Chapter 42: The Slime Kingdom

As the skill [Enslave] completed its execution, Roche immediately felt a certain connection establish between himself and Tassanya.

More accurately, he could now completely control everything about Tassanya.

Lying on the ground, Tassanya felt the exact same way at that moment.

She felt as though the figure of Roche standing before her had become extraordinarily towering and divine; just a single glance caused her soul to tremble wildly and filled her with absolute terror.

Not a single thought of resistance could arise within her.

It was as if she had become a mere object belonging to the person before her, at his absolute mercy.

That was a reverence and submission emanating from the very depths of her heart.

She had never heard of any enslavement technique reaching such a terrifying extent.

It was like… a god.

Her heart pounded frantically, and the bleeding from her abdomen continued to worsen.

If he was a god, he would surely be able to save her.

To live—she wanted to live.

"Master… please, save me."

She begged abjectly, her voice exceedingly weak.

Roche nodded.

He cast a maximum-potency healing spell.

A gentle white light enveloped Tassanya’s entire body, and countless specks of white light slowly rose from her wounds.

The blood stains and pain seemed to slowly dissipate along with these motes of light.

Tassanya only felt an extraordinary warmth spreading across her whole body; both her abdomen and the wound pierced by the Thorn Guardian were gradually healing.

In a short while, the strength she had lost seemed to return to her body.

Tassanya joyfully moved her limbs, feeling that she had mostly recovered.

She had truly come back from the dead.

The joy of escaping death caused tears to burst instantly from Tassanya’s eyes.

At this moment, the gaze she directed toward Roche was filled with boundless awe and fanaticism.

Possessing power even greater than her own, coupled with the ability to heal—such an absolute impossibility was manifested right in her master.

Her master truly was a god!

To think she had actually harbored the delusion of killing her master earlier, she deserved to die a thousand deaths!!!

Under the dual influence of her brush with death and the effect of [Enslave], Tassanya’s inner state underwent a complete transformation.

She prostrated herself at Roche’s feet and spoke with a trembling voice:

"To think that Tassanya was previously so impudent toward Master, I beg Master for punishment."

Watching Tassanya trembling all over as she prostrated herself at his feet, Roche blinked in bewilderment, his expression somewhat strange.

Why was the effect this time so much better than he had anticipated?

When Leila had turned into a thrall, no such drastic change was visible. She had remained just as cute as before.

"Get up first, Tassanya."

Roche smiled and said:

"We can talk about punishment later; I have some things I need to ask you."

"Yes, Master."

Upon Roche’s permission, Tassanya slowly stood up, yet the dread in her eyes had not dissipated; instead, it intensified.

In her view, the fact that Roche did not punish her immediately meant he had not yet forgiven her transgression.

Especially Roche’s smile—

Every time she saw it, it reminded her of the scene just moments ago when she had been subdued by Roche, sending a chill through her heart and causing her body to shiver involuntarily.

Unaware of and indifferent to Tassanya’s psychological shift, Roche spoke:

"Tassanya, you know the purpose of the nobles coming to Wheel Town this time, right?"

"Reporting to Master, I do. It is to observe the Ceded Territory."

Tassanya lowered her head and said word by word:

"Count Larry, Lord of Bantara City, received news a month ago that the Kingdom has reached a trade agreement with the Slime Kingdom, using Wheel Town and a tract of woodland north of Wheel Town as bargaining chips in exchange for a two-year truce from the Slime Kingdom."

"The Slime Kingdom?"

Roche keenly caught a specific term:

"Slimes have their own kingdom?"

Tassanya replied:

"Yes. Located to the northeast of our Dorante Kingdom, the Slime Plains are the largest gathering place for slimes on the Glenn Continent."

"The Slime Plains are vast, and there are roughly five or six slime kingdoms distributed across them."

"Among them, the Slime Kingdom that borders our Dorante is phonetically translated as Klin, and it ranks roughly third among the slime kingdoms."

Listening to these novel pieces of information, Roche felt his understanding of this world refreshed once again.

If slimes possessed a kingdom, it was obviously impossible for it to have been built by those creatures on the Slime Plains that only knew how to move around aimlessly every day.

This meant that the intelligence of those high-tier slimes must be quite high.

"What is the overall strength of the Klin Kingdom?"

Roche asked.

"Apologies, Master, Tassanya is not entirely clear on the specific details."

Tassanya said with an apologetic expression:

"However, Tassanya knows that there are Tier 7 entities within the Klin Kingdom. The Slime Queen of the Klin Kingdom stepped into Tier 7 some eight or nine years ago."

"Their attacks on our cities and the Ceded Territory also began around that time."

"Does our Dorante not have any Tier 7s?"

Roche asked.

Tassanya slowly shook her head:

"Ever since the Sword Saint and the Fleet King of the Kingdom perished together thirty years ago, our Dorante has no longer had any Tier 7s."

Sword Saint? Fleet King?

Roche blinked; that sounded utterly atmospheric.

He could already imagine how legendary the stories of these two figures must be.

This truly was a world of sword and magic! Could what he experienced before be called a fantasy journey? At best, it was just the Adventures of the Goblin Micro-World.

Suppressing the slight agitation in his heart, Roche said:

"Since the Klin Kingdom has Tier 7 presences, there must be a huge number of Tier 4 slimes, right?"

Tassanya shook her head:

"There shouldn't be that many. With every tier a monster ascends, its numbers decrease exponentially."

"Although the exact number cannot be determined, Tier 4 slimes should belong to the backbone forces."

The backbone forces?

Roche nodded.

His main goal was to understand the importance of Tier 4 slimes to the Slime Kingdom.

If Tier 4 slimes were merely cannon fodder level within the Slime Kingdom, he would have to reconsider whether his plan was feasible.

"Tassanya, since I have taken you as my thrall, I naturally have a purpose."

Roche stated:

"I intend to stop this Ceded Territory event."

"Understood."

Tassanya nodded.

There was neither surprise nor confusion on her face, only a faint fanaticism in her eyes.

At this moment, she harbored no doubts whatsoever about what Roche had said.

Whatever Roche uttered was like a divine decree in her heart.

"Very good."

Roche nodded with satisfaction, pulled the plan notebook from his pocket, opened it, and placed it before Tassanya.

Pointing to the fourth item on the page, he said:

"This is your mission this time."

Tassanya looked at the contents of the fourth item in the notebook, which described a task that seemed almost impossible to accomplish.

Yet, in the end, she slowly nodded:

"Tassanya understands."

With that, a trace of unnatural hesitation flashed across her eyes. She bowed her head toward Roche and spoke with a tremble:

"Master, Tassanya will definitely do her utmost to complete it, but Tassanya worries that she..."

With a smile, Roche said:

"This mission is indeed very difficult, so it's normal for you to worry."

"However—"

Roche’s voice suddenly dropped, his gaze calm and icy as he looked at the shivering Tassanya before him:

"Regardless of what method you use, you must accomplish it."

"I said it before, I have no use for trash."