Chapter 43: Priestess 1 (Non-Ero)

"The refugees seemed to have calmed down."

A gentle voice that could be described as somewhat relaxed and sweet echoed in the forest.

The woman was wearing white and blue vestments over her black inner garment that gently wrapped her entire body. The formal attire for a priestess.

Her long peach-colored hair was tied up in a ponytail and tied with a bright yellow ribbon.

She was short, barely reaching the shoulders of the male priest walking next to her.

However, the breasts that were lifting her vestments were so large that even a grown man's hands could not grasp them, and even though they were held in place by her undergarment, they sway with every step she took.

The innerwear itself was supposed to serve as underwear, but her big breasts were too big to suppress its swaying.

In order to keep her breasts from swaying, the peach-haired woman wore another underwear underneath her undergarment, and the lines of her bra were visible on the black undergarment that covered her entire body.

Although she wore a relaxed atmosphere, a blunt weapon armed with spikes was hanging on her waist―― a steel mace, which proved that the laid-back woman was a warrior priestess who excelled in close combat among priests.

She was not a support priestess who excelled at recovery like the saint Jenna, but a warrior priestess who went to the front line to protect the powerless people and crush the enemy.

Her body was thin and had ample flesh.

The mace at her waist was a custom-made one, and both the iron lump at the tip and the handle that supported it was heavy enough for an ordinary person to hold in both hands.

However, the peach-haired priestess was not only slanted, but her body was not even slightly out of alignment, and the male priest walking next to her deeply understood that appearance could be deceiving.

The male priest that was looking down at her could see the lines of her underwear appearing on her shoulders, but he pretended not to notice and let out a sigh.

"They must be relieved. They were safe and alive, and made it to Lishlua."

"Even though the Demon King was defeated and finally became peaceful... perfect peace is still far away."

The peach-haired priestess spoke to the tall man walking next to her.

The man with dusky blonde hair, like the woman, he was wearing a black innerwear that covered his entire body and was wrapped with white and blue vestments.

The man had a mace at his waist, which was smaller than the female priestess was carrying, and a large iron shield on his back.

If the woman was good at attacking, the man was good at defending.

"Don't say that. Perfect peace is not far away―― the enemy seems to be a bit stronger this time, but if humanity joins forces, we can defeat them."

A few steps behind them, a middle-aged man with an impressive beard was following, keeping his distance from them.

He must be close to forty years old.

His face was beginning to show wrinkles, but his eyes were still full of vigor, and his body was superbly trained, even if one discounted the fact that he was a warrior priest.

The black innerwear that covered his body emphasized his magnificent muscles, and the vestments covered his body like armor.

The vestments were embroidered with gold and silver threads, indicating that the middle-aged warrior was of a higher rank than the two of them.

"That's true. If they can get to Lishlua, the monsters won't be able to touch them."

"Even the Demon King's army was unable to break the sacred barrier that the Goddess Fasalina had set up to protect Lishlua."

The peach-haired priestess's words were supplemented by the young male priest.

"Fumu. Can you explain the nature of Fasalina-sama's barrier?"

"Yes, I can do it, Oteria-san... When humanity was cornered by the invasion of the demon king, it protected this land until the hero received the baptism from the goddess's power, right?"

"How effective was this barrier?"

The man put his finger on his chin as though to think for a moment about the old warrior priest's question.

He didn't stop walking.

The three of them were going through the forest to make sure that the barrier of the goddess―― the barrier that made Lishlua the goddess's throne or city of the gods―― were safe.

"The monster will not be able to invade it. If a monster touched the barrier, it will turn black like it was struck by lightning, and it is so strong that even the Demon King himself could not break it. In addition, the priest's recovery magic will be more effective inside the barrier, and on the other hand, monsters approaching the barrier will be weakened by the goddess's power."

"That's right. The people of Lishlua are protected by the Goddess's power. But when we lose that faith, the barrier will turn on us as well... I hope you can pass the next exam at this rate."

"I'll be fine."

