Chapter 28 - Clumsy Stealth Slime
Making sure the surrounding area was safe and unknown to others, we slowly entered the mine entrance.
The smell of rusty iron in this former iron mine gave a strange sensation that tickled my nose.
It almost made me sneeze after not being used to the change in aroma that entered my nose.
Luckily, several groups of stealth slimes immediately stabilized the air around me, and my nose felt relieved after the dust in this place was quickly cleaned.
"That almost made me sneeze and make a loud noise," I whispered to one of the nameless stealth slimes near me.
The nickname I gave to the stealth slime was just a simple number that had no meaning at all.
If I'm not mistaken, this stealth slime had asked for a nickname in the form of "Sirius".
To appreciate her hard work so far, I immediately called her to give her a small compliment.
"Thank you for your help earlier, Sirius."
"If it weren't for you, I would have sneezed and made someone listen to my sneeze."
By giving such praise and keeping my voice low, it was enough to see the expression on her face that looked very happy.
Her human body shape which had been perfected after failing several times gave a sparkling gaze towards me.
"T-The Supreme Commander just praised me?"
Along with her happy words like that, her body suddenly burst and revealed her slimeball body shape.
Spplaasshh!!
"..." I just stayed silent and gave a dead look after seeing her body that suddenly burst like a disgusting slime body explosion.
Some of her body's mucus that exploded and burst hit my face so I had to wipe it away in disgust.
It seemed like giving praise to an inexperienced stealth slime was a very bad thing.
"..."
With my silence like this, my mood became a little uncomfortable after getting the disgusting thick liquid that I now felt on my hair.
"I'll rewash my hair after this mission given by my father is finished," I said in a cold and unenthusiastic tone.
My enthusiasm had faded along with the explosion of the stealth slime's body that broke after receiving praise from me.
Yes, that was also my fault.
Why did I give praise to this stealth slime?
Even though I already knew that she had difficulty controlling her human body before.
"Hawawa!! F-Forgive me, Supreme Commander!"
"Because I felt happy with praise like this, I couldn't maintain my human body form."
With the movement of her slimeball twitching like her panicked expression, it didn't make me feel happy with this one apology.
My disgust after getting the disgusting thick liquid from her body didn't disappear either.
I needed to give an extraordinary distance with the stealth slime who couldn't control her own fragile body like that.
"..." I just gave a cold and sharp glare to silence her chatty mouth.
Uhh, I also don't know where its mouth is after its body became a slimeball like that.
At least don't be so noisy!
I didn't say a word about this and gave it an extraordinary silence.
With my footsteps leading my horse in the abandoned mine tunnel like this, I tried to calm my horse's anxiety that didn't like total darkness like this.
By gently touching its hard hair and ignoring the stealth slime's words that were trying to get an apology from me, I tried to guide my horse so that it wouldn't panic as Mio did to her horse.
These slow footsteps arrived at a junction where Aiko was waiting with her body still disguised as a mine wall.
"What are you doing in a place like this, Aiko?"
"Wouldn't you be better off waiting for us at Earl Timoti's meeting place?"
Like talking to a wall in the middle of total darkness like this, I gave Aiko a cold glare after my heart had been damaged by the disgusting explosion of the stealth slime's body hitting my face.
"It seems like your mood is getting worse, Supreme Commander."
"Did something happen when you entered this mine?"
While using the elasticity of her slime body that could be controlled at will, Aiko perfectly returned to her human form.
After Aiko returned to her human form, I kept a little distance from her and gave a small hand signal not to approach me.
"Huh?" Seeing me moving away from her and hiding behind my horse's large body, made Aiko look like she had done something wrong.
"Have I done something that made my Supreme Commander move away from me like this?" with a face filled with confusion, Aiko tried to approach me but I kept moving away from her.
"For the time being, please don't approach me with an unstable human body like that," I said in this total darkness while continuing to step into the mine.
"Eh? What happened earlier?" Aiko asked in a curious tone as if she wanted to know what had happened earlier.
"Umm... it seems like it was my fault that I couldn't maintain my human form until it exploded and dirtied our Supreme Commander's face," said one of the stealth slimes that was the source of my bad feelings like this.
"Huh? How is that possible?!" asked Aiko back who didn't know what else to say after one of the stealth slimes exploded while maintaining its human form.
"Is this the reason why you're still using this disgusting slimeball form?" asked Aiko who unknowingly gave a burn to the stealth slime in front of her.
Pooofff...
