Chapter 447: The Fiery Hero King Biography

With just a few days left until the end of the year, the streets of Slime City already carried a different atmosphere from usual.

The dwarf workshops had closed early, and the dwarves and slime residents crowded into the plaza, chattering endlessly about what material the newly erected festival sculptures were made of.

Among all the residents, dwarves and slimes had the best relationship.

Dwarves felt a mutual kinship with slimes because of their similar stature, while slimes enjoyed interacting with the straightforward dwarves.

They talked about the events of the past year and looked forward to the upcoming holiday.

It hadn't been an easy year.

From the war at the beginning of the year to the construction and exploration in the second half, the empire's massive machine had been running at high speed almost the entire year.

Fortunately, after a year of hard work, the situation in various regions had finally stabilized.

Grain harvests were bountiful, cellars were filled with wheat flour, and although the progress of city and road construction varied across different areas, most projects were advancing according to plan. At the very least, the empire's main highways and Gel Signal Towers had connected the vast majority of settlements under imperial control.

To reward all the laborers, Chen Yu decided to designate the last seven days of the year as "Slumber Days."

During these seven days, except for those in critical positions who would work on rotation, most citizens would not have to work.

The only thing they had to do was rest well and face the new year with a better state of mind.

The Royal Palace was somewhat quieter this year compared to previous ones.

Count Bran was leading his Shadow Legion in expanding the Shadow Mountains, with Arthur and the Sekashi sisters all involved.

Galvin was busy comprehending the Great Dao, while Yano and Nilly were still in the Coral City-States negotiating trade. Almost none of them could enjoy the Slumber Days holiday.

But on this very day, the slime brothers and sisters who had been scattered across the empire working hard for an entire year finally began their journey home.

To welcome the children back, the Slime Mother had been busy in the tree house since early morning.

She had sun-dried flower petals and sweet fruits collected in autumn a few days in advance, and this morning she gathered dew to prepare warm drinks.

The fire in the hearth crackled, and the entire tree house was filled with the faint fragrance of nectar.

Ordinary slimes couldn't eat everything like Chen Yu could. Their staple diet was generally morning sunlight and dew, and occasionally absorbing some trace elements from soil rich in humus was enough.

But as the empire expanded and trade routes extended, more and more novel products were brought back to Slime City.

Over the past few months, the slimes' diet had also diversified considerably.

Many slimes had fallen in love with sweet maple sap, as well as flower honey and fruit wine traded from the Dryad domain.

And the Warm Stones newly mined from the underground mines had now become the most popular staple food among slimes.

As long as a slime held a Warm Stone in its stomach, the steady warmth released would keep it energetic all day long, maintaining its vitality even in caves lacking sunlight.

The Slime Mother busily mixed drinks in the kitchen.

Using a recipe shared by her elf friend, she added dried wild flower petals and honey into boiling water, holding a wooden stick with her gel hand and gently stirring.

Little Flower helped on the side, hopping over to bring out the Warm Stones and carefully arranging them one by one on a tray.

Chen Yu had wanted to help too, but Little Flower insisted he should rest today and shooed him onto the sofa.

He protested a little, but it had no effect.

So he had no choice but to curl up in a corner of the sofa, sinking softly into the cushions. His entire gel body gently rose and fell with the flickering rhythm of the flames in the hearth, and before long, he felt so comfortable that he squinted his eyes and was about to drift off to sleep.

Ding-dong.

The oak door was pushed open, and cold air squeezed in through the gap. Several emerald-green slimes hopped through the door, carrying small gift baskets carefully woven from bark and vines on their heads.

"Mom!"

"We're back!"

They called out affectionately, hopped to the kitchen door, rubbed against the Slime Mother's body, then bounced over to Little Flower and touched her.

Then they hopped around, looked about, and asked, "Where's big brother?"

Chen Yu slowly opened his small eyes, hopped down from the sofa, landed on the floor, gently rubbed against them, and considered it a greeting.

The few returning slimes happily gurgled a few times, their bodies rippling with joy.

Little Flower placed the tray full of Warm Stones on the low table, turned around, and hopped back into the kitchen to continue working.

Sister Slime, taking advantage of everyone's inattention, quietly lay down on top of the tray, spreading her body into a thin, round pancake shape so that every inch of her gel could touch the warm stones, squinting her eyes in comfort.

More slimes kept entering the tree house, and Slime Brother excitedly hopped about, sharing what it had seen in the south.

"It's so lively down south!"

"We followed the caravan to a faraway place and saw lots of mages wearing robes on the city-state streets. By the roadside, there were creatures even taller than Draft Animals..."

