+++

While Amelia settled down to sleep with her comfort blanket, Paulen went out into the villa’s yard to teach the slime its exercises and spar with it as usual.

“Good! That’s enough for today.”

‘Okay!’

At Paulen’s words, the slime stopped just as it was about to launch its next tackle. It distinctly remembered his promise to walk around the Mage Tower once their sparring was over.

“It’s a shame, though. I could only bring one set because of the Inventory’s capacity.”

He would have liked to bring all the dumbbells and barbells he had prepared for the slime, but the Inventory had its limits. Once he accounted for the essential food and luggage, his main weapons—the greatshield and sword—and other items for emergencies, he could manage only one set of the slime’s dumbbells. Paulen found that deeply disappointing.

‘Argh! With a whole month, Quivery could have moved up at least one more level.’

The slime was eager, never complained, and never shirked its training. In fact, seeing it enthusiastically try to lift the dumbbells gave Paulen an intense thrill.

‘Maybe it’s because it’s a monster, but it grows fast, too. Training it is so rewarding.’

With two springy hops, the slime jumped past Paulen’s shoulder and onto his head.

“Want to sit on my head today?”

The slime quivered.

‘Yes!’

Answering with a shiver, it stretched out a tentacle it had yet to retract and brought it in front of Paulen’s eyes.

‘Paulen! Mage Tower walk! Let’s go!’

“All right, all right. You want to go look around, don’t you?”

‘Quivery really is full of curiosity.’

“Let me change first. People might get startled if I keep walking around like this.”

Paulen had not changed since arriving at the Mage Tower, so he was still wearing his Paladin armor. That might have been fine in the Holy City, but someone walking around the Mage Tower in armor could startle people and draw excessive attention. After changing into lighter clothes, he set off for a stroll with the slime on his head.

The Mage Tower. A place where mages gathered to conduct research and reach greater heights. Yet the name had come to mean more than just the tower housing them. Markets had sprung up around the towering structure, people had settled there, and a city had formed with the Mage Tower at its center.

Thus, “Mage Tower” had two meanings. One was its original meaning: the mages’ enormous research institute. The other was the name of the city surrounding it. Paulen had been referring to the latter.

Of course, he could visit the research institute itself if he asked.

‘But I’ll be going there with the Saintess tomorrow.’

Now that they had arrived, they were scheduled to meet the highest-ranking person there—the master of the Mage Tower—tomorrow. Since they would enter the tower for that meeting anyway, he had decided to show the slime the streets today.

As Paulen walked through the streets, he thought,

‘It certainly has a different atmosphere from the Holy City.’

The Holy City was a city of devout believers. Though smiles abounded there, its atmosphere was more warm and friendly than lively. The Mage Tower, on the other hand...

“Heeheehee, I’ve got a fine magical device here. Care to buy one?”

“This is the scroll that launches a fireball as soon as you unroll it, right?”

“Of course! Ah, but be careful which way you unroll it. You could end up roasted whole.”

“Why the hell is a single shoe so expensive?!”

“Are you forgetting the cost of the enchantment—and what your life is worth when wearing it saves you?!”

For all its bustle, there was a strong sense of danger about the place. Not the kind that made him fear for his life, of course.

‘It feels like they’re trying to charge as much as possible and make a killing.’

Magical devices required specialized skills to make. Scrolls allowed someone to cast a spell without mana, though only once. Neither was easy to reproduce, so merchants selling magical devices and scrolls tended to charge as much as they could to anyone unfamiliar with the value of magic.

‘Magical devices! So many!’

Meanwhile, the slime’s interest in magical devices had grown considerably since Gracie’s explanations. Even at stalls where merchants were trying every trick to overcharge their customers, its attention was on the devices on display rather than the conversations.

The slime bounced down onto Paulen’s shoulder, popped out a tentacle, and pointed toward a magical-device shop.

‘Over there! Want to look!’

“Hm? You want to go to that shop?”

‘Yes!’

It quivered eagerly.

Paulen headed toward the shop the slime wanted to visit. It was a street stall selling magical devices, run by an old man in robes.

“Heehee. Welcome, sir. Is there a magical device you’re looking for?”

The old man chuckled, rubbing his hands together.

“They looked interesting, so I came to have a look, sir.”

“I see. But I find you more interesting, sir. Walking around with a slime on your shoulder!”

The old man looked up at the slime perched on Paulen’s shoulder.

“You have quite a sturdy build, but it seems you have a talent for monster taming.”

Taming. It was a skill possessed by those in the exceedingly rare profession of tamer. They tamed monsters and fought alongside them.

Notable examples included the wyvern-riding knights also known as dragon knights, and wolf riders, who rode wolf-type monsters called warwolves. Even monsters without the intelligence to use the system could follow human orders if trained properly. However, the work was dangerous and labor-intensive, so tamers were extremely few in number.

“Hahaha! It’s not taming, sir. Quivery is simply friendly toward people.”

“Hmm? A slime that’s friendly toward people? Are you from the Oddball Village, by any chance?”

