Count Rudendion’s mansion.

"Haa..."

Jessi Rudendion, the count’s daughter, sighed as she gazed blankly out the window.

'Alexandros II...'

Two weeks had already passed since she released the slime. In preparation for the day they met again, she had ordered the servants to bring more folktales and stories to the mansion’s library.

After giving that order, life had continued as usual. No, it was little different from her life before the slime.

'You’re doing well, aren’t you?'

Jessi sighed again. Even now, when she closed her eyes, she could recall the sensation of the slime vibrating on her head and the sight of it bouncing merrily before her. Her memories of their time together were so happy and precious that she couldn’t help sighing.

But Jessi had decided not to dwell on memories alone.

'I have to pull myself together. I need more fun stories to tell Alexandros II the next time we meet!'

If she stayed this listless, Alexandros II would surely be sad too. With that thought, she let out a deep breath and steeled herself.

After idly recalling her memories of the slime, she would gather her resolve, recover her spirits, and devote herself to what she could do: the studies she needed as a noble. Jessi Rudendion had repeated this process time and again during the two weeks since the slime’s departure.

And these actions of Lucy’s were reported to Count Rufus Rudendion as well.

"Sniff! I’m so proud of you, my angel...!"

Count Rudendion found it wonderfully admirable that she was moving forward rather than drowning in the sorrow of parting. Though the cycle was still repeating, he held on to the hope that she would gradually improve with time.

'I must have them make something my angel especially loves today!'

Feeling that his admirable daughter deserved a reward, he was about to give an order to Albert, his head butler, when someone knocked on the study door.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

"Who is it?"

"Geren, my lord."

It was the commander of Count Rudendion’s knights.

"Come in."

"Pardon the intrusion."

The knight commander spoke as soon as he entered the study.

"I have something urgent to report to you, my lord."

"What is it? Tell me."

"... The elven hero, Lady Nellin, has arrived in your territory."

"W-w-what did you say?!"

BANG!

Count Rudendion struck the desk and leaped to his feet in shock.

"Lady Nellin?! Why?!"

"I don’t know either. A soldier on patrol saw her, so I hurried here to report it."

"This can’t be..."

No sooner had one worry passed than another great worry arrived. Jessi was managing to overcome the matter of the slime, but what if the true nature of her idol were revealed now?

'Aaargh! Jessi!'

Count Rudendion was beside himself with worry that his darling angel’s heart might be torn to shreds. All he could do was hope Nellin was merely passing through his territory and wouldn’t visit the mansion. After all, he couldn’t summon knights or soldiers to stop her.

The count was keeping the hero Nellin away from his mansion? Why? Did he have something to hide? How dare he turn a hero away at the door...?

If rumors like that spread, his honor could plummet.

But his hopes crumbled all too easily. Less than an hour later, Nellin visited Count Rudendion’s mansion. As soon as he received the report, he ordered a soldier to escort her to the reception room. And so, after nearly twenty years, Count Rudendion met Nellin again.

"Hahaha! It’s been ages. Wow, look how much you’ve grown! That handsome young man has become quite distinguished!"

"Th-thank you, Lady Nellin."

'Oh! Lady Nellin called me distinguished!'

Their first meeting had shattered his fantasy of the magnificent Nellin he had imagined, but Count Rudendion’s sincere respect for Nellin, The Starlight Archer, remained intact. Being praised by the hero he respected filled him with joy.

Still, he couldn’t simply lose himself in the pleasure of her compliment.

"But what brings you to my territory? Has something happened in the Green Elf Forest?"

"Hm? Oh, no, nothing like that. Don’t worry. I came because I wanted to talk to you... and your daughter."

"What?! To my angel?!"

"Angel?"

"Ah, ahem! You mean my daughter, who is as lovely and sweet as an angel?"

"... Huh. That bright-looking boy had a daughter, and now he’s a complete doting fool."

With a hint of wonder, Nellin continued explaining why she had come.

"You sent our village a letter, remember? About the unusual slime you’d found."

"Yes."

"Actually, I met that slime too."

"You met the slime, Lady Nellin?"

"That’s right."

Nellin briefly described her short encounter with the slime and the elder’s concerns.

"The old lady kept nagging me, so I had no choice but to let it go outside the village. I never imagined you’d taken it in. I was surprised when I read the letter, you know? I never guessed it was clever enough to understand writing, either."

"I see. Then, Lady Nellin... do you intend to dispose of that slime?"

Having heard the elder’s concerns from Nellin, Count Rudendion wore a bitter expression.

"Hm? No. Why would I? I told you, I just came to hear about it. I wanted to learn more about how that slime lived here."

"You won’t dispose of it? But you said the elder was concerned..."

"That’s just our old lady worrying over nothing. Not every intelligent monster is hostile to humans."

"Is that so?"

"Of course it is. For starters... I took down the biggest fucking bastard of all the monsters with functioning brains, didn’t I? I can tell these things by instinct."

The black dragon known as the calamity. It had been anything but an ordinary monster, and Nellin, sitting before him, was the very person who had defeated it.

"I came here purely out of curiosity. Honestly, it’s also something to pass the time."

"To pass the time?"

"Try living in our village forever yourself. Peace is nice, but it’s so boring I could die! Honestly, I’ve shown remarkable patience all this time. Oh, that reminds me. I’m a little hurt, you know."

"Pardon?"

"Invite me to the mansion once in a while. Then I can get out of the forest for some fun without worrying about the old lady’s disapproval."

