At Gracie's earnest pleading, Amelia gave her permission to study the slime, with conditions.

First and foremost, the slime must not be put in any danger. All research must take place with Amelia and Paulen watching. And since Amelia had come to the Mage Tower to further her training, Gracie would accompany them through the streets to look for anyone who needed a helping hand.

Paulen had added that last condition in case Amelia tried to avoid their walks by claiming she was helping with Gracie's research.

Gracie accepted every condition.

Walk around the streets every day? She could just think of it as a stroll. What she had worried about in the first place was having her flow interrupted when she was deep in concentration. But now that she had a research topic, if a brief outing meant she could focus on her work afterward, all the better.

With their agreement settled, they set out on a walk to find people in need of help.

'Magical devices...'

Everyone had reached an amicable agreement, but the slime was disappointed when they actually headed out. It had expected to see and play with all those magical devices, only to find itself going for a walk instead.

[Noblesse Fire]▶Squishy's looking down.

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Even that dejected little look is adorable~!

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Ho ho, I imagine it's because Squishy saw so many magical devices but couldn't use them.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Hmph. What's so fun about playing with those things? Hunting's way more fun.

▶Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a boomer take.

▶Mindless hunting is boring, yeah.

▶Honestly, watching Squishy play with them made them look fun to me too.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶That's because you lot don't know the true joy of hunting!

▶-BOOMER-

▶Guess that's why your kids ignore you?

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Shut up!!!!

▶Lmaoooo.

"Haa..."

While the chat was busy needling and teasing as usual, Smartass barely managed to recover from the psychological damage and looked at the screen.

'Right. I just have to think of it as her willingness to devote herself to research.'

Having somehow put a favorable spin on his descendant's groveling and finished rationalizing it to himself, Smartass decided to cheer up the dejected slime first.

[Free Spirit]▶Squishy! Don't worry. Once the walk's over, you can play with loads of magical devices!

The slime immediately responded to his message.

▷Really?

[Free Spirit]▶Yep. That's what that human was saying. After the walk, she'll let you play with a bunch of magical devices.

'Wow! Magical devices! Lots to play with!'

The slime quivered vigorously, happy once more after hearing Smartass's words.

"Huh? Why is it suddenly shaking?"

Gracie was puzzled when the slime suddenly began trembling during their walk.

"When Quivery's happy, it shakes like this or bounces on the spot."

"Hahaha. It must be enjoying the walk."

"I-is that so?"

'What a fascinating research subject... I mean, slime.'

As they walked, Gracie began observing the slime that would be the subject of her paper. Before long, she understood what Amelia and Paulen had meant earlier.

'Is that really a slime?'

The slime the Saintess had brought understood and responded to human speech so well that Gracie found herself wondering exactly that. At first, she had assumed the Saintess was simply blinded by affection for her pet slime, but everything she had said was true.

Though it rode on the Saintess's hand rather than moving around on its own, the slime expressed its wishes in all sorts of ways. If there was a shop it wanted to enter, for instance, it extended a tentacle and pointed toward it. It also trembled in response to the Saintess or the Paladin, as though it understood every word they said.

It simply couldn't speak the same language. They were clearly communicating.

It was a truly remarkable sight, but Gracie wasn't particularly surprised.

'Right. This slime can do something even a high-ranking mage struggles with. Isn't it only natural that it's smart?'

Seeing the slime use a magical device had made that profound an impression on her.

Of course, Gracie wasn't merely walking along in silence. Amelia and Paulen had arrived at the Mage Tower only three days ago, so they could hardly know its streets well. Whenever they saw an unfamiliar building or an intriguing item during their stroll, they asked Gracie about it, and she kindly answered their questions.

"That's a scroll specialty shop. Adventurers with money to spare often go there."

"Oh, that place is famous as a hidden gem. Their pasta is really delicious. What? Why is it famous if it's hidden? It's only famous among people in the know. If it gets too popular, there won't be any left for them to eat, so they keep the information under wraps to a degree."

"It's best not to go down that way. Most of the people there were kicked out of the Mage Tower for going a little off the rails or causing trouble..."

"What sort of trouble could they have caused...?"

"Things like blowing up not just their own laboratory, but the ones on either side during their research. And afterward, instead of showing any remorse, they argued with the tower master."

"Ah..."

Not only had she been given permission to study the slime, but the tower master had personally assigned her this role. Gracie therefore explained everything she thought they ought to know, adding all the relevant details.

Thanks to her, in just one walk, Amelia and Paulen learned which places around the Mage Tower they should avoid and which they absolutely ought to visit. The stroll, accompanied by her helpful explanations, lasted longer than expected. Before they knew it, it was lunchtime, and they decided to eat at a restaurant Gracie recommended.

