With the slime gone, Smartass was once again alone in the secret workshop. Watching Claire’s expression soften as she received the slime’s massage on the road, he thought,

'I’m jealous. If I had muscles, I could enjoy that too.'

During its stay at the secret workshop, the slime had once offered Smartass a massage to thank him for bringing it meat. Having seen how much people enjoyed it on the stream, he had tried one out.

But the pleasure he had hoped for never came.

After all, Smartass was a lich.

In other words, a pile of bones! No amount of vibrating against his bones could give him the sensation of muscles relaxing. All he could feel was his bones rattling.

Amid such idle musings, Smartass considered what might happen next.

'Meeting Nellin in Chilture will be difficult. But they should find a lead easily enough, so with luck, they could meet within a month.'

Reality, however, unfolded quite differently from his expectations.

Upon arriving in Chilture, Claire took the slime straight to the adventurers’ guild.

"Are Marin and Godric here? They’re handing out flyers looking for a slime."

"Oh, you mean them. Unfortunately, they’ve already left Chilture. Could that slime be..."

The receptionist looked at the slime perched on Claire’s head.

"Maybe not. But it’s smart. I came to show them."

"I see. Did you find it after seeing a flyer?"

"No. Haven’t seen the flyer. But I met Marin, and she said she was looking for a smart slime. Anyway, where did Marin go?"

"Godric’s Party said they were heading to the Holy City."

"The Holy City?"

"Yes. They said it seemed something had come up. If anyone found the slime, they asked that the finder either come to the Holy City or leave it with this guild."

"The guild will look after the slime?"

"We’ve never had such an unusual request before either. But they assured us several times that it was intelligent and friendly toward people, so there was nothing to worry about. Besides, even if it did go wild, we can handle a mere slime."

'I think you’d lose.'

Knowing full well that the slime could take out even a B-rank monster in a single blow, Claire couldn’t imagine the guild subduing it if it went wild.

"Would you like to leave the slime with us?"

Claire shook her head.

"No. I’ll keep it with me."

"Then will you be going to the Holy City?"

"..."

The Holy City was about ten days from Chilture.

'Far.'

She had only just arrived after spending a whole week riding in a carriage. She was even sick of chewing the jerky she had bought in the previous village.

"I’ll think about it. Want to rest now. My butt hurts from riding the carriage so long."

"I see. Oh, since you haven’t seen the flyer, please take one. Here it is."

"Okay."

Claire tucked the flyer inside her clothes and headed straight to a restaurant.

+++

After eating, Claire went to her room at the inn, set the slime on the bed, and took out the flyer.

Name: Bouncy

Pale green slime

Very agile.

Friendly toward people.

Smart enough to understand human speech.

Often bounces and quivers when happy.

Can jump very high.

Can also glow on its own.

"Hmm."

Claire looked back and forth between the slime and the flyer. The description had much in common with the slime before her.

For starters, it was pale green. It was agile, friendly toward people, and sometimes quivered. However, she had never seen it jump very high or glow.

After pondering for a moment, Claire realized she had no need to puzzle over this in the first place.

'Just show the slime.'

It could even read a menu. That meant it could read the flyer too, so all she needed to do was ask whether this was it.

Claire immediately held the flyer up to the slime and asked,

"Is this you?"

The slime looked at the flyer she had unfolded.

'Bouncy! That’s me!'

BOING!

Realizing that the flyer’s description referred to itself, the slime bounced on the bed.

Meanwhile...

▶What does it say?

▶The hooman said it was a flyer.

▶Probably something about Squishy?

[Noblesse Fire]▶Hey, does anyone here know hooman writing?

[Squishy Queen]▶Smartass! Translate it! Surely you know! I saw those things called books written in hooman letters in your nest!

[Free Spirit]▶Nothing special. Just Lord Squishy’s name and traits, yep.

▶Come on, don’t just give us the gist. Translate it.

▶Get to work, Smartass!

▷I’ll tell you!

When the chat wanted to know what it said, the slime copied out the flyer word for word, just as it had recited its skill descriptions.

▶Bouncy lol. Haven’t seen that name in ages.

▶Those four hoomans wrote this.

[Squishy Queen]▶Hmph. Still searching for my kin, are they? I shall grant that it is somewhat commendable!

▶“Commendable,” my ass.

▶Honestly, aren’t those hoomans closer to Squishy than you are?

[Squishy Queen]▶Silence!

▶Lmaoooo.

▶Go easy on the truth bombs lol.

▶Says what needs saying! Anony-Cola!

While the chat was teasing the Slime Queen...

'Is that a yes?'

Claire had only spent a week with the slime, so she couldn’t tell whether its reaction was an affirmative answer or simply a response to the flyer. Thus, she decided to use its intelligence to confirm.

"If it’s you, stick out one tentacle."

POP!

At Claire’s words, the slime immediately extended a single tentacle.

"Oh."

Claire nodded at the slime’s prompt response, which gave her exactly the answer she wanted.

"Your name. It was Bouncy."

BOING!

'Bouncy!'

Delighted to hear its other name for the first time in a while, the slime bounced on the bed.

▶Oh lol. It’s Squishy, not Bouncy lol.

