Chapter 41. Money, and More Money
Starting the day by sitting around a table at a quiet rooftop café, enjoying the clear sunlight while drinking a sweet and sour beverage, wasn't too bad.
Even if it was happening inside a game.
From the perspective of having a new experience, couldn't it be considered similar to traveling abroad?
“Good morning.”
Perhaps because it was morning, Iyen came to the café dressed relatively lightly, greeted me warmly, and sat down in the seat across from me.
It was surprising that she treated me so warmly even after seeing what I was like.
I hated sunlight, so I had chosen a seat that was suitably shaded.
It suited me.
Meanwhile, Iyen sat beneath the bright sunlight, calmly brushing her hair behind her ear.
She looked like someone living in a completely different world from me.
She seemed to sparkle under the sunlight, as if she had chosen exactly the right place to sit.
Perhaps the Knight of Diligence showed her diligence and sincerity even through the way she sat.
Unlike me, who was sitting hunched over, she sat elegantly with her back straight.
Looking at her like this, I even wondered if she was already more mature than me mentally.
**“What's that?
Is it good?”**
“Hmm, it's a drink made from the juice of a monster called a Gore Tree, with two drops of a fairy's tears added to it.”
**“Ugh, why are you drinking something like that?
I'll just have coffee.”**
I thought it was a pretty optimal choice to drink alongside the Man-Eating Plant Salad and Four-Legged Cabbage Steak.
Apparently, they were recommended dishes here.
And the ingredients were even delivered directly from their place of origin.
**“Why do all the dishes here look like this?
They're fresh, but... aren't they too fresh?
Is that why there are so many outsiders here?”**
“Yeah.”
The place had become popular in the community.
There were plenty of people bringing all sorts of things and asking whether this could be used as an ingredient or that could be used as an ingredient.
So I guessed that even more ridiculous dishes would appear in the future.
**“Aah!
Didn't that thing just move?”**
“The taste is good.”
...Hmm.
How should I describe this?
Well...
It was peaceful.
So this kind of atmosphere existed in this game too?
The warm breeze gently tickled my skin.
Combined with the peaceful atmosphere, it flowed along my spine and made the ends of my hair stand on end.
Saying that my hair stood on end was a little strange.
But I couldn't think of a better expression.
It really felt like something was sending chills through me and my head was turning completely blank.
It was nice, but strangely awkward.
Sitting absentmindedly on a pleasant day, in a place filled with a moderate amount of noise, facing someone with whom I had formed a certain connection, and quietly spending a good time while talking about meaningless things...
That was a life very far removed from mine.
“When is the village chief coming?”
“Wouldn't he be here soon?
Technically, he's the one who caused this whole situation, so surely he won't be very late.”
**“I suppose you're right.
Oh, did you hear about that?”**
I had exchanged small talk with Iyen several times.
But having a warm and friendly conversation with a human being like this, something I hadn't experienced in years, kept making the timid part of me that I had buried deep inside suddenly pop out.
Junior Trainer was a person who gave off a strong feeling of energy and always seemed to push forward.
Because of that, I had never experienced this sort of atmosphere with her.
So spending time like this with Iyen felt incredibly unfamiliar.
I wondered whether I should say that I disliked this feeling or that it wasn't actually bad.
It was also frightening because I felt like I might unknowingly become absorbed into Iyen's atmosphere.
Perhaps Iyen actually had nothing but negative feelings toward me.
Maybe she was sitting across from me and treating me kindly because she was in the position of monitoring me, someone connected to madness, while also trying to rehabilitate me.
Perhaps it was similar to meeting a counselor whom you paid money to see.
The counselor would give you a thoroughly businesslike smile and respond exactly according to the manual.
Honestly, there were no emotions behind it.
There was no weight behind that smile and kindness.
I knew that very well.
“Hoho, have you been waiting long?”
Just when I was about to experience an allergic reaction from talking with Iyen for too long, the village chief appeared together with the slime inside a transparent glass bottle.
I was saved!
“Ah, could I have one of the sous-vide meat and vegetable stir-fry?”
“What's that supposed to be?”
“Don't you know?
