There are two types of magical tools.
One is the kind that activates using the user's own mana as the power source.
The other activates by absorbing mana from a magic stone that has been installed.
The structure differs between tools that absorb mana from magic stones and those that absorb directly delivered mana.
Absorbing a person's mana is essentially like sucking it in indiscriminately.
If even a little mana leaks out, it is absorbed right away, but that method sacrifices efficiency.
On the other hand, tools that absorb through magic stones do so at a steady rate from the magic stored within the stone.
They absorb a fixed amount of mana with a fixed concentration.
Even if you try to pour in more mana than that, the tool won't absorb it.
If you wanted to use one of those tools without a magic stone, you'd need extremely precise control over your mana, down to the smallest detail.
A high-level mage could possibly do it, but even for them, it would require intense concentration.
Yet the slime was doing it continuously, without rest, and even seemed to enjoy it.
The only one who realized how absurd this was, was Troll.
‘I figured it wasn’t ordinary, but... to this extent?’
Troll, for the first time in a long while, began to feel genuine curiosity as a mage.
‘Is it just that one magical tool it can activate? Or could it do the same with others? How long can it keep this up? Should I have it try other tools too?’
Though Troll belonged to the naturalist mage school, that was only in terms of developing his own skills—he wasn’t against the study of magical tools themselves.
‘This is exciting!’
Splash splash!
The slime splashed water on its own head and lightly bounced inside the pot.
And that’s when Amelia, having finished reading, came into the living room and saw it.
“Jiggly? What are you doing?”
‘It’s Amelia!’
Splash!
“Huh? Are those tentacles on the magical tool?”
She spotted the slime inside the pot, stretching its tentacles upward to grip the magical tool.
The lid where the magic stone should go was open, the stone was tossed to the corner, and instead, the slime’s tentacle was inserted.
And water continued to pour onto the slime.
Amelia quickly grasped what was going on.
“Did you use up the magic stone and now you're just putting mana into the tool yourself? Is that fun?”
‘It’s fun!’
Splash!
The slime bounced lightly in the pot, as if answering her question.
That sight brought an automatic smile to her face.
“Even if it’s fun, don’t overuse your mana, Jiggly. If you get mana fatigue, it’ll be tough.”
‘Okay!’
Amelia just gave a light warning.
She didn’t freak out like Troll did.
The reason was simple.
That’s because Amelia didn’t really understand magical tools!
Even if the slime was injecting mana directly into the magical tool instead of using a magic stone...
She just figured, "It’s the same mana, so I guess it works, right?"
The extent of her knowledge was that some mages passed out or became weakened due to mana exhaustion.
‘Why is she letting this slide?! That’s incredible! Doesn’t she think it’s strange at all?!’
Watching all of this, Troll felt like he was about to explode even though he wasn’t even wearing clothes.
He could understand if it were monsters—but Amelia was human! He thought at least she would find it odd.
‘That’s it! Paladins! A paladin would understand! Someone who’s been through countless battles should know how absurd this is! They’ll realize how outrageous Jiggly is acting!’
Moments later, after finishing his usual light training, Paulen entered the villa.
“Phew, it really is refreshing and nice to move your body a bit!”
“Swinging a sword that much counts as light exercise?”
“You were watching?”
“I saw you through the window. But more importantly, look over there, Paulen. Look what Jiggly is doing…”
Amelia, as if showing off something cute, pointed at the slime and explained what she had seen.
And Paulen responded—
“Oh, you're right? Not only can it lift dumbbells, but it’s even putting mana into magical tools. Jiggly, you really are talented!”
Brrrrrrr!
Paulen casually praised the slime, brushing it off like it was nothing.
And the slime, happy to be praised, trembled inside the pot.
‘Why?! Why are you all just brushing it off so easily?!’
Troll felt like his invisible clothing was about to tear again.
Paulen, as a paladin, had indeed been through many battles.
But just because someone had a lot of battle experience didn’t mean they were well-versed in magical tools.
In terms of magical tool knowledge, Paulen wasn’t much different from Amelia.
If there had been a mage present who had studied in the Magic Tower for a year, they might have spoken up—but unfortunately, the only ones here were a slime, Amelia who was from the Holy City, and Paulen.
‘This won’t do! Not like this!’
Troll felt that if he kept watching, he’d die from magical frustration.
Frantically thinking of a solution to his agony, Troll thought of one of his descendants—
Gracie.
‘Yes! That kid!’
When they first met, he had been reluctant to acknowledge her, even suspecting she might be suffering from some sort of serious magical tool addiction.
But exactly because of that, he figured Gracie—unlike clueless Amelia and Paulen—would realize how daring the slime was being.
She would understand just how absurdly that little slime was behaving.
‘And it’ll be a chance to find out what’s going on with our family lately.’
The slime couldn’t speak directly, but if it made contact, it might be able to hear something.
That’s why Troll decided to guide a meeting between the slime and Gracie.
[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy, is playing with the magical tool fun?
▷ It’s fun!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Be careful not to use up all your mana like the human said, mana exhaustion is dangerous .
▷ Okay!
After casually expressing concern, Troll got to the point.
[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy, don’t you want to play with other magical tools too?
▷ Other magical tools?
[Free Spirit] ▶ Not just water ones, but tools that blow wind or have other functions.
‘Other magical tools!’
