Vivian and Marco let out relieved sighs as they finished setting up camp. The day was finally over, which meant that they could stop worrying about Mavis. Travelling off trail would have been far too risky, but their path had its own dangers. The trails on the second layer, especially popular ones, were practically safe-zones for raiders. However, that didn’t apply to slimes. Over a dozen raiders had tried to attack Mavis.

Marco had half a mind to let them kill the slime. However, he ultimately decided to step in. This was partially because Vivian seemed hell-bent on keeping it alive. Vivian had tried to use her frail body to shield the slime on two occasions, nearly giving Marco a heart-attack. That alone would have been enough, but Marco had plans for this slime. Such a rare creature would obviously sell for a decent sum. If not, then its body could be used as an alchemic ingredient. Marco suspected that this slime was actually from the first layer. When he considered how large it was, Marco realized that it must have lived for an astonishingly long time. The older a slime was, the more valuable their bodies were to an alchemist.

Marco glanced at Vivian and shook his head knowingly. She was likely using this slime for emotional support. He knew Vivian was weak like that. Meanwhile, even after his teammates’ colossal failures, Marco planned to have a good night’s rest. As the group’s leader, he knew that their losses could be replaced.

“This area isn’t entirely safe, so you take the first watch.” Marco ordered, stifling a yawn. “I’m going to sleep.”

Vivian nodded and turned back to their camp fire. Mavis was resting by her legs, almost like a pet dog. Marco snorted in disgust and then entered his tent.

Mavis hadn’t missed this slight, but it remained by Vivian’s side. The slime already knew that it had to tolerate Marco’s abhorrent personality. At least, until they reached the portal.

After travelling with these two for a day, Mavis began to miss the time that it spent with Theo. Putting his motives aside, Mavis had enjoyed talking with him very much. Maybe it would be able to talk with other people someday, but that wasn’t the problem. For some reason, Mavis felt that it wanted to talk with Theo.

“Hey, come here for a moment.”

Vivian patted her lap, softly coaxing Mavis towards her. The slime was hesitant, but it could hear a certain fragility in Vivian’s voice. The mage seemed like she would break at any moment. Mavis put its thoughts aside and crawled onto Vivian’s lap. The slime made sure to spread out so that it wasn’t crushing her.

“Thanks.”

Vivian crossed her arms and leaned forward. The weight of her upper body came to rest on the slime’s head. Vivian’s lips rose slightly in a drowsy smile.

“So squishy~”

For a while, the two stayed like that. Just when Mavis thought that Vivian had dozed off, the mage spoke.

“You know, when I was about to attack you…I heard a really pretty voice.”

Mavis shook slightly, but Vivian continued.

“It’s impossible, I know. But right now, I’m going to talk as if you can understand me.”

Vivian chuckled.

“Yea, I’m definitely going crazy.”

The mage took off her cat’s eye pendant and rolled the strange jewel across her palm.

“Apparently, my parents were raiders. They died when I was young, so I don’t remember much about them. I was picked up by Brightstone and raised with other orphans. Most kids are adopted at some point, but Brightstone herds parents away from the talented ones. Kids like me are trained and sold off to anyone who needs us. We become official’s assistants, apprentices to veteran raiders, or sometimes…brides to wealthy families.”

Vivian patted Mavis.

“It’s not like we’re slaves. Actually, I owe the people at Brightstone a lot for taking me in and sending me to the academy. I just…don’t get a choice. No choice to become anything other than a mage and a raider. No choice but to marry that sociopath. It’s tough. Especially when I thought I had an out. If Marco had just died like everyone else…”

Vivian slumped forward, pressing her weight on Mavis again.

“I’m terrible for thinking like that, right?”

Mavis didn’t reply. Instead, it wondered if Theo had a choice in his actions. What kind of treasure did he need to buy his freedom? Considering that Nico had given up on searching for one, they were probably very difficult to find. When Mavis thought about the differences between the first and second layer, the slime realized that it couldn’t imagine what the third and fourth layers were like.

Had it been Theo’s only chance to return to the surface?

The slime shook its body in a dismissive fashion. Ultimately, Theo did have a choice, and Mavis nearly wound up being his prey.

“Huh? Did you just respond?”

Mavis froze for a moment and then began squirming in a random manner. From Vivian’s perspective, it was just restless.

“Yup. Still crazy.” Vivian shook her head.

