Severine basked under the glorious lights of the stained glass covering the ceiling of the library. She sparred with Chiyo to familiarize herself with the Bladeclasped sword.

Chiyo delivered a decisive strike with her longsword. Though she had lost her favorite katana, she was still a candidate to become a hero of Sanctuary and lead an army of pawns. She couldn't compete with mystical powers, but she was better than Severine as far as pure swordsmanship was concerned.

Severine threw in the towel. She leaned on the two-handed sword like a crutch. “I don’t think heavy weapons fit me after all.”

“You’re distracted.” Chiyo kept practicing her moves on her own.

"Yeah… I was thinking about the shop. They better bring back good snacks." Severine sighed, as she glanced at the royal seal casually stored on a bookshelf.

…

Asdel, Viola, and Tomoyo sneaked into the Lucky Slime shop under the cover of the foxfolk’s racial illusion spell.

The broken door gave way without an effort, and a sight of devastation welcomed them. The broken counter and the shelves had been emptied of their content, leaving the party with only their own tears.

The result of Asdel's (Magdalena's) hard work, money and medicine, was cruelly pilfered.

'Is it karma for stealing snacks at the market?' Asdel looked at the overweight slime that filled his whole bag. 'This is all your fault, you glutton!'

However, the signs of struggle and blood were even more concerning than the missing merchandise.

Tomoyo gasped. "No!"

Her subordinate lay lifeless in the middle of shattered furniture. His battered appearance was the unambiguous evidence that he was cruelly beaten to death.

She collapsed at his side with tears streaming down. She reached out with a trembling hand, as she needed to assess the reality of the situation herself.

Asdel and Viola left, frantically searching for the other subordinate.

But before they could find him, Viola ran downstairs. “Not good! I can sense magic!”

“Nothing of value is left. Let’s run.” Asdel pulled Tomoyo up.

Guards and a priest stopped them at the exit. "Halt! You're under arrest!"

The guards tackled the non-resisting trio with an excessive amount of force. "Drop everything in your inventory!" They took Asdel’s shortsword and Tomoyo’s candlespear.

Asdel threw a fit as he was searched. “How dare you?! I’m the son of the rank-C adventurer, Loreley. I’ll remember your face!”

But his threats went into deaf ears.

“Why is she in a box?!” A guard jumped back upon opening Viola’s box. His surprised expression quickly gave way to a blushing incredulous face. “Ahem- you can stay in the box if you want to.”

Another man yelled when Amaranth popped out of the bag he searched. “Damn it, get lost!” He kicked the slime in pure reflex.

“You idiot! It’ll run away if you kick it!” Another guard ran after the tumbling pet with his bludgeon.

The slime looked at Asdel in fear, torn between running to him and escaping.

“Run!” Asdel yelled. “Go away!”

Amaranth scrambled away and slipped into a hole.

Asdel gnashed his teeth, glaring at the guards with utmost hatred. ’Looting my shop and killing my slaves weren't enough, they tried to kill Amaranth!’

…

Asdel, Viola, and Tomoyo were taken to the guardhouse, stuck together in the same cell.

Their wrists were bound together in anti-magic shackles, and there was only a bed and chamber pot as furniture. Bars prevented them from squeezing themselves out from the prison window.

The day had felt endlessly long, but the sun was still up even after all the interrogation.

“We were framed for so many fake accusations.” Viola sighed.

Asdel slumped in a corner and kept sighing. “I lost so much…”

Tomoyo hugged him. “It’s alright, grand elder. We stand together, no matter what adversity we face.”

’Now that I think about it, that girl lost her home and more, yet she’s so spirited.’ Asdel nodded. “You’re right.”

The light of the cell changed color. It went from a light sky blue to a pink color.

“Amaranth!” Asdel exclaimed.

The obese slime squeezed its cheeks between the bars of the window. It turned into a long noodle and fell on the ground.

’Boing.’ Amaranth bounced and turned back to its original round shape. It leaped at Asdel and rubbed its face on his chest.

The first thing Asdel thought about was to break out. "Can you eat the shackles?"

