“A paper... a new research topic... a new paper on something no one has ever studied...!”
“G-Gracie? What's wrong?”
Seeing Gracie suddenly cover her mouth and start muttering, Amelia felt an inexplicable fear.
[Noblesse Fire]▶What's with that hooman? She's got a dangerous look in her eyes.
▶Isn't that how you look at prey? Lmaoooo
[Squishy Queen]▶What! Insolent creature! What does she dare intend to do to my kin!
[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶There are humans here who cherish Squishy, so she won't be able to do anything easily.
[Squishy Queen]▶Merely looking at my kin that way is wrong!
[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Exactly! We have to protect adorable Squishy!
[Slam First Ask Later]▶If she tries anything stupid, can't you just slam her?
▶Ugh, that slam freak.
▶Lmaoooo
“Miss Gracie, are you all right?”
“Ah!”
Only when Paulen spoke to her as well did Gracie come to her senses. But the look in her eyes as she gazed at the slime remained unchanged.
“Saintess! Paladin! I have a favor to ask!”
“A favor?”
“Yes!”
Gracie clasped her hands as though praying fervently and cried out,
“Please! Please let me study the slime!”
“...?”
At the sudden, completely unexpected mention of research, Amelia and Paulen both tilted their heads.
“Study it?”
“Yes!”
'I can't let this opportunity slip away!'
All Gracie could think about now was a research paper involving the slime.
The Saintess and Paladin had suddenly visited her home? The slime had found her house on its own?
Those were utterly trivial matters compared with a new paper on something no one had researched before.
'If I pull this paper off, I'll never have to worry about funding again!'
Gracie had become a mage out of admiration for Ventus Frail, and because her family's funding would otherwise be cut off.
For the Frail family to keep receiving funds, she needed to prove her skill and accomplishments as a mage.
She could prove her skill with magical devices. Even the stodgy old natural-magic mages at the Mage Tower grudgingly acknowledged it when they saw her ability to use combinations of magical devices firsthand.
Accomplishments, however, were another matter.
There were two ways to demonstrate those. One was to form an adventuring party and complete requests above a certain difficulty. The other was to publish research papers proving one's knowledge and ability as a mage.
Gracie had chosen the latter. After all, traveling all over the place to fulfill requests was exhausting and a hassle!
She respected Ventus Frail for traveling through numerous regions to defeat the black dragon, but that was one thing, and this was another!
Yet although the Mage Tower acknowledged her proficiency with magical devices, it scrutinized her papers with a critical eye.
No matter how many papers she wrote and submitted about magical devices, all she received were lukewarm reactions and middling evaluations: Well written, but... hmm, is that all?
As a result, Gracie only barely met the requirements for funding each time.
'Damn those stodgy old natural-magic mages!'
Magical-device artisans would even visit her home to thank her personally, saying her papers had given them new ideas. Yet the Mage Tower's review committee offered nothing but stingy evaluations. It was infuriating.
Worse still, she'd already written about nearly everything she could, leaving her with no worthwhile topics.
And then this slime had appeared before her, using magical devices—and not just any devices, but ones designed for magic stones, powered solely by its own mana without a stone!
Even those stodgy old natural-magic mages would have no choice but to pore over a paper on this subject, asking, How the heck does it do that?
The key to a high score in a paper's evaluation was how much it explored and researched something new and previously unknown. That was why Gracie was certain this topic would earn her high marks.
“I've never seen a slime like this... No, I've never seen any monster like this! A slime that uses magical devices this way! Even mages struggle to do this!”
“Is that really true?”
“Can't mages use magical devices without magic stones?”
“As I said before, devices that require magic stones and those that don't have fundamentally different structures for handling mana. Even a high-ranking mage could only do what this slime is doing for fifteen seconds at most. But this slime has now been doing it for over thirty seconds!”
“It's that impressive?”
Paulen looked incredulously at the slime, which was still happily splashing about and playing with the magical device.
“But how would you go about studying it? If there's any chance of Quivery getting hurt, I'll have to refuse.”
Monster or not, Amelia absolutely did not want to see this human-friendly slime hurt.
“Of course it won't get hurt! I'll simply watch and observe it using magical devices! If you're still worried, you're welcome to stay and watch with me!”
Afraid that upsetting the Saintess now would cost her the perfect research subject that had finally come her way, Gracie pleaded desperately.
“Please! Please give me permission! I beg you! I'll diligently fulfill my assigned duties too! If you tell me to lick your feet, I'll do it!”
“What?! N-No! Why are you suddenly offering to lick my feet?! D-Don't prostrate yourself!”
“That's how desperate I am! Please! If this paper doesn't get a good evaluation, my family's funding will be cut off! Please! Think of it as saving my family, pleeeease!”
Amelia and Paulen were utterly flustered by how rapidly Gracie was debasing herself.
And...
“What is this about funding?! And why are you actually trying to lick someone's feet, no matter how good a research subject this is?!”
Smartass had been enjoying her frustrated reaction, but now his descendant's dizzying behavior made his skull throb.
On top of that...
▶Lmao what's with that hooman lol
▶Why's she trying to lick another hooman's feet?
[Squishy Queen]▶I cannot entrust my kin to such a human!
