She Becomes The Hero In Another World 169 She Is The Hero

"Where do you think the infestation came from?" Christian asked.

"That's the real question, isn't it?" Robin nodded. "Closest I can guess is that Roley Poley Raymond fellow was where it started. But, I suspect that he had a supplier from somewhere..."

"A supplier?" Christian asked. "Who in the world would supply something gruesome like that!?"

"The darker side of humanity." Robin replied with a sigh. "But, even though we've cleaned the people up, they'll just get sick all over again if we can't cover all the sources of infestation. If needs be, I may need to employ a slime here full-time."

"It won't do any good if that darker side kidnaps the king slime though." Christian pointed out.

"Which is why it will be entrusted with someone trustworthy." Robin replied. "I don't believe that we can't find a worthy guardian in the city full of blacksmiths."

At that moment, she noticed a crowd of dwarves gathering near the entrance.

"It appears something has happened." Robin said, getting up to go take a look outside.

Once she emerged, she found several dwarves, sitting outside on the ground, back to back. They were tied up in what appeared to be a thick translucent spider thread. Robin immediately recognized it as a larger version of the webs she had encountered in the boar caves. Immediately, she realized this was the work of Bobble. However, the slime was now nowhere to be seen.

"Help! That blasted monster attacked us outta nowhere!"

"Tied us all up like this et did!"

"Thar's no good thing as comes from monsters o' any kind! Et shouldnae be allowed ta act freely like this!" Several of the tied up dwarves were making a racket, asking to be released.

"Should we let them go?" One of the dwarves asked Robin.

"Hold on. I prefer getting the whole story out, first. We've only heard one side, as of yet." Robin shook her head.

"One side? And who would be the other?" The dwarf asked, confused.

"Obviously, the real victim of all this." Robin sighed and entered the shed to look around.

"Bobble? It's okay, you can come out now. Thanks to you, the mean dwarves were captured. You're safe!" She called softly.

Bobble emerged from behind the woodpile, visibly shaking. It hesitated, as if reluctant to leave the spa.r.s.e protection that a pile of wood gave it.

"It's all right, come here." Robin opened her arms, and Bobble leapt into them like a frightened child.

"There, there! Was it that scary?" Robin asked gently. Bobble nodded emphatically.

"Then there's no need to continue treatment for tonight. you can stay with me, all right?" Robin pat the top of Bobble's round body as she emerged from the shed.

"Eek! Take it away! That monster tried to eat me!" One particularly red-nosed, drunken tied up dwarf shrieked.

"Is that what you truly believe?" Robin smiled. But her smile was not warm.

The dwarves on the ground s.h.i.+vered. Despite the hot, steaming climate, they felt a truly frigid wind brush through them. But several were quite stubborn. One of them adamantly piped up.

"Monsters and us have never gotten along! Are ye telling us that one day we'll become friends with the goblins and orcs that our great king fights off fer our kingdom!? I'll never agree to it, over my dead body!"

"Indeed, yours may very well be the only body that actually dies." Robin said, her cold smile beaming wider. "You have a bruise, don't you? A bright blue and purple hue?"

"What is et to ye?" The dwarf spat.

"Nothing to me, but everything to you." Robin nodded amiably. "After all, they're inside you now. There's no escaping it."

"Whwhat are inside o me?" The dwarf gulped.

"Worms. Teeny tiny parasitic worms. The bruises are their colonies. And if left to fester, in the course of a month, they will pick your bones clean from the inside out." Robin's smile widened.

"So you see, if you don't receive treatment from this healer slime, whom you so rudely called a 'monster' the only ones who survive this infestation will be the ones who befriended it. It really would be over your dead body, don't you think?" Robin asked the restrained group with a bright smile.

"Yer-yer kidding me!" The dwarf cried out as his face turned pale.

"I never joke when it comes to life and death." Robin replied. "That would be an insult to those I know who are alive, and those I remember after death. Why else would I be under Her Majesty, Queen Ayva's orders? Do I look like her royal subject?"

"Ye've done this, all o' this! Ye were probably tha ones ta set this plague upon us, an' then ye'd show up like a hero just ta get in Ayva's good books! Et's too coincidental fer someone ta just be walkin'through with tha cure just when things start ta come to a head! I willnae have yer insidious monster pets anywhere near her!" The dwarf called out.

"Robin hasn't done anything. From the time of he-HIS arrival, he has been under mah express supervision, Ruddy." A familiar voice warned.

"Queen Ayva!" A dwarf gasped as everyone fell silent.

"Ye've been brainwashed! Don't forget tha orc attack that killed yer mum and da! Will ye ferget yer hatred simply because a monster is useful?" Ruddy insisted.

"I have nae forgotten mah hatred, Ruddy...of tha orcs, that is. Just because a dog bit me, must I also despise a bird? Yer too biased against a great many things all mashed up under tha word 'monster', that I'm afraid yer forgetting that exceptions do exist. Or did ye also ferget that et was Flaming Apes as saved mah life at tha time?" Ayva shook her head.

"What'll ye do with these fools?" Ayva asked Robin.

"They're all restrained?" Robin mused, then her cold smile melted as a mischievous one took its place . "I think, for their punishment, they'll have to suffer a healing from one of my slimes. What say you?" She asked Ayva.

"Aye, there's no punishment greater than gettin yer nose rubbed up against tha very thing ye swear ta hate." Ayva's eyes also smiled as she agreed.

"So, is it true? Did Raymond really start the spread of all this?" Robin asked, allowing Wiggle to go heal them.
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"No, s-stay away! Murder! MURDER!" Shrieked the dwarf as the healer slime bounced up to it. Wiggle jumped upon the screaming dwarves, engulfing them all within. It wasn't gentle in extracting the parasites either, as it avenged Bobble's fright.

"Hmmph! I didn't even lay a hand on him before he spilled everything he knew!" Ayva sniffed in disappointment. "Ah still gave him a good beating afterwards though. Et's light enough that he willnae be crippled. His real punishment will be ta eat prison meals and work hard until such time as he can repay all that he wrongfully took from mah people. He said he got et with a letter from some fellow called 'T' but that's all he knew about et. Tha fool didn't even properly prepare any worm-killing medicine!"

Robin stiffened. T...could it possibly have been the Trader? Her gaze grew somewhat solemn as she filed this information away to ponder later.

"But, still, if there's more out there like Ruddy, then it may become more and more difficult to heal those in need of it. Wouldn't that affect you as the queen?"

"Pshaww! People like Ruddy are few and far between. But, indeed, there might be a bit of trouble coming after this. An not from tha common folk, neither." Ayva grinned, madly.

"Ayva, I'm afraid I may cause you some trouble from now on, but please do forgive me for it." Robin sighed, as she began to unwrap the handle of her sword. Ayva immediately understood what Robin was going to do.

"Pshh! Sure! 'Tis nae problem at all! In fact, et should be quite tha honor, instead, isn't that right?" Ayva chuckled.

Robin finished unwrapping the hilt and placed her mask upon her face.

"You got one thing very wrong, Ruddy." Robin said, addressing the newly-healed dwarf, as she displayed her sword for all to see. "I'm not 'like a hero' at all. I AM the hero."