- Shari -

It takes some time to avoid the eradication of this town, but after some negotiating with Liqu stating very convincingly that she would level the whole area otherwise, we manage to get Gareth to drop some of his demands.

"Okay, I give in. But you won't stay unsupervised. I need to give Lord Varros something." (Gareth)

"Sure. As you wish. We don't plan on anything for the next couple of days. On that matter, you can tell him that the documents are already on their way." (Shari)

"I will. But don't believe this is a free pass. One wrong move and I'll call the guild." (Gareth)

"Oh, they said they don't want to choose a side. We are a side if I understood this right, aren't we? That means they won't go after us." (Liqu)

I'm visibly astonished.

This slime can fundamentally exceed my expectations of her sometimes.

"Okay, this is getting too crazy. Am I allowed to get out now, or is your friend still supposed to dissolve me would I approach the door?" (Gareth)

"Shari?" (Liqu)

"No, he can go." (Shari)

Now it depends, yet I doubt that he would try anything funny after all the talking.

So he opens the door while Liqu is mindful enough to shift out of the way to avoid the outer guards' gazes.

"S-Sir!" (guards)

"Attention! We're leaving now!" (Gareth)

"But Sir, what about the orders?" (guard)

"You just got them! Let's leave!" (Gareth)

Hah, that really took its toll on my mind.

"What now?" (Liqu)

"Now you're getting dressed again. We're still in the middle of a town." (Shari)

"Awh!" (Liqu)

She complains, but she does as told.

Meanwhile, I walk out again.

"Listen, I don't appreciate this kind of usage of my shop. You concerningly frequently tend to come by and just load all your shit onto me. I want this to stop." (Tamarah)

Damn, she's pissed.

Deescalation!

"I'm sorry, Tamarah. I really am. With this it should've been taken care of. I doubt you need to worry about the guard." (Shari)

"I sure hope so. I'm just a civilian provider and would prefer to stay out of all the political struggle you got yourself caught up in. So if possible avoid coming here for the time being. As far as I know, you should be able to pay me rather soon with that rather successful shop you opened up recently." (Tamarah)

She knows about this!?

"Now get out!" (Tamarah)

Okay, better not agitate her any further.

Before I'm even at the door Liqu is already next to me.

"Look, I bought the meat, and the rest, just as you told me to!" (Liqu)

She shows me the bag with the goods.

Looks all fine to me.

"How did that go? Please, don't try to cover anything." (Shari)

"It was difficult. Money is complicated. But apparently it went alright. That man I got it from seems nice and gave me as much as I wanted!" (Liqu)

Sigh, it was clear that Liqu wouldn't hold back if she had the chance to buy meat.

Yet it's probably fine if she splurged a bit, as I somewhat expected this.

This was a rather peculiar task for her and she succeeded.

So I should grant her that she lived up to very high expectations.

"Consider me impressed. You did really well there. I'm... I'm proud of you. Good job." (Shari)

Suddenly, Liqu ceases all movement, staying completely still.

"Ehm, Liqu?" (Shari)

Should I link to see if she's alright?

"YAY!!! Wooohooo! I did well! Yeahh!" (Liqu)

Abruptly, I'm rather glad I didn't link with her at this very moment.

I prefer my mind intact from overzealous expressions of someone else's joy.

"Fine, be happy. But now let's get back to our place." (Shari)

For today it finally seems like we could overcome all the bigger outer issues.

Now it's time to deal with the private ones.

Respectively, the girl that's glued to a wall in my cellar.

. . .

No, it doesn't become any less weird the more you say it.

However, as apparently no patrols are after us we manage to reach our shop undisturbed.

Though, I notice that there are quite a bunch of people staring when we approach our place.

Their stares are making me quite uncomfortable, as I can’t presume their reasons for watching me.

Yet none I come up with are favorable for me.

Well, as long as they leave us alone…

Once we enter, the first to greet us is the boy.

"You're back!" (Okin)

"Sure. How is your sister?" (Shari)

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Promptly his look becomes sullen.

"She... doesn't look good. I'm worried about her." (Okin)

That's not surprising.

I can attest that the process takes its toll.

Or in simpler terms, you feel totally shitty till the end.

"Get ready. We brought something to eat. Maybe this will improve her mood." (Shari)

That's the main reason why I had to send Liqu to refill our supplies after Michael left with all he got.

The boy looks very haggard.

The last days must've been exhausting, and I don't remember feeding them very often.

"Wh-what about Nia?" (Okin)

"Uh, I'm not sure." (Shari)

"Why not?" (Liqu)

Hm, Liqu seems unconcerned about the idea.

"Can she even eat at the moment?" (Shari)

I remember Tamarah saying something about how she won't be able to digest anything.

