Covering All the Bases

Haruki stared out over the fields of golden grain that he had cultivated over the last nine months. It was now early July and the plants were maturing, it would only be a few more weeks until this year’s harvest would begin.

“I won’t let them take it away for a second time,” he told himself.

He had recently heard discussions among the other farmers about what was going on, about the giant slime that was capable of trampling whole villages in minutes. According to the latest reports, it was slowly making its way in this direction. There was a very real possibility their little community would be next.

As soon as he heard this story, he remembered the incident where a slime burned his foot last summer.

Part of me is still feeling spiteful about that. If fighting this creature could somehow get me revenge for that humiliation, I would gladly do it. However, this isn’t about that, this time I have something to fight for beyond myself.

He thought of everything that had happened since then, and how massively his life had changed. The person he once was seemed like a distant dream to him, in the last year he had become a completely different person.

The dozens of acres of wheat that I poured so much heart and soul into bringing up, the farm that I call home, the man who saved my life and treated me so kindly, and the girl that I love; each of these things mean more to me than my own life. Even if it’s suicide, I have to find a way to stop this thing from taking them all away from me.

If that creature heads our way, it’s all over. We have to be prepared.

Haruki began to think of what could possibly be done, and a strategy slowly started to take shape in his mind.

***

The next day he shared his plan with Johannes, and asked him to use his influence to call on the people of the village to meet together and discuss it with them. He agreed to help, and soon the meeting was set.

In the days leading up to the meeting, Haruki finalized his plan and made preparations in order to prove that it could work to the other villagers.

A few people from each of the families in the village met together at Johannes’ home. There were currently ten families in the village, with about half of the village’s fifty-three total residents being present.

Tonight, Haruki would show them how they stood a chance against the slime.

Johannes began the discussion.

“Everybody, listen. We’ve all heard the rumors about the giant slime goin’ around the country, and we’re all justly worried about it. We can all just sit here hopin’ and prayin’ it doesn’t come our way, or we can do somethin’ to prepare for it. Haruki here says he’s got a plan, and that he can prove it to all of us tonight.”

“What can we do about a monster like that, when even the adventurers can’t do nothin’ about it?” Sven, Rudolph’s father, asked.

The crowd murmured in agreement.

Haruki stepped up on a chair.

“I’ve figured out a way to defeat the giant slime,” he announced.

The room became quiet.

“Today I’m going to demonstrate to you all the principle behind how we’re going to kill it.”

Johannes and Lillianna carried a small table and two glass bottles into the room, setting them down in front of Haruki.

“The bottle to the left contains vinegar, while the bottle to the right contains lye, an ingredient used in soap-making, dissolved in some water.”

Haruki pulled out a red piece of cloth and dipped it in the vinegar bottle. The color of the cloth began to fade, turning to a light pink color.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware, vinegar has a fading effect on dyed cloth, turning it more white.”

He then pulled out the pink cloth from the vinegar and placed it in the other bottle of lye solution. The cloth quickly turned back to its original red color.

“As you can see, the lye undoes the effect of the vinegar. The vinegar and the lye neutralize each other.”

“And what does all this have anythin’ to do with the slime?” someone asked from the crowd.

“Last year, I got a really bad burn on my foot after stepping on a slime.” Haruki didn’t want to admit that he actually tried kicking the creature. “The burn I got on my foot was an acid burn, meaning that slimes are made out of a strong acid. The slime uses its acidic body to dissolve the food it consumes.”

He continued: “Vinegar is also a type of acid, but far weaker. The reason that the lye undid the effect of the acid is because it’s alkaline, it’s essentially the opposite of an acid. The two negate each other.”

Haruki was trying his best to explain this concept in terms that medieval peasants might be able to understand. Afterall, the modern understanding of acids and bases wasn’t introduced until the late 19th century.

“Therefore, just like with the lye neutralizing the vinegar, if we expose the slime to a large quantity of lye, we can destroy its acidic body.”

Rudolph spoke up: “I’m not sure I get everything, but what you’re saying is that if we hit the slime with a lot of lye, it’ll die?”

“Yeah, that’s basically the idea.”

“All this may be right in theory, but if that slime attacks us, how’re we gonna get all that lye into it?” Sven asked.

Johannes spoke up: “Don’t worry, Haruki’s also got a plan for that. Our family will make all the preparations to fight the monster, what we need you all to do is make as much lye as you can as quickly as possible. That’s the only way all this is going to work.”

“This all seems too uncertain, how do we know that this is goin’ ta’ work?” another villager asked.

“There’s no guarantee of anything, for all we know the slime could arrive here any minute now and kill us immediately,” Haruki replied. “But this is the only possible way for us to fight back. Unless we do this, we’re just waiting here for our deaths to come, like sitting ducks.”

“You’ve all heard the reports,” Johannes added. “This ain’t a monster that can be fought any other way, and it’s gettin’ closer every day.”

Another farmer interjected: “So whaddya’ want us to do? Are we s’posed to just stop all of our farmin’ and start makin’ lye, not even knowin’ whether this monster will ever show up?”

“This is our only hope,” Lillianna suddenly spoke up. “Please, listen to Haruki! We don’t have any other choice. It’s either this, or death.”

The whole room suddenly became quiet.

Haruki spoke up again: “I get that some of you may not know me too well; but if there’s one thing I want all of you to know about me, it’s that I want nothing more than to protect this village. The kindness all you people have shown me completely changed who I am. This place has become my home, everyone here means more to me than anything else.”

Rudolph stood up and walked to the front of the room, standing next to Haruki.

“Listen here, everyone,” he announced. “I’m going to fight with Haruki, not because I want to save my own ass, but because I love this village as much as he does. I’d gladly give up my life if it means saving you all. If any of you feel the same, then fight alongside us!”

Sven stood up and walked to the front of the room.

“Well, we certainly can’t trust no capital wizards to swoop in and kill it any time soon. You all know as well as I do what the capital thinks of us country folk,” he said.

Sven grabbed Haruki’s hand and shook it. The other people at the meeting then began standing up one-by-one, expressing their agreement and going to shake Haruki’s hand.

Soon enough, the final reservists had given in, every person in attendance had agreed to Haruki’s plan. They all filed out of the home, with only Rudolph staying behind.

“Haruki, what do you want me to do first? There’s nothing I can’t do.” He raised an arm up, striking a biceps pose. Haruki was surprised his sleeve didn’t burst.

“You’ll have the most important job, I need you to lead the men in cutting down trees. We’ll need lots and lots of wood.”

Rudolph agreed and left the home.

Haruki’s proposal had been a success, he got the entire village behind his plan. Everyone would be working to prepare for the inevitable arrival of the giant slime.

Now it’s only a race against time.