- Shari -

I come to a stop two halls further.

"You, you... Thank you. But why?" (Elara)

"I already said, I need something to eat. Please deliver it to our rooms." (Shari)

"Oh, that was it." (Elara)

"You don't seem to understand. I did today some taxing things. Eating is for me even more important than for a human or I won't be able to move. My life is on the line. And just in case you had a different impression, no I'm not going to eat the staff, so I need you to take care of this. You have no idea how important your job is for me." (Shari)

"Sure, I will bring you something." (Elara)

"We need flesh. It doesn't have to be fancy. Raw is fine. Just tell the cook that I have perfect knowledge about the contents of my meals, just in case he thought about adding some "unusual" ingredients for the slimes." (Shari)

"Right. I'll try to fetch some for you." (Elara)

"And if those maids give you a hard time again, tell me. I will do something about it." (Shari)

She leaves and just Liqu and I remain.

"What are we doing now?" (Liqu)

"We could explore the area, get used to this place. Also, I wanted to look for Dion." (Shari)

There was a little request I had in mind and he said I should come to him with such.

"I already explored everything last night." (Liqu)

"Don't say that out loud! And I didn't. So, I still want to get a feeling for this place." (Shari)

At least I might ask someone where Dion usually is.

And then we might want to talk to our soldiers.

While our first meeting didn't go too well, it might be better to invest some time and get to know them.

I walk through the mansion in search of someone willing to tell me where Dion is right now.

Yet it doesn't go too well, since no one is keen to get involved with the slime monsters.

To be precise, most people directly scurry out of the room when we enter.

I'm already considering cornering someone by letting Liqu sneak past this person, maybe coming from the ceiling, but then I discover a guard who has to stay on his post and because of this can't escape my approach.

Even if he obviously wishes he could.

Fortunately, he's not reluctant about selling his own boss out by telling us the direction to his office.

It's located on the second floor, but as none of the guards try to deter us I can assume that it's fine.

It certainly has nothing to do with all that shivering they all had when we came close.

Eventually, I make it to the right door.

"Knock knock"

I kick the wood two times with my boots since even with gloves my slime hand would just make a barely audible splotsh-sound.

"Yes?" (Dion)

Taking him up on his invitation I enter.

"Whoah!" (Dion)

"Good day, sir. I wanted to inform you that we fulfilled all our tasks for today." (Shari)

"Then why aren't you reporting to Peras?" (Dion)

Because he's an asshole.

And because I need something.

"I had some small requests." (Shari)

"What do you want?" (Dion)

He sounds very agitated about me still wanting more.

"First, I would like to have a pair of very thin leather gloves. It can be taken from my payment which I surely will eventually receive." (Shari)

"Why is that?" (Dion)

"So I can grab more delicate stuff than with these." (Shari)

I point at my rough working gloves over the viscous slime hands.

"It wouldn't do if I couldn't even hold a map in my hands on a mission." (Shari)

"Fine. And your other request?" (Dion)

"Could I get a separated training ground for our squad? It's not very helpful to be constantly stared at by the others during exercises." (Shari)

"What would you exactly need?" (Dion)

"Some targets, figures, and maybe a small arena. It just shouldn't be in plain view because of the other soldiers, or servants, or guests." (Shari)

"You should go with such requests to Captain Peras. He's responsible for the soldier's training. But I will see what I can do. Is there anything else or will you leave now?" (Dion)

"Just one last question. Are there any problems regarding our meals?" (Shari)

"Why would you ask this?" (Dion)

"Because the whole day we didn't receive any. If the maid who's trying to fetch them right now is given a hard time by the cooks I will have to do something about it, so I thought I should relay this before it becomes a problem." (Shari)

"I will look into this. Was this all?" (Dion)

"Absolutely. Thank you for being so understanding." (Shari)

I leave the room and join with Liqu.

Now that all our more urgent issues are resolved I can take a little bit more leisure and go for a stroll.

I mean, I'm paid as a soldier, so no one can say anything about me patrolling the area.

The count's estate is fairly austere.

While the front looks a little fancier with a wide, welcoming front, marbled ways, statues, and a big well, the backside looks like it was carved out of the forest.

On the left side, I find a garden, while the whole area directly behind the mansions is a huge exercising field.

On the right are the military personnel's barracks, training ground, and administration.

So it seems this place is more of a military complex than a residence to accommodate nobles.

The garden is interesting.

While it's partly fancy with exotic plants, the closer it comes to the large field, the more utility herbs are found.

Some with peculiar effects, but mostly sorts of medicines. They even have a small field of clearsprout here.

That's actually impressive, as this one is almost impossible to grow like this.

It's said they love wild lands, full of life, so making a field of them needs a special kind of expertise.

Because of this, everyone who has even a little bit of knowledge about herbs would frown if the one who gathers them rips them out by the roots.

They can grow back if something remains, but if they are completely removed you're destroying the source.

There was a rumor about a new way to help them grow by using healing magic, but I can't believe that this would pay off, considering how expensive the usual treatment from a healer is.

Even then, the conditions have to be perfect.

Clearsprout isn't the only plant like this.

There are a number of plants with kinda magical effects, which just grow like this here.

But enough about plants.

I'm walking back to the barracks, mostly to get these soldiers used to my presence since their reactions concern me more than anything the servants could do to me.

It's interesting that I have no problem walking the distance.

While the sun shines brightly there is no noticeable heat on my body.

And since I don't feel any exhaustion, I am no longer bothered by walking greater distances and taking slight detours.

This is maybe one of the few advantages this change had for me in daily life.

Battle prowess and killer instinct obviously don't count.

It's almost funny to see how puzzled everyone is at my return.

In my mind, I play out how it would be to repeatedly come and leave, just to enjoy their reactions.

Since I don't want everyone to hate me I don't.

But I could.

I head back to our rooms with Liqu in tow, hoping that I might finally get my first meal of the day.