RMGCFW — Chapter 123 - Super Beast Diary (Bonus)
"Didn't expect a place like this to exist."
Banxia glanced sideways.
With Racine leading the way, the two descended into an underground passage.
The path had been carved out by magic holding the water back on both sides. At first glance, it looked almost exactly like an aquarium from his past life — maybe even more vivid than the real thing.
He reached out and touched the thin barrier. His fingertips met cool, flowing azure.
The deep-blue corridor stretched inward like an abyss. The further it went, the thinner the light, the heavier the dark.
"Barrier magic..." Frieren studied it for a moment and identified what was holding everything in place.
"Lord Banxia, Lady Frieren — I won't be going down." Racine stood deferentially to one side.
"Mm." Neither of them objected.
No one knew what was waiting at the bottom. If real trouble found them down there, they couldn't afford to be watching out for someone else.
"Magic that creates light." Frieren had already drawn her staff and was casting.
A white orb of magical light took shape ahead of them, hovering in silence like a small moon, lighting the path at their feet.
Banxia followed, gaze wandering as he walked.
The underwater path was longer than he'd expected. Stone steps descended one by one, barrier walls flanking both sides to hold the lake at bay. Schools of fish drifted past outside, then scattered the moment the light hit them.
"..."
They walked in darkness for a long time.
The steps finally bottomed out, and the space ahead opened wide.
It was an enormous underwater cavern wrapped in a barrier. The dome overhead rose so high the ceiling was barely visible. The lake water surrounding them on all sides was like towering walls of glazed glass, faintly glowing with deep blue light.
At the very center of the cavern sat a room that looked like a library.
Magical tools set around the space cast their own light, and Frieren let her spell dissolve.
No danger. They pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"So many grimoires." Frieren lit up and trotted to the nearest bookshelf, plucking one down and flipping through it with obvious pleasure.
Banxia ignored the shelves. He walked to the table at the center of the room and looked at the book resting on top of it.
To those who come after. May your journey be longer than mine.
"..."
He flipped through it briefly, then closed it. Nothing worth dwelling on.
Most of the contents were the First Hero's observations after arriving in this world — his impressions of this place, memories of the modern world he'd left behind. The rest amounted to a request: treat the beastfolk well. In exchange, every spell he'd collected in this room was theirs to take.
"Hmm?"
Banxia had been about to browse the spells when his eyes caught something off about the tabletop.
He reached out and knocked on it.
THUNK, THUNK.
"Hidden compartment." He pressed one hand down and lifted the top layer off without effort.
Sure enough.
The first thing he saw underneath was another book. Unlike the pristine copy on the surface, this one had clearly lived through some years, paper yellowed, edges worn.
"Super Beast Diary?" Banxia murmured, mildly puzzled.
He turned a page. The confusion evaporated.
...Another day. Those bastard nobles still look down on bottom-rung transmigrators like us.
Imperial Calendar Year 180. No talent to speak of, so we were banished to the logistics division of "Paradise." This is no paradise. It's a hell where slaves and beasts tear each other apart so the highborns can watch and be entertained.
...
Imperial Calendar Year 184. I've grown used to the days of rearing beasts. Over these years, the companions who crossed over with me have either been eaten alive or offended some lord and been thrown into "Paradise." That's probably how my story ends too.
Imperial Calendar Year 185. An injured mutant fox arrived at Paradise. I heard several elite soldiers died capturing it. I nursed it back to health. Now it follows me everywhere...
Maybe it's been too long since I've had contact with a human woman. I discovered something alarming. Sometimes, I actually think this fox is beautiful.
...The next morning, I couldn't hold back.
The fox was truly something.
After that, I found I could understand the voices of beasts. Might have something to do with the night before.
With that ability, I quickly became the finest breeder in Paradise. The beasts and I got along just fine.
Day after day. Eventually I confirmed the terrifying pattern: every time I lay with a beast, I grow stronger.
For the sake of revenge...
"Banxia, what are you reading?" Frieren had finished her grimoire and glanced back at him.
"...Nothing." He shook his head and tucked the diary into his spatial art.
His gaze moved to several small bottles sitting nearby, each with a tiny handwritten label.
Hypersensitivity Potion: Raises any creature's sensitivity in that regard by a thousandfold for a short duration. Even the famously frigid elf race would lose all will to fight after drinking this.
Brewing recipe:...
"Heh." Banxia let out a quiet laugh and stowed the potion away. "Knew you wouldn't disappoint me, First Hero."
The illustrious, legendary First Hero. Did anyone really think the secret treasures he left behind would be nothing but a pile of useless spellbooks?
"A water-attribute slime?"
While Banxia was still savoring his find, Frieren spotted something new in the room.
He looked over. A large cluster of aqua-blue slimes had crept in through the barrier and were now milling across the floor.
"First time I've seen a water-attribute slime." Frieren set her book down, crouched with evident curiosity, and poked one on the head.
Slimes were magical constructs, they hadn't existed in this world before the First Hero arrived. Green slimes were common enough around human settlements. Red, fire-attribute slimes apparently turned up near volcanoes. But water-attribute slimes? Even Frieren was seeing them for the first time.
The slime paid her no attention whatsoever. It turned and crawled steadily toward Banxia.
"Coming for me?"
Before he finished the thought, the slime had already reached his waist. Half its body worked its way through the gap in his trousers.
"...Oh."
Frieren: "?"
"Why did you just make that sound?"
"N-No reason..." Banxia turned away quickly. He exhaled. "As expected of a treasure the First Hero left behind."
Now he understood. That rumor the carriage driver had mentioned, something about being exceptionally slick, and how it traced back to the First Hero. This was why.
The sensation of being enveloped inside a water-attribute slime was something else entirely. It attacked while generating powerful suction at the same time, relentless and inescapable, exactly like falling into an abyss.
"Do water-attribute slimes have some kind of special function? Enough to actually give you trouble?"
Frieren tilted her head with genuine curiosity, walked over, crouched in front of him, and pressed her pale fingers into the slime.
"..."
Some amount of time passed. The slime, thoroughly satisfied, slowly withdrew. Another one shuffled forward to take its place in line.
"Why did it turn white?" Frieren had been watching and analyzing the entire time. She tilted her head.
"W-Who knows..."
...
➤ Next: The Kingdom's Path to Revitalization