Chapter 70

Luke is a smart slime. (He's a super rare mutant, after all.)

Luke, an ancient slime mutant who became Yūri's familiar, isn't always glued to Yūri's side. When Yūri goes out, Luke stays by his side as a familiar's duty. This is because of the mission Arore taught him: "Familiars exist to protect their masters." ...Well, it's not like Yūri, who boasts an impossible stat of Luck ∞, often gets into trouble. At least, since becoming Yūri's familiar, Luke hasn't seen Yūri in any danger.

When Yūri is busy with housework at the hideout, Luke usually wanders around without getting in the way. But he's not just wandering. Slimes have the ability to absorb, decompose, and digest objects, allowing them to store energy as a super omnivorous life form.

Thus, Luke wanders around the hideout, absorbing and digesting dust, dirt, and trash, effectively cleaning and recovering a tiny bit of energy at the same time. The reason is that if he cleans the floor of the hideout, Yūri will praise him and give him delicious food (including leftovers and kitchen waste) as a reward.

Incidentally, Luke's favorite food is stir-fried vegetables. He seems to prefer vegetables over meat. It might be a healthy preference, but he seems to like them better when they are stir-fried. Still, he doesn't complain and will absorb and decompose any leftovers or kitchen waste, making him a very convenient familiar.

...What? Is the way he's being used as a familiar wrong? Don't worry about it now.

An event also revealed that Luke is an ancient slime mutant with cheat stats.

Luke regularly cleans the hideout and even handles piles of leaves in the yard. While processing large amounts of trash, if he finds something that isn't trash, he never decomposes or absorbs it. Everyone was surprised that he could distinguish between trash and non-trash. Specifically, he found a ring that had fallen in the yard, stored it in his body, and delivered it to Yūri.

Normally, slimes don't have such intelligence. They might at higher levels, but Luke looks like a low- to mid-level slime. Alie and Arore, who know his true nature, took it in stride. As for those who thought Luke was a low- to mid-level slime, they concluded:

"Well, he's Yūri's familiar, so it makes sense."

Their reasoning was that since Yūri has cheat stats, his familiar can't be normal. Yūri tried to object, but Kuresh said, "So, Luke is super smart, right? That's a compliment!" and Yūri accepted it with a smile, saying, "Yeah! Luke is really smart!" It was simple.

After finishing the cleaning of the first floor of the hideout, Luke moved to the yard where Yūri was. Yūri, who had just finished hanging the laundry, was smiling at the good weather. Luke approached Yūri's feet and gently bumped into him. ...By the way, if Luke used full strength, he could easily break walls, but he knows Yūri is frail, so he uses minimal force.

"Luke, what's wrong? Did you finish cleaning?"

"Kupi!"

"Is that so? Thank you. But, it's important for the others to clean too, so Luke, wait until they're done, okay?"

"...Kupii?"

"Considering how to clean and managing cleaning time is also an important part of training."

Luke, petted by Yūri, responded with a "Kui Kui." Yūri smiled happily at Luke's obedient response. The cute slime is Yūri's precious pet. ...What? A familiar? While technically a familiar, Yūri only sees him as a pet.

So, Yūri took Luke for a walk. He left the grocery shopping to the apprentices. He sent the four of them to the market because each of them has a different favorite store. If they go together, they can negotiate discounts in their areas of expertise. Yūri doesn't always do the shopping to let the apprentices grow, so he occasionally gives them errands.

When he does, the apprentices plan the menu themselves, with Yūri adding a few things. Recently, the apprentices have expanded their cooking repertoire and have made significant progress. Yūri looks forward to the menu they plan, as it shows their growth. The reason is that if they learn to cook, they can make it themselves, and growing boys need to eat.

"Luke, be careful not to bump into others, okay?"

"Kyu!"

Luke is smart and knows not to bump into people even without being told. He jumps gently around Yūri's feet while walking, never colliding with passersby. He is very excellent.

They were walking around the area near the hideout. Many adventurers live here, but so do day laborers and others who are a bit short on cash because the rent is cheap. The area is close to the gate, so it's the first to be in danger if something happens. However, since many adventurers gather here, most issues are resolved before the knights arrive.

