Volume 3, Chapter 3 – Calamity Affliction

“A slime girl?”

Instinctively, Yisi uttered the name of a species often found in adult-oriented manga. As far as Yisi’s preferences went, among all the monster girls, slime girls were her favorite.

Of course, preferences were one thing, but the being before her was still a monster. Yisi seriously examined the slime girl’s information.

She was level 5, her name was Tiffany, and both her HP and MP were full. On her status bar, aside from ‘Hunger,’ there was only one other concerning status: ‘Calamity Affliction.’

Although she didn’t know what ‘Calamity Affliction’ was, the name alone told her it wasn’t a good effect. Yisi first had Mary and Camilla step back, then took Gungnir from her inventory and slowly approached the slime girl.

Just because slime girls in manga had intelligence didn’t mean they did in reality. If this one was like any other monster and attacked them on sight, Mary and Camilla would definitely be in danger given a slime’s corrosive properties.

She approached step by step until she was less than two meters away from the slime girl, at which point Yisi stopped.

Since the slime girl was lying face down, Yisi couldn’t see her features. From the back, the slime girl named Tiffany was about the same size as Mary. Her entire body, including her hair, was a translucent pale green. As expected, she had no digestive organs or other viscera inside, giving her a very jelly-like texture.

Carefully, Yisi poked the slime girl with Gungnir. The tip of the spear immediately sank into the slime girl’s body. At first, Yisi was worried she might kill her, but judging from her undiminished HP, such an attack seemed to be ineffective.

Well, as long as you don’t use a magical attack or directly touch the magic core, a slime’s HP won’t decrease.

Yisi had remembered this basic piece of knowledge well.

“Hey, are you awake?”

No response.

Yisi poked her again.

“Are you conscious?”

“Meat…”

Unexpectedly, Yisi got an answer. However, the slime girl remained face down on the ground, and her voice lacked vitality—not because she was too hungry to speak, but because she was naturally taciturn, a bit like Camilla in the beginning.

Good, we can communicate.

Yisi breathed a sigh of relief and then began to ponder the meaning of the slime girl’s words.

“Meat? You want meat?”

“Mhm.”

“Mary, bring over the leftover chicken.”

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“Yes~”

Mary quickly brought the cooked chicken to Yisi, who then placed it in front of the slime girl. The ‘Calamity Affliction’ status made Yisi too afraid to touch Tiffany. Even at level 427, Yisi had no desire to invite misfortune upon herself.

Besides, Yisi was also curious about the slime girl’s face. Back on Earth, Yisi had always been fascinated by monster girls. Usually, the mention of “monster girl” brought to mind words like “erotic” and “seductive.” Even though it was a misconception, Yisi found it hard to remove such impressions from her mind.

But Yisi was soon to be disappointed.

“Thanks.”

After the slime girl offered a brief word of thanks, Yisi had expected her to lift her head and reach for the cooked chicken with a slimy, pale green arm. But in reality, the slime girl did something very much in line with her species’ characteristics.

—She transformed from her humanoid shape into a large blob of slime, then squirmed forward and enveloped the chicken.

Ah… so this is a real monster girl…

Yisi heard the sound of something shattering within her heart.

To be honest, at first, Yisi had fantasized that maybe she could do some naughty things with a monster girl.

Manga really is full of lies.

Yisi was once again crushed by reality.

While Yisi was feeling regretful, the slime girl digested the chicken at a visible speed. Since her entire body was transparent, Yisi could clearly see the chicken disappearing, like a corpse being decomposed by microorganisms in a time-lapse video. The meat, which was enough for two people, was completely digested in less than half a minute.

Is the liquid inside her body also corrosive? Isn’t it just the corpse?

There was no one who could answer Yisi’s question. After the slime girl finished digesting the chicken, she quickly transformed from a slime blob back into her original humanoid form. Perhaps feeling energized after a full meal, the slime girl stood up on two legs, and Yisi finally saw her full appearance.

Her face had no features, only liquid-like droplets flowing across its surface. Strangely, however, the droplets didn’t fall to the ground, and she lacked the sticky impression most slime girls had.

But it was still terrifying enough.

One only had to imagine it to understand how it would feel to have a person with no facial features standing in front of you.

Yisi subconsciously took a step back, then tried to communicate with her.

“You… have you lived in the human world?”

The words the slime girl had spoken were all in the ‘Language of the Kingdom of Hels.’ If she had lived deep in the mountains and forests without profound interaction with humans, it would be absolutely impossible for her to have mastered the language. Of course, the fact that a slime girl possessed high intelligence was already surprising.

“Mhm.”

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The slime girl nodded, then looked around—since she had no eyes, Yisi could only guess that she was surveying the surroundings.

“Are you very hungry? Since you’ve lived in the human world, where are the humans who were with you?”

The only answers were a nod and a shake of the head.

She probably got separated from her human friends. Yisi discreetly looked the slime girl over. There was nothing like a slave crest on her body. According to the slave merchant’s explanation, once a slave crest was engraved, it would never disappear unless the master wished to remove it. Even a slime couldn’t hide the existence of the mark.

Should I ask her to come with us?

Although she wanted to say that, considering the ‘Calamity Affliction’ status, Yisi chose to act with caution.

“Let me ask, have you encountered any bad things?”