"Ugh!! I-It hurts so much to know that this disgusting body is hated by my own Supreme Commander! I regret having committed a great sin after dirtying the Supreme Commander's face!"
If this conversation was heard by someone else, then it would be a huge misunderstanding.
I continued to lead my half-frightened horse in the darkness like this before seeing another intersection that emitted bright light.
"Is this the place?" I asked Aiko who had explored the deepest mine before.
Aiko who was still giving her little curses to one of the stealth slimes who had committed a great sin against me immediately approached me.
With one quick step back, I tried to get away from the stealth slime that was in her human form.
"S-Supreme Commander?" Aiko's face seemed to not understand why I moved away, my hand accidentally held the Odachi sheath that I was ready to use to hit Aiko's head.
"Right now, my trust in the stealth slime body that is in human form is decreasing. Do that after my trust in you girls who don't explode suddenly returns," I said in a cold tone to Aiko who was actually not at fault for this.
"For the time being, I will also postpone giving you all a nickname before my rust in your bodies that can explode suddenly... disappears," I continued my words with various reasons that made Aiko stop approaching me.
Ploooppp ...
Suddenly Aiko prostrated herself in front of me.
"P-Please forgive the mistake of one of the stealth slime herd who is still not used to maintaining her human form. S-She just felt happy after getting praise from the Supreme Commander!" said Aiko with her body prostrated in front of me.
In this dimly lit mine and getting a little light source, I saw Aiko in her human form prostrating herself in front of me.
My hand that had been holding the Odachi handle was ready to give her a small blow that would make her body shattered into pieces.
Several stealth slimes responded the same thing as what Aiko did.
My little anger like this had made them a little scared like this.
With my hand still holding the Odachi handle, I only let out a small breath that made them hear my disgust.
"If you work hard on this mission, I will turn a blind eye to what has happened due to Sirius' actions. Make sure this is the last time you blow yourself up with disgusting slime like that. As long as your disgusting slime doesn't touch my body, then I won't have a problem with it," with heavy words like this, I gave a warning to the other stealth slimes.
This one statement of mine spread quickly in the Soul Tame communication network about the actions that Sirius had taken.
Some stealth slimes gave Sirius some advice to keep her emotions in check so that her body wouldn't explode like that.
Since they were being too noisy inside the Soul Tame communication channel, I'll try to turn a blind eye to this one.
Slaasshh...
With a pull on the handle of my Odachi, I split Aiko's body into several pieces that made her fall apart into pieces.
"For the time being, you will bear the burden of Sirius' punishment," I said with a look that still left me displeasure at my hair that felt sticky and disgusting like this.
Seeing my long Odachi slash that had cut Aiko's body to pieces, made the temporary leadership fall to another stealth slime while waiting for Aiko's body to regenerate.
"Sirius, for the time being, you bear the leadership of the current stealth slime herd to replace Aiko who has been torn to pieces," I said while giving a cold look to Sirius who was still shaking in her slime ball form.
Srraaaattt...
By inserting my cursed Odachi into Odachi sheath, I gave a severe punishment that would remind the other stealth slimes of my disgust for slime mucus that never fades!
Maybe this looks cruel.
But I know that Aiko can grow back through the regeneration process because I can hear her voice complaining in the Soul Tame communication channel.
[ Why do I have to bear your fault!! SIRIIUSS!! ]
Yes, I can hear Aiko's words sounding annoyed to Sirius about this one.
[ I-I'm sorry, Aiko. ]
[ I-I also didn't know that such a heavy punishment would fall on you! ]
A heated topic of conversation has occurred in the Soul Tame communication channel.
With Aiko's leadership gone, Sirius is now in charge of the stealth slime group that is on an escort mission with me.
[ ARRGHH!! I NEED THREE DAYS TO REGENERATE, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT SIRIUSS!! ]
[ F-Forgive my clumsy self, Aiko!! ]
As if listening to words filled with anger and guilt alternately, it seems that this punishment I gave will become an example in the future about being in charge of the stealth slime herd on duty.
Even the stealth slime herd that was conducting an infiltration mission and spying activity gave a big support to the severe punishment given to Aiko.
[ This has become a lesson for us to bear a big responsibility as a leader. If we make a mistake in front of the Supreme Commander's eyes, immediately submit a request for punishment rather than an apology. ]
Somehow, it sounded like wise words that came out of the mouth of an old man who was in retirement and enjoying the sunset with a cup of tea in his hand.
I hope, this will be the first and last time I give a punishment like this.
Mio just looked at me quietly after giving this kind of punishment to Aiko without saying a word that commented on my harsh actions like this.