Infinite Adaptation: Starting As A Level 1 Slime-Chapter 18: Show Off

Luna stood on a raised platform at the center of the village, Lunaris resting in her arms in his slime form. The Princess stood beside them, her pink ears twitching attentively.

"By the way," Lunaris spoke up, "I forgot to ask. What is your name?"

The Princess’s eyes widened. She placed a hand over her heart, her expression becoming deeply moved.

"I am honored that the Great One wishes to know this humble servant’s..."

He just stared at her.

I was just asking for her name. Why did she have to make it such a big deal?

"...Roselle," she finished with an elegant bow. "My name is Roselle."

Roselle, huh.

He noticed something odd.

Why doesn’t she have a family name? Isn’t she royalty as a princess?

"Oh, that reminds me," he continued, "if you’re the princess, who’s the king? Your father?"

Roselle let out a soft laugh.

"Of course not," she said with slight amusement in her eyes. "My father was not the king. Our leadership does not work like that."

"It doesn’t?" Lunaris tilted his form slightly. "Then how does it work?"

I didn’t think it would be democratic. Could I have underestimated these cultists?

"There are no kings in our tribe," Roselle explained. "Just princes or princesses."

What kind of system is that?

"Well, actually," she continued, "it is more like priests and priestesses."

She placed her hand to her chest, her voice taking on a reverent tone.

"The seat of king means someone at the top. This position can only be held by Lord Lunaris. The priests and priestesses are the most loyal followers who enforce the Lord’s will."

Hmm. I guess that kind of makes sense.

Wait, something doesn’t make sense here.

"The most loyal? How do you test that?"

Roselle simply smiled.

I see. It seems it’s best I don’t know about that.

"Although our methods are a little... unique," she spoke, her smile unwavering, "you can trust that I am the most loyal follower here. If you wished, I could prove my loyalty to the Goddess. Could you grant me the honor?"

"No thanks."

She was about to speak...

"Ahem." He quickly changed the subject. "It seems everyone has gathered."

He looked over the crowd that had assembled before the platform.

Let’s see...

He made a quick count.

About 200 of them. Half of those look like they have a foot in the grave. And the rest that are somewhat healthy aren’t all that much better.

So overall, about 50 of them could actually be of use for my needs. The others might just collapse if I put them to work.

He let out an internal sigh.

These guys are so hopeless. I feel bad just letting them be.

Since they’re followers of Luna’s mother, I’ll help them out a little.

Just a little, though.

"All of you," he announced. "Get up. There is no need to kneel before me."

The beastmen looked at each other. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Slowly, hesitantly, they rose to their feet.

"Your current situation does not look good," Lunaris continued. "At this rate, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll die soon."

His words were a bit harsh, but they had to be said. He thought.

He was telling them this so they could get to work - not just laze around because they’d presumably achieved their goal of meeting the Goddess.

They looked at each other in confusion.

Then, as one, they dropped back to their knees.

"We will accept the will of the Moon!"

These brats...

They really don’t want to work and just want to pray all day.

It seems negotiations aren’t going to work.

He turned to the Princess.

"Roselle."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Listen to my orders."

Her eyes widened. She knelt before him, her head bowed low.

"I want..."

...

A group of six walked through the forest. Luna carried Lunaris in his slime form, with Roselle on her right side and another beastman girl on her left. Three men followed behind them - the same ones from the group Lunaris and Luna had encountered in the forest the previous day.

"By the way, Luna..." he began.

"Yes, Dad?" she answered enthusiastically.

"Have you figured out a way to turn back yet?"

Luna showed hesitation. Then she said quietly, "I’m not sure. I’ve tried, but... it’s not working."

Has something gone wrong?

He thought about it. Her stats didn’t seem to show any issues. He decided to look into it later.

Though it is disappointing she can’t use her beast form. Especially now that we’re going hunting - we could really use it.

Maybe the transformation didn’t reduce her strength? She was quite fast that day. But when I transform, I can feel my physical strength increase. Maybe it’s different for her?

Well, on the bright side, she won’t eat as much, right?

He turned his attention to Roselle.

"Isn’t this your first time hunting?" he asked. "There won’t be any problems, right?"

He felt they should have brought more men, but she had insisted just these few were enough.

"While it’s our first time in a while," Roselle explained, "that doesn’t mean we’re bad at it."

She walked with an easy confidence.

"Actually, our warriors are quite strong."

"While we did indeed lose a lot of our people to fight for this area, we didn’t stop producing warriors. How else can we keep this area we so desperately fought for."

I guess it makes sense.

"That being said, there are few of them and we didn’t want to lose them so we didn’t hunt. Besides, farming is overall better for us as it doesn’t require much effort," she continued. "Meaning we could just plant some seeds and spend the rest of our time praying."

What kind of logic is that?

"Hmm... I see. You guys are quite smart."

"I know, right?"

At that moment, the girl beside Luna spoke up.

"We’ve entered the giant spider’s territory."

The group stopped.

Roselle’s expression shifted. The playful air vanished, replaced by cold focus.

"Mira," she commanded. "Stay by the Lord and the Young Lord’s side. Protect them with your life."

The girl - Mira - bowed deeply.

"Understood."

Roselle turned to the three men.

"You guys. Come with me."

They moved without hesitation.

"The Princess is hunting personally?" Lunaris asked.

Roselle glanced back at him.

"You gave the command, my Lord," she said. "In front of Lord Lunaris, all are equal."

Then she smiled.

"Besides... I wanted to show off a little in front of the Lord."