Slimantha knocked on a wooden door—knocked on Mimi’s door. The slime summoner stood in one of the halls of Tabitha’s Apartments. She blinked and then raised her right hand once more. Yet again, she knocked on Mimi’s door. No Mimi answered though. Well, Mimi was supposedly missing, so her not answering made sense.

Slimantha raised her right hand again, preparing for another round of knocking. The tan flesh of her hand neared the sturdy wood of the door. Before her fist made contact though, she was greeted with the sound of an opening door. No, Mimi’s door did not open. The door to the left of Mimi’s door was the one that swung open. She pivoted to the freshly opened door, and her eyes—her beautiful brown eyes—met the blue eyes of a man. Said man had short brown hair and boasted a cream complexion.

“Morning, Slimantha,” the man said before yawning. He wore a red long-sleeved shirt and brown pants. A pair of black shoes clad his feet. A brown strap about his waist held a sheathed sword at his left hip. He certainly looked the part of the hero.

“Morning, Samuel,” Slimantha said, greeting the man. She gave Samuel a smile, and then her beautiful brown eyes drifted down to Samuel’s sword. “Is that the sword or another sword?” She returned her gaze to his face, her eyes sparkling.

“This”—Samuel touched the hilt of his sheathed sword—“isn’t that sword.” He slouched forward and kind of deflated. “The goddess is probably so disappointed that I lost the sword she blessed me with.” He straightened back up and turned to Mimi’s door. “Maybe Mimi isn’t home.”

Slimantha crossed her arms. “Well, I suspected as much since she has gone missing supposedly.” The slime summoner had a smug expression, her beautiful brown eyes on Samuel.

Samuel’s blue eyes returned to Slimantha. “Wait,” he said. “Mimi’s missing?” A bit of worry began snaking its way onto his face.

Slimantha lowered her arms. “Tabitha said Mimi never returned last night and asked me to look into it.”

“So”—Samuel glanced at Mimi’s door—“that is why you were banging on her apartment’s door then?”

With a huff, Slimantha crossed her arms and looked away. “I was not banging on her door,” she said. “I was knocking.”

“I see,” Samuel said. A small laugh slipped from his mouth, earning a glare from Slimantha. “So you were knocking?”

“Yes.” Slimantha’s expression softened, and she lowered her arms. “I was totes knocking.” She smiled. “Want to help look into the Mimi thing?”

Samuel smiled back at Slimantha. “Sure,” he said. His blue eyes returned to Mimi’s door. “So you already tried knocking, and that didn’t work? Well, the missing woman not being home makes sense.”

Slimantha brought her right hand to her chin. After a moment, her beautiful brown eyes began sparkling. “Maybe she is trapped at home in another dimension. Totes makes sense she couldn’t answer the door then.”

“I feel”—Samuel blinked—“we might be getting a bit ahead of ourselves with that another-dimension train of thought.”

“Right. Right.” Slimantha giggled. “Maybe save the another-dimension thing for later then.”

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“Hey, guys,” another voice said. “What’s up?” A tall green-skinned plant woman, Rose, walked up to Slimantha and Samuel. The long locks of her lovely pink hair swayed with her steps. Like her hair, her eyes also had a lovely pink hue. She came to a stop beside Slimantha and Samuel. A gray crop-top adorned her torso. Gray hot-pants adorned her bottom. Her bare feet pressed down against the wooden floor she stood upon.

Rose shared a smile with Slimantha and then turned her attention to Samuel. Her smiled got even bigger, and she fluttered her lovely pink eyes seductively. “You look quite fetching today.” She leaned a bit closer to Samuel and fluttered her eyes again.

“You”—a single drop of sweat rolled down Samuel’s right cheek—“look quite nice too.”

Rose’s face positively lit up. She leaned a little closer. “I tried a new perfume today. What do you think? Smells good?”

“It smells nice,” Samuel said, his blue eyes on Rose’s face. Rose looked to be in absolute heaven at this point.

Slimantha’s beautiful brown eyes kept shifting back and forth between Samuel and Rose. A big goofy grin adorned her face. Would Samuel and Rose finally get together? Go Rose!

“You know?” Rose fluttered her lovely pink eyes at Samuel again. “Why don’t you come back to my apartment with me? There is”—she blinked, and then her face lit up again—“a high shelf I could use some help reaching.” She pulled back. “Yes, I could use some help reaching a high shelf.” She smiled at Samuel. “I’m sure a hero could handle it no problem.”

“Uh, Rose”—Samuel blinked—“you are taller than I am.”

“I am”—Rose glanced down at herself—“taller than you are?” Her face paled. “I am taller than you are.” Her pink eyes returned to Samuel. “Therefore, I could more easily reach the high shelf than you, so …” Now she sweatdropped.

Slimantha’s beautiful brown eyes were fixed on Rose now. Slimantha’s formerly goofy grin had been replaced by a cute pout. She sighed. So much for team Rose. “So,” she said, her eyes still on Rose, “you heard about Mimi’s disappearance yet?”

Rose perked back up and turned to Slimantha. “Disappearance?” the plant woman said. “Did something happen to Mimi? I hope she’s OK.” Rose absentmindedly brushed her right hand through her long pink locks of hair.

“I’m sure she is fine,” Slimantha said and then smiled at Rose. “She is missing though, and we are looking into that.”

Rose smiled back at Slimantha. “I’m sure you can handle it,” the plant woman said. Then her lovely pink eyes went back to Samuel. “I’m off to my garden.” She leaned closer to Samuel and gave him another flutter of her eyes. “Come see me sometime.” She pulled back. “See you guys around.” She turned to leave. Samuel’s blue eyes followed her as she left.

A certain slime summoner, Slimantha, gently elbowed Samuel. “Like what you see,” she said. That goofy grin had returned to her face. Maybe—just maybe—there was still hope for team Rose. “You should totes ask her out.”

Samuel sighed and then turned to Slimantha. His blue eyes met her beautiful brown eyes. “Please stop trying to ship me with Rose,” he said. He then turned back to Mimi’s door. “Back to the Mimi thing, I think we should check her apartment for clues.” He pulled out a lockpick from his right pocket.

Slimantha blinked and then giggled. Her right right went up to obscure her lips momentarily. “Lockpick? Really?” she said. “Why not just get Tabitha? I’m sure she’d let us in. I mean she did ask me to investigate.”

“But”—Samuel glanced at the lockpick he held and then Mimi’s door—“I kind of want to use the lockpick. I mean the door has a lock, and this”—he gestured at the lockpick—“is a lockpick.”

Slimantha giggled, bringing her right hand to her lips. She then glanced at Samuel, lowering her right hand. “Why don’t we save the door thing for later then?” she said. “Why don’t we”—her beautiful brown eyes began sparkling—“go to the scene of the crime?”

Samuel sighed. “You sound like you are getting way too into this.” He returned the lockpick to his right pocket. “What did you mean by the scene of the crime?”

“The scene of the crime?” Slimantha smiled and then raised her right pointer finger in front of herself. “It’s the front yard of the apartment complex.” She lowered her finger. “Well, it is probably the front yard. I’m not entirely positive about that. It shouldn’t hurt to check the yard though.” She gave Samuel a lovely smile and placed her hands behind herself, hinging slightly at her hips.

“I see,” Samuel said. He smiled back at Slimantha. “Let’s go then.” The two of them turned to leave, their destination the apartment complex’s front yard.