- Shari -

Since there's no way out of it, we have to do the inevitable.

We head to our meeting with our subordinates.

That Kaleb joins us for this might actually be helpful to prevent sudden "slimeshed".

I hope that we don't have to resort to violence.

There is just so much that could go wrong.

Meanwhile, Liqu looks almost elated.

While I'm sure that she has no idea about the implications of our situation, the simple fact that everything is new and thrilling should be enough to set the mood.

I have to do something about this.

"Liqu, like always I do the talking and, if possible, please try not to move." (Shari)

"Why?" (Liqu)

Before I even attempt to convey concepts like dignity and the importance of a serene composure to her, I try something simpler.

"You look better this way and I want for them to see you from your best side." (Shari)

Also, it's less threatening if she's not moving.

While I thought we would move to the barracks, it seems that this place is also used for this kind of team meeting.

We wander through the main hall to the other side of the building and in the end find ourselves in front of a big door.

It seems even Kaleb is worried, as reluctant he is to open up.

But ultimately he has no other choice.

The door slowly opens and Kaleb is the first to enter, shortly followed by me and ultimately Liqu.

While there is a table, most people here are scattered around in the vast room.

The first one I spot is Elin.

Mostly because I intentionally looked for the only person I know here.

She, as I expected, positioned herself in the corner farthest away from the others.

Speaking of the others, there's a woman who throws me quite a glare.

Hello, Vela!

Two other men, one of them a real giant, mostly switch between exchanging questioning glances with each other and staring at me.

I notice that some more looks go to a third man, who seems to be in thought.

This calm man gives an impression of being important so that I think this one is Jaren.

This leaves the other two as Galos and Balion.

I guess the latter should be the hunk with the greatsword, taking into account what I've just learned about their weaponry and roles.

"Everyone! Those are your new commanders! You are assigned to serve under them and insubordination won't be tolerated." (Kaleb)

Before I concentrate on the people here, I first check on Liqu, what has by now become a conditioned reflex of mine.

Good that I did.

She stays completely still, not even twitching, almost like a statue.

I said before that it would look less threatening this way, but this is apparently not true.

The opposite is the case.

I can clearly see how much she's forcing herself not to move, but by doing so she puts her whole liquid body under extreme pressure.

Since she's just in casual clothes one can clearly see that she vibrates from the tension.

And like this, she looks as if she's ready to lunge or explode at everyone present here.

Which is kinda threatening.

"Sigh. Liqu, you can stop forcing yourself." (Shari)

"Really?" (Liqu)

"Really." (Shari)

It's clearly not working out.

"Heeey! I'm Liqu, nice to meet you!" (Liqu)

With this, she waves her hands around and jumps up and down like an oddly bouncing ball.

Sigh! Dignified, calm, and composed.

I shouldn't have raised my hopes.

"Uhh. Alright, my name is Shari and it seems like we are stuck together. First, I want to say that I'm in charge of all of you. If there is anything you want you say you come to me with it. For the rest, I hope we can not dwell on the circumstances and just do our job. If there are any questions, now is the time to ask them." (Shari)

I was never a very social person and surely not the kind to give a speech in front of groups.

However, I was also never weak-willed.

While I'm still affected by emotions and can feel anxious or disturbed, my body is not affected so long as I don't give in.

Like this, I can speak in such a hostile environment in a calm and collected way, even if as a human the uneasiness would probably cause severe sweating.

Also, I believe my core helps me to pronounce words without stumbling on them, by perfectly processing my intentions.

This is rather advantageous in this kind of situation.

I'm not wearing a mask and everyone can clearly see what I and Liqu are.

In the faces of those present I see worry, uncertainty, and most problematic, fear and hostility.

However, none of them responds.

I believe this has to do with Kaleb, as he is a high-ranking official and it might be an issue to kill your commanding officer in front of someone like him.

"Fine. I will leave the rest to you." (Kaleb)

And there goes my sole influence to keep them in check.

He's rather fast at it to get out of here.

While I don't think that Liqu and I gave him any reason to be on guard against us, he clearly didn't want to stay with us longer than necessary.

"What the heck is this?!" (Vela)

Seems like she finally thinks that it's safe enough to talk.

"Look, I know that no one here is happy about this, but can we please get over it? It's not like complaining will change anything." (Shari)

I would as well prefer things to be easier, but it's not like I can go to complain to the count how stupid I consider him and his decisions to be?

That wouldn't end well.

"Don't talk, you fiend!" (Vela)

"Seriously? We don't even know each other yet. Maybe wait a moment before spouting stuff like this? Especially towards your commanding officer." (Shari)

"This is a joke!" (Vela)

Seems like it won't be easy to work with her.

So I think I team her up with someone who's equally annoying.

"This one is yours, Liqu." (Shari)

"Really!? I was already starting to feel empty. Thank you so much!" (Liqu)

At once all the people here become distressed.

