It had been a month since Troll brought the slime into the secret workshop.
At first, it was simply to save the slime’s life, and later, to honor the promise of reunion between Nellin and the slime.
[Squishy~ I brought some meat again today~]
'Meat!'
Boing! Boing!
Now, Troll was incredibly happy with his life in the secret workshop with Squishy.
He used to spend his time watching streams in the dusty old workshop.
But everything changed after the slime arrived.
The biggest change was having someone to take care of.
Giving advice from behind a screen was nothing like actually taking care of a being right beside you.
At first, he hunted for meat out of obligation, but now, he genuinely enjoyed it each day.
Why?
Because the slime truly appreciated it!
As the saying goes, even a whale will dance if praised.
The slime’s pure reaction of joy and gratitude toward Troll’s efforts warmed the heart of someone who had once faced betrayal and death before becoming a lich.
That wasn’t all.
'Squeak squeak!'
The slime, who had curiously started cleaning, found it fun and shaped its tendrils like cloths to wipe every corner of the secret workshop daily.
Unlike before, the now sparkling furniture somehow brightened Troll’s mood as well.
On top of that, the diligent little slime looked both admirable and adorable!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Squishy cleaning is so cute~!
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Troll! How dare you keep making one of my kin do your chores!
▶ Hahaha, they gotta earn their keep~
[Squishy] ▶ Cleaning is fun!
▶ See? They said it’s fun—cheers to that~.
Even the broadcast from Troll’s perspective got great reactions during Squishy’s cleaning time.
As time passed, Troll started wanting to feed the slime better meat.
'What kind of meat would be good?'
If he was going to feed it, he wanted it to be more nutritious and helpful to the slime.
He couldn’t get cooking spices, but come on—Troll was no ordinary being.
He was a lich!
In terms of danger level, he far surpassed even an A-rank monster.
Troll couldn’t approach humans, but he was far from weak.
So he thought, 'Maybe I should bring back some strong monster meat!'
Troll used Warp to travel to remote areas inhabited by C-rank and B-rank monsters and hunted enough to feed the slime.
Since he had to process the meat anyway, he cleaned it on the spot and used Warp magic to bring the prepared meat back to the workshop.
Each time he brought meat, the slime bounced happily, which made Troll feel all the more rewarded for his efforts.
The slime ate every single piece of grilled meat that Troll brought with great delight.
'So tasty!'
[Squishy, sorry. I wish I could get more ingredients to make it even tastier.]
[Squishy] ▶ It’s okay! It’s delicious!
[Ugh! So precious!]
[Noblesse Fire] That damn Troll’s using Flame Talk again so only Squishy can understand him.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ What are you saying to my kin this time?!
▶ Isn’t it obvious?
▶ Looks like thinking isn’t their strong suit since they’re a slime?
[Squishy Queen] What did you just say?!
While living with the slime, Troll discovered an unexpected fact.
It was about the magic he’d created, inspired by the System’s voice.
Flame Talk.
It turned out to be an actual existing skill.
He discovered this on the second day of living in the secret workshop, while telling the slime about his days as a human, during the Black Dragon subjugation.
[Squishy] ▶ Wow!
[Squishy] ▶ Amazing!
▶ ???
At the time, Troll was silently holding the slime on the back of his skeletal hand.
But since the slime was responding through chat, the other viewers had no idea what was going on.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ My kin, what exactly is so amazing?
[Squishy] ▶ Troll’s story! It’s amazing! Fun!
[Squishy Queen] ▶ What?
Troll remained silent, yet the slime said the story was fun, leaving Squishy Queen utterly confused.
'Ah, I forgot to set the story to private mode.'
Just as Troll realized his mistake and was about to end the stream, someone solved the mystery.
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Wait, are you using Flame Talk to talk to Squishy?
It was the Fire Dragon.
▶ How did you know?
Troll was shocked by the Fire Dragon’s words.
After all, Flame Talk was a spell he had worked hard to develop after becoming a lich.
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ How do you think? You’re sitting there quietly talking to Squishy—what else would it be but Flame Talk? Hardly anyone uses that skill.
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Flame Talk, huh? I haven’t seen that in ages. I didn’t expect Troll to have that skill—I thought only dragons had it.
Indeed.
The Flame Talk spell that Troll thought he had invented was actually a skill dragons were born with.
'No way...!'
[Noblesse Fire] Using something as shady as Flame Talk—only used for secret chats between themselves.
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Is that because you have no friends to use Flame Talk with, you recluse?
[Noblesse Fire] Why, you little—!
Through the conversation between the Fire Dragon and Bone Dragon, Troll realized the truth.
Though it was disappointing to learn that the magic he thought he had created already existed as a skill, Troll chose to think positively.
'Yeah! I recreated a dragon skill with magic! I really am amazing!'
Troll’s self-esteem soared.
'Looking back, that really proved my magic skills hadn’t gone rusty.'
While the slime was eating, Troll reminisced about those days and realized it was time for another story.