"Thank you for showing us around today, Gracie."

"Your explanations were wonderfully easy to follow, Miss Gracie."

"Oh, n-not at all! That's my job in the first place! If anything, I don't know how to thank you for letting me do this research...!"

While the three enjoyed their peaceful conversation, the slime was happily eating the food ordered for it, having forgotten about magical devices for the moment.

'Delicious!'

Normally, the chat would have been full of comments on the eating show, but a slightly different topic occupied it now.

[Noblesse Fire]▶That human with all the dangling gear tells funny stories lol.

▶Why'd she tell them about failing to use a scroll herself? Lmao.

▶Hey, it was funny. Have a drink~

▶The story about her losing at haggling was funny too, yeah.

Gracie had sprinkled in anecdotes from her own experiences to keep the two people who had provided her with such a precious research subject from getting bored. Most were tales of failure, which made them even more popular with the viewers.

After all, they made excellent comedy for viewers hungry for juicy material! To them, it was much like hearing about someone taking a hilariously embarrassing fall.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶The story about human shamelessness was entertaining too. Blowing up the neighboring nests as well and not even apologizing.

[Noblesse Fire]▶I thought that guy had guts.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶You must relate because you're a shameless old blowhard yourself. Ho ho.

[Noblesse Fire]▶This bastard's picking a fight again?

▶The boomers are fighting again lmao.

Of course, even with an unusual topic, the chat was still the chat. Once a topic had run its course, the usual atmosphere inevitably returned.

Yet even then...

'Why are you telling them every last detail and making yourself a laughingstock?!'

For Smartass, having his own descendant become chat fodder was nothing but frustrating.

He would have laughed too if another monster's child or kin had made a fool of themselves. But now that he was on the receiving end, the shock was considerable. The psychological blows Gracie dealt him were arguably the greatest he had suffered in all the years since becoming a lich.

After the meal, the moment Gracie had been waiting for finally arrived.

It was time to study the slime.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"

'I can do this! I'll observe it without taking my eyes off it for a second! Where do I start? Should I first see whether it can use other magical devices? Or should I test how long it can keep one running?'

Breathing heavily, Gracie pondered what to research first. She was exhaling to calm herself, but to anyone watching, she looked deeply worrying.

"Miss Gracie, please calm down."

"Sir Paladin?"

"We'll be here for a month, so why not take things slowly, one step at a time? It's like training your muscles. Rather than spending your time wondering whether to start with your upper body or lower body and how to train them, it's better to pick one thing and then think about the next."

"Uh..."

The muscle-training analogy didn't resonate with Gracie, who was hardly the athletic type. Yet precisely because it didn't, it helped her excitement subside.

"Thank you."

'All right, let's start with that!'

Gracie fetched one of the magical devices from a display shelf and held it out to the slime.

"This! Want to try this?"

Her eyes shone as she offered it.

'A magical device!'

Excited by the new device, the slime was about to extend a tentacle toward it when Amelia held out her hand, blocking the way.

"Just a moment."

'Huh?'

"W-what is it, Lady Saintess?"

'Don't tell me she's already saying no?'

Had she been toyed with? Did the Saintess secretly have a twisted personality? It felt like being given candy only to have it snatched away, and all sorts of suspicions threatened to rise in Gracie's mind.

"Please explain what sort of magical device it is."

"Oh!"

'I must be out of my mind! How could I forget that?'

"I'm sorry! I got excited and forgot the most important part! I'm so sorry! So please, please don't cancel the research...!"

Amelia had only meant that, since this was an unfamiliar device, Gracie ought to explain how to use it. She couldn't help being flustered by Gracie's intense reaction.

"I-I'm not going to cancel it. Just explain, please. Quivery needs to know how to use it too."

"Yes! This is a magical device that blows air. As you can see, it's powered by a magic stone. If you turn this handle here..."

The device Gracie had brought was cylindrical, with an opening at one end and a compartment for a magic stone in the middle. At the end opposite the opening was a crank handle with two right-angle bends.

Gracie took the handle and turned it clockwise.

WHOOOOSH!

Air began flowing from the opening.

"It blows air like this! Turn the handle farther, and the wind gets stronger."

'Wow!'

Seeing a type of magical device it had never encountered before, the slime was filled with the urge to play with it right away.

Having finished her explanation, Gracie returned the handle to its original position and held the device out to the slime again.

"Try using this first. Once the magic stone runs out of mana, will you try powering it with your own mana, like you showed us today?"

'Okay!'

POP!

Answering inwardly, the slime popped out a tentacle and took the magical device.

And then...