WE VISITED THE GREAT SLIME
Falfa and Shalsha were helping Sandra study in front of me as I drank my afternoon tea in the dining room.
“Okay, did I get this right?”
“Wooow! Very good! You got sixty percent right!”
“Okay, then I got a lot wrong. You said ‘wow,’ so I thought I got more than that.”
I guess a positive-reinforcement style of teaching could sometimes give the learner premature joy…
“That’s not true. These are simplified questions from university entrance exams. That means you can take pride in solving over half of them.”
“R-really? Well…I did photosynthesize a lot of nutrients to work hard and study into the night, after all. That’s why!”
Sandra was getting smarter and smarter right under my nose.
Actually, she was solving really difficult problems.
When she came to the house, she scarcely had a grasp on how to write.
It was fun watching my daughters grow. I mean, it was also my daughters helping her grow, so… Oh well.
If someone’s own kid became a professor, then it would be normal for the kid to be smarter than the parent. Falfa and Shalsha were at a high enough level to teach at a university.
“Sandra, I’m impressed you want to study into the night, but don’t stay up too late, okay? It’s bad for you.”
There was no need for her to cram all night like a student preparing for a test. That was my educational policy. It’s not like cramming gave me a happy adult life last time, after all.
“That’s the standard for an animal, though, right? So long as I photosynthesize during the day, I can stay up to study.”
“Oh, okay… If you say so…”
I still wasn’t completely familiar with the plants’ point of view. It was about time I got used to my daughters’ sense of values.
“Still, you spirit sisters are really smart. I admire that.” Sandra never really said anything nice outright, but even she was praising them.
Maybe now that she herself had gotten smarter, she could grasp how amazing Falfa and Shalsha were.
“There weren’t many things to play with in the forest where Falfa and Shalsha used to live. But if we went to the nearby town and said we were going to study, then many shops would lend us books.”
“Many people let things slide because we were children. Shalsha is truly thankful. Our gratitude knows no bounds.”
Oh yeah, they did say the orphanage had given them clothes and other life essentials. Their lives had been in the good care of many people.
Now that they mention it… I’ve never gone and said hello to any of those people…
“Hey, I want to go and thank all the institutions that helped you two, so could you tell me where they are?”
It felt a little on the late side for that, but I still thought I should bring over some edible slimes or something.
“Mommy, the orphanage director passed away already.”
“He was already old when we first met him. We attended his funeral, and every year that we lived in the forest, we visited his grave.”
I forgot we were so long-lived. And still, Falfa and Shalsha were doing all the things they should be doing. They really were good kids.
“But it might be a good idea to see all the people who took care of us, right, Shalsha?” Falfa’s expression was more serious than usual—she was talking as an older sister.
“See, there’s someone in the forest who watched over you, right? The Great Slime, was it? Maybe it’s about time we go say hello.”
Sandra was confused, and I could almost see her thoughts on her face, as if she was thinking, Great Slime? What’s that?
It was a pretty unique concept, so I understood how she felt.
“So the Great Slime is…”
Actually, how was I supposed to explain this?
“…The Great Slime is a great big slime.”
“Azusa, you’re talking down to me just because I look like a kid, aren’t you?”
Sandra glared at me. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’ll think of a good explanation, so just hang tight for a little longer.
“The Great Slime is made up of a collection of what you could call the slimes’ thoughts. You could call it, like…the head slime, maybe.”
I had met the Great Slime once before.
But that was back before Rosalie was family, so now there were more of us here who’d never seen the Great Slime.
“I see slimes go through a strange evolution, too. I doubted they were even animals, but they’re nothing to laugh at, either.”
Now that she brought it up, what kind of category of creature would slimes fall under anyway? They were vaguely like monsters, but that was a broad category.
“Okay, then let’s have the whole family go say hi to the Great Slime. It’ll be like a homecoming for Falfa and Shalsha.”
The Great Slime was probably going to be around semipermanently, but we should still drop by every once in a while.
“Okay. Thank you, Mommy!” Falfa responded with great enthusiasm, so we all took off on a day Halkara didn’t have to work.
We all hopped on Laika and Flatorte and headed to Falfa and Shalsha’s hometown. It was three hours one way on a dragon.
The two dragons had a bit of trouble finding a place to land, but we managed. We could move pretty quickly anyway.
“This area has poisonous gas… We must be careful…”
“Yeah, you especially, Halkara…”
Poisonous gas spouted from the ground in the Forest of Belgria, where the Great Slime lived. It was dangerous, but not deadly enough to put either Laika or me in danger. And for slime spirits Falfa and Shalsha, it wasn’t a problem at all.