"Well, yes. It's better if the slime inside her dissolves this flesh instead of your own at this time." (Liqu)

Oh right.

The slime is doing this for her.

Disturbing information.

Okay, time for a cooking session.

Fortunately, our equipment also includes basic cooking supplies.

Alongside the convenient stove that I established for my potions, this should do nicely.

I'm by no means a great cook, but charring a piece of meat until it's done isn't the most difficult task.

Even less so if you don't have to worry about the heat and can just tell the temperature by touch.

The one issue I might point out would be how I have to fight the urge not to dissolve a bit while I'm at it to confirm if it's cooked right.

While Nia already ingested enough slime so that distinction doesn't matter anymore, I want to make this a pure experience for her.

While I'm at it, I go into high-speed processing.

Not because cooking is so hard, though, I really need to check on the vegetables, but rather because I'm forming a second body.

This one assembles via a tendril out of my back right into my usual form.

Once I'm satisfied with the setup, I use it to walk down into the cellar.

The issue lies only in how far I can go.

Every millimeter means controlling this matter becomes more difficult.

Yet at least as far as down the stairs, I manage.

But I suppose this wasn't a very complicated feat.

I find Nia where we left her and am glad that the kids didn't break the restraints I left on her.

Albeit in simple terms, I made extra sure to press the point that Nia needs them if she wants to live a little longer.

Liqu, on the other hand, was very elaborate in telling me what happens without them, and yeah it's bad, the "churning liquifying organs" kind of bad, but who knows what unsupervised children might do?

First, I should carefully address her.

"Ahem, Nia? How are you?" (Shari)

Okay, I know how bad that was, but pointing out that she's still tied up and slowly turning into the probably most problematic kind of existence wouldn't have been much better.

"Y-you? Ugh, I feel like shit." (Nia)

No wonder.

Her body functions should be at an all-time low.

If they're even present at all at this point.

That's at least what this potion Tamarah used was supposed to do.

"How, how much longer is this going to take?" (Nia)

"Uh, coming from my own experience, you probably only have to push through till tomorrow. Yet there might be individual differences." (Shari)

She's a child which could be bad, but it also means that there's less space the slime has to spread in, which might speed up the whole thing.

"Is, is that so? I'm not really sure if I can make this. I feel so sick." (Nia)

"Please, persevere. It's already very good that you made it till this point. Just endure it a little longer and I promise it's going to become better." (Shari)

"You mean... when I'll turn into a slime?" (Nia)

Yeah, okay.

Being "better" is relative.

"There are many downsides to being one, but at least you certainly won't be sick anymore." (Shari)

"Ugh, fine. That's probably something. What do you want?" (Nia)

"Well, I was cooking a bit. Rather, mostly grilling. That is to say, I'm not very good at it, but I just wanted to ask if you would want a bit. I'm aware you might not have much of an appetite at the moment, but wanted to make sure if you really want to miss out on it." (Shari)

"As I said, I feel like shit. But what are you preparing?" (Nia)

"Just some grilled meat and vegetables. It's nothing too special." (Shari)

"Hah. Cough, cough! Nothing too special she says. What kind of food do you think people like me can afford? Just saying, we're doing basically our own pest control." (Nia)

Yeah, it's probably the wrong moment to tell her that vermin isn't so bad for slimes, as the dissolving process doesn't really differentiate on the quality of meat.

Yet I should at least inform her what's roughly in store for her.

"The thing is, slimes don't have a sense of taste. This would be your last chance to actually savor any kind of food. On the other hand, it might only make this more regrettable later on, so I wanted to leave the decision to you." (Shari)

I'm not sure what kind of things the girl usually had to eat in her life on the street, but I at least got on rare events some good things for dinner with my family.

While dissolving is its very own sensation, especially if you consume things like meat, it's by no means the same as taste.

I can't really tell if experiencing something nice would be better than never having done so if she can't have it again.

It could become a fond memory, or simply a reminder of something lost.

Probably the latter, given the general situation.

Yet I want her to at least have the choice.

"So you offer me something tasty because I won't ever again be able to enjoy food?" (Nia)

"Uh, as I said, I wouldn't overstate my cooking skills. I'm mediocre at best. Anyway, what's your answer?" (Shari)

"Naturally, I'll take anything I can get. Any idea how gross the slime taste in my mouth is?" (Nia)

That's probably one of the famous cases of "get used to it".

"You're telling that to the wrong person. I went through exactly the same shit as you." (Shari)

It seems like she stands defeated there.

Or she just doesn't want to bother arguing that she doesn't believe me on this.

