Chapter 121 - To the Mage Tower (4)

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Why!!!

Fenrir roared at Smartass’s flat refusal.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Do you hate me teaching Squishy too, like Squishy Queen does?! Are you pissed because I’m stealing your disciple?!

[Squishy Queen]▶This is not disciple-stealing, you fool!!! Do not get so full of yourself merely because my kin called you Master!!!

[Free Spirit]▶How am I supposed to transport anyone when I don’t even know where you live?

[Slam First Ask Later]▶...

Confronted with that obvious fact, the roaring Fenrir immediately fell silent.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Do you really need to know that?

[Free Spirit]▶Are you even listening to yourself?

▶Un~be~lievable.

▶Lmao, of course he can’t go if he doesn’t know the location.

▶Smartass was just stating facts~.

[Free Spirit]▶And unless Squishy’s in danger, I’m not planning to use Warp. Even if I knew where you were, I wouldn’t take Squishy there with Warp.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Why!

[Free Spirit]▶Why would I kill off the travel content myself?

▶Lmao, fair enough.

▶Ah~ Can’t pass up travel content~.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Enjoying the journey is better than simply jumping from place to place with no excitement.

Most viewers accepted Smartass’s explanation. Squishy, however, had been considering his Warp and showed its disappointment.

▷Can’t Warp?

[Free Spirit]▶Sorry, Squishy. Still, getting to where the wolf lives on your own will be better for making you stronger than using Warp.

▷Oh, okay!

Squishy was disappointed to hear that Warp wasn’t an option, but perked up at the thought that making its own way there would help it grow stronger.

▷Want to go! Where Slam First Ask Later is!

▶Oh, new content incoming?

▶Raiding that wolf bastard’s house lmao.

▶But we don’t know where he is. Can Squishy even get there?

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Ghh! Squishy! You want my teaching that badly! ... I’ll open a private room later and tell you, so don’t worry!

▷Okay!

▶A private room, oh my.

▶The wolf bastard and Squishy’s secret little chat.

[Squishy Queen]▶Disgusting! Do not describe it that way!

'Ghh! If I could, I would donate the coins my kin needs to use Warp.'

Squishy Queen wanted Squishy to acquire the skill called Warp as soon as possible. If Squishy obtained it...

'It would greatly shorten the wait until we meet. But...'

Learning Warp required a staggering 150,000 coins. Even Squishy Queen didn’t have that many. There had been a time when she possessed over 100,000 coins, but her desire to acquire various skills as a Slime Queen had led her to spend them.

'Had I known this would happen, I would at least have asked for coins during my streams... '

Squishy Queen’s streams consisted of having slimes perform tricks to pass the time. As such, she never demanded that viewers send coins if they wanted to see more. Her only donations were the occasional ten to a hundred coins sent by viewers who enjoyed the tricks.

Moreover, she had no trouble surviving without leaving her nest to actively hunt, giving her even fewer opportunities to earn coins.

'I must begin saving coins now.'

Squishy Queen knew perfectly well that asking for coins on her stream wouldn’t get her any. And so she decided to leave her nest and hunt for the first time in a while.

+++

A goal had taken shape from Squishy’s declaration that it wanted to grow stronger. Traveling to Fenrir’s home was now on its list of things it absolutely had to do. But Smartass pointed out that something else needed to come first.

[Free Spirit]▶But whether you go see the wolf or not, first we need to deal with that Brooks guy who tried to hurt you, Squishy. Yep.

'Brooks! Bad! I’ll punish him!'

Smartass’s words reignited Squishy’s anger toward Brooks Besilza. And Squishy never slacked off in its efforts to achieve that goal, even while traveling.

Whenever they stopped the carriage for a meal, and whenever they reached a village along the way to the Mage Tower...

'Muscles! Muscles!'

Squishy trained its tentacle muscles with dumbbells without missing a single day.

BOING!

THUUUUD!

“Good! Excellent power, Squishy!”

While Nellin put Claire or Godric’s Party through their paces, Squishy sparred with Paulen, gaining experience fighting a powerful opponent.

“Try going faster! At this rate, you won’t land a single hit on me, huh?”

Sometimes, at Nellin’s suggestion that they switch pupils, Paulen would take charge of Claire or Godric’s Party while Nellin faced Squishy.

“Keep it up, Squishy!”

“Your reactions are faster than yesterday! You’re improving every day!”

“Squishy really is strong.”

“Huff, huff! Keep going, Squishy.”

“Ugh, I’m exhausted. We only just finished sparring. Don’t overdo it, Squishy!”

“Whew, whew. Excessive training only... ruins the body.”

“Ah! Hawein! Y-you can’t pass out here!”

The others watched the hardworking Squishy fondly and cheered it on. To them, Squishy was a precious companion. It was also an extremely useful companion: cute and soft, and always ready to massage away their travel fatigue when they were tired.

Without Squishy, arriving in a village after a long journey would have meant comments like:

“Hey, I’m tired. Hurry up and find an inn.”

