- Shari -

We're currently traversing the inner castle.

From inside Liqu, Anvenia points the directions we have to go.

We move further inside, past long corridors with several lined-up doors, dimly lit by candles.

I can still feel the vibrations around us, but now there are too many sources to maintain a perfect overview of all of them.

Suddenly Liqu again links with me.

"Someone's coming from this direction!" (Liqu)

I concentrate on this vibration sense as well and notice that she's right.

"Shit! Why now?" (Shari)

The hallway was long and the other paths are all blocked in some way.

If he proceeds in this direction we'll have to move all the way back.

And it's not even certain we'll make it out of his sight.

"I have an idea!" (Liqu)

While I still wonder how much of my internal musing Liqu could perceive through our linking, she moves to the wall and starts to crawl up it.

I understand her intention and copy what she does.

The thing is, the corridors aren't perfectly straight.

Every so often there are pillars and segments which provide at least shallow cover to the sides.

And we're going to take advantage of this.

Because the same goes for the ceiling, we won't be in view when whoever is coming passes by.

We can just wait till they're gone and then move further.

The bad illumination is also on our side here.

Since now is not the time for reluctance, I quickly crawl up the wall, lodging myself next to Liqu.

Being fixed to the ceiling is certainly a weird sensation.

For some reason, I'm not bothered by the fact that everything is upside down and my all-around vision still works fine.

Also, it feels disturbingly normal to me to hang from the ceiling.

It requires a bit of tension not to drop, but the gluing property of my body is totally present.

A short time later, truly a night guard arrives.

I wish we could get Anvenia as silent as we are, but we can't go any further than covering her mouth.

The man walks directly below us, gratefully not looking upward.

But then, as if to tease me he stops.

Goddamnit, just keep walking!

"Urgh, I stepped in something." (night guard)

Shit! I didn't consider our slime trails.

It might be dark here, but certainly, he would notice if he stepped into something.

And even without paying too keen attention, the left-behind remains of slime from our steps are just so numerous.

"Strange. What's this? Slime, but how?" (night guard)

To my dismay, he begins investigating.

The only good point is that he concentrates on what's below him and doesn't look at us.

If he remains like this we might have a chance to crawl further along the ceiling and leave him behind.

"Drip"

At this moment a small green droplet of slime falls down and hits his shoulder.

It seems Liqu is still too exhausted to maintain total control over her mass.

All praying won't help and he notices it.

And subsequently, he looks up at us.

Just why, world, why?

I paid extra attention not to jinx it.

Here we are.

Two slimes and a young girl with a guard staring straight at us.

Anvenia does the only sensible thing and waves at him.

Oh, fuck it!

Slime dash!

At least her action confused this man long enough that he's too stunned to react for the duration I need to reach him.

With all my mass I tackle him to the ground and cover his mouth.

Naturally, he struggles, but we all know how effective this is against a slime.

After a few moments, Liqu drops down by my side.

"When will you start dissolving?" (Liqu) "Dissolving!?" (Shari)

I hadn't the slightest intention to.

Even if I would be willing to freely make use of this ability, this man is probably only a palace guard.

One of the good guys who just do their jobs.

I can't just kill him because he got in my way.

Not to forget, even if we succeed, this would be murder and probably still warrant a punishment.

I’ll already be hard-pressed to explain that little massacre in the tavern.

And this isn't even considering the general disapproval I'm going to receive because of my race.

Just why did I ever believe this operation was a good idea?

"I don't want to kill him! All I want is to prevent him from shouting." (Shari) "Ah, I know just the trick for this situation." (Liqu)

Actually, I thought about using the poison, but it's valuable and I don't know exactly how quickly it will work.

While I'm still keeping the man in check Liqu just separates an appendage and plunges it past my barrier into his mouth.

His eyes get blank for a second and then with great force she rips it out again and the man goes limp.