The man, who was still a low-ranking warrior, laughed fearlessly as he said that.

The middle-aged warrior was also the educator of these two young warrior priests.

In a world where the demon king was gone and the number of monsters was decreasing, priests who were good at recovery magic were valued, but the number of warriors who fight on the front lines was decreasing every year, just like the monsters.

Because there was no need for them to fight.

Even if bandits or brigands run rampant, it was still a battle between people.

Warrior priests were forbidden to participate in subduing the criminals.

Even so, the reason why they want to become warrior priests was because of the excellent support they receive from the country.

Not only they were getting a monthly salary, but they were exempted from food costs. As for where to live, depending on the rank of the warrior priest, only the best were allowed to live luxuriously though―― if one were a bishop's bodyguard, they were even allowed to use a room in the Great Temple.

There was no end to the number of people who aim for that honor.

"You guys have the skills but don't have much knowledge―― are you two studying?"

"It's okay. This time I will pass the exam properly and become a formal warrior priest. Hey, Alp?"

"Ahー ... I'm not good at historical questions."

"Don't whine, you've finally become accustomed to being a low-ranking warrior, so don't neglect to use that as a foothold to strive for greater heights."

A middle-aged warrior, Oteria, complained and sighed.

That was his job.

They were young, capable, and fearless. The peach-haired priestess, Alp, and the blond-haired young priest, Kuryuel.

He understood that the two of them were more talented to be stuck on low-ranking warrior priests.

The only thing that made him uneasy was their cheerful atmosphere.

"I know. And I have to keep my guard up and do things in front of you one by one, right?"

"Fuu. I can't handle a man who talks so much."

Oteria seemed a little irritated by Kuryuel's light tone.

However, he knew that it was normal for this man, so he exhaled deeply and suppressed his feelings.

"I believe this is the indicator of the barrier, correct?"

Alp, who didn't understand the mood between the two men and who didn't usually read the atmosphere, said so without any concern for them.

(Jeez―― young people these days are not listening to people)

Oteria thought about that and replied to Alp's voice.

"That's right... Is this the first time you guys have seen it?"

"Yes"

As they walked a little further into the forest, they saw an unnatural metal statue that looked like silver. It was just standing there.

It was the same structure as the statue of the goddess in the chapel of the Great Temple...... but smaller, about the size of the short Alp.

The pedestal was adorned with new ivy, but the ivy did not extend to the statue, which was protected by the goddess's power.

Every day the believers clean the statue, but even with that, there was not a single stain on the statue, which was supposed to be exposed to the night breeze and morning dew.

The warmth from the sun's light added to the mystery as it played through the trees, and just being in its light made their core feel warm―― the three of them felt their mana recovering and their fatigue being healed just by being near it.

"Umu. Fasalina-sama's statue is safe."

"...Amazing, isn't it? Just by being near it, I feel like I'm getting stronger."

"It's not so much that you're getting stronger, but that your mana is being restored. In the past, brave men fought beside the goddesse's statues and were able to use their magic inexhaustibly."

"Whoaー... Then if I fight beside this statue, I can defeat any enemy?"

Oteria nodded at Alp's words and shook his head with a wry smile at Kuryuel's words.

"It's not just any enemy. It's only if the opponent is a monster. The goddess does not lend her power to conflicts between humans. Didn't I teach you that?"

"Ugh, I'm sorry"

Kuryuel apologized frankly and began to examine the statue, accompanied by Alp, to check if there was anything suspicious around it.

Separating from them, Oteria also explored the area.

If the slime that attacked Fonteau was going to attack Lishlua, it would be necessary to first destroy the goddesses' statues―― not the statue in the Great Temple, which was the core, but the statues surrounding Lishlua.

Otherwise, it would not be able to penetrate the barrier that even the Demon King could not break.

The statue of the goddess also existed inside the barrier, but if it wanted to destroy the statue, it must destroy the statues in the perimeter.

When Oteria thought about it, he suddenly felt that he left the two young warriors and had walked towards the border of the barrier, a little away from the statue of the goddess.

