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Slime, 161.5, by [The Mysterious Lion Mask]

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Aug 8th, 2016
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  1. Intermission – Shinji’s Ponderings –
  2. (TN: I have an aversion to using the established titles it seems.)
  3. Elder Gadra and Shinji were following the slime in front of them, hoping to meet the master of the Labyrinth.
  4. Apparently, this Labyrinth would be where they worked.
  5. “We accepted you in our country, but we’ll have you work it you wanna eat!” Shinji had been told.
  6. The slime that moved with a ‘poyonpoyon’ of its body, but without making a sound, and emitted an air of elegance and majesty.
  7. It may just be his imagination, but this slime didn’t seem like the regular kind which were considered the weakest of monsters.
  8. After all, this is the slime that accepted exiles like them. It was the king of this country, Demon Lord Rimuru.
  9. It looked as if he could beat it with a single strike, but that was the worst of ideas.
  10. After all, walking beside the Demon Lord as his servant was a Demon releasing a bizarre aura.
  11. That Demon was called itself Diablo.
  12. Shinji couldn’t tell, but Elder Gadra looked at Diablo, eyes wide open,
  13.  
  14. “This much power…… to think he has underlings at the Demon Lord level……”
  15.  
  16. And said in astonishment.
  17. He must have been pretty strong.
  18. Shinji was told later that, surpassing the elite Arch Demons, this being could essentially create true hell on earth.
  19. Shinji was a member of the team that faced a devastating blow during the subjugation mission of the Arch Demon who caused the ‘Lake Dyed in Crimson’ incident. He couldn’t help but turn white in the face at those words.
  20. Anyway, both of them had nodded and agreed among themselves that they absolutely cannot anger Demon Lord Rimuru.
  21.  
  22. And so, they were walking behind this Diablo inside the Labyrinth.
  23. The room they were guided to, had a certain Faerie.
  24.  
  25. “Yahho ~! Name’s Ramiris! You guys are my new hands right?”
  26.  
  27. The little Faerie, flew right to their faces.
  28. Around 30cm in height? She looked like a cute little girl. (TN: lolicon)
  29.  
  30. “Ho-Holy guacamole, it’s a real live Fairy!”
  31.  
  32. Mark went all “Oh! Fantastic!” and got excited all by himself. (TN: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
  33. Shinji knew that feel.
  34. But, Mark’s words had made the Faerie become conceited.
  35.  
  36. “Fufun! You, I like you. ‘Kay you guy are hired.
  37. But remember! All my orders require absolute obedience!”
  38.  
  39. Puffing out her non-existent chest, said the tiny annoying Faerie.
  40. She’s the type who just wants to play, Shinji deduced.
  41. The Labyrinth was truly a queer place.
  42. On one hand there were the super strong beings like Immortal King Adalman ―― or his right hand man Holy Knight Albert ――, and on the other, there were innocent childlike Faeries fooling around.
  43. Shinji was having doubts about working there, but in the end, they would be working under the master of this Labyrinth.
  44. Mark was really happy, but unfortunately for him, they probably wouldn’t be with her much longer.
  45. (The master is probably Immortal King-sama. Seeing as he’s old friends with Elder Gadra, there’s no doubt.)
  46. Shinji had thought. (TN: yea you just keep thinking that lololol)
  47. The name Ramiris did ring a bell……
  48. Well it’s fine, guessed Shinji and voiced his thoughts.
  49.  
  50. “Sorry, but we came here to work under the master of the Labyrinth.
  51. I’d love to play with you later, but we have work――”,
  52.  
  53. Elder Gadra gave Shinji a chop on the head to stop him talking.
  54. Shinji had no idea what he did wrong.
  55. But ignoring the confused boy,
  56.  
  57. “If it isn’t Ramiris-sama! My name is Gadra.
  58. Please forgive this insolence!” (TN: I imagine the old man bowed deeply, pushing Shinji’s head down also, but that probably didn’t happen.)
  59. “Y-yea…… Is he alright?”
  60. “No problem at all of course, he’s been trained hard!”
  61.  
  62. Conversed Ramiris and Gadra.
  63. Seeing that, Shinji remembered that Ramiris was the name of a Demon Lord.
  64. Mark and Xinh, apparently also remembered, and both stood at attention.
  65. To the nervous bunch,
  66.  
  67. “Ah, you know her already?
  68. This is Ramiris. Your boss.
  69. Don’t be rude ‘cos she’s small, or else the secretary will get you.”
  70.  
  71. And out of nowhere, the secretary had come out as Demon Lord Rimuru mentioned it.
  72. Her name was Beretta (TN: liberties calling Beretta a her, blah blah), and she was the secretary-cum-bodyguard of Ramiris.
