No Step On Slime

Chapter 12: Amend and a Mend

"You should go to the washroom and clean your body off," Rimuru said. "You haven't done it once at all ever since coming into this world... I still see the soot in your hair from when you worked in the blacksmith."

"Whaddya mean? I washed like... once or twice, at least."

Rimuru pulled my sleeve up and ran a finger down my skin, to show the black gunk that was building up all over my body.

"My point still stands. And it can't just be a quick rinse, it has to be thorough. I'd do it myself, but I don't know enough about Automaton physiology. I don't want to damage your body further."

"Yeah, about the healing stuff. I kinda find it ironic your healing potions don't work on me," I said. "Guess healthcare is a bit too much to ask for, whether I am an American or an Automaton."

"That's going to become a problem in the future," Rimuru replied. "But now that I think about it... there's a workaround that I may work if I use my Predator skill. You can fix yourself, I hope?"

I nodded. "To some extent. My skill probably has the blueprints of my internal layout in my head... right?"

[Answer: The skills Bodily Modularity with Mechanical Parts and Mechanical Skills for Self-Repair are at your disposal for self-care]

"I can repair you a lot quicker if I use my ability to copy your body," Rimuru replied. "But that's only if your body can handle it. As I said, I don't know how Automaton bodies work, so I'm not willing to take that risk unless you know what I can and cannot do."

"Why's that?" I asked. "Your skill allows you to eat stuff up and copy it, right?"

"...Yes, but the original object that I have to copy in the first place has to be dissolved and broken down for me to examine and duplicate it."

Oh. It wouldn't be a good thing if Rimuru accidentally kills me.

"Oh, I can't forget about this."

Rimuru's hand turned translucent-blue for a moment as something popped out of it.

"My backpack!" I exclaimed. "I thought that was lost in the forest!"

"Souei was the one who found it," the humanoid slime replied. "You've been busy when you were away, I'm guessing? There's a lot of paper and books in here."

"Blueprints and relevant instruction manuals," I replied. "You didn't read any of 'em, did you?"

"I... was curious," Rimuru admitted. "But bomb-making instructions?"

Oh. He must be talking about the TM-31 210 booklet.

"It's all chemistry I might need," I clarified. "Half of firearm-making is powder 'n shit. Problem is, I didn't really reload ammo all that much so I'm no expert on the specifics. Never did well in chemistry class, after all."

"No, I meant it the other way," the humanoid slime replied. "I have to be honest, Hunter. I don't think guns are going to be too useful in this world. My Black Lightning can probably surpass any explosive in power."

Rimuru sighed and continued. "I don't want to say that your efforts are fruitless, it'll just take a lot more work for it to work in a world built off magic. At worst, it'll be a novelty."

"I know," I stated. "Souei managed to dodge my bullets. Though in my defense, my shotgun is black powder instead of smokeless powder."

I leaned over in frustration. "Magic and shit in this world is throwing most the conventional military theories I'm aware of outta the window. I fuckin' hate it and I'm probably too dumb to learn magic."