Chapter 114 - Gathering (2)

After booking rooms, Nellin and her companions took the slime inside. They gathered in the four-person room intended for Godric’s Party, which had plenty of space even with eight people in it.

Rather than first explaining everything that had happened to the slime, Nellin flopped facedown onto a bed.

“Hey, give me some of that kneading—or massage, whatever you call it. I’ve always been curious.”

“L-Lady Nellin...”

“Big Sis Nellin...”

“Oh, what? You’ve all had one, haven’t you? What’s the harm in me getting one?”

'Massage! Kneading!'

The slime bounced straight off Def’s head and landed on Nellin’s back.

It popped out its tentacles, placed them on Nellin’s shoulders, and immediately began massaging her, vibrating vigorously.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oooh~ Aaaah~ That feels good~.”

Nellin gave rave reviews to both the back massage and the shoulder massage delivered by its tentacles.

“Wow, Bouncy really did grow tentacles!”

“It’s a slime. Of course it can grow a few tentacles.”

“It really has grown while we were apart.”

“Heh. Anyway, Big Sis Nellin sounds like an old village geezer having a drink after work.”

“Hawein, you and I will have a little talk later.”

“Haha... Hawein never changes.”

Paulen, who had grown accustomed to Godric’s Party’s usual banter, smiled at the scene.

“Well, I had better get ready too.”

He began taking off his shirt.

“P-Paladin!? Why are you suddenly undressing!?”

“To receive a massage from Quivery too, of course, Miss Gracie.”

“O-oh, I see.”

He said it with such confidence that Gracie could offer no objection.

“...”

Amelia moved behind Paulen, who was standing near the bed.

“Saintess?”

“It’s been so long, and I’d like a massage from Quivery too...”

“I want one too!”

“Let’s see how much better it’s gotten.”

As Sgol and then Godric began lining up, Gracie quietly joined them.

“... Quivery’s massages are good for concentration too!”

+++

“Whew! I feel so refreshed. No wonder everyone kept going on about these massages.”

Once the slime’s massage was over, Nellin praised its skill, looking thoroughly refreshed.

“Ah! You’ve improved again, Quivery! Your massages are even better than before!”

Of course, Nellin wasn’t the only one praising it. Paulen, whose muscles were renowned, was also impressed by how much more thoroughly it had loosened them than before. The other companions all looked considerably more relaxed after their massages too.

“It’s gotten so much better...”

“Hehe, Bouncy’s even more skilled now.”

“Is this thing really a slime?”

“Now I think I’ll be able to concentrate better on my magic~.”

Meanwhile, the viewers watching the scene were interested in something other than the slime’s massages: all the people gathered here.

▶Wow, everyone’s here except the hooman who lived in that big nest.

▶How were we supposed to know the muscle hooman, orange hooman, and all-decked-out hooman would come together? lol

▶Never thought this knife-ear would show up too.

The viewers could understand Godric’s Party searching for the slime. But they had never imagined that the person called Marin was the first elf the slime had met. After all, Smartass was the only one who had realized Marin was Nellin!

For the other viewers, this reunion was nothing short of a surprise broadcast.

▶So who’s going to be in the sparring segments now?

▶Aw~ Watching it fight that weakling was fun.

▶Won’t they just take turns?

▶Now that the orange hooman’s here, are we getting healing content again?

With the group growing larger, the monsters exchanged guesses about what sort of content would unfold next. As the chat grew lively, Nellin got up from the bed and looked at the slime.

“All right, let’s try a little test.”

'A test?'

“Big Sis Nellin, what are you testing?”

“How smart Bouncy is, obviously.”

“Don’t we already know Bouncy’s smart?”

“Until now, all you knew was that it could understand speech. You didn’t even know it could write until I told you. So let’s test it here. Honestly, I’ve only heard about it myself, so I’m not entirely sure either.”

“Ah... Yes, we should check that.”

'Maybe this will let me grow even closer to Quivery.'

“W-we absolutely have to check.”

'If we can prove this too, it’ll be an incredible discovery!'

Both Amelia and Gracie strongly supported Nellin’s proposed test.

“Hehe, I came prepared for this very moment~.”

Nellin took paper and a pen from her bundle and began writing names on the paper.

Alexandros II.

Bouncy.

Quivery.

They were all names the slime had been called. Nellin set the sheet down in front of it.

“Hey, Bouncy. Point to these in the order you were called them. You can write, so you know this much, right?”

'Names!'

▶What does it say?

▶What’s this about the order it was called them?

[Squishy Queen]▶Smartass!!! Get out here!! Tell us what it says this instant!

[Free Spirit]▶It says Alexandros II, Bouncy, and Quivery. The names Squishy’s been called so far, yep.

▶Aw, boring. That’s all it was?

▶lol It was a reading test?

The slime popped out its tentacles again and tapped the names on the paper. Naturally, it indicated them in the order it had been called them: Alexandros II, Bouncy, and Quivery.

“It really can read.”

“Hmm, Lady Nellin. I think that was too easy.”

“Too easy? What would you do, then?”

“Let’s try this. May I borrow those?”

After taking the paper and pen, Paulen wrote down the names of everyone in the room, one after another.

“Quivery, if you really can read...”

Paulen placed the completed list in front of the slime.