  73. Seeing Beretta, with her automaton like appearance and masked face (TN: great aesthetic sense ~gao!),
  74.  
  75. “What in the……”
  76.  
  77. Gadra moaned.
  78. It seemed, there was some reason for this moaning, the trio thought.
  79. So this masked Beretta also wasn’t any small fry.
  80. She was also someone worthy to be around the Demon Lord, a fearsome monster.
  81.  
  82. Shinji and co. had the job of monitoring the troops who would invade the Labyrinth.
  83. These troops were, people whose side they were on until recently, the Imperial kind.
  84. They didn’t know most of them, but there some acquaintances among them.
  85. It wasn’t the best job in the world, but orders were orders.
  86. Thinking thus, they continued their surveillance.
  87. The first day, the invasion was going smoothly.
  88. There was some intrigue though.
  89. The structure of the maze was completely different form what Shinji and co. remembered.
  90. So they asked,
  91.  
  92. “Well obviously, the 100 floors of the Labyrinth can be easily switched around!”
  93.  
  94. Demon Lord Ramiris, said matter-of-factly.
  95. This Faerie was also in the surveillance room, looking at the images on the large screen.
  96. It wasn’t too surprising, but Ramiris was very friendly.
  97. There was no tension or stiffness.
  98. Demon Lord Rimuru looked friendly, but there was some hesitance in talking to him. On the other hand, Ramiris, would start the conversation herself, so it was much easier for Shinji and co. to get along.
  99. Demon Lord Rimuru was in the main control room.
  100. But there was another mysterious person there besides Ramiris.
  101. He was reading with a bored expression.
  102. Shinji recognized the book, having read that manga before, and wanted to comment (TN: tsukkomi) ―― Was it okay to comment? ―― but desperately held himself back.
  103. It was nostalgic piece and if possible, he wanted to ask to borrow it. But his voice wouldn’t listen to him.
  104. He was curious as hell, but the day passed without him being able to ask.
  105.  
  106. On a different note, they were told before starting, their pay was 3 gold coins per month.
  107. So 36 gold per year, but there would be bonuses too.
  108. Well, the bonuses depended on the boss’s mood, so that wasn’t reliable.
  109. In the Empire, Shinji had a yearly salary of 70 gold, and Mark and Xinh also got around 50 gold so it was quite a big demotion.
  110. It was almost half, but Shinji didn’t complain.
  111. The first year was the trial period, and they could get a raise based on performance in the next year.
  112. They also provided food and health benefits, and things were cheap too.
  113. Work clothes and a place to sleep, were also given.
  114. Surprisingly, they got their own room, with a kitchen to the side, and even a toilet.
  115. Unbelievably, it could even flush.
  116. They had ranked up from dark age to modern day one-room mansions.
  117. Even the Imperial capital, people didn’t have single rooms with toilets.
  118. A personal room with bath and toilet, would only be found in ultra-luxury hotels that charged 10 gold per night.
  119. Plus, these toilets could flush.
  120. A system made with magic, it used plentiful water to do its thing.
  121. A scary amount of benefits was given, so rather than complain about the pay, Shinji and co. were eternally grateful.
  122. For Gadra, it was all so unimaginably convenient, he was speechless.
  123. And work hours were also fixed.
  124. Every day at 6:00 AM, they would go to take Ramiris, and have breakfast at the Elves restaurant at 6:30. (TN: Elves…and they call this work hours…)
  125. And lunch was on Ramiris too so they could order anything for free.
  126. And at 3:00 PM in the afternoon, the work day would end.
  127. Most stores were only open till 6:00 PM, so work should end earlier, apparently.
  128. It was a 9-hour work day, but there was a proper 1-hour break. They could also chat with the adventurers in the restaurant.
  129. It was a very beneficial job.
  130. On another note, dinner was on themselves.
  131. They received an ID bracelet, that granted free movement in the Labyrinth, and in addition, a free pass to any inn food in the Labyrinth.
  132. But, the Elves Restaurant cost money.
  133. There was the expensive 1 gold meal, but the cheapest they served was a 3 silver coin meal. It was priced like luxury hotel food, but the taste didn’t lose to the price.
  134. Breakfast and Lunch was free ―― and so was dinner, would be a thought that cost them dearly.
  135. One time, they went out thinking they would get free food as Ramiris’ friends.
  136. That day, they reluctantly ordered the cheapest meal and somehow survived. (TN: financially)
  137. But, there were food places other than in the Labyrinth.
  138. Just outside, Adventurers had set up all sorts of stalls.
  139. There were yakiniku and taverns. And of course, bars serving alcohol, and although there was free inn food in the Labyrinth, it was better outside.
  140. There were also their kitchens, so they could always cook at home.
  141. They were getting used to life like that, but it was a story from a bit later.
  142.  
