- Shari -

The night ended without further incidents.

At least I could rest a bit in a half-asleep state, where I was still able to be vigilant to anything that might approach me.

I am not too sure about it, but it's possible that when Liqu left for a short moment I heard the screech of some animal.

However, as you could guess the most time she spends close to me, albeit in the limit of the distance I ordered her to keep.

I don’t want her following a mood and doing this linking stuff.

Ugh, shivers!

After they took a short meal in the morning, we continued with our journey.

Maybe I should ask for a piece of my flesh soon.

They were cautious before since Liqu was always nearby and they had seen her, yet now they seem to hold the distance even more.

They aren’t outright running, but certainly on edge.

That they thought I am some kind of mage who controls a pet monster is a bit hilarious.

Still, the good part is that I didn’t need to bother with putting the bandages back on.

So to say, to keep them on is a little uncomfortable, regarding the necessary concentration it takes to maintain the structure beneath.

And it also limits my vision.

While I can see best when my core is exposed, I noticed I can see with any mass I leave uncovered.

I have literal eyes on the back of my head.

I could even use my hand to see, but the effect lessens the farther it is away from my core.

My eyes seem to be special in that regard, with some kind of direct connection.

In my situation, leaving the head free is more advantageous, since I don’t know how these people will act.

Every now and then, I use the opportunity to snatch some herbs along the way.

Nothing noteworthy, but they have their value.

My clothes will totally smell like forest.

They weren't wrong with the blood scent on their clothes.

At times different smaller monsters would come, from aggressive small felines to lizards with extremely big claws, and one time we even encountered three goblins.

I don’t think I need to mention how that went.

While we were walking during the day and those two did rotate with dragging the stretcher, I notice that they are growing progressively exhausted.

Helping them out might be bad for my reserves, but any delay to the journey will as well cost me energy in the long run.

I am sure, that Liqu will gladly share the results of her hunt with me, who still can’t bring myself to devour something big.

But it looks simply disgusting.

Yet if I can limit those times it would be in my favor.

So I decide to ask them if I shall drag the stretcher for a while.

I fall a bit back to the adventurers, leaving Liqu's side, who's clearing the way in front of our group.

"I would like to help with the stretcher!" (Shari)

They look surprised and fail to reply directly.

Maybe they have problems entrusting a friend of theirs to a monster.

Even if they basically do so since the moment they asked me for my help.

"Ehm… no you mustn’t! You are helping us with the monsters already, you don’t need to do this too! (Myra)

Says her wording, while her face says "Stay away from my friend, you monster!".

"I can see you two are visibly exhausted and it won’t help anyone if we get slowed down by that! In addition, don’t you think that there's no real reason not to accept my offer? It’s not like that would trigger something." (Shari)

Jacob seems at least to consider it, while Myra looks worried at her friend.

Are they in a relationship?

"Fine! Myra, please let her take your place." (Jacob)

"But…" (Myra)

"She will just draw the stretcher and no one said you need to leave his side." (Jacob)

She looks quite disgruntled but ultimately gives in.

Now I just need to figure out how to do this.

I said this before, but the biggest disadvantage of this body is that it has hardly any capacity for manual labor.

I mean, a body made of flesh can apply more pressure and is more durable than one consisting of liquid.

The gloves I wear, which by now even with their thickness should be soaked, are helping.

They give stability to the squishy mass inside.

Nonetheless, I need to be careful, as like this the material alone is wearing the entire burden, making it prone to get destroyed due to the strain.

In addition, my body is even with the gloves not suitable for certain tasks.

In general, all tasks which require using force in a controlled manner, like plowing or hammering are impossible in my condition.

The mass simply gives in, the moment I encounter any resistance.

When I used the knife, for example, I targeted deliberately the soft spots of my opponent's body and was lucky he couldn’t strike it out of my hand.

In a swords fight, I wouldn’t make it through the first clash.

However, this situation should be different.

