Chapter 4: Let us go get the jell-o... I mean, do the quest!

 Vincent: archer, conniving little manipulator. 

It is finally happening. We are before the dungeon. Before Augustine even allowed us to head out, he piled pots and pans in his bottomless bag. I think he is coming with me, just for the jell-o. Which is bad because there is no jell-o recipe...

Yes, smaller slimes are not as acidic as older and bigger ones, but they are...slimy. My aunt has eaten slimes before, when her food ran out during a mission, but she always said that they left her a taste in her mouth, that she couldn't get rid of, even after she brushed her teeth a thousand times. 

I am certain that she exaggerated. I have seen her eat some pretty bad things. Like tomatoes. Raw tomatoes, that were not made into a purée together with peppers. God, how I hate tomatoes... 

I shake my head. I really need to think how to fix the slimes into a jell-o. I did tell Augustine to bring a couple of bottles of gelatin, but that was the only thing I could think of. Should I play aloof? Bullshit my way into letting him invent the jell-o recipe? Oh, he is going to send an Overload at me, I am sure of it. 

"Ok, are you ready?" Augustine asks, and I nod. First bag the slimes, worry about busted ear drums after. Hey, that almost sounds like a motto. I take off my bow from my back, and use my mana, to manifest an arrow on the strings. "I'll take point." 

I am grateful that I didn't have to suggest it. I don't know how agile he is, but I certainly can't dodge a slime, and nock an arrow in time. Furthermore, I know there are many things I need to improve on, but that will come with time. 

 And, while I am fighting slimes, I have to think about the jell-o. If I don't figure out anything, Augustine is going to dump my ass on the side of the road. Literary. 

He steps inside the cave, and then his fingers move over the strings. It is obvious that the harp is well-aged. Played and loosened up for at least five years, if the sounds that it is producing are any indications. The slimes stop their movements, and begin to look at us.

"Now, shoot them dead," he tells me, as he begins to hum. A couple of the slimes close their eyes. I aim for the nearest one. I can see the nucleus. There is no need to make this more painful for the creatures, than it has to be.

My arrow flies, and knocks the nucleus out of the body of the slime. The goo stays in shape, but the eyes are sucked into it, and so is the mouth. 

I get to work then. Sometimes, I miss. During those times, the slimes charge me, but then, Augustine changes the tune, and they stop dead in their tracks. The music echoes into the cave, giving it an eerie feeling. When we are done, there is a mess at our feet, and plenty of raindrops shaped slimes without their nucleus just standing in the position where I shot them. 

Augustine goes to the smallest slime of the bunch, and picks it up carefully, to not break the membrane, that is holding the goo together. 

"Ok, cooking time. You will need to tell me all the details about the recipe," he says, and I do my best to smile. Something in the smile must have given me away, because he narrows his eyes at me. 

"If you tell me that there is no slime jell-o, then I will bust your eardrums," he threatens, and I chuckle. 

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"There is. I'll make it myself," I say, trying to buy time. He shrugs, and points at another small slime.

"You can work on that one," he tells me, and I go and pick the slime up. On a whim, I also pick up the nucleus. I have eaten slime nucleus as sprinkles on ice cream, and it tasted great. The trick is to crush it into a powder. Wait, that gives me an idea. 

"We have to gather all the nucleus," I say, and I go, and take Augustine's slime off his hands. "Can you do it? I have to prepare the slimes for the procedure."

He looks suspiciously at me, but nods.

"Ok. Here, take my bag," he takes off his bottomless bag, and swings it around my shoulder. Then, he wavers for a second. "I am sorry, for doubting you. It is just that, I have been lied to come to quests, in the past." 

  And you are being lied to, again. 

The guilt threatens to overwhelm me. Yet, I can only smile. This dungeon is my big break. When the official from the Adventurer's Guild comes before the reset, and sees it cleared, they will have to rank me!

I carry the two slimes out, and then place them on the grass. The sun is beating down on me, as I start a fire, and dump the two slimes into cauldrons. I pour some water and sugar inside the cauldron, and just a pinch of vanilla extract. I figured that, the jell-o needs to be boiled, until it becomes clumps. Clean clumps. The slimes were in a dirty cave. I can't forget that. 

Hours later, Augustine comes out of the cave, with a bag full of nucleus. I am in the process of kneading the clumps together. He raises an eyebrow at me. 

"That is not how one makes jell-o," he says, and I smile. A smile to mask the way my stomach twists at being found out to be a fraud. 

"Slime jell-o is more complicated than normal jell-o. You have to clean the goo first, by boiling it with sugar and water. I also added vanilla, to improve the scent. Did you get all the nucleus?" I ask, and he nods. 

"What are you going to do with it?" He asks me. 

"Crush it into dust, and add the dust into the cauldron, for the next time I will boil the goo," I tell him. He nods, and takes out a mortar and pestle. I am glad that he is not asking me why I am kneading the goo clumps. I sure as hell don't know, myself. Anything to buy time, I guess? 

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