- Shari -
After the meal, there was nothing else left to do.
Even with Liqu’s encouraging words I don’t feel too great.
Also, it is rather questionable if I should even listen to her.
It might be that I have a soft spot for praise.
And after all that I’ve been through, some friendly words are appreciated.
I never had a person who is always full of admiration and just thinking about me.
Well, my parents somehow, but they don’t count in this kind of relationship.
Otherwise, Liqu would be ranging equal to them, so please let us just separate those affairs.
Still, I am a bit worried about the effect her words have on me.
If I am like this able to overcome this hurdle, it might be good as a matter of fact.
However, regarding my identity, I fear how I will change.
Is it really fine that I completely ignore my identity as a human, by doing something completely inhuman?
Maybe I should stop to cling that desperately to what I consider to be normal.
To become accustomed to my reality doesn’t mean I’m completely forgetting who I am.
It’s not that I have now after this dissolving the urge to go out and hunt me a human.
There is a difference.
Like this, it might not necessarily be wrong that Liqu impeded my self-loathing.
If I feel better, so what?
This way, I manage to calm down a little and rest myself against my corner.
It was a busy day and it ended in a mentally stressful way.
So my rest is well deserved.
I wake up in the middle of the night.
Well, waking up is the wrong notation per se, as I am always somehow awake during this time, just in some kind of meditative relaxation.
But what I was trying to point out was that my rest got disrupted.
The reason is the door.
Or more precisely, the mechanical clicking noises which are coming from the lock.
Liqu, who is naturally more accustomed to her sleep and has this predatory readiness going for her, is already prepared for everything.
I sign her to wait for now, as I want to know what is going on and have little motivation to kill whoever is coming in.
Like always, I am no fan of killing humans in general, but graver is the fact that killing inside the town will become a huge problem for me.
Who are they?
What do they want?
Were they sent by someone?
These all are questions that could prove fatal if I don’t be careful.
I have no time left but can manage to throw my cloak over me and change back into my leaning resting position at the wall, opposite the door.
However, to my dismay, the powder cover didn't survive the night on me.
Then the door opens.
Two guys I can just refer to as thugs are entering.
They aren’t even trying to be quiet.
That might be a problem, as the only reason for such behavior is that they aren’t interested in us sleeping.
"Is that her?" (thug 1)
"Just one of them, the other one should be around too!" (thug 2)
I guess they are talking about Liqu, who hid behind the opened door.
The one who answered before is coming close.
"Tsk, why is she not in the bed?" (thug 1)
"Don't know, don't care. We are here for something else!" (thug 2)
He towers in front of me.
Then he draws his leg back and subsequently thrusts his foot into my stomach.
"With best regards from Cid!" (thug 2)
I feel nothing.
The impact just gets absorbed by my slime body.
But now I know who I have to thank for that visit.
The only question is if they shall live or die.
The problem regarding this decision is not just that I have problems solving this situation without exposing myself, what will seal their fate.
The real issue is that I was kicked.
That was rude from my point of view, but the absence of impact on me makes it far less aggravating.
That’s how I see this.
Emphasis on "I".
Liqu is slowly pushing the door closed, and her expression says it all.
This feeling of dread and awareness of what is going to happen is difficult to bear.
Shit, shit, shit!
She is going to torture them to death!
I am totally lost if I can possibly keep her from doing what she is already set to do.
But she is still naked as I failed to convey to her that she should put her cloak back on.
For this reason, for the sake of concealment, it is almost impossible to let them stay alive.
Well, I was not sure myself about killing them, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s wrong.
Also, I don’t really think I would benefit from delaying the inevitable for an interrogation, as I already have got the gist of it.
Just a bit of vengeance from Cid for Liqu being rude.
And for the question of how they found us here.
We are two suspicious girls, always wearing cloaks, roaming around the town.
Not too difficult to find out where we are lodging.
And Cid might have mentioned that we just made some money.
So a bit of robbery should play in too.
"Hey, why aren’t you reacting at all, wench?" (thug 2)
You are just digging your grave deeper and deeper.
