Monster Girl

After a while, the meadow finally comes into view. Just as I’m about to reach it, I hear laughter, and my stomach immediately churns. I hear the three village boys—Owen, Sam, and Ben—running through the forest, fighting each other with wooden swords.

I sprint for the bushes to avoid being—

“Hey, monster girl!”

I freeze.

“Watcha got there?”

Owen rips my satchel off my shoulder and empties it all over the ground.

“Oops.”

Owen rifles through my belongings while Ben stands idly by and Sam prods my side with his wooden sword. I keep my head down, knowing that meeting their eyes can only lead to more trouble. My hand trembles in my pocket, clutching my backup wand, despite knowing full well I’d never have the courage to use it.

They’re a few years younger than me, but they’re bigger than I am. Even Sam, with his scrawny build, still has some size on me, and Ben just outright dwarfs me given all his extra weight. With the three of them carrying wooden swords and us all alone in the middle of the forest, the thought of what they might do if I fight back or try to run terrifies me.

Owen gets bored rummaging through my stuff and looks up. “Lemme guess. Gonna go play around with monsters again?”

He snatches my main wand off the ground. “Well if monsters are so safe, I guess you won’t mind if I take this then, right?” He leans in, staring me down. “Or you got a problem with that?”

I shake my head, eyes still fixed on the ground.

He snaps my wand in half. “You know we wouldn’t have to keep doing this if you’d just act normal.” He tosses the broken pieces at my feet.

Sam chimes in. “Everybody knows you’ve been treating them like pets.”

Owen piles on. “My mom says you keep teaching them not to be afraid of us. That someday, they’ll attack the village. That they’ll start killing a bunch of us. And that it’ll be—”

Owen punctuates each word with a finger jab to my chest.

“All. Your. Fault.”

Ben shifts uncomfortably.

“Please. We just want the old Nora back. If you’d just listen to us, the adults wouldn’t be so upset with you all the time. Maybe… maybe we could even be frien—”

The other two immediately turn around.

“Um… f-friendlier, to you…”

The old Nora? They’re the ones who changed! We used to play together all the time back when Mom and Dad took me out into the village. Did that really mean nothing to them? Why should it matter that I spend more time with monsters now? That doesn’t give them the right to treat me like—

…Whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no point arguing when Granny’s the only one who ever listens to me. I’ll just stay quiet like always.

As long as I’ve got her and the monsters, I—

…I don’t need anyone else.

Sam huffs. “See, Owen? What’d I tell you? She doesn’t care about us. She’s just gonna ignore us and keep hanging out with monsters like always.”

“Ugh! Why won’t you just listen?!” He jabs his finger into my chest again. “When are you gonna get it through your stupid head that monsters are dangerous?!”

He shoves me backwards. “One day you’re gonna get yourself killed and nobody’s gonna care because all you ever do is hang out with those disgusting things!”

Before I can stop myself, I look up and glare at him. How could he say something so awful? He couldn’t be more wrong. He doesn’t know the monsters of this forest like I do. Once you get to know them, they treat you like one of their own. They get excited to see you. They care about you. The monsters around here would never attack anyone unprovoked!

They sure as heck treat me better than most humans do—especially these three tyrants.

“What? Got something to say to me?”

I quickly drop my gaze again and shake my head.

He knocks me to the ground with a hard shove.

“Fine! Go get eaten by monsters! See what I care!”

He turns away. “Come on guys, let’s go.”

“See you later monster girl,” Sam snickers.

Ben lingers for a moment, looking like he wants to say something. But he holds his tongue and runs after the other two.

I sit there, staring at the broken pieces of my wand.

I try to fight back the tears.

But it gets harder every time.

Still, it wouldn’t be fair to let my problems worry Granny or the monsters. After wiping my eyes, I gather my things and continue toward the meadow.

***

The moment I arrive, the sight of three familiar Blue Slimes lifts my mood. They excitedly bounce toward me, disappearing and reappearing as they weave in and out of the tall grass. Each one’s round and about two feet in diameter—though a little less tall than wide.

“Hey there guys! Now who do we have here? No, wait! Don’t tell me!”

I point at each one as I rattle off their names.

