Chapter 56

(Note) This is my second post today.

2

It was Nakahiko, a friend since middle school, who first suggested going to see the stars.

In late April, just after we had become high school students, a star observation event organized by the local science museum was held at night at our school.

This was part of an event aimed at deepening connections among new schoolmates, and for the convenience of observing the night sky, it was held on a Saturday with an overnight stay. There were thirty participants plus two supervising teachers. Fortunately, both I and Nakahiko were able to participate without being left out by the lottery.

On the night of the event, the participants gathered on the school rooftop. There, we first had a lesson about the stars.

Given that I had been invited to participate, I wasn't particularly interested in the stars... rather, most of the participants were similar to me, but the organizers seemed to be aware of this, and the explanation given by the male curator sent to the school was well-crafted and quite interesting.

After that, we actually observed the moon and planets through a telescope, and searched for celestial bodies assigned as tasks. While taking photos of the stars with a digital camera's self-timer, a student who was fooling around came to interfere with the photography, and a warning from the supervising teacher was issued.

Such an extraordinary scene—yet, it was a familiar sight in the midst of our daily routine.

Why was it that, watching this, something welled up in my chest.

I had never seen the school rooftop at night before, yet it felt unbearably nostalgic.

This is the world we live in. There was no need to confirm it; it should be. ...It should be, yet it felt terribly distant.

Everything I had tried not to remember was about to spill out.

The thoughts I had buried were about to overflow.

...I mustn't cry.

My deeper self understood that doing something I had never done before would easily shatter this dream.

Even if I didn't do such a thing, this dream was already nearing its end. The world was gradually fading from the edges of my vision.

I could no longer see the stars.

At that moment, a girl standing on the night rooftop turned to look at me.

She was a girl with a well-defined face. Indeed, it was high school. I remember being a bit oddly surprised when I saw such a cute girl among the participants. She was in a different class, and we had no particular connection, so there would likely be no further interaction...

But the girl who met my eyes smiled.

Her pale hair, which looked white under the moonlight, fluttered—my vision went completely dark at that point.

***

"Ah, Master. You're awake?"

The first thing I saw upon waking was Lily, in her school uniform, sitting on the bed where I was lying on my back, looking back at me.

The wooden-framed window was wide open, and the morning sun shining through made the girl's entire body stand out in the dark room. Her light, pale hair glowed translucently. It was a scene like a painting.

"Good morning, Master."

Lily, who met my eyes, smiled warmly.

Her smile momentarily overlapped with a scene I had seen somewhere before.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that... I had a nostalgic dream... or so it felt."

The vague sensation characteristic of dreams had already faded. All that remained in my heavy, just-awake head was a strange sense of déjà vu.

"Dream? What kind of dream did you have?"

Lily blinked.

"Was it a bad dream?"

She leaned in, concerned, and her fingertips touched my forehead.

Her slightly cool temperature. The familiar warmth of her body. ...I smiled wryly, thinking the obvious fact that it was Lily here.

"...No. It's nothing much. More importantly, you're back, right?"

"Ah, yeah. Just now. We're on a short break right now."

She nodded and took her hand off my forehead.

"What about the others?"

"Rose was here until just now, but she left to check on Kato when I got back. Gerbera helped me and then slept here, but she left just now. She said she was going for a walk with Ayame."

"Out and about... Is it okay?"

"You're as worried as ever."

Lily smiled, slightly exasperated but also fondly.

Realizing I had unconsciously furrowed my brow, I felt a bit embarrassed.

"It's okay. I'm a bit worried about Ayame, but I told Gerbera to keep an eye on her."

"Got it. Thanks."

"Master, are you going out too? Then, get dressed. I'll go get breakfast."

With that, Lily left the room. I decided to get dressed while she was gone.

After taking off my pajamas, I reached for the clothes made by Gerbera that were folded and placed there, but before I could, the parasitic vine Asarina, which had grown from the back of my left hand, pulled the clothes toward me.

I thanked it and put on the clothes.

After getting dressed and having breakfast, I planned to meet Shiran today. I intended to hear about the current state of the fortress from her.