To drag this stretcher I just need to maintain constant hold of the stretcher.

I could figure out before, that in long-term actions I can utilize increasing amounts of force.

So dragging this thing should be possible, as long I don’t rip my arms right at the start.

I move into position, to take hold of the two handles of the construction, which resembles a hand barrow.

Just without a wheel.

But the moment I start to drag it, I can feel how my forearms are starting to tear in the middle.

I made it to move this thing a bit, but can’t keep this up, without ripping my arms.

Embarrassing is that they noticed it.

"Is there a problem? We can still do it by ourselves." (Jacob)

Hah, that hurt my pride.

"No, I can do this! Just need to figure something out." (Shari)

The solution is simple.

If I don’t want my arms to tear then they need to be able to resist the strain.

It's just that the solution to do this is not really to my liking.

I need to direct more mass into my arms.

I am not as proficient as I deem Liqu to be with this inner control of the slime.

Especially to increase the density and then retain control while I move the mass becomes more difficult.

So it doesn’t work out when I simply try to make the strained parts denser.

Like this, I have no other choice, if I don’t want to give up in shame, but to make them bigger.

I dislike changing my appearance, as it draws me further away from feeling human.

Even more in front of others!

But if I want to succeed here, it's necessary to do so, and fortunately, it should be less visible under the cloak.

So I make my arms thicker and manage to move this damned thing at a pace where I am still able to literally pull myself together while doing so.

The upside is that if I can maintain this I will never tire out.

I noticed until now, that no matter how long I walk or how fast I move I don’t get out of breath.

Yes, I know that I don’t breathe in the first place.

I mean this body just seems to have this upper limit of energy Liqu mentioned, but as long this is warranted I will feel no fatigue or anything similar.

Like this, carrying this stretcher is no problem.

What is a nuisance is that those two keep staring at me.

Yes I know I look strange, but it is rude to dwell on this.

After a while, Jacob comes close, seemingly with something on his mind.

"So… Myra said that you are … human?" (Jacob)

Hurray! The long-anticipated talk about how far I can be considered a human! Wonderful! Duh!

Another thing I never thought I have to go through.

"As human one can be with a body consisting of moving slime and a stone for a brain." (Shari)

Not sure if I was rude but certainly this was a setback for his advance in talking about my sore spots.

"That… That must have been hard!" (Jacob)

"Can’t say for sure. How would you feel, if after five days of torture you are confronted with being stripped of your body, literally? And being turned into a monster, which most people would run or kill at sight?" (Shari)

"Sorry, I don’t have an answer." (Jacob)

"Me neither! Still need to figure something out for me!" (Shari)

"And how do you cope with… that?" (Jacob)

"Don’t really know. I haven’t killed myself yet, if that’s what you mean. But apart from that I am in some kind of survivor mode, I mean it’s been just six days." (Shari)

Shit, that could've been a mistake, as they might use this information to trace me back!

"And this other…" (Jacob)

"Liqu!" (Shari)

I mention her name.

Before we are talking about monsters, I would rather have them referring to us as persons, as this is in my favor.

"This … Liqu is at fault?" (Jacob)

"Yes." (Shari)

"Then why are you keeping her close?" (Jacob)

"While she is at fault, in regards to my prospects she is one of the scarce kind of people, who isn’t out to get rid of me. Furthermore, now that she has what she wants, she is loyal and I need all the help I can get." (Shari)

"That sounds harsh." (Jacob)

"Well, the hardest part for me will be to get into the town, without showing my face." (Shari)

"Ugh, maybe you could just try to talk." (Jacob)

"Yes, sure. Before or right after they draw their weapons because of the monster? Be honest; even after I saved your group and escort you through the woods, you are still wary of me. Also, In the abysmal chance that I can talk myself somehow out of the issue regarding my appearance, since people are always so open and trusting, who do you think will be the first one the guard will come to if someone goes missing? And my last record was that Ekoras is not known for its low crime rates." (Shari)

That put him off.