It seems the decision was made for me and I cannot really change the outcome.
I look at Liqu, raise my finger to my mouth, and make the respective gesture.
If they scream now I will have problems with the aftermath.
No! That’s not true!
This is my room and they broke in.
No one will judge me if they drop dead in here.
That says if they die by normal means.
There is no choice. I have to kill them fast.
I don't like killing, but as we are now there is simply no way to solve this without putting us in grave danger.
Otherwise, it will develop badly for us, concerning the resulting uproar.
It might even be merciful towards them if I do it instead of this sociopathic slime.
At least they would die quickly.
After my first sign, I hold my hand out for a stop gesture to make her hold her act.
While I can explain the corpses, this doesn't account for partly dissolved ones.
"What are you doing, you weirdo?" (thug 1)
It seems like I gave them enough hints and the two notice where I concentrate my attention.
The moment they turn around my dagger glides into my hand and I give my best to make it as sturdy and gluey as possible.
"There…" (thug 2)
They've seen Liqu.
It's dark but I need to react before the realization hits them and they start to scream.
I use my newly learned slime dash technique and close the distance.
Yet I need to pay attention, like Liqu said, that my core stays inside.
As the central, controlling point it is the one thing that isn’t moving but rather gets dragged along.
So there is the concern that my body could move too fast for my core to get along, repeating the situation when I pulled it out.
Which would be bad now.
In the blink of an eye, I am behind number two, who starts to prepare a yell.
Slicing his throat from behind is a safe way to prevent this.
"Urghrlb!" (thug 2)
"What did you... This wasn’t supposed to happen!!!" (thug 1)
Yes, the poor girl you were going to attack in her sleep has sadly not so much empathy about your predicament.
While he should be terrified of the slime monster blocking the exit, my attack seems to have made him focus his attention on me.
He has a club and raises it against me.
Should I laugh about the idea of fighting a slime with a club?
"Glrrb!" (Shari)
Okay, that was only a subconscious reaction!
And wait, how did I just refer to myself?!
He aims for my head and I don’t even bother to dodge.
The hit is just a dull sensation through my cloak and I feel it sinking in some centimeters.
"Gotcha!" (thug 1)
I give him a look and he freezes at my sight.
I don't, and drive my dagger through the eye into his skull.
He drops dead.
I am not sure how much of this was me and how much was from this concerning predator instinct I seemingly have now ingrained in my core.
It is a little disturbing to think about and I feel bad about this.
I am not a natural killer.
I was attacked and retaliated for the sake of self-preservation.
And this is completely understandable.
But the way I did it was nothing I ever trained for.
The result was in accordance with my plans, yet I feel wrong when I think about how I did it.
Aiming for the weak spots, no wavering, no hesitation, not even missing the mark a little.
I assume this high-speed processing took part in it.
In fact, I was in that mode since they entered, to analyze the situation and make the right decision.
But this lack of reservation makes me anxious.
I’m extremely sure that I still don’t believe that killing is "Okay", yet the fact that I can do it this mechanically alone worries me deeply.
Well, it worries "me".
"You are so great! Perfectly done! And so competent! I knew you would get the hang of it! But why did you just use this metal stick? Never mind! Let’s dissolve them!" (Liqu)
"No, we don’t! I’m pretty sure you are already full and we have no way to get rid of your excess here. Now go and take your cloak, immediately!" (Shari)
She does so but still looks rather confused in my direction.
"Why aren’t we devouring them first? More could be coming any moment, and then it is better to have more than less.” (Liqu)
Is she already planning to eradicate the whole town?
Knowing her that doesn’t seem too farfetched.
“Exactly because we could have been heard and people might come you need to put on your disguise! And make fast!” (Shari)
Meanwhile, I take my black shirt and black pants. Everything that decreases my visibility will be helpful.
When I’m done I have to go on about the last and most important step.
"Liqu! I need the powder! Please hurry! It is okay if you need to be wasteful and try to get the front done first!" (Shari)
Although she is still utterly confused, the part where I allow her to touch me is something that won’t escape her attention.