"Just... I would really appreciate any other taste in my mouth." (Nia)

"Alright, I'll come down any moment and bring you your portion." (Shari)

"What? But you already are..." (Nia)

And with this, I cut the connection to my second body and focus on the meal I was preparing.

I lack quite a lot of experience, so I can only hope that it's to some degree edible.

Trying to get it right from the looks, I stop before the meat turns too dark while paying careful attention not to get any slime on it.

Nia was very particular about this.

Then I place it with the likewise charred vegetables on a plate and call her brother for dinner.

And yes, I'm aware of the implications if such a thing is coming from me.

However, I want to show goodwill, and taking care of their bodily needs should hopefully account for something.

"Liqu, can you bring a chair with you?" (Shari)

"Yes, yes!" (Liqu)

One of the issues with the cellar is that there's a layer of slime on absolutely everything, which makes it suboptimal for serving food.

The chair should be at the somewhat right size for our bound victim.

"Nia isn't able to eat by herself, so I think you should feed her, Okin." (Shari)

I'm sure she appreciates this more than getting stuffed by the creepy slime monster doing unspeakable things to her.

Once we're closer again the girl perks up.

"Wh-what is this?" (Nia)

"Monster meat! The man said it's good, and I can tell it's full of energy!" (Liqu)

Right... Not sure if this is an important factor to her yet.

"Is that a problem?" (Shari)

"N-no. I just thought. Uh, the smell was intriguing." (Nia)

"I think it smells fine, Nia. I saw her cooking it." (Okin)

"No, I meant, uh, I think I got an appetite." (Nia)

Damn, she's almost salivating while ogling the meat.

Does this have to do with her condition?

"Here, I'll give you some!" (Okin)

He cuts a piece and Nia leans forward within the realms of her rather limited possibilities.

She's carefully savoring her bite and my anxiety about my cooking skills builds up.

Okin seems also curious about the meal.

Probably, because he's next in line.

"And, how is it?" (Okin)

She seems unsure about what to answer, which makes my insecurity only worse until I can't contain it anymore.

"Yes, is it okayish?" (Shari)

"Ehm, I, I think it's good? Just... My, my sense of taste is a bit off, but... I don't know, it doesn't taste normal? Also, my stomach grumbles somewhat weirdly now." (Nia)

Is her body already compromised to this extent?

"Sorry. I didn't want to frustrate you." (Shari)

"Uh, no, I didn't want to seem ungrateful. Sorry, I'm aware that you've been nothing but supportive of us. You wouldn't have to go out of your way as you do, I know this. But it's... it's kinda unfair that I am only now getting something good in my life and can't even appreciate it anymore." (Nia)

Seems like the mood is at a deep low.

Nia looks totally down.

She's even crying a bit and I... I freeze.

"N-Nia..." (Okin)

Okin noticed it too.

I need to address this now before he's saying something that's going to disturb her.

"Yes?" (Nia)

"Uh, what's your stance towards the color violet?" (Shari)

"Ehm, kinda indifferent? Don't have much contact with stuff in that color. Why are you asking?" (Nia)

"You see, you're..." (Shari)

"You're leaking violet slime from the eyes! As that's none of the colors you ingested that means it's going to be yours!" (Liqu)

"Huh?" (Nia)

"I-it's true. It's that color." (Okin)

"Ehm, pardon the intrusion." (Shari)

I move a bit closer and with my glove snatch a tiny bit of the liquid off from her face so she can see.

"Tha-that's from me? ...freaky." (Nia)

Now she went from sad to totally out of it.

I guess she has some difficulties processing this.

"This is good! It means it works!" (Liqu)

"I have a color..." (Nia)

"I, I think you two should enjoy the rest of your meal by yourself. We'll later come looking for you. Call us if something's going on." (Shari)

So Liqu and I are heading out of the cellar again.

"You're very nice to her, to prepare all this." (Liqu)

Is she jealous?

I probably should respond honestly, then she can't find a fault in this.

"You know, she didn't ask for this. I know how hard the transformation was on me, and can see myself in her, but she's also so young. That kinda makes it worse." (Shari)

"Oh. That makes sense. I think it might be normal to feel responsible for the slime you make. I mean, you're creating a conscious being." (Liqu)

So Liqu sees herself as my parent?

That's weird.

"Let's just get up for now and take a break." (Shari)

Sometimes, if no pressing matters are coming up, one should take the chance to enjoy the pause.

Otherwise, you'll eventually break down.

That was the thought behind this exclamation.

Yet I should've known the world would let me eat those words.

"Hello! When is this place going to open?"

A pushy man stands already half inside our shop.

Yet the crowd behind him makes me even more anxious.

The rumors about the affordable alchemist apparently spread like wildfire.