Two slimes faced each other within a circular arena, roughly the size of a sumo ring.
One was Sura, and the other was a slime randomly brought from Slime Island.
The two, glaring at each other within the circle, sprang towards each other at Kousuke’s call of “Start!”
Perhaps because their timing was perfectly matched, the two collided in mid-air, bounced off each other, and were sent flying to different spots.
In reality, almost no sound was heard, but the reason it felt like the collision would make a “puyon” sound instead of a “bachin” was likely due to their bodies, which were indeed that of viscous creatures.
Putting aside the surrounding reactions, the two slimes repeatedly slammed into each other.
At times, they tried to further attack an opponent who had fallen, trying to push them out of the circle drawn on the ground.
As they continued these actions, Sura finally succeeded in pushing her opponent out of the circle.
“That’s enough! The winner is Sura!”
When Kousuke declared this, Sura happily jumped in place, while the slime she had been fighting against drooped as if it were melting ice.
Towa, who had been watching the entire spectacle from outside the circle, turned to Floria, who stood beside her, and asked with a look of confusion.
“….Umm, what was Father actually trying to do?”
Towa had heard rumors that the much-anticipated “Flame Wolf” party had been acting strangely lately. It was only yesterday that she learned the reason from her younger brother, Riku.
As Towa was naturally busy, she couldn’t visit the management layer on the same day and came the next.
Her objective, of course, was to see the slime that Riku and the others had witnessed.
Kousuke wasn’t intending to hide anything, but he also had no intention of showing it to everyone who wished to see it.
Therefore, he had taken only Towa to see Lynn.
And on their way back, Kousuke had suddenly caught a slime other than Sura and, upon returning to the management layer, had shown the slime fight that had just occurred.
Towa, who had only been told to watch, didn’t quite understand the meaning of it all.
Floria blinked at Towa’s bewilderment.
“What? You couldn’t tell by watching?”
“Not a little… I understood absolutely nothing.”
In response to Towa’s answer, Floria, with a disappointed look, crossed her arms and said to Kousuke, who was walking towards them, “That’s a shame, Kousuke. Towa didn’t understand it at all.”
“Oh? Really? ….Hmm, maybe it needs a bit more flair?”
Hearing Floria’s words, Kousuke also crossed his arms and tilted his head.
On top of Kousuke’s head, Sura was perched as if that was her designated spot.
By the way, the other slime had already been retrieved by Silvia, who had been watching their battle.
“Umm… Father, Mother?”
Towa, their son, was left behind as Kousuke and Floria began to ponder something with their arms crossed.
Seeing Towa’s situation, Shurein interjected with a wry smile.
“Aren’t you thinking too hard about it?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Watching that fight just now, wasn’t it interesting?”
“Well, it was interesting but… wait, could it be?”
Finally, Towa understood the meaning of the battle between the two slimes and her eyes widened.
Shurein nodded with a completely serious expression.
“That’s right. Kousuke is proposing that we make this slime battle into entertainment for the public.”
Towa, hearing Shurein’s explanation again, looked at the spot where the two slimes had fought, and then turned her gaze towards each of the slimes.
What Kousuke had shown Towa was Slime Sumo, an idea he had been considering for a while.
However, its content was a bit more extreme than regular sumo; it continued until either one was pushed out of the circle or rendered unable to fight.
Since slimes don’t have legs, it was inevitable that they would be unable to determine if a body slam or a hand met the ground, so this was how it had to be.
Besides, there was no sport called sumo in this world, so there was no need to be fixated on it.
What was more important was how to get the audience excited.
As Towa’s reaction just now showed, it was too dull to be entertainment in its current form.
While it was possible to appeal with cuteness, it was uncertain whether that would be accepted by the current residents.
That was why Kousuke and Floria were seriously troubled.
Towa, who had finally understood Kousuke and Floria’s intentions, then tilted her head with a different question.
“I understand the meaning of the slime fight just now, but why slimes?”
To Towa’s question about why they didn’t use other monsters, which are considered the weakest, to battle for more engaging fights, Kousuke and Floria, who had been pondering with their heads tilted, reacted vigorously.
“What are you talking about, Towa? It’s good because they’re slimes!”
“That’s right. Don’t you understand their cuteness, Towa!?”
“Ah… Yes. Sorry?”
Towa replied with a complicated expression to the two, who were vehemently arguing about something that seemed trivial to her.
Floria then said to Towa with a serious face, “Well, whether one finds slimes cute or not varies from person to person, so let’s put that aside. More importantly, there is a proper reason for deliberately using slimes.”
“Which is?”
Towa couldn’t think of any reason at all.
Resisting the urge to retort that it was simply a matter of their personal preference, Towa asked cautiously.
“Crown has succeeded in breeding slimes, hasn’t he? Considering that, I thought there might be a chance for ordinary people to participate, not just Tamers.”
Towa, inwardly surprised by the surprisingly proper answer, groaned while crossing her arms.
“…I see. That is indeed important in terms of widespread adoption.”
“If people can keep slimes as if they were pets, the base will widen considerably. I thought we could spread it beyond just people who like battles like in arenas.”
If they were just going to watch flashy fights, Tamers could have their monsters fight each other.
However, that would limit the number of participants, and while it might appeal to hardcore fans, it would be difficult to spread among the general populace.
This was the thinking behind using slimes.
It wasn’t that they had just started thinking about this because Sura had come to the management layer recently.
Kousuke added this as if making an excuse, and Towa gave him a slightly reproachful look. However, she said nothing and decided to voice what she had thought of at the moment.
“I understand what you’re trying to say. However, as expected, I think it would be better if you both stopped trying to push things forward all at once.”
“Oh? And what do you mean?”
Floria’s eyes sparkled at Towa’s argument.
“If you truly intend to spread it widely among ordinary people, wouldn’t it be better to let it spread naturally from the bottom up, rather than from the top down?”
“Ah…”
Kousuke and Floria involuntarily exchanged glances at Towa’s almost obvious opinion.
What Kousuke and the others were trying to create was, after all, entertainment in the form of Slime Sumo.
With that in mind, Towa’s statement wasn’t just reasonable; it was the absolute truth.
Such things rarely succeed if forced from the top down.
Instead, it would be better to subtly convey that such a game exists and then let it spread on its own.
With Towa pointing out this overlooked perspective, Kousuke and Floria immediately set out to discuss it with Schmidt.
As for whether Slime Sumo will become popular among the general public, it’s a mystery known only to God at this point lol.
