They had no idea that from the moment they entered the guild to the entire process of accepting the commission, everything was being watched by Sayu, who was hidden in the shadows.
Sayu stood in the shadow of a pillar in the guild hall, watching the two of them walk away. Her violet eyes flickered with thought, especially at the newly replaced Gold-rank badge on Ellen's collar.
"Gold-rank... and a Gale Magic Wolf killed in one hit..." She whispered to herself, her eyes filled with interest.
She followed them silently, blending into the crowd on the street like an invisible ghost. It seemed this commission wouldn't be as boring as she had initially expected...
Luna Belle and Ellen followed the map provided by the guild and soon arrived at the outskirts of the Gloomy Forest.
This forest was much more sinister than Luna Belle had imagined. Towering ancient trees blocked out most of the sunlight, with only scattered spots of light filtering through the layered branches and leaves to fall on the ground covered in decaying foliage. The surroundings were unnaturally quiet; even birdsong was rarely heard. Only the "rustle" of feet stepping on fallen leaves was exceptionally clear.
"The location marked on the map is around here..." Luna Belle checked the simple parchment map in her hand and looked around somewhat uncertainly. The dense trees made it difficult for her to discern the exact direction.
"Yeah, it should be that cave entrance up ahead." Ellen was quite decisive. She pointed toward a deep cave entrance not far ahead, partially obscured by vines and moss.
The cave mouth was pitch black, like a giant maw waiting for prey to walk into its trap, emitting a faint chill and a... sweet, jelly-like scent. Luna Belle looked at the bottomless cave and subconsciously swallowed, her palms holding the map sweating slightly. Despite having someone as powerful as Ellen by her side, this unknown environment still made her skin crawl.
"Why is it another pitch-black place... I had enough of that back at the Ballet Building..."
"Let's go. Let's finish this quickly and head back." Ellen didn't seem to care about the environment at all. She yawned, grabbed Luna Belle's wrist, and led her briskly toward the cave mouth without further ado.
Being held by Ellen's slightly cool hand, Luna Belle's heart skipped a beat, and her nervousness seemed to fade a little. She took a deep breath and followed Ellen into the cave.
The interior of the cave was much more spacious than it looked from the outside. It was pitch black upon entry, with only the faint light coming from the entrance. But soon, Luna Belle discovered that some crystal veins emitting a soft, eerie light were embedded in the cave walls, providing basic illumination. Though the light was dim, it was enough to barely make out the path beneath their feet and the surrounding outlines.
"Thank goodness for these glowing crystals..." Luna Belle muttered softly, carefully avoiding slippery moss and protruding rocks on the ground.
"Master, generating a scan of the cave's internal structure for you." Fairy's voice sounded in Luna Belle's mind at the right time. Immediately following, a simple 3D map composed of light blue lines appeared in her consciousness, clearly marking their current position and the path ahead.
"That's great, Fairy! You're the best!" Luna Belle was delighted. With this "navigation," moving through this maze-like cave felt much safer. She concentrated and guided Ellen along the fastest path planned by Fairy toward the depths of the cave.
The cave was exceptionally quiet, with only the echoes of their footsteps and the occasional drip of water from the ceiling. The deeper they went, the more obvious the sweet scent became. The glowing crystals on the rock walls also gradually increased, their eerie light making the cave look like a dreamscape.
After walking for about ten minutes, according to Fairy's scan, they were approaching the center of the cave. A corner appeared ahead, and after turning it, their vision suddenly opened up. This was a massive natural domed cave, a space roomier than all the passages they had walked through combined.
The dome was covered in dense glowing crystals, illuminating the entire space like daylight. In the center of the cave was a relatively flat open area, and on that open ground... Luna Belle's eyes widened as she looked at the scene before her, momentarily speechless.
On the open ground, there were many... jellies scattered about? Gelatinous masses of all sizes, translucent and showing various soft colors, were slowly crawling and bouncing on the ground. They looked squishy and harmless, even a bit... cute?
"These... are the Slimes mentioned in the commission?" Luna Belle found it hard to believe; the gap between this and the monsters she had imagined was too large. They looked more like some kind of dessert.
"Looks like it." Ellen was calm. Carrying her Shark Pruning Shears, her gaze swept across the entire cave, assessing the number of Slimes. "There are quite a few of them; at a conservative estimate, there are over a hundred."
Curious, Luna Belle took a few steps forward to get a better look. She was so busy looking up at the crystals on the dome and the bouncing Slimes in the distance that she didn't pay attention to her feet.
"Squish!"
A soft sound, as if stepping on and bursting some kind of soft-bodied object, rang out. Luna Belle felt a strange, springy, and squishy sensation under her foot, accompanied by a faint vibration. She subconsciously looked down and saw that she had stepped right on a palm-sized blue Slime hiding in the shadows. The little Slime had been squashed flat by her, almost becoming a Slime pancake.
"Eek!" Luna Belle cried out in alarm and jumped back instinctively, fearing it might counterattack.
However, she forgot she was standing on a slightly inclined slope. This jump made her lose her balance, and she was about to fall backward. Just as she thought she was going to have a close encounter with the hard ground, a pair of arms caught her around her waist and the back of her knees in time.
A soft but firm force caught her steadily, and a familiar sweet fragrance wafted toward her. Luna Belle looked up and met Ellen's red eyes, which held a hint of helplessness and playfulness. She was holding Luna Belle in her arms in a standard princess carry.
"Tsk... not looking where you're going. As expected, you still need someone to look after you." Ellen's tone was lazy, but her arms held her very steadily.
Luna Belle's face turned beet red instantly, all the way to the tips of her ears. She could clearly feel the strength and body heat coming from Ellen's arms; through the thin clothing, the sensation was exceptionally distinct. Her heart began to race uncontrollably, though she wasn't sure if it was from the scare just now or from this overly intimate posture.
"I... I didn't mean to! It just suddenly appeared under my foot!" Luna Belle tried to explain, but her voice was somewhat stuttery due to embarrassment. She scrambled to try and get down, but Ellen didn't seem to have any intention of letting go immediately...