A loud clunk came from the corridor.

“Hide!” Asdel put the slime in the corner and covered it with his back.

Viola and Tomoyo huddled against him.

A young man appeared behind the bars. He had brown hair and a sparkling attire that screamed his noble status.

“Is it you, the owner of the Lucky Slime shop?” He twirled a bunch of keys around his finger with a sly smile.

"And you are?" Asdel hesitated between kissing his ass or being angry. But in the end, he couldn't help being antagonistic.

The noble licked his lips as he sized up Viola. "Where are my manners? I am Khain, the third son of the duke-bishop."

Khain entered their cell and locked it from inside. He towered threateningly before the three. “An alchemist from the guild was sent to inspect your shop and never came back. What happened to him?”

Asdel inched forwards. "Who knows? If you check our souls at the church, you'll see that we didn't kill any-"

The noble kicked him and grabbed Viola's shackles. "I am not talking to you, kid. I am asking you, the real mastermind behind the shop!"

"I don't know!" Viola struggled to break free, though she wouldn't even overpower Asdel with her meager strength.

His face distorted with glee. "Good, don't give in too easily. We can take it slowly. And there's even a foxfolk!"

Tomoyo shriveled in terror, realizing she was next.

“Curse you, bloody son of a bitch!” Viola hammered him with her shackles, while he took a sniff at her neck.

He ripped Viola's clothes, baring her shoulder. "Don't worry! Scream as you want, I told them to not interrupt us, hehe!"

Asdel's restraints crumbled thanks to Amaranth's help. He pounced on Khain and punched him away from Viola.

His fist trembled from the effect of the impact. Asdel bit his lips and glared at the noble. ’Don’t tell me this guy is rank D!’

Khain leaned on the wall. He rubbed the damaged aura on his head and let out a laugh. “What a feisty little bastard! I wanted to have fun raping her in front of everyone, but I need to teach the kid a lesson before.”

The noble unsheathed his sword and showered Asdel with strikes, bringing the exhausted boy to his knees. “How’s that, little fuck? Dare to stand again?”

Very quickly, Asdel lost all his aura. Every part of his body screamed as he was kicked and stomped down by Khain. His ears rang and everything looked like a blur.

Khain raised his sword. “Watch carefully, bitches. This is what happens when someone annoys me!”

He unleashed his blade upon Asdel under the screams of the two women.

Asdel reacted just enough to protect himself with his right arm. Just like that, his hand flew off. He curled up as he howled in rage and pain.

He felt Tomoyo’s hands shaking his numb back and the distant sound of her cries. His mind fell into an abyss devoid of sound and light, as he slowly blacked out.

’Viola, Tomoyo, I’m sorry, because of me- Huh?’ Asdel’s thoughts were interrupted by the image of a chonky slime.

Amaranth floated in front of him with the size of a whale, radiating a gentle light and smiling as always.

[The ‘Tear of the Allmother’ grants you its blessing. Class changed to 'Apostle' lv.1.]

…

Asdel pushed Tomoyo aside and jumped. “Khaaaaaain!”

The noble was taken by surprise in the most inconvenient moment of having his dick out and pants half down. He couldn’t react in time to the massive blow from Asdel’s fist and got blown to the other side of the cell.

’Strength fills my being. So this is what it’s like to have a full arsenal and a pool of soul essence.’ Asdel glanced at his severed right arm covered in a layer of slime. Amaranth somehow relieved his pain and prevented further blood loss.

’It hurts much more?!’ Khain hurriedly lifted his pants with one hand and pointed his sword at Asdel. “Don’t think you can get away with only one hand. This time, it’ll be your head!”

Asdel's giggles slowly built up before breaking into an insane laughter. “Bwahahaha! This is what I’ve been waiting for ten years! All this time… Weak… Powerless… This ends nooow!” His speech broke down and turned into a bestial roar as he grew drunk on power.

His eyes glowed with aura, lighting up his sinister laughing face.

Khaine shivered at the sight of the beast wearing the skin of a child. He felt the fear deep in his soul, that he would be gobbled up if he failed to kill Asdel.