"Uh..."

He had never expected to hear that from Nellin. Of course, he had deliberately avoided contacting her to preserve his daughter’s illusions, but he felt a little guilty.

"I’m sorry, Lady Nellin."

"No, there’s no need to apologize. Anyway, I’d like to talk to your daughter."

"Well...!"

Under the circumstances, he couldn’t prevent his daughter from meeting Nellin. All he could do was step in to protect her illusions as much as possible.

"Lady Nellin, I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?"

"My daughter deeply respects and admires you."

"Does she?"

"Yes. But that admiration comes entirely from reading accounts in your biography describing your gallant bearing and beauty. So please... I would ask you to refrain from the sort of stories you told when we last met."

"Did I say something strange the last time we met?"

"Stories such as the one about shooting another hero in the backside with an arrow because they stole your jerky."

"Ohhh. I see what you mean."

Nellin understood what Rufus wanted, thanks to over a decade of lectures from the elder.

Whenever she was bored, she would visit the elder’s home to drink and reminisce. Hearing Nellin’s utterly unrestrained tales of the past, the elder would frown and tell her to tone things down when talking to other people.

"Don’t worry. I’ll speak like a proper heeero."

"..."

Count Rudendion could still vividly recall Nellin raucously telling all manner of stories, but he could say no more. He could only plead,

"Please."

And hope the worst wouldn’t happen.

+++

"I-it-it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Nellin! My name is Jessi Rudendion!"

Jessi’s heart fluttered. She was finally meeting Nellin, The Starlight Archer, one of the heroes who had defeated the calamity—the person she had so admired and longed to meet.

When her maid Nina suddenly told her that Nellin had visited the mansion and wanted to meet her, she had pinched her cheek in disbelief.

"Hello. So you’re Jessi. You really are pretty."

"Pardon?!"

"Your dad was telling me you’re as pretty as an angel. I can see why."

"Lady Nellin! Even if it’s true, there’s no need to tell her every little thing...!"

"Oh, Father!"

Her father’s love always made Jessi happy, but right now, she couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.

"Say, Jessi. Could you tell me about it too? The slime you found, I mean."

"About Alexandros II?"

"Alexan... what?"

"Alexandros II! Isn’t it a wonderful name?"

"Uh... sure. Yes. Wonderful."

With Jessi’s eyes shining so brightly, Nellin couldn’t tell her the name didn’t suit a slime.

"I wanted to hear about your time with this Alexandros II."

"To think you’re interested in Alexandros II, Lady Nellin!"

"A slime that’s friendly with people is interesting, isn’t it? In return, I’ll tell you some stories from the old days. I hear you like the story of how my companions and I defeated the black dragon."

"R-really?! To hear about defeating the black dragon from Lady Nellin herself...!"

She had spent her days worrying about the slime, never imagining such good fortune would come her way. And Nellin, whom she respected so much, wanted to hear about her beloved slime! Delighted that they shared a favorite subject, Jessi felt her heart pound with joy.

+++

The slime sprang forward.

THWAAACK!

—GUUURGH!

The slime’s Bounce Tackle drove into the orc’s side.

"Good! Well done, Bouncy! Hey! Def! Hurry up and attack!"

"Y-yeah! Hyaaah!"

"Sgol! Stop getting distracted and get over here!"

"Yes, Boss!"

Two weeks had already passed since they became adventurers. Starting with the Scarlet Goblin extermination, Godric’s Party had steadily completed requests and could now accept D-rank work. Today, they were in the thick of exterminating orcs.

Their method was simple. When several orcs appeared, the slime would lead the attack and deal heavy damage, then one member of Godric’s Party would step in for a follow-up strike. The other three would coordinate to hold off or engage the remaining orcs.

Once the orc it was fighting fell, the slime would quickly bounce over and attack the orcs the other three were handling. Using this method, Godric’s Party was able to hunt monsters smoothly without suffering any serious injuries.

"We’ve reached the required kill count! Let’s head back!"

"Yes, Boss!" they answered together.

"Bouncy! Come here!"

The slime bounced over. After the spoils had been collected, it climbed onto Def’s head as usual.

Taking on a request and defeating monsters together had been fun today too. But something was troubling the slime.

'Not getting coins...'

It was the problem of earning coins. It had fought various monsters since defeating the Scarlet Goblin, but none had been as strong as that goblin, so it hadn’t earned any coins.

It wanted to grow stronger quickly, but it was also curious about the shop it had yet to open, so it wanted to collect coins as soon as possible.

▷Not getting coins!

And the slime promptly shared its concern in the chat.

▶Ah, lol

[Noblesse Fire]▶Squishy’s finally reached the point of saying that, lmao

▶But it'd be weird to earn any from what you're killing right now, yeah

▷How get coins?

▶Grind your fucking ass off.

▶You could get donations too.

▶Aw, that’s no fun. Don’t you know how fun it is to earn them yourself?

With donations, it could reach an accumulated total of 100 coins immediately.

But even viewers who were fond of the slime—the Slime Queen, Arachne, and Fenrir—had no intention of donating coins. As the other viewer had said, they thought earning coins itself would be better for Squishy right now than receiving donations.

If it developed a taste for donated coins already, it might go down the same strange path as other streaming monsters and care only about coin donations!

Just then...

[Free Spirit]▶Squishy, wanna earn coins? I know a good way.

Smartass appeared.