[Squishy] ▶ Why? I want to go back!
The slime tilted its body to the side and asked.
For the slime, an unintentional farewell was both sad and unpleasant.
The slime was pure and innocent.
Because of that, even when it experienced the pain of separation, it could cover up the sadness thanks to new encounters, the joy they brought, and its bubbling curiosity.
However, that didn’t mean it had completely forgotten the pain of parting.
The slime still remembered Def’s scream calling out to it when it fell from the cliff.
▷If you go back now, your life will really be in danger. I’ll explain.
Through playful chatting, Troll carefully picked words that the slime could understand and explained the situation.
The human who placed the slime on the magic circle.
That human, Brooks Vessilja, was a very bad human.
[Squishy] ▶ A bad human?
▷ A very bad human. He bullied Gracie and even tried to kill you, Squishy.
[Squishy] ▶ Bad human!
Even a pure slime knew very well that someone trying to kill it was bad.
‘Alright, I planted a strong impression of that Brooks guy.’
▷But that bad human is strong. If you go back like this, Gracie, Amelia, and Paulen will all be in danger.
[Squishy] ▶ They can’t be in danger!
▷ That’s why I can’t let you go back right away.
[Squishy] ▶ Then when can I go back?
The slime understood that going back right now would put the three in danger.
So the question became: "When can I reunite with them?"
Even Troll found this problem difficult.
For the slime’s safety, he brought it to his secret workshop for now.
He expected the Saintess and Paladin to return to the Holy City in a few days.
Originally, they were only scheduled to stay at the Magic Tower for up to a month, and now that a lich had appeared, they’d surely need to report that as well.
If it were up to Troll, he would have liked to personally hand the slime over to the Saintess in a few days.
But since he was a lich, simply handing over the slime could draw suspicion.
People might assume the lich had done something to the slime.
That would only put the slime in more danger.
To safely reunite with Amelia, Troll estimated it would have to be after news reached the Holy City and at least a month or two had passed.
Of course, the best reunion would be one that seemed accidental — the slime having escaped and running into them by chance, not being handed over.
‘But I wonder if Squishy can understand that.’
From what Troll saw, the slime had a pure heart and was very friendly toward people.
But once it fixated on something, it was quite stubborn about it.
‘First of all...’
▷I don’t really know either.
[Squishy] ▶ You don’t know?
▷ I need to think about it a bit more and decide when it’s safe to let you out. So please wait.
[Squishy] ▶ I see..................
The slime drooped its body downward.
It understood that Troll wasn’t keeping it inside on purpose, but for its safety.
Still, the unintended parting from Amelia and Paulen made the slime feel sad.
Even to Troll, the slime looked pitiful.
If possible, he wanted to send it to the Blue Elven Forest where Nellin was to help the reunion.
But even if he did, the elven elder would likely drive it out again.
And the same would go for Count Ludendion’s territory.
‘The best option would be sending it to that adventurer party... right?’
But adventurers rarely stayed in one place for long.
‘For now, I’ll have it stay at my workshop for a few days.’
Troll placed his skeletal hand on the slime and used telepathy.
[Squishy, is there anything you want? Tell me. I’ll try to prepare it for you.]
He used the same chat-style speech through telepathy, but it didn’t feel strange.
After all, the chat window worked by automatically inputting what he consciously thought.
[Squishy] ▶ Something I want?
[If there’s anything you’re curious about, I’ll tell you too.]
Troll knew the slime was a bundle of curiosity.
His secret workshop was full of things the slime had never seen before.
So he tried to help the slime overcome its sadness by satisfying that curiosity.
‘Curious things? Things I want to know.’
To the slime, it was a basic, instinctive question — and it immediately reacted.
What am I curious about right now?
The question of when it could return couldn’t be solved right now.
So, aside from that, what did it most want to know?
[Squishy] ▶ What is Troll?
[Huh?]
[Squishy] ▶ I want to know about Troll! What’s your race?
The answer was: about Troll.
The one who had given advice, shown amazing things, and even saved its life.
The slime now wanted to know about Troll.
‘I didn’t expect that to be the first question.’
Even though Troll had been alone, his secret workshop was filled with magical tools and magic circles he had drawn while watching broadcasts for inspiration.
He expected the slime to ask about one of the items in the workshop.
[I'm............]
But when it came time to introduce himself, Troll went silent.
How should he introduce himself?
It had been 30 years since he became a lich.
Other than chat messages, that performance earlier was the first real conversation he had since becoming a lich.
He had prepared the act ahead of time, so that wasn’t a problem.
But the idea of introducing himself — that was what stopped his words.
‘Should I just say my race? Or go back to when I was human?’
After a brief moment of thought, Troll decided to just answer the slime’s very first question for now.
[I’m a lich.]
[Squishy] ▶ Lich! .......... What’s a lich?
[A lich is a human wizard that turned into a monster.]
[Squishy] ▶ Whoa!
Humans and monsters.
The slime could sense that the two were being perceived differently.
But hearing that a human had become a monster — that was something completely new to the slime.
In other words, it was extremely fascinating.
[Squishy] ▶ What happened?
[Magically speaking, it's very complicated. But to put it simply… I worked really hard.]
[Squishy] ▶ Worked hard!
The slime bounced its body up and down, delighted by Troll’s immediate response.