"..."

The place where over ten of us transfer students, including myself, were staying, Cheria Fortress, was attacked by a large group of monsters controlled by another monster tamer, Kato, two days ago.

After that incident, I rented a floor in the residential area of the fortress and stayed there with all my familiars, including Rose and Gerbera.

Due to the numerous casualties from the recent attack, even after subtracting the areas that were destroyed to the point of being unusable, there were still plenty of rooms available. There was no problem with us using extra rooms.

Originally, Cheria Fortress was garrisoned by three military organizations: the Imperial Southern Army, the Imperial Second Knights, and the Alliance Third Knights.

Currently, the survivors are about 300 from the Imperial Southern Army, about 50 from the Alliance Third Knights, and about 100 non-combatants. Excluding the personnel who went deep into the forest with Yuna Iino to rescue the surviving transfer students, the Imperial Second Knights were all wiped out during the betrayal of Jūmonji.

If you consider that originally over 2,000 people were stationed at Cheria Fortress, you can understand how devastating the damage was.

If it had been a war against humans, they might have surrendered before such heavy casualties. However, because it was a fight against monsters with no place to run, the damage was even more severe.

On the other hand, among the transfer students staying at the fortress, the main culprit, Jūmonji Tatsuya, was dead. Including Sakagami, who was his accomplice, nine students who stayed in the colony and Watanabe Yoshiki from the exploration team were also dead.

The survivors were, besides myself, Nakahiko, Mitsuhashi Taichi and his companions, Yuna Iino who was still in the forest, and Kato Riku.

—Hey, senpai. Why don't you team up with me?

That day, I did not accept Kato's outstretched hand.

I understood that shaking his hand meant discarding everything I had cherished and becoming a monster like him.

However, as he himself said, he would not give up on me.

We would inevitably meet again.

How he would reappear before me after disappearing, and what I would be like at that time, were things I could not even imagine now.

"What's wrong, Master?"

When I noticed, Lily had returned to the room.

On the tray she held was a bowl of porridge, which seemed to be made with boiled root vegetables and dried meat.

Lily placed it on the round table by the window and looked at me curiously. That's when I realized my hands had stopped.

"Ah, yeah. I was just spacing out."

I smiled to cover up and pushed the vague unease about the future deep into my heart.

I quickly got dressed and sat across from Lily.

In front of me was a portion of breakfast. I tilted my head.

"Isn't Lily going to eat?"

"Already? Are you still half-asleep, Master? I've already eaten a lot. I said I was on a short break, didn't I?"

Lily lightly patted her stomach.

I involuntarily lowered my gaze and quickly looked away. Even if we were close, she was still a woman, and it wasn't appropriate to stare.

"By the way, how's the cleanup going?"

"Umm, about 30% since yesterday."

Last night and this morning, I had left my guard to Rose while Lily was away.

I had entrusted her with a task only she could do.

Despite overcoming an unprecedented crisis, the survivors of Cheria Fortress were busy with post-incident cleanup.

The upper echelons of the military, who were in charge of the fortress, were all killed by Jūmonji's magic when they participated in the counterattack, and the commander of the Alliance Knights was now leading the survivors in the cleanup.

The biggest problem was the numerous casualties.

Due to the abundant mana in the forest, if left alone, these numerous casualties would turn into ghouls and become monsters. If not dealt with within a few days, the fortress, which had just overcome the crisis, could be devoured from the inside by the undead.

Of course, even if not, the abandoned bodies would rot and cause disease. Therefore, the cleanup of the bodies was prioritized.

However, the bodies were not just human. The large number of monsters that had besieged the fortress also left corpses scattered everywhere.

Regarding this, I had offered to help the knights.

There were various reasons why we took on this task, but one of them was what Kato had said.

In this world, when you defeat something with mana, you can obtain its mana. According to Kato, eating the flesh of the defeated was more efficient for obtaining mana.

In fact, Kato was collecting the bodies of the transfer students, who were rich in mana.

This rule naturally applied to ordinary monsters as well.

In that sense, the task of disposing of the monster corpses was beneficial to us.