I even believe that she somehow blinked through the room when she heard it.
"I don’t know why you want this, but are you sure this is the right thing to do now?" (Liqu)
"Absolutely! I will need to talk with people, so I need my disguise!" (Shari)
As I said before, she is fairly skilled at applying the powder.
This has maybe something to do with determination.
The prospect that she can do it again if she does a good job is enough motivation for her.
Like this, she only needs a short amount of time.
It seems they weren’t too loud or this is simply the kind of establishment where people don’t care, but no one came during that time.
So I use the chance to apply quickly a layer on Liqu as well.
What is concerning, is that our stock of very handy powder like this decreased to one single application.
That's insufficient and I will have to buy a new box!
My precious money!
Sob!
But now to the issue of the dead corpses in my room.
I take my gloves and make Liqu wear hers too.
After making sure with my mirror that the disguise works fine, I leave my room.
However, before I can do so I need to pay attention to the one weak point in my plan.
"And Liqu we had this now quite a number of times, but you won’t say a word. And only in the case that anyone speaks to you directly and leaves you no choice but to answer, just in that case, you are only allowed to say: 'Those men came into our room! I was so scared! I don’t know what to do! This is all too much for me!' Got it?" (Shari)
"But I wasn’t scared! I just wanted to dissolve them! And make them suffer!" (Liqu)
"And that’s exactly what you won’t say! You must use my sentence, understood? Can you repeat it?" (Shari)
"Yes, yes! 'Those men came into our room. I was so scared. I don’t know what to do. This all is too much for me.' Was this fine?" (Liqu)
"Please just try to put the merest hint of emotion in this if and only if you need to speak." (Shari)
Then I head to the ground floor, followed by the slime on whose abysmal acting skills I’m relying on.
I approach the counter and go to the door behind it where the private area of the innkeeper should be located.
I take the first hard object I find on the counter and use it to knock, before laying it back.
We all know why my hands don’t work.
"THE HELL! What’s going on there?! Dare you to disturb my sleep!!!" (innkeeper)
Somehow my plan just started to feel far less appealing to me.
And the innkeeper bursts through the door, holding the largest mace I’ve ever seen.
Thick spikes, pure iron if I'm right, and of a size as if the original purpose was to ground a fortress.
It's a miracle that something like this can get lifted, much less used.
What kind of monster is this woman?
Yes, I know, I’m the one to talk.
"YOU! What do you think you are doing?!" (innkeeper)
For once I feel a bit threatened by how she is holding that club, yet far more uneasy I feel because of Liqu and her very short temper when it comes to threats against me.
"I-I just wanted to tell you something important!" (Shari)
She still glares at me but lowers the club.
"I hope for your sake that it is important!" (innkeeper)
"It’s just that I thought you as the owner should get informed about the two dead men in our room. And before you say something, the time of the day and the fact that they broke into our room should speak of our innocence." (Shari)
She’s apparently dumbfounded and at a loss for words, which is absolutely understandable.
Most people would be taken aback when confronted with killed people.
"Oh fuck, not again!" (innkeeper)
What?!
"Excuse me?" (Shari)
Maybe my evaluation of this place was far too positive!
I like how naturally Shari reacts to situation where she must kill what she considers fellow humans.
It's not that she is surprised and lashes out on instinct or panic, she has the moment to realise what she might have to do. What is about to happen and why she must do it herself.
Also, it is true that even in middle ages people did not kill others that easily, like in these edgy stories.
Law enforcement (official one) was barely existent, but was more of self-organised thing. Guards were usually volunteers wanting to bring peace at their cities, often getting "gifts" or favors to keep closer eye on certain place.
Thanks. That's actually quite important to me. I always found it weird when an isekaid "hero" would just slaughter the first group of bandits they meet. And even if medieval were dark times it doesn't mean there was no law enforcement and every single day people killed each other on the street and people just accepted it without anyone trying to change this. I mean, the usual village was no place where all the inhabitants murdered each other on the street. Would be hard to build a society with this kind of people. The image of a peaceful village doesn't exist for no reason. And the usual village girl is no murderous hobo.
