A pleasure to meet you, my name is Ryouma Takebayashi.” [Ryouma]
“Excuse me, I showed you something unsightly. Are you the client? Moreover, the client who wants me as a slave magic user…?” [Caulkins]
“For the meantime, let us inside, old man.” [Jeff]
At Jeff-san’s words, Caulkins scratched his head as realization hit him. Entering the house, the atmosphere became gloomy. The house had one room, with one magic stone for light, and one cloth at a corner which is probably used as an alternative to a proper futon.
Without even a chair, we had to talk while sitting on the ground.
“And? What kind of work do you want me to do? It’s sad, but unfortunately, I can’t really call myself exceptional as a slave magic user. And since I can’t tame strong magical beasts, I didn’t have a choice but leave that line of work and become a researcher instead. In other words, I’m just a guy obsessed with his research. I really don’t know if I can meet your expectations, since it seems you want me as a slave magic user. I think I could do something if it’s research though.” [Caulkins]
“Research? What kind of research?’ [Ryouma]
When I said that, he replied like this in a self-depreciating manner.
“It’s the theme of the last research I was given at the place I worked at a long time ago… it has to do with slimes.” [Caulkins]
Slime!?
“Really!?” [Ryouma]
“Yeah, but without any results, I ended up getting fired. Although more than 10 years had already passed, I still have some lingering affection for it and am still………………… Why are your eyes sparkling?” [Caulkins]
While Caulkins was feeling worthless, he couldn’t help but ask that, when he saw my expression.
“You know, when people hear that I’m researching slimes, I normally get thought of as an idiot, you know? Even in the lab, you get treated as someone who isn’t doing anything. In fact, it’s the kind of job the higher-ups give you, when they want to get rid of you. It was like that for me. So why is it that your eyes are sparkling?” [Caulkins]
“Because I’m also a researcher. And I research slimes.” [Ryouma]
“What!?” [Caulkins]
After that, we were speechless for a moment as we stared into each other’s eyes………… then eventually, we grasped each other’s hands, and exchanged a hard handshake.
“Comrade!” [Caulkins]
“Senpai!” [Ryouma]
“What just happened in those few seconds!?” [Jeff]
“Eh, just now, something, like this…” [Ryouma]
“An outsider wouldn’t understand. It’s the kind of happiness that researchers feel when they meet another researcher who is researching the same topic that they are.” [Caulkins]
“True, I definitely don’t get it.” [Jeff]
At this point, we suddenly heard a knock.
“There’s another customer? Today’s pretty noisy, huh?” [Caulkins]
Caulkins stood up, and went to the door to open it. When he did so, there were two people, a man and a woman, standing there.
“Caulkins-san? We heard that if we went here we would be able to get a job. Is it true?” [Woman]
“I didn’t think a job as a slave magic user would actually come, so I quickly came!” [Man]
“Robelia, Tony, so you were also informed? That’s right, a client who’s looking for slave magic users came. Moreover, he’s a comrade of ours!” [Caulkins]
“Comrade?” [Robelia]
“You mean to say…” [Tony]
“For the meantime, come in!” [Caulkins]
As Caulkins-san said that, he pulled the two inside, then closed the door.
After that, I greeted the two, and introduced myself to them.
First, the man amongst the two is currently 23 years old. Apparently, he is an exceptional slave magic user, but because of jealousy, his boss and his colleagues took advantage of his honest nature, and pushed the scandal and failure of an experiment to him. With him taking responsibility, he ended up demoted. He was then ordered to research slimes, and after not being able to bring results, he was fired.