▶ I’m going to chat with Squishy, so I’m turning off the stream for a bit.
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ What?
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Why are you suddenly turning it off?! This is tyranny!
▶ I’m sitting here silently while Squishy chats back anyway.
▶ Then why not just say it out loud?
▶ I only want Squishy to hear it.
▶ How petty.
▶ Boo! Dictator! Boo!
▶ My stream, my choice.
Troll unapologetically ended the stream, opened a private chat with the slime, and continued his story.
***
Aside from hunting for meat and storytelling, there was another activity Troll loved doing with the slime.
It was sparring.
It had been a week since the slime began living in the secret workshop.
The slime, getting bored of just working out with the dumbbells Troll had made, made a request via chat.
[Squishy] ▶ I want to spar! Let’s spar!
▷ ?
[Squishy] ▶ Troll strong! Let’s spar!
To Squishy’s memory, Troll was a powerful being.
After all, he had always defeated Paulen during their sparring sessions, and even easily deflected that massive energy attack Amelia used at the end!
▶ What is this? A new type of content?
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Is it Troll vs. Squishy this time?
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Troll, you fiend! I will never forgive you if you hurt my kin!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ I wanted to see Squishy moving around all cutely~!
[Just Slam First] ▶ Yeah! You gotta move to keep those body slams sharp!
▶Ah! Sparring time!
The slime’s request was met with great enthusiasm from the viewers.
▷ Doo, got it.
Troll thought sparring wasn’t a bad idea either.
He had been enjoying watching the slime steadily improve while sparring with Paulen!
▷ Then I’ll summon some golems. Try taking them on first.
As the sparring began, a magic circle appeared on the floor, summoning three humanoid stone golems.
[Squishy] ▶ Wow! What are those?
▷ Golems.
'I’m no summoning specialist, but this is nothing.'
Troll, once known as the Mage of a Thousand Spells, had at least intermediate skill in fields outside his specialty.
▷ You can smash them. Go all out.
[Squishy] ▶ Okay!
Facing the golems, the slime was thrilled to finally break the boredom.
Boing!
It immediately attacked with a Bounce Tackle.
The golem controlled by Troll brought its arms together to block the slime’s tackle.
Of course, it managed to block the attack, but the force of the single Bounce Tackle caused large cracks in the golem’s arms.
Another golem then swung a punch toward the slime in response.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ My kin! Watch out!
Seeing this rare sparring content again, Squishy Queen watched nervously.
But there was no need to worry.
Boing!
Having sparred with the paladin Paulen for over a month, the slime found the golem’s surprise attack much slower in comparison.
Unfurling its tendrils, the slime knocked the incoming punch downward and dodged.
Then it leapt toward the head of the remaining golem.
Boooiiing~!
Before the last golem could react, Squishy used a Bounce Jump combined with a Bounce Tackle, using the golem’s head as a platform and aiming straight for Troll.
The first-person view from Troll’s stream made the slime’s sudden approach surprise several viewers.
But the attack never reached Troll.
Shraaaap!
Because the slime’s attack couldn’t break through the barrier Troll had deployed.
Unable to penetrate the semi-transparent barrier, the slime’s soft body smushed against it and spread wide.
The sight was both comical and cute.
[Noblesse Fire] Pwahahaha! Oh man, that’s hilarious lolol.
▶ Lololol.
▶ It’s stretching like crazy lolol.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ How dare you laugh at my kin!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Stretched-out Squishy is just too adorable~!
[Just Slam First] ▶ Failed to break through. Don’t get discouraged, Squishy! Keep honing that body slam and break it next time!
▷ Squishy, are you okay?
While some laughed, some worried, and some cheered, the slime slowly slid down the barrier and bounced in place after staring at it for a moment.
[Squishy] ▶ Amazing! So sturdy!
Far from being discouraged by having its attack blocked, the slime was instead impressed by Troll’s barrier.
▶ Strong mentality.
▶ Yeah, come to think of it, doesn’t Squishy always lose to that human?
▶ Ahh, just the usual then lolol.
▶ Always losing, so they don’t even feel bad about it anymore.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Who dares call my kin a loser! Take it back immediately!
▶ lolol.
▶ Always gets riled up about Squishy lolol.
The slime bounced back to its original spot.
[Squishy] ▶ Again! Let’s keep going! Spar!
▷ Doo, got it.
Motivated by the eager slime, Troll regularly set times for their sparring sessions.
Sometimes he summoned golems to let the slime practice fighting multiple opponents.
Sometimes he shot arrows or swords made of magic to help improve its dodging skills.
Other times, he used magic to make the ground suddenly erupt, training the slime to sense and anticipate the flow of mana.
For Squishy, sparring with Troll was always a fun game where it could learn and experience new things.
For both Troll and the slime, these happy days passed quickly, and after another month had gone by—
[Squishy] ▶ I want to go outside!
At last, the inevitable moment arrived.