Also, I didn’t see any withered plants in the area, so Sandra was probably going to be okay.
That was why, for all practical purposes, the only one who had to be careful was Halkara.
“This is a dark forest. The tall trees are taking all the light. They’re so greedy!”
Sandra was indignant for the most unique reasons, but it certainly was eerie—it felt like night was approaching here in the forest even during the daytime.
Finally, we spotted something deeper in the forest sitting quietly, something that looked like a massive jewel at a glance.
“That’s one huge sapphire! What a treasure!”
Flatorte was overjoyed and ran off.
Even blue dragons, who had sloppy lifestyles and probably not enough money to last them one night, still got excited over treasure like any other dragon would.
Except it wasn’t treasure.
“Oh, Flatorte, wait, wait!”
Before I could stop her, Flatorte—
Bwump!
—gently ran into the treasure and bounced off it.
“What? This is way too soft to be a jewel. It’s so squishy…”
Flatorte was poking the not-jewel with her finger.
“That’s the Great Slime, Flatorte.”
“What? This? Do slimes get this big, Mistress?”
It wasn’t surprising that Flatorte was surprised, but… Wait a second, I explained this all before we left. Wasn’t she listening?
“It’s a great big slime, which is why it’s called the Great Slime. It looks like a regular slime, but it’s closer to a spirit, like Falfa and Shalsha.”
“Huh, this world is full of surprises.”
Rosalie seemed frustrated (“Big Sis already talked about this…”), so Flatorte really wasn’t listening.
“You can take off your shoes and climb up it if you want. It’ll talk to you if you do.”
“Oh, I wasn’t wearing shoes when we left.”
Well, you should! You’re way too wild!
Flatorte first climbed up to the top of the Great Slime. “Weird—it’s so jiggly. I bet it’d be fun to jump on, though!”
That was exactly how Falfa and Shalsha used to play, apparently.
Falfa and Shalsha were born here precisely because this was a place that brought about the birth of the Great Slime.
This forest apparently made it very easy for slime thoughts or souls or what have you to gather.
“You are Flatorte. Greetings, I am the Great Slime.”
A human form appeared from the Great Slime’s main body. This was the form it took on when it communicated.
“Gah! Something popped out!” Flatorte was shocked. But I’m pretty sure I told her about that, too…
“Welcome to the Great Slime— Well, it might be a little funny for me to welcome you to myself. But I suppose once I’ve gotten this large, I am a bit like a place of my own. I see there are others here I’ve never met before.”
“It’s a lot like me,” said Rosalie. “But with an actual body.”
I see. I guess it was like our resident ghost, too.
“I am Sandra, the mandragora. You sure do well for a slime.”
Sandra was mysteriously condescending, but I guess that wasn’t too weird, since she was another unique being.
“It’s been a while!”
“We are home for a visit. Nothing has changed about the forest.” Falfa was jumping on the Great Slime like it was a trampoline, and for some reason, Shalsha was sitting with her legs folded underneath her. They had very different ways of interacting with the Great Slime.
“The forest itself has not changed, but the areas outside have gone through surprisingly big transformations. Oh yes, there are so many more people now. It’s worth scoring them.”
The Great Slime had a habit (?) of giving anyone who visited it a number grade.
I was curious about these big changes, but the Great Slime seemed to put more value in giving its scores.
“First, Falfa and Shalsha—ninety-nine points.”
Falfa and Shalsha were delighted to have such a high score.
Even though Shalsha sat still, her legs folded neatly underneath her, Mom could tell she was happy.
“Both of you have grown to be such upstanding girls. You don’t get a full score because I look forward to seeing how you will develop even further in the future.”
The Great Slime was also kind of like a guardian to Falfa and Shalsha, so that score made me happy. And if I was this happy, then the girls must be overjoyed about it.
“Next, let’s go with Laika.”
“O-oh, yes!”
For some reason, Laika stood up straight at attention, like a student being called by a teacher.
“You are also at ninety-nine, Laika. Very well done.”
“Thank you!” Laika bowed politely. I wasn’t sure of the rubric, but it was a good score.
“Now, Azusa.”
I felt like I stood up a little straighter when the Great Slime said my name.
“In addition to your ninety-seven-point total, you have twenty bonus points.”
“What are the rules here?!” What do you need to do to get bonus points?
“You have made valuable contributions in many areas, Azusa. Thus, the extra twenty points.”
“So by default, I lose to Falfa, Shalsha, and Laika by two points. You might want to check your math.”