"What did you do?" (Shari) "Humans need air. If you reach with your slime into the air sac behind the throat and pull the air away they usually fall unconscious. And if not they have no breath to scream and you can try again." (Liqu)

Talk about harsh treatment.

Also, this sounds far too unsafe for regular application.

"Liqu, is it really fine to do this?" (Shari) "Usually they survive." (Liqu)

That's not directly soothing.

But apparently, this man in particular will live.

But what to do with him now?

Liqu, already one step ahead of me, takes the body and glues it to the ceiling.

Well, let's hope he wakes up before the slime vanishes and he falls head-first to the ground.

Though, hopefully not too soon.

Yet now the way is free.

Now, in the truest sense of the word, we stick a bit more to the sides to avoid that residue from our steps will be discovered as easily as it was just now.

I really can't have a slime alarm in the palace right now.

If not for that, we're perfectly silent stalkers, so the infiltration proceeds smoothly.

That is till the next junction.

Liqu suddenly holds me back before I get around the corner.

I only need a moment to understand.

Carefully, I send out the smallest tendril and peak around the corner.

And as I've feared, there are two guards.

Apparently, Liqu can already perceive them even if they're perfectly still.

Anvenia pointed us here and they're in front of the door we need to take.

This might have something to do with the fact that the royals sleep somewhere behind it.

However, overwhelming two guards at once is by far too risky of raising an alarm.

Things never work so smoothly for me.

I need to come up with a plan.

And after merely some seconds of contemplating, which felt like hours in high-speed processing, I've got one.

The main issue is that the distance to the door is too far.

They would spot us on the way no matter how we'd approach.

However, this issue won't come up if we make them approach us and take care of them like the last one.

The most important factor about this is psychology.

We need to raise their interest without giving them a reason to raise the alarm.

And I have the perfect tool for such a purpose at my disposal.

First, I keep Liqu from rushing over them.

Then we gain some distance from those guards where I can be sure that they won't hear us.

I even glide on my slime to avoid making a sound.

When I think it's safe I touch Liqu.

"Get Anvenia out, please?" (Shari)

Since I don't require an answer I directly cut the connection.

A moment later she's expelled from her slime bath.

That she again has to use her own legs seems to be quite the change to her.

"It's really cool that you can talk that way." (Anvenia)

"Not as much as you think. And don't speak so loud. We can't afford to get overheard." (Shari)

"Oh. Okay!" (Anvenia)

Sigh.

Maybe I shouldn't rely on kids for critical operations.

"Good. Now please listen. I want you to go to where the guards were before. Not directly in front of them, but just enough for them to get a peek at you. And then you'll retreat back to us." (Shari)

The thought is as follows.

It's dark right now.

So if the guards get a glimpse of a young girl at this time of the day they might rather question their senses.

And even if they get a good enough look at Anvenia so they won't think she's a ghost or late-night hallucination, or whatever one might suspect in such a situation, a child running through the castle at night is surely not a reason to directly raise the alarm.

So I hope this works out to make them leave their posts.

If Anvenia can bait them around the corner we should be able to overwhelm them without raising a commotion.

But before we get started, Liqu and I have to get into position.

Once more I use linking to point out to her the importance of overwhelming them without killing and that "overwhelming" doesn't mean "dissolving".

Then I slide on the walls to the ceiling, where I continue to cling, and give Anvenia the signal.

Okay, she goes as planned, peaks around the corner... and retreats!

Perfect!

"Wha-?" (guard 1)

"What is it now, Jaro?" (guard 2)

"There, there was a girl!" (apparently Jaro)

"A girl? Are you serious?" (guard 2)

"Come on, Wrys! I know what I saw. She was right there! Hey you! Come out and show yourself!" (Jaro)

"God, not so loud! I don't want to get into trouble for falsely raising an alarm. The highborn folks aren't very sympathetic if someone disturbs their sleep for no reason. Even if you believe you saw something, we can't leave our posts to chase your delusions." (presumably Wrys)

"And I'm telling you, she was right there! Damnit, I'm gonna show you! Just wait here, I'll fetch her!" (Jaro)

Shit! I wanted both of them.

