——The one who had asked me if I’d go watch the stars was Mikihiko Shumoku, my friend with whom I’d been hanging out since middle school .
In late April, just after I had become a high school student, the starry sky observation gathering was held at the night school by the local science museum .
This was part of an event to deepen relations in a new school, and was held overnight on a Sat.u.r.day for observing the night sky . There were 30+ partic.i.p.ants, and 2 leading teachers . Luckily, both Mikihiko and I weren’t filtered out in the drawing and were able to partic.i.p.ate .
The night of, the partic.i.p.ants all gathered on top of the school’s rooftop . Then, we first studied the starry sky .
Despite me being there because I was invited, I wasn’t really all that interested in the stars……in fact, the majority were like me, but it seemed the others there were aware of that . The male curator sent by the school had a planned out explanation; it was quite interesting .
After that we actually observed the moon and planets with an astronomical telescope, and searched for the heavenly bodies that were out as an a.s.signment . As someone was photographing a star with a digital camera’s timer, a student interrupted the photograph as a joke, and the teacher watching us warned him .
An unusual event like that——but, it was a scene in everyday life .
Wondering why, I looked at it, and something struck me .
Even though it should have been the first time I had seen the school rooftop at night, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic .
This was the world we lived in . It shouldn’t have been necessary for me to go out of my way to confirm that . ……Shouldn’t have been, but I couldn’t help but feel that it was hopelessly far .
Everything I had tried not thinking about almost began overflowing .
The thoughts I had buried and imprisoned almost began overflowing .
……Don’t cry .
This dream would be brought down easily if I did something I hadn’t done before . A deep part of me understood that . ¹
And even if I didn’t do that, this dream was slowly approaching its end . The world was disappearing bit by bit from the edges of my vision .
I couldn’t see the stars anymore .
Then, a female student standing on the rooftop…turned this way .
She had a beautiful face . Natural for a high school student . I remember being a little shocked when the partic.i.p.ants gathered, “was there a girl this cute?” . She was in a different cla.s.s, and I hadn’t interacted with her, so I wouldn’t have any exchanges with her after this…… .
I thought so, but our eyes met, and the girl smiled .
Her pale hair, looking white underneath the moonlight, swayed——and then, my vision faded to black .
“Ah, Master . Have you woken up?” (Lily)
The first thing I saw after waking up was Lily, dressed in a uniform . She was looking this way, sitting on the bed that I was lying face up on .
The window fit into the wooden frame was open, and the morning sun s.h.i.+ning in from there was making her whole body stand out in the dark room . Her pale, flaxen hair was transparent and s.h.i.+ning . The scene looked just like a full-width painting .
“Morning, Master . ” (Lily)
Our eyes met, and Lily flashed a friendly smile .
For a moment, that smile overlapped with the scene that I had seen somewhere before .
“Hm? What is it?” (Lily)
“Well . I feel……” (Majima)
While rubbing my eyes, I got up from the bed .
“I feel like……I had a slightly nostalgic dream . ” (Majima)
The vague feeling characteristic of dreams had already faded away . The only thing that remained in my head, sluggish from having just gotten up, was a strange deja vu .
“A dream? What dream did you have?” (Lily)
Lily’s eyes twinkled .
“Was it a bad dream?” (Lily)
Concerned, she bent over and stretched out a finger, touching my forehead .
A slightly lower bodily temperature . The warmth of her body was something I was used to . ……”The one here is Lily”, thinking something so natural, I smiled a little .
“… . . Nah . It’s not a big deal . More importantly, you’ve returned . ” (Majima)
“Ah, yeah . Just a few minutes ago . I’m taking a break right now . ” (Lily)
Lily nodded, removing her hand from my forehead .
“And everyone else?” (Majima)
“Rose was here until a little while ago, but I switched out with her when I came back, and she went to go see Kato-san’s face . Gerbera went to sleep here after helping me, but went out a little bit ago . She said she was going out for a walk with Ayame . ” (Lily)
“Going out for a walk?……Is that okay?” (Majima)
“You really do worry a lot, don’t you?” (Lily)
Slightly amazed, Lily loosened her charming smile .
I noticed that I had frowned unconsciously, and felt a little embarra.s.sed .
“It’ll be okay . I’m a little bit worried about Ayame, but I told Gerbera to make sure to watch her . ” (Lily)
“Is that so . Well, alright . Thank you . ” (Majima)
“You’re going out too, right, Master? Then, change your clothes . I’ll ask for breakfast . ” (Lily)
Having said that, Lily left the room . I decided to change my clothes in the meantime .
As I tried reaching for the clothes that Gerbera had folded and left behind after taking off my sleep-wear, the parasitic vine Asarina stretched out from the back of my left hand and pulled the clothes to me .
I received them with a “thank you”, and pushed my arms through the clothes .
Once I finished changing my clothes and had breakfast, I was going to meet with Silane today . I planned on hearing various things about the current state of the fortress from her .