“A bed... A cozy bed is waiting for me... ”

They would have searched for an inn in a travel-weary daze. But with Squishy massaging them every day...

“Oh, I’m hungry. Let’s hurry up and get something to eat.”

“Boss! That place! The food there was good last time!”

“Hehe, Saintess! Let’s take a walk with Squishy!”

“Yes, I’d love to, Def.”

“O seeker of the magical arts, can you bestow new knowledge upon me...!”

“Hawein, is that what you’re calling me this time? Oh, you mean how to use magical devices? Of course.”

They were now so full of energy that they could set about doing whatever they wanted as soon as they arrived. Thanks to Squishy, travel fatigue never left the party in poor condition on the way to the Mage Tower.

And Nellin’s companions weren’t the only ones enjoying a more comfortable journey. Squishy, too, was having a much more pleasant experience than before, because the party now treated it differently than they had before their separation.

Previously, their approach had been something like, “We can probably communicate with it to some extent.” Now they knew Squishy could even read and write. And so...

“Squishy, what do you want to eat? They say this is the best dish here!”

At meals, they always showed it the menu and made recommendations.

“You’re improving every day, Squishy. Still, sometimes your tentacles move a beat too slowly when you attack after dodging. Let’s keep that in mind during our next spar.”

During sparring, too, they now explained more clearly what it could improve. Thanks to that, Squishy not only enjoyed its meals but received more detailed pointers on growing stronger.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶I can give that much advice too! Ghh! I could teach you better if we met in person! I’m your master!

▶Is this disciple-stealing-stealing?

▶That’s long. How about disciple-stealing 2?

▶Is there a 3 too?

▶Lmaoooo.

Fenrir, however, felt frustrated and envious. Squishy had finally called him Master, yet all he could do was watch it grow.

Time passed, and at last the party arrived at the Mage Tower.

+++

“Welcome to the Mage Tower! Lady Nellin! Saintess! Paladin! And welcome back, Gracie!”

As soon as he heard that Nellin’s party had arrived, a mage of elder-level standing at the tower came out with his students to welcome them.

“But the people behind you are... ”

Naturally, the sight of Godric’s Party, who looked like a gang of bandits or thieves, filled him with considerable doubt.

“They’re some fellows I’ve been teaching.”

“Oh! Future heroes! Welcome!”

The moment he heard that Nellin was teaching them, his attitude changed.

'Tsk. Absolutely shameless.'

Gracie clicked her tongue inwardly at the elder-level mage. His changed attitude toward Godric’s Party was one thing, but she found his warm welcome of her utterly false and brazen. After all, this very mage had been the one who most belittled and looked down on her for being a magical-device mage!

[“Ha! Relying on mere tools! You must have no pride.”]

[“Aren’t you ashamed to call yourself a hero’s descendant? Ah, ashamed before the great mage Ventus Frail, of course.”]

[“The master of the Mage Tower only looks after you because he and Ventus Frail were fellow novices. Know your place.”]

[“Remarkable. Your stubbornness and shamelessness are truly heroic!”]

All the mockery and humiliation Gracie had endured from him flashed through her mind. She directed an icy stare at the elder-level mage.

“... Ahem! Well, let us move to the lodgings we have arranged for you!”

He wasn’t quite thick-skinned enough to remain unaffected by her gaze.

“You must all be tired from your long journey... You must be... Are you tired?”

Normally, after prolonged travel, accumulated fatigue showed in people’s vacant expressions or dry, dull skin. But far from looking dry, the skin of Nellin’s companions was positively supple.

“No? Not tired at all. Show us to our lodgings, though.”

“Y-yes, of course.”

The party was shown to accommodations the Mage Tower provided for distinguished guests, in a building used especially when high-ranking nobles or royalty visited.

“Wow! Boss! Look at this! It’s super soft, just like the beds in the Holy City! Squishy! Try bouncing on it!”

'Soft!'

BOING!

“Heh. So this is a room for the ro~yal class. Splendid.”

“Hawein, don’t touch that decorative vase. You’ll be in trouble if you break it.”

“Saintess, do you always sleep in rooms like this wherever you go?”

“Haha, no, Sgol. I’ve stayed at the same inns as you several times, haven’t I?”

“Of course, if the Saintess wishes, she can always stay at the finest inn in any city.”

“Oh, that’s fucking awesome.”

“Paulen, don’t say unnecessary things.”

“Ahh~ Life’s gotten so easy. When I first visited the Mage Tower, I just waited for that fellow Ventus in some mediocre inn. Now that I’m a hero, the tower even gives me a place like this.”

After taking a brief look around the room, Nellin turned to Gracie.

“So what do we do now?”

“We should just wait for now. I think they’ll soon send word that they’re arranging a banquet, without us having to ask.”

“Really? Then let’s just relax and wait... ”

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

“Hm?”

Someone knocked on the door of the room where the party was staying.

“What, they’ve come to tell us already?”

“No. Even so, this is far too soon... ”

“I’ll answer it.”

When Paulen opened the door, the visitors said:

“Excuse us. We heard our granddaughter is here... ”