The gathered slimes let out exclamations of surprise. A few squeezed in closer, chattering as they asked whether those tall creations were as docile as Draft Animals.

Another slime shared its experience of following a fleet out to sea. It said it had seen waves taller than the City Wall on the ocean, which drew another round of "Wow!" exclamations.

The Slime Mother hopped over to the low table carrying a clay pot filled with drinks and gestured for everyone to sit down and prepare to eat.

Seeing this, Chen Yu hopped over. "Let me help."

With a thought, the clay pot and tray floated steadily into the air. He poured a drink for each slime and distributed the Warm Stones.

Seeing that almost all the brothers and sisters had arrived, everyone found their spots and sat down, beginning to enjoy this year-end dinner.

As they ate, they shared their respective experiences from the past year.

There was news about a new mineral vein discovered in the mines, the latest update on the group of orc refugees taken in at the northern border, and the story of a certain Slime Engineer who accidentally got sprayed in the face with Gray Gravel Crystal powder and couldn't see clearly for several days.

The tree house was filled with the cheerful gurgling sounds of everyone huddled together.

Chen Yu felt this warm, crowded sensation and suddenly remembered the days of old.

Back then, they didn't even have a tree house, let alone the sunlight above ground.

The whole family of slimes used to huddle together in a corner of an underground cave, pressing against each other to ward off the chill of the night.

Their nest had been very crude back then, but when they were all squeezed together, it felt warm, and their hearts were filled with nothing but peace.

It was the same now.

A spacious tree house, a blazing hearth, a table full of food... but compared to all this, what truly brought him peace was still the brothers and sisters huddled together beside him.

He chatted happily with everyone, and the pressure inside him gradually lightened amidst the laughter rising and falling around him, drifting away like the smoke from the hearth fire.

Outside the window, snow fell heavily, but the firewood in the tree house hearth burned brightly. The green gel was reflected by the firelight into a warm, cozy red.

No one knew how long they had been chatting, but eventually, the slimes grew sleepy. They found their spots and gradually fell asleep, their gel bodies rising and falling with even breaths.

Chen Yu also felt drowsiness creeping over him. He slowly closed his eyes and sank into a peaceful sleep.

Only the Slime Mother remained sitting by the window, gazing at the heavy snow falling outside, guarding the tranquility of the night.

The next morning, Chen Yu was awakened by the cawing of a crow on a branch.

He opened his eyes groggily and realized he had somehow been moved to the center of the sofa. A thin piece of cloth was draped over him, though he had no idea who had put it there.

The snow had stopped outside the window. The sky was a clear blue, and sunlight shone on the accumulated snow, illuminating the room brightly through the window.

The tree house was quiet. Most of the slimes that had packed it full last night had already gone out, leaving only a few curled up in balls in the corner, snoring lightly.

Little Flower had taken the Slime Mother early in the morning to the year-end market in Slime City's plaza, saying she wanted to let Mom taste this year's newly brewed maple syrup.

Chen Yu hopped over to the table to eat breakfast and saw a letter Little Flower had left behind, with Oros's name written at the bottom.

He swept his Divine Sense over the letter paper and read its contents.

It turned out that the biography of the Slime Hero King written by Oros had been published and seemed to be selling quite well in Dawn City.

...

Dawn City.

On the stone street in front of the Gray Dove Newspaper Office, the line had already snaked around the corner, stretching all the way to the next alley entrance.

Most of the people in line were young mage apprentices and academy disciples, but there were also many scholars wearing elegant robes.

"Senior, how long have you been waiting?" A mage apprentice in the middle of the line craned his neck to look ahead and tapped the shoulder of the mage in front of him.

"Almost an hour," the young mage said helplessly, shaking the notebook in his hand. "I was just passing by. When I saw so many people lining up, I thought it was a limited-time sale of some magic materials. But when I asked, they said it was some collected edition of the 'Slime Hero King Biography.'"

He shrugged. "I was going to leave, but the old gentleman in front of me said it was personally compiled and written by the great scholar Oros."

"You know Oros, right? The great scholar who often travels the continent. What he writes can't be bad."

Another apprentice couldn't help but interject, "Honestly, a few months ago, if someone had told me slimes could build an empire, I'd have definitely thought they were crazy."

"But after reading a few issues of the previous periodicals, that Hero King actually defeated a Legendary demon in a straight fight. Setting aside the fact that he's a slime, that's really impressive."

"I heard the empire even has an orthodox elven sage. I wonder if that's true."

Bryce Hawthorne walked into this street, holding a roll of parchment under his arm, seemingly about to cut through this crowded area to reach the alchemy workshop on the other side.