Thx for the chap.
The only question is if they shall live or die
Uh ? Is it a necessary question ? Just kill them lol
It's to ease her mind.
In Shari's opinion, only monsters and psychos consider killing the only solution, so she wants at least to give it some thought before murdering them.
@expentio In reality, it isn't just her. Almost everyone except trained soldiers hesitate, and she certainly hasn't had the mental conditioning that they undergo.
@Piisfun The thing for me is than that a world of sword&magic with 'adventurer' and monster and all that. Human live are not really seen like we see them so her reject of killing in view of its origins is understanding but that way too strong for a human of this kind of world I think (even if she use it like a mean to conserve her humanity).
That like say "that guy want cleary beat me, rape me and kill me but should kill him for defend myself ???"
@Stonelight Good point, but now for a counter-point:
The community she grew up in was a sheltered backwater village where she never had to deal with those kind of problems from humans.
Against monsters, her only real hesitation was, "That thing is scary, and I am too weak!" But this is her first real experience dealing with human enemies herself. Last time (in her former house), Liqu took care of them all when she froze up.
@Piisfun We also had the bandit encounter, but this one played out exactly like this. She first tried to negotiate, then made up her mind after realizing there's no other way. In my view even in other medieval communities, it's not the normal thing to kill each other. In the big cities, there are the guards to deal with criminals and smaller everyone knows each other. If not for the monsters Rakis is rather peaceful.
@Piisfun
The community she grew up in was a sheltered backwater village where she never had to deal with those kind of problems from humans.
That for that I said than she reject killing in view of its origins.
That true this is her first real time dealing with human herself but she was already attacked by the previous guys in her house before so she should expect it to happen again for what she is now.
And I think she said before than if they are a danger for herself she will not hesitate to do what it takes to keep her life.
Here with these guy attacking her, there really are no other way around because if they beat her they will take off her cloak and see she is a slime (Liqu will kill them before lol). They will just not beat her and let her alone just after that without take a look so she can't escape to the fate of killing them. The part with them beating her do not go too far but I am pretty sure than after that they would just take her with them to their boss if they didn't take her cloak off (In a universe where Liqu doesn't exist, yeah).
@expentio the town where they actualy are is not the most secure right ? Like the innkeeper already had many infraction in her inn lol
@Stonelight It's just a place to sleep where no one asks questions. Most on the upper floor should have heard the commotion but thought "not my problem", hence no one comes. The innkeeper leaves nothing worthy to steal in these rooms, so she doesn't care as well. Not that anyone would be so stupid to try something like taking the scarce furniture.
Shari could maybe have said something like, "I pay more if you tell me what you know and leave." Though that's just a possibility. She was in high-speed processing. In reality, it barely took a second before Liqu closed the door and she was ready for the kill. And I don't think she held back then.
@expentio I see the thing with this inn xD
But the "I pay more if you tell me what you know and leave." could not be chosen. She don't have that much money and that can't be compared to the other guy with some control on the market.
@Stonelight Mustn't mean he pays much. These were thugs with just clubs. Not the most professional folk. It's not like she gave it much thought. She just considered it.
@expentio The main reason it wouldn't have worked is exactly what Shari states: the risk of letting knowledge of intelligent slimes get out is a 95% chance of death.
@Stonelight
The thing for me is than that a world of sword&magic with 'adventurer' and monster and all that. Human live are not really seen like we see them so her reject of killing in view of its origins is understanding but that way too strong for a human of this kind of world I think
You are wrong, precisely because her world is full of monsters and robbers Shari can understand "humanity" specifically, and not as an abstract philosophy.
I had such a case, I was on a tram, and two friends met not far from me, one got out of prison earlier, and the other just recently. So, the one who was released recently excitedly explained to the first that despite the fact that he was in prison he remained a human. That's literally how he said "I am still a humans!"
Well, I think that you can not tell how those who have lost their "humanity" live, in principle, if anyone has read "Everybody Loves Large Chests" or the arc about the alchemist in "Misadventures of a Rampaging Demon" may well imagine the loss of humanity.