Yukgwa is a fruit that tastes similar to meat.
It is cooked in water for a long time and then stir-fried together with various vegetables in swamp pig crocodile oil.”
“...What the hell is that?”
Ah, what a completely insane menu choice.
A twisted peace had arrived in my twisted heart.
This was it.
A perfectly white ship wouldn't fit on a river filled with floating garbage.
If there were one more battered little fishing boat, the picture would be complete.
**“Oh!
Isn't that Gore Tree Juice?
Ah, I feel as if I can sense the breeze of the deep forest all the way here.”**
“It tastes like Sol's Eye.”
“Sol's... Is that so?”
Now then, the reason we had cleared our entire schedules and met at a café today was...
“Do I have to introduce myself?”
We were here for a meeting about our future business with Miss Slime, our newly recruited team member.
Money.
Yes, yes!
We were talking about money!
**Money!
Money!
I had come running all the way here as a slave to capitalism to talk about money!**
Originally, I had planned to tie her up and work her like a slave.
But the village chief had firmly opposed that idea.
So after deciding to meet again here today, we had parted ways.
Thinking about it now, this relationship was actually better.
A relationship where we respected each other would probably be more effective.
Anyway, this slime girl, who had become our partner, was an extremely intelligent type of monster specializing in faith and healing.
She was a slime, so she had a round and soft appearance, and her abilities were just as warm and gentle.
With those abilities, she had tried to purify the contaminated sewage system for some instinctive reason even she didn't understand.
However, her actions had unintentionally caused the bugs living there to grow into gigantic monsters.
Should I call her an unfortunate perpetrator acting out of good intentions?
Good grief.
Calling someone an "unfortunate perpetrator acting out of good intentions"...
My vocabulary always made me sigh.
Thinking that contradictory words sounded cool was something that should only be allowed until middle school.
But I genuinely didn't know what I should call this.
Clearly, everything had started with the intention of purifying the sewage system.
Yet, regardless of her intentions, monsters had ended up swarming the place.
Was it something like implied intent?
No, that seemed different too.
Was my vocabulary actually below that of a middle school student?
Had I really fallen that far?
No!
Who cares!
It had nothing to do with me!
It wasn't important to me!
Yeah!
Even if I stutter a little, life would be easy as long as I made lots of money!
“First of all, congratulations on becoming a member of our team.”
“M-Me?”
“She's Iyen here...
What was it again?”
**“Iyen de Yustria!
Are you joking?”**
“Th-Then!
Of course I'm joking.
Ah, and this is the village chief.”
“I am the village chief.”
I couldn't see any expression on the slime's face.
But I imagined that she was probably staring at me right now with her mouth tightly shut and a shocked expression.
Apparently, she was shocked because, despite saying that I was going to introduce everyone, I couldn't even properly introduce my own team members.
Sorry, but I couldn't remember long names!
If you want me to remember your name, shorten it to three syllables or less!
Then I'll kindly shorten it to two syllables and call you that!
**“Our introductions are over.
Mallyang, what's your name?”**
“M-Mallyang?”
“Yeah, you.
Mallyang, because you're soft and squishy.
Don't you have a name?”
The slime girl slowly flowed out of the bottle.
I scooped her up with both hands and gently kneaded her while asking.
Wow.
This was seriously addictive.
Unlike those liquid monsters or whatever children commonly played with, she had just the right amount of resistance.
It felt like squeezing a water balloon with incredible elasticity.
**“Monsters like me don't normally have special names.
I'm not strong enough to be given a name.”**
“Really?
Why doesn't someone as unique as you have a name?
Then from now on, you're Mallyang.
Because you're soft and squishy.”
**“Ah, yes.
Please call me whatever you like!”**
I held Mallyang in my hands and kept squishing her while carefully observing her.
I wondered which part of her body she was using to speak.
But I couldn't figure it out.
Anyway, she was incredibly addictive.
If I kept staring at her, I felt like I would get completely absorbed into her.
While my hands continued squishing Mallyang, I brought up the topic we had decided to discuss today.
I needed to change the subject quickly.
Otherwise, I felt like I would spend the entire day just playing with her.