While I approach the problems in front of me without hesitance, I generally play them through first to find the most preferable way of action.

So it was not hard to figure out that being honest, in an environment that wouldn’t believe one and tends to take advantage of those playing by the rules, won't get me far.

So an open approach is hereby denied!

"It seems you gave this quite some thought, huh?" (Jacob)

"Just the appropriate amount for something your life depends on." (Shari)

While I drag the stretcher I am a little anxious about the strain I put on my gloves.

They might be sturdy, but I am pulling all the mass inside them constantly in one direction, solely relying on the fabric to hold and this should wear them out by time.

Yet using my bare hands might be possible if I can replicate the same glue Liqu used, but that would be inconsiderate to both of them if I think about the residue.

I am too nice.

So we can cover a good distance until we need to set up a camp again.

Well, they need to.

Shall I be happy about this advantage or sad for another point on the me-being-inhuman-list?

While they are still wary of us, the distance around the campfire closed at least a bit.

Yet not for Liqu who is a genuine monster, which puts Jacob on guard.

And that she mentioned she might turn Myra as well into a slime, as soon she can do so, was not the best approach to build a friendly relationship with her.

Terrified would be an understatement.

So she cannot really start a conversation, despite her best efforts to do so.

Like this, she starts to approach me or patrol the campsite.

And it took me quite a while to assure them that the wandering slime will not eat them in their sleep.

Since I trained the whole day to control my body by dragging the stretcher I should now tend to my needs.

"Jacob, the flesh you stored for me. Can I have some?" (Shari)

A rhetorical question.

If they won’t give it to me, I take it and leave them here on their own.

Well, that’s a little hard.

But on the other side, stealing food in a survival situation can be considered murder, if you ask me.

"Sure shall I roast it over the fire for you? I assume it is difficult with your hands." (Jacob)

Now I feel a little bad for my thoughts and worse to give the answer I have to.

Looking a bit downtrodden I answer,

"Ehm no, it’s not really necessary I can just eat it, or so. I have no real problems with ingestion now." (Shari)

It is embarrassing that there is no difference if you take in the flesh raw and also to admit that you use the devouring of a monster to do so.

After a too-long moment of uncomfortable silence, Jacob takes the flesh out of one of their bags.

By the way, they have somehow oversized survival bags which can store a huge amount of equipment.

Now that I think about it, that whole ordeal must be a financial crisis for them.

I don’t know their objective, but regarding their state and that they had to let go of Chris’ bag, I doubt that the outcome was favorable, even more considering the approaching expenses that come their way.

However, before I dwell further in this I want my meat.

The piece of flesh is wrapped with leaves, to prevent that the fluids soak the fabric.

Because I want to prevent this too, I remove my gloves.

Yet, this leads to an awkward moment when I want to take it from his hand.

It seems it’s asked too much to directly touch my body.

This makes him nearly drop the flesh on the ground.

Fortunately, I can catch it.

Yet I almost didn’t make it.

Not only because of the timing but also because it's a fairly heavy piece of around five-hundred grams and like this nearly flew through my hand.

But it seems I was somehow able to glue it to the surface.

Did I just subconsciously change the structure?

That would be a progress, but at the same time extremely unsettling.

Like always when I somehow get more used to this body.

Now I feel how the unwrapped meat releases fluid inside my hands.

I feel a little uneasy regarding terms of hygiene or more the lack of them as the currents get absorbed inside.

So I realize that this body never has to be cleaned as it just forms anything it comes in contact with to a part of itself.

Again: "Unsettling!"

And now I am confronted with an even bigger issue.

While I have a knife and it has a saw on the backside I cannot really use it to cut the meat as I am.

Just imagining me trying and always losing grip with my liquid hand isn’t even funny.

And this is a five-hundred grams thick chunk.

To make things worse I don’t know of another way to eat it in a normal way.

