- Shari -

Again I laid down in my tub.

Last time it was as if I was in a comfortable bed for the first time since my transformation, so I couldn't help but get a little overwhelmed by the feeling.

Now that I am slightly used to this sensation I am at least able to keep my senses together.

As nice as this feeling of sinking in a lake was, it clouded my perception of my surroundings.

This was quite risky, concerning that I should still be wary in this place.

Like this, I am more than aware that Liqu just brought a tendril into my room to watch me.

I know that even if I would reprimand her now, she still wouldn't be able to help it.

Also, getting upset about this is not helping my rest.

So I simply ignore it.

And finally, she eventually pulls it away.

This means I can now rest assured.

.

.

.

Who am I kidding?

This slime without any supervision is totally bad news.

I won't ever be able to calm down if I need to worry that she's up to cause another Liqu-mess.

Urgh, just a short look.

I will ascertain that she's in her room and everything is fine, and then I will have some peace of mind.

Yet as I don't want to stimulate her I can't use the door, she would directly jump at me and after that be far too excited to be left alone.

An excited Liqu is almost as bad as a hungry Liqu.

It means that she's more prone to do something reckless in that mood.

So just a small look.

I go to the hole behind the trunk, let my arms lose their shape, and guide them around this piece of furniture.

This much is still within my personal limits.

I just let this slime appendage slide through the gap and make sure that I establish a visual connection to my core.

I should still be real about this.

Liqu is almost as paranoid about her safety as I am, so the chance is high that even if I just peek into her room she might notice.

Yet this is still better than having her jumping at me to hug.

If she tries to form any connection to this appendage I can simply cut it off.

Urgh, my common sense as a human has really deteriorated.

Fine, just forget about it.

It's a weird feeling to glide through that hole.

I can see what is in front of me while ignoring the vision from my eyes.

I practically feel like a worm or snake while squeezing through this passage.

The distance isn't too great, but it's still the farthest I've ever gone from the rest of me.

On the other side of the wall, I use that weird connection to look around.

Ever since my transformation, I thought about my body as my body, as basic as that sounds.

But with time I noticed the differences.

From using extra appendages to reshaping them after they got destroyed, or entirely losing my form while squeezing through a tiny hole I had to realize that things are now fundamentally different.

This means that the tip of that tendril I use right now could be the end of my arm as well as another very tiny head.

In the end, it comes down to the mental image I utilize to determine the appendage's function.

This might feel wrong, but that's how I use it right now.

I can move my head-arm combination to the side to look at what is there and to the other if I want to observe what is there.

Yet there is one tiny issue I have while doing so.

Where the heck is that goddamned slime?!!

Not in her room, that much is sure.

I checked each side and the ceiling twice.

I even grew the appendage longer to reach the middle of the room so I could look behind the furniture.

And this growth meant that there is not much left of my main body.

I'm basically a long, thin worm.

This doesn't improve my mood.

I have to find that slime before I again have to take the blame for the chaos she causes.

First, I have to find out where she went.

Since I haven't heard anything from the exit I would say that she didn't go there.

Even Liqu would find it difficult to pass two guards unseen, considering how big she is.

This leaves the other possibility, which I consider far more likely; she went through the hole I'm inside right now.

That leaves the question of how to find her.

Looking at random for her in this huge mansion would be very inefficient.

But it wouldn't be possible in the first place.

I can't pass the guards without spilling everything to them.

It would be like, "Hey! It might be that this very dangerous slime is running wild right now. You know the one who today was kinda on a rampage. Is anyone willing to help me go looking for her?"

And who knows what she will be doing when we find her?

So I have only that one choice I didn't want to consider.

I need to follow behind her through that hole.

I recede the appendage I formed back to the middle, where two more paths run up and downwards.

Also, I have to bring my core inside.

In the first place, this narrow passage means I cannot keep my body as it is if I want to enter.

With dread, I think back to that experience I had while climbing that wall.

Or more crawling like an insect.

Yet insects have at least proper bodies.

But I don't see any other way to find Liqu.

The way I got scolded just today by Peras tells me that I don't have enough leeway to simply let everything Liqu does pass by.

Just getting thrown out would be the best case and already leave us in quite a bad state, so I don't have any other choice than to let completely go of my shape and slide inside that hole like some critter.

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While ignoring my screaming mentality I have to figure out how to search for Liqu now that I am here.

Everything feels so out of place that I couldn't maintain my vision and am now stuck with the all-around view.

The issue is solved rather quickly, as I can still find a bit of residue from her.

It is rather moldy here in the cellar so that the slime doesn't completely disperse.

This leaves completely new issues for me considering I can't prevent it from contacting and merging with my body.

However, now I know that I have to go upwards.

I still feel absolutely terrible about my body.

Yet I can't change that.

All I can do is imagine what I am going to do to the slime who brought this onto me.

The problem is that almost any kind of attention is considered positive by her.

Maybe I could use "impact" to push her core out of her body and store it in a bottle for a while.

If I could pull that off I'm sure that she would at least remember that lesson even when I eventually release her again.

And yes, I would, as bothersome as this slime can be at times.

While pondering how I should punish the source of all my problems I figure out the direction by following the highest concentration of slime.

She must've been in here before as it's everywhere.