"I see."

He said that unconsciously.

Normally, the barrier of the goddess protecting Lishlua could not be seen.

It was transparent and could not be seen.

The exact location of the barrier could be seen because there were wooden fences placed near it and served as landmarks.

At one of these wooden fences, there was a slime.

It was big.

It was the first time that even Oteria, who had experienced the war against the Demon King, had seen a large slime.

It had a huge frame that could easily swallow a cow and a lump of black mucus that gave it the impression of being dirty.

Perhaps the sticky body fluid swallowed the grasses by the time it came here, and the ground was unnaturally bare after the slime had spread.

Did it have a vision? Or was it from its senses―― Oteria was not familiar with slime ecology, so he did not know, but the slime sensed that there was a human being on the other side of the barrier and changed its movements.

"Hmm……?"

Beyond the barrier.

The slime had not touched the barrier.

No, It must have touched it once―― he didn't notice it at first because of the huge body of the black slime, the Black Ooze, but beside it, there was an unnaturally bare ground where another slime must have been.

"It must have touched the barrier and evaporated."

Fu, Oteria snorted. He looked down at the single-celled creature called slime.

"You filthy monsters. You should be destroyed immediately, you filthy evil."

Many humans resented the monsters.

It was because a lot of human beings were sacrificed and died during the battle against the demon king...... especially for Oteria, who continued to fight on the front lines, and his hate was strong.

Even the priest, Oteria, had no mercy for monsters, and with eyes filled with hatred, he looked at the slime that stopped moving.

Beyond the barrier.

The slimes couldn't attack Oteria, however, that didn't apply to him.

He could attack unilaterally from the inside, but the Warrior Priest's equipment was a mace.

If he struck the slime, its mucus would splatter―― though it would be blocked by the barrier, he didn't want to think that his weapon would be stained by the slime's mucus.

"I'll destroy you someday."

Oteria spat and turned around to go back to the statue.

However, he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of Alp and Kuryuel running towards him.

"What's wrong with you two?"

"No, Oteria-san wasn't there, so we were both looking around for you...... Wow, isn't that the slime? It's real, it's the real thing."

"It's disgusting...... I've only read about it in books, but the real thing is insanely disgusting."

At their words, Oteria realized that the hatred inside him had faded a little, and he uttered a small word of thanks in her heart.

(Even though the opponent is a monster, you should not fight with hatred―― it was in the teachings.)

It was not easy to change one's mind, but it was still a good thing to pretend to be wise in front of a young student.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he turned to the two of them again.

"Is the statue of the goddess safe?"

"Yes. I wiped the statue clean and offered it with holy water, as you had told me beforehand."

"I didn't see anything that suspiscious. Oteria-san, please check it just in case."

"Alright, let's go back――"

As Oteria started to walk away, Kuryuel, who was not participating in the conversation, walked up to the border of the barrier―― where the slime was―― with a light, curious gait.

He narrowed his eyes and observed the slime from a short distance away inside the barrier.

――His honest impression was that it was freaky.

As for Alp, she hadn't tried to get any closer to it since the moment she learned of its existence.

It was somewhat abated by the barrier, but in fact, it was emitting a foul odor that would make their nose turn.

In addition, the inside of its body―― the mucus body―― was swirling with weeds and animals that it had taken in as it made its way here, and some of the beasts' internal organs that it was still digesting.

"It's dangerous."

"I won't go out of the barrier."

In fact, if they didn't leave the barrier, the slime couldn't even touch them.

It was safe, but Oteria had a bad feeling about it.

"Stop, Kuryuel."

"I won't come any closer."

Following Oteria's words, Kuryuel stopped in his tracks.

He then brought out the tool that was hanging on his hips.

Oteria did not recognize the tool.

"What's that?"

"It's a storage tool that was recently made by the Warrior Chief, Kara-sama. Didn't you hear...... that if you ever see a slime, you have to get its cells, Oteria?"

"Kara... that woman?"

At Kuryuel's words, Oteria let out a sigh.