“……” (Majima)
Two days ago, Fortress Tilia—a place where dozens of transferees were staying, including me—had been attacked by a horde of monsters controlled by Kudō, another Monster Tamer .
After that incident, I borrowed a floor in the fortress’ residential area, and stayed in Fortress Tilia with my entire family, including Rose and Gerbera .
A great number of casualties had appeared due to the attack the other day, so even if you were to not include the compartments inside the fortress that were so destroyed that they couldn’t be used, there were a lot of rooms . Even if we used a few of them, it wasn’t a problem .
There had been three military organizations stationed in Fortress Tilia originally: the Empire’s Southern Army, the Empire’s Second Knight Order, and the Alliance’s Third Knight Order .
As of now, the Empire’s Southern Army had around 300 survivors, the Alliance’s Third Knight order had around 50, and roughly 100 non-combatants were alive . The Empire’s Second Knight Order had, with the exception of those that went with Eno Yuna to rescue the surviving transferees in the Deep Part of the Sea of Trees, been completely annihilated when Juumonji betrayed everyone .
Seeing as Fortress Tilia had no less than 2000 people stationed at it originally, it was clear how this was a devastating loss .
If this had been a war with human opponents, they may have surrendered before this much loss occurred . The damage was enormous because the enemies were monsters, an opponent that surrender wasn’t an option against, and because there was nowhere to run .
On the other hand, as for the transferees staying in the fortress, Juumonji Tatsuya—the main offender of this incident—had died . Nine of the Colony’s ‘Stay Behind’ group students—including Sakagami, Juumonji’s accomplice—had died, as well as Watanabe Yos.h.i.+ki of the ‘Scouting Corps’ .
Besides me, Mikihiko, Miyos.h.i.+ Taichi and his 3 friends, had survived . Eno Yuna still hadn’t returned from the Sea of Trees yet . And, that left Kudō Riku .
——Hey, Senpai . Why don’t you join forces with me?
That day, I hadn’t responded to Kudō’s outstretched hand .
I knew that grabbing hold of that hand meant that I would throw away everything important I had in the past and become a monster like him .
However, he also said that he wouldn’t give up on me .
That meant that I would supposedly meet him again someday .
In what shape or form would he appear in front of me again, and what would happen then? I couldn’t even begin to imagine that now .
“What’s wrong, Master?” (Lily)
When I came to my senses, Lily had returned to the room .
On the tray she had in hand, there were boiled root vegetables and a bowl of thin rice porridge with dried meat sprinkled about in it . “Emergency rations, huh?” .
Lily placed it down atop the circular table placed by the window, and then turned this way with curious eyes . It was then that I noticed my hands had stopped moving .
“O-Oh . I got a bit distracted there . ” (Majima)
Dodging the question with a laugh, I buried the vague anxiety I had towards the future in my heart .
After a quick change of clothes, I sat in the chair facing Lily .
In front of me was a breakfast portion for one person . I tilted my head .
“You aren’t going to eat?” (Majima)
“Jeez . Are you still half-asleep, Master? I’ve already eaten quite a bit . I said that I was taking a break, remember?” (Lily)
Lily lightly hit her stomach with a *smack* .
My line of sight accidentally lowered, and I immediately averted my eyes . Though we had an intimate relations.h.i.+p, she was still a woman . I couldn’t stare too much .
“Now that you mention it, you did say that . ……How’s the progress on processing?” (Majima)
“Hmm . From yesterday to today, I guess about 30% or so~ . ” (Lily)
From last night to this morning, Lily had been away from me, leaving Rose to guard me .
That was because I had given her a job that only she could do .
Fortress Tilia may have overcome the unprecedented crisis, but the survivors had no time to rest; they were being pressed by the post-processing .
The upper echelons of the army that had been looking after the fortress partic.i.p.ated in the counteroffensive operation, blinded by a desire for achievements . They were then blown up by Juumonji’s magic when he showed his true colors, and joined the final roster of the dead . The leader of the Alliance’s Third Knight Order had taken command of the survivors and was now getting on with the post-processing little by little, but the biggest problem with that was the vast amount of dead people .
The plot of land known as the “Sea of Trees” was rich with magical power . If left alone, the vast amount of dead would turn into monsters, or more specifically, Ghouls . If we didn’t promptly deal with them in a couple of days, Fortress Tilia could even be eaten by the dead from within and destroyed, despite having finally overcome the crisis .
Of course, even if we left them alone, the corpses would rot and cause disease . Therefore, processing the corpses became top priority, but the leftover corpses weren’t only humans . The large amount of monsters that rushed the fortress had left corpses everywhere in the fortress .
I had asked the Knights for help with this .
There were many reasons we were in charge of this, but one of them was because of what Kudō had said .
In this world, you could get magical power by killing things with magical power, not just by killing monsters . According to Kudō, you could get magical power much more efficiently by eating their flesh instead of just killing them .
In fact, Kudō had collected the remains of the transferees for that reason, as they had vast amounts of magical power within them .
Naturally, that was a law that only held true for monsters .
In that sense, there was more than enough merit for us to deal with the monsters’ corpses scattered about the fortress .
