Smartass was certain his hunch was right. Apart from the name, the traits Claire had described all fit: an incredibly strong elf with blue eyes and blue hair in a ponytail. And if that elf was looking for a slime, Nellin was the only person who came to mind.

But why was she calling herself Marin instead of Nellin?

'She must have figured using her real name out in the world would be a hassle! But Marin? Couldn't you have changed the sound a little more, Nellin?!'

Choosing an alias so carelessly was just like Nellin, but even so, Smartass thought she had put far too little effort into it.

While he was debating whether to tell Squishy that Marin was actually Nellin, Claire spoke to the slime.

"Still, you're a helpful slime. You've helped me a lot."

However much Claire hated monsters, she wasn't about to repay with ingratitude a slime that had saved her again and again. Besides...

'If I show her a slime this smart, she might teach me.'

Even if this wasn't the slime Marin was looking for, she might think it was once Claire showed it to her. Hoping that might earn her Marin's instruction, Claire decided to take the slime to her.

"Come with me and I'll buy you a meal. Want to come?"

'Food!'

The slime bounced, then kept hopping excitedly at the prospect of eating food in a village for the first time in ages.

Claire moved a little way ahead and saw the slime follow. Taking that as agreement, she kept walking, and the slime continued bouncing along behind her.

On the way to the village, Claire stopped as something she'd forgotten came back to her.

"Oh, I didn't collect the trophies."

She'd been so caught up in fighting that she'd forgotten to collect proof of her kills.

But she didn't regret it. Killing monsters mattered more to Claire than completing requests. Above all, she wasn't so short of money that missing out on the reward would put her in a bind.

+++

Getting the slime into the village was easy. Before entering, Claire picked it up with both hands and walked confidently toward the gate. A guard did come over to question her at the entrance.

"What's that slime?"

"I found it."

"Well, a slime is still a monster..."

"It's safe."

Claire, Snowflake Fist, was well known in the village: the champion of the latest Black Dragon Festival held at the colosseum, and an adventurer renowned for her fierce anger toward and obsession with monsters. If someone with that reputation had brought a slime along and vouched for its safety, the guard figured it wouldn't cause much trouble.

Besides, the village had other veteran adventurers in addition to Claire. He trusted that even if the slime went on a rampage, they could dispatch it immediately.

"Understood. Go on through."

"Okay."

Once inside the village, Claire headed straight to a restaurant with the slime.

It was much earlier than her usual mealtime, but the unexpectedly fierce fighting and the energy she'd spent recovering from her injuries had left her hungry. Inside the restaurant, she placed the slime on the table and looked at the menu. Right now, what she really wanted was meat.

As she read the menu, she felt a gaze from right in front of her.

'Food!'

The slime was staring at her, brimming with anticipation.

'What do slimes like?'

"... What do you want to eat?"

Claire showed the slime the menu. She hadn't stopped to consider whether it could read. If it didn't choose anything, she could simply order for it herself.

'A menu!'

The slime was delighted that Claire had shown it the menu. This was its first time choosing what to eat. Even when it had been with Godric's Party, they had never shown it a menu; they'd simply ordered something suitable and given it the food.

The slime scanned the dishes on the menu. The list consisted of foods it had often eaten while staying with Godric's Party.

▶Hmm, I understand exactly what it says.

▶Then tell us.

▶I don't listen to anyone weaker than me.

[Noblesse Fire]▶Spit it the fuck out.

▶I will not bow to the words of anyone stronger than me.

▶This fucker only hears what he wants to hear lmao.

▶Oh, for fuck's sake lol.

'This one!'

The slime popped out a tentacle and moved it to the name of the dish it wanted.

"Huh?"

Claire blinked at it. She hadn't expected the slime to actually point to an item on the menu.

'It can... read, too? Th-that's amazing.'

Claire had only learned to read after becoming an adventurer. She'd started learning so she could read books on how to defeat monsters more quickly and reliably. Back then, as soon as she'd become an adventurer, she'd asked the guild receptionist where she could learn to read, and the receptionist had told her she could learn at the guild.

Some adventurers had recklessly left their villages knowing nothing, unable even to read a request notice. For people like them, the guild offered literacy classes for a fee. Having studied in those classes herself, Claire knew all too well how difficult reading was to learn. She couldn't help being impressed by the slime.

Claire turned the menu around to see what the slime had chosen.

'Vegetable soup. Do slimes like vegetables?'

The slime had been eating nothing but the meat of monsters Smartass hunted for it at the secret workshop. It simply wanted some vegetable soup, which it hadn't seen in ages.

But Claire, unaware of that background, suddenly recalled something the martial artist who'd taught her the basics of fighting had said.

["Meat is good, but make sure you eat a variety of vegetables, too!"]

Back then, Claire had let it go in one ear and out the other, insisting that meat tasted better. But now even this incredibly strong slime liked vegetables.

