The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

#196 - I'm not an evil slime

Driven by Aqua, the group hurried over.

The man, who was squatting next to the hot spring, seemed to notice them approaching and gave them a strange look. He said to them, "What business do you have here? This is an important place where only the hot spring manager is allowed. How did you get in here?"

One has to admire his audacity.

Someone who didn't know the truth might be fooled by him and obediently go down the mountain.

But this man had no idea that his identity as a fake hot spring manager had been completely exposed.

Aqua pointed at him and shouted, "What are you pretending for! How dare you desecrate this town's hot spring! We're here to take care of you, so prepare yourself!"

"Desecrate the hot spring? I'm just managing this hot spring. I don't understand what you're talking about..."

He feigned ignorance without batting an eye.

Aqua looked at Yunyun, her clear eyes filled with foolishness, as if asking if she had mistaken the person.

If you don't know, don't rush in blindly.

Megumin pointed at him and said, "It's no use pretending. Why don't you tell us what you're doing here? Surrender now. We knew you were coming to do bad things as early as half a year ago!"

"As Megumin said, I am Dustiness Ford Lalatina, and I use my noble privilege to demand that you come with me to the guard station."

Darkness too.

She had just said she wouldn't abuse her noble power, but in the blink of an eye, she was forcing the other party to come with her.

However, even when pressed by the two of them, he just tilted his head nonchalantly and said, "Didn't I say, I don't understand what you're saying? Otherwise, you can immediately check what I have on me here. I guarantee you won't find any poison."

His confidence made it impossible to refute.

Now, not only Megumin and Darkness, but even Kazuma was starting to suspect that they had found the wrong person.

Their eyes turned to Yunyun.

Kazuma whispered, "Hey, Yunyun, what's going on...?"

"He's just putting on a brave face." Yunyun raised her head and said loudly, "It's impossible for you to hide your true identity. My sister—the Red Demon Clan's leading diviner—knew long ago that you would come to destroy this town's hot spring! Show your true form! Hans, the Deathly Poison Slime!"

"Red Demon Clan... Diviner...!"

The man twitched his lips, seemingly having a bad impression of the Red Demon Clan. What expression was that...

That's right.

If forced to describe it, it was the same expression as the succubus shopkeeper...

...Huh?

Is something not quite right?

But the man... no, Hans was still putting on a brave face, turning his head away from them. "H-Hans, who's Hans? I don't know him. I'm just the manager of this town's hot spring source..."

He tried to bluff his way through with a trembling voice.

"Deathly Poison Slime? I see. Because of the race's advantage, that's why you're poisoning it here?"

"Speaking of which, slimes seem to have the ability to mimic. Maybe he mimicked that hot spring manager to avoid the knights' inspection."

"Is that so!?"

The group described Hans's modus operandi in a few words, making his expression even more twisted.

One would have thought that he would give up that disguise, but perhaps he didn't want to cause a big commotion here, so he chose to endure.

"I-I don't know you... R-Right! I have urgent business to attend to! Actually, after investigating this source, I found the cause of the pollution! I have to go back to town immediately, so goodbye... Um, please let me through, okay?"

"Where do you think you're going, Hans?"

"You won't pass through here, Hans!"

"Do you think anyone will believe that excuse, Hans!"

"P-Please stop, Mr. Hans..."

The four of them blocked his path.

Kazuma said to Hans, whose expression was twisted and was taking steps back, "Stop struggling. It's about time you revealed your identity, Hans."

"Surrender now, Hans!"

Yunyun added the final sentence.

"Hans this, Hans that, don't call me by my name so casually, you bunch of good-for-nothings! Why are you picking on me! Didn't I say, I'm not Hans!? You're just arbitrarily pinning the blame on me, ahhhh!"

Hans, who finally revealed his true nature, shouted at the group in exasperation.

Judging from the result, they didn't mistake the person, but judging from the process, their actions were similar to Sena's unreasonable accusations, which were quite infuriating.

But since they dared to do so, there was naturally a reason—

"Of course, it's because our team has a Red Demon Clan member with excellent divination abilities!"

"Red Demon Clan...!"

Hans glared fiercely at Yunyun and the other three. The red eyes and black hair were too obvious.

"I hate the Red Demon Clan the most! You guys hold gatherings every year and set off magic at Demon King's Castle with a bang, bang, bang. And you don't even clean up your trash when you leave! Do you know that I'm the one who cleans up the piles of trash outside Demon King's Castle bit by bit! Every time I finish cleaning, a huge pile reappears in a few days. Please consider the issue of hygiene!"