Before, it was just one thing on my list of disadvantages and oddities that are hard to cope with.

But now I really miss my teeth.

They maybe weren’t perfectly straight and my dental hygiene was questionable at best, but they were there.

Was that the reason why mum made broth?

I just now realized that until now I never had something that was in need to get chewed.

Not the berries, not the broth, even the bread in our provisions I could break, so fluffy it was.

I miss my teeth so badly!

I can even feel how something that resembles them forms inside my mouth.

Nice try body, but we both know it won’t work like this.

So what do I do now with that piece of flesh I can’t get small myself?

First, I could ask Jacob to cut it for me.

Like for a small child.

Which would crush my self-esteem.

That’s a big no!

Then, I could chomp it whole.

But this thing is bigger than my mouth no matter the angle.

The only way to get it through would be to enlarge the sides and open up widely.

Which would gross out everyone.

Well, everyone except Liqu, who would ask why I make things so complicated.

That brings me to the third possibility.

Fuck pretending and just throw it in!

Just suck it with your hands inside, Shari.

This would be a bit more stealthy as the cloak would hide what happens.

It would just vanish in my hands.

And the only one grossed out would be me.

It would be one more step away from being human.

Not that forming a jaw that encompasses my whole head would be more human.

"Is something the matter? You are staring now for a while on your… meal." (Jacob)

"Oh, no nothing. Just a philosophical question that was on my mind." (Shari)

Yes, humanity and eating meat; a deep topic.

Yet, now my plan to let it vanish crumbles in front of me.

Sigh! Seems like I have no choice!

"Could you please avert your eyes for a moment?" (Shari)

"Why?" (Jacob)

I give him a glare, which I don’t know how it will be interpreted, considering my eyes have no features to distinguish my mood.

However, Myra seems to have connected the dots between me staring at my food and my question and gives him a push with the elbow, leading to both of them complying.

Now that I am free to go, I discover to my discontent, that my plan to just suck it in fails at the too-short sleeves of my shirt.

As I still don’t want to make use of a monster mouth, I have just one choice I am pressured to take before they look up again.

Reluctantly I open my cloak, lift my shirt, and put the meat inside.

I feel utterly disgusted by myself.

This just intensifies as soon I activate the dissolving.

They may not see it, but I can certainly feel it.

This is by far the biggest thing I consciously took in by now.

And I am very conscious about it.

I feel how the flesh loses its integrity.

Gets disintegrated layer by layer at a rapid speed and at the same time becomes a part of me.

This is different from eating I realize now.

Before, I just took in small amounts or things that had a convenient composition in the beginning, so that I could avoid taking notice of the process.

But not with this!

It is just too big and I feel how the slime generates directly out of the process.

I feel so wrong in a fundamental way.

Like something that just doesn’t belong in this world.

And again a drop of slime falls from my eyes.

Yes, I am a bit whiny, but being in front of two people who judge my eating habits, while I only have the means of a monster to do so, is a bit dejecting.

"I-is something wrong?" (Myra)

Crying during the meal was a bit too obvious, huh?

"No, it’s nothing. I’m just a little overly conscious and embarrassed." (Shari)

"Are you sure about this?" (Jacob)

"It’s not like I can change the way I need to eat now." (Shari)

I don’t know what it is, but something drives me always to cut talks with Jacob down.

Maybe I just don’t like him.

Or it is the way he seems to break down my persona.

Somehow, I feel each time assessed when he talks to me and this uncomfortable feeling drives me to end all his attempts of a conversation.

So I don’t like him.

"Maybe I should look for the storage!" (Jacob)

Nonetheless, he is good at judging people’s behavior, finding out he is unwanted this fast.

Yet not in regards to things girls might find embarrassing.

"Sure! And if it helps, you two don’t need to set up a guard! Liqu isn’t going to sleep and won’t let any prey escape. (Shari)

Somehow I believe that he will as well not sleep very much this night.

Now just me and Myra remain at the fire.

