Meanwhile, as Claire decided to head for Chilture, Nellin and Godric’s Party had already left the village for another destination.

Originally, they had planned to stay in Chilture a little longer, completing requests to improve the party’s skills while handing out more flyers about their search for the slime.

But a rumor spreading rapidly throughout the kingdom had reached their ears as well.

A lich had appeared at the Mage Tower.

According to the wildly distorted rumor, the master of the Mage Tower, the next Saintess, and a Paladin had fought the lich and driven it away, leaving the tower master in critical condition in the aftermath.

Had Smartass heard it, he would have smacked his skull with his bony hand and demanded to know what kind of propaganda and fabrication this was.

Nellin had been eating when she heard the rumor. She was so shocked that she slammed the table and sprang to her feet.

"What the fuck!? What? A lich appeared at the Mage Tower!?"

"B-Big Sis Marin? Why are you so surprised?"

"What’s a lich?"

"Hey, you guys don’t know what a lich is?"

"Heh heh. Why would you think we did? You give us far too much credit, Big Sis Marin."

"Stop trying to look cool while saying such pathetic things!"

THWACK!

"Ow!"

As Hawein clutched the top of his head where she had rapped him with her knuckles...

"B-But seriously, what is a lich?"

"I’ve never heard of one."

Godric’s Party weren’t the only ones who didn’t know about liches.

"Hey, have you heard of one?"

"No. Do you know?"

"I think I’ve heard of them somewhere. They were probably... undead?"

"Why would there be undead at the Mage Tower?"

"It’s the Mage Tower. Maybe they screwed up while doing magical experiments on human corpses?"

"Sure, accidents happen there all the time, but even the Mage Tower isn’t that depraved!"

'What? It’s not just these guys?'

Nellin was bewildered by the conversations around her. Not just Godric’s Party, but every adventurer eating in the restaurant knew next to nothing about liches!

Still, that was only to be expected.

Nellin had set out on an adventure to defeat the black dragon, the calamity. Along the way, conversations with her companions had taught her about many monsters each of them considered especially dangerous and worth watching out for.

Ventus and Fresia had taught Nellin just how dangerous a lich was.

It was one of the few cases in which a human became a monster outright. As such, it possessed both human wisdom and the might of a powerful monster, making it utterly dangerous.

In terms of danger, it rivaled the black dragon calamity.

The corrupted end of a great mage.

That was a lich.

But liches weren’t particularly well-known monsters. They were, so to speak, rare monsters known only to those in the know!

Hundreds of years had passed since one had appeared. Even in regions that had suffered at their hands, tales of them barely survived as old stories. Only the more seasoned mages of the Mage Tower and high-ranking priests of the Great Church truly understood the threat they posed.

Dragons and monsters like Fenrir were still alive and well, with victims turning up now and then. But knowing much about a monster from centuries ago that existed only in historical records would itself have been unusual!

Nellin couldn’t immediately grasp those circumstances, however.

'I-Is this what they call a generation gap? They know this little about liches?'

She was feeling the passage of time, something she had never paid any mind to before.

'No, this isn’t the time for that. I need to go to the Holy City right away. Sigh... I wanted to see Fresia after I found Bouncy.'

Nellin had a plan of her own.

Since she had left Green Elf Forest for once, her original goal had been to search for the slime and visit her old companions along the way. That plan had changed to searching for the slime with Godric’s Party rather than alone.

Once she found it, she intended to visit an old companion—preferably Fresia, The Saintess of Healing, who was at least the closest.

As Nellin saw it, Fresia wasn’t the sort of human who would blindly shout, "It’s a monster! Kill it!" even if Nellin introduced her to an unusual slime. She had wanted to surprise her by showing it off.

But if a lich had appeared at the Mage Tower, and the next Saintess and a Paladin had fought it, this was no time to leisurely search for a slime.

If this lich was as dangerous as Ventus and Fresia had said long ago...

'Fresia will get involved herself.'

Even if it was a great mage who had fallen into corruption, it was still undead. Holy power would naturally work on it, and there was a strong possibility that not only the next Saintess but Fresia, the current Saintess, would take part in slaying it.

No, knowing Fresia, she would certainly be the first to volunteer.

"Hey, we need to go to the Holy City."

"The Holy City?"

"Why the Holy City all of a sudden, Big Sis Marin?"

"Y-You said we’d look for news about Bouncy here."

"Sorry. Something came up."

"Something?"

"It’s not something to discuss here... Finish eating, then gather in my room!"

+++

After the meal, Nellin called Godric and the others to her room and explained the situation.

"So... because of that lich in the rumor earlier, an acquaintance of yours in the Holy City needs help?"

"Right. Who’s more loyal than me? If a friend’s in danger, I have to lend a hand."

"Hmm. What exactly does this friend do, Big Sis Marin?"

"She holds a pretty important position in the Holy City. And now a lich has appeared. The whole city will be in an uproar, and I think she’ll have to get involved herself."

"An important position?"

"Is your friend a high-ranking priest?"

"Well, something like that. Normally I could go alone, but..."

Nellin looked over the group before continuing.

"I can’t just leave you guys behind when I’m in the middle of putting you through your paces. And we still haven’t found Al... Bouncy, either."

