Manas: Veldanava (ON HOLD)

Chapter 2: Battle Of The Goblin Village

Rimuru POV

The path from the underground lake to the surface took the form of a single long cavern path, which I was currently bouncing and oozing my way along. I was moving quite a bit better than I'd originally pictured. Whenever I am in slime form, even in the dank darkness, harnessing [Magic Sense] made it look as bright as a sunny day to me.

Back when I only had my slime form, I never got fatigued and there was no need to hurry either, so I kept my footing at a regular walking rate by human standards. But now, even though I have a human form, I still walk at a normal speed.

As I continued walking, I found that the path was blocked by a large gate—the first man-made object I had seen in this cave. Very suspicious, but it didn't throw me off much. It was just like any of the dozens I had seen before in RPGs. Every boss room usually had a gate in front of it.

Well thankfully, I had hands as a human so I could just open it, but before I could, the door opened by itself with a creak. Flustered, I scurried over to one side of the path and watched.

???1: "Whew! Finally got this thing open. The whole lockin' mechanism must've rusted out...,"

???2: "Yeah, I'll bet. Nobody's even tried going in for three hundred years or whatever, right?"

???3: "There is no record of anyone attempting an entry. Are you sure we're safe? We are not leaving ourselves open to sudden attack..."

???2: "Gah-hah-hah-hah! Come on. Maybe this guy was invincible a few centuries back, but it's just a big overgrown lizard, y'know? I told you guys 'bout how I bagged a basilisk solo once, didn't I? It'll be fine!"

???3: "I was wondering about that, actually. Are you sure that's the truth, Kaval? A basilisk is a B-plus-ranked monster. You truly handled that by yourself?"

Kaval: "Quit playing dumb! I'm B-ranked, y'know! Some huge reptile ain't gonna faze me!"

//Oh? It seems that the world's ranking system has changed.//

???3: "All right, all right. Just keep your guard up, if you can. And remember, we can always use my [Escape] skill if things turn sour..."

???1: "Can we save the friendly chitchat for later?" the first interjected.

???1: "I need some quiet. It's just about time for me to activate Concealing Arts!" Three of them, it sounded like, none of them making much of an effort at stealth. And I understood everything they said, too. Odd.

<<Answer:  Your [Magic Sense] skill can be adapted to decipher sound waves that have willful meaning stored inside them.>> Really? Well, that's good. I was never too gifted at foreign languages. I was always one of those kids in the back of the class, bitching all like, "Why do I need this? I'm never gonna live outside of Japan, anyway! Save it for somebody who will!"

Now that I was actually in that position, something told me that excuse wouldn't work for much longer. Time to hit the books, I guess. Wait, can't I just have Velda use [Akashic Records] and help me learn the world's language?

//[Akashic Records] requires a high number of magicules to be used so it's better that you hit the books, Rimuru-sama.// Wait, don't I have enough magicules?

//Yes, but you will almost be completely drained of magicules. Plus, I can't provide you with any extra magicules so this whole plan is a no-go.// I see. Well, that's disappointing.

But that wasn't important. What should I do? That was a tougher question than opening the door, for sure. I didn't know what they wanted, but if I had to guess, they were adventurers. Treasure hunters, maybe? These were the first humans I'd encountered in this world—I had an urge to tail them to see what they were up to.