“Read the names starting here, and point your tentacles at whoever each name belongs to. It’s a name-matching game.”

'A name-matching game!'

The slime bounced with delight at the new game and immediately read the paper.

'Amelia! Def! Gracie! Sgol! Godric! Nellin! Hawein! Paulen!'

The slime pointed at the people in the order their names appeared on the paper.

“Exactly right.”

“Boss! Bouncy can read our names properly!”

“... Should we have asked it what it wanted from the menu when we ordered food?”

“Quivery isn’t just kind—it’s a truly clever slime!”

“The century... This really is the discovery of the century!”

“No wonder Ventus was interested. Oh, right. Hey, you. What do you like being called best, anyway?”

'Being called?'

Not understanding what Nellin meant, the slime tilted its body.

“Look here. Here.”

Nellin pointed at the three names written on the paper—the names the slime had been called so far.

“Which do you like best? Alexandros II? Bouncy? Quivery? Honestly, it’s a hassle if everyone calls you something different. Pick the name you like best.”

Nellin was proposing that they all use the same name.

“You mean we should settle on one name for Quivery?”

“Right. It’s best if we call it what it wants to be called, isn’t it?”

“That makes sense.”

“B-Bouncy! What would you like your name to be?”

The slime looked at the paper and thought. What name did it most want to be called?

Alexandros II, the name Jessi had given it? Bouncy, the name Def had given it? Or Quivery, the name Amelia had given it?

What did it want the humans it had befriended to call it?

As it pondered that question, the slime suddenly remembered the very first name it had chosen after being born into this world. The name used by those who, though they weren’t human, were always watching over it.

'Squishy!'

If it was going to settle on a name for its friends to call it, the slime thought that name would make it happiest.

And so it stretched out a tentacle and grasped the pen Nellin was holding.

“Hm?”

Puzzled by its sudden grab for the pen, Nellin nevertheless let go without protest. The slime then used the pen to write on the paper—the name it wanted to be called.

'This one!'

TAP TAP!

After finishing the name, the slime tapped the paper with the pen as if to emphasize it.

“What’s this? Squishy?”

'Squishy!'

It bounced.

“You want us to call you this? Bouncy... No, Squishy?”

'Yes!'

It bounced again.

“I never imagined it would choose its own name.”

“Heh, Squishy... It suits you. Though I prefer Alexandros II...”

“Well, it is squishy, so that fits too.”

Sgol poked the slime—no, Squishy—with a finger.

“All right! Let’s call it Squishy from now on! Everyone okay with that?”

“Yes. If Quivery—Squishy likes it, I’m happy with it too.”

“I-I’m fine with it too!”

▶Oh, are the hoomans finally going to use the right name too?

▶Having a bunch of names was fun, though.

▶But sticking to Squishy is easier~.

[Squishy Queen]▶Hmph! At last, my kin will be called by the proper name!

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Squishy is cute no matter what name it uses~.

[Noblesse Fire]▶Enough with picking a name. Aren’t these people going to do anything else?

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Sparring! Come on, spar, Squishy! Show that muscle hooman how strong you’ve become!

+++

After Nellin’s group took the slime into their room, Claire quietly passed the time downstairs at the inn, ordering a drink. While she was there, an adventurer put a hand on her shoulder.

“What a shame. Having to part with Bouncy now.”

“Hm?”

“The people who came to get Bouncy back have arrived, haven’t they? This village will feel... lonely too.”

Thinking Claire would complete her commission and part with the slime, the adventurer tried to comfort her.

“It’s all right. Every farewell brings a new meeting. Even if you part now, someday you’ll meet again—”

“We’re not parting.”

“Hm?”

“I’m not parting with Bouncy.”

“W-what? But doesn’t that finish the commission to find the slime?”

“Yes, it does. But if Marin leaves this village, I’ll go with her. Marin said she’d teach me how to get stronger if I found Bouncy. So I need her lessons.”

“O-oh~ Is that so?”

“Yes.”

The adventurer felt deeply awkward.

“Ahem! Then it’s just this village that’ll be lonely~.”

Not thick-skinned enough to linger, he promptly left the inn.

'Thank goodness I didn’t speak to her first.'

'I nearly embarrassed myself for nothing.'

'She’s going with them?'

Thanks to one adventurer’s sacrifice, the inn’s other guests who had intended to offer Claire words of comfort were spared needless embarrassment.

A little later, Nellin and her companions came downstairs with the slime. Seeing Claire waiting on the first floor, Nellin spoke.

“Oh, come to think of it, you haven’t properly thanked her yet.”

“Ah!”

“You’re right. I was so happy to see Boun... Squishy again that I forgot.”

“W-we need to thank her properly!”

“Heh, we can’t forget a kindness.”

“How could I make such a mistake!”

“Let’s go, Saintess.”

The group approached Claire and each offered their thanks. Claire simply said, “Yes,” and nodded over and over.

“S-she’s a quiet person.”

“She looks cute, but she’s m-much less talkative than I expected.”

Her utterly unvarying responses left Amelia and Gracie bewildered.

Meanwhile, having finished thanking Claire, Paulen looked up at the slime perched on Def’s head.

“Squishy! How about some exercise? It’s been a while!”

'Exercise!'

The slime quivered vigorously.

“Hehehe, that tickles, Squishy!”