And I don’t know how much she is freaked out by me.

"Are you really okay?" (Myra)

"I don’t know how to answer this! Obviously, regarding my body, I am not "okay" for a human. But for a slime I might be in perfect health. You see the problem?" (Shari)

"Uh, yes! I mean… I know that must be hard if what you told us is true." (Myra)

"See? That’s just one of the problems. That no one will believe such an insane story. But it’s not that alone. In my mind, I already know that my body dictates that I’m no longer a human. Nonetheless, I desperately try to continue behaving like a human, to feel like one. But each time I am forced to use this body like it is made to, I feel like I lose a bit more of this. It’s not that I will suddenly stop to be myself, but that I realize that this "behaving like a human" is in the end just pretending. Each time I fail at this, a bit more of this layer I try to hide the truth behind gets taken away. And just to think about this means to get even more defeated. I am a slime now and all wishful thinking won’t help!" (Shari)

"M-Maybe it is not this bad? I mean as long as you stay sane, there would be no reason not to treat you like a human, right?" (Myra)

"So you’re saying, that I could live on as a human if I behave like one?" (Shari)

"It could be!" (Myra)

I don’t know if she is trying to comfort me with lies or just really this innocent.

However, let’s test her resolve.

"If you say so, then there is a truly easy way to confirm your words." (Shari)

"What do you mean by this?" (Myra)

"I just need your participation to make sure." (Shari)

"What would I need to do?" (Myra)

"Just stay still for a moment." (Shari)

Like this, I extend my free hand to her shoulder.

"Ieekh!" (Myra)

But before I can reach her she lets out a shout and retreats in a way that she falls on her back, completely startled.

"See! It’s only a touch to your shoulder and you freak out as if I’m going for the kill!" (Shari)

I don’t know which one of us should apologize here, but I don’t feel like doing so.

"S-Sorry; I realize how foolish my words were." (Myra)

Ah, so she does.

"No problem, at least you aren’t going to cry or running for your dear life because of me. I should lower my expectations. And it is nice that I am able to talk normally. I mean that’s what caused this in the beginning." (Shari)

"How come?" (Myra)

I start to explain the backgrounds a bit to her and she listens carefully.

While I leave out some of the details I don’t want to review or don’t want to get convicted for, like the adventurers, some understanding for my case would be nice.

And listening is the first step in that matter.

"But if she did all this to you, how can you bear her presence?" (Myra)

"It is complicated. She isn’t directly evil, more a child! However, even if I know that, I dislike her for what she did. On the other hand, I need her, and having her around helps me a great deal, for example in dangerous situations. And she's totally loyal, as she gets satisfied by my company. And I don’t know what she would do if she couldn’t get this. However, she's still a genuine monster and like this, you have a hard time standing her antics." (Shari)

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"What’s that?" (Shari)

"Chris?!" (Myra)

Myra looks where they left their wounded comrade.

I follow with my gaze and find him awake.

Yet I find Liqu too, which is leaning over him, while his head is embedded in her lap.

Jacob jumps startled out of his attempt to sleep and promptly readies his crossbow at Liqu.

I don’t know if he could hit her core, but the distance is really close.

"What are you doing to Chris?!" (Myra)

With a panicked yell, she rushes to her comrade, yet stops close before approaching Liqu.

Who just tilts her head in her usual childish manner.

"He looked uncomfortable, so I thought I take care of him." (Liqu)

Stupid slime!

Despite his scream, Chris is now awfully quiet.

That might be because he is terrified and just overwhelmed by the situation or it is because of his injury and he did overextend himself.

In the latter, we should soon take a look at him.

"Liqu, withdraw immediately! He obviously doesn’t like it and needs to calm down!" (Shari)

"Okay, but it’s sad! Now I am really appreciating, that you would let me sleep next to you before." (Liqu)

Does she mean when I was restrained?! Oh god, Liqu-headache! Standing her antics it is!