Only one is too risky.

The other one will still be free in the meantime to call for reinforcements as soon as he notices something's off.

With my new wave sense, I can feel this Jaro guy coming closer.

As soon as he walks around the corner his eyes settle on Anvenia who still remained with us.

The drenched girl on the floor was fortunately uncommon enough of a sight to distract him from the slimes on the ceiling.

"Hey, you! Who are you? Identify yourself or you're in deep trouble!" (Jaro)

"Don't tell me you really found someone." (Wrys)

"She's right here in front of me! Now you! You're not supposed to be at this place! Come here!" (Jaro)

I had this slight hope that this guy, as a palace guard, would recognize the princess he's ought to protect, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

It might be the darkness, the fact that she's slimed, only wears commoner clothes, or simply because the situation of her showing up here in the middle of the night when she shouldn't even be in the capital is so absurd that he didn't consider her identity.

Whatever it is, I apparently can't rely on him bringing the girl over to her parents, as much as I doubt him to be part of the bad guys if he's stationed here to guard the royals.

However, now I have to act before he reaches my ward.

Together with Liqu, I tackle him the moment he's far enough behind the corner to no longer be visible to his comrade, in the typical soft and comfortable way a slime does.

Since I was relatively a tiny bit closer I am the one who first gets a hold of his topside.

Because of this, it's unfortunately on me to gag him.

And yes, stuffing my body into his mouth has strange implications.

And I had to stuff it very deep inside.

Otherwise, he might still be able to gurgle past the gag.

Also, I get a hold of his arms, while Liqu prevents the rest of him from moving.

Like this, we have him under control in less than a second.

Unfortunately, this wasn't exactly silent on the hard stone.

At least there were some audible wet plops while we were at it.

"Jaro!? What happened over there! By god I swear, if this is one of your jokes!" (Wrys)

"Shit, shit, shit, shit! He's getting nervous and we need to find a way to take him out without him shouting!" (Shari) "Oh, I know something!" (Liqu)

Oh, damn.

I completely forgot that I was so close with Liqu on that man that it equals to linking.

And don’t anyone dare twist that statement!

Thankfully she separates from our bulk.

Meanwhile, I want to get this guy a bit out of the way, so I envelop him with my slime, lift him up, and press him against the wall.

He's still conscious at this time, but apparently too scared stiff to resist.

"Jaro! Say something! What's happening over there?!" (Wrys)

Meanwhile, Liqu just stands there and does some weird swirling with her slime in her torso.

And then...

Is she preparing to say something!?

She's going to expose us!

"No need to freak out, Wrys. Everything's fine. Calm down, for god's sake!" (Liqu-Jaro)

Simultaneously, I as well as my captive get big eyes.

Well, he does, while mine only swirl around.

But it's undeniable, this slime just stole his voice.

Uh, I might need to do something about him. So I separate a face in front of him and raise a finger-like tendril in front of my mouth to beckon him to be quiet.

Which sadly has the opposite effect, as now he struggles much harder.

"What's going on over there? What's that noise?" (Wrys)

"Well, I'd really appreciate your help here. Urgh! This girl is giving me quite the fight. Could you please assist me to get her calm?" (Liqu-Jaro)

Oh, right.

Anvenia stares at this spectacle with a mix of terror and morbid fascination.

"You can't deal with one single girl?" (Wrys)

"Spare me your comments. Could you please come over here?" (Liqu-Jaro)

"I swear if you made this up..." (Wrys)

He starts approaching us.

Liqu did it!

When he gets to the corner, he’ll finally be close enough to deal with.

So he comes and looks at our crazy display here.

"Sorry, Wrys. It was all made up." (Liqu-Jaro)

Before he can say something she is already over him and has him subdued.

Yet before anything else happens her tendril touches me.