While Vivian spoke, Mavis noticed something at the edge of its perception range. The slime jumped forward to get a better look, but the intruder had already run away. By now, Vivian was on her feet.

“I heard something in the bushes. What was that thing?”

Vivian hadn’t seen anything in the darkness, but Mavis just barely caught enough of it to be sure. It was a dire wolf. Mavis had no idea if that beast was one of Nico’s ‘children’, but it had a bad feeling. The slime wondered how many were hiding outside its perception range. Meanwhile, Vivian was muttering to herself again.

“Should I wake him? He’s going to be mad, but…No, what am I talking about?”

Vivian’s glared into the darkness with a resolute expression.

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“Think, then act. Don’t hesitate, or you could die. That’s what Zaria told me.”

The mage rushed over to Marco’s tent and opened it. She practically dragged the swordsman out while he cursed at her.

“What? What the hell do you need at this divine-forsaken hour? Do you really think we’re switching right now? Huh?”

“Be quiet!” Vivian hissed. “I heard something moving in the woods and it sounded too big not to be dangerous.”

“Then you’d better hope this is a crisis, otherwise…”

“Just keep watch while I search for it.”

“Fine.”

Marco drew his sword and stood in front of Vivian. Mavis crawled behind her. Vivian closed her eyes and began to chant. A purple mote of mana appeared in her hands. She knelt down and pushed it into the ground. Vivian finished her chant and a pulse of magical energy shot out through the soil. It passed under Marco and Mavis, causing a colored line to appear beneath them. These lines sped back towards Vivian’s hand. Marco’s was blue while the slime’s was red.

“Let’s see what’s within thirty meters.” Vivian murmured, keeping her hand on the ground.

A red line jumped across the soil towards Vivian. Then another. Then another, until a total of nine red lines were connected to her palm. Discounting Mavis, that meant eight monsters were close by. Vivian scowled and was about to lift her hand when another line shot through the forest. Marco and Vivian watched in disbelief as it hit her palm. This one was blue.

“Eight monsters and one human.” Vivian’s once resolute voice had been reduced to a whisper. “That’s…That’s him, isn’t it?”

“The monster tamer. Maybe he heard about you taming that slime?”

“No, it’s the wolf! We killed one of his wolves!”

Marco raised an eyebrow.

“Zaria shot one and I slashed one, but they both survived. They’re tough bastards.”

“After you…left me...this slime killed one. What did you think I meant when I said that it saved me?”

“You’re telling me this fat slime killed a dire wolf!? Why the hell would I assume that happened?”

Marco was about to say more, but then a bone-chilling sound rang out from the woods.

*Awooooooooo*

The first howl was followed by a second. The second by a third. Soon, eight howls sounded out in harmony.

“There are less wolves in that direction.” Vivian pointed. “We’d be running away from the monster tamer, too.”

The pair sprinted through the woods, leaving their tent and campfire behind. Mavis followed Vivian closely. If the slime saw a repeat of the previous night, then it might not be able to hold back. They didn’t get far before a wolf jumped out from behind a tree. The beast lunged, only to be rebuffed by a lightning bolt and then a slash from Marco. Despite its wound, the wolf howled and continued to chase them.

A second wolf suddenly appeared. It dove at Marco, who grit his teeth and charged forward. An orange glow rose from the swordsman’s tunic and spread across his entire body. The wolf tried to bite Marco’s free arm, and as they touched, the orange aura surged out to attack it. Marco’s glowing sword thrust itself into the wolf’s shoulder. The wolf recoiled, giving Marco time to break away. Even though Marco’s tunic prevented him from losing an arm, he was still bleeding.

Seeing its chance, the first wolf caught up and went for Marco’s legs. Vivian hesitated for a moment, cursed, and then threw out a lightning bolt. The damage was minimal, but it stunned the wolf for a moment. Vivian placed her hand on the monster’s head and uttered a quick chant. The wolf’s eyes glazed over and it began to stumble around as if it were sleepwalking.

“We can’t outrun these things! Help me use this spell on the second wolf.”

Vivian had obviously been talking to Marco, but it was Mavis who rushed forward to assist. The slime slithered between the wolf’s legs and suddenly expanded. The wolf was thrown off balance and quickly restrained, giving Vivian a chance to put it to sleep. After her job was done, she stared dumbly at the slime until Marco’s shout brought her back to reality.

“Keep moving! There are still six more, not counting their boss.”

“If you do, then there’s seven. Actually, I’d say seven-and-a-half. Maybe eight if I get serious, ha-ha-ha.”

