'A slime?'
A slime had appeared out of nowhere. And seeing it deliver an incredibly powerful Body Slam made Claire wonder if she was hallucinating. After all, slimes were infamous for being the weakest monsters.
GRRR!
Claire wasn't the only one startled by the slime's sudden appearance. The Gluttony Bears, now numbering three, stared blankly in the direction the Howling Foxes had gone flying. But they soon turned back and bared their teeth threateningly at the slime. To them, it was nothing more than an intruder interfering with their hunt.
GRAAARR!
WHOOSH!
The foremost Gluttony Bear swung a forepaw at the slime.
BOING!
The slime easily dodged the Gluttony Bear's paw. There was no way an attack slower than Paulen's sword swings or Smartass's spells would hit it. One of the viewers watching through the first- and third-person views commented.
▶Those dumb bears are done for.
BOIING!
THWAAACK!
The Bounce Tackle it unleashed immediately after dodging slammed into the Gluttony Bear's jaw. That single blow shattered its jawbone, and the impact toppled its massive body backward. As the slime continued flying upward, the tackle's momentum still unspent...
POP!
The slime produced a tentacle and wrapped it around the Gluttony Bear to its right. Pulling itself along the coiled tentacle to change direction, it clung firmly to a tree.
CRAAACK!
BOIING!
Using the tree as a springboard, the slime launched a Bounce Tackle at the Gluttony Bear caught in its tentacle. The combination of elasticity and sheer force gouged a deep hollow in the tree as the slime sprang away.
THWAAACK!
Another Gluttony Bear died without even managing a final cry. And just as the slime was about to finish off the last one...
G-GRAAARR!
The remaining Gluttony Bear turned tail and fled. However unintelligent a monster it might be, what it had just witnessed filled it with instinctive terror.
[Noblesse Fire]▶Lol, look at it run.
[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶You've truly grown strong compared to when you started, Squishy.
[Slam First Ask Later]▶Isn't this all thanks to how well I taught it to slam?!
▶Nope~ It's thanks to the hoomans and Smartass~.
▶Like learning a little slamming would make it strong?
[Slam First Ask Later]▶Take it back! What you just said...!!!
[Squishy Queen]▶Hmph! Once caught in my kin's tentacles, creatures like those are nothing!
▶Not gonna chase down the one that ran and wreck it?
▶Nah, gotta focus on the new content hooman, yep.
▶Can't resist new content lmao.
To the viewers, the slime meeting a new human was now as good as fresh content. Leaving the fleeing Gluttony Bear alone, the slime approached Claire, who was still sitting against the tree.
BOING! BOING!
"Ugh...!"
Tensing up, Claire tried to rise. It might be a slime, but it had dispatched a Gluttony Bear in a single blow. That meant one attack from it was stronger than a punch with all her strength behind it. It clearly possessed at least B-rank strength; if she fought it now, she was certain to lose.
Even with the Howling Foxes and Gluttony Bears down, she couldn't consider herself safe. Judging solely by the way it had suddenly appeared and defeated the monsters, the slime seemed aggressive.
'I have to run.'
Claire tried to get up and flee at once. But her body could barely manage to stand. The relentless fighting had left her no chance to properly stanch the wounds on her shoulder and leg, and they were still bleeding. Even if she stood, she hadn't recovered enough stamina to get far.
Meanwhile...
'She's hurt!'
Seeing Claire bleed, the slime was startled and began to worry.
'You can't be hurt! You can't bleed!'
Having visited the clinic several times with Amelia, the slime understood that humans weren't supposed to lose that red liquid—blood.
'I have to stop it!'
POP!
The slime produced another tentacle and stretched it out toward Claire.
'No!'
Thinking the slime was attacking her with its tentacle, Claire tried to escape. But before she could, its tentacle wrapped around her bleeding right shoulder and left leg.
"Ugh!"
Claire groaned at the pain as the tentacle tightened around her.
She expected it to lift her up and slam her into the ground, or for the slime to launch a Body Slam straight at her. But several seconds passed without either of those things happening.
'... What?'
Still tense, Claire watched the slime. It simply held her shoulder and leg without moving. Even after a minute, it remained motionless, refusing to let go.
By now, Claire accepted that the slime had no intention of attacking her, at least for the moment. But she couldn't fathom why it was doing this.
"Hah, hah... What are you doing?"
Still panting, not yet recovered, Claire spoke to the slime—then immediately thought herself foolish.
'There's no way a monster can understand speech.'
But the slime understood.
'Stopping the bleeding!'
BOING!
Answering in its mind, the slime bounced in place.
"Ah!?"
Startled by the slime's sudden bounce, Claire reflexively tensed her body.
▶Lmaoooo.
▶Look how scared she is lol.
[Squishy Queen]▶My kin is showing her mercy! What an insolent human!
▶Lol, they can't understand each other, lmao.
▶The furry's tail went all stiff lol.
