For the slime, life with Smartass in the secret workshop was fun and stimulating in its own way. Trying the meat he brought at every mealtime, with its new “flavors” and new “nutrients,” was a novel experience. By the standards of the sense of taste it had acquired as it grew, the food could not compare to what it had eaten at the Rudendion mansion, but the nutrients alone were enough for the slime to enjoy Smartass's meals.

His stories about the old days were exciting and entertaining, too. There were words the slime did not understand here and there, but whenever it asked, he kindly explained them.

And unlike Paulen, Smartass sparred with it in all sorts of ways, summoning golems or firing spells. Even a slime with such boundless curiosity could live here without getting bored.

Still, a month was its limit. Whether at Count Rudendion's mansion or the Great Church, after a week or two the slime had always developed a growing urge to go outside and encounter something new. In fact, the only reason it had spent an entire month without complaint in Smartass's secret workshop—which was far smaller than either the mansion or the Great Church—was that the stimulation he provided had satisfied its curiosity.

[Squishy]▶I want to go out!

Now life in the secret workshop could no longer satisfy that curiosity, and the slime pleaded in chat to be let outside.

▶Finally heading out?

▶You held out a long time lol.

[Noblesse Fire]▶I was wondering when you'd say it.

Meanwhile, Smartass had mixed feelings. A month had now passed. It was about time for Gracie and Paulen to reach the Holy City. Ideally, the slime should stay in his secret workshop for another month, as he had originally planned.

But after living together for a month, a desire to grant the sweet, adorable slime's request kept welling up inside him.

'But parting with Squishy...!'

At the same time, he was terribly reluctant to see their cozy life in the secret workshop end. He wanted to grant the sweet, adorable slime's request, yet quite apart from concerns for its safety, he did not want to be separated from it. No wonder his feelings were complicated.

▷Squishy, do you want to go out?

[Squishy]▶I want to go out!

The slime answered his question immediately.

[Squishy]▶Come out with me, Smartass!

▷Me too?

[Squishy]▶Yeah! Going out together! Is fun!

In the slime's experience, going out for a walk with someone was always fun and enjoyable. So it innocently believed that wandering around with Smartass would surely be fun, too.

[Squishy Queen]▶Y-you wretch, Smartass! How dare you try to take a walk with my kin before I do!

▶Dude, that's kinda pathetic?

▶Didn't a hooman already get Squishy's first walk anyway?

▶Oh lol, he means the first monster lol.

[Squishy Queen]▶All of you, shut up!

The slime's invitation touched Smartass deeply. But that did not mean he could go outside with Squishy. He was a lich, after all. Even ordinary people could sense the distinctive aura of death a lich emitted. More importantly, if the slime stayed with him, people might deem it dangerous as well and attack it. If he let it outside, he would have no choice but to send it out alone, as originally planned.

▷Squishy, I can't go with you.

[Squishy]▶Why?

Smartass explained why he could not go out with it. Humans were so frightened of him that they would attack him. That meant he could not simply go outside whenever he pleased. If Squishy went out, it would have to go alone.

[Squishy]▶Oh...

The slime slumped forward, deeply disappointed. It was not as though it could not understand what Smartass meant. It remembered how tense Amelia, Paulen, and Gracie had been when he appeared. At the time, it had not understood why they were so frightened.

But listening to Smartass's firsthand stories of the journey to slay the black dragon had taught it more than simply reading the biographies had. One prime example was its knowledge of the different kinds of monsters. Judging by that knowledge, Smartass, who had turned from a human into a monster, was undead. He had said that he and his companions had killed many undead on their journey long ago. In that case, humans might attack him now that he was undead himself. The slime could reason that much out, which was why it did not throw a tantrum after hearing his explanation.

After briefly losing heart, the slime immediately looked up at Smartass and asked:

[Squishy]▶Then when can I go out? I want to go out!

▶Lmao. Dropping him that fast?

▶If you can't come, I'll just go alone lol.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Yeah! Leave Smartass behind and hurry out to test your improved slams on other guys! That bastard blocks them every time. It's no fun!

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶I thought flattened Squishy was cute and worth watching, too~.

[Squishy Queen]▶If you are leaving, the sooner the better! My kin is not a hooman! How long must it keep cleaning Smartass's den?

Viewers who wanted new content, and those who disliked watching the slime stay in the same place, voiced their support for its outing. Of course, Smartass had no intention of letting it out immediately just because the viewers agreed with it. The slime's safety mattered more than anything. And so:

▷If you want to go out, Squishy, I'll let you.

[Squishy]▶Yay!

▷But I'll only let you out after I've made sure it's safe.

Smartass decided to assess the current situation first.

[Squishy]▶Make sure?

▷Yep. I'll go check whether it's safe outside now. Wait here, please.

[Squishy]▶Okay!

[Noblesse Fire]▶Hey! You shut the stream off whenever you go out! You're telling us not to watch in the mean—

Smartass immediately shut off the stream and used Warp magic to leave the secret workshop.

+++

Once outside, Smartass immediately cast a detection spell to search for nearby animals.