“Mhm.”

The slime girl didn’t hide anything and nodded directly.

“What specifically?”

“Sickness.”

“Sickness?”

To be safe, Yisi used ‘God’s Eye’ to check the slime girl’s status again. The results showed that Tiffany had no diseases whatsoever.

Is she lying?

The slime girl had no facial features, and thus no expression. Yisi couldn’t tell if she was lying from changes in her face. Although Yisi wasn’t the type to abandon a weak girl in the wilderness, she wasn’t traveling alone. She had Camilla and Mary to take care of. Even for Camilla and Mary’s safety, she shouldn’t keep a hidden danger by their side.

After a moment of thought, Yisi took out some cured meat from her inventory.

“Take this as food. If you follow this road back, you should see a village in less than half a day.”

“Thanks.”

The slime girl nodded and then, with what looked like very careful movements, took small steps towards Yisi. Yisi couldn’t help but shrug. After all, she was a stranger in the girl’s eyes; it was normal for her to be afraid.

However, when the slime girl was just one step away from Yisi, she stopped.

“Back up.”

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Still in a monotone voice, the slime girl told Yisi to back away. It was only then that Yisi noticed the slime girl could speak even without a mouth.

“Back up? Why?”

“Sickness.”

“I can’t understand you when you’re so brief.”

“Calamity.”

Her voice still lacked emotion, but there was a new hint of urgency.

Calamity? Is she referring to the ‘Calamity Affliction’ status?

If she was telling her to back away to avoid being afflicted by the calamity, then everything made sense.

It seems she isn’t scared or dislikes me.

Yisi smiled back at the slime girl and then waved at her.

“Well then, this is goodbye. Remember to ask for help from people around you if you run into trouble.”

“Thanks.”

Without looking at the slime girl again, Yisi turned and walked towards Mary, who was looking over while extinguishing the campfire.

“Mary, get ready to go. You have to teach me and Camilla how to drive the carriage today.”

Yisi’s words clearly took Mary by surprise, and she accidentally bit her tongue while speaking.

“H-h-h-how can that be! You’re the Master, Master! You can’t do such a dirty job.”

“I’d feel bad making you drive the carriage all the time. Besides, it looks like fun.”

“Onee-sama, is it settled?”

On the other side, Camilla, who had finished packing the dishes, looked at the slime girl, who had turned back into a ball.

Understanding Camilla’s meaning, Yisi nodded.

“Mhm, I gave her a little something to eat. Let’s keep moving. We’re less than five days away from Antonio City.”

“Alright, Onee-sama.”

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With the clatter of the moving carriage, the three of them slowly departed from the slime girl, who was busy devouring the cured meat. What Yisi didn’t notice, however, was that not long after they left, the slime girl melted into a puddle of liquid and followed them.

…

Night fell quickly.

After an afternoon of learning, although Yisi hadn’t mastered driving the carriage, she had more or less learned how to soothe the horses. Then, before dusk, the group chose to make camp. Of course, “making camp” really just meant sleeping in the carriage. The box carriage wasn’t large, but it was perfectly fine for two people to lie down in. The remaining person would be responsible for keeping watch outside to guard against monster attacks.

They arranged to take turns on watch duty. Originally, according to Camilla, only she and Mary needed to take turns, but Yisi, of course, wouldn’t allow that. After strongly insisting, Yisi was added to the rotation.

Right now, it was time for Yisi, who was responsible for the second half of the night, to take over from Mary, who had the first half.

Yawning, a newly awakened Yisi gently pushed away Camilla, who was clinging to her neck, and climbed out from under the covers in the carriage.

“Ah~ ah~ Camilla is so clingy.”

Although it was now spring, the nights were still cold. Yisi, after jumping down from the carriage, tightened her collar and looked at Mary, who was sitting by the fire near the carriage. Probably because she was too sleepy, her head was buried in her knees, with only her chestnut hair and the pointed ears of a half-elf showing. Coupled with the way she was hugging her knees, Yisi was reminded of a kitten curled up in a box—a cute, petite feeling.

She lightly tapped Mary on the shoulder.

“Mary, it’s time to go sleep in the carriage.”

Mary didn’t respond. Yisi couldn’t help but give a parental, wry smile. She was probably exhausted after driving the carriage all morning, so she fell asleep. I’ll have to shorten her watch time from now on.

“It feels a bit cruel to just wake her up like this.”

Yisi first added firewood to the fire, which was down to embers, then placed the shield and one-handed sword leaning next to Mary under the carriage. Finally, she walked over to Mary, slid one hand under her knees and placed the other on her back, and lifted her up in a princess carry.

“Hmm… I noticed it a while ago, but I never said anything. Mary’s weight is definitely not normal.”

“Not normal” here didn’t mean she was too light, but that she was too heavy.

Probably equivalent to two or three Camillas.

“Why is she so heavy when she’s so small?”

Yisi looked down at Mary, who was letting out soft “fuu, fuu” sounds, then tilted her head in surprise.

Unlike the peaceful sleeping face she had imagined, Mary’s eyebrows were knitted together as if she were enduring something, her lips were tightly pursed, and her forehead was covered in beads of sweat. This was clearly not the expression a normal person should have.

Frowning, Yisi lowered her head and pressed her forehead against Mary’s.

“A fever?”