Rufus Rudendion recalled the past with a wistful expression.
It had been twenty years ago, back when he had not even been engaged.
In those days, tales of the heroes spread with far greater enthusiasm than they did now. Rufus Rudendion, too, admired the legends those heroes had created. Indeed, one of his treasures was a biography said to portray them in vivid detail.
Of all the heroes, Rufus Rudendion admired Nellin, the Starlight Archer. Most people admired the human warrior Aldor Meyer, the Impenetrable Shield, or the mage Ventus Frail, but Rufus preferred the Starlight Archer.
The way she covered her companions from afar and delivered the decisive blow was simply captivating. Above all, wasn't she from the Green Elf Forest, the forest closest to the domain he would one day rule?
At the same time, his feelings for the elven hero, renowned for her beauty, resembled an innocent crush.
Then came news that could not have delighted Rufus Rudendion more: Nellin would be visiting the county to strengthen its friendship with the Green Elf Forest.
The night before her visit, Rufus was so excited that he could barely sleep.
And the following day, Rufus Rudendion met Nellin for the first time.
["It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Nellin. My name is Rufus Rudendion. Meeting you, the famed Starlight Archer, is truly—truly an honor!"]
["Oh? You're a fan of mine? Well, nice to meet you."]
["Ah..."]
To Rufus Rudendion, Nellin's smile was like sunlight, setting his heart ablaze. It was the smile of the hero he admired. Combined with the distinctive beauty of an elf, its impact was overwhelming for the young Count Rudendion.
That was the moment Rufus Rudendion's innocent crush became his first love.
But unfortunately...
GULP, GULP, GULP!
["Aah! Now that's how booze should taste! Good, good! All right, next I'll tell you about the time I nailed a cyclops—that big-eyed bastard—right in the eyeball with an arrow!"]
["Yes... It would be an honor..."]
On the very day he fell in love for the first time, Rufus Rudendion's first love shattered.
Even a biography was bound to be embellished depending on who wrote it. But the account of “Nellin's personality” in the biography Rufus had read had been embellished far too much.
According to the biography, Nellin not only cared deeply for her companions...
["That bastard Aldor sneaked some of my jerky, you know? I'd been making it last! So I put an arrow in his ass! Huh? The wound? It's fine! Fine! One healing spell from Fresia and it's all better!"]
...but possessed the dignity and elegance befitting an elf...
["Smack, smack! Ah! The only proper way to eat meat is to gnaw every last scrap off the bone! Hey, give me another one!"]
...and an innocence that matched her beautiful appearance.
["Rufus, was it? Got a fiancée? If you've got any steamy stories with her, or anything worth bragging about, let me hear them. The folks in our forest, you know? They're innocent and nice, sure, but they're no fun. No fun at all. Oh, did you know? Everyone puts Fresia on a pedestal as a saintess, but that girl's secretly pretty horny..."]
Rufus Rudendion wanted to grab the biographer by the collar and shake them.
This wasn't the Lady Nellin he had imagined!
Of course, because her personality was so different from what the biography described, his vision of a kind, elegant Nellin had been shattered to pieces. Even so, his admiration for Nellin, the Starlight Archer, had not vanished.
Her accomplishments were undeniable facts. Above all, setting her personality aside and looking only at her deeds, she was unquestionably a hero worthy of respect: a hero who trusted her companions, refused to yield to any hardship, and willingly risked herself for the weak.
His respect for her remained in his heart.
As the years passed, he became engaged, married, and had a fine son and a daughter who was nothing short of an angel. His son had grown into a responsible young man and was now studying at the academy in the capital, while his daughter's angelic smile always filled the mansion with laughter.
But his angelic daughter had taken after him all too much. Just as he once had, she had come to adore Lady Nellin, the Starlight Archer!
What if his daughter met Lady Nellin as he had? Her illusions would surely shatter. Seeing the true face of the person she admired would break her tender heart and leave her in tears.
'I absolutely cannot allow that!'
He had managed to overcome it only because he had met her at an age when he had already been through his share of hardships. He believed his daughter, who was not yet an adult, would find it much harder to recover.
“There's no helping it. I'll have to let her keep the slime for now.”
“Yes, I agree.”
Count Rudendion accepted Nina's advice. He could find some way to deal with a mere slime. But coming up with a suitable way to stop Jessi from wanting to meet Nellin was much harder.
Admiration could not be stopped. He knew that from experience. That was all the more reason to turn her attention elsewhere.
Besides, while searching for a way to meet Nellin, Jessi might discover that the county traded regularly with the Green Elf Forest.
If that happened...
Why have you kept it a secret all this time! I could have met Lady Nellin over and over again! I hate you, Father!
“Urgh...!”
“My lord?! Why are you suddenly clutching your chest? A-are you in pain?”
“No, I'm all right. I imagined Jessi hating me, and it made my heart hurt.”
“Ah... I see.”
His decision made, Count Rudendion returned to Jessi's room.