“Jelly… Custard… and if I’m not mistaken… Flan!”

“Squee!”

They all start happily vibrating as I call their names.

At least these three won’t let me down.

After handing them some food, I hear a familiar little bounce behind me.

Sure enough, one more slime has come to visit—the same one who always does.

“Pudding!”

“Squee! Squee!”

Half the size of the others, I can’t help but giggle as he leaps into my arms and nuzzles my face. I feed him and give him some well deserved pats.

“I missed you, cutie!”

Pudding’s a slime I found when he was just a baby. His mana core never fully developed, which normally would’ve doomed him to die young. But with a bit of help, he’s reached the point where he can fend for himself—granted, he’s still a lot smaller than the others.

“Squeeeeeeeeee!”

Though you’d never guess it from the way he carries himself.

Slimes are the closest thing we’ve got to monsters made almost entirely of mana, making them incredibly reactive. Feed them different things, and they’ll respond in all sorts of weird ways. They have more subspecies than any other monster too. You could study them for a lifetime and still never run out of things to learn, which is probably why they’re my favorite.

…Uh, don’t tell the other monsters I said that, though.

Because Pudding’s mana core never stabilized, his reactions are far more volatile than a normal slime’s—which makes him my favorite little research partner!

Setting Pudding down, I pull three kinds of herbs from my satchel and mash them together into little pellets before feeding them to the slimes. Different combinations produce different reactions, so today I’m testing a new mix. If I’m not mistaken, it should—

“Squeeeeee.”

The slimes soften, spreading flatter against the ground, although… a little more dramatically than I expected. Pudding, in particular, ends up so flat we should probably change his name to Pancake.

After collecting a small sample of each slime—uh, pain-free, I assure you—I feed them a different herb, overriding the previous effect rather than waiting for it to wear off on its own. Moments later, the slimes spring back to their usual shape.

After saying goodbye, the slimes all bounce off in different directions. Well… all except Pudding. As usual, he decides to tag along while I gather herbs.

With only a few harder-to-find herbs left, I head deeper into the forest. Before I search, though, I need to find some Ember Boar piglets. Ember Boars are basically just pigs—only bigger, with dark brown and orange fur, large white tusks, and the ability to, well… spit fire.

Uh… like I said, basically just pigs… more or less.

After searching for a while, I come across Porkchop and his two sisters—Bacon and Ham—who come running over, excitedly oinking the moment they spot me.

“Hey there, guys. Think you could help me out?”

Ember Boars are surprisingly smart monsters with an incredible sense of smell. I pull out samples of the herbs I’m looking for and let them take a sniff. They immediately bolt off, guiding me to the remaining herbs on Granny’s list.

Once we’re finished, I reward each piglet with well-deserved belly rubs, earning a cacophony of cute little oinks in return. Lucky for them, my next experiment doubles as a bonus reward.

First I hold out a handful of berries, which the piglets scarf them down in seconds. Pudding watches longingly, so I toss a few his way as well.

Next I pull out another handful of berries. This time, however, I take out my wand, conjuring a small flame to slowly roast them. They give off a pungent smell, forcing me to hold my breath. Personally, I think these taste absolutely putrid roasted, but I’m curious whether Ember Boars agree, given their affinity for fire. Once the berries finish roasting, I feed them to the piglets and—

“Oink oink oink!”

They start spinning in circles.

Interesting. Guess they like them better roasted! I’ll have to write that down when I get back to the—

“Huff.”

A big, hot puff of air hits the back of my neck. I turn around slowly.

“Uh… hey there, Mama?”

Standing before me is an adult Ember Boar, around six feet tall—only a foot taller than me, yet so broad and muscular that it completely dwarfs me.

…Just a tad more intimidating than the babies.

“I was just, um, sharing some berries with your kids. You don’t mind, right?”

It snorts as it kicks up dust with its hind legs and opens its mouth. Heat rapidly washes over me as its throat glows brighter and brighter.

Uh oh.

I desperately try to put as much distance between us as possible, throwing myself back with a wind spell, but it’s too late—

FWOOOSH!

I find myself staring down a massive fireball hurtling straight toward me.