“Oh, the ninety-seven was fairly arbitrary.”
“Please do a real screening! Stop giving people whatever numbers you like!”
I wasn’t just going to be happy with any high score.
“I suppose I’m next…” A bead of sweat dripped down Halkara’s cheek. She got a low score last time…
But the Great Slime also seemed somewhat uncomfortable and looked away.
Another low score?
“Halkara gets…a score I cannot disclose!”
No way! It isn’t going to tell us?!
“What?! That’s so bizarre! I don’t mind a low score; please just tell me!” Halkara rushed right up to the slime. I understood how she felt.
The Great Slime (or rather, its human form) slid backward without moving its legs. Its figure could appear anywhere on the body of the slime itself…
“My apologies, but I will not disclose this score… I cannot tell you, Halkara!”
“That doesn’t make any sense! Then what were everyone else’s scores?”
The Great Slime glanced over to Rosalie. “Rosalie is at eighty-two. She is working toward improving herself every day as a ghost.”
“Hey, I got a good score, too!”
Yep, that’s a number to be proud of.
The Great Slime then went on to look at Flatorte and Sandra. Its eyes were clearly swimming with worry.
“I cannot disclose Flatorte’s and Sandra’s scores!”
Don’t tell me it just decided not to say failing grades…?
“This is unacceptable! Say it! Don’t underestimate me just because I’m a plant!” Sandra joined Halkara and drew up close to the Great Slime.
“No! Not this, I can’t…!”
“Why are you hesitating?! We have scores, don’t we? Please tell me, too! Wait, is there corruption in the grading system?! Are you subtracting ten points from those whose grades were bad in the past~?”
“No, there’s no corruption here! I cannot disclose them!”
“Then at least tell us why you can’t tell us!”
“I cannot do that, either! I’m sorry!”
The Great Slime was under a lot of pressure. This was getting weird…
Well, there was an 89 percent chance that it was refusing to say any failing scores.
On the other hand, Flatorte yawned lazily. “I don’t care what score it came up with.”
I had a feeling that was the right attitude to take, in a way.
In the end, the Great Slime never announced their scores.
Halkara and Sandra still resented it for that, but the Great Slime stubbornly refused to tell them anything.
The Great Slime casually made its way over to Falfa and Shalsha. For how special it was, it sure acted human…
Oh right, there was something I was curious about—I should ask before I forget.
“Hey, you said there were some big changes nearby. What happened?”
“Oh yes, something unusual happened since the last time you were here.”
When I brought up the subject, the Great Slime looked a little relieved to be talking about any topic besides the scores.
I wonder what had happened? Everything looked exactly the same, at least on the outside.
“What could it be~? Is the poison gas gone now?”
“Of all the possible changes, the poison gas is the only thing I can think of.”
Like the twins they were, Falfa and Shalsha arrived at the same conclusion. Even having lived here for so long, the two of them didn’t seem to know, either. Apparently, there was a strong association between the Forest of Belgria and poison gas.
“No, that’s not it. Also, you should know that at the current gas density, Halkara has about another hour to live.”
“Oh, that’s a relief— Wait, isn’t it dangerous for me to be here, then?!” Halkara went pale. She was the only one who wasn’t physically OP in one way or another.
“I’m certain you all are most uneasy. But I assure you, you have plenty of time. Please relax.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I am still a little scared. I’m the type to get lost in a conversation and forget the time.”
Halkara sure was aware of the mistakes she tended to make. She’d matured, too. Even though she probably failed the Great Slime’s arbitrary test…
“I always tell myself, One more drink! and yet I always end up drinking five more for some reason. That’s happened hundreds of times now, and I can’t seem to cure myself.”
Maybe the Great Slime didn’t disclose her score because of that.
“Miss Halkara, if you start feeling ill, I will take you to a place with fresh air, all right?” Laika was being careful, too. As long as they had this arrangement, I’m sure things would work out before it got too bad.
“Thank you, I appreciate it… Also, even without the poisonous gas, this forest still gives me the shivers… I’m afraid this might be rude to Falfa and Shalsha, but as an elf, I can sense something strange about this place. I didn’t feel like this last time…”
Halkara was cautious today. I guess she’d been through a lot of terrible things in the past.
“Ha-ha-ha! You’re a coward, Halkara!” Flatorte, the member of the family who rarely ever thought ahead, burst out laughing.
“This is nothing!” said Sandra. “Elves are so miserable. It’s just dark; there’s nothing wrong with it. Actually, I’d say it’s better the population is so sparse here, if that’s because of the poisonous gas. If only we could spread this poisonous gas throughout the world.”