"... Heh heh. You’re welcome to grant us a ‘time of repose,’ you know."

"It’s obvious you’re trying to get out of training. Stop scheming, Hawein."

Sgol pointed at Hawein.

"Big Sis Marin, he’s not even scheming. He’s openly saying he wants out."

"True enough."

Nellin folded her arms and continued.

"Well, if you really don’t want to come, you can stay here. Even if I take you to the Holy City, all I can really do with you is... put you through your paces."

"So we’re getting worked to death either way."

"Heh. How merciless. When will the day come that my muscles can rest?"

"Sigh."

Though no one explicitly said so, it was becoming clear that they would follow Nellin. Then Def fidgeted with his fingers and asked her a question.

"U-Um, Big Sis Marin. There’s something I’d like to know."

"Hm? What is it? Go ahead."

"Is your friend famous in the Holy City?"

"You could certainly call her famous."

"Th-Then! If you help her, could you ask her to let us hand out Bouncy’s flyers in the Holy City?"

"Oh! That’s a great idea!"

"Hey, Def! When did you get so smart?"

"Flyers?"

'Well, that would be easy enough if I asked Fresia.'

Besides wanting to surprise her, Nellin had another reason for not visiting the Holy City first.

If she explained the circumstances, Fresia could, of course, easily help her distribute flyers. She could even mobilize the investigation teams in the Holy City.

But Nellin was reluctant to ask such a favor of a friend she hadn’t seen in so long. She wanted to find the slime herself if possible.

Still, she thought it might be all right to ask for help handing out flyers while helping with the lich.

After all, she wouldn’t just be receiving help—they would be helping each other!

"All right! I’ll ask her, then!"

At Nellin’s enthusiastic answer, Def raised both hands in delight.

"Hooray! We’ll be able to find Bouncy sooner!"

And so Nellin and Godric’s Party decided to head for the Holy City.

+++

Claire and the slime were heading for Chilture together. Their means of transportation was, of course, a carriage.

Inside, Claire held the slime firmly in both hands to make sure it didn’t run off somewhere.

'Soft.'

Holding it naturally let her feel its squishy, slightly springy texture. It was exquisite, wonderfully pleasant to touch.

She kneaded it in her hands.

'So squishy.'

That texture had a magic all its own, making Claire unconsciously keep kneading the slime.

▶Lmao, that furry won’t stop touching Squishy.

[Squishy Queen]▶How dare you touch my kin so casually! Insolent wretch!

[Free Spirit]▶Squishy’s texture really is addictive. Yep.

▶Hahahaha, speaking from experience.

▶I... I want to touch it too!

[Queen Cat’s Cradle]▶Lord Squishy is cute when those hands squish it out of shape, too~.

[Slam First Ask Later]▶Damn it, now we won’t get any hunting for a while because they’re traveling again.

Claire found it strange that she was touching a slime like this.

To her, monsters were enemies she had to keep killing. Yet here she was, endlessly kneading a slime—a creature so weak she had never even given its kind a second glance.

'Squishy feels nice.'

But the texture was far too pleasant for her to simply reject it.

'A massage!'

Meanwhile, the slime was interpreting Claire’s constant kneading as a massage. After all, rhythmically kneading the same spots was much like the massages it knew.

'I’ll give you a massage too!'

It began vibrating vigorously.

"...!?"

Startled by the slime suddenly trembling wildly in her hands, Claire let go.

'Did it dislike being touched so much?'

'Massage!'

With a bounce, the slime leaped straight onto Claire’s head and began giving her a vibrating head massage. Its body thrummed rapidly.

"Hmm!? Ah, uh, ah, ah, ah, ah."

The slime’s Vibration began—the same massage that had earned glowing reviews from so many people.

Starting at her scalp, it sent pleasant tremors through her entire head, along with a refreshing sensation strong enough to give her slight goose bumps. The effect was especially pronounced on Claire, whose sensitive wolf ears sat atop her head as well.

"Nngh...!"

At the unexpected rush of refreshment, her tail shot straight up and trembled.

'Feels... good.'

"Aaaah~."

After more than three minutes of the massage, Claire’s normally expressionless face softened as though it were melting.

Around the five-minute mark, the slime stopped vibrating and hopped back down.

"Ah."

With the pleasant, refreshing sensation suddenly gone, Claire reflexively gave the slime a look full of longing.

'My turn!'

Oblivious to Claire’s feelings, the slime climbed onto her lap and waited for her to massage it this time.

"Thank you. That felt good."

Claire took hold of it again and gently kneaded it.

Just then...

"Hey."

An adventurer with a scar on his cheek, riding in the same carriage, spoke to Claire.

"What?"

"... Can I get what you just had, too?"

Seeing how thoroughly she had enjoyed the massage had piqued his curiosity.

"I don’t know."

Claire looked down at the slime and asked,

"Will you do it for him too?"

The slime bounced over onto the man’s lap in response.

"Wh-What’s going on?"

Claire offered the bewildered man her best guess.

"... I think it’ll do it if you knead it."

"Knead it? Like this?"

He kneaded the slime in his hands.

"Ah. This is nice."

And a few minutes later...

"Uh, ah, ah, aaaah~."

A man’s deep voice drifted from the carriage, reveling in the refreshing sensation.