“Jessi, about that slime... Hm?”
The sight that greeted him as soon as he entered left him bewildered.
“Wow! It landed perfectly!”
“This slime really understands what we say.”
“Finn? What on earth are you doing?”
“Ah, my lord.”
The slime was perched on Finn's head, and Jessi was clapping her hands in admiration at the sight.
“Father! Look! This slime is so obedient and clever! I told it to get on Finn's head, and it did!”
“Yes, it really is a clever slime.”
'A slime that understands speech?'
Surprised to find the slime far more intelligent than he had expected, Count Rudendion decided to tell Jessi his decision first.
“Jessi, I'll keep an eye on that slime for the time being. But if it seems dangerous, I'll have it sent away immediately. Do you understand?”
At what was effectively permission, a bright smile blossomed on Jessi's face.
“Yes, Father! I love you!”
'Jessi really is my angel!'
Once again, Count Rudendion was becoming an ever more shamelessly doting father.
“Come here!”
As Jessi held out her hands and spoke to the slime, it immediately jumped from Finn's head into her hands.
BOING!
Jessi hugged the slime that had landed on her hands and said,
“Let's get along from now on, Alexandros II!”
“Alex...”
“...andros...”
“...the Second?”
The unexpected name bewildered not only Count Rudendion, but Finn and Jessi as well.
“My lady, what exactly do you mean by Alexandros II?”
“It's this little one's name!”
“Why did you choose that name?”
“This little one's squishy and cute and incredibly clever! So I named it after a hero! Did you know? Alexandros was a hero who defeated countless monsters hundreds of years ago!”
“I-I see. But where did ‘the Second’ come from?”
“It's the Second because it's small! Just calling it Alexandros would be strange, wouldn't it? So I added ‘the Second’ to make it cute!”
“Ah, because it's small...”
Bewildered though they were, no one objected to the name Jessi had given the slime. As its owner, she could name it whatever she wished.
The chat, on the other hand, had a variety of reactions.
[Noblesse Fire]▶Alex lmao andros lmaooo
▶That's one hell of a cool name lol. Good for you, Squishy lol. No, wait; Alexandros II lmaooo
[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶That name isn't cute! I still prefer Squishy!
▶Why name a monster after a guy who beat the shit out of monsters?
▶It's cool. Have a drink.
[Squishy Queen]▶Hmm, for a human, her taste in names is not bad.
[Noblesse Fire]▶Squishy, you like names like that? It doesn't suit weak-ass Squishy at all.
[Squishy Queen]▶Silence! My kin will grow stronger in time!
Meanwhile, the slime still did not quite understand the name it had been given.
▷What's Alexandros?
[Free Spirit]▶Your name.
▷? I'm Squishy!
[Noblesse Fire]▶Yeah, that's your username. But she's calling you Alexandros II lmaooo
▷???
It did not know why it was being called Alexandros II. All it understood was that the human holding it called it that.
+++
Three days after the slime arrived at the noble's mansion.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm~.”
“My lady... Must you keep it on your head?”
“Why? It feels nice and squishy up there. And it keeps my head cool, too!”
“Does it?”
An unusual sight had become commonplace at Count Rudendion's mansion. After seeing the slime on Finn's head, Jessi had told it to climb onto hers as well. The moment it did, the squishy feeling and perfect coolness on top of her head won her over.
Ever since, she had put the slime on her head and wandered around the mansion whenever she had the chance.
It wobbled a little with each step Jessi took, but never fell off her head. The techniques for controlling its strength that it had practiced while adjusting to its evolution were proving useful.
“It's so well behaved, this sli—”
“Alexandros II!”
“Alexandros II is. My lady, couldn't you at least use a shorter name? It looks squishy, so how about Squishy?”
“No! That's not cool!”
The slime did not mind being on Jessi's head. It enjoyed seeing the world from higher up, and above all, it liked living in this mansion.
Its favorite thing, without a doubt, was the food.
Monster or not, the slime was now Jessi's beloved pet, so giving it leftovers was out of the question. At every mealtime, it received dishes the head chef had prepared with care: lavishly seasoned, fine steaks, stews, noodle dishes, and even fish.
A life of experiencing a new kind of “delicious” three times a day was nothing short of paradise for the slime. The food looked so good that even the viewers watching its stream were jealous.
▶Why does only that one get to eat that? Why does only that one get to eat that? Why does only that one get to eat that?
▶Since when did this become a regularly scheduled eating stream? I'm hungry as fuck.
▶I can't take it! I'm going hunting!
[Slam First Ask Later]▶R-raw meat... Raw meat dripping with blood is the best! The beeeest!
▶Do those hooman bastards seriously eat something different every meal?
A mean-spirited streamer would have taunted and provoked the viewers with every meal, but the innocent slime merely shared its impressions.
▷Delicious!
Living such a happy life, the slime could hardly have any complaints.
But if it had just one...
'I want to see...'
It was that it had not gone outside even once in those three days.
