Chapter 05 Melting Flesh, Devil's Tongue, and the Fool Who Believed Every Word

I was about to follow Fiona when something caught my eye. It was a slime. But different from the blue ones. This one was green. A little bigger. And it was slowly hopping closer. Closer. Like it was curious. 

Ahhh, damn it, miss one! Oh well, it's just one more slime. Good to test my new stats. Don't take it personally but I'm going to kill you, little slime. If you wanna blame someone, blame this crazy bitch behind me.

"Coming right behind you, Fiona! Just gonna smack one more slime!"

I started running toward the green slime. Stick raised. Confidence high. Fiona looked back. 

"Oh, silly. Do not attack that. That's a real monster. You can't beat that!"

But it was too late. I was already mid-swing.

"Wait, what? It's just another slime! What will it—"

The green slime squirted. A stream of green liquid shot toward me. Fast. Faster than I expected. I threw myself to the side but not fast enough. The acid splashed across my arm and shoulder. I didn't feel it at first. Just the impact. The wetness. Then I looked down.

My sleeve was melting. Smoking. Fizzing. Dissolving like paper in water. And then the pain hit.

It was like my skin was on fire. Like someone had poured boiling oil over my arm. I screamed. I couldn't help it. The sound tore out of my throat before I could stop it. I fell to the ground. Thrashing. Rolling. Trying to get acid off. Trying to make it stop.

"IT HURTS! AAAAAHHHH! IT HURTS SO MUCH! IT HURTS!"

I'd never felt pain like this. Not even close. Broken bones. Get punched in the face. Nothing compared to this. This was my flesh melting.

I looked at my arm through tear-blurred eyes. Skin was gone. Underneath was red. Raw. Bubbling. I could see something white.

Is that bone?! Is that my BONE?!

I screamed again.

Through the haze of pain, I heard a zap. A flash of light. The green slime made a wet pop sound.

Fiona's face appeared above me. She knelt in the acid pool. The same acid that was eating through my clothes. Through my skin. She reached down. Gently grabbed my head. Held it still. Her hand was warm against my cheek.

"There there, my silly boy." Her voice was soft. Gentle. Almost motherly, "Shhh... Shhhh. It will be over soon. The pain will go away. Just a little longer."

She wiped the acid spit from my face with her bare hand. Her skin didn't even redden.

"I told you not to attack it, silly. That was a green slime. It shoots acid."

She looked at my arm. At the bubbling flesh. At the bone that was now visible.

"After killing a great number of blue slimes, dungeon spawns a stronger version of that monster. Like a mini boss. I told you to be careful. Dungeon is a scary place."

I couldn't respond. Couldn't speak. Couldn't do anything but writhe, scream and watch my own flesh melt away.

I'm going to die. I'm going to die here. In this dungeon. Killed by a slime. A green slime. Because I was too cocky. Because I thought I was strong after killing some weaklings. I'm going to die, and no one will ever know what happened to me. I'm going to die, and the last thing I'll ever see—Is her.

Her face. Looking down at me. Her gentle smile. Those caring blue eyes. She's the last thing I'll ever see. The woman who enslaved me. The woman who tricked me. The woman who I hate!

I'm so stupid. I'm so, so stupid. Damn it! I'm such an idiot! I'm such a—

The pain was too much. Too intense. Too overwhelming. My vision started to go dark at the edges. My screams turned to whimpers. My thrashing turned to twitching.

And then I passed out.

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Slowly. Groggily. Like coming up from deep water I woke up. The first thing I felt was something soft beneath my head. Warm. Comfortable. The second thing I saw was a face looking down at me. Blue eyes. Blonde hair. That same gentle smile.

Fiona.

"Ah... You're finally awake. You got me worried, Kuzu-kun."

Why is she looking at me like that? Why is she smiling? Why is my head on her—Wait. My head is on her lap. Her LAP!

I shot up. Or tried to. I was so disoriented that I almost fell over. My heart was pounding. 

Wait.

I looked down at myself. No pain. No burning. No melting flesh. My arm was fine. My shoulder was fine. But my clothes were in ruins. Barely hanging on, melted and shredded but underneath them perfect skin. Not even a scar.

"What happened! How am I alive?! The slime! It spit acid on me! I should be dead right now!"

Fiona tilted her head. Still smiling. Still calm.

"I healed you. I couldn't let you die on day one. That would be inconvenient."

"You can... you can do that?"

 "I'm a wizard, silly. I know at least few spells."

"You healed acid burns! Acid that melted my skin off! That's not some basic spells!"

"It is for me."

"Yeah, whatever! Never mind all that! Get me out of here! I don't want to be here anymore! What if more of them show up?! And how are you fine?! You knelt in acid! It should have melted you too!"

Fiona stood up. Brushed off her robe. 

