Chapter 8: Let’s Clear Up the Spirits’ Misunderstanding

While I was doing my usual energy swirling, I suddenly realized something.

I was releasing the energy I had built up and refined to cause various phenomena.

In that case, wouldn’t it be amazing if I could absorb this swirling energy from outside into my body?

If I think of this swirling energy as "mana," then being able to suck in mana from the outside and use it should become a powerful trump card in addition to refining it inside my body.

Instead of refining the swirling energy inside myself, I imagined creating a whirlpool-like vortex to draw it in. I pictured power being sucked in like water spinning into a whirlpool.

Zuuun!

The air around me changed, and the trees began to rustle. It felt like the air was slowly starting to rotate around me.

Zuzuzuzuu!

Swirling energy flooded into my body at an incredible speed. Much faster than when I refine it myself.

(Ohh! This is great!)

Getting carried away, I tried to gather even more energy.

Zugogogogo!

The trees shook violently, and the flow of air accelerated. That’s when it happened.

"Hey, hey! What the heck are you doing?!"

"That’s really troubling for us~"

"The winds are also troubled... It would be nice if you could treat them more gently..."

"You! You pickin’ a fight with me?!"

Uhh... Four beautiful girls appeared all at once. Not sure if they’re actually sisters.

Also, they’re flying. The girl in the light blue outfit looks like a energetic tomboy. Her healthy legs extend nicely from her blue miniskirt. The boyish hairstyle adds to her lively vibe.

The one in the brownish outfit has glossy, waist-length brown hair and gives off a gentle, elegant older-sister feel. Her long pareo-style skirt and light brown blouse look very refined. The girl in the greenish outfit seems quite shy. But she’s super cute and looks kind. Her light green flared skirt that reaches her knees makes her even more adorable when it flutters.

The one with spiky bright red hair wearing a tight miniskirt and red outfit has a bit of a delinquent vibe.

『Umm... who might you all be?』

I tried speaking with telepathy, the same way that worked with the kids earlier. Since there are four of them, I focused so the message would reach everyone.

"I think forcibly absorbing mana is not a good idea."

The light-blue tomboy said.

"Sometimes we lend the power of the wind if someone makes a proper contract and asks nicely, but sucking it in by force is just wrong."

The elegant green girl also scolded me.

"Forcing things is no good~. It’s better to understand each other first, I think~"

The brown-haired big sister said something that felt a little different, but I’ll let it slide.

"The hell?! You tryin’ to pick a fight with me?!"

Yeah, the red-haired delinquent is definitely the dangerous one.

『Um, so this swirling energy is called mana?』

"Huh? Why don’t you know that when you’re the one doing it?"

The light-blue tomboy tilted her head at me.

『I was born here and I’ve mostly been living alone. No one taught me anything.』

"Ugh~ What a super lonely guy!"

The red-haired delinquent looked down at me with pitying eyes.

Mind your own business! No one chooses to be lonely on purpose!

I’m a slime, so it can’t be helped!

Then the redhead dropped something even more outrageous.

"I came here thinking that if you were an evil being sucking up mana, I’d just destroy you."

『W-wait! I’m not evil or anything! I was just testing whether I could gather energy!』

"What a shame. I was looking forward to blasting you with my special move, if you were evil."

The redhead wrapped her fists in flames and clashed them together. Please stop, that’s scary.

"Now that I think about it, you cleaned up this spring so nicely the other day, so I gave it my blessing. Did you want my blessing on yourself too, not just the spring?"

The light-blue tomboy smiled brightly, so I asked a simple question.

『What is a blessing?』

"A blessing is something we spirits grant. I can give you the blessing of water! It increases your resistance to water magic and makes water magic easier to use. There’s also contracts separate from blessings."

『So you’re the Water Spirit. Blessings and contracts are different?』

"Blessings are something we give one-sidedly, but contracts are mutual cooperation. I can directly lend you my power by receiving your mana. You’ll be able to use water spirit magic directly, and you’ll also be able to summon me from the spirit realm whenever you want."

『You can be summoned anytime? Then we’re friends!』

"F-friends!?"

The light-blue tomboy looked surprised.

『Yeah. I’m basically all alone here... I’d be really happy if you’d make a contract and become my friend~』

I said what I was thinking without thinking too deeply. Come to think of it, Logan and the others are out hunting right now, and Captain Chick is off forming his legion, so I really am alone. Yeah, I’m not lying. I really am lonely.

"Wow~ You really are lonely~. You did clean up the spring for us, and you were honest with the kids instead of pretending to be the Water Spirit yourself. I really like honest people, so I’ll give you both my blessing and a contract!"

