Scaring them away on the spot doesn’t matter, but maybe I can secretly learn magic by following humans? Even hearing a magic name would be good; chanting along is better than guessing blindly like this.
“Sorry, I don’t know anything. I was here when I woke up.”
Facing an amnesiac loli, the two probably wouldn’t say anything harsh; maybe they’d even feel sympathy.
The young man scratched his head.
“Alright, we’ll talk about other things later. There are Popilas, those slime monsters, here. Eiger, let’s take this little girl to a safe place first.”
“Yeah, okay. Little sister, come with us. It’s very dangerous here.”
My prediction was correct. Although I’m using their kindness, I don’t intend to do anything bad. I just want to see how magic is used and then copy it.
Following Sharon and his companion Eiger, I walked out of the grass and onto a muddy road full of potholes and puddles.