"Ugh...!"

Being accused like this, even the thick-skinned Yunyun was embarrassed.

It was probably a racial trait.

Hans was a slime, a natural cleaning expert, so he was almost always assigned cleaning tasks.

"S-Sorry..."

"As expected, whether it's the Red Demon Clan or the Axis Order, they're all annoying existences! The Demon King was right. If you guys unite, you'll definitely bring even greater troubles!"

Hans gnashed his teeth as he said this.

He was probably very depressed. He had planned this operation for so long, but before he could even start implementing it, it was disrupted... No, he should say that before he even had the plan in his mind, others already knew about it. How could he play like this!?

"Hey, you're called Hans, right?"

"Didn't I say, don't call me by my name so casually!?"

"Hans, standing before you now is the hero chosen by the goddess, the most popular man in Axel, the adventurer who has made numerous contributions in actions against the headless knight of the Demon King's army, the mobile fortress Destroyer, and the clairvoyant demon Vanir—Kazuma Sato!"

Kazuma rattled off a bunch of impressive titles.

"Wow, he's really shameless."

"He clearly didn't do anything, just loafed around, and now he's taking credit for himself..."

"That's right, that's right."

His companions' murmurs made him feel like he had been splashed with a bucket of cold water.

But he still put on a brave face under Hans's strange gaze. "I knew from the start that you were a minion of the Demon King's army! Or rather, don't you remember me? We met in the mixed bath at a certain inn the day before yesterday."

"Huh?... Ah, you're that man with the beastly eyes!"

Hans's words wounded him again.

Kazuma snorted coldly. "At that time, I overheard your conversation! I heard your evil plan to harm the Axis Order. When I saw you in the bath, I had already noticed that you were wary of me. The reason why I kept staring at that big-breasted woman was to lower your guard."

"He's clearly just horny and still has the nerve to put on a good face..."

"Wow, how can there be such a person."

"After coming back, he was still unsatisfied and wanted me to go to the mixed bath with him. I can't stand it."

Yunyun and the others' words were like sharp swords, piercing him with holes.

However, after hearing him say this, Hans took a few steps back. He had been staring intently at Yunyun of the Red Demon Clan, but now he regarded Kazuma as the highest priority target.

"You don't flinch even when facing me. I see. Judging from your attitude, you're probably not bluffing."

"Surrender obediently, Hans!"

The two exchanged harsh words.

Kazuma took out the weapon at his waist. Not only him, but Darkness and the others were also on guard, meaning they were ready to fight Hans.

"Hey, hey, hey, Kazuma, are you really going to fight?"

"...Yunyun, what are you saying? In this situation, we can only fight, right? Besides, the opponent is just a slime. Is there any need to be afraid?"

He looked puzzled.

Seeing Kazuma like this, Yunyun knew that he had definitely misunderstood.

Sure enough—

"Don't worry! In my impression, slimes are the weakest monsters. Of course, if it had said from the start, 'I'm not an evil slime,' I might have let it go, but now, let it become my stepping stone!"

Look!

Yunyun covered her forehead.

"Kazuma, have you forgotten what our purpose was in coming here?"

"Purpose? Of course, it's to subjugate the Demon King's army executives and get the bounty..."

Kazuma's expression changed drastically.

At this time, Hans spread his arms. "It seems you're serious. Alright! A mere adventurer dares to challenge me. It's been a long time since I've encountered something like this! Everyone else prostrates themselves on the ground when they see my true form, cowering and begging for forgiveness. It seems you have some backbone!"

He said with exaggerated lines like a big boss.

"My name is Hans! I am an executive of the Demon King's army, a mutant of the Deathly Poison Slime, Hans!"

As Hans continued to reveal his true form, Kazuma's mouth grew wider and wider. He pointed at himself and then at Hans, who was several stories high, his mouth opening and closing but unable to say a complete sentence.

"I... he... you..."

"That's right, Kazuma. The slimes in this world are not the low-level grunts you imagine. The small ones are fine, but slimes that are large to a certain extent are powerful enemies. Once you're entangled, you're probably doomed. The Deathly Poison Slime is even more untouchable. Moreover, that guy was able to pollute such a large amount of the town's hot springs, so he must have a strong poison! If you touch it directly, you'll probably die on the spot!"

"...D-Die on the spot!?"

Hearing Yunyun's explanation, he was stunned on the spot.

It's one thing that there's a problem with the ecology of this world's crops, but how can even the lowest-level slime be so strong!?