Carried into the elf village on Nellin's hand, the slime kept quivering and quivering with joy.

'Elves! Elves!'

Elves here, elves there. The second kind of living creature it had ever seen was everywhere. That alone was amazing, but the elf village overflowed with even more amazing things.

For one thing, many of the elves looked different. Their hair came in all sorts of colors: pale green like the slime itself, blue, blond, and more. Their clothes were similar, yet each was different. Above all, they were each doing different things.

Some elves were shopping, others were simply taking a stroll, and some bowed their heads when they saw Nellin. Others cast curious looks at the slime. All of it filled the slime with curiosity and delight.

Meanwhile, the viewers could also see the elf village through the slime's eyes and the third-person stream.

[Noblesse Fire]▶So this is a knife-ear village? Nothing special.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶I've never seen so many elves together before.

▶Knife-ear city. Total knife-ear city.

▶That knife-ear who just walked past looked tasty.

▶Hmm... would.

▶Dude?

There were a few indifferent reactions, but most viewers watched the village scenery with interest. From a monster's perspective, the slime's stream was practically a show called Kingdom of the Elves! Elves from the Dersia continent were a rare sight on the Demon Continent. Touring a village where they lived had its own appeal.

[Squishy Queen]▶Had I been on the Dersia continent, I would have wiped them out myself!

▶LMAO she's still holding a grudge lol

▶What can you do? Slimes are weak.

The Slime Queen was expressing her anger at Nellin's treatment of the slime, but...

▷Elves! So many! Amazing! Happy!

Since the slime itself was simply delighted, her anger only gave the viewers something to tease her about.

▶The slime's happy, so what good does you getting mad do? lololol

[Squishy Queen]▶Aaaagh! My fellow slime! What is there to be so happy about!?

The chat window, where thoughts could be entered exactly as they came, laid the Slime Queen's frustration bare.

"Still quivering? You're happy, right?"

Meanwhile, Nellin was puzzled as she walked through the village, feeling the slime's delighted tremors through her hand.

'What's making you so happy?'

To her, the village looked no different than usual. Though she understood its trembling as happiness, she had no idea what there was to be happy about.

"Nellin!"

"Here, I caught a deer."

Nellin had arrived at the village butcher's shop, which processed the villagers' game.

"You even drained the blood beforehand? You could have brought it as it was."

"That would be heavy, wouldn't it? And draining it early gets rid of the gamey smell."

"Thank you. Shall I butcher it right away and bring the meat to you this evening?"

"Yes, please."

"Of course! But... what's that slime on your hand?"

The elf butcher's gaze turned to the slime. Nellin briefly explained how she had brought it along.

"Are you sure it's all right to bring it here? The elder might have something to say..."

The butcher voiced much the same concern as the guard.

"Oh, don't worry. Would Granny get mad over every little thing like this? It's only a slime. Besides, I'm Nellin. Nellin, the great hero. Even if Granny gets a little mad, it's no big deal."

Nellin was about to head home with the slime when some jerky hanging in the shop caught her eye.

'It'll eat that too, right?'

She bought some jerky for the slime and returned home.

Perhaps because she was hailed as a great hero, her home was larger and nicer than those of the other elves. Still, this was a village in the forest rather than a city, so the house did not feel particularly extravagant.

Various bows and arrows hung on one wall. On the opposite wall hung a painting in a large frame. It depicted five people, one of whom was Nellin.

With one unfamiliar sight after another unfolding before it, the slime grew too excited to settle for quivering. It bounced off Nellin's palm onto the floor, then hopped around her.

'Amazing! Amazing! So much! So much I don't know!'

"Are you that happy to be at my house? What an odd slime."

She still couldn't figure it out, but perhaps because she could sense emotion in everything it did, she found it cute.

Nellin sat on the sofa and patted the spot beside her.

"Slime, come here."

Seeing it understand and immediately climb onto the sofa, she became certain.

"You really do understand me, don't you?"

She placed the jerky she had bought at the butcher's in front of the slime.

"Here, eat. I promised you something tasty, didn't I? This is tasty."

'Something tasty!'

The slime immediately made a little hop onto the jerky. The meat on the sofa slowly disappeared into its body.

This thoroughly dried jerky was neither something small and simple like moss or grass, nor a liquid like deer blood. Salted, seasoned, and prepared through several steps, it was truly a food rich in nutrients.

In other words...

'Tasty!'

Of everything the slime had eaten so far, the jerky gave it the strongest feeling of being "tasty." Absorbing this unfamiliar solid food took time, but that allowed it to slowly savor the nutrients it absorbed.

"You like jerky too, huh?"

Having absorbed all the jerky, the slime bounced on the sofa to express its delight.

"Do you like it that much? Well, our village's jerky is pretty good."

Nellin took some jerky from inside her clothes and put a piece in her mouth, then offered the slime another.

"Have some more."

The slime climbed onto the jerky again and began absorbing it.

While the slime was engrossed in eating, the chat grew quite lively.

[Squishy Queen]▶Why do you gobble up everything they give you, my fellow slime!? It could be dangerous!

