- Shari -

I try not to draw too much attention when I head out, but the fact that I left my head exposed and Liqu doesn't care in the slightest is not beneficial to that purpose.

In the end, most of the soldiers end up staring.

I can't blame them.

A slime wearing the official colors of their house?

Two slimes that is, as Liqu at least has a shirt on.

For now, we should have done everything that was expected of us, so we should be free to do what we want for now.

Well, with obvious restrictions for Liqu that is, as I have seen how she looked at the horses when we passed the stables.

I consider joining the soldiers and train my weapon skills a little.

I know perfectly well how crude my technique is.

With just slashing and stabbing at random I wouldn't manage to exactly hit the point I want to strike at the moment.

At most I can suppress a target, so some training will be necessary.

Yet I dismiss that idea.

Aside from the obvious uproar it would cause with the soldiers, it might be risky to let them gauge my not too developed abilities.

My own room is big enough to train more precise control.

And maybe I can ask for a more private training solution, later on.

We walk past the track field, where some very pitiable servants are occupied with cleaning the lane of our leftovers.

This reminds me that, despite being promised them, we haven't seen much of the regular meals which should be part of our contract.

Looking at Liqu I would rather get her sooner than later something to dissolve before the troops have no longer any horses to ride.

And the canteen the soldiers might use is no option, since all parties would be uncomfortable with us eating next to them.

I guess I will have to ask a certain maid on that matter.

Inside the mansion, I naturally receive several stares from the servants.

I hope this won't last and eventually, my appearance will be a daily occasion for them.

It's a safe bet that half of them will still despise me, but maybe the open fear and disdain will stop at one point.

The problem is, that I have no idea where our maid is right now.

I doubt a newbie like her would be assigned to the private areas on the second floor.

This leaves the ground floor.

I wouldn't want to go there in the first place, as the access might be restricted without my knowledge.

Also, somewhere down here might be the kitchen, so wherever I might get first it, both would be fine to get something to eat.

In the first place, this is a good opportunity to make myself familiar with the estate's layout.

Even if I will probably forget most of it the next moment, thanks to the nature of my stone-brain.

However, there might be some places worth the effort to ingrain them.

I am pretty sure Liqu will at least remember where the kitchen is located, when we'll eventually find it.

Speaking of her,

"What are we doing now?" (Liqu)

"We look for something to eat." (Shari)

"Sustenance?" (Liqu)

"Yes, sustenance." (Shari)

"Wonderful! What do we hunt?" (Liqu)

"What!? No. No hunting! We just get us some flesh." (Shari)

"Get flesh? How do you just get flesh without hunting? Oh, are we doing this "buying" thing again?" (Liqu)

"No. We are just getting it like this. It's part of our agreement. They promised we'd get regular meals and since we did this running exercise they are obligated to help us to recover." (Shari)

"Why? How? We didn't do anything special!" (Liqu)

"That's part of the contract. If they want that we do something we'll try to do so, but in the meantime, they have to keep us fed." (Shari)

"Just like this?" (Liqu)

"Just like this." (Shari)

"You are awesome! A genius!" (Liqu)

"What? Why?" (Shari)

"Sustenance for doing nothing! incredible!" (Liqu)

"It's not really "nothing". We are on duty. If they call us we have to come and do what they want and if this place gets attacked we need to help." (Shari)

"So... nothing?" (Liqu)

"Did you listen at all?" (Shari)

"To you? Always! We are getting what we need for just staying here and if we are attacked we defend ourselves as we would anyway." (Liqu)

If she says it like this.

"But we also have to go on missions." (Shari)

"Missions?

"Like hunting monsters together with these people we were with before." (Shari)

"So, as we would do anyway?" (Liqu)

Okay, she wins.

"Fine, we're getting food for doing nothing. That is if we find our meal in the first place. Let's look." (Shari)

I look through the first floor of the mansion and curse a little that the mansion has to be so stupidly spacious.

I could ask around for directions, but I don't expect any cooperation.

While I look at all the places where I would either expect to find a kitchen or working maids, I notice a voice that might lead me to the right place.

"Can't you even clean properly? For what reason were you employed? Did you believe you could slack off just because you were accepted?"

It's quite far away and I only hear it because I put my body in a mode where I am very sensitive to sound, which I perceive as some kind of vibration on my surface.

I thought like this I might catch up to the voice of our maid.

Yet instead, I become aware of banter which is indicating that someone over there is getting bullied.

And the only bullied maid I'd know is the one who was sent by the others into the slime's den to get eaten.

Moving as fast as I can without sullying the certainly expensive stone floor I reach a large hall.

"And there is still a stain on the tiles! Do it again, before I have the head maid kick out your worthless ass!" (obvious bully maid)

And as I thought, the one quivering on the ground while franticly wiping with a rag on the tiles is Elara, our maid and food supplier.

