The Red Rod

When we returned to the second basement floor, we could see Slimes.

They're red, so they're easy to spot even in the dimly lit corridor with nothing but lights for illumination.

"Tch, looks like the door we shut earlier got busted through too."

"Yeah… Well, at least we bought enough time to search down here. Let's push through."

We discussed in whispers so the slaves couldn't hear.

To the slaves, we gave a different explanation.

"Those red Slimes are weak, so if you walk past them slowly, you'll be fine."

That's what we told them.

If they actually got attacked, we could just act surprised and say "No way!"

And the slaves believed us, slowly walking past them… Huh, they actually seem fine?

"Hey. Should we take this Slime out?"

"No, I want to avoid wasting Special Gear D. We don't have much left."

Special Gear D is our lifeline. Running low is a problem.

"Oh, right. Hey, why not try that red rod you picked up? You said it was the Slime's weakness."

"Wh-what if I get attacked doing that!?"

"… No, I agree we should test it while we can. If it doesn't work, we can back you up with Special Gear D."

"R-r-right. Right. Okay. Just make sure you cover me…?"

With that, my colleague brought the red rod closer, and the Slime wriggled and crawled away to put distance between them.

"Ohhh! See, I knew it! This rod is something they can't handle. Haha, look, look!"

"Hey now, don't get cocky."

My colleague tried to prod the Slime with the rod. The Slime scurried away… then gave a little jiggle and suddenly lunged at him!?

"Whoa!?"

"—"

But before it could latch on, Special Gear D's chemicals were fired and hit the Slime dead-on. It was blown into the wall, where it sizzled and dissolved, smoke rising from its remains.

"Haah, haah, that scared me. Thought I was done for."

"That was close."

"… Tch, you could've helped sooner."

No, I think that was plenty fast? Even I thought so.

But now we knew the Slimes didn't like the red rod.

"I'd like to confirm what happens when the rod actually touches a Slime, but… let's save it as a trump card."

"Wait, if we just killed one, that means there are only two left!?"

"… If they haven't multiplied."

"They might have multiplied…? But with this rod…!?"

Then we peered toward the first basement floor, and a shocking sight greeted us.

Red Slimes were scattered all throughout the corridor. Not just three. At least double digits.

How did they multiply this much… Wait!?

"Could it be… no, I'm sure of it! The underground Golems, they ate the magic stones powering them!"

Come to think of it, this guy's affiliated research lab was on the first basement floor, commonly known as the Golem Lab.

The Golems stationed on that floor naturally ran on magic stones…

"D-d-don't tell me! Not just the C-rank magic stones from the Golems' main power sources… but also the A-rank magic stone in secure storage!?"

"Huh!? An A-rank magic stone!? You had something like that in the Golem Lab!?"

"Our professor brought it in for research. I had nothing to do with it!!"

An A-rank magic stone. An energy crystal powerful enough to blow up this entire facility if it went out of control.

If the Slimes consumed and absorbed that… yeah, they'd multiply. Of course they would.

"Urgh, wh-what do we do?"

"… If you wave your red rod around, they might not come near?"

"No way! That means I'd have to take point!"

"Want to swap for my hazmat suit?"

"Oh, r-right. That's an option… Alright, someone help me get this suit off. This rod won't come off my hand."

With the disposal team helping, he tried to remove his hazmat suit, but…

"Ow ow ow, w-wait! My hand won't come off!?"

"Hey, just let go of the rod."

"I'm not holding it! My hand, my hand won't come free!"

"—"

"What?… Hmm, there's a hole in the suit's glove… It's fused to your skin. We'll need some kind of blade to cut it free…"

"Hold on! My hand, what's going to happen to my hand!? It'll heal, right!?"

My colleague kicked up a fuss. But he's the one who picked the rod up, so it's his own fault.

"Calm down. Luckily it's just a layer of skin. Recovery magic should handle it. Any church could fix it. But I can't guarantee what'll happen if we don't cut it free soon."

"Uuugh… I don't want it cut… Huh?"

My colleague glanced around nervously.

"H-hey. Aren't we… short on people?"

"Huh?"

When we actually counted, there were only four slaves left. And of the disposal team, only the leader and one other remained.

"Wait, hold on? Why?"

"—"

"Ah!!"

I saw it. I could see it. Just now, a red tentacle. It snatched a slave at incredible speed and carried them off.

The captured slave didn't even get a word out before being dragged away.

Wh-what was that. What was that!?

"H-hey! Damn it, we've only got three shields left!?"

"A-a-ah…! Hey! You said the Slimes were weak and we'd be fine!?"

"Tch… Shut up! Just run! Run if you don't want to die!!"

At this point, our only option was to put the meat shields in front and sprint through.

"W-wait! What about my hand!?"

"If we sit around removing it and get caught, we're dead anyway! Leave it until we're somewhere safe!!"

"Uwehhh… Just get it off me…!"

Just then, another red tentacle shot out. Its target: my colleague, who was only half done putting his hazmat suit back on.

But. When the red tentacle touched the rod.

"Eh?"

"Ah!"

Snap! The tentacle burst apart. The severed end twitched as if screaming in agony, then melted into the floor.

"! S-see, this red rod really is the Slimes' weakness! Ha, hahaha! Come on, let's go!"

My colleague gripped the very rod he'd just been begging to have removed.

We advanced in formation: slave shields in front, two disposal team members flanking us…

Wait, h-hold on!? I'm the only one without any weapon!!