Sandra, are you suggesting we destroy humanity…?
“No, it truly feels strange here! I don’t think you can describe this through dragon or plant standards…”
I think it would be best to trust Halkara here. Elves were specialists of the forests.
“I feel a chill on my spine, like something’s going to pop out at me!”
“Big Sis Halkara, you see ghosts every day—I’m a ghost! You’re getting too frightened! A good majority of evil spirits can’t even do any evil, and they don’t cause any harm to humans anyway!”
“…I am the most normal of this family. Common sense doesn’t work with the rest of you!”
I’m with Halkara on this.
“But there aren’t any spooky spirits here, so that won’t be a problem. I’d bet my head on it.”
I wondered if Rosalie could actually remove her head. I’m pretty sure she couldn’t. And if she could, I hoped she wouldn’t…
In that case, maybe the change the Great Slime was talking about was an increase of a new type of plant in the forest, or something else like that.
“The big change I was talking about is—”
The Great Slime calmly began talking again.
“—a girl who would count as Falfa and Shalsha’s younger sister was born.”
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!!!!!
That wasn’t just unexpected; it was at least five miles above my expectations—it was that big of a shock.
Everyone reacted differently. Laika and Halkara mirrored my own internal reaction, screaming, ““Whaaaaaaat?!””
Meanwhile, Falfa and Shalsha kept blinking, as though they were trying to process the information in their minds. It was like the impact was so great that they froze.
“To be more precise, another slime spirit was born,” the Great Slime quickly explained, as though it was surprised by our shock. “Since Falfa and Shalsha were born as slime spirits first, I called her their ‘little sister’ for convenience’s sake. Of course, they are not related by blood; you could say she’s your junior cohort.”
The Great Slime calmly unpacked the meaning of little sister for us, but Falfa, Shalsha, and I were still reeling from the impact of the word.
We couldn’t pretend this was a stranger, at least.
“Sis… What do we do…? There’s a younger slime spirit…”
“What should we do…? At times like this, we should count prime numbers to calm down…”
I’d honestly never seen the two so bewildered.
Not to mention I had no idea how I should treat this new “sister,” myself.
Whether she was their little sister or “junior cohort” or whatever, if she was a slime spirit—
—she was my daughter.
The souls of the slimes I’d killed had come together to give birth to Falfa and Shalsha. By that logic, that meant another girl born from the collection of slime souls like them would make her my daughter.
Plus, I’ve been taking care of the first two as my daughters, so it would be cruel to treat the third as a stranger. Maybe I’d feel differently if there’d been hundreds of slime spirits, but…this was only the third.
I had to accept her!
“Oh, you don’t have to think of her as your daughter. She was born from the souls of slimes killed all across the world, so her connection to you is quite thin. At least, I don’t think she considers you her mother.”
Slimes were being killed all over the world?
That was a bit of a relief, but it was also a little sad.
Anyway, we should first start with getting information about this girl.
“So, Great Slime, what’s her name?”
Considering this was Falfa and Shalsha’s younger sister, she was probably called something like Nyalnya.
“This spirit’s name is Margrave Wynona of Idell.”
“Well, that sure is a fancy-pants name!”
If I walked up to her and told her I was her mother, she would probably think I was a stranger trying to suck up to her… But wait, could you get a title like margrave so soon after being born? Was she adopted by the previous one?
“Also, she only calls herself the margrave of Idell—she has no actual noble title.”
That’s what she calls herself…? Can you really just call yourself something like that? Maybe it doesn’t happen often enough to be worth making it an enforceable rule.
“Idell is the name of a small region where Falfa and Shalsha used to live, in fact. She is likely trying to say she is the lord of that land.”
“She sure is self-assertive…”
Halkara was going pale. Wait, is this because of the poison gas? Should I get Laika to take her up into the air?
We should wrap this up, then… We’d just get the information we needed.
“So where does this Wynona girl live?” Falfa was digging for information on her little sister, too.
“She has remodeled the hut where you and Shalsha used to stay. That’s where she is.”
At least she was making good use of past items.
“Mom, now that we’ve heard about this, we must go. We should go to the hut,” Shalsha said, staring straight into my eyes.
“No parent would say no to that,” I replied with a smile.
I was a part of this, too—it wasn’t just Falfa and Shalsha.
“But…let’s go somewhere with clean air for a bit for Halkara first. After that, though.”
Halkara’s lips were turning purple.
She really couldn’t handle the air here…
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login