"I still remember my starting days, hunting slimes just to scrape levels," the muscular woman in bulky armor said, her voice rough with nostalgia.

"Slimes are expensive—but they're the safest way to level," the skinny soldier said, eyeing her.

"Yeah. Now only nobles get slimes—either to grind levels or eat them," the muscular woman snarled.

"I know why nobles decided to control slimes," the monkey-faced man said, bitterness seeping through.

"Who doesn't know that?" the bulky woman sneered, as it was not a secret.

"They don't want the poor getting strong fast," the bulky man growled. "And slimes taste too good to waste," He was furious at the behavior of the rich.

"Ever tasted slime?" the bulky woman asked, licking her lips unconsciously.

"Did you?" the skinny man questioned back.

"I was lucky. I tasted it when Captain Shirley took me along for a party in the baron's family," the bulky woman said under the envious eyes of others.

"It's a pity I couldn't taste it," the skinny man muttered with a scowl.

"Slimes are pathetic," the bulky man said. "Kill them, and they melt into goo—nothing left to butcher.

"Yup...If their dead bodies could be left behind like other monsters, we would be able to taste them as well," the bulky woman said, remembering the moment when she'd killed slimes.

She'd felt it was a costly way to level up, as she could have earned a lot by selling slimes—but she killed them for a risk‑free level up.

'It was a dumb decision by the younger me,' she cursed her younger self.

By now, she'd gained a lot of courage via battles.

----

In Oakfield Village…

Thud! Thud!

The sound of the army echoed to the village.

"They are here," a middle‑aged man stood up with trembling legs.

"Dad, what should we do?" a small girl with bright purple eyes asked in fear.

After that multicolored slime had left them with the crystals; they had brought food and other essentials from the nearby city.

The girl, who had yellow hair and a skinny body due to malnourishment, had grown some flesh, and her hair turned black in between the yellow strands.

"Don't worry," the skinny middle-aged woman said, patting her head with a trembling hand.

Her free hand clenched tight. She comforted her daughter—but no one would reassure her.

The man held her left hand, and with a deep glance, they stepped out, leaving their daughter in the house.

----

"Deputy Cap… Captain Shalom, the bailiff hasn't come out yet, and the village barrier is broken," a narrow‑eyed man led his horse near the tall, bulky middle‑aged man in front and said with a cunning grin.

"Hmm. Brooke, go ahead and check," Shalom said coldly, his eyes narrowing at the word deputy.

He didn't like the word deputy captain.

Brooke nodded and went into the village on his horse.

He scoffed at the captain silently. 'What's so great about you? Deputy… deputy captain. Only because Captain Shirley was with the third young lord, you are temporarily promoted.'

His fists clenched, remembering the arrogant glance of the deputy captain.

He then spotted villagers standing in the front, but he didn't care and moved to the bailiff's house by memory.

"What?" he exclaimed as he spotted the burned marks.

He pivoted toward the trembling villagers, finger snapping up to point at one. "What happened here? Where's the bailiff?"

The villager who was pointed at was a skinny middle‑aged man in rags. He almost pissed himself when he noticed Brooke pointing at him.

The man stepped forward on shaking legs. "My lord… he was killed…"

----

"So you are telling me a slime… a five‑colored slime killed him, destroyed our farms as well, and took your cattle too?" Brooke asked in disbelief.

In his entire life, he had never heard of a slime capable of fighting a human, much less killing someone.

"Yes, my lord," the man answered, barely holding himself together.

Brooke leaped down from his horse and stepped toward the villager.

The middle‑aged man stepped back in fear.

"Hmm," Brooke hummed, causing him to freeze.

Slap!

Brooke slapped him hard. Blood and teeth sprayed across the dirt.

Thud!

The skinny man fell to the ground.

"Weak!" Brooke spat. He didn't expect that the farmer would be knocked unconscious with just a single slap.

Brooke glanced at the other villagers and questioned, "Tell me the truth! Don't take me for a fool. What happened?"

Silence!

No one answered.

"If you're scared," he said with a thin smile, "answer together. I won't hit all of you." It was one technique he learned to make fearful people speak.

"My lord, it's the truth!" the villagers yelled at the same time. "A five‑colored slime killed the bailiff and…"

"What?" Brooke questioned with curiosity as all the villagers stopped, hiding something.

The villagers glanced at each other. A few swallowed saliva and answered nervously, "He gave us money…"

"Hahaha!" Brooke burst out laughing. "What an Oakfield Village."

"Fireball." He cast a spell as a crimson magic rune flared on his palm, and he pointed it at a random villager.

From it, a burning flame sphere manifested and rushed toward the villager.

Whoosh!

Gzz!

The villagers froze in fear as the flame sphere appeared. Flames swallowed one villager. His scream tore through the village before choking into silence.

The villagers, terrified, started to run left and right like birds.

"If you don't stop, I will kill you all!" Brooke yelled. His wrathful voice was enough for the villagers to stop running.

"Now… tell me the truth," he said after the villagers returned.

He glanced at the scorched, dead body of the villager. He believed it was enough for them to speak the truth.

However, things went differently from what he expected. No villager opened their mouth. They just glared at him with pale faces.

Thud!

Captain Shalom entered the village himself on his horse.

"You idiot—can't you do proper work?" he yelled at Brooke.

Brooke bent his back and said, "…"

End of the chapter.

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