'Is eating vegetables what made it so strong?'

"..."

After pondering it, Claire made her decision.

"Two vegetable soups and one whole roast."

Leaving meat out of this meal wasn't an option.

A little later, the food arrived on the table. The sight of properly prepared food for the first time in ages set the chat buzzing.

▶Ohhh, finally some proper hooman cooking.

▶Really shows up Smartass's knockoff meat dishes.

[Free Spirit]▶I did my best to make those, too.

▶Doing his best = bringing back meat and just roasting it.

[Free Spirit]▶What do you expect me to do when I can't get any other ingredients?

▶Why should I care? If you've got a problem, cook better lmao.

The slime moved onto the dish placed in front of it and absorbed the soup.

'Yummy!'

Its first cooked dish in ages satisfied the slime's "sense of taste."

"Oh. That's fascinating."

This was Claire's first time seeing a slime eat. She'd expected to see the food clearly inside its body the moment it absorbed it, but that didn't happen. Watching the vegetable soup disappear into it bit by bit, without it even seeming to open a mouth, was a curious sight.

While the slime enjoyed its vegetable soup, Claire tore into the roast and drank her own soup to fill the stomach left hungry by recovering from her wounds.

After finishing their meal, Claire picked up the slime and headed to the adventurers' guild.

"Welcome back, Claire. Hm? That slime..."

"I found it."

"O-oh, did you?"

"I killed thirteen Howling Foxes. But a Gluttony Bear showed up partway through, and I couldn't collect the trophies because I had to retreat."

"R-really? Are you all right?"

Howling Foxes usually traveled in packs. Saying that a B-rank monster had appeared while she was fighting them meant she'd been in a very dangerous battle.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I don't have the trophies, so you don't have to pay me. But I came to report it anyway."

"Understood. I'm so glad you're safe."

No matter how trustworthy she was, the rules prohibited payment without trophies. There were, however, so-called nuisance adventurers who insisted they were telling the truth, showed nothing but their wounds instead of trophies, and demanded their rewards. The receptionist was grateful for Claire's attitude.

Once she'd finished her report, Claire moved on to her next reason for coming.

"I have a question."

"A question?"

"Where's Marin?"

"Marin? Is that an adventurer?"

"Yeah. She's really strong."

"Uh, well. I've never heard of a B-rank or A-rank adventurer named Marin."

Claire then described Marin's hair color, hairstyle, eye color, and race to the receptionist, just as she'd explained them to the slime. But the receptionist couldn't give her the answer she wanted, either.

"I'm sorry. Even with that description, I'm not sure who you mean."

"I see..."

Claire lowered her head. She'd finally found a slime to show Marin, but now she couldn't find Marin herself.

'When will I find her?'

"Do you happen to have business with this adventurer?"

"Yeah. Marin's looking for a smart slime. She's searching while she's in a party with adventurers she's teaching. So I want to show her this slime."

"She's looking for a slime?"

At the mention of an adventurer searching for a slime, the receptionist thought it over and remembered something.

"I don't know an adventurer named Marin, but I've heard there's an adventuring party looking for an unusual slime. Apparently, they've even paid to have flyers made and asked the guild to distribute them."

"Really? Do you have one?"

"No, I've only heard rumors. The flyers haven't reached our village's guild yet. I'm sure the party's name was... Yes. It was Godric's Party."

'Godric!'

The slime quivered at the sound of a familiar person's name. And it wasn't the only one to react.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Godric is one of the humans who stayed with Lord Squishy, isn't he?

[Noblesse Fire]▶Ohh, those total scrubs?

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Those humans who kept having the slime use Body Slam. Are we meeting them again?!

▶Lmao, watching those scrub hoomans struggle was funny as hell.

▶Hunting's way better than sparring while holding back~.

The viewers who'd enjoyed the streams from the slime's time with Godric's Party reacted immediately to Godric's name. Watching humans weaker than the slime fight their hardest with its help had all the fun of watching low-level players desperately struggle.

"Godric... Godric... Hmmm."

Claire squeezed her eyes shut and repeated the name. It sounded as though she might have heard it somewhere—or perhaps not. When they'd met at the Black Dragon Festival, all her attention had been on Marin, so the existence of Godric's Party had been gradually fading from her memory.

"Oh."

After thinking it over for a while longer, Claire finally remembered Godric's Party.

"Godric's Party. I know them."

"You do?"

"Yeah. They're the party Marin was teaching."

"Then this Marin must be in the same party. That's good news. If it's Godric's Party, I have an idea where they are."

"Really?"

"Yes. I heard the rumor because word came from another village that the party had asked them to distribute flyers."

"Then where's that village?"

"It's a village called Chilture, about a week's journey from here."

"I see."

Claire had decided on her next destination.