It was a sigh of exasperation that was different from the anger he had for the slime earlier. And Kuryuel knew the reason for Oteria's concern.

But not caring much about it, he approached the slime with the tool in his hand.

It was in the form of a small, thin glass tube.

It was a storage tool called the test tube. That was what it was called in the other world where the hero appeared.

It was not something that existed in this world, and even if one were to explain its purpose, Oteria would not be able to understand what it was used for.

An unknown tool―― that was the common perception of the people living in this world.

That was why Oteria disliked the warrior chief called Kara, who had a higher rank than him.

It was the duty of a warrior priest to be a shield and a strength to the people.

And yet, even though she was a warrior chief, she was holed up in a corner of the holy kingdom of Lishlua called the research tower, continuing her suspicious research.

The old people who value martial arts couldn't understand her as she created new things.

"You don't have to listen to that weirdo."

"Even so, Kara-sama is our superior, and it was also a command from the chief priest."

"...Tch."

Oteria clicked her tongue as there were no other priests or bishops near them.

As the face of the female warrior chief named Kara portray in his mind, he exhaled slowly to calm himself down.

Nothing would come of it if he get angry here.

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Instead, he should get back to work and accompany the two young men to their training. If he moved his body, his irritation would disappear, Oteria thought.

"I was also given a few other things, probably a new item. Here."

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Kuryruel pointed to the bottle on his waist and said.

The other two bottles, different from the one he was holding in his hand, were filled with something.

A red and yellow liquid.

"She said, If you had the opportunity, go try out the effects of this tool――"

"――Just get the job done, Kuryuel. Don't waste your breath."

"Alright, alright."

Kuryuel approached the slime carelessly thinking it was safe due to the barrier.

But that was to be expected.

Even the Demon King who tried to destroy the world could not break the Goddess Fasalina's barrier.

There was no way it could be destroyed by a mere slime. Everyone thought so.

In fact, even it was one of the slimes that destroyed Fonteau...... moved through mountains and fields, taking in prey, violating many women, and absorbing men to gain even more power than it had at that time, could not destroy Fasalina's barrier.

But that didn't mean it wouldn't do anything.

"Hii!?"

Kuryuel screamed.

As he thought he saw a glow in front of him, the sudden impact made him fall on his butt.

It was magic.

Alp and Oteria, who were far from him, knew.

In an instant, the slime constructed a magic circle and released wind magic. The magic was blocked by the Goddess's barrier and did not reach Kuryuel, but slightly, the impact shook his bangs.

Immediately afterward, as though going to do a counterattack, the Goddess' barrier emitted a light.

It struck the slime and burned its mucus body with a thunderbolt that lost half of its body.

However, no matter how powerful the attack was, it was meaningless to the slime as long as its nucleus was not destroyed.

The half of its body that was blown off returned to normal after a few seconds, and the slime looked the same as before...... Behind it, the ground was gouged out and several trees were burned and turned to charcoal.

"Wha, wha, wha......"

"Kuryuel, this way."

Kuryuel did not respond to Oteria's voice. No, he couldn't.

He was completely petrified.

Oteria and Alp, who had been standing at a distance, also felt fear and hid behind a tree beside them.

Oteria clicked his tongue at Kuryuel's state, who he had expected to escape immediately.

"We can't just abandon him―― Alp, you stay where you are."

"I-i understand..."

In this situation, Alp, who was usually a good-natured person, had tension in her voice.

Hearing her voice, Oteria hurriedly went to Kuryuel's side.

There was no danger to them.

The barrier reacted because the monster had released magic. That was all there was to it.

Having experienced battles and skirmishes with monsters, Oteria was surprised, but he didn't wince or feel threatened.

But for Kuryuel and Alp, who had only experienced harmless battles, the counterattack from the Goddess' barrier was terrifying―― they were completely terrorized.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine."

While reassuring them, Oteria grabbed the collar of the vestments that Kuryuel was wearing and pulled him with all his might, while hiding behind a nearby tree.