The Oddball Village. That was the nickname of a village that raised slimes to help with everyday life. After all, anyone would find it strange and fascinating that a village raised monsters not to hunt or fight through taming, but because they seemed useful for day-to-day tasks.

“No. I’m from the Holy City.”

“The Holy City?”

“I understand your surprise. Anyway, could you explain in detail what these magical devices do, sir?”

“Oh! Do you collect magical devices?”

“No. I don’t use them. I’m simply curious.”

“Hmm.”

Displeasure showed on the old man’s face. Understandably so: being asked to kindly explain every product to someone who would not buy anything meant doing all that work for nothing.

Paulen might have been excessively partial to muscles, but otherwise, he possessed the upright character befitting a Paladin.

“I would appreciate a thorough explanation, sir.”

He took out a fee for the old man’s trouble and handed it over.

It was not enough to buy even one of the old man’s magical devices, but it was more than generous enough for an explanation.

“Hohoho! Explanations are my specialty!”

‘Magical devices! Explanations!’

The slime quivered with delight at the prospect of hearing about more new magical devices.

▶Why do those hoomans like those round thingies so much?

▶Ohhh, you don’t know what money is?

▶Hoomans use those to trade for stuff.

[Squishy Queen]▶Th-th-that insolent human! How dare he think my kin is a tamed monster!!!

▶There she goes losing it again.

▶Lmao, what happened to pretending to be all dignified on your stream?

[Squishy Queen]▶Pretending to be dignified?! I was doing no such thing!

▶Touched a nerve?

[Squishy Queen]▶You scoundreeeel!

While the chat carried on as usual, the old man chattered away about the magical devices he sold.

“This bracelet increases fire resistance. Rather than being powered by a magic stone, it draws mana from the wearer to reduce injuries caused by flames. And this one here...”

There were all kinds of magical devices: ones that granted resistance to different elements, shoes that created a foothold beneath the wearer when supplied with mana to allow a double jump, and a device that used the mana in a magic stone to spray water so one could shower anywhere.

‘Those shoes are rather tempting.’

Paulen was interested in the magical shoes that allowed a double jump. However, he could hardly stop wearing his usual Paladin armor in battle, so he inwardly gave up on them.

As the old man was finishing his explanation, a question occurred to Paulen.

“Do these water-producing magical devices really sell well here?”

“Hohoho! I know what you mean. There are mages who use water magic, so you’re wondering whether a device like this would sell when it isn’t even meant for use at home, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Think about it. Washing takes a considerable amount of water. If you create all of it with your own mana, you could find yourself in serious trouble later when your mana runs low.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, the water this produces is perfectly drinkable! It’s handy when you run out of water, and very useful if you want to make soup while traveling! Hohoho! Surprisingly, this is my best-selling product.”

“That does make sense.”

Paulen was immediately convinced by the old man’s explanation. Just then, the old man’s eyes gleamed.

‘That look... He’s weighing up whether to buy it!’

“What’s more, as long as the magic stone is small enough to fit under this cover, you can use any stone! Even an unprocessed one! Well, it will be less efficient, but the important thing is that it works, wouldn’t you say?”

“...”

After listening to the old man and thinking it over carefully, Paulen spoke.

“How much is this?”

+++

“... And that’s why you bought this?”

“Hahaha, I couldn’t resist!”

It was nearing evening. Having woken up, Amelia stared at the portable water-producing magical device Paulen had bought during his walk with the slime.

“Is this really useful?”

“You’d be surprised how necessary it can be when traveling.”

“... But you’re usually with me in the Holy City, Paulen. You hardly ever travel.”

“Amelia, as a Paladin, I must protect you from danger. And this magical device is for those occasions when you might be thirsty or want something like soup! We cannot guarantee that we will always travel comfortably by carriage as we did this time. One must always prepare for every eventuality...”

“...”

Under Amelia’s icy gaze, Paulen stopped making excuses.

“Ahem. A man simply can’t help getting excited about travel gear like this, Amelia.”

“As the Saintess, I accept my Paladin’s honest confession. Anyway, let’s have dinner. I’ll cook today.”

“You will, Amelia? You know how to cook?”

“I was an ordinary believer before I became the Saintess, you know. Sometimes I was in charge of meals. I simply haven’t had a reason to cook since becoming the Saintess.”

‘It’s been five years, but surely I haven’t gotten rusty?’

When they arrived at the villa, they had been told about a magical device for storing ingredients. She had checked that there were ingredients inside, so there was no need to go shopping.

“I’m going to make soup. Is that all right with you, Paulen?”

“I’m happy to eat anything.”

‘Cooking!’

At the mention of cooking, the slime sprang into action. It popped out a tentacle, picked up the magical device on the table, and hopped into the kitchen.

“Quivery?”

Then the slime held the magical device over a pot in the kitchen.

‘Water!’

CLICK!

SHHHHH!

It activated the device, filling the pot with water.

“Pfft. It seems Quivery wants to help cook, too.”

“Q-Quivery! Turn it off for a second! You mustn’t put in too much water!”

Amelia rushed into the kitchen.