While looking for links to illustrate one idea, I found an interesting article that can just show part of the relationship in such a society, both among people and among monsters, and it is quite possible that this Cid is not a full-fledged thief, but an outcast not only among people, but also among thieves.
https://zen.yandex.ru/media/ofmenru/otkuda-proizoshlo-slovo-otmorozok-5b98ea1dc9e72b00a91dc4c9
Don't know if you're interested, but if you look on the index page...
What "index page" are you talking about?
And what should you pay attention to on this page?
@torvn77 The page with the chapter list. Scroll up and between previous and next stands "index".
I still could not find the "index page", maybe it is visible only to you as the author (owner)?
Well, in the end it doesn't matter, it doesn't look like you wrote it to me.
And so you liked the article on the link, helped with new ideas and images?
And yet, I saw that you started to compose "Formicea", I have not read it yet, but I think that you had better freeze this novel and implement your ideas in this one, maybe by making several parallel plots.
I think so because I'm afraid that you will not be able to lead two works, you will lose motivation and leave the composition of the novel.
I don't mind if you write a novel about other parts of the world, but I think you should do it later, when the novel
the world of the novel you are writing now (Slime girl) will get stronger enough.
@torvn77 I see index also on other's stories.
Writing is just a hobby for me. I do so when I feel like it and write the stories I want to proceed with (I have 8 right now). Formicea is very different and it's just the shared world not same story. There are almost no connection points. I have a huge backlog for both of them, we are good till late spring. For me writing is nice when I can decide what I work on. It's like changing up games. I want to play this one, so I do, but eventually will come back to the other (varying daily). If I push a story I don't feel like advancing yet, I don't think I will produce anything I will like (I already am unsure about my newest arc in slime girl).
Sorry, the article I didn't read because it was russian.
(I already am unsure about my newest arc in slime girl)
But in fact, it turns out that I guessed everything correctly.
Well, if you are going to give up this novel, then maybe you will publish it somewhere under the CC BY-SA license, for example, on github.com, then maybe if someone wants to continue it, then you can see the continuation of the story (github.com is just specializes in such things)
@torvn77 Not really. You don't know when and why and how I wrote it. It's just that the overall plot of the new arc is maybe not to everyones liking.
I don't like it that you directly assume stuff like I won't continue and should better give it up and away.
Sorry, the article I didn't read because it was russian.
This is not a problem, Google Crome has a built-in web page translation feature.
I do not urge you to always use it, but if you need to read a page in another language, then it translates very well.
You can download it here: https://www.google.com/chrome/
The only thing is, be careful if you use it to leave comments, it can translate not only the page itself, but also the text inserted into the form, and therefore, before writing a comment, you need to switch to showing the pages in the original form.
I think it's a little bit hostile from you to directly assume stuff like I won't continue and should better give it up and away.
I don't mean anything "hostile", just experience shows that a lot of good stories are left without continuation. This is an unpleasant experience when there is a story that you love, that is interesting, and that the author has stopped writing.
Well, of course it's from the point of view of the reader.
@expentio How I wish that ScribbleHub had a way to mute updates to a single comment chain...
Personally, I think that the scenario this story is based on is pretty much guaranteed to end up with controversial issues; they tend to be unavoidable when fundamental transformations occur (things that change the very nature of someone's existence, such a being turned into a slime, having their gender inverted). The more important question is how you handle it. I just dropped a novel for handling religion what I considered an unacceptable way, but until the issue comes up, all we readers can do is judge for ourselves.
If you simply try to avoid all the sensitive issues, then there would be no story.
@torvn77 I will be honest, the story is slice of life. I don't have an end in mind that I wouldn't be able to sabotage afterwards by whatever knocks at the door. I want to send the characters I like on adventures. For now I have an outline which will keep me for around another hundred pages occupied. The other stories give depth to the world and ideas for places they could visit. They help.
I am glad that you will continue to write this novel.
It's just that the overall plot of the new arc is maybe not to everyones liking.
Write as you see fit.