It was a different tree from where Alp was.

"Are you okay or injured?"

"I'm fine. I was just a little frightened."

Immediately after, there was another roar.

Was it because it no longer needed to conceal its magic now that it had been seen, or was it to test the strength of the Goddess' barrier?

The slime was able to cast a powerful spell without chanting, a spell that even a court magician that served the country would need to chant to activate. But the goddess's barrier did not crack in the slightest, and it blasted the slime with a thunderbolt full of divine energy to counterattack.

The slime took the counterattack and fired its magic again and again while moving its nucleus around inside its body so that it would not be targeted.

The attacks gradually became shorter and shorter, and in Oteria's eyes, the damage the slime was receiving seemed to be getting smaller and smaller.

He had a bad feeling about it, as though It was gaining resistance to lightning strikes.

"Kuryuel, where's that strange thing I saw earlier that warrior chief Kara requested?"

"The storage bottle?"

Kuryuel searched the pockets of his vestments, but could not find it.

Because he had dropped it earlier.

Then Oteria noticed where it was and turned his attention to the test tube―― a storage bottle―― and the liquid beside the slime across the boundary.

"You need the slime cells, don't you? I'll go get them."

"It's not safe, Auteria-san!?"

"As soon as I get the cells, I'll come back and let's report what had happened here"

Oteria walked towards the storage bottle with caution.

He couldn't tell if the slime was aware or not because it didn't have eyes, but for the umpteenth time it struck a powerful spell into the goddess' barrier, and its counterattack destroyed about 30% of its volume, but it regenerated quickly.

"……I see."

Looking closer, Oteria understood why the slime felt like it was getting damaged less.

It was its mass.

The slime was getting bigger.

It was about two sizes bigger than when he first saw it.

He was so surprised by the barrier's counterattack that he didn't notice it, but he could see the real reason if he looked closer.

And.

"The slime has magic?"

The slime that Oteria knew did not use magic.

To his surprise, he realized that he hadn't noticed it earlier, and he observed the slime as he picked up the storage bottle.

A mucus body that grew huge in a short time.

Although he was not aware that it could hold its mass in its nucleus and release it when necessary, he could only tell that the slime was replenishing its fluids from somewhere to heal its wounds.

It might be the reason why it had grown in size.

And why the goddess' barrier couldn't defeat the slime with a single blow―― Oteria thought.

The slime earlier was defeated because the lightning strike from its counterattack destroyed its "nucleus", the slime's weakness.

But now, the slime that was releasing its magic was moving its "nucleus" to not get hit by the lightning strike so that it would not get destroyed......

"Did it know where the attack is coming from?"

In fact, the slime knew where the lightning would strike, although Oteria himself could not believe it when he said it.

After all, the power of the goddess was similar to mana. Strictly speaking, it was not the same, but it existed in the world, and when it was released, it left a trace―― a faint trace that ordinary people could not understand.

However, the slime, which had taken in mana from fairies and elves was more sensitive to the mana flow than anything else, the goddess' energy emitted something like mana then turned into lightning bolts and was released.

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During its process, it was able to sense the location it would hit and be able to let its weak point, its nucleus, move away from it.

Even then, for a human, the strikes would take less time than when blinking.

Oteria, who was not familiar with magic, found the act to be absurd and impossible.

"Oh, well. Let's get this over with."

He wanted to quickly finish the request from the reclusive warrior chief Kara, whom he didn't like very much, Oteria approached the slime through the barrier with caution.

The liquid was next to it.

It was the remnant of a slime whose nucleus had been destroyed and didn't retain its form.

The liquid was spreading on the ground―― if he took it, the chief warrior's request would be fulfilled.

Kara's face appeared on Oteria's mind again.

An eccentric who stayed in the research tower and repeatedly did some mysterious research―― thinking about it, Oteria picked up a pebble at his feet and threw it in the distance.

Perhaps because it was concentrating on the barrier, the slime reacted to the sound.

The storm of magic stopped, and the barrier also stopped counterattacking.

"Get the hell over there."