The one most suited for this task was Lily, without a doubt.

She is a slime. Her characteristic is predation. She doesn't have a stomach to limit her food intake, as she is an amorphous being. Additionally, she is a mimic slime, which can obtain the abilities of the monsters she consumes by mimicking them.

That's why I asked Lily to handle the disposal of the monsters.

Incidentally, I had asked Gerbera to transport the monster corpses to Lily's room. The fact that she went for a morning walk suggests that her task was completed.

"However, 30% is better than I expected."

"It's also because I prioritize the ones that rot faster, so they digest quickly."

"I see."

Yesterday, I accompanied Lily partway through her task. Recalling the various monsters I saw during that time, I nodded.

Two days ago, we prioritized dealing with the overpowered Jūmonji and avoided combat with the monsters, so we didn't engage in battle. However, there were inanimate monsters like the Mud Golem, a one-meter-tall clay figure, the Fire Elemental, a collection of dark red polyhedra, the Steel Ant, a large ant with a metallic exoskeleton, and the Armored Tortoise, a giant land turtle.

The slime's ability to digest and absorb is, in a sense, a characteristic of being a mana-based monster. Most things can be digested, but there are always some that take more time.

"But, I can finish it within a few days."

"Got it. Then, focus on that for a while. It must be tough with so many..."

"No, it's not tough at all. For me, this is the first time I can eat so much. Rather..."

Lily licked her lips. Her red tongue was seductive.

I involuntarily froze, spoon in mouth.

"...Hey, Master."

Lily's smile had a hint of seduction.

"You know, I'm a slime, right? Slimes grow by eating and then split."

"Ah, yeah. That's right... But, what's your point? Lily, is something wrong? You seem... different..."

Lily now seemed unusually seductive.

Shaking her head, she said:

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just normal. This is normal... because eating means growing, and growing means multiplying."

"..."

Could it be that Lily's slime nature, which she acquired through mimicry, was influencing her human nature?

Lily leaned in, her rosy, delicate face coming closer.

Her fingertips touched my cheek. The sweet scent of the girl wafted to my nose. The sweet invasion of personal space was something only the two of us were allowed.

"Hey, Master..."

Looking up at me from close range, Lily's melting smile made me catch my breath—

"...What do you think you're doing in the morning?"

—I flicked her forehead with my left hand.

"Ouch!"

Lily, who had leaned in, pressed her forehead and returned to her seat.

I glared at her with half-lidded eyes.

"I'm going to see Shiran today. We don't have time to dawdle."

"Okay..."

Lily, still pressing her forehead, slumped onto the table.

Looking down at her defenseless posture, I inwardly sighed in relief.

...That was close. I almost let myself be swayed.

What's scary is that a part of me, deep down, felt a bit disappointed that I wasn't swayed.

If I stay like this, a spark might reignite from a trivial thing.

I quickly finished the remaining breakfast and stood up.

"Come on, let's go."

"Okay. ...Hey, Master?"

Surprisingly obedient, Lily didn't stand up but leaned on the table, looking up at me with only her eyes.

Bracing myself for what she might say, she told me:

"If you're ever worried about something, you can always lean on me, okay?"

"..."

At that moment, I realized something.

While chatting with Lily, the unease I had felt about Kato had lessened.

"Lily, you..."

Seeing me stiffen, Lily smiled softly.

It was a smile that made me admit I couldn't compete. I scratched my head.

"...Alright."

I offered my hand to the seated Lily.

Lily took my hand and stood up, her smile deepening.

But I didn't let it end there. I thought it would be unbalanced if I always let her get the upper hand.

I pulled her closer, more strongly.

"Ah!"

It seemed she hadn't expected it, as I was able to catch her quite easily.

I then hugged her tightly.

Immersing myself in her sweet warmth and pleasant softness.

After just two seconds of indulgence, I released her.

Just that made my heart feel lighter. It seemed simple, but it didn't feel like a bad thing.

"Alright. Shall we go?"

"Okay."

Smiling at each other, we left the room together.

◆I updated all at once this week, so the next update is planned for the week of November 8th.