A new environment, delicious food, and kindly hands reaching out to it.

There was nothing bad about the slime's surroundings, yet its curiosity—its desire to see more—remained unchanged. No, being confined to the mansion only made its longing to see other places stronger.

The reason was simple.

“Alexandros II! I'll read to you again tonight!”

The books Jessi read to it every night had a great deal to do with it.

The slime was Jessi's very first pet. And since it felt so wonderfully soft to hug, she even slept with it in her arms in the same bed.

The slime liked the warmth of her body and the feel of her soft pajamas, so it didn't mind her cuddling it in her sleep. And before bed, she always read it a book.

'It's so clever, I'm sure it'll enjoy being read to!'

Monster or not, Jessi had judged it by its behavior so far. She fetched books she had enjoyed as a little girl from the library and read them to the slime.

They were legends, folktales, and biographies Count Rudendion had bought when she was younger, written simply enough for even small children to read. Like picture books, they contained plenty of illustrations to help children understand. For some of them, the count had personally hired a children's author and an artist to create books just for Jessi.

Leaning against the headboard with the slime on her lap, Jessi opened a book and read aloud.

There was the story of a hero who had defended a city single-handedly against hundreds of monsters. The story of a knight who had crossed to the Demon Continent and returned with an arachne's venom, an ingredient in the cure for a princess struck with an illness by an assassin. The story of an adventurer who traveled all across the continent in search of treasure.

And Jessi's favorite: the story of the five heroes who had stood against the calamitous black dragon.

The stories written like fairy tales were short, so they didn't take long to read. Besides, every time Jessi delivered a line in her distinctive acting voice, the slime quivered in response, making reading to it all the more fun.

And Jessi wasn't the only one enjoying story time. The slime enjoyed being read to as well.

Not only the words spoken in Jessi's voice, but also the pictures in the books helped it imagine scenery it had never seen. It found the heroes' stories themselves entertaining, too. After all, they were stories about living creatures it knew nothing about.

Meanwhile, story time had unintentionally become good content for the viewers, too.

▶Why are stories about hoomans so damn fun? lmao

▶They say watching weak-ass losers fight is always fun.

▶I could wipe out a few hundred hoomans too. Does that make me a legend?

▶If you do it, it's a disaster lmao

▶Don't you get the hooman perspective? lol

▶Aw, shame.

▶“Aw, shame,” this guy says lmao

Some viewers simply enjoyed the stories, of course.

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Oh my, so that's why that human came to see me back then.

▶?? What are you talking about?

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶The arachne in this story. That's me.

Others were fascinated to find themselves the basis for a book.

▶For real?

▶Lmao the actual person was here all along?

▶Did it happen like the book says?

▶“The knight's earnest pleas moved even the arachne, who freely gave him her venom.” Is that true?

With the person herself present, comparing the story to the truth was only natural.

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶No. He didn't plead. He demanded that I hand over my venom.

▶So did you give it to him?

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Would you call that giving it to him? He didn't look tasty, either. I didn't want him making a fuss and hurting my babies, so I decided to deal with him using venom.

▶Right.

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶When I spat venom, he dodged very quickly. Then he scooped the venom off the floor into a bottle and ran away at once. I was so bewildered when he suddenly fled with nothing but the venom that I just watched him go.

▶LMAOOOO

▶Wait lmao wasn't he supposed to have pleaded?

▶He just grabbed the venom and booked it? lmao

Getting to hear the truth straight from the person involved made it even better content.

▶No pleading, she wasn't moved, she didn't give it to him. He just bottled up what she spat.

▶What part of it was even right? lmao

▶Lmao he did get the venom, okay?

Only three short days had passed, but with daily eating streams followed by story-time streams, the slime's audience was steadily growing.

A monster overflowing with a need for recognition would have been thrilled to see its audience grow. The slime, however, didn't think enough about streaming itself to care about view counts. What occupied its mind instead was seeing a greater variety of scenery. Its desire to see the many landscapes in Jessi's books for itself only grew.

Then, on the fourth day after the slime arrived at the mansion, Jessi finished breakfast and, hugging it in her arms, asked her maid Nina a question.

“Nina, can't I take Alexandros II outside?”

'Outside!'

The slime reacted immediately when Jessi mentioned going outside. With her reading to it so often, its understanding of language was improving by leaps and bounds.

“No, my lady.”

“Why? Alexandros II is so cute and harmless!”

“It's still a monster. We can't let a monster openly roam around the county. His lordship feels the same way.”

“But Alexandros II wants to go outside.”

“What do you mean? How could a slime...”

“Alexandros II!”

“Ahem. How do you know Alexandros II wants to go outside, my lady?”

“Of course I know! Even in my room, Alexandros II is always looking out the window unless I'm reading! It must want to go outside! And it likes being read to! It's clearly very curious!”

Despite the short time they had spent together, Jessi's unprejudiced outlook had allowed her to understand the slime's disposition accurately. But that didn't mean other people could readily accept it.