The slime was already having so much fun just playing with the one that sprayed water.
But now playing with more tools?
Just imagining all the fun made its body tremble.
▷ I want to play!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Then I have a great idea!
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Hold on! What are you trying to say to my kin?!
[Free Spirit] ▶ ? I just thought of a way for Squishy to have more fun.
Even when the Squishy Queen, who cared about the slime, stepped in, Troll replied shamelessly.
[Free Spirit] ▶ And besides, wouldn’t Squishy be happier playing with more magical tools?
[Thread-Lady] ▶ That’s a great idea~ Watching Squishy enjoy itself is always a delight!
▶ Honestly, just playing with the one that sprays water is kind of boring lol.
▶ Humans make all sorts of weird stuff—I’d like to see other ones too.
▶ The truth is, just water isn’t exciting anymore.
▶ lolol
Other monsters who were seeking new stimulation also agreed with the atmosphere Troll created.
‘Good, I can keep going with this.’
[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy, do you remember the human who had all those magical tools hanging from her?
▷ Gracie!
[Free Spirit]▶ If you go to Gracie’s house, there’ll be even more magical tools. Try visiting tomorrow.
▷ More magical tools!
▶ How do you know that?
▶ It was obvious—she had so many of them dangling around lol.
▶ Aha!
▶ Aha
Troll added that this human was someone who helps the human living with the slime.
So even if the slime went to her house, she wouldn’t turn it away.
▷ How do I get to Gracie’s house?
Free Spirit] ▶ Use detection.
‘I’ve told it the motive and the method. The rest… Squishy can figure it out.’
If not, he could always give another hint later.
‘I’m really looking forward to her reaction.’
Troll hoped his descendant would be the one to release his magical frustration.
***
The next morning.
After breakfast, Amelia found herself in a confusing situation.
Boing! Boing!
Tap tap!
“What’s wrong, Jiggly? Do you want to go out for a walk that badly?”
Right after breakfast, the slime, eager to play with more magical tools, moved to the door and tapped on it with its tentacle.
‘It was playing just fine indoors yesterday, so why the sudden change?’
Even when the magic stones ran out, the slime had been happily injecting mana on its own and playing just fine, so Amelia couldn’t figure out what it was thinking.
“Hahaha! I guess being in a new place makes you want to explore. We were planning a walk anyway. Let’s go out and enjoy the warm sunshine!”
Amelia wasn’t really ready for a walk yet.
Normally, she would settle her mind in the morning and go out in the afternoon.
But even though she wasn’t prepared, she was swept up by energetic Paulen and the enthusiastic slime, and headed outside.
Carrying the slime in both hands, Amelia stepped out.
Meanwhile, the slime began using detection as Troll advised and started searching for Gracie.
“Let’s walk around the Magic Tower first. That place always feels like something’s going to happen, even in the morning.”
“Walks are nice, but wouldn’t it be better to be home by lunchtime? The sun’s been pretty strong lately, right?”
“Haha, I’m not saying we’ll spend the whole day wandering with the Saintess. I just hope this becomes an opportunity for her to explore more around the Holy City.”
Outside, with many people around, Paulen answered cheerfully while calling Amelia ‘Saintess.’
Amelia and Paulen walked toward the Magic Tower.
Of course, they didn’t go directly inside the tower.
They were always willing to help those in need, but entering without reason, when nothing had happened, would only be a nuisance.
So they arrived near the tower just to enjoy the walk and strolled through the surrounding area.
‘Found her!’
While they were walking near the Magic Tower, the slime’s detection picked up Gracie.
‘This way!’
Boing!
The slime, sitting on Amelia’s hand, stretched a tentacle to point in Gracie’s direction.
“Hm? What’s up, Jiggly?”
‘This way!’
Stretch!
The slime extended its tentacle even further, clearly pointing in one direction.
“You want to go that way?”
‘Yes!’
Brrrrrrr!
“What’s the matter, Saintess?”
“It seems Jiggly wants to head in that direction.”
“That way, you say? Hmm, well, let’s go and see.”
Amelia and Paulen began walking in the direction the slime was pointing.
And the place they arrived at was—
“This is... a house.”
“Why is Jiggly pointing at this house? Huh? Wait a second…”
Paulen blinked as he looked at the nameplate beside the door.
“Gracie Frail?”
“What? Did you say Gracie? Is this Gracie’s house?”
“Seems like it, doesn’t it? But, Jiggly, how did you even know to come here?”
They knew the slime had a few special talents, but neither of them had expected it to have a detection skill that could locate someone invisible to the eye.
While the two of them were still reeling from surprise, the slime ignored their reactions, jumped out of Amelia’s hands, and headed straight for the front door.
“Ah! Jiggly!”
Boing!
In front of the entrance, the slime produced another tentacle and knocked on the door.
With a tentacle strong enough to lift dumbbells that even adults struggled to handle, knocking hard enough to make a dull thud was effortless.
Knock knock knock knock!
“Ji-Jiggly! It’s rude to show up uninvited like this!”
Amelia rushed over and scooped up the slime just as—
Creak!
“Who is it?”
Gracie opened the door and peeked out.
“Oh.”
“Huh? S-Saintess? And Sir Paladin? What are you doing at my house...?”
Blinking in confusion, Gracie was suddenly struck by a dreadful thought.
‘A-Are they planning to work me to the bone for a whole month!?’