While Smartass was busy denying reality, the slime gazed at the many magical devices Gracie Frail wore, its eyes shining.

'Sparkly! So many!'

It had seen countless ornaments in the County of Rudendion, plenty of equipment at the adventurers' guild, and the accessories priests used in the Great Church. But it had never seen a human with so many accessories dangling from their body before, and its curiosity was piqued.

▶What's that hooman wearing all that stuff for?

▶Is she a dragon in disguise?

[Noblesse Fire]▶Hey! We pile ours up. We don't hang it all over ourselves like that tacky mess!

▶Bullshit. Saw that bling dragon wearing a whole string of stuff sized to fit him the other day.

[Noblesse Fire]▶That's because that bastard's weird!!!

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Ho ho ho. Is that old fool who refuses to act his age still going around like that?

▶Ah! Dangle-s*x!

▶Now you're sticking s*x onto anything.

Meanwhile, Amelia greeted Gracie Frail with what she called her guest-facing smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. To have a descendant of The Mage of a Thousand Spells as our guide... What an honor!"

"Not at all! The honor is mine, guiding Lady Amelia, who will succeed Lady Fresia, The Saintess of Healing! Please follow me! I'll show you where you'll both be staying!"

'Sh-she's lively.'

Gracie radiated confidence and self-assurance. The contrast with herself dealt Amelia a blow to her psyche.

As Gracie led Amelia and Paulen along, she struck up a conversation.

"Wasn't the journey from the Holy City to the Mage Tower exhausting?"

"No, it was fine. We came by carriage."

"Even in a carriage, a month-long journey isn't easy! But you don't need to worry anymore! You'll soon recover from that month's worth of fatigue here at the Mage Tower!"

"Hmm. Do you have something good for relieving fatigue?"

At Paulen's question, Gracie's eyes seemed to flash.

"Of course! Do you know what's all the rage at our Mage Tower lately? It's... making magical devices!"

Gracie talked nonstop as she led them to their assigned lodgings. To sum it up, her explanation went as follows.

The current trend at the Mage Tower was making convenient magical devices rather than researching powerful magic. Many believed the powerful spells they already had were enough. More and more people were asking whether it would be better to develop spells or magical devices that made life easier instead of researching even stronger magic.

Recently, an increasing number of mages had grown old enough to have trouble getting around, so those proposals inevitably came up at every meeting. In the past, they would have been dismissed because the times demanded stronger magic, but that was no longer the case.

"This is where you will be staying, Saintess, Paladin!"

"This is..."

"Haha! It looks lovely!"

"Of course! You'd be hard-pressed to find a better place at the Mage Tower!"

The place where Amelia, Paulen, and the slime would be staying was, essentially, a villa. It stood next to a church and wasn't far from the Mage Tower either.

Amelia and Paulen marveled as soon as they stepped inside.

"It's cool in here."

"Quite different from outside."

Unlike the sun-baked heat outside, a cool breeze blew through the villa, making it comfortable.

"This is all thanks to magical devices too! Just insert a magic stone, and the spell formula activates automatically, using ice magic to make the room cool and pleasant! Isn't it amazing?"

"I-it is."

"This villa has all kinds of magical devices supplied by the Mage Tower for your stay! I'll explain them one by one, starting with the essentials!"

'The tour still isn't over?'

Amelia had thought it would end once Gracie showed them where they would be staying. But Gracie had been hired not only to guide Amelia and Paulen, but also to teach them how to use the magical devices.

While Amelia broke into a cold sweat, the slime listened to Gracie's explanations with rapt interest.

'Magical devices!'

The slime knew magical devices existed. It had seen humans use them several times while living among them. This was the first time it had heard such detailed explanations, though.

'Amazing!'

It knew these devices existed, but it couldn't understand them and knew nothing about the principles behind them. Even if it couldn't make them itself, simply hearing how they worked was fun. And the slime wasn't the only one who felt that way.

▶Cold air comes out of that tiny thing?

▶What? Why does turning that make fire come out?

[Noblesse Fire]▶Hoomans sure have made a lot of weird stuff.

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶I'd love that dust-sucking device~. It would make cleaning up the scraps after the children eat so easy.

The viewers were listening just as eagerly to Gracie's explanations, as though watching a home shopping channel.

'Wow!'

The slime quivered away. With every new magical device it learned about, it trembled with delight on Amelia's hand.

"Um, Saintess. May I ask you something?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"What exactly is that slime you're holding? It keeps shaking."

"Oh."

'She's finally asking.'

"This little one is Quivery. As you can see, it's a slime, but... it's very sweet and well-behaved."

"Is it some kind of research subject?"

'Are they conducting clinical trials on monsters in the Holy City?'

"No, nothing like that. Quivery is... simply here as a f-friend."

'Friend!'

It bounced!

"Eek! It b-bounced!"

