The translucent green slime in front of me throbbed and bubbled. Although it's stuck to my leg, for now, Alfie can help me fight it off when he comes back.

I stuck the syringe into the slime and pulled out a sample. The green slug sparkled under the forest light, and there was no trace of impurities.

"Hmm...why are you-"

The slime suddenly expanded and doubled in height. My face was sealed off and I couldn't reach out to Alfie.

Damn it, I'm not prepared to die yet...

... ...

Alfie rushed back when he picked up on Eri's call for help. The small variant beast growled at the slime and pounced. However, the slime seemed to read the beast's movements and released a glob of slime at the animal.

"Auuuu..."

Alfie whimpered and struggled, but the glob of slime adhered it firmly to a tree.

Rid of all disturbances, the slime continued to grow over the unconscious girl. Until the girl's body was fully immersed, the slime then rounded into a sphere.

Over the next three days, the surface of the green sphere hardened and turned opaque. The girl inside was no longer visible, and the large sphere faded into a dull milky-jade colour.

After exhausting all its efforts, Alfie managed to chew through the slime on the third day. He threw himself at the sphere once again and clawed at the slippery surface.

Perhaps persistence paid off. Alfie's gnawing and scratching finally led to the shattering of the sphere.

Fine cracks crawled from the point of contact and spread over the entire sphere. With a clunk, the thick shell broke apart and revealed the two sleeping figures within.

... ...

"Mmm..."

How comfortable...why do I hear birds chirping? And what a nice breeze...

"Haaa!"

I sat up immediately but my head crashed into something...something...soft?

Looking up, what I bumped into was a rippling face...

"Good morning my bride."

The rippling slime settled down into a well-proportioned face.

Speckles of gold in his green eyes shimmered in the sunlight. A soft tenor voice emitted from thin lips that seemed to be carved out by angels...

Let's go back to sleep. I closed my eyes and laid down again.

"Auuuuauauu"

Alfie!

I sat upright again and found Alfie bound to a tree with slime.

"Ahh!! What did you do to Alfie!!"