Chapter 13: The New Leader
Morning came, without any birds singing.
The cave was silent.
There were no happy slimes jumping around, there were no groups getting ready to go on a hunt, and there was no elder relaxing on the smooth stone in the middle of the village.
Tanaka slowly opened his eyes.
The wounds on his body had mostly healed by then, along with his mana.
The little slime was already awake.
It was sitting beside him, looking at the entrance to their cave.
As soon as it noticed that Tanaka was awake, it immediately bounced over to him.
Boing.
Tanaka smiled to himself.
Morning.
The little slime bounced lightly against his side before looking back at the center of the village with his group.
The surviving slimes were all gathered there.
Each and every one of them.
Not a single one was moving.
They were waiting.
Tanaka walked towards them.
As he entered their formation, the slimes slowly parted to make way for him.
Nobody pushed them away, they simply did it.
When he reached the middle...
The elder was still laying where it was.
Its silver Magic Core was cold.
Tanaka lowered himself in front of the slime that invited him to their village.
The little slime imitated him, as well as the others.
One after another, the slimes all lowered themselves to show respect.
It was not a tradition, no slime had taught them, it simply felt right.
For minutes, nobody moved.
Eventually, the oldest hunting slime bounced forward, its body was still covered in wounds that hadn’t healed yet.
It lightly pushed the elder’s body with its stomach.
Nothing happened.
The hunting slime looked at Tanaka and then...
It lowered itself too.
A wave of mana passed through the cave, touching Tanaka’s core.
It was made of respect, trust, and hope.
Another slime soon joined the former leader, then another, and another, until eventually...
Every surviving slime was facing Tanaka.
Their emotions were all over the place, but they were not asking for anything.
They had already decided.
Tanaka stiffened.
Me...?
The little slime bounced happily next to him.
Boing!
Almost as if saying of course.
Tanaka turned his attention to the cave.
Their settlement had changed.
Many of the older hunting slimes were gone.
Those that remained were scared.
Without a leader, they would not last through their next encounter with the enemies.
His gaze locked onto the elder slime’s body.
I can’t lead you.
Nothing responded to his silent statement, not even the little slime.
Tanaka chuckled to himself.
One of the many lessons his past self learned in one of his many MMORPGs was that a leader does not have to have all the answers, he only has to keep everybody moving forward.
He bounced lightly, then turned his attention to the cave entrance.
The surviving slimes all looked at him, silently asking for something.
Tanaka pointed at the forest, then at himself, and finally at the village.
I’ll protect it.
A wave of warmth washed over the gathered slimes, each and every one of them feeling relieved.
The hunting slime bounced eagerly next to Tanaka, several smaller slimes followed its example, and even the frightened slimes seemed calmer.
The little slime launched itself at him, knocking him back.
Boing!
He laughed to himself.
Well, well, seems like I’m your leader now.
Their first priority was food.
The attack the previous day scattered what little they had, and most of the mushrooms were crushed during the fight.
Several younger slimes hadn’t eaten anything since then.
Tanaka quickly gathered the survivors.
He didn’t have to say much, most of them simply watched him as he split the hunting slimes in two groups.
One would collect the berries, and the other would look for mushrooms near the cave.
The youngest slimes would wait inside, protected by those who had experience.
The little slime was immediately at his side, not surprised at all to see him staying put.
You’re not leaving my side, are you?
Boing!
Didn’t think so.
Before leaving, Tanaka took a look at the cave.
Their home was in ruins, broken pillars laying on the ground, sword slashes marred the walls, and some of the wood was pierced with arrow holes.
Right at the entrance, he found something interesting.
A broken arrow.
The mana in it was already gone.
Tanaka stored the wood in his Storage Ring, he had no intention of throwing it away.
He looked out at the forest.
The hunters said they would return.
Not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but they would come back.
They had to.
Their village could not stay like this, too weak and defenseless.
We need to get stronger, as a group, as a family.
He thought about the dungeon.
The guardians were gone, their bodies barely standing, the stone leviathans were weak, and the mana crystals were still there.
It was the perfect place to train.
That is, if they could survive the dangers that laid in wait.
His mind was already set on making this the place for them to grow stronger.
The hunting slimes returned before noon, the morning sun peeking through the leaves as it shone on the cave.
They did not have many casualties, only a few slimes were hurt, and the amount of berries they gathered would last them multiple days.
Tanaka was silently grateful.
It wasn’t much, but they at least had food now.
As the younger slimes happily ate the delicious berries, the little slime rolled a shiny stone over to him.
Tanaka looked at the rock, then at the little slime.
This little guy was bouncing in excitement.
Tanaka laughed to himself.
Even after going through all of that, you still think about treasure, huh?
The little slime responded with a Boing, and Tanaka simply stored the stone in his ring.
I’ll keep it safe.
That night, all the slimes were once again gathered in the cave.
There was no elder, no one to lead them or watch over their village.
Instead, Tanaka sat quietly on the smooth stone at the center of the cave, where the elder used to lay.
The slimes gathered around him on their own, and the little slime sat on his right, as well as the oldest hunting slime on his left.
As the sun set and disappeared behind the trees, Tanaka looked at the many slimes in front of him.
There were less than before, but they were all here.
They were all still alive because they refused to give up, to leave each other behind.
Tanaka’s magic core pulsed, feeling weaker than ever.
We’re weak, far too weak... But that won’t be for long.