Chapter 98

"......Surrin? Hey, Surrin..."

It was the early morning of the second day after we left the village of Koriatt.

I had been sleeping comfortably in the carriage with a slime pillow, but I opened my eyes at Arvin's voice.

"What's up, Arvin?"

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and calling out to Arvin.

I'm not particularly noble, nor am I a woman, so I sleep with the guys. There might be some changes with the slime pillow, and it's better to have two people rather than one.

Well, slimes are as weak as babies, and they are securely tied up, so it's just a precaution.

"Hey, are you kidding me? Surrin, answer me! You were so lively just a little while ago!"

Arvin, speaking in a pained voice, patted his pillow.

Surrin, who had a definite elasticity yesterday, now made a squelching sound like water when Arvin touched it, with no trace of its former elasticity.

Perhaps remembering Surrin's lively state from last night, Arvin closed his eyes and hugged the slime pillow.

"......Arvin"

I understood the current situation.

"......It's gotten so cold..."

"......Arvin"

"......Just a little while ago, it was so lively..."

"Did you forget to feed Surrin?"

"......"

At my words, Arvin's movements came to an abrupt stop.

Slimes will die if they go without food for about two days. When they die, they lose their elasticity and turn into a slippery liquid.

For a slime pillow, which relies on elasticity, this is unacceptable.

So, to maintain its elasticity, we keep the slime alive by having it absorb grass and other plants.

This way, the slime is so busy absorbing nutrients that its movements are inhibited.

It's a win-win. I think this kind of efficient exploitation of everything is very human.

"......Didn't you say you wanted to become a Slime King?"

Arvin continued as if he hadn't heard my words.

Slimes don't talk, of course.

"I won't die until I become a Slime King! I'll create a place where only slimes live, with many followers...!"

Arvin continued his dramatic performance, sobbing. He has acting skills that would be a waste if he were just an adventurer.

As Arvin raised his voice as if mourning the death of a comrade, a loud thud and a scolding voice came from the wall.

"Be quiet! Some people are still sleeping, so keep it down!"

"Y-Yes, sorry!"

At a voice completely different from the usual Alysha, I apologized without thinking.

Come to think of it, it's early morning. Some people are still sleeping. This is not the time to raise your voice.

Arvin placed the liquid slime pillow on the floor and fell asleep as if nothing had happened.

I decided to get some more sleep too.

◆

After that, we continued our journey to Kikka while experimenting with the slime pillow.

We discussed the selection of materials for the pillow, how to sew it so the slime wouldn't leak out, and how to make the management of the slime easier.

One recent discovery was that cooling or heating the slime with magic changes its elasticity in a good way.

Thinking about how refreshing it would be to cool the soft slime pillow and place it on my head, I tried an ice spell.

When I cooled the slime with an ice spell, it became slightly firmer and had a feeling like it was sucking onto my skin.

It was like a memory foam pillow, I suppose.

When I pressed it, it felt more like sinking than being enveloped. It was so comfortable that I wanted to keep poking it with my fingers.

I rejoiced at this new discovery and enjoyed the cool, firm texture that day, sleeping comfortably.

The next day, I wondered what would happen if I warmed it up moderately, so I tried heating the slime with a fire spell.

The slime's elasticity quickly disappeared and it became softer.

For a moment, I thought the slime had died, but it still retained a slight elasticity.

I was delighted to confirm this.

The ability to adjust the elasticity according to one's preference makes the slime pillow such a wonderful thing. If it weren't for the minus point of being a monster, everyone would surely want one.

But for me, such things are trivial and don't matter.

I remembered that slimes are weak to fire and ice spells.

Well, slimes are basically liquid-based, so they are weak to heat and cold, like how water turns to ice when cooled.

Tori was surprised by this, but ice spells are rare, and magical devices that can use them are not yet available to the general public.

While many people can use fire spells, it's difficult to control the intensity of the magic.

Tori, Arvin, and I, who frequently use magic, and Alysha, the adventurer, can do it easily, but ordinary citizens cannot control it so precisely.

Most people who are called magic users can only produce fireballs or light a fire in wood. They can't slowly roast or warm things.

So, using magical devices would be a solution, but the question is whether ordinary citizens care that much about their sleep.

I would buy and use a magical device even if I couldn't use magic, but that's just my personal opinion.

Some people might think a regular pillow is fine if it costs that much.

So, Tori decided to target the slime pillow at wealthy nobles and merchants.

I was worried if such high-class people would buy a slime pillow, but according to Tori, there are certainly nobles who are interested in new things.

Well, I'm a noble too, and I'm hooked on it.

Time passed quickly as we repeated these experiments with the slime pillow.

On the afternoon of the third day, we arrived at the central city of Kikka.

Kikka is a city located slightly to the east of the Misfit Kingdom. If you go north, you'll reach the Aldonia Kingdom, and if you go west, you'll reach the capital, which is a transit point for various goods.

Naturally, many people gather there, and a large number of people live there.

While it doesn't match the grandeur and splendor of the capital, Kikka has a vibrant atmosphere that rivals the capital.

I was impressed that there are such prosperous cities besides the capital as I entered Kikka in Tori's carriage.

At that moment, I saw the guards rushing over and anxiously looked around to see if they were there.

Still, I couldn't feel at ease, so I asked Arvin and Molt.

"......Hey, they're not here, right?"

"You mean the gatekeepers of the capital?"

Arvin, with a somewhat pale face, timidly asked back, and I nodded vigorously.

Judging from his expression, they must have been victims a few times.

Those gatekeepers are not as easy as they seem.

"If they were everywhere, I wouldn't be an adventurer."

"They are specialists in the capital. ...I heard that there are more handsome men there."

Molt provided information I didn't want to hear.

That's right, there are many handsome nobles and merchants in the capital. Many nobles are quite good-looking.

Those guards use their official duties as an excuse to do as they please.

When I asked Tori if they ever get sued, she said they are experts in cracking down on counterfeit goods and smuggling and are rumored to be the right-hand men of high-ranking nobles.

Basically, when I go to the capital, I use teleportation, so I don't have to deal with the gatekeepers, but the fear of being sent to the capital like at the party the other day is always there.

When I go by carriage next time, I can only pray that we don't encounter the southern gate.

We've arrived at Kikka!