Nina acknowledged that the slime was well-behaved and didn't attack people indiscriminately. Still, she found it difficult to believe it was that curious and intelligent. She had even seen it climb onto Finn's head on command, yet she remained doubtful that a monster could truly be like that.

“My lady, a slime couldn't possibly be so curious...”

“It really is! Watch!”

Jessi set the slime on the floor and spoke.

“Alexandros II! Do you want to go outside? Jump three times if you do!”

'Outside! Want to go!'

Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

As though it understood her perfectly, the slime jumped exactly three times.

“See?”

“... You haven't trained it to jump three times whenever you put it on the floor, have you?”

“No! Alexandros II! I don't think Nina believes us! Jump around Nina!”

Bounce! Bounce!

The instant Jessi finished speaking, the slime began hopping in a circle around Nina.

“Huh? Wh-what?”

“How about that? Alexandros II is clever! Stop jumping and come here!”

Bounce!

When Jessi held out her hands, the slime jumped with perfect accuracy and landed on them.

“Can't I really take it outside? My Alexandros II is clever and so obedient! Please? Please? Can't I?”

“N-no, my lady. Without his lordship's permission, no matter how much you...”

“Alexandros II! Time for our secret weapon! A head massage!”

Bounce!

“Eek! Wh-what is this?!”

Jessi raised her hands, and the slime landed precisely on Nina's head before quivering. Its soft touch and steady vibrations massaged her scalp.

“Ah!”

'This feels exquisitely good!'

The faint vibrations traveled down from her head, easing the stiffness in her shoulders.

“A-ah. W-wait. Could you try getting on my shoulder instead of my head?”

'Shoulder?'

Bounce!

When Nina tilted her head slightly to the side, the slime promptly moved from her head to her shoulder and quivered.

“Ah, aaah... Just as I thought. That's exactly what I needed...!”

With the slime's vibrations reaching her shoulder directly, Nina felt as though the knots in her shoulders were melting away all at once.

“Alexandros II! Come here! She hasn't even granted our request yet, so you don't need to do any more!”

Bounce!

The slime returned to Jessi's arms.

“Ah...”

With those wonderfully soothing vibrations gone, Jessi reflexively reached out in disappointment.

Then—

“Heehee.”

Seeing Jessi's broad grin, Nina came to her senses, immediately withdrew her hand, and cleared her throat.

“Ahem! I understand that Alexandros II is very obedient.”

“Then can we go outside?”

'Outside!'

“That isn't something I can decide myself. We still need his lordship's permission. Sigh... I'll go and ask him first.”

“Really? Thank you, Nina! Alexandros II! Let's thank Nina together!”

'Thank you! Nina!'

As though expressing its feelings, the slime bounced softly on Jessi's hands. Without thinking, Nina found the sight cute.

“I-I'm only going to suggest it. We don't know whether his lordship will permit it, so please don't get your hopes up too much.”

+++

“That concludes my report on the slime currently accompanying the young lady.”

“Very good. Thank you, Albert.”

Count Rufus Rudendion was receiving a report on the slime from his butler, Albert: whether it had done anything suspicious over the past few days, or caused any harm to his darling angel, Jessi.

According to the report, however, the slime was following Jessi around very docilely.

The way it quivered with apparent delight whenever it ate had even prompted the head chef to say that cooking for it was rewarding. When Jessi moved about, she deliberately placed it on her head, making his angelic daughter look all the more adorable.

Count Rudendion deeply regretted that he couldn't see those charming moments himself. Apparently, the slime also stayed still when his daughter fetched books from the library herself and read to it before bed.

In any case, he was relieved that it had shown no aggression so far.

There was one thing that puzzled him, though.

'It seems remarkably intelligent.'

It wasn't just the reports. From what Rufus had seen himself, the slime appeared to possess considerable intelligence, like a pet that had lived alongside humans for years.

No, it obeyed Jessi so well that he wondered whether they might actually be communicating perfectly. It was so obedient that even the countess had marveled at how well the monster listened.

That contradicted everything Count Rudendion knew. Ordinarily, a monster with that level of intelligence would have to be quite powerful. But this was a slime, leaving him with no choice but to tilt his head in puzzlement.

While Count Rudendion was thinking about the slime, his darling angel entered his study with Nina, carrying it in her arms.

“Father!”

“I want to go outside with Alexandros II! I want to show it around our territory!”

“Outside, you say?”

“Yes! Nina said it would be all right, too!”

“My lord! I only said it would be all right if you gave your permission!”

“Alexandros II is really clever and well-behaved! So it'll behave outside, too! Please, Father!”

“Hmm.”

There were his daughter's sparkling eyes, as well as Nina's judgment that it would be all right, provided he gave permission. Above all, Count Rudendion wanted to assess the slime's intelligence for himself, so he spoke.

“Very well. In that case, let us go out together on an inspection of the territory.”

“Really? I'm so happy, Father! I love you!”

“Hahahahaha!”

Count Rudendion laughed heartily at his darling angel's declaration of love.

'Going out!'

It quivered all over!

Understanding that it could go outside, the slime trembled with delight in Jessi's arms.