  143. On the second day, the invasion really started.
  144. The mysterious person who was sitting around, bored, the previous day, looked very excited now.
  145. He was apparently the Storm Dragon Veldora in human form.
  146. Shinji was surprised, but that feeling wouldn’t be the first one of them he had on that day.
  147. This day, would be the most surprising day of his life.
  148.  
  149. After 2 hours had passed, Gadra was moaning intensely, while Shinji’s trio were thankful for their luck.
  150. They had realized their mistake in thinking Adalman and Albert as the strongest in the Labyrinth.
  151. Shinji and co. were given the task of finding knowledgeable ‘Otherworlders’ among the invaders, while helping out on other tasks.
  152. They had to measure the strength and also the character of those ‘Otherworlders’.
  153. This way, they were able to see the battles on each floor, and also, see the insanity.
  154.  
  155. “Hey? It was good that you listened to me and came here eh?”
  156.  
  157. Gadra’s voice sounded as if from far away, and the other 3 couldn’t do anything other than nod.
  158. Floor 50 was the end, and 51 ~ 60 would be the return route.
  159. The 3 of them who had imagined such foolish things were shedding tears at their idiocy.
  160. It was no laughing matter, but they let out dry laughs.
  161. If Gadra hadn’t brought them here, they would be the ones on that screen.
  162. They went stiff at the thought
  163. The trio thanked Elder Gadra for his foresight from the bottom of their hearts.
  164.  
  165. Albert who they believed unbeatable was beaten.
  166. Emperor’s Personal Guards No. 17, Krishna, had broken Albert’s sword which led to the defeat.
  167. In reality, Albert had more skill with the sword, but this sword that had hit the Legendary God-tiered armour, had broken.
  168. Adalman, who needed Albert as a vanguard, now had to fight in close quarters combat which he was weak against.
  169. Their combined strength broken, he also fell to defeat.
  170. In a grumpy tone,
  171.  
  172. “Still too naïve you bag of bones!”
  173.  
  174. Gadra said in frustration as if talking about himself.
  175. But the other three felt like the fight took place in another dimension and weren’t able to make any comment.
  176. Shinji and co. didn’t realize, but seeing these fights was surely lucky for them.
  177. If they ever fought such monstrous beings, the experience should definitely come in handy.
  178. But, at that time, they just watched.
  179.  
  180. In the end, all 350,000 of the invaders of the Labyrinth were wiped out.
  181. Even the insanely strong Guard, Krishna, was no match for the monster known as Zegion.
  182. At the point when Krishna died, Shinji and co. didn’t have the energy to react anymore.
  183. Just fu~ck my shit ri~ght up.
  184. Was their collective feeling.
  185. Well, they did remember to do their jobs, and being acquaintances, recommended Michelle and Raymond.
  186. As well as surviving till the very end, the fact that they broke their fake Revival Charms, caught the eye of a certain Ramiris.
  187. Thus, their current task of finding new ‘Otherworlders’ as assistant material was done.
  188.  
  189. Soon after, Elder Gadra and Adalman rekindled their old friendship, and the Elder would go on to work in in Labyrinth management.
  190. And later on he would be recognized as one of the 10 Lords of the Labyrinth, and work in that position.
  191. Shinji, Mark, Xinh, Michelle, and Raymond, all became assistants of Ramiris, and helped her with all sorts of experiments.
  192. Well, the experiments were mostly playful, so they were having fun.
  193. But there were some surprisingly good results from the research, so most people didn’t think they were playing around. (TN: this whole paragraphs is too good ~gyao!)
  194.  
  195. “Well, I guess that’s life.”
  196.  
  197. Shinji lets out.
  198. As someone always being thrown around by, and at the mercy of life, it was truly a Shinji-like pondering.
  199.  
  200. (AN: please wait a little more for the real next chapter.)
  201.  
  202. (Translator’s Rant: I guess it ends the way it started around a week ago. Back here on pastebin. Is that fine? Yes. I just made my site on a whim anyway. The translation is more important.
  203. Well then, this chapter was a lot of slice of life, and some recap from other perspectives. It was fun, I like SOL a lot. I want there to be more like this but the plot must go on.
  204. Anyway, some announcements.
  205. I can’t do anything for the next week, well 4-5 days. IRL stuff blah blah, if anyone does 162 while I’m gone, that’s great, more done is always better. I want to do more too but I’ll probably slow the pace in the future. ~1/3 or less the speed. You can voice your complaints at [mysterymasklion@gmail.com]
  206. I wan’t to thank the people at circustranslations for all the chapters so far, and also the hilarious and lewd community on circus chat, srsly you guys are awesome. Well then, as always, see you in another chapter ~gao!)
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