Vivian, Marco and Mavis suddenly stopped running. They watched in stunned silence as the trees behind them began to shake one by one. This game of arbor telephone ended when a man casually stepped out of a tree beside Vivian. He hadn’t jumped down or walked around it. The tree’s bark opened like a cocoon to let him out. Bits of leaves clung to his cloak and pants, as if they were sorry to see him leave.

“Running from me in a forest isn’t going to work.” Nico explained, shaking his head.

The outlaw whistled sharply, calling the rest of his wolves.

“W-Wait a moment.” Marco pleaded. “Hear us out, ok?”

“If you’re weak, then there’s no reason for me to listen.” Nico’s casual tone didn’t contain a drop of sympathy. “Anyways, the strongest smell near the corpse was…you.”

Nico stepped forward and his hand shot out like a viper. He wrapped his fingers around Vivian’s throat and channeled some mana into his gloves. The outlaw’s nails grew sharp while thick white fur quickly grew to cover his hands. Nico’s arms began to glow with a strength enhancing aura. Vivian found herself unable to fight back as her lungs screamed for oxygen.

“I’m not weak!” Marco yelled as he charged towards Nico.

A third wolf leapt from the shadows and wrestled him to the ground. The orange aura from his tunic activated, but the wolf simply tore it to shreds.

“You seem pretty w-”

Nico was cut off as a slimy tentacle pulled on his leg. Mavis tugged with all its might, throwing the outlaw, and Vivian, onto the ground. As he fell, Nico stomped the ground with his free foot. A powerful force flew out, pushing Mavis away. Nico got up while holding Vivian like a ragdoll. He prepared to tighten his grip, but then something unexpected happened.

“Stop!” A divine voice called out.

Its effect was like an icy gale, freezing everyone in its vicinity. The three humans and even the wolf slowly turned to look at its source. Mavis unwrapped its cloak and mask, donning them as it transformed into a humanoid figure.

“Ha…Ha-ha…Ha-ha-ha!” Nico let Vivian drop to the ground as he roared with laughter. “Well, bless the divine. I chased after you two during the blood moon and just barely caught a glimpse of you climbing a tree. At first, I thought that I was going mad. Then, my son turns up dead. Hit by lightning and strangled by some unknown entity. Even then, how could I believe it?”

Nico chuckled, clapping his monstrous hands.

“I’ve been around beasts my entire life, but you are by far the strangest.”

“…Thanks.”

“Where’s your knight?”

“He…gone…”

“A darn shame.” Nico shook his head. “I didn’t smell him near my son, or on any of you.”

Mavis stepped forward. Its tentacles rose in a threatening fashion.

“I…am…strong…hear…me…out.”

“You’re large for a slime, and very intelligent. But I wouldn’t call you strong.” Nico smiled wistfully. “Ah, if I was a still a trainer…I would have done anything to find someone like you. Now that I’m an outlaw, it doesn’t matter.”

Low growls broke out in the darkness and Mavis realized that the rest of the wolves had surrounded it. While it was distracted, Nico lunged towards Mavis. He thrust his hand into the slime’s gut and then quickly retracted it. The outlaw opened his fist to reveal a glistening black core.

“Slime cores tend to reside at their body’s center of mass. Of course, ones in the lower layers instinctively hide them. You can pass as a decent human, but you’re a lousy slime.”

Just as Nico turned away, a mass of slime rammed him with surprising force. One tentacle coiled around the core in his hand and pulled it away. Mavis immediately leapt back to disengage. Nico was so shocked that he hadn’t retaliated.

“So, your core-less body can retain some will. Only very old slimes can manage that. I’m impressed.”

Nico stepped forward and Mavis stepped back. The slime’s body still hadn’t recovered from losing its core. During that exchange, Mavis had felt a terrifying sense of powerlessness. If Nico had decided to crush the slime’s core rather than remove it, Mavis knew that it would have died.

Nico grinned and raised his arm, preparing to strike. At that moment, his wolves suddenly turned to look at something. After a second, Mavis did as well. Nico turned just in time to see a figure hurtling towards him.

*Thwack*

Someone crashed into Nico with inhuman speed. A defensive enchantment kept them in one piece while Nico was sent flying. The intruder grumbled something about defective enchantments as he adjusted his wooden vambraces. Eventually, he turned to Mavis and showed the slime a weak grin.

“Um…I guess you can take this as a belated apology.”