That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Charybdis

"Phewww! Finally, back!"

"That was a hard day of work, eh? Let's hit the hot spring and grab a mugful of something."

"Ooh yeah! The fruit wine here is awesome!"

Kabal and Gido didn't seem to mind being used and abused, at least, although that probably wasn't the way they thought about it. The men were spoiling Milim, after all, and it wouldn't be very nice to gripe about that and stir up conflict. If they had no problem, neither did I.

It did, however, remind me all the more about how, no matter which world you lived in, some men were doomed to have women use them. I, at the very least, could show them a little kindness.

"Hey, good work, guys. Why don't you get yourselves cleaned up first?"

"Yes, I would hardly want you to remain all dirty like that-"

Shion started to comment, but then-

"Hmm?!"

Suddenly, Milim ran next to me, eyes pointed forward.

"Who's there?!"

Shion handed me to Milim as she addressed some presence in front of her.

I'm not a piece of baggage, you know. I have no idea why they're ferrying me back and forth, like I'm some fragile work of art.

Benimaru and Soei took position behind Milim as I grumped about this for a moment, Hakuro standing nearby among the trees. I didn't spot him arriving-he must have been training just now, but his clothing was still in perfect order. Impressive. And with Ranga bursting out from my shadow, we now had the town's main force gathered together.

Geld was out working on the road project, so he wasn't here. He had reported to me a few days back about how he sensed something suspicious nearby, but he never actually saw anything, so he chalked it up to his mind playing tricks on him and kept up the road construction. I had a feeling that I was forgetting about someone else, too, but-hey-with all the guys we did have, I didn't predict any issues.

Besides, the person facing us was familiar to me.

"It has been quite a long time, my leader." It was Traya, a dryad and Treyni's younger sister.

"Sure has. But why are you looking like that? All like you're about to kill someone?" I said as she kneeled before me.

The seething rage was something you could detect even from far away, sharp enough to make both Milim and Shion react to it. Her semi translucent body was a bit hazy in places; perhaps she had taken some damage. It was clear that something happened to her.

"...Well, I am afraid it is an emergency. Charybdis, a calamity-class monster, has revived itself. The power wielded by this great spirit is akin to a demon lord's. My sisters are keeping it immobile for now, but we are hopelessly outclassed. Plus...it appears the great spirit is seeking out this land. Charybdis is a tyrant of the skies; ground-based forces can do little against it. I came here to advise you that you must solidify your defenses and prepare some aerial war power."

The fatigue was clear on her face as she explained.

Tension quickly filled the air. Surprisingly, Fuze was the first to react-he was stunned to near silence the moment he saw Traya ("A dryad?!" he had shouted), but the mention of Charybdis's name got his brain in gear again.

The blood drained from his face as he shouted. "Charybdis?! Oh, man, if it's really revived, that's a bigger threat than any demon lord. Unlike those guys, you can't even reason with this thing. It's classified as a calamity, but I'd say it's safe to assume it's a full-on disaster, if anything..."