Oteria threw such words at it, thinking that it wouldn't understand his words.

It was not as though it understood it, but after he said that, the slime moved in the direction of the pebble.

"It's as if it understands the language."

It was a sluggish movement, typical of a slime.

Laughing at his own thought that it was like a pet animal that a nobleman would keep for fun―― a pet animal wouldn't emit such a foul odor though―― as he saw the slime left, he put his hand holding the storage bottle out of the barrier for a moment.

It was just for a moment.

And only his wrist down was outside the barrier.

Towards that small target, the slime extended its tentacle without a moment's hesitation, broke through the skin on the back of Oteria's hand, and successfully entered his body.

"Guahhh!?"

Oteria screamed incomprehensibly at the sudden intense pain.

He didn't understand what had happened to him.

However, his body reacted to the intense pain he felt in his right hand.

When the tentacles moved from the back of his hand to his arm and then to his shoulder, Oteria pulled his arm back.

Immediately, the stretched-out tentacle was burned off, but it was too late.

The tentacle that had entered his body entered the barrier.

"Uaahhh, ughhh!?―― Ku, Kuryuel! Alp!"

Oteria was in pain at the foreign sensation from the tentacles moving through his body, but he endured the pain and called out the names of the two people nearby.

The two who had been watching from the shadows of the trees finally responded as he called out their names.

"Mm, me, m, me―― k, k!?"

He couldn't speak.

It was just unbearably unpleasant.

The tentacles that had invaded his body through his arm was eating away at his internal organs as it moved. A normal person could not withstand it, and even the battle-hardened warrior Oteria could not even scream anymore, his body convulsing over and over again in an eerie way.

"K, k, k――"

Alp and Kuryuel understood that he was trying to tell them something.

But they didn't even know what it was.

Oteria was trying to tell them something―― the two could not understand the last words of their senior warrior priest, who was twitching eerily.

Naturally.

They had never been in a situation where they had to kill their enemy.

There was no way they could stay calm when they saw people dying in front of them.

"U-uaahhh!?"

Kuryuel ran away from the scene.

Desperately. As hard as he could.

He was so scared that he turned his back and ran away without even glancing at Alp.

"N-nooo!?"

Alp could not move from the spot.

She let out a high-pitched scream at the sight of the warrior priest who was convulsing and dying while leaking screams and "sounds" that could not even be called words out of his mouth, but she was too weak to move.

Alp rubbed her ample buttocks on the ground, desperately trying to get away from it.

There was a damp feeling between her legs.

Only that part from her black innerwear that covered her entire body was unnaturally dark in color. And there was a puddle of water on the ground.

She had no time to feel embarrassed about it.

No, she didn't even understand what was going on.

The face that usually had a cheerful smile on it was now distorted with fear, and tears and sweat were pouring out after the other.......

"――Hii"

Finally, Oteria's convulsions stopped.

"Gafu."

A little bit of blood was spat out, and he stopped moving.

Alp could not avert her gaze towards the body, even though her reason told her not to look any further while feeling fear and despair.......

Her teeth were rattling and shaking.

"Gobo"

The lump of flesh that was once Oteria, coughed up blood.

Then the mouth opened.

She could see it.

She could see what was coming out of the open mouth.

To be precise, the mouth was pushed open from the inside and peeked out.

"――――"

As soon as she saw it, Alp fell back and her eyes rolled back.

She couldn't stand the reality of the situation and fainted.

After entering Oteria's body, the tentacle that had unexpectedly made its way inside the barrier turned its tip toward the surroundings and realized that the main body was still outside the barrier.

There was no time to waste.

Even though It was unintentional, It had entered the barrier.

Some of the tentacles that had invaded Oteria's body did not have a nucleus inside their bodies, and their lives were small.

It was aware of that.

There was not much time.

There were many things that needed to be done.

It had to choose one of them.

But the slime didn't hesitate.

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It was a matter of priorities.

――The tentacles crawled out of Oteria's body and crawled towards Alp, who was lying unconscious.

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