[Squishy] ▶ What’s your name, Troll?
[Huh?]
The slime had been introduced to the concept of “nicknames” by the system.
So it knew that names like Squishy Queen, Noblesse Fire, Gothic Luxury Bone, Thread-Lady, and Just Slam First were all self-chosen nicknames.
It also knew that Troll's nickname was “Free Spirit.”
Even though he was called “Free Spirit,” he’d also earned the additional nickname “Troll.”
And now, with the new info that Troll used to be a human wizard, the slime thought that he must have had a real human name, just like other humans.
[My name is.............]
Was it really okay to share this with the slime?
After a brief hesitation, Troll spoke to the slime.
[Squishy.]
[Squishy] ▶ Yeah!
[Please don’t tell other humans or viewers about my name or identity. And please don’t turn on your broadcast while you're here.]
[Squishy] ▶ Because you're embarrassed?
The slime recalled the reason Troll gave before when he asked for the stream to be turned off.
[Yeah. Embarrassment.]
[Squishy] ▶ Got it!
Hearing the slime’s enthusiastic response, Troll finally said his human name for the first time in a long while.
[My name is............... Ventus Frail. I am Ventus Frail, the Sage of Magic.]
[Squishy] ▶ Wooooow!
The slime couldn’t help but be shocked at Troll’s words.
Ventus Frail.
The slime knew that name.
He was someone mentioned in the biographies and fairy tales Jessie read many times while they were in Count Ludendion’s estate.
And someone that Gracie proudly referred to as her ancestor.
[Squishy] ▶ Amazing! You’re alive! You’re not dead!
Back when the slime lived in the Count’s mansion, Jessie had told it many times—
Unfortunately, the Sage of Magic Ventus Frail had already died.
But now, the man said to be dead was standing right in front of it.
‘Well, I guess being undead still counts as dead......’
[Yeah. I became a monster from a human, so I’m still alive.]
[Squishy] ▶ Wow!
The slime didn’t understand the mechanism, but the fact that he was alive was incredible enough.
The slime’s pure amazement in front of him made Troll feel a deep warmth in his chest.
‘If I had a grandchild, would it feel like this?’
[Squishy] ▶ Ventus!
[Just call me Troll. I’m more used to that now.]
[Squishy] ▶ Troll!
[So, what do you want to ask next?]
[Squishy] ▶ I want to hear it! The Calamity Subjugation! Tell me about it!
[Huh? Didn’t Jessie already tell you a lot about it?]
[Squishy] ▶ I want to hear it again! But this time from you, Troll!
The slime already knew from Jessie that the same story could feel completely different depending on who told it — whether as a biography or fairy tale.
So now, it wanted to hear it straight from Troll himself.
‘Can’t believe I’m telling this story out loud myself.’
[Alright. But please understand that I can’t tell you everything all at once.]
[Squishy] ▶ Okay!
And so, Troll slowly began recalling the past and started telling the story of the Black Dragon Calamity he had lived through.
He talked about how much people had suffered because of the black dragon, and how he had come to join the subjugation.
His meeting with his comrades, the beginning of their journey, and more.
Since he was speaking via telepathy and didn’t even need to drink water, Troll kept talking without pause — and time flew by quickly.
‘Huh? It’s already this late?’
Before he knew it, it was almost time for the monster broadcast that Troll watched regularly — even before seeing the slime’s stream.
[Squishy, that’s all the story for today.]
[Squishy] ▶ Okay!
The slime didn’t fuss and accepted Troll’s words.
It was a familiar feeling — like when Jessie used to read thick biographies back at the Count’s mansion.
[Squishy, what do you want to do now?]
[Squishy] ▶ I want to work out!
The slime’s internal clock told it that now would be the time it usually trained with Paulen.
‘Workout, huh......’
The slime’s exercise routine usually involved sparring with Paulen or lifting custom-made dumbbells and weights.
But there was no Paulen here, and of course, there were no dumbbells or weights in this secret workshop.
[Hold on a moment.]
Troll lifted his skeletal hand off the slime and pointed to the ground.
Wooooooong!
A magic circle suddenly appeared, and then a stone wall rose from the ground.
Then, the moment another magic circle was etched into the rising wall—
Crack! Rumble rumble rumble!
The wall changed shape as if crumpling like paper, and eventually turned into the shape of the dumbbells the slime usually used.
[Squishy] ▶ Dumbbells!
▷Try lifting this.
[Squishy] ▶ Okay!
Boing!
The slime hopped toward the Troll-made dumbbells and extended a tentacle.
Pop!
It wrapped a tentacle around the handle and lifted the dumbbell.
‘Heavy!’
The dumbbell was made by compressing an entire chunk of stone wall.
But the weight was just right — perfectly suited for the slime who had trained under Paulen’s guidance.
Squeeze! Squeeze!
Troll watched the slime lifting dumbbells with joy and pride, then turned his gaze to tune into his regular broadcast.
‘Hm?’
But when he opened the list of broadcasts—
A shocking title caught his eye.
[If you know news of my kin, come join!]
Slime Queen.
It was the title of the Squishy Queen’s broadcast.
‘Ah.’
Troll realized he had overlooked something.
Maybe regular viewers wouldn’t notice — but not the Slime Queen.
There’s no way Squishy Queen would sit quietly after suddenly seeing the slime’s broadcast go dark.