'Good. This one will do.'

The moment he found the animal he wanted, he went straight to it and used magic to bind it—a bird.

CHIRP! CHIRP-CHIRP!

The sudden appearance of a being radiating an aura of death filled the bird with instinctive terror, and it tried to struggle. But bound by magic, it could not move at all. All it could do was cry out. Smartass spread the bones of his hand and cast a familiar-binding spell on it.

HUMMMM!

As light from the magic circle shone on the bird, its chirping abruptly stopped. At that moment, it became Smartass's temporary familiar.

'Now, its vision... Good, the connection works. No problems with its hearing, either.'

After testing his ability to share the familiar's senses, Smartass used Warp again, traveling to a forest near a village relatively close to the Holy City.

'Go.'

At his command, the bird flapped its wings and flew toward the village.

Having made it his familiar, Smartass knew exactly where the bird was. The moment it reached the village, he shared its sight and hearing to investigate the mood there.

“Hey, buy some bread on your way!”

“So, like I was saying, that lady I saw back then was seriously hot.”

“Dad! Mom's calling you!”

Everyday conversations reached Smartass through the bird. Anyone listening would have heard nothing but peaceful villagers going about their lives. Still, rather than recalling the bird immediately, he sent it around the village to eavesdrop. Then, when he moved it near the tavern:

“Speaking of which, did you hear? A lich appeared at the Mage Tower.”

'That's it.'

Smartass stopped the bird and listened in.

“Of course. They say the next Saintess and a Paladin were there, too.”

'So the news has reached villages near the Holy City, as expected.'

“Who'd have thought a lich would actually appear? I'd only ever heard of them in legends.”

“Tell me about it. Thank goodness the Saintess and the Paladin drove it away.”

'What?'

“But the Mage Tower's in trouble. They say its master fought the lich alongside the Saintess and the Paladin, but was badly hurt by its attack.”

“I heard it's so bad he still can't get out of bed.”

'Hah.'

Smartass was dumbfounded. Rumors might easily change and grow exaggerated, but he had never expected them to become this distorted.

'Come back.'

He recalled the bird and used Warp, this time traveling to a village near the Mage Tower.

Once again, he sent the bird into the village to gather rumors. The results were little different from what he had heard near the Holy City. Just in case, he warped to other villages and listened to people's conversations through the bird, but the story was the same.

'How can this be...? As if exaggerating it this much weren't enough, there's not a single mention of Squishy? And nothing about Gracie, either!'

Accuracy had been thrown completely out the window. So much so that he felt foolish for ever worrying that the slime might attract malicious rumors or unwanted attention!

But it could not be helped. To ordinary people, the positions held by those present were simply too impressive. A lich, the master of the Mage Tower, a Saintess, and a Paladin had all been in one place. Then the tower master had collapsed, and the lich had withdrawn. Ordinary people who heard only those facts naturally imagined, Oh! The tower master must have fallen while fighting the lich! And that imagining spread as rumor. Neither the slime that had been there nor Gracie, whose only distinction was being the grandniece of The Mage of a Thousand Spells, received any attention at all.

'...'

Smartass felt an inexplicable bitterness.

He wanted to send his familiar directly into the Mage Tower or the Holy City to verify things more thoroughly, but the Mage Tower naturally had defenses against eavesdropping through familiars. In the Holy City, he could listen to ordinary rumors on the streets, but sneaking a familiar into the Great Church would be reckless.

Smartass returned to the entrance of the secret workshop, dispelled the familiar-binding magic, and released the bird. Then he went inside and conveyed his judgment to the slime through Telepathy.

[Squishy, I think you can go outside now.]

'Yaaay!'

Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

Thrilled to finally have permission to go outside, the slime bounced in place over and over.

Seeing the lively slime made him happy, but he still regretted having to part with it.

[I think you should leave tomorrow.]

'Okay!'

Agreeing with Smartass, the slime gave another bounce.

Smartass started the stream, and once a fair number of viewers had arrived, he immediately announced:

▷I've decided to send Squishy out tomorrow.

[Noblesse Fire]▶You're not bullshitting us, right?

▷Why would I lie about this?

▶For real lol.

▶Smartass isn't all fucking twisted like that old geezer, yeah.

[Noblesse Fire]▶Who the hell is this bastard?!

Upon hearing that the slime would be leaving, the Slime Queen immediately addressed Smartass.

[Squishy Queen]▶Where exactly do you intend to send my kin, Smartass? If you abandon it somewhere dangerous, I will not let you get away with it!

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶That's right. Adorable Squishy needs to be somewhere safe!

[Slam First Ask Later]▶No! Somewhere with guys it can take on would be better!

▶Squishy's going to wander around anyway, so isn't anywhere fine?

▶Watching it actually hunt and fuck things up instead of sparring would be fun.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶I'm sure Squishy would like to test its abilities, too.

With opinions pouring into the chat, Smartass spoke firmly.

▷I'll let Squishy decide that.

As he said this, Smartass took a map from the display cabinet in the secret workshop, spread it out before the slime, and asked:

▷Squishy, where do you want to go?