"...Something seems to be happening."

"Ku..."

"But it doesn't feel dangerous. ...Should we go check it out?"

"Kui"

When Yūri, who was curious, asked, Luke had no reason to refuse. After all, Luke is happy as long as he's with Yūri. Serving his master is a familiar's duty. Luke has no grand purpose; his only goal is to be by his master's side. For a super rare species with a long lifespan like Luke, being with Yūri means a long life is still ahead.

So, Luke followed Yūri, jumping gently as they walked. The golden, semi-transparent slime with a crown on its head, along with the natural and slightly air-headed Yūri, were now somewhat famous in the neighborhood. Being part of the "Crimson Lynx" already draws attention.

When they arrived, they saw a large pile of overturned trash and women who looked at a loss in front of it. The women, who seemed to be innkeepers from the lower town, were all looking at the pile of trash with troubled expressions. It seemed that the cart carrying the trash had overturned on the way to the dump.

"Wow... That's a problem..."

"Oh, isn't that Yūri-kun?"

"Hello. The cart overturned, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. ...If that were all, we could just clean it up..."

The one who sighed was the head of the neighborhood's housewives, the innkeeper of the hideout's neighboring lower town inn. It was a no-frills inn, but thanks to the innkeeper's good nature, even the usually rough adventurers were well-behaved. ...Whoever said the innkeeper reminded them of a country aunt, I wonder?

"Is there a problem?"

"One of the girls says there's an engagement ring in the pile of trash..."

"Really?! An engagement ring? That's a big deal!"

"Yes, apparently, when the cart overturned, the box with the engagement ring was thrown in there..."

The innkeeper pointed to a pile of trash. Among the women, a young woman was crying. She looked to be in her early twenties. She was crying, and it seemed that the box with her engagement ring was indeed buried in the trash. ...It was pitiful.

Yūri, at a loss for what to do, watched as Luke started moving toward the pile of trash on his own. With a "Kyu!" and a mysterious burst of energy, Luke began absorbing the trash from the edge. Everyone watched, not understanding what he was doing.

But then, Yūri realized something.

"Mrs. Innkeeper, the trash is going to the dump, so it's okay to process it, right?"

"Ah, yes, it's fine. But, what is your familiar doing?"

"Luke, it's okay! Go ahead and do it all!"

"Kuii!"

With Yūri's permission, Luke, happy that his master understood what he was doing, chirped joyfully. He then began absorbing and decomposing the pile of trash at an incredible speed. Considering that it might look grotesque, the transparency of his body decreased, making the decomposition less visible. Luke was a very considerate and smart slime.

Whenever he found something that wasn't trash but wasn't the target, Luke stored it in his body. Various items accumulated in his jelly-like body, such as small dolls, figurines, and spoons, but the ring hadn't appeared yet. Still, Luke continued to absorb the pile of trash without hesitation.

...In Yūri's mind, Luke's actions reminded him of the magic bags or gourds from old stories that could absorb anything. As Luke absorbed the trash, moving over it like a vacuum, Yūri was reminded of modern self-cleaning robots.

Finally, after absorbing all the trash, Luke, who had properly decomposed and digested it, began presenting the items he had stored in his body to Yūri one by one. Each time a non-damaged item appeared, the housewives would exclaim, "Oh, that's mine!" ...It seemed they had accidentally thrown these items away without realizing it. ...It happens even in modern times.

"Ku!"

Finally, Luke placed a small box in Yūri's palm. It was surprisingly clean, thanks to Luke's thorough absorption. Yūri handed the pristine box to the innkeeper.

"I'm amazed. Your slime is too smart."

"It's Luke."

"Kyu!"

Yūri, who looked happy to be praised, and Luke, who jumped around showing his joy at being praised, were thanked by the housewives. The innkeeper then went to the still stunned young woman and handed her the box. As expected, it contained her precious engagement ring. She tearfully thanked Yūri and Luke.

After that, whenever someone needed to find something lost in the trash, Luke was called. It's probably a given.

Luke, who works like a cleaning robot, is great.

He probably even cleans stubborn stains in pots.

He makes everything shine!

I look forward to your comments and feedback.