Chapter 14: Let’s Summarize the Gathered Information

Well then, what a coincidence — everyone’s finally gathered together.

"Logan and Chick Captain, thanks for coming back safely. Good work. Let’s hear the reports right away."

『Yes sir! I shall begin with my report.』

Logan stepped forward confidently. Is he trying to show the chicks that he can do this too?

『If you head north from this forest for a while, you’ll reach a large waterfall. The basin there is much bigger than this spring, making it easier to secure water. We were instructed not to exterminate the surrounding monsters, so we only conducted reconnaissance, but we confirmed the presence of fairly large ones such as Killer Grizzlies and Giant Vipers.』

Hmm, so there’s a waterfall to the north. Might be nice to go there and bask in the negative ions sometime.

『To the northeast, deep in the forest, we found a dungeon.』

Ooh! A dungeon! That’s very fantasy-like.

"What kind of place is this dungeon?"

『Dungeons are said to be the dwelling places of monsters. In addition to races like us who were originally beasts that evolved into magic beasts by absorbing magic essence, there are also beings born from areas deep inside dungeons where magic essence is highly concentrated. The deeper you go, the stronger and more formidable the magic beasts become.』

"Heh~, Logan, you’re surprisingly knowledgeable."

『Oh no, not really~』

He said that, but he was puffing out his chest and wagging his tail furiously from side to side.

Looks like he’s happy to be praised.

I’ll make a mental note to praise my subordinates and help them grow.

『It seems human adventurers from the town of Sorenariini form parties to challenge and conquer the dungeon.』

I see, so adventurers go there to make money. If people are coming and going regularly, it’ll be difficult for Logan and the others to investigate inside.

"Investigating the monsters inside the dungeon would be pretty tough, huh?"

『Indeed... We would stand out too much in the eyes of humans.』

『In that case, please leave it to us!』

Chick Captain spoke up.

Chicks scurrying around at foot level probably don’t draw much attention, I suppose.

"Can you secure vision even inside the dungeon?"

Don’t bird eyes have trouble in dark places?

『No problem! Leave it to us, Boss!』

"Got it. No need to rush. We’ll have you investigate before we head into the dungeon."

Now that I know there’s a dungeon, I definitely want to check it out at least once. But since human adventurers visit frequently, going there in my current form would probably get me hunted instead. I’ll need to come up with some countermeasures first.

"How did the investigation go for Chick Captain and the others?"

『Yes sir! We have gathered information from the area around Sorenariini and inside the town itself!』

Chick Captain kneeled neatly and gave his report. This guy really never breaks character.

『In terms of scale, Sorenariini appears to be at least ten times larger than Caso’s village. The town itself is surrounded by walls, and each of the four entrances has two soldiers stationed there, checking people entering and leaving. When entering the town, people seemed to hand something over, so it appears some kind of item is required to enter.』

"That’s probably money. Round objects made of gold, silver, copper, and the like."

Not that I’ve seen any money since coming to this world!

I’ll ask Irina later about this country and its currency. Even a klutz like her should know that much.

『Ohh! Boss is so knowledgeable!』

"How was the atmosphere inside the town?"

『Quite a lot of humans seem to live there. Among the facilities you asked us to check, we confirmed the Adventurer’s Guild and the Commerce Guild. We also identified inns, weapon shops, armor shops, general stores, alchemy shops, and others.』

"I see. It sounds like a much more developed town than I expected. Were there plenty of places to eat?"

『Yes. There were many buildings where humans were eating various foods. They smelled very good.』

『Piyo piyo~ (I got food from a human~)』

『Pi? Piyo pi~ (What!? Really?)』

『Piyo piyo~ (Oh, I got some too. It was delicious~)』

I don’t know the details, but it seems the chicks managed to get fed by humans.

Good to see they’re popular.

『As for other information: There’s a blacksmith who also sells weapons and armor on a backstreet that’s known among those in the know for handling excellent goods. Also, there seems to be some suspicious activity in the slum area on the north side of town. As for the local governor, Nise, he appears to be highly regarded by Count Coruna, the lord of this frontier region, and has a good reputation. The town itself is well-regarded, and merchants are expecting further development in the future.』

Oh, that’s some pretty good information. It already seems to be developing nicely, but it looks like it has room to grow even more. Despite the name Sorenariini ("somewhat"), it’s way better than "somewhat" — I’ve got high expectations!

『However, after carefully observing the town, we barely saw any races other than humans. If Boss wishes to enter the town, some ingenuity will be required.』

Yeah, Chick Captain. You’re perfect. Full marks, gold star for you.

...Hm? At some point, Irina had sat down formally in seiza position right beside me. What’s up?

"Irina, what’s wrong?"

"Muu... Lord Slime. It’s about time you stopped with the ’-san’ or ’lady’ and just called me Irina directly, don’t you think?"

Hey, I’m already full from that running joke!

No more "kyaa~" needed!

Oh right, she did say she’d look into slimes for me.

"...Irina. You mentioned you’d investigate about slimes, right? Did you find anything out?"

I turned toward Irina and asked.

"B-Being called directly by name... Kyaa... ah."

Too fast! You skipped straight to the fantasy part! Also, what’s with that "ah"? Don’t tell me...

"I-I was so eager to see you again, Lord Slime... that I completely forgot to investigate..."

As I thought!!

You’re way too much of a klutz!