Amelia and Paulen took the slime to Saintess Fresia’s room—the room of the hero who had once saved the continent from calamity. It was quite spacious, with a wealth of artistic decorations. Fresia herself had said she would be happy with something modest, but the high priests had pleaded with her until she agreed to use this room.

“Amelia, Paladin Paulen.”

Now that they were in private, Fresia addressed Amelia more informally.

“Would you tell me what happened, then? Oh, and please don’t give me a made-up story like the one you told High Priest David.”

“Haha, of course. What happened was...”

Paulen explained everything that had happened up to that point, leaving nothing out: why he and Amelia had left the Holy City, what had happened while they were taking a leisurely walk through the valley, and even why they had brought the slime back with them.

“What an extraordinary thing to happen.”

Having heard the whole story, Fresia was genuinely astonished. Even a saintess who had defeated a calamity could hardly have expected a slime to come floating down a river on a lesser troll.

And then there was this.

“Do this little one’s vibrations really feel that good?”

“Yes...”

Hearing their reason explained all over again made Amelia want to crawl under the covers in embarrassment. Even she thought it was an utterly absurd reason.

Meanwhile...

'Fresia! Saintess! Nellin! Friend!'

BOING!

The slime was thrilled to see Fresia.

Fresia was someone from the biographies Jessi had read to it. She was a member of a race similar to the first human the slime had seen. She was close to Nellin, the elven hero. That made her a friend of a friend, technically. And since she was someone it had wanted to meet, it could hardly contain its excitement.

'Jerky!'

It also held a small hope that Fresia might have delicious jerky, just like Nellin.

Fresia watched fondly as the slime bounced energetically in place.

“What a lively slime.”

“You little rascal, will you stay still?”

“No, leave it be. It really does seem to be true that it doesn’t threaten people.”

“Pardon?”

Fresia spoke as she stopped Paulen from restraining the slime.

“Ordinarily, slimes hardly ever bounce about in one spot like this. Most of the time they flee, and their usual way of moving is to crawl. But this slime is very lively. And seeing it bouncing in place...”

“It l-looks happy.”

“Yes, that’s right, Amelia. That’s how it looks to me, too.”

Fresia slowly reached toward the slime. Seeing her hand approach, it stopped bouncing and stayed still while she gently stroked it.

“It seems more intelligent than I expected. And it isn’t afraid of a human touch. What a good slime.”

The slime quivered happily at Fresia’s praise and touch.

“Oh, that tickles. Hehe. But does having these vibrations on your head really feel good?”

“Well, they were stronger than this when I received them.”

“Were they? Shall I try it, too?”

“S-Saintess Fresia! You don’t have to!”

Though Amelia had brought it along because it felt so good, she would feel terribly apologetic if Fresia felt obliged to try it.

“I’m curious myself, you see.”

Fresia didn’t truly expect the slime to understand, but she addressed it anyway.

“Little one? Would you give me a massage like you gave these two?”

'Yes!'

Answering inwardly, the slime sprang onto Fresia’s head the moment she withdrew her hand.

“Huh?!”

“S-Saintess Fresia!”

“Oh my.”

Amelia and Paulen stared wide-eyed in shock as the slime suddenly climbed onto Fresia’s head.

Before either of them could grab it and take it down, the slime began its vibrating massage.

“Oh myyyyy~.”

The slime’s vibrating massage, which had earned a thumbs-up of approval from countless people, was now working its magic on Fresia’s head.

'This is...!'

Despite always taking care of her health, the sad passage of years had left her body increasingly prone to aches and creaks. In that condition, fatigue kept accumulating as time went on.

Now that long-standing fatigue was gently melting away.

“Hey! G-get dow—!”

“Just a mo-mo-mo-moment. A-a-a-Ameliaaaa~.”

“Saintess Fresia?”

Her voice trembling with the vibrations, Fresia stopped Amelia.

“This feels so-so-so-so good~.”

“I-I’m glad.”

“Did it understand what she said? Or was that just a coincidence?”

A little later, once the massage was over, Fresia set the slime on her lap and stroked it with a refreshed smile.

“Ah, that was a wonderful massage. My shoulders have been a little stiff lately. Even a blessing only eased it for a short while, so it had been troubling me.”

“So even your blessings can’t do anything about muscle fatigue, Saintess Fresia... Why not take this opportunity to exercise with me? I’m sure you’ll feel better!”

“I already get plenty of exercise on my own, Paladin Paulen. If I exercised at your level, I would be at God’s side before the week was out.”

“Ahem! I always recommend suitable exercise tailored to the individual. Only idiots who aren’t even third-rate would push someone thoughtlessly!”

“Hehe, I’m sure you do. I’m sorry. That was an unnecessary remark.”

“Not at all.”

“Anyway...”

Fresia looked down at the slime.

“This little one really is well-behaved and clever. It’s only a feeling, but I think it understands human speech.”