Furry. That was the nickname monsters used for beastfolk, much as they called humans "hoomans" and elves "knife-ears."
'Why did it bounce? Is it preparing to attack?'
Claire still couldn't work out the slime's intentions.
Then...
'Done!'
Feeling through its tentacles that Claire's wounds had stopped bleeding, the slime withdrew them.
Not knowing why it had withdrawn its tentacles, Claire reflexively looked at the wounds they had covered.
'The bleeding stopped. There's no blood, either.'
Not only had her wounds stopped bleeding, but the blood on her skin had vanished completely. The slime had wrapped her wounds and stayed still. Then, when its tentacles withdrew, the bleeding had stopped. However hostile Claire was toward monsters, even she could guess what the slime had intended.
"Did you... stop the bleeding?"
'Yep!'
BOING!
'Did it answer me?'
The timing of the slime's bounce made it seem as though it understood her.
Claire slowly stood up. Though the bleeding had stopped, her wounds still hurt, but she bore the pain. With enough strength restored to at least stand, she looked down at the slime, still wary.
The slime had no idea Claire was wary of it. Its attention was on something else entirely.
'Her legs! They're shaking! She's still hurt!'
The injured Claire needed more help. In the slime's mind, she had become someone to protect.
Just then...
KYIIIN!
KAAANG!
"...! Howling Foxes."
A pack of four Howling Foxes appeared, drawn by the scent of blood.
BOING!
'Go away!'
The slime turned and approached the Howling Foxes.
The newly arrived pack saw a human barely managing to stand, a bouncing slime, and other Howling Foxes and Gluttony Bears lying scattered around them. They assumed the human had defeated the monsters. The slime approaching them was just a slime, as far as they were concerned.
So they ignored its approach and bared their teeth, about to leap at Claire.
'Go away!'
BOIING!
The slime struck a lunging Howling Fox's jaw with a Bounce Tackle while stretching its tentacles out to either side.
WHAAACK!
The outstretched tentacles struck the faces of the Howling Foxes trying to attack at the same time with pinpoint accuracy. One flew away and lost consciousness. The other caught the fox beside it as it tumbled across the ground, then blacked out. Thanks to its training with Paulen, the slime's tentacles packed considerable force simply by extending.
'Again.'
She'd been doubtful the first time, but now she'd seen the same thing happen twice.
'Is it really... trying to protect me?'
A possibility she ordinarily would never have considered began forming in Claire's mind.
KYIH...
The Howling Fox caught up in the collision had not yet lost consciousness. It rose on trembling legs, then lifted its head and began to open its mouth. Claire had seen this many times already. It was about to cry out to summon another pack.
The instant she saw it, Claire summoned every last bit of strength she had, rushed at the Howling Fox, and threw a punch.
"Haaah!"
THWAAACK!
KYIHK!
Claire's punch killed the Howling Fox before it could give its cry. She felt relieved to have stopped it. But at the same time, strength drained from her entire body, and her consciousness began to fade.
"Ah..."
This was the backlash from forcing her body to move when it had recovered only enough to barely stand.
THUD!
Claire lost consciousness and collapsed.
+++
BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING!
"Mmm..."
As Claire regained consciousness, she felt something soft beneath her.
'It's squishy. ... Squishy?'
Sensing something strange, Claire abruptly sat up and saw something unbelievable.
BOING! BOING! BOING! BOING!
"???"
She was riding on a broad, soft platform. The platform was bouncing along. It wasn't even traveling in a straight line, but weaving around trees as it went. Stranger still, though it was clearly bouncing, Claire barely felt any shaking.
Startled, Claire rolled off the soft platform. Breaking her fall and getting to her feet, she saw what had been carrying her.
"A slime?"
It was indeed the slime. Its tentacles had spread wide and transformed into a platform, carrying Claire as it traveled.
'What is that?'
The sight was far beyond anything Claire knew. This was a different kind of shock from seeing a slime bring down monsters with a powerful tackle or stretch out tentacles to wrap around them. She had never even imagined that tentacles could transform like that. It was so unbelievable that she rubbed her eyes and looked again.
Meanwhile, noticing Claire had woken and climbed off, the slime bounced over to her.
BOING! BOING!
'You can't move yet! You need to rest!'
Once it reached her, it tilted its body slightly forward to make it easier for her to climb aboard.
"You want me to get on?"
'Yep!'
BOING!
The slime bounced in place.
"..."
She still didn't really understand what was happening. Her body hadn't fully recovered, either. And, for some unknown reason, the slime had saved her from the monsters.
'Recovering my strength comes first.'
Deciding to see how things played out for a while longer, Claire climbed onto the slime's tentacle platform.
BOING! BOING!
The slime resumed bouncing through the forest.
Then, noticing the scenery around her, Claire spoke.
"The village. It's in the other direction."
'Other direction!'
The slime immediately changed course at her words, leaving Claire astonished.
'It understood me!?'