『Eh!? Really!? Awesome!』

The light-blue tomboy held both hands out in front of her.

It’s nice that she calls a slime like me a "person," though it feels a bit complicated...

Her palms glowed brightly, then she hugged me.

I was enveloped in light, and then it faded.

"I’m the Water Spirit Wintia! Nice to meet you from now on!"

Saying that, Wintia hugged me. My slime body is soft and bouncy — it must feel great to hug, right? I focused my senses on the points of contact and turned up the sensitivity! I fully enjoyed Wintia’s squishy breasts and slender thighs!

...This is a Win-Win relationship based on mutual cooperation, right?

When I started bouncing around happily with my whole body, the other spirits seemed interested too.

"You gave the trees peace by watering them with the spring water~. I, the Earth Spirit Belhia, shall also grant you my blessing and a contract~"

『Wow! Thank you!』

The gentle, fluffy brown-haired big sister, Earth Spirit Belhia, glowed and hugged me. The light faded once the blessing and contract were complete.

"Your mana is very strong yet gentle. I’m sure you will become an indispensable existence in this world. I, the Wind Spirit Sylphie, shall also grant you my blessing and contract."

The elegant green girl, Wind Spirit Sylphie, glowed and hugged me as well.

『I’m so happy!』

"I ain’t giving you my blessing or contract! I’m not that cheap of a woman!"

The red-haired delinquent crossed her arms and turned away.

『That’s fine. I already have three friends, that’s more than enough.』

"Eh!?"

Because I gave up so easily, the redhead looked at me in disbelief.

『When I summon all three of you at once, it’ll be really lively! We should have a barbecue!』

"What’s a barbecue?"

Wintia tilted her head and asked.

『It’s when good friends get together, cook food, eat, play games, and have fun.』

That was a pretty vague explanation! Even I feel pathetic saying it.

"Heh~ Sounds fun! If we raise our mana and materialize, we can touch things and eat too. Everything we eat gets converted into mana energy."

Amazing! 100% energy conversion rate! I’m jealous... Wait, maybe I’m the same? I don’t excrete anything after all.

"Wait wait waaait!"

The redhead started yelling.

『What?』

"No no no! This is where you’re supposed to cry and beg, ’Please give me your blessing and contract!’"

The redhead ranted.

『Nah, I’m good.』

"Why?! Say ’Please grant me your blessing and contract, great one!’"

『I refuse!』

"W-w-why?! Do you have some problem with me?!"

『I have nothing but problems with you.』

The redhead looked shocked, as if a "Gah!" sound effect would appear behind her in a manga.

"Damn it! Fine, I’ll force the blessing and contract on you!"

The redhead wrapped herself in flames, glowed, and charged at me.

『W-wait! Stop... Ow ow ow ow!』

With a loud Sizzle~~~~, she hugged me. Smoke was rising from my body!

"Hmph! I’m the Fire Spirit Freya. I’ve given you my blessing and contract. Cry your eyes out and thank me!"

『You idiot! It was so hot I almost burned to death!』

I glared at the Fire Spirit Freya.

I thought slimes were resistant to heat and cold, but that actually hurt.

This is bad! How do I get fire resistance?

Training plan: Summon Freya every time and get burned to farm experience... Sounds painful.

"Ah, now you’ve contracted with all four great spirits! There’s never been anyone in history who contracted with all four at once. You’re amazing!"

"Just as I sensed, you are surely someone who will become indispensable to the world."

Wintia praised me, and Sylphie agreed.

"But don’t push yourself too hard~. Just live peacefully in nature, okay?"

The gentle big sister Belhia said.

"I still haven’t acknowledged you yet!"

Freya thrust her fist out in front of me.

Then why did you give me your blessing and contract...?

"Well, we’ll head back for now, but call us anytime!"

With that, the spirits disappeared.

Water Spirit Wintia

Earth Spirit Belhia

Wind Spirit Sylphie

Fire Spirit Freya

I ended up receiving blessings and contracts from all four great spirits.

Is this what you’d call a cheat?

I don’t know, but yeah, it’s a cheat! Yep. That’s what I’m going with. I’ve decided.

Otherwise it would be way too lonely.

---

For the past few days, I’ve been delivering water to Kanta and Chiko’s house every 3 to 4 days.

While I’m at it, I also water the village fields.

The fields seem to be recovering at an incredible pace. The crops are sprouting vigorously, and the ones that used to look dull are now shiny and healthy. The Miracle Spring Water is clearly showing its effects.

I’m sure the villagers are thrilled (self-praise).