"Oh. Quivery does that when it's happy. There's no need to be so startled. It was also enjoying your explanations, Miss Frail."

"Please call me Gracie. But you mean it was happy listening to my explanations?"

With question marks practically floating above Gracie's head, Paulen answered her.

"Hahaha! Quivery is very clever. I'm sure it understood your explanations too, Miss Gracie. It probably looks so restless because it's itching to try the magical devices itself."

"What?"

'A slime?'

Gracie Frail stared at the slime in disbelief. All she had been told was to act as a guide for the Saintess and the Paladin during their month-long stay at the Mage Tower. So, although seeing the Saintess carrying a slime had surprised her, she'd tried not to pay it much attention.

There were plenty of eccentrics doing strange research at the Mage Tower. Compared to them, a Saintess holding a slime was hardly shocking.

Had the Saintess holding it said that, it would have sounded like, "My little Poppy is so clever~." But hearing it straight from Paulen, the Paladin guarding her, made it impossible to ignore.

"Quivery is incredibly curious."

"I see. Ahem. In that case~."

Still only half-convinced, Gracie decided to check for herself right away. If the slime didn't respond, it would simply be a heartwarming little incident in which the Paladin had played along with the Saintess. There was no reason to hesitate.

Gracie brought over one of the devices she'd explained—a portable lamp that shone in every direction at the press of a button—and asked,

"Would you like to press it yourself?"

'Yes!'

A tentacle popped out. The moment Gracie asked, the slime extended it and firmly pressed the button she had explained. Light flashed from the magical lamp.

"Huh?"

'It turned on!'

Gracie was dumbfounded by the slime suddenly sprouting a tentacle and operating the device. Meanwhile, delighted that it had used a magical device itself, the slime lifted its two extended tentacles high in a pose of triumph.

"A s-slime operated a magical dev—huh?"

"Hahaha! Didn't I tell you? Quivery is clever."

"I'm sorry. That startled you, didn't it?"

"N-no! I'm fine!"

'What? What is this slime? Did it really understand my explanation?'

"Ahem! Um, Saintess? Paladin? If you don't mind, could we ask this slime... Quivery to try operating some other magical devices too?"

"Hahaha, of course."

"Yes. Quivery would be delighted."

'Magical devices! Touch more!'

It bounced!

The villa's magical-device tour changed course, becoming a demonstration show starring the slime. From devices operated with a single button to ones with intensity controls, the slime deftly handled even those that required a little adjustment.

"Hah, hah, hah, hah."

Watching it, Gracie began breathing heavily.

'What is this slime? Does a monster like this really exist? It's so small and looks so weak, yet it's this clever?'

She had encountered an unknown creature. Just how could such a creature be born? For the first time in a very long while, intense scholarly fervor set Gracie's mind ablaze.

Her main field of interest was magical devices, but with such a fascinating slime before her, one she desperately wanted to study, her intellectual curiosity wouldn't subside.

'What's its ecology like? Could it use other magical devices just as well? Maybe it could even help with magical-device research...'

"G-Gracie? You're breathing rather hard. Are you all right?"

"What? Oh! Yes! I'm fine!"

▶That hooman had a dangerous look in her eyes.

[Squishy Queen]▶How dare you cast such an insolent gaze upon my kin! Impudent wretch!

'Pull yourself together! This is a slime the Saintess brought with her! Don't get greedy!'

Gracie immediately regained her composure. A slime that merely happened to be passing nearby would be one thing. This one, however, had been brought by the next Saintess. If she meddled with it and caused a rift with the Church, not even her descent from the proud and great Mage of a Thousand Spells would get her off the hook.

'Our family's already on shaky ground as it is!'

"I-it really is a clever slime. That surprised me."

"I was really surprised the first time I saw how clever Quivery was too. But... that concludes the tour, doesn't it?"

'I'd like to relax now.'

The magical-device demonstration, which doubled as a chance to show off the slime, hadn't been particularly tiring. Still, Amelia wanted to rest comfortably without having to worry about anyone else.

"Oh, yes!"

Gracie had explained how to use all the devices they would need for daily life. She could have stayed under the pretext of giving more detailed explanations, but then she would probably keep stealing glances at the slime.

"Please get some rest for today! I'll come back tomorrow!"

Gracie bowed her head politely and left the villa.

"Haaah."

As soon as Gracie left, Amelia heaved a sigh of relief.

"Amelia, were you that tired?"

"Yes. I felt especially tired today. I just want to wash up and go to bed."

'Want to hear more explanations...'

Unlike the relieved Amelia, the slime leaned forward, disappointed that Gracie had left so soon.

"Quivery seems disappointed, unlike you, Amelia."

"Um... Q-Quivery? Gracie said she'd come back tomorrow, so don't be so down, all right?"

'Gracie! Tomorrow! Comes again!'

The slime quivered all over with delight. Seeing it happy reassured Amelia.