It was quite dark outside .

We had started eating dinner when it was already getting dim . And then the angry slimes had gone off hunting, so it was no surprise .

I wanted to start again once it was brighter… But as long as I wasn’t sure how long it would take for the magic stones to change, I could not just leave them here .

After all, the rage of the slimes might cool off by tomorrow .

Thankfully, the slimes were able to see in the dark, so they could continue to search the place .

‘Also, let me know if you see traces of humans anywhere . …There may be footprints in the snow . ’

‘Okay!’

The slimes said as they continued to search for the hated Greedy Boars and the cursed stones .

Completed cursed stones affected a wide area and were easy to find . But you had to get very close to find the uncompleted ones .

However, there were a lot of slimes, so it wasn’t too hard .

Actually…

‘Over here!’

‘The food is so good!’

‘Yay! I’m going too!’

————————————————————

‘You have tamed a slime . ’

————————————————————

The slimes kept converting other slimes, and so their number was growing .

I no longer knew how many slimes I had, but it was probably approaching 1,000 by now .

Well, having more of them was a good thing .

It meant I could cast a wider net .

I thought about this while I went around and purified the stones .

And then I suddenly got the idea to create a map .

Well, it wasn’t a map of the terrain .

It was just a simple map with the locations of the stones .

It didn’t have any other information on it like towns or cliffs .

However, maybe I would be able to learn something from it .

If there was any common point in the way they were laid out, I might be able to find a pattern for the way the culprit was moving .

—And so I continued to search for the next 5 hours .

Up until now, I was constantly getting reports of new stones, but they suddenly stopped .

And then…

‘It’s getting warmer!’

‘There’s no more snow over here!’

It seemed the slimes that were the furthest ahead had now left the region that was cold .

…Which meant there were probably no more magic stones up ahead .

If there were, they would have sucked up all the energy and made everything cold .

‘You can all come back now! Proud Wolf, help the slimes return!’

Okay!’

‘Understood!’

And so I had the slimes return and then I looked at the completed map .

We had gathered 108 stones in all .

All of the stones were contained in an area that was in the shape of a circle .

…So it seemed only natural to a.s.sumed that something would be in the center of it .

‘When you gather together, come to this point here!’

I said to the few slimes that were around me as I pointed to the map .

As my tamed slimes were able to communicate with each other, this was the same thing as telling all of them .

‘Okay!’

With the help of the Proud Wolf, the slimes started to tighten their net .

Up until now, the slimes were scattered quite far apart, but now they were close enough that they wouldn’t miss a marble on the ground .

And yet, they still did not find anything .

But my instincts were telling me that there must be something here .

There was something about the forest that seemed unnatural .

And it wasn’t just the snow that was here at the wrong season .

There was something different, some alteration that was done to the forest itself .

…Perhaps it was disguised too well .

Or could I just be wrong about it all?

‘What should we do?’

‘Should we wait?’

Waiting for something to happen was a valid option too .

But… We could wait for a whole year, and there was no guarantee that something would happen .

Just waiting seemed too pa.s.sive .

‘…I’ll have to use my trump card then . ’