『Boss! This is bad!』

Logan rushed to my side.

『What’s wrong?』

『One of the subordinates I had monitoring the village you’ve been delivering water to reported that Kanta and Chiko are being viewed with hostility by some of the villagers.』

I was shocked.

『What!? What do you mean!?』

『Yes! From what we overheard in their conversations, some people are accusing Kanta’s family of stealing water from the village well because only their house has clean water...』

『That’s ridiculous! There’s no way those kids or their mother would do something like that.』

『I agree, but right now the village well is on the verge of drying up completely. So having a full water jar only at Kanta’s house looks suspicious to them...』

Muuu! It’s true that it would look strange for only Kanta’s house to have a full water jar while the village well is almost dry... But that doesn’t mean they stole water from a nearly empty well. In fact, there probably isn’t even enough water left in that well to fill a jar.

『Because only their field and house have been spared from the water shortage, those who can’t secure enough water for their own families are taking out their frustration on Kanta and his sister.』

This is all because I asked them to keep the spring a secret!

Those siblings are faithfully keeping their promise to me. What good kids.

They’re being blamed by the whole village. If they just told everyone about the spring and me, they wouldn’t have to suffer like this...

『They really are honest siblings.』

Logan spoke calmly, as if he had read my thoughts. But I’m sure he feels the same way I do.

『Logan, we’re heading to the village right now.』

『Understood! How many subordinates should I bring?』

『All of them.』

『...Is that okay?』

『Yeah. Sometimes harsh measures are necessary when dealing with adults who only think about themselves.』

I answered with a slightly threatening tone.

『Indeed.』

Logan grinned.

In the village, many people including the village chief had gathered around the dried-up well.

"Kanta. Why is there water in your family’s jar when no one else has any?"

The village chief questioned Kanta and Chiko.

"Kanta, what’s going on? Do you know something?"

Kanta’s mother had been bedridden, so she thought the well water had recovered.

But in reality, the well was almost completely dry and couldn’t support the entire village.

After drinking the water and regaining enough strength to get out of bed, she came outside only to find her children surrounded by angry villagers.

"You stole the water, didn’t you!? Give it back!"

Uza — the man who always tried (and failed) to act like a leader — shouted at Kanta.

"I didn’t steal any village water! I would never do that!"

Kanta denied it with all his might.

His little sister Chiko clung tightly to his left arm.

"Big brother..."

Her eyes seemed to ask, Shouldn’t we tell the village chief about Mr. Slime?

But Kanta had made a promise. He wouldn’t speak about the spring.

And the slime called Yabe had kept his word and continued delivering water.

No matter how much the villagers blamed him, Kanta had no intention of breaking his promise with Yabe.

"Village Chief, the fields are incredibly healthy and the crops are growing huge all of a sudden. When the merchants come, we should be able to sell them for a really good price, right?"

Muniji, known for his serious and steady work in the fields, tried to change the subject.

But Uza immediately ruined the attempt.

"The merchants won’t matter if we all dry up and die first! And it’s all because Kanta is stealing water!"

Even as Uza glared at him, Kanta stood his ground and faced the villagers.

"I didn’t do anything wrong!"

Kanta clenched his fists, desperately holding back tears.

"Kanta..."

"Big brother..."

Both Chiko and their mother stayed close to him with worried expressions.

"Village Chief, I understand we’re worried about the well running dry, but the crops in the fields are growing better than expected. Can’t we share the water-rich produce among the villagers to get through this?"

Muniji made a practical suggestion. This was exactly the kind of steady, hardworking response you’d expect from him.

"But that’s only because the fields suddenly became healthy. Including the fact that only Kanta’s house still has water, if we don’t understand the cause, the fields might wither again at any time..."

After the village chief spoke, Uza turned on Kanta again.

"The suspicious part is that only your house has a full water jar! What exactly have you been doing with the fields!?"

Uza finally grabbed Kanta by the collar.

"Uza, calm down! He’s just a child!"

Uza ignored Muniji’s attempt to stop him and refused to loosen his grip.

"I made a promise! I said I wouldn’t tell anyone!"

Kanta’s eyes filled with tears, but he still refused to speak.

"That’s enough!!"

At that moment, a tremendously loud voice rang out.

"Wh-what was that?"

"Who is it?"

"Look! There’s something over there!"

Everyone looked in the direction someone was pointing. On the roof of the small church in the village square, something was standing on top of a large wolf.

"Y-Yabe!"

"Mr. Slime!"

Kanta and Chiko shouted at the same time.

It was exactly the one they had met at the spring — the slime called Yabe, who had been secretly delivering water in exchange for their silence.