It went without saying that Lily had the highest apt.i.tude for that .
She was a slime . Her special characteristic was predation . She had pat her stomach earlier in a pose, but she was an amorphous creature; she had no stomach restriction for her meals . And what’s more, she was a mimic slime . She could mimic the monsters she preyed on and obtain their abilities .
That was why I had asked Lily to process the monsters .
Incidentally, I had asked Gerbera to transport the monsters’ corpses to the room Lily was in . As she had gone on a walk this morning, she would have had to pause her work .
“But, 30%, huh? It’s a better pace than I thought . ” (Majima)
“The time it takes and decay is taking priority, so digestion is quick . ” (Lily)
“I see . ” (Majima)
Yesterday, I’d gone halfway with her to her work . I thought back to the various monsters I’d seen during then, and nodded .
Two days ago, priority had been given to dealing with Juumonji the cheat holder, and we had avoided fighting monsters as much as we could . However, there were many non-biological monsters, such as Mud Golems, mud dolls about one meter in height; and Fire Elementals, which were an a.s.sembly of dark-red polyhedrons . Besides them, there were also Steel Ants, large ants with metal sh.e.l.ls; Armored Turtles, which were large tortoises; etc .
A slime’s ability to digest and absorb was, put simply, one of their special characteristics as a magic-using monster . Most things could be digested . But, there was a little something called compatibility; depending on what it was, some things would take time .
“Well, I can still process them in a few days . ” (Lily)
“You can, huh? Then, please focus on that for a bit . It’ll be difficult due to the numbers, I imagine, but……” (Majima)
“No . It’s not that difficult . This is the first time since I was born that I’ve eaten so much . But, more importantly……” (Lily)
Lily licked her lips . Her red tongue was captivating .
I unintentionally froze, the spoon filled with poorige in my mouth .
“……Hey, Master . ” (Lily)
The smile Lily flashed at me as she spoke was a bit charming .
“I, well, I’m a slime, aren’t I? And a slime’s job is to eat a lot and split up, right?” (Lily)
“Yeah . That’s right . ……but, what about it? …Wait, Lily . Are you okay? You look a bit……” (Majima)
Lily was unusually erotic right now .
I winced, and Lily spoke, shaking her head:
“No, I’m fine . I’m normal . Yes, this is normal……To eat, to increase . And for increasing… . ” (Lily)
“……” (Majima)
Did this mean that Lily’s way of life as a slime was having an effect on her nature as a girl acquired by mimicry?
Lily half-rose up, and leaned forward .
Her reddened, cute features got closer .
Her outstretched fingertips touched my cheek . Her sweet smell tickled the tip of my nose . The sweet trespa.s.sing of personal s.p.a.ce was something only allowed by the special two .
“Hey~, Master……” (Lily)
Lily smiled bewitchingly very close to me, and I held my breath——
“……I’ll do anything in the morning . ” (Lily)
——With my left finger, I flicked Lily’s forehead .
“Yan~” (Lily)
Lily held her forehead, and went back to her seat .
I stared at her with half-closed eyes .
“We’re going to meet with Silane today . There’s no time to mess around . ” (Majima)
“Okaaaay……” (Lily)
Still holding her forehead, Lily rudely layed on the table and replied .
While looking down at her defenceless actions, I breathed a sigh of relief in my mind .
……That was close . A little bit more and I would’ve been washed away .
What was scary was the fact that I thought it was unfortunate that I hadn’t been washed away . I felt horrible somewhere in my chest . ²
If she kept this up, the fire in my chest might have flared up once again from something strange .
Scooping up the small pieces left of my breakfast, I got up from my seat .
“Alright, let’s go . ” (Majima)
“Nn, got it . ……Hey, Master?” (Lily)
Lily indicated that she understood, but didn’t get up and continued leaning her body on the table, only moving her eyes to look at me .
I tensed, wondering what she still had to say, and she spoke .
“If there’s something on your mind, you can always rely on me, you know?” (Lily)
“……” (Majima)
Then, I suddenly realized .
While I was mindlessly talking to her, the feelings I had worried about after remembering about Kudō had faded .
“Lily, you……” (Majima)
Seeing me stiffen, Lily smiled gently .
Her smile was one that made me think “I just can’t win against her” . I scratched my head .
“… . . I will . ” (Majima)
I stretched out my hand to the sitting Lily .
Lily’s smile deepened, and she took my hand and stood up .
But, I didn’t stop there . After all, I thought that the balance would be bad if I kept letting her doing it all the time .
I pulled her towards me even stronger .
“Waa~ . ” (Lily)
It seemed she hadn’t expected this, and I was able to catch Lily surprisingly easy .
I held her tightly as it was .
I immersed myself in her sweet body temperature and comfortable softness .
I fawned on her for just two seconds, and released her .
My heart felt lighter just from doing that . Though I thought it was simple, it didn’t feel unpleasant at all .
“Now then . Shall we go?” (Majima)
“Sure . ” (Lily)
Smiling at each other, we left the room together .