▶Nah, it has a name: Alexandros II.

▶Aw, I thought the furry would give Squishy a new nickname this time. Too bad.

'It really was the slime Marin’s looking for.'

Claire clenched her fist in delight at this unexpected good fortune. Even if Marin was seeking an intelligent, human-friendly slime, Claire had wondered whether that slime could really be strong enough to finish off a B-rank monster in one blow.

But the flyer had now confirmed that it was the same slime.

'I can get stronger.'

With its identity confirmed, hope blossomed within Claire that she could truly become Nellin’s pupil and grow stronger this time.

"...?"

A sudden question occurred to Claire, and she looked at the flyer again.

'Can also glow on its own.'

"Bouncy."

'Yes!'

BOING!

"Can you glow too?"

'Yes! Sparkle, sparkle!'

It had been a while since the slime had used Luminescence. In its excitement, it poured in more mana than usual and began to glow.

A brilliant flash burst forth.

"Aah!"

The sudden light struck Claire squarely in both eyes.

+++

"No, no. That won’t do. How boring."

In a cave somewhere on the Dersia continent, a being was watching the slime’s stream through a system window.

It was a humanoid monster over three meters tall, with dark green skin. Besides having the intelligence to use the system, it radiated an aura that intimidated the surrounding monsters and compelled their obedience, as if proving its place among the highest beings.

This being was one of the S-rank monsters living on the Dersia continent: the pinnacle of Orcs, the supreme being who ruled over them.

The Orc King.

The Orc King was deeply dissatisfied with the current stream. The boring content had been going on far too long.

Months of nothing but dull sparring without a drop of blood. The slime’s exploits in Sudden Calamity Forest had been somewhat entertaining and lifted his spirits, but only briefly. Then came more tedious traveling.

The Orc King found not a shred of amusement in watching humans enjoy the slime’s massages.

'And now it’s going to the Holy City? Then it’ll meet that Saintess and Paladin hooman!'

That would obviously mean more boring content. The Orc King liked scenes of blood splattering, hoomans screaming, or something dramatic happening. He didn’t particularly care if the slime died to provide them.

Indeed, the Orc King was the very troll who, ever since the slime first emerged from its cave, had anonymously urged it into dangerous actions whenever it took risks, or snickered about whether it was going to die.

He had originally used a nickname of his own creation, but his constant trolling on other streams had only gotten him kicked out, so he now operated anonymously.

If he didn’t like the slime’s stream, he could simply watch another one. But the Orc King was a troll, and he did no such thing.

'Why should I leave first? Change the stream to something I like!'

He took it for granted that others should cater to him rather than him avoiding them, and that his wishes should come first. With that mindset built in, all he did was complain—which was precisely why he was called a troll.

Back when the slime was traveling with Godric’s Party, the Orc King had considered creating some content himself.

He would send his underlings to raid the village where the party and the slime were staying, then enjoy watching the slime and hoomans fight off the attack!

But while he was considering how to attack and which ones to send first, the slime suddenly fell off a cliff. Once it met Amelia and Paulen, he had no choice but to shelve his new content plan.

'I can’t mess recklessly with the bastards who wrecked that fucking flying lizard.'

Reaching the highest tier naturally extended a creature’s lifespan. Sixty years had passed since the Orc King evolved into a top-tier individual, and he still remembered an unforgettable stream from fifty years ago.

A black dragon, completely out of its mind, had suddenly claimed that it used to be human and had become a daaark dragon.

At first, it went around picking fights across the Demon Continent for what it called a Get Stronger Challenge. Then it declared it would show everyone true evil and started a stream called the Human Massacre Challenge.

As it streamed, it dubbed humans, beastfolk, elves, and dwarves—none of which even existed on the Demon Continent—hoomans, furries, knife-ears, and midgets, coining slang that was still used today.

That damned black dragon had promised to massacre humans, only to shoot fire all over the Dersia continent and wreak havoc, even burning down the forest where the Orc King lived.

The burning forest had cost the Orc King many of the underlings he had painstakingly amassed. Even now, the memory made him shake with rage.

▶Hey, you son of a bitch!!! You said you were massacring hoomans, so why the fuck are you burning down forests too?!!!

▷Don’t like it? Come fight me. Lmaoooo. You can’t, can you? Weak as shit, aren’t you? Chicken, huh?

Even when he protested in chat, the black dragon only provoked and taunted him. The Orc King could do nothing but grind his teeth, unable to challenge it.

Its streams of picking fights on the Demon Continent alone had made it abundantly clear that it was far stronger than him!

And the ones who defeated that black dragon were none other than a group of hoomans, a knife-ear, and a midget.

That intense stream still lingered in the Orc King’s mind, and he remembered that one of the hoomans had been called a Saintess.

Attack a hooman called a Saintess? One wrong move could get him killed.

'But that’s not the case now.'

Neither the Saintess nor Smartass was at the slime’s side.

'Smartass might show up if Squishy’s in danger, though.'

Even so, he didn’t think Smartass would come all the way to attack his nest.

"Hehehehe."

The Orc King laughed at the thought of finally launching the content he had been forced to shelve.