“Hrm!” the slime on his head jumped up and down, strangely it didn’t feel like much other than a soft squishy blob hitting him. Without much being said, he noticed that he and the slime were slowly getting closer to each other. He didn’t trust it entirely, but he was sure the slime didn't have any ill-intention to harm him at all.

Seeing how the slime was jumping on his head, he looked around and he was able to see something reassuring in the distance. He was able to see a road in the distance and looking where one of the directions led to, he was able to see a somewhat big wall and gate in the distance.

This wall didn’t appear to be from a border to another region, but instead, it looked like the walls of a city. Mainly due to the fact that he was able to spot some house roofs peaking above ever so slightly. Though if there was an extra observation, it definitely had to be that the wall was damaged. There were marks, crushed stone, and other signs of battle on the wall and the surrounding area. The city did not look like it was doing well.

Trying his best to make out what the people on the outside were doing, he could see people repairing and cleaning the wall as if a battle happened recently. While he could make out people repairing the wall, he could also see what he presumes were guards hanging around the gate, at least from the weapons in their arms.

Even though he wasn’t close to the wall, he heard a loud shout coming from the guards next to the entrance. Even though he could hardly make out what they were doing, as they were a bit blurry due to the range, the shout appeared to be towards him.

Besides the stereotypical format of two guards hanging around the gate, there were three guards who were next to them, heading in his direction. Among the three, the one in the front shouted, “Stand still! You are not under arrest but we must ask questions!”

“Quick! Get in my arms, I don’t know if these people see slimes in a good or bad light, just pretend to be my pet for a moment,” Yuu hurriedly spoke towards the slime. It made a slight dissatisfied noise but jumped in his arms.

“Huh, a slime. Usually, they’re brainless or hostile, but it seems like you found yourself a lucky one.” The guard in front spoke to him while the other two split up, covering Yuu’s side, most likely waiting to see if he would run.

“May I ask what’s happening?”

“Please do not be alarmed, we have recently encountered a lot of trouble with both monsters and bandits. We are under orders to obtain any information, or question anyone suspicious.”

Almost wanted to just exhale a large breath, he asked another question, “Do I seem suspicious?”

“Don’t talk to the captain like that,” looking to his left, a guard, seemingly female due to the armor and voice, slammed her spear on the ground.

“Kebfa, enough. If someone questioned you, wouldn’t you be angry as well?” Facing towards Yuu, the one in the front spoke more politely compared to his comrade, “While patrolling, we noticed that you entered the path randomly. And where you came out of is usually a hot spot for bandits. While usually, it’s deeper in, which makes it hard to associate you with them, it’s still weird that you came out from there.”

“Ah, uh I guess you can say that I’m a new explorer. To be honest, I’m new to the area and I found a cave. I wanted to see if there was someone in it or something interesting to see, but it seems empty so I wandered a bit and found this path.”

The female guard immediately intervened, “Tsk, so another bandit then.”

As soon as she was about to finish another voice popped up. It was the guard on his right side. Compared to the captain who seemed more gentle, this guard had a more serious tone, like he was a grandpa that you never wanted to mess with. His voice which was deep enough to cause anyone to be scared spoke up, “Kebfa, shut up, please. Sir, I may be a bit dumb but doesn’t his story seem incredibly suspicious?”

He whipped out his sword from the sheathe and took a step back while making sure his right side and back were in his reach, closing the circle for him to run.

Yuu couldn’t help but be scared, knowing full well that he would have trouble explaining that he woke up in a random cave and that he came from another world. Luckily the captain raised his hand, easing the deep-voiced guard.

“Let me ask you a question, ‘explorer’. Did you happen to live somewhere completely different and woke up in a whole new world?” Hearing this, he almost flinched entirely and tried to hide any movement, but of course, the captain raised his eyebrow after seeing the slightest movement.

“Hmm, interesting, let me ask you a few more questions…” the captain began asking a multitude of questions, like what the name of a goblin was, another monster that seemed foreign, the currency, and more.

Trying his utmost best to lie through it like a student doing an exam, he gave out his best answers like ‘where I come from, the currency uses coins’. Of course, knowing how doomed he was, he prepared for the worst. Though funny enough, the captain started laughing.

“Bear Bear, you know more about economy and history, I can verify how bull a lot of these are, but what about the currency.”

The deep-voiced guard grunted, “I told you not to call me that, Sir. But yes, no surrounding countries use the type of coins he described, usually, they are physical materials or specific coins that many nations agreed upon. His claims have to be false.”

“Then let me ask you again, did you come from a different world? It is rare but some people do come from different worlds into this one. And don’t lie, we have our ways to see if you’re telling the truth.” The captain inched closer, putting on a smile, yet this smile also contained a hostile intent.

“Y-yes…” Yuu looked towards the ground, unconsciously clutching the soft squishy slime even harder.

“Eh, seriously? Let me see… u-ugh he isn’t lying,” even though the female guard was wearing a helmet that covered her face, he could see a small yellow light shining from the glint of her eyes. She clicked her tongue, “He’s still suspicious though, taming a slime.”

“I kind of want to ask him a lot of questions, I’m sure Liz will love him too.” The deep-voiced guard gave out a small chuckle which sounded a bit weird.

“What’re we going to do with this… Crosser? Ugh what was it again,” the female guard sighed.

“This is why your father tells you to study,” the deep-voiced guard spoke.

“That lesson only happened for a day! History rarely has them involved anyway!” Seeing this Yuu eased slightly, but he was more confused now than ever, “Uhm…”

“Haha, let us situate you first. I guess it’s important to actually explain what the hell is happening since everything is new. But we will still be asking you questions, especially this ‘cave’ that you said you found. Either way, let us get in and settle you down.”

“Hrm!” the slime finally had enough and got out of his arms. Even though it didn’t have any bones, it just wanted to rest and not be squished.

The female guard stared at it before making a hmph sound, “You really are lucky. Slimes are worthless, but a smart slime could be worth a lot of money. How the hell did you even find it?”

“Uh, I found it in a container. It looked like whoever locked it had the intention to sell it considering how fancy the container looked. Or it was stolen… no clue.”

“Make sure to keep it safe boy. They aren’t highly valued, but collectors will want them. And register it after we’re done with you. It’ll be a hassle for us guards and the knights if it keeps wandering without anyone being informed,” the guard with the deep-voice made a quiet yet audible comment.

“Oi, you two! Stop slacking off, open the gates!” The captain yelled, causing one of the guards who was sleeping to immediately panic slightly.

“I guess this isn’t too bad. Hopefully, they don’t have any actual ill intentions… Or else I’m screwed. But better than surviving in the woods.” While he was thinking to himself, the gate slowly opened, revealing the simple yet wondrous city.