▶lololol

▶She keeps getting triggered lol

There were messages from the Slime Queen, who disliked the very fact that it had so readily entered an elf village, and from those teasing her.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Why do they eat meat like that?

▶No taste at all. They don't even know how good fresh blood is. Tsk, tsk.

There were messages from those unable to accept different tastes in food.

▶Now, hold on! Why do humans and elves eat like that? Unlike monsters like us, they don't have strong stomachs, and even a little filth can make them sick. So they make meat edible through something called 'cooking' to help them absorb it!

▶Get lost, know-it-all.

▶Who asked?

With explanations being met by ridicule and all the rest, chat was far livelier than when the slime first started streaming. That was because its viewer count had surged, chiefly thanks to rumors of a monster entering an elf village.

A weak slime could stream, and it had even entered an elf village? More and more viewers were tuning in out of pure curiosity.

▷Tasty! Jerky! Tasty!

▶Squishy is so cute, happily eating jerky too~!

Unaware that its audience was growing in real time, the slime typed its honest feelings into chat, then focused once more on the jerky's "taste."

'Tasty!'

It happened then.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Someone knocked on Nellin's door.

"Nellin! Are you home?"

"Hm?"

Nellin rose from the sofa and headed to the door.

"Who is it? Oh, you're..."

Her visitor was an elf who served as the elder's personal guard. Wearing an awkward smile, the elf addressed her.

"The elder has summoned you. ... She said to bring the slime you brought here as well."

"Honestly, that granny. Fine, let's go."

With a sigh, Nellin went over to the sofa and held out her hand to the slime.

"Slime, hop back on. Come with me for a bit."

The slime bounced up and deftly landed on her hand. Since Nellin had given it not only deer blood but also the tasty food called jerky, it readily obeyed her.

It began quivering as soon as it settled on her hand. Riding there had shown it new sights before, and its trembling held the hope that it might see something new this time too.

+++

Following the elder's personal guard, Nellin arrived at the elder's house.

"You've come, Nellin."

In the center of the house, in a room built specifically for meetings, the elf elder sat cross-legged. She had long golden-blond hair and green eyes. True to the elves' long-lived nature, the elf known as the elder looked like a middle-aged woman.

"Nellin, I heard something unbelievable a little while ago. I heard that you, who defeated the calamity alongside the heroes fifty years ago, brought a monster into the village. And now I see a monster sitting on your hand."

The elder shot the slime a fierce glare, then thundered at Nellin.

"Have you lost your mind!?"

Nellin picked her ear with her left little finger as she answered the elder's bellow.

"Still as loud as ever, Granny. What are you so mad about? Monster or not, it's only a slime."

"Even a slime is a monster! How can a great hero, who ought to set an example for everyone, be so careless!?"

At the words "set an example," Nellin grimaced as though sick of hearing them and shook her head.

"What example? I became a great hero because I'm good at fighting. How many times do I have to tell you not to expect all that stuffy nonsense from me too, Granny?"

"Ah... How lamentable."

"More importantly, Granny, look at this. It understands what we say."

"What sort of absurdity is that?"

"It's true! That's why I found it interesting enough to bring along."

Nellin lowered her hand a little and spoke to the slime.

"Slime, hop off my hand."

It immediately responded, hopping off and landing on the floor.

"Hm?"

Nellin then took out some jerky and waved it in front of the slime.

"Slime, want some more jerky?"

'I want some!'

As if answering her, the slime bounced in place.

"All right, then jump in place exactly three times and stop. Then I'll give it to you."

'Three times!'

The slime had learned the concept of numbers when knowledge about streaming was imparted to it. It bounced in place exactly three times, then stopped.

"What in the world..."

The elf elder's eyes widened in astonishment at how precisely it seemed to understand Nellin.

"Good. Well done."

Nellin set the jerky on the floor.

"Now eat."

The slime immediately climbed onto it and absorbed it.

'Tasty!'

It quivered as it savored the jerky to the fullest.

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Eeeeeek! So adorable~!!!

▶LMAO it's been trained lol

▶Gotta do it if there's food involved lol

[Squishy Queen]▶Aaaaagh! My fellow sliiiiime! You don't have to obey that nonsennnnse!

▶If it doesn't obey and pisses her off, it could get shot dead with an arrow, you know?

[Slam First Ask Later]▶When! When are you going to use the Body Slam I taught you!?

▶Ever heard of a time and a place?

▶Guess that's why his kids give him the cold shoulder?

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Shut up!

▶Ah! Elf s*x!

"Well, Granny? Smart, isn't it? I told you it understands us."

"... Nellin."

The elf elder looked coldly at the slime as she spoke.

"Dispose of that slime immediately!"

"What!?"

▶?

▶???

▶That nasty knife-ear!

"Now!"

"But why!?"

At the elder's sudden, outrageous demand, Nellin instinctively gathered the slime into her arms as if to protect it.

Despite hearing words that threatened its life...

'Soft!'

The slime marveled delightedly at the sensations it was experiencing right then.