[Slam First Ask Later]▶Isn't that a submissive posture?
▶Oh! Submission s*x!
▶Look how disgusted the other hooman is lmao
“Aaaaaargh!”
Seeing his descendant become a laughingstock for the viewers inflicted even more psychological damage.
Normally, Smartass flitted from stream to stream, using clipped internet slang and happily watching as an enthusiastic viewer regardless of who lost their temper.
But now, he was getting riled up over something none of the other viewers could have imagined.
+++
Meanwhile, while Amelia, Paulen, and the slime were in the Holy City, Nellin and Godric's group arrived in Tartan, home to the colosseum.
“This place hasn't changed~.”
Tartan looked much as it had when Nellin visited in the past.
Its streets were filled with skilled fighters seeking to challenge the colosseum, ambitious gamblers hoping to win big by betting on its matches, and people who had lost everything, walking around in a daze, unable to accept reality.
Unlike Nellin, who had been here before, Godric's Party looked around the streets of Tartan.
“So this is Tartan...”
“Heh, this is where our legend begins.”
“There you go with your weird fantasies again.”
“Heh. We'll see whether it's a fantasy.”
“B-Big Sis Marin. Can we really d-do well in the colosseum?”
“Come on, I told you not to worry! Def, you worry far too much over nothing. Have a little more faith in the person who trained you!”
SMACK!
Nellin clapped the anxious Def on the back.
“Y-Yes!”
Nellin's plan was simple.
First, they would get rooms for a day or so while she reassessed the group's skills. Then, the following day, they would head straight to the colosseum, register, and show off their abilities.
But something she hadn't anticipated happened.
“What? The first match isn't for another three days?”
“That's right.”
“Wait, didn't the colosseum used to let you fight the same day if you registered in the morning?”
“I'm sorry, but it's Black Dragon Festival season.”
“Black Dragon Festival?”
The Black Dragon Festival.
It was a special dueling festival held at the colosseum to honor the legend of the heroes who defeated the black dragon, the calamity that had appeared fifty years ago.
Held once every six months, it drew skilled fighters from across the country and offered an even more lavish championship prize. It ran longer than the colosseum's regular dueling events and featured fiercer competition.
The biggest difference was that, due to the sheer number of entrants, the preliminaries were free-for-all brawls, with the survivors advancing to the main tournament.
The Black Dragon Festival lasted a week, and regular duels resumed three days after it ended.
Having never returned to Tartan since slaying the black dragon, Nellin hadn't even known this new festival existed.
If they didn't enter now, they would have to wait three days for the festival to begin, a week for it to run, and another three days before the regular colosseum matches resumed.
Thirteen days in total.
Rather than wait nearly two weeks, Godric's group registered for the Black Dragon Festival duels.
Although it wasn't what she'd planned, Nellin had no objection to their entering the festival. In fact, since it was apparently larger than the regular duels, it would be even better for building a reputation.
“Tch. Why call it the Black Dragon Festival?”
What Nellin objected to was the name itself.
Unable to bear her continued grumbling ever since she'd heard the name, Godric finally asked,
“Big Sis Marin, what bothers you so much about it?”
“Of course it bothers me, you idiot!”
Nellin snapped and slapped Godric on the shoulder.
SMACK!
“Ow!”
“Of all things, they named it after that damned calamity! Huh?! Would it kill them to name it after one of the heroes? It's bad luck!”
“Heh, but doesn't Black Dragon Festival sound more powerful?”
“Powerful, my ass!”
SMACK!
This time, Nellin struck Hawein's shoulder.
“Ow!”
“Isn't it because there were several heroes who defeated the black dragon? There were five of them.”
“Even so, it'd be better than Black Dragon Festival!”
The name had already been established for fifty years, so there was no changing it. That only made Nellin more disgruntled.
“I-I also think naming it after a hero would be better than the black dragon.”
“Right? That's our Def! You know what you're talking about! There are so many better names than Black Dragon Festival! Huh?! Aldor Festival! Kachal Festival! Fresia Festival! Ventus Festival! N-Nellin Festival...”
“Hmm, those sound strange. Black Dragon Festival really rolls off the tongue best...”
“You just keep asking for a beating!”
SMAAACK!
“Ow!”
Sgol snickered as Hawein took another blow to the shoulder.
“Hehe, being stubborn and asking for it again.”
“Here's your food~.”
After the meal, having cooled off a little, Nellin addressed Godric's Party.
“The preliminaries are in three days, so that's actually good. Since this is a bigger event, I'll be putting you through special training so you don't get careless and lose like idiots. Just so you know.”
“Special training is exactly what we'd hoped for. But aren't you entering, Big Sis Marin?”
“What? Me?”
Nellin chuckled and declared confidently,
“If I enter, none of you will get any attention.”
'Besides, someone might recognize me.'
“Or what, do you want to face me? It'd be nothing like training, you know.”
Cold sweat trickled down the faces of Godric's Party as Nellin flashed a toothy grin.
Even in training, they were no match for her when they all attacked together.
And she would treat them completely differently in a one-on-one match?
Never mind putting up a proper fight—they would clearly be reduced to punching bags.
“... No.”
“Thought so.”
