V1C24

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

I take Tarō back to the city with me.

I want to ask Alto about levels and gold pieces. She knows a lot, so I suspect she can give me the answers I need. But, in the end, I decide it’s better not to, so long as Tarō is hanging around. I’ll find some time in the near future to come and ask her alone.

Tarō and I navigate through the city to get to the slime merchant together. Since he managed to catch enough slimes to buy dinner, it would be pitiful for him to go hungry just because he doesn’t know where to actually sell them.

We step over the store’s threshold, and I call out into the dimly lit interior, “Hey! I’ve brought a brand new slime hunter with me. Would you mind buying the slimes he caught?”

“Is that you Marron? It sure has been a while.” The shopkeeper’s voice and the sound of his shuffling feet comes out from deep in the shop. After a second, he steps out into the dimly lit room, a kindly smile brightening his features. “I guess you’ve given up on slime hunting? I was worried, you know, since I hadn’t seen you around for so long. Are you doing okay by yourself? Do you need anything?”

He’s a nice man in his middle years who’s always been kind to me and has always taken the time to make sure I’m doing okay living on my own.

“I’m doing fine, but thank you for checking in on me. I’ve been hunting shooting beans recently instead. That’s been enough for me to eat and take care of everything else.”

“You’re welcome, and I’m glad to hear it. Well then, is that boy behind you the greenhorn?” He peers at Tarō. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around. You a drifter?”

I cut in before Tarō can say anything stupid. “He actually just made his way here yesterday. He’s from Old Man Japan’s hometown, so he’s staying at his house right now.”

“Is that so? He’s one of that weirdo’s friends then. Marron, you should really think carefully about who you choose to associate with. Nothing good will come from hanging out with strange people.”

Everybody says that Old Man Japan’s just an old loon who tricks kids with his tall tales and wild stories. They all think poorly of him. They don’t see how nice he really is. Sure, the stories he tells might be made up, but they’re fun and fantastic and all the other kids and I love them.

Someone has to defend him, and I’m the only one here. I put my hands on my hips. “Old Man Japan’s not a bad guy, so you don’t need to worry about me. More importantly, could you buy Tarō’s slimes?”

“If you say so, Marron…”—he looks hesitant—“then I won’t bring it up again.” He rubs his forehead for a second, before putting back on his shopkeeper’s voice. “Okay, then! Show me what you’ve got, boy!”

He doesn’t bring up Old Man Japan again after that. Maybe he thinks I’ll be annoyed if he does, since I already made my position so clear?

Tarō does as he’s told—for once—and puts his slime-filled sack onto the counter.

The shopkeeper peers inside briefly before asking in a loud, surprised voice, “Hoooh?! Are these Marron Slimes?!”

I raise my eyebrow quizzically. “What the heck’s a Marron Slime? Are you telling me I have the same name as a slime?”

I’ve never heard about a Marron Slime before, and Dad never told me about them either. Could it be? Was my dad so lazy that he just named me after a slime?! No, there’s no way. Dad loved me too much to do that.

“No, no, no. I call them that because you’re the one who used to bring them to me. Everybody knows that slimes are either red or green or yellow, but yours and yours alone—for some reason—were always blue.” He points to the bag. “Like these. I’ve been in this line of work a long time, and yours were the first and only blue slimes I’d ever seen. But”—he grins toothily—“they’re not just blue! Slimes only live a short while, right? But Marron Slimes live easily three times as long! Not only that, but they’re without a doubt the most efficient cleaners out of any slime I’ve ever seen! So, I used to make quite the mint by selling them for more than twice what a regular slime…” He pauses for a second, the grin fading from his face as he realizes what he just admitted to. “Oh, I should not have said that.”

He scratches the back of his head uncomfortably as he glances at me, clearly wondering if I heard what he’d said. Yeah, I totally did.

“Wow. So you were selling the slimes you bought from me at”—I point to the sign on the counter—“the regular price, one copper per slime, to customers for more than twice what you normally do? And I didn’t benefit from that at all? Sounds kind of like you were taking advantage of me to pad your own pockets.”

Hearing that, I get the feeling that, when he’d said a minute ago he was worried because he hadn’t seen me in a while, what he’d been worried about was not getting any more Marron Slimes.

I give him a long flat look, and he scratches the back of his head nervously. “My bad, Marron. I shouldn’t have done that. So, look, why don’t I give you… uh…”—he glances to the side—“… three hundred silver, to show my appreciation for all of that profit you helped me earn? Do you think that sounds fair? I don’t want to be on your bad side, Marron. I would hate to never see a Marron Slime again!” He glances at the bag on the table and then to Tarō. “And, and! If you’re going to be the one bringing me Marron Slimes now—Tarō was it?—I’ll give you two coppers for each one!”

Three hundred silver is a hefty chunk of change for me. It’s enough to eat for almost a year.

Not only that, but I’m glad that I have someone who cares about my well-being—even if it’s really just to make sure his supply of slimes stays steady. It’s rough being a kid and living alone, so it’s good to have someone I can count on just in case. That, and the money itself, are enough for me to accept his offer.

I’m sure he made way more than that, but whatever.

Tarō looks at me, his eyes goggling. “Holy crap, Marron! That’s 1200 copper in like half a day! It won’t take even close to three months to buy my own house at this rate! I seriously appreciate your help!”

He looks close to jumping for joy, and he should be. He’s managed to sell six hundred slimes for twice as many coppers as he’d expected, and if he spends an entire day in the Fairy Forest from now on, he’ll be able to get more than a thousand slimes every day easily. So he may very well be able to get his own house sooner than expected.

Once Tarō finishes selling his slimes and pocketing his coins, I ask the shopkeeper a bunch of questions about slimes. According to him, slimes usually only live for ten or so days, and you’ll never end up with more slimes than you started with if you keep them in captivity—which is strange, because the world seems to be overrun with them otherwise. That means that everyone has to replace their slimes every ten days, give or take.

However, the slimes that I—and now Tarō—bring him can easily live for thirty days or more. Plus, he says they can eat more than twice as much waste on toilet duty or at a butcher’s shop as other slimes.

If you put those two things together, that means that they do six times the work of a regular slime. But, apparently, nobody’s willing to buy a toilet cleaner for six times the normal price, so he sells them at a bargain rate only two or three times higher.

I didn’t realize that the slimes I used to catch at the fairies’ spring were special in any way.

By the way, the slime in my toilet at home is a so-called Marron Slime. Whenever I go to hang out at the spring, like today, I make sure to grab one and bring it home. Since I’ve never had to buy one, I never had the opportunity to compare them and find out the ones I catch are special.

That’s all very interesting, but I’m mostly not sure how to feel about the fact that slimes share my name….