Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Nati - Chapter Fifty Two

I couldn't believe it.

Ever since I got here, everyone supported me, no matter how silly my ideas were. The orcs always watched curiously how things would turn out. They were patient, doing their best to help me, even before the Goddess appeared. But not today. My newest idea stirred quite the opposition.

"No, Nati, don't," Fenna told me firmly. "You want my masterfully crafted gifts to be destroyed by slimes?"

"According to Mabel, they won't dissolve clothes right away." I tried to explain. "But they can eat the grime and dirt within seconds."

"I get it, you want a big common laundry to make life easier for the tribe, but why not do it the regular way?" The fox girl protested with everything she got. "We have a dozen goblins looking for easy jobs. They can help clean, and even gather herbs, but why are you adamant about using slimes?"

"Because that's the most isekai way of doing it," I claimed, giving up on the sensible arguments. I saw her confusion. "We could also use them to filter out the waste of this village because I don't want to pollute the environment. Charlotte said the slimes made this stream so clean too..."

"Yes, that much is true. That idea has merits, but please don't ruin the clothes of the entire tribe." She pleaded with me as I headed out. I refused to make promises. This plan was genius in my head.

I couldn't stop my tail from swishing while I reached the swamps. First off, I needed something to keep the slimes in. They'd dissolve anything organic, so my choices were limited. Large metal containers were practically unheard of. It was possible to cast one, but in the size I wanted it, they would weigh too much for me to carry.

"Fenna didn't like the idea, and no luck with the smithy either." I filled in Mabel, shaking my head. I met the orc girl at the marsh. "The blacksmith was busy training his new subordinates..."

The golem Alex made for him doubled his productivity, but that was still not enough. It was the biggest of the bunch, probably the same size as Bastion, the ogre. He worked as a power hammer while his legs operated the grinder. Made of clay, the golem didn't need to worry about burning itself while handling the white-hot metals.

Thanks to his consistent punches, the blacksmith finally made prods for the crossbows on his own. Even if they were a little thicker than the ones made with magic, this freed up Omerta to take on other important tasks. And we had plenty of those in Nateaser.

"I was thinking of carving one out from stone..." Mabel pondered, but that also seemed like a hassle. I shook my head, still thinking.

"What about clay pots? Would they eat them too? Seems to be the easiest to make, and the kilns are lit all day..." I asked, hugging my tail.

"Oh, I haven't thought about that." The orc girl admitted. "I have a jug somewhere nearby. I forgot to take it home when I mixed your shampoo in it earlier. I think we could fit a few smaller slimes into it."

"How big are they anyway?" I asked curiously. I heard so much about them, but haven't seen one.

"It varies... When they divide some are like a droplet of water. Most of them will grow the size of my fist, but I've seen one bigger than my head." She explained, showing her body parts as units of measurement. She had pretty big fists for a child, but that's how orcs were built. "Ah, found the jug, let's go hunting them."

And this is when I finally spotted the first one. It looked delicious, like a gummy bear, although shapeless. I reached out to touch it without thinking twice, but that was a mistake, and I paid a high price.

It was like an electric shock, except it kept burning long after I let it go... My palm swelled up immediately and turned red. Mabel couldn't help but laugh at me. It was all my fault for ignoring her warnings. They were like jellyfish, just cranked up to eleven. It was bad. I performed an awkward dance, shaking my hand, but it didn't help.