“It understands human speech? Can monsters do that?”

“Of course. There are monsters that understand human speech.”

'There are even monsters that can communicate their thoughts.'

Saintess Fresia recalled the distant past.

Burning earth, labored breaths, flowing blood. The final battle against the black dragon—the monster called the worst of calamities, which had taken countless lives.

Only after hours of fierce fighting had they finally managed to bring it down.

Nellin’s arrow was embedded in one of its eyes. Its claws, which could easily demolish buildings, had been broken by Kachal’s axe. Its tough scales, which ordinary attacks couldn’t even scratch, had been stripped away by repeated hits from Ventus’s high-powered magic.

All her companions were utterly exhausted, gasping for breath and barely clinging to consciousness.

At last, the heroes had defeated the black dragon.

No—they had thought they had finished it off for good. The light had completely left its eye, and to anyone looking, it was as good as dead.

Relieved, her companions lost consciousness and collapsed one by one. Fresia, too, was relaxing, her eyes beginning to drift shut.

[“Ahhh, what a shame. I was going to have some fun streaming myself stomping noobs. Who knew there’d be people like ultra-rare characters here?”]

'...!'

A voice carrying someone’s thoughts sounded inside Fresia’s head. Her body was too exhausted to react properly. She simply froze at the voice that had suddenly reached her.

[“It’s a weird world, but being a dragon was awesome... Well, I got in a few jokes and had plenty of fun, so this isn’t so bad.”]

'Who... who is speaking? Could it be the black dragon?'

Was the black dragon still alive? Could it possibly have enough strength left to move?

That would be a terrible crisis. Fresia was the only one still barely conscious.

[“Still, I’ve got to leave them with this line if I want to look cool...”]

At that moment, light returned to the black dragon’s one remaining eye. It was looking directly at Fresia, who was still standing.

[“Hah, hah, hah.”]

Fear and tension left her unable to move. It didn’t even occur to her to wake her companions, or to somehow launch an attack herself.

But the black dragon remained motionless as it conveyed its thoughts.

[“I have not a single regret in my... life...”]

With those final words, the light left the black dragon’s eye once more.

At the time, Fresia couldn’t tell whether what she had experienced was real or not. Had fear made her imagine a voice? Or had the black dragon truly communicated its thoughts to her?

All she knew was that, the moment she thought the black dragon’s life had finally ended for good, she lost consciousness as well.

Now, after so much time had passed, Fresia no longer remembered everything the black dragon had said. All she remembered was its claim that it had no regrets about its life.

And she believed that back then, the black dragon had not merely displayed an outward semblance of intelligence. It had clearly possessed genuine intelligence and a will of its own.

The black dragon had been evil to the very end, but that hadn’t made Fresia hate monsters. Her life had taught her well enough that monsters weren’t the only beings with an ugly side.

That was why she had come to consider another possibility: if monsters had intelligence—if they could think and converse—might there not be good beings among them, too?

It was only a vague thought, but...

'Perhaps this little one is such a being.'

Fresia gently stroked the slime and said,

“Be good to Amelia, won’t you?”

'Yes!'

The slime quivered.

'Hehe, it really does seem to understand.'

Its response stirred a little mischief in Fresia.

“Could you do me a favor?”

“Saintess Fresia?”

“Amelia lacks confidence, so she’s always letting her shoulders droop.”

“Saintess Fresia?!”

“So could you massage Amelia’s shoulders, too?”

'Yes!'

The slime quivered again.

“W-what are you saying?”

“Hehe, what’s the matter? It feels so good, wouldn’t it be better to get it directly on your shoulders?”

Though it reacted to speech, Fresia hadn’t expected it to understand. So she went to pick the slime up and place it on Amelia’s shoulder.

But...

BOING!

The slime sprang from Fresia’s lap and deftly landed on Amelia’s shoulder.

“Huh?” two voices said together.

“Hmm?”

All three blinked and stared at the slime. They had just witnessed it do something it would never have done if it couldn’t understand human speech.

“Y-you really do understand what people sa...”

The slime began its vibrating massage before Amelia could question it further.

“Aaaah~!”

The bliss of feeling the stiffness leave her shoulders kept her from finishing her sentence.

While the saintess who had yet to retire, the next saintess, and the Paladin guarding her were all thoroughly bewildered...

“Sigh... I never thought it would meet Fresia, too.”

Alone in his workshop, Smartass had mixed feelings about seeing another former companion.

As an elf, Nellin had retained her old appearance and personality, so seeing her had mostly filled him with longing. But Fresia bore the unmistakable marks of passing time. Seeing her, he couldn’t help feeling just how many years had gone by since he became a lich.

“You’re still as kind and openhearted as ever, Fresia... What would you say if you saw me now?”

Would she scold him for becoming a lich? Or would she greet him and say it had been a long time?

Seeing how his companion had aged, Smartass couldn’t help wondering.