Vela has now this look of dread you get when someone casually mentions they want to dissolve you.

It's the same look I receive quite frequently these days from others.

Meanwhile, Galos takes some steps back, probably having in mind what Liqu can do from our performance the other day.

Balion on the other side takes a step towards Vela, putting one hand on his huge weapon.

Elin is almost indifferent, not really minding what happens here, and while Jaren appears calm on the outside, I perceive how his body tenses up and that he grabs his weapon below the table.

And I?

I smack Liqu's head.

Stupid Liqu!

"Glrbsh! What was that for?" (Liqu)

"God! Once! Just one single time I want you not to mess things up! I was talking about who is working for who! We don't dissolve anyone here!" (Shari)

"But it was so long since I had something!" (Liqu)

You've told me this morning you ate everything within the mansion's walls.

Don't act as if you're starving!

"I will take care of that later. Just endure for now. It can't be so bad." (Shari)

"If you say so." (Liqu)

"Sigh. Alright, now that this got settled, how about we introduce each other? I am Shari and this is Liqu." (Shari)

I try to give my best smile, putting excessive awareness on preventing my mouth from stretching to my ears.

Yet I guess since it's slime the outline is a little blurry.

Liqu already waved, but won't let the chance to do so a second time go to waste.

I approach as inoffensive as possible and sit down at the table, opposite from those soldiers.

It's a little off-putting that by doing so I pushed slime on the seat and drenched the area around my butt.

If I still had one.

Vela is still on edge.

Liqu's threat, which was more an actual intention, made her go quiet, but I still feel how it's seething inside her.

"Now that's settled, could we please put away all the weapons here? I would really love to discuss how we can make this work." (Shari)

"Do you really expect us to..." (Vela)

"Vela! Stop it." (Jaren)

Thank you for the assist. I'll take you.

It's still a tense situation, but at least those people listen now.

"We might be unusual personnel for this role, but I think everyone here agrees that you would rather have us fighting for you than the other way around, right? This is the case. With us by your side, you have nothing to fear on a mission." (Shari)

"This is quite a claim and we barely know you." (Jaren)

"You want an example? Last week I killed a rager on my own." (Shari)

"Wha-" (Vela)

"Really." (Galos)

"Damn. (Balion)

"Well." (Jaren)

"HEY!!!" (Liqu)

"Okay, Liqu helped. A bit." (Shari)

While I'm not sure if I can establish any kind of trust, I think this was convincing enough that we can be of help.

Ragers are one of the worst things one can encounter out there and to be safe from such creatures can only be considered as positive.

"You see, we can try to make this work. It's not impossible if you just stay a little bit open-minded. However, if not... Does anyone here know the quote "my boss is a monster"? Well, we can give this a completely new meaning, in the most literal sense." (Shari)

I'll try to get along with them, as much as my most basic sense of self-preservation allows.

Yet this threat was necessary.

They shouldn't believe that I can't be strict.

I still smile at them, supporting my head with my arms, to make a relaxed impression.

But mostly to cover any possible stretching along my cheeks.

However, Vela is still not convinced.

"This is a monster! No one can expect us to... Whaaahh!!!" (Vela)

At this moment, from below the table, a greater amount of slime emerges and crawls up Vela's body.

The green color is a hint, but a look below confirms that Liqu spread under the whole table.

"Help! Help!!!" (Vela)

Naturally, everyone freaks out.

Galos jumps away.

Balion tries, without any effect, to scuff it off from Vela's body, who gets elevated in the air.

From Jaren, I hear how his sword unsheathes.

And Elin is simply ignoring what transpires here, already used to Liqu's antics.

"My Shari doesn't like to be called that, so please stop it. I insist!" (Liqu)

The last part she said with a tone that obviously indicates slimeshed if the people in this room won't start to mind their manners.

Balion and Galos now also grab for their weapons.

The former does so to protect, the latter out of fear, is my assessment.

Yet both motivations can equally lead them to attack us.

This means I have to act before this happens.

Being already in processing mode I determine that they might attack the moment they see an opening.

While Liqu can be very terrifying, the fact that she's concentrating on Vela might lead them to believe they might have a chance with an attack on the main body.

This is obviously not the case since Liqu can easily adapt at a moment's notice.

Still, as soon it comes to violence, it will be established that they need to fight us, which will force Jaren to partake in the battle.

This means I have to do something to stop them before it even starts.

The only solution I can come up with to stop them from starting a fight is threatening them.

Like this, with a showy act, I pull all my blades at once out of my body.

The small knife, my piercing dagger, my slashing dagger, and the looted shortsword, which I will exchange with whatever weapon the count will provide.

All of these weapons rush at once as a big tentacle out of my back and split into four, one for each blade.

The knife points at Vela, the shortsword at Jaren, and the daggers at Balion and Galos.

With this, each person is covered.