He was a familiar face in the academy, known for his unique insights in alchemy and runes. He was quite respected by his juniors, and even the teachers' evaluations of him were quite high.

When he saw the long, winding line in front of the Gray Dove Newspaper Office, he couldn't help but slow down.

What the hell is worth lining up for like this?

He turned his head curiously, glanced a couple of times, muttered in confusion, and then recognized a familiar face in the crowd. He called out from a distance.

The apprentice turned around, saw it was him, and quickly nodded in greeting. "Senior Hawthorne!"

"What are you doing here?" Bryce asked.

"I'm buying the complete collected edition of that super popular 'Slime Hero King Biography.' The Gray Dove Newspaper Office has printed two additional runs overnight and sold out both times. Today is the third batch. Word has it the print run is bigger than the first two combined, but it's hard to say if it'll last through the day."

Hawthorne paused, his gaze involuntarily drifting to the winding line. "Slime... Hero King... What's the connection between those two?"

He felt the title was a bit odd, but on second thought, something that could make so many people line up in front of the Gray Dove Newspaper Office like this couldn't be a commotion without a reason.

He hesitated for a moment, then still walked toward the end of the line.

The waiting process was longer than he had expected.

After waiting nearly two full hours, he finally got the collected edition from the counter, the book still carrying the residual warmth of fresh ink.

The cover design was simple. Only a gilt title was printed on the dark gray hardcover.

He weighed it in his hand and muttered, "Hope it was worth waiting this long."

He found a nearby stone step on the street, sat down, and opened the first page.

At first, he really didn't take it seriously.

The opening section was a preface written by Oros in his capacity as a scholar, roughly explaining the sources and compilation process of the material. Reading it felt more like an investigation report than a biography.

The text wasn't hard to read, but it wasn't anything to marvel at either.

But when he turned past the first few chapters of background exposition and got into the actual heroic story, his page-turning speed unconsciously slowed down.

He seemed to see, in a swamp filled with dangers, an insignificant slime waking up from the mud, using its most primitive gel body to tentatively explore the surrounding world bit by bit, struggling to survive in a hostile and unfamiliar environment.

He saw its first conversation with a young lizardfolk girl by the bonfire. He saw the redemption of a fallen noble.

He saw war, sacrifice, betrayal, and reunion. He saw how cities rose from the mud, how unfamiliar faces gathered together, and eventually coalesced into an entity called an "empire."

Halfway through, Bryce realized this wasn't a dry hymn of praise to a hero, but a story so real it felt almost within reach, happening in the north.

He stood up, carefully tucked the book under his arm, and walked quickly toward the academy. He couldn't wait to share the story he had read with his classmates.

...

Inside the library, Agrel was wandering between the bookshelves.

Months ago, he had compiled a report on the Slime United Empire and submitted it to the Council.

As expected, those old fellows who had nothing better to do had started arguing again.

They had been at it for months.

As the discussion went on, the topic somehow drifted to the demonic calamity, and they went back and forth arguing, seemingly completely forgetting about the slime empire rising in the north.

In the end, he couldn't take it anymore and stopped participating in those boring topics, trying to cleanse his restless mood through knowledge in the library.

But recently, he had noticed something unusual.

Over the past few days, the students who came to the library seemed to be studying with exceptional focus. Even when he, as their mentor, walked past the aisle, few of them even looked up to greet him. No one even noticed his presence.

Agrel walked over to a table near the window and looked at a student who usually loved to pester him with questions. This student was now bowing his head, deeply focused on the book in front of him, not even noticing when Agrel reached the table.

Curious, Agrel silently stood behind the student, slightly leaned in, and let his gaze fall on the book.

The student seemed to sense the shadow cast behind him and suddenly snapped back to reality. Turning his head, he saw Agrel standing behind him, and a look of obvious panic appeared on his face.

"M-Mentor..."

"It's fine. Let me have a look."

Agrel didn't scold him. He simply reached out, picked up the book, and flipped through the cover and contents.

Slime Hero King Biography?

His intuition told him this was important.

Then he looked up and asked, "Is this book still on sale?"

The student shook his head nervously. "The Gray Dove Newspaper Office printed three batches. Every single time, they sold out as soon as they hit the shelves. Now it's impossible to get a copy outside. I heard people have already started buying secondhand copies at a markup."

Agrel slowly nodded, took a scroll from his pocket, and handed it to him.

"Use this to exchange for some gold coins. It should be enough for you to buy a batch. Keep the rest for yourself."

The student was stunned for a moment, looked down at the scroll, and then showed an expression of disbelief.

"Yes, teacher!"