The bully maid is accompanied by three others who make it look very much as if they're ganging up on her.

I should mention here that I never liked bullies and was more than once picked on by some of the village boys.

And it never ended well for them.

Before the ring leader can utter another supposed insult or threat I barge in.

"You are just..." (bully maid)

"Ah, there you are!" (Shari)

"Sh-Shari?" (Elara)

"Who... waah!!" (bully maid)

"What?"

"Are these..."

"I thought they were confined down there?"

"They're running free!"

Naturally, a commotion starts, and the faint-hearted nature of those who have to gang up against someone weak shows.

"Could I ask what you are doing with our maid?" (Shari)

"W-wha-... Y-your maid?" (bully maid)

"Isn't this right? I was told she was exclusively responsible for us. So could I ask what she is doing here?" (Shari)

They back off, probably afraid I would dissolve them if given the chance.

Still, since they pressured Elara into a corner to cut off her escape, they are now as well trapped and have to answer me.

"Sh-she is cleaning the floor. Cleaning is to be expected from a maid, right?" (bully maid)

"I guess so. This sounds convincing." (Shari)

I perceive how some relief shows on her face.

"However, this is rather confusing." (Shari)

"C-confusing?" (maid 1)

"Yes. I see here so many maids, but just one of them cleans. What are the others doing here?" (Shari)

"This is confusing! If they're expected to do something, shouldn't they do it?" (Liqu)

It was an attempt of mine to corner them, but I believe Liqu is genuinely confused.

Nonetheless, it was a nice assist.

"A-ah, we're cleaning, we're cleaning as well. Just a short moment to pause." (maid 2)

Some take spare rags and begin to wipe the ground.

Rather pointless to me, as I’d say I can see my image flawlessly reflected on the floor.

Did I mention that I have issues with looking into the mirror?

"This is great. If there are so many then Elara can leave, right?" (Shari)

"What?" (Elara)

"I-I'm not sure. She still has duties to attend." (bully maid)

"Duties? I thought her duties revolve around us? We were told she would bring us our meals, but she couldn't and so we are now teeerribly hungry! Isn't that right Liqu?" (Shari)

"You know I like to be full!" (Liqu)

"Ah, yes I know." (Shari)

At this, I close in on the maids.

Especially on that ring leader.

"You wouldn't know where I could find something to eat?" (Shari)

I give my all to make it sound as ominous as possible while letting my gaze wander over her figure.

"Oh! You want to dissolve her! This is it, right? But didn't you say we shouldn't?" (Liqu)

Sigh, I really have to explain to Liqu that for a good threat some stuff should be left to the other party's imagination.

Yet it doesn't fail its purpose, proven by the growing terror and welling up tears in that maid's face.

"No, no, I just want my usual meal. So wouldn't it be fine if you would let Elara fetch it for us?" (Shari)

"E-E-Elara, y-you should m-maybe go a-and bring th-them s-something." (bully maid)

"To make sure that this won't happen again, I think it would be right if you all take her chores." (Shari)

"A-all of them?" (maid 1)

"There is quite much to do for her. As you might suspect, our rooms get dirty rather quickly and we also have needs. Because of this, it should just be right if you reduce her burden so she can concentrate on her tasks. I mean this sounds fair, right? Or is there one of you who would want to take her place?" (Shari)

"You have the loveliest smile that exists!" (Liqu)

Damnit, my smile again stretched to my supposed ears.

I thought I managed to get this under control.

Still, I should keep up my image here.

"It doesn't seem like any of you wants her job, so I assume that Elara's workload is big enough so that no one thinks it's undeserved. Otherwise, there certainly would be more interested parties, right?" (Shari)

Hmm, no one's answering.

"Right?!" (Shari)

"Ah, I-I d-don't know. Th-the head maid a-and the butler assign us." (bully maid)

"I'm sure you can do something about this. Could we now end this talk? As I said, I'm hungry. Any problems with that?" (Shari)

"N-n-no." (bully maid)

"Great! Elara, would you now accompany us? I'm sure your friends will gladly finish for you." (Shari)

Elara was extremely confused the entire time, and I'm not so ignorant that I wouldn't see that she's still slightly afraid of us.

To speed everything up I take her hand with my glove and move her away.

"Goodbye. It was a pleasure." (Shari)

"Splotch"

At this, I dump a batch of spent slime on the floor.

It doesn't really matter what these girls think about me.

"Uh, sorry, my mistake." (Shari)

"I'm worried! You have complete control over your body. Something like this shouldn't happen." (Liqu)

"Shut up, Liqu!" (Shari)

Despite Liqu's remark, this action had the intended effect on the maids.

With a presumed smug expression on my face, I leave them behind while dragging Elara and Liqu with me.