"I'm going to make him go unconscious, okay?" (Liqu) "No! I've got a safer way than your insta-strangling move!" (Shari)

Not exactly sure how much safer this is, but I guide a small partition of the poison slime through the tendril that is already embedded in his throat and make sure to coat it well.

Also, I guide a very small amount in his air channel because I know that some relaxants work better if inhaled.

And before anyone judges me, I did it quite rarely.

Also, just to say so, this experience pays off now because, through my very close monitoring of his body, I know that he just lost consciousness.

Now I just have to repeat this with Wrys.

As much as his panicked look pains me, I don't have much of a choice here.

It doesn't take long and he's out cold.

Afterward, we also glue both of them to the wall to gain some time, just in case.

At least we can get into the private quarters of the royals now.

"Okay, Anvenia, now it depends on you. Show us where your dad usually sleeps." (Shari)

The same as before, Anvenia points us in the right direction.

Finally, we make it to the right place.

However, the issue is that three guards are in our way and there's no way to sneak up on them or lure them away.

This time the guards are simply an unavoidable obstacle.

Liqu touches me from the side and links.

"What now? Dissolving?" (Liqu)

I'm sure she meant the guards, however, working ourselves through the walls is not an option either as they're thick and the hallways patrolled.

Thus, I only see one option.

"We're breaking through! We'll overwhelm them and deliver the princess." (Shari)

Yes, I know it's an extremely reckless move, but if the princess reaches the king and that one calls the guards back then it's our win, even if we had to rough up some of them first.

And the guards we took out before will eventually be found.

So stealth and concealment aren't much of a thing at this point.

Although unwilling, I maintain the link to give Liqu the signal for our attack.

To make things easier she let Anvenia out who was instructed to follow behind.

And then it begins.

We position ourselves at the corner closest to the room we have to enter.

"Let's go!" (Shari)

At my signal, we both start to rush at them.

Honestly, this kind of movement is a bit novel to me.

Usually, I only use my dash, but now I'm continuously pushing myself forward.

The last time I did this was when I got hunted by the adventurers.

Nonetheless, I'm proficient enough.

Because this way of movement is quite silent they only become aware of us when we're halfway there.

One visibly pales, one instinctively draws his sword and the last one does the worst thing possible.

She shouts.

"What is this?! Monsters! Monsters! Help!"

I'm going for that one to stop the shouting.

Liqu should be more adept at handling people with weapons in this state.

A moment before I reach her I prepare to plunge at her.

Naturally, I can't jump in the traditional sense.

Instead, I pull my slime upward and aim a stream of it at my opponent.

As I mentioned before, I'm not exactly of the same weight as a human anymore.

So it's more than sufficient, when I crash into her, to get her to the ground.

The rest is kinda simple.

I only have to keep her in place while Liqu does the same on her side.

Those guards were wholly unprepared, which helps quite a lot.

Even the guy who drew his sword had barely any idea how to use it against the oncoming flood.

While technically still standing on my victim, I press against the door.

Locked!

Would've been too easy, huh?

Fortunately, we are slimes and a lock can't do much after it got dissolved, which I directly start.

"Zsch"

Naturally, I'm extra careful that the reaction won't reach the one I'm pinning down.

Soon enough, the obstacle is gone and nothing remains to prevent this door from opening.

So this is the king's bed chamber.

Here he lives.

Minding for a moment the gravity of what I'm about to do I press against the frame and enter.

It's empty.

Why the fuck is it empty?!

Shit, shit, shit, shit!

What now?

I free my victim for a moment and grab her by the collar.

As meaningless as this is with liquid hands incapable of applying any pressure.

"You! Just why the heck are you guarding an empty room? Tell me! Where is the king?!" (Shari)

I won't hide that I'm slightly agitated.

"M-m-monster. Leave me alone! Go away!" (guard)

Damnit!

Would've been too easy, huh?

However, I should've expected what comes next.

