I became the slime toy of the evil dragon girl?

Chapter 81 The Big Bird Goes Round and Round!

At the edge of the dragon's territory, carriages and horses bustle about.

Ian spotted a bright pink color from a distance.

Mirabelle.

She jumped down from the pack animal, the candy ornaments on her skirt clinking as she landed. She wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Mr. Charles! The goods have arrived!"

Charles walked over from the side, his leather shoes clicking on the volcanic rock.

He was still impeccably dressed, his black suit impeccably tailored, his face as pale as if he had just crawled out of a coffin.

Well, he did indeed rise from the coffin, and his expression showed a hint of displeasure, as if he was a bit grumpy upon waking up.

"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Mirabelle." Charles nodded slightly and began to take stock of the supplies.

Ian hopped over and lay down beside him to watch.

The pack animals lay down one by one, and the cargo boxes were unloaded and lined up on the ground.

"Food," Charles said, pulling out a list and checking it as he read. "Wheat flour, dried meat, pickles. And...honey? Do we need that?"

Mirabelle looked at the unsold honey in her shop, which was about to expire, and thought about bringing it to the Monster Forest before it went bad.

But she said, "This is top-quality honey, consider it a gift from me! How about that? Pretty sincere, right?"

Charles nodded in satisfaction.

Ian listened from the side. This was enough to feed five hundred people for three months, plus a little bit of the nearly depleted stock. The newly arrived rabbit people would not have to worry about food and drink for the time being.

As for goblins? They don't deserve to eat these chaff.

Those energetic greenskins should go out into the forest and catch some wild animals; consider it a training exercise.

Charles continued the inventory. "Farm tools...and some small tools, five boxes."

Ian looked at the gleaming ironware and began to make plans in his mind.

Farm tools were given to the rabbit-people so they could cultivate more medicinal herb fields. Some heavy lifting equipment, like axes, were given to the minotaur-people.

As for shovels, give some to the goblins. If any foolish goblin dares to cause trouble, they can just dig a hole and bury themselves.

"Steelmaking equipment." Mirabell patted the largest boxes. "One furnace main body, two bellows, one set of molds, two hundred bricks. All the parts are included. This stuff is really difficult to obtain!"

"Do I have to pay extra?"

As Ian asked, his tentacles reached inside and touched him. [Analysis] activated.

Made of cast iron, the workmanship is rough, and there are air bubbles in the casting of several parts.

It's good enough to have some. As long as we can forge steel, Dragon Territory can make things on its own.

Mirabelle opened the last small box, which contained several shimmering metal ingots and a bag of transparent crystals.

"No need for extra money, just remember how hard I worked~ And these magical materials, magic copper ingots, magic conduction crystals..."

Ian rolled up a magic copper ingot; it was heavy and had fine magical patterns on its surface.

"All done." Charles put away the list, nodded to Mila Bell, and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Mirabell waved her hand, plopped down on a rock next to her, and took out a small water bottle from her bosom, gulping down a few mouthfuls.

"I'm exhausted." She wiped her mouth.

Ian lay down next to her, looking at the pile of supplies.

Grain, farm tools, steelmaking equipment, and magical materials.

All done.

But what's next?

There's a real shortage of people in steelmaking and manufacturing...

Goblins? Those green-skinned bastards are fine for moving things, but asking them to forge steel will most likely result in them turning themselves or their teammates into steel.

Minotaur? Its head is probably all muscle.

Rabbit-man? Farming? Blacksmithing? Those tiny, wiry arms of his, can he even swing a hammer?

Ian sighed.

Mirabelle glanced at him sideways: "What are you thinking about? You look so bitter and resentful."

"It's a manpower issue. We have the stove, but nobody knows how to use it."

"Speaking of manpower, there's something I need to tell you."

Ian looked at Mirabelle without much hope; judging from her expression, there was no good news to be had.

"I failed to accomplish the craftsman's task."

Mirabelle shrugged, looking somewhat helpless: "You said you wanted to hire a few blacksmiths, so I looked. I went to several towns. But as soon as they heard we were coming to the Monster Forest, not one dared to come."

"Even adding money won't work?"

"That's not going to work," Mirabell continued. "I've already increased it to three times the normal amount."

Ian shook his head, wondering what these people were afraid of!

I am but a mere slime, not some evil spirit.

Not to mention Dragon Territory, it's full of grass-eating creatures, cows, rabbits, and even those who starve—those elemental beings whose whereabouts are unknown.

Vivian doesn't eat people, right? Probably not? Maybe?

"So none of them worked out?"

Mirabelle nodded, then quickly shook her head as if she had thought of something.

"There is one exception."

Ian looked up.

Mirabelle said, "In Ash City, there's a run-down blacksmith shop with a broken hammer sign hanging outside. There's a dwarf in the shop named Bronzebeard."

"That old guy has a mountain of gambling debts. Five hundred gold coins, and his creditors are at his door every day. He said he'd go anywhere to help pay off his debts."

Ian was starting to get interested. This was a dwarf, after all!

Five hundred gold coins is quite a price; even a limb regeneration potion only costs 300 gold coins.

And he's a gambling addict... which makes him a bit hard to control.

"What else did he say?"

"He also said, 'Help me pay off my gambling debts, and I'll do anything, from blacksmithing in the monster's territory to stripping naked.'" Mirabelle mimicked the dwarf's gruff voice and noisy tone in a strange manner.

Upon hearing Ian mention dwarves doing striptease, images immediately popped into his mind.

Hmm... This feels really unique. Why don't I just spend 500 gold coins to bring it back and give it a try?

Ian snapped out of his reverie, quickly banishing the filthy thoughts from his mind, and instead asked, "How's his technique?"

Mirabelle thought for a moment: "Hmm... it should be alright, right? I think his breakdancing skills were pretty good when sparks flew off his head from hammering."

"???"

Ian was stunned.

Isn't this seemingly reliable Ms. Mirabell's focus a bit off?

May I ask you something? Can I ask about striptease techniques?

And this breakdancing...

Ian couldn't help but complain, "That's like his hair is about to burn! Not breakdancing! And... I was asking about this dwarf's blacksmithing skills."

"Haha, why didn't you say so sooner! Dwarfs' cooking is definitely top-notch!"

Ian nodded and memorized the name.

Bronzebeard. Ash Citadel. 500 gold coins.

Mirabelle looked at him, who seemed lost in thought, and asked, "What are you thinking about now?"

"Bring that dwarf with you next time. If he's skilled enough and can even handcraft some of the new equipment Dragon Territory needs, I can add another 500 gold coins." Ian thought of some modern industrial equipment.

"Perhaps, I can bring him to you soon, but the money..." Mirabelle rubbed her index finger and thumb together, hinting to Ian.

Ian patted his jelly-like breasts.

"Don't worry, I'll give you the money now. Oh, by the way..."

"If he comes here and is willing to work part-time as a stripper after get off work, I might open a bar for him, called... Big Bird Spinning Around!" Ian said with a hint of wicked humor.