"Let's go home, Kuzu-kun. I'll tell you on the way back." She turned. Started walking toward the entrance. 

She's not even fazed. She's not even shaken. She just... healed me. Like it was nothing. Like I was nothing. Like almost dying was just a minor inconvenience.

We walked through the dungeon. Past the blue puddles of dead slimes. Past the spot where the green slime had melted my flesh. I shuddered as we passed it.

Fiona walked ahead of me.

"Kuzu-kun. Are you going to listen to me next time? You almost died today. You ignored my warning. You attacked a monster you knew nothing about. You got yourself hurt and made me worry."

I felt my face flush with anger. 

"Like you care if I get hurt or not! You're the one who brought me here and forced me to fight these monsters in the first place! If you felt at least a fraction of what you're saying you would let me go! So don't pretend like you care what happens to me! Don't pretend like I'm anything more than just another number to you!"

"Kuzu-kun... You're not just a tool to me. You're not just a number. I've had forty-six slaves before you. I remember the ones who broke. The ones who tried to run. The ones who begged. I remember all of them, Kuzu-kun. Every single one. I remember them, and I know what I did to them was wrong. I know I'm a monster. I know I'm selfish. I know I'm cruel. But I don't want you to die. I don't want you to be just another number. I don't want to forget you. I don't want to watch you die and feel nothing."

Her thumb traced my cheekbone. Gentle. Almost tender.

"I've been cold for so long, Kuzu-kun. I've been alone for so long. I forgot what it felt like to care about someone. You make me feel something. Something other than convenience."

She dropped her hand. Stepped back. I couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Couldn't do anything but stand there, staring at her. She turned. Kept walking.

"Now come on. We still have to visit the guild. And you need new clothes."

I followed her.

She cares? No. No, she can't. She's a monster. She's a manipulator. She's just saying that to fool me! To mock me! To trick me into following her! I will not fall for her empty words! She is a devil! A worst person I have ever met! I will find a way to get my revenge on her! Mark my words you wizard bitch, I will get you for this! Damn it! I was in so much pain! My flesh was turning to boiling goo and her skin don't even have any acid burns. 

"How are you fine? The acid should have—"

"My resistances are high. Acid doesn't affect me anymore. I've been dungeon crawler for a long time."

"That's... That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, Kuzu-kun. I learned that a long time ago. You should too."

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We reached the entrance. The iron gates ahead. Oliver was waiting, pacing nervously. He spotted us. Stormed forward. Got right in Fiona's face.

"Two hours! Two! Hours! We agreed on one hour! What happened?!"

His eyes darted to me. To my melted clothes. 

"And why does he look like that?! That's not what we agreed on! You said, you PROMISED! No fighting!"

"Oliver. I know. I'm sorry. But something happened."

"What happened? What could possibly have happened?"

"We were just looking around. I was just showing my Takumi the first floor. Simple tour. Nothing dangerous. Then suddenly a green slime came out of nowhere. It attacked us."

"A green slime? On the first floor. Is that so?"

"Yes. It must have spawned from over farming. Some rookie adventurers probably killed too many blue slimes and left one behind."

She looked at me. 

"My Takumi was so brave. He shielded me with his body. He jumped in front of the acid spray. If he hadn't acted, I would have been hit. We both would have perished."

She's saying I shielded her? That I saved her life? That's bullshit! She was kneeling in the acid. She was immune. She was fine. I was the one screaming and melting.

Oliver looked at me. At my melted clothes. At my unharmed skin.

"Mmmhmmm... did he now."

"He did. He was so brave. He defeated the slime with his bare hands. But it was unavoidable. He had to act. If he hadn't, we wouldn't be standing here right now."

Oliver sighed as he rubbed his face.

"Yeah, right. A real Hero I bet. That's... that's not what we agreed on."

"I know. I know. But it was an emergency. It won't happen again."

She stepped closer. Placed a hand on his arm.

"Please, Oliver. You know I wouldn't break my promise unless I had to. You know I respect you. You know I value our friendship. As for the green slime. I can only guess some F-rankers entered the dungeon before us and overfarmed. They haven't returned yet, have they?"

 "No. No, they haven't. Three of them. Went in this morning. Never came out."

 "Then that explains it. They must have killed too many blue slimes. Dungeon spawned a green one to punish them. It was still there when we entered."

Oliver looked at the dungeon entrance. At the dark gates. At the torches flickering in the breeze.

"That... that does make sense."

"Of course it does. I would never lie to you, Oliver. You know that."

Oliver sighed. Ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But fine. Fine. I'll let it slide. This once. But there won't be next time. Got it?"

 "Got it. Thank you, Oliver. You're a lifesaver."

"Come on, Takumi. Let's go home."

This devil! She just lied through her teeth. About everything! And he believed every word. Even if I tell him the truth, he wouldn't believe me. I would only get in trouble!