Translated by: LERL

"Free time, huh."

There was still some time before the test begins, so I had time to spare. Although, if I were on Earth, I would have enough work to keep me up for many nights.

"Hey, have you seen anything interesting?"

I got bored, and asked the slime. Since we share the same view through magic, they shouldn't see anything different from me.

"This leaf is delicious! Want some?"

Ah, I thought the screen was shaking slightly, but i was just one of the slimes eating leaves.

Unfortunately, I don't have an appet.i.te for leaves that I do not know well; even if it is recommended to me.

"If I eat unfamiliar leaves, I'm afraid I might ruin my stomach."

"Ok!"

…Wait, what would slime do to my stomach? I spent my free time exchanging such conversations with a slime.

I'm free right now, but I'm not really getting that sleepy. I feel as if I was on Earth, but I haven't been staying up all night for the past two or three days.

After a few more hours, there was a change in the situation.

In the vision of one slime, an instructor was seen.

"Yuji, someone has come."

"Yeah, I'm seeing it from here too. If there's no danger don't leave the post and continue monitoring."

"Got it."

The slimes were arranged in advance so that there are no blind spots. Even though I can't find the most efficient arrangement since I don't know the easily protectable areas, since there are so many slimes, it's possible to create a system without any holes just by spreading theme evenly.

Among the slimes' visions, the instructor walks unprotected. Hidden in the leaves, the slimes are very hard to see, but they can see the instructor perfectly. Somehow, not working hard to find him makes me somehow sad.

I'll move ahead of the instructor, then, when my voice can be heard…

"Hold up, is it really that important to be able to find an instructor in this test? Or do you just repel him using your power?"

Saying that, with the sword I summoned with magic, I thrust forwards. However, the strike wasn't meant to kill the instructor.

Instead, it was just to show my intention to fight if necessary.

Concerning the fight now, unlike the fluke the other day wherein I fought with only a sword and worked, I transferred magic to the slime behind the instructor.

But, it didn't seem that fighting was going to be necessary.

"No, you just need to find one. I didn't think I could be found this early. And how did you manage without burning the fire?"

"I found some slime, which I use to see everything."

Saying that, I pointed towards the slime near my feet. As expected, the slime was not noticed.

But, I feel that if I were not sharing the same senses as the slime, even I wouldn't be able to sense their presence. For one, they're translucent and very small.

Furthermore, even when it finds a person, it won't attack or make any noticeable movements, they merely monitor that person. I think it would be amazing if you were able to locate one hidden in a dark forest like this.

"Seriously? I've heard stories about using tamed creatures to search for things, but to have used it this early…"

"Well, slimes are easy to find, so…"

Saying that, I used some light magic I remembered to illuminate the slimes around me. There were 7 slimes that could be seen from the instructors position alone. If this is enough, it's impossible to slip by.

"Wait, weren't you only training one slime?"

"It can split up and combine easily. I usually only carry around one of them, but it can split up when needed."

Saying that, I gave instructions to a nearby slime to combine and split up again in order to demonstrate. The instructor seemed convinced.

"Oh. To be honest, I've heard about slimes being able to recombine before. But still, to tame 7 creatures at once… it's not all magic and swords, tamers have a place too, huh."

He seems to have misunderstood that there are only 7 slimes, but explaining will take up more time, so I'll just leave it. It might be better not to disclose the exact number of slimes next time. After some thinking, the instructor raised both his hands.

"Well, I guess I'll be heading back now."

Having said that, the instructor turned towards the way back. I'm still monitoring the area with my slimes, but I'm not going to go back yet. However, it hasn't been announced that the exam is over yet, should I still keep the surveillance firm?

And then, a few more hours at dawn…

At the time when human caution is said to be at its most relaxed state, something new happened.

In the vision of one slime, a tree shook as though it was touched by something. The shaking came closer and closer to the slime – another person.

However, this time it was different from the instructor. This time, I couldn't see it.