Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 157 Single-celled organisms - Slimes

Along the way, the group passed other water sources, all of which had been contaminated. Aqua spent a considerable amount of time purifying them one by one. However, according to Aqua, these purified sources would not be usable again for a long time, which fueled Aqua's anger towards the mastermind behind it all.

By this time, the group had arrived near the mountaintop.

The altitude here is not low, and being the location of a spring, the thin air and pungent sulfur smell make it impossible to stay here for long. Moreover, no suspicious creatures were found on the endless mountaintop.

Just when Charlotte was wondering if the Poisonous Slime had run away, Kazuma Sato's clairvoyance suddenly spotted a figure. It wasn't the blond old man the guards had mentioned, but the man he had bumped into at the bathhouse.

"What's wrong, Kazuma?"

"Over there, I spotted the man on the wanted poster. But what's he doing there? Is there a hot spring source there?"

"Probably. You see, the pipe ends over there—wait, that means that guy is now—!"

""

"They're poisoning us!?"

Aqua seemed to understand something, and she ran quickly towards the man. Charlotte and the others, seeing that she couldn't stop calling out, had no choice but to chase after her.

As the group approached, the other person noticed them and asked with a strange expression, "What brings you all here? Only the hot spring manager is allowed in. How did you get here?"

He said it as if nothing had happened.

Aqua, who had long harbored resentment towards the mastermind, pointed at him and shouted, "What are you pretending for! How dare you ruin this town's hot springs! We're here to deal with you, prepare yourself!"

"Ruin the hot spring? I'm just managing this hot spring. I don't understand what you're talking about at all—"

Seeing the man speak so calmly, Aqua looked confused and, unsure of what to do, could only turn to Charlotte for help. Honestly, if you don't have the confidence, why be the first to rush in?

Charlotte sighed.

"Honestly, I don't even know what to say to you." He spoke to the man with a hint of disappointment. "Your poisoning method was so clumsy. To be honest, you must have known we had you wanted, right? The best thing to do at this point would have been to stop immediately, cover up the decline in the hot spring's quality as a normal fluctuation, repeat this a few times, and once we gradually lost trust, you could poison the spring without restraint. But instead, you frantically chose to poison the source, thus proving that someone was behind it all. You even said not to let the Axis cultists enter while you were sabotaging it—truly gilding the lily!"

The tone of disappointment in her voice left the man in front of him somewhat dumbfounded. Looking at Charlotte, dressed in the robes of an Axis priest, he subconsciously asked, "Aren't you an Axis? Why do I get the feeling you're hoping the hot spring source will be destroyed?"

"I am an Axis, but I hate Axisism, that's all."

"----Um???"

He couldn't understand.

However, Kazuma Sato and the others knew that Charlotte joined the Axis Cult purely because of Aqua's skills. He himself disliked the Axis Cult's members, so there was no conflict.

"But judging from our conversation just now, you admit that you poisoned him."

Kazuma Sato seized on his words.

The man lowered his head and remained silent for a moment.

"—Hehehe, as expected of the formidable rival that Ms. Yasaka repeatedly warned me about, he is truly not to be underestimated."

"You can only be described as a single-celled organism."

Charlotte's words were full of malice.

Huihui tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Isn't that a bit too much? To call someone a simple-minded person is practically insulting their intelligence, isn't it?"

Although the sound was very soft, the area was deserted and empty, so the sound easily reached everyone's ears. Of course, the man who poisoned the poison was no exception.

"Very good, very good————"

As if humiliated, he abruptly raised his head, revealing a ferocious expression, and said menacingly to the crowd, "Single-celled organism? Ah, yes, I am indeed a single-celled organism!"

"He actually admitted to something—hehehe, that's hilarious." Aqua covered her mouth and chuckled.

But the others couldn't laugh, because they had a bad feeling.

Suddenly, several large lumps appeared on the man's body, and his appearance began to look strange.

"Because I'm a slime!"

"Slime? You mere slime, you dare to act all high and mighty!"

"I am a slime, and also a Poisonous Slime, a high-ranking officer in the Demon King's army!"

"————Gah!?"

Kazuma Sato wanted to throw in some insults, but when he heard the words "Demon King's Army Officer," he completely lost his temper.

As everyone knows, the Demon King's Army officers are the strongest members of the Demon King's Army, and they are beings that he, a nobody, simply cannot defeat.

However, just as he was about to turn and run, he suddenly found that the Poison Slime had frozen in place again, and the transformation immediately retracted.

Strange, what's going on?

"Ah!! It's Mr. Hans!! Long time no see, it's me, it's Wiz! Lich Wiz!"

Wiz suddenly shouted.

Right, if he's a member of the Demon King's army, then he must be Wiz's colleague, so it's understandable that they would know each other.

"You, you, you—what are you talking about? I don't know you at all—wait, wait, please stop shaking me like that!"

"What are you talking about, Mr. Hans? You just claimed to be a Poisonous Slime, a high-ranking officer in the Demon King's army, so it can only be you, Mr. Hans, right?"

"I...I'm so annoying!!"

Unable to resist Wiz's persistent shaking, Hans angrily shook off her hand and shouted, "Why is Wiz here?! Didn't you say you were going to open a shop in a town after leaving the Demon King's castle?! What are you doing wandering around this hot spring town? Go and get to work!"

Just like when you're working at a maid cafe and you're following the rules and flashing a perfectly sweet smile, only to have your friend in real life callously expose your true colors, you feel embarrassed and furious.

"That's so unfair! I work really hard too! I don't know why I get poorer the more I work, but I try my best every day!"

Wiz said this with a somewhat pitiful expression.

Hans sighed deeply, slowly shaking his head. "Alas—how could this happen? I spent a considerable amount of time investigating this town and completing all the preparatory work for this plan, and it was only with great difficulty that I was able to put it into action—and Ms. Yasaka's mission has failed. How are you going to compensate me?"

"W-Did I bother Mr. Hans? I was just greeting you because I hadn't seen Mr. Hans in a long time!"

"This is already getting in my way! Look! It's all your fault, my real identity has been exposed!"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!!"

Wiz shook his head repeatedly.

Hans probably thought she did it on purpose, but Charlotte knew that the lich girl was naturally a bit dim-witted. It was the same when she first met Barnier; ignoring the presence of the Kingdom's Prosecutor, Serena, she directly called out Barnier's name.

After Wiz exposed his true identity, Hans lowered his center of gravity and assumed a fighting stance.

"Wiz, what are you planning to do? Are you going to fight me, or just let me go?"

At the same time, he glanced at Charlotte out of the corner of his eye.

Clearly, they also considered him a formidable rival.

To confirm, Charlotte slowly took a fighting stance, and Hans tensed up immediately upon seeing this, looking as if he was ready to fight to the death.

"Ms. Yasaka said to be careful of you when I come here on a mission, and I used to scoff at that, but I never expected to run into you—did you get some information and come here on purpose?"

"—No, it's just that someone said they came to this town because they wanted to be praised."

"What?"

"It's nothing."

Even if we say that the goddess worshipped by the Axis religion came here because she wanted to be worshipped, Hans probably wouldn't believe it, so it's better not to explain.

"Stop wasting time talking nonsense with him! Let's all charge forward side by side!!"

Aqua suddenly shouted that.