"I would advise that everyone stays calm." (Shari)

I try to appear as menacing as possible, giving the impression that I would pierce all of them the moment they anger me.

However, this is all just a big bluff.

In truth, my appendages lack the strength and skill to pose any threat to an experienced fighter.

They could easily block them and rush through my defense.

Still, I believe a wall of blades is good enough as a reason to induce them to stay put.

At least doing so gives my words some weight when I try to convince Balion and Galos.

I doubt Jaren would attack rashly and Vela is bound, literally.

"Wha...? We-we need to help Vela!" (Balion)

"If you would just calm down for a moment I could focus on this issue!" (Shari)

It seems they don't move, even if it should be mostly because of confusion regarding how to deal with the situation.

Nonetheless, it works out in some way.

But this is a very tense situation which I need to end now.

"Liqu! Put her down this instant!" (Shari)

"But she was rude! I want her to apologize." (Liqu)

"This is a difficult task if you cover her mouth!" (Shari)

I don't know if it's instinct or not, but she spread the slime in a way that Vela can't scream.

"Oh, sorry. Now she can." (Liqu)

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" (Vela)

I think Vela has other things on her mind, right now.

"Liqu! Put! Her! Down!" (Shari)

"Fine, but she needs to work on her attitude." (Liqu)

With this, all the slime gets directly sucked back into her.

Yet Vela is completely drenched and lost all power to sit upright.

So Balion steadies her from the side.

"Now please, everyone puts their weapons back and we can start to calm down." (Shari)

"How do you intend to lead this troop?" (Jaren)

Jaren is rather fast back at it and he's clearly questioning the idea of me being in a leading position.

Yet this is a chance to gloss over what just happened.

"First, only I will be in charge. Liqu isn't going to give any orders. I'll trust you as our squad leader, but will decide as I see fit. If there are any specific questions about how to handle Liqu, ask Elin." (Shari)

Well, if this wasn't an appalled "Why me?"-look.

But it's best that way.

I just hope Vela won't cause problems.

Or Balion.

From Galos I expect no problems as he seems to be the most timid one.

It's not like I know anything about leading people, but I am very sure that Jaren was assigned to exactly do that for me.

Vela on the other side might be here to make sure that we won't cause trouble with her animosity.

I have no real problem with this, as long it doesn't get out of hand.

I think together with Jaren I might be able to actually get something on track, as long the difficult ones won't get in my way.

"So, I guess that settles it. If there are any questions left I will answer them. You can also ask us about personal information if this helps to build trust. But I would refrain from asking Liqu, as you might hear something disturbing." (Shari)

Not like I really plan to tell them everything, but it might help to appear less monstrous if I act a bit more open.

Yet after my last stunt, I think it's unlikely that anyone will address me.

Vela is still not in the right condition to ask anything, Balion is occupied with helping her, and the rest is quite intimidated.

Like this, no one should...

"I have a question!" (Jaren)

Almost forgot about Jaren.

"Yes, what is it?" (Shari)

"What are you?" (Jaren)

"Sorry? I'm a little confused. Were the blue color, the core, and liquid body not enough of a hint?" (Shari)

"You speak fluently, despite your condition. You show understanding of military strategy. And, most importantly, you are far too knowledgeable about society and human behavior. Even considering that you maybe are an exceptional talent, it comes just too naturally to be learned knowledge. So who are you?" (Jaren)

He is perceptive and deductive, both abilities I consider as dangerous as advantageous.

"Do you really want to know? It's not the most pleasant story." (Shari)

"Yes. We're no children. So please tell." (Jaren)

I'm looking him deep in the eyes, contemplating what I should answer.

However, as I have no pupils my stare should be all over the place.

Keeping secrets and obvious lies would worsen my relationship with them.

Not like there is much left to worsen, but I think I should make concessions to a small degree.

It's not like there is much to use against me if I omit the risky parts.

"I'm a human." (Shari)

Well, stares of disbelief.

That was to be expected.

"Was a human." (Shari)

"This sounds... far fetched. Could you explain this in more detail?" (Jaren)

"Let's just say it's traumatizing to wake up and realize that a stone was put into your chest and the rest of your body melted. And no, I don't really want to explain the details of my horrifying transformation." (Shari)

"But you had me!" (Liqu)

"Yes. And I had you, Liqu." (Shari)

I guess this should explain enough to them.

At least it should be clear that Liqu isn't the best liar and kinda verified my story.

"So if this is all like I said, I will rely on you Jaren. If there's anything that needs my attention inform me, please. It should be a given that I had no military career before, so I need your assistance. You are responsible." (Shari)

This effectively put him in charge.

I won't give up all control, but the team needs to stay operational and he seems to have sufficient influence to make that happen.

I head back to the exit, naturally accompanied by Liqu.

Those people for sure need now some moments to gather themselves.

So much for our introduction.