Chapter 41—Poor Village
’They seem better, as expected—after all, they are the head family of this village,’ Slime#47 mused, glancing over their proper clothing: a hemp tunic covering their entire body.
All the villagers wore patched, torn tunics—clothes barely holding together, just like their lives, describing their poor condition; even their dwellings were worn out from age and in poor condition. Only a few were decent, and no house could match this village head’s dwelling.
"Appraisal!" He used the skill on the old man playing with two children in the living room.
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[—Status—
—Name: ????
—Race: Human ★★★★
—Class: Mage
—Level: 35
—Titles: Oakfield village’s Bailiff, Stingy Bailiff, High Tax Imposer, Cruel Bailiff.....
—Tier: 1 ]
’I see... no wonder this place is rotting. No merchants, no healers—just this parasite bleeding them dry.’ he mused, "Also, he’s called Bailiff, not the village head as I thought."
After this, he proceeded to check the status of all people in the Bailiff’s family. He didn’t want to miss anyone; the one missed could be a powerhouse due to bad luck.
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Name: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oppressor, Assaulter, Money Stealer....
—Level: 4 ]
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[—Status—
—Name: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Assaulter, Oppressor, Arrogant....
—Level: 2 ]
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"As expected, they were the worst," he muttered. He noticed titles like oppressor, arrogant, and so on. They were also utterly weak.
’No wonder the guards protected the Bailiff’s family instead of the village—they might fear assassination even in their sleep. Who wouldn’t if they were that bad?’ He mused.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a—Thud!—Thud!—A maid in her twenties walked in, a steaming cup on a plate, trembling in her hands. She wasn’t pretty—just average. But in such a village, even "average" was probably rare.
"No wonder she’s selected as a maid," he muttered, glancing at the maid.
Peeking from a third-floor bedroom window, he mused, ’Let’s see how they treat servants.’
"*$&$(#," she said politely, handing over steaming coffee to a middle-aged man sitting on a chair near the bed. He was average-looking with short black hair.
He took a sip from the cup and roared, "*%(*$*," and threw the cup at the maid’s face.
She quickly reacted, covering her face with her hands. Next moment, ""Ahh!" she shrieked as boiling liquid splashed down her arm, skin blistering instantly—Zzz!.
"90$#*$*(," the man barked to Slime#47.
"^$&#GD," the maid knelt down with tears and begged.
"*&*7$$," upon hearing the man’s words, she slapped herself repeatedly.
’He wanted to torture her... not because of the coffee,’ Slime#47 mused, glancing at the title section of the middle-aged man’s status.
[ Titles: Assaulter, Oppressor, Maid Torturer......]
He felt pity for the woman. But it quickly faded—if he showed pity to the humans, who would pity him and his fellow slimes? It’s survival—the strongest survive while the weak perish.
Wob!—he jumped out of the building and decided to return to the farm to inform the elder slime about the village structure. After a few quick glances while leaving, he felt sad as he noticed a malnourished girl in ragged clothes.
She was very thin, and her skin was just a layer on the bones; her hair was rough, messy and turned yellow due to starvation.
She was barely alive. She picked up bugs and roaches from the ground, munching and swallowing them with tears.
He froze. She couldn’t be older than six... and she was eating insects to survive. And she wasn’t alone; many kids followed her in eating buds due to hunger.
’If I burn the fields and release the cattle... kids like her will starve first.’
Yes, he’d become a slime and had to fight the humans who wanted to exploit them, but there was a difference. He couldn’t become like ruthless humans—then there would be no difference.
He did have a soft spot for humans for the first few loops, but after getting repeatedly killed by humans for more than ten loops, it vanished. He understood that he was a slime and could never side with humans.
After thinking for a few moments, he decided, "I’ll kill that Bailiff. He must’ve hoarded money—enough to keep these people alive for a while."
He grinned, planning to kill him while escaping—hitting two birds with one stone. ’They wouldn’t be stupid enough to call adventurers with that money.’ He thought.
He also sensed the transparent barrier at the end and noticed a one-meter concrete wall surrounding the entire village.
Wob!—Whoosh!
In the slime farm...
He explained the situation to Elder Slime.
"How did humans react?" Old Slime asked, expecting a reaction.
Young Slime laughed, "React? They are even struggling to eat. Why would they care about these sounds?"
Elder Slime understood, "It seems humans exploit their own just as easily as us. It’s been like this since the beginning of humanity."
He then continued, "But it’s best to be careful. I think you should check the fields before we attack."
"Okay," Young Slime agreed, glancing at Mama Slime, who gathered all the slimes into one place, with Little Slime leading them, which brought a smile to his face.
’It’s incredible,’ he thought, noticing slimes filling the entire area—about 800 of them.
Wob!
-------
"Double Presence Hide," he muttered, activating his skill as he entered the field on the right side of the protector’s dwelling.
Farmers were busy working while the guards held a whip, watching them.
Suddenly, a skinny middle-aged farmer fell after stepping on a stone unknowingly.
The nearby guard cracked his whip across the man’s back—Whip!—and stormed toward him, "&%%gGv!" he yelled.
"Appraisal!" Slime#47 activated his skill.
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Name: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oakfield Village’s Farmer....
—Level: 2 ]
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Name: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oakfield Village’s Farmer....
—Level: 1 ]
[ Ding! Opening Status! ]
[ —Status—
—Name: ???
—Race: Human ★
—Class: N/A
—Titles: Oakfield Village’s Guard
—Level: 7 ]
-------
’Farmers... level one or two, guards... around eight. Five guards and ten farmers.....,’ he mused, glancing at the paddy field with a scarecrow.
Wob!—He then proceeded to the next farm. "Tch!" He clicked his tongue, as it was the slime farm complex.
Woosh!—Wob!—He swept through the entire complex. Hoping to find one slime with intellect, but none.
In the 600 slimes, no single intelligent one. He was pissed but could do nothing.
Wob!—Then, he proceeded to the next vegetable farm.
"What kind of vegetable is that?" he muttered, glancing at the mushy plants growing with no visible fruits or vegetables.
’It should be underground... but what is that plant?’ He mused but didn’t care much.
When he was about to leave, he noticed—Whip!—a guard whipped a skinny farmer who was resting. "&^ggv!" he barked.
Then Slime#47 shook his body and proceeded to check the cattle farm, which was not overseen by humans like the slime farms.
A few minutes later, he went to the other side of the protector’s dwelling, checking all the farms.
It was no different—another paddy field and an apple farm with a slime complex in the middle. And a cattle farm at the end.
Like the previous slime complex, he found no intelligent slime, although nearly 900 slimes inhabited the complex.
He suddenly heard a sound—Whip!—from the Apple farm, he—Wob!—went to peek.
Whip!—"Get to the work," The guards forced farmers to work while watching.
’Huh? They didn’t...have breakfast?’ Young slime mused as he noticed the farmers glancing at the food in the guard’s hands while swallowing their saliva.
"&^^gb.." A guard, noticing the farmer’s hungry stare, threw the apple—Thud!—on the muddy ground, and said with a grin, "&6*9hb."
Thud!—Thud!
End of the Chapter.
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