Just a moment ago, Sergash experienced something absurd.
As a Scaleclaw Shaman of the Lizardmen, she once thought herself worldly and wise. She believed nothing in the swamp could surprise her anymore.
But today, she realized she was wrong.
She had never seen a talking Slime before.
The moment she heard the Slime in her palm speak, Sergash's mind went completely blank. After several seconds, she seemed to realize something.
"Emissary of Putu, please accept my gratitude."
Chen Yu heard the female Lizardman before him utter completely foreign syllables. Though he didn't understand the words, he could grasp the meaning she intended to convey.
'Putu?'
'Could it be some kind of Lizardman faith?'
Confusion rose in Chen Yu's mind, but he didn't press the matter, simply asking, "What is your name?"
"Sergash."
"A Scaleclaw Shaman."
Sergash could tell that the emissary before her didn't seem to understand the Sub-human language well, so she made sure to emphasize her title.
"My name means 'water of the swamp.'"
Huh?
'So that means I picked up a Lizardman Shaman.'
"Where are you from?"
"Huh?"
Sergash was taken aback.
'Does the emissary not know about the world outside the swamp?'
"The bank of the river outside the swamp... We live there... It's very far from here."
'There's a river outside the Swamp Forest?'
"And beyond the river?"
"That's human territory. They say there's an Adventurer Town on the other side. I've never been; it's just something I've heard..."
Sergash's voice grew fainter as she spoke, ashamed of her ignorance.
'Humans and an Adventurer Town, too?'
'That means there might be a human-established Kingdom across the river.'
'No wonder I've been here so long since birth and have never seen a human. The Sub-human Tribes on the riverbank must be blocking the Adventurers' path.'
"Those Lizardmen and those... dog-like things. Why were they chasing you?"
The corners of Sergash's mouth twitched upward imperceptibly at Chen Yu's description, a flicker of amusement. She caught the minute expression, however, and quickly suppressed it. Realizing her disrespect, she hurriedly explained.
"Emissary, I was just pleased you called the Jackal Wolfmen 'dogs.' I meant no offense."
Without Chen Yu having to ask, she proceeded to explain the whole story from beginning to end.
Chen Yu learned a lot.
Lizardmen believe in three souls, thinking that each Lizardman has three souls within them: the Spirit of Scale and Claw, representing strength; the Spirit of Flesh and Blood, representing life; and the Spirit of the Swamp, representing nature.
Yesala, "the Coiler," who commands life and Black Scale, is an unattainable ancestral spirit in the eyes of the Lizardmen. Having ascended to godhood in ancient times, she was once their most widespread faith. But as her miracles faded and the rituals for the spirit of life failed, the Lizardmen have gradually begun to forget her.
Putu, the Spirit of the Mire, is a symbol of nature and an ancient Guardian of the swamp. His image is said to be a formless mass of swamp mud, very similar to a Slime, which is why Lizardmen often consider Slimes to be his descendants.
Sergash was one of the last remaining Nature Believers in her Lizardman tribe, which was why she revered Slimes so much.
"Our tribe has lived by the Reed River for generations, united against the cold, deadly winter years."
"If it weren't for the corrupting faith of Morgul..."
Chen Yu learned that in Zeyarira, winter wasn't so simple. Sometimes, it would last for an entire year.
For the Lizardman tribe on the riverbank, nothing was more important than staying fed and warm during the winter years, and for their companions to survive.
The previous winter year had only just ended. Having starved for an entire year, the Lizardman and Jackal Wolf Tribes had no food reserves left, forcing them to venture deep into the swamp in search of food.
For some reason, the corrupting faith of Morgul became popular among the two tribes during the long winter.
These Sub-humans began obsessively pursuing superficial displays of the Spirit of Scale and Claw's power. They fell for the deceit of the corrupting Morgul's strength, gradually sinking into a dark abyss.
They reveled in a frenzy of power, forgetting the strength of the Spirit of Flesh and Blood and the Spirit of the Swamp, willingly becoming accomplices with the Jackal Wolfmen.
Even the faith in Putu, the Spirit of the Mire, was branded as heresy by most of the Corrupted Lizardmen in the tribe. The Nature Believers, in turn, became the ones who were exiled.
"Zulok the Priest... he's the one pulling the strings, the murderer who killed my father with his own hands."
"I must... I must..."
Halfway through her words, Sergash lowered her head in discouragement.
She realized there was nothing she could do. She was powerless against the corrupting believers who had seized control of the tribe.
"Don't you want to go back?"
"I do."
"But I have no home to return to..."
"It's fine. You can follow me for now."
'A helper with hands and feet finally shows up, and after all this trouble, too. Of course I'm not going to let her just walk away.'
'Are you kidding me? Having hands and feet is a rare skill in the swamp. There's so much she can do.'
'Besides, my body is so short. If I really wanted to leave the Swamp Forest, I probably couldn't get out even if I jumped for three days and three nights.'
'I'd probably get eaten by some predator along the way.'
'Having Sergash scout the outside world for me would be perfect.'
"May I? I won't be a bother to you, will I...?"
"That's less of a concern than those Sub-humans coming back here. That would be a problem."
Sergash breathed a sigh of relief and carefully cradled the Slime, which was wearing a dark carapace on its head, in her arms.
"Rest assured. There are many dangerous monsters on the way. They were only able to get this deep and linger nearby because they were chasing me these past few days."
"Without faith in nature, the swamp is a land of no return for them—a place of death."
'Faith has that kind of power?'
Chen Yu gained a slightly better understanding of how magical this world was.
"By the way, you must be hungry after fleeing from so far away."
"Want to try the local specialty?"
'I'm the master here,' he thought. 'How can I not be a good host to my guest?'
"Specialty?"
"That's right. Something tasty."
"It'll help your wounds heal."
Before Sergash could figure out what "specialty" meant, the Slime in her arms leaped out, SQUELCH SQUELCH, and invaded the Poisonous Sting Bees' territory.
"BZZZZ—!"
Sergash was worried at first, but she saw the Poisonous Sting Bees' stingers CLATTER against the dark carapace, unable to harm Chen Yu in the slightest.
Then, she witnessed a scene that made her brain short-circuit.
A Slime actually shot out Poisonous Stings from its body, sweeping through the Moss Monster farm under the tree. This enraged the Poisonous Sting Bees, who could only buzz around in circles, helpless.
'A Slime... shooting Poisonous Stings...'
She felt like she no longer knew what a Slime was.
'Then again, a normal Slime probably wouldn't show up wearing the carapace of its natural enemy.'
'Oh, right.'
'...As expected of Putu's emissary.'
When Chen Yu returned, he spat out the Moss Monsters hidden in his Gel and looked at Sergash expectantly with his round eyes.
"Go on, eat. Don't be shy."
Sergash snapped out of her daze and subconsciously picked up a Moss Monster.
This Moss Monster looked surprisingly plump and tender to her, seemingly much tastier than the ones from the outskirts of the Swamp Forest.
Having survived on the outskirts of the Swamp Forest for so long, the Lizardmen had naturally eaten everything, and Moss Monsters were no exception.
When she was little, whenever the month of harvest came, her father would follow the hunting party into the swamp. He would hunt and gather a full basket of Moss Monsters to bring back and make into a salad for her. It was her favorite food.
But now, her father was gone...
With a faint sense of sorrow, Sergash bit into the Moss Monster in her hand.