"ALARM!! HELP!!!" (guard)

Yes, desperate people scream.

Finally, Anvenia runs into the room past us.

"Oh no! Dad must be working late again!" (Anvenia)

That's information I would've liked to get earlier, under different circumstances!

"Shit! What now? Is there anything we can do?" (Shari)

We might hope to talk it out with the guards, by showing off Anvenia, but the situation is by far too rough by now to expect them to do anything coherent.

I'm even so far as to turn to Anvenia with my question for help since I'm honestly out of options.

In the distance, I can already perceive people approaching.

"We could go to mum. She's in a room somewhere there and sleeps more steadily." (Anvenia)

"The king and the queen have separated bedrooms?" (Shari)

"Uh, yes. Mum didn't like it when dad always came late to bed and woke her up." (Anvenia)

I look around to see how the round of guards reacts to this display of personal information but they're either too panicked or they can’t hear past the slime in their ears.

Now I see the guards coming from behind the corner.

Time for linking!

God, this happens too frequently tonight.

"Liqu! There's no time to waste! Take Anvenia and we’ll rush in the direction she points us!" (Shari)

It happens as I instructed.

Anvenia is quickly swallowed and a second later we're off in the pointed direction.

However, now with the commotion, the guards are alarmed and get in our way.

Not like they're in any way prepared to deal with us.

We can simply wash over them or flow along the walls past them.

The only issue is that Anvenia got a bit disoriented by this speed and the shaking.

However, while it's surprisingly far away we eventually reach our destination.

Or we would if not for the small army in front.

I guess it makes sense that the queen would be guarded. Especially by now.

"Comrades! We cannot let whatever comes here enter! Brace yourself!" (captain)

However, we cannot let this deter us.

Fortunately, I have just the right trick for such a situation.

Slime mist!

At once, a greenish-blue fog wall lays itself over the whole floor.

Yes, I added a certain little extra to this trick.

Unfortunately, it only works on some of them, while the rest only become a bit more sluggish especially since they were wise enough to cover their mouths.

So I accelerate my pace and aim directly for the middle.

Slime dash!

The fact that this move pulls my core behind is only convenient in this situation.

The blades and spears which are getting plunged into my body are barely perceived and I can deflect them by controlling my inner mass before they're getting anywhere close to my core.

When also Liqu comes crashing into them together with Anvenia, the impact is big enough to push through.

Tendrils emerge from Liqu and lash out at the guards who are now behind us.

Meanwhile, I start to work on the door.

"Zsch"

I have to make it quick.

Otherwise, I'm sure that Liqu will stop being so lenient and start dissolving these people before they can become a threat to us.

Finally, the lock gives in and the door does the same.

I grab Anvenia and rush inside.

Yes!

Success!

A woman in a sleeping gown sits there on the bedside staring wide-eyed in our direction.

And she has the same golden hair and blue eyes as a certain girl.

I couldn't be more sure that those two are related.

However, that one guard in front of us is still a problem.

Slime dash!

With all the force I can reasonably muster with a girl embedded inside me I propel myself forward, into the guard, splashing against him.

It might be a mix of confusion, because he stared at a girl embedded in a slime and the fact that he couldn't dodge and leave his ward exposed but I can successfully overwhelm him with my mass.

While this shouldn't cause any greater injuries I'm well aware that I'm heavy enough to bring him to the ground.

I quickly reshape my form, expel Anvenia, and lower her by her shoulders gently onto the ground in front of the woman.

"Here she is! In one piece, good health, and completely unharmed! You're getting her back! I'm done! Seriously, no more! This was not part of the contract and I certainly never signed up for getting caught up in such a mess! So call your guards back and I can be on my way far away from here! Seriously, it was only supposed to be a simple escort job! I'm totally going to demand compensation from that shitty count! No one can expect me to go this far for a job!" (Shari)

"A-Anvenia?" (apparent queen)

"Hello, mother." (Anvenia)

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