The advantage of this is that it takes all of my concentration so I cannot muse about how completely out of place I feel while creeping between the mansion's walls.

The strange point is how high up this slime trail leads me.

What could Liqu possibly want this high up in the mansion?

I don't even know what's there.

First floor: Common facilities, servant's quarters, and meeting halls.

Second floor: The family's and higher officials' private quarters, offices, and recreational facilities, like music rooms, library, and so on.

I asked Dion about this while he guided us.

So as I said, I have no idea what would be on the third floor.

Well, I won't find out if I don't look.

I follow that trail through the, in my opinion, almost labyrinthine interior of the walls.

Yes, I know that whoever built this mansion wasn't prioritizing how well a slime could orientate while squeezing through the walls, but I can still fuss about this shortcoming.

Finally, I see light coming out of a hole.

"Okay: Sigh, he's probably already forgotten me."

"How could I!"

I hear voices, yet I can't recognize either of them.

They talk about something.

I realize that slimes are rather good at hearing.

Especially through concrete, if they are attached to it.

"But what about the other humans? Won't they fight us? Don't you fear them?"

Okay, that didn't sound like Liqu, but that did totally sound like something Liqu would say.

Contemplating this for a split second with fast processing I realize that Liqu is not as attached to her original voice as I am to mine, so she is fully capable of simply changing it on a whim.

As the trail is leading here I am rather sure I found my chaotic companion.

So I head to the hole.

One reason is so I can finally catch her.

The other is to stop being a formless mass and to finally get my goddamned body back!!

Ahem, yes it got rather hard to ignore my self-disgust.

Yet when I am at the hole, I freeze.

Liqu expanded over a wide area inside the room while also forming a body, weirdly one the size of a child.

And in the middle of all this slime stands a young girl.

Naturally, I panic.

Even if I know that she surely won't break her promise and harm a child, the fact that she is alone with her spells trouble.

Even more when I see that this room is a luxury suite.

Like this, I realize what the third floor is for.

It's for super-special characters who have to be kept separated from the common folk.

And Liqu is with her.

My core flares up.

Even if this slime doesn't care in the slightest about something like the especially expensive-looking interior she must have known that there must be a reason why this girl has her own floor.

And now she is dragging me into this.

Liqu has already revealed herself so there's no point in hiding.

I assemble the rest of my body at the hole and push through.

It's a weird sensation, but right now my anger makes me focus on my target.

Naturally, I start directly to shape back to my body.

"Liiiieequuuu!!! Youu goddaamneeed waaalkiieng calaaamityee! Trouublemaker! Chaos incarnate!" (Shari)

I started to speak before my throat had properly formed, but I couldn't hold this any longer.

"And there she is." (Liqu)

Liqu starts to gather her mass at one point and takes her usual appearance.

"You!" (Shari)

"Hello." (Liqu)

"No! Not "hello"! You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in!." (Shari)

"Trouble?" (Liqu)

"No, please no! She didn't do anything wrong! Please don't punish her." (Anvenia)

This girl jumps with spread arms in front of her as if I would be the dangerous one out of the two of us.

This gets far too ridiculous for me.

"Please. I know she is very important to you, but you need to be more tolerant. You must grant her more freedom." (Anvenia)

I stare blankly at this girl.

Even with fast processing, I am unable to make sense of her words.

"I... think you've misunderstood something." (Shari)

"No. Liqu told me everything about your relationship and how possessive you are. Just because you like Liqu you can't control her." (Anvenia)

If my body could experience this reaction my eyes would twitch furiously.

"What!?" (Shari)

"You... like me?" (Liqu)

"EVERYONE! SHUT UP!!!" (Shari)

They stare at me.

At least this grants me the break which I desperately need to order my mind, and this situation while I'm at it.

First the girl.

"You. Little one. You seriously got something wrong here. Under different circumstances, I would now put my greatest effort to correct you, but right now this lacks the time and priority. So I have to ask for you to kindly hold back while I settle a very private matter with my... comrade." (Shari)

Couldn't find a less problematic term for our relationship.

Now I can just hope that she won't any longer meddle with what I have to say.

So I turn to the slime calamity.

"Liqu. Before you say anything else I want you to know how extremely angry I am at you. Forget anything else, right now I am just furious about how you mess things up for me with your obliviousness and stupidity." (Shari)

"Shari." (Liqu)

"NO! Now you listen to me! After all, I've been through, I manage against great adversity to get a place where I can comfortably live in, and I'm even including you, and then you're running rogue and threaten to ruin everything!" (Shari)

"Shari." (Liqu)

"I wasn't done yet! Every single time I look for the shortest moment away, you're doing this stuff! As if you have a condition that prevents you from just doing as you were told! And now again! What did you think would come from slipping out at night and... doing what? Sneaking into little girls' bedrooms? Do you really believe that helps?! Everyone is already on edge and then you commit such an act of madness! It's as if you're deliberately trying to cause chaos!" (Shari)

"Shari." (Liqu)

"By God! What is it?!" (Shari)

At this moment the door opens and an elderly maid looks at us two and the little girl in the room.

"I wanted to tell you that someone's coming." (Liqu)

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" (elderly maid)

Oh great.

Wonderful.

This certainly didn't get totally out of hand.