kajarainbow

Trying out a new line divider. Lemme know your thoughts on it.

The Blaze season turned to the Storm season, which, it turned out, was absolutely wonderful for slime. All that rain was really pleasant to Aono. She loved how the raindrops slip down her body before being absorbed and leaving her feel refreshed. There was a limit on how much her body would absorb, but she was decidedly more round, and so were her slimes. But today Aono had a purpose as she entered the community hall.

The room in the community hall that had been converted from a storage room to an office was full of tidy boxes full of stacks of papers, further stacks of papers neatly organized on desks, and two workers busily going through those those papers. Aono had received a summons to said office and now she was sitting nervously in a chair waiting to hear why.

"The reason why you're here, Aono, is because we've been assisting people in updating their records to Empire standards." Ayu tapped the papers on her desk. "You've been keeping good records, which is helpful. You just need to adopt the standard record formatting from now onward. If it was just that, I wouldn't have called you here. No, one reason is because of the inconsistencies in the records that were handed over to us by people who've had dealings with you."

Aono could practically feel her heart sinking in her chest. Not literally, she didn't even have a heart anymore. But that uneasy feeling was there. "Um, I can explain..."

The ant bureaucrat cut Aono off with a slashing motion of her hand. "There's no need to explain. We don't require a reasoning for such changes. I just want to know the course of action you want to take. Now, Aono is your current name and Gara is your former name, correct? I just need a confirmation, and whether you would like all mentions of Gara just amended with your new name, or if such mentions should be purged from the record and replaced with Aono."

Aono blinked. "Oh. I'd rather the later. That name... it's not me anymore. I don't think it ever really was."

Ayu began filling out the blank form she had waiting on the desk. "Understood, we get cases like yours. I would also like to confirm that you prefer that your gender, where it comes up as relevant, be recorded as feminine. Also, your kind changed from human to slime, correct?"

"Ah, yes, both would be right." Aono nodded.

Ayu finished filling out the form with a satisfied twitch of her antennae, as if she had just finished doing a quite pleasing and worthwhile task. "And there. We'll get to resolving those inconsistencies. You've gotten the new forms from us? We sent them to everyone, but sometimes things get lost."

"I got them, yes," Aono confirmed as she relaxed into her chair. It'd been quickly slime-proofed just before she got here, she noticed. The enchantment would fade in a hour or so from the looks of it.

"You can request more as needed. Now here's a quick pamphlet on the Empire, its history, and what services it offers." Ayu extended the bound papers across the desk. "Also, here is your emblem. Please soulbind it now so I can record that you did so."

A moment of hesitation passed before Aono accepted the pamphlet and emblem. Focusing on her soul, she extended a link from it to the emblem. Feeling a connection begin to form, she allowed it. From now on, it would be connected to her soul until her death, or until she disconnected it, which would destroy the emblem. It was possible to pass soulbound objects onto other people, but the object had to have more than one port for soul connections.

The burden on her soul was so light that Aono didn't even sense any at all. The badges those in the Pure Kingdom had to wear had more of a perceptible 'weight' on the soul, akin to that of clothing on the body. From what she'd heard from others, many of the more organized nations had similar badges and emblems. With a sigh, Aono said, "It's done."

Ayu ticked off another box on a different paper, this one covered with names. "Congratulations! You are now officially a citizen of the Azure Empire. I hope we're able to have a positive impact on your life."

"Uh, thanks," Aono could only say.

.oOo.

Not only was the Empire's economic structure confusing, its governing structures as explained in the pamphlet were too. Near as Aono could tell, there was a Paper Agency that did nothing but handle records, communication, and other coordination details between various local groups across the empire, a centralized military organization that responded to the need of locals, and an Agency of State that handled ceremony and any diplomacy needs the locals might have. It had been astonishing to learn that the Empress didn't even give orders to anyone, simply making appearances at various events held by the State Agency. She also answered to the army because of her considerable military strength, going wherever she was needed, but this was not necessary the case for Emperors in general.

There was no apparent united legal structure, with only a single rule or rather guideline being codified across the Empire: "Do the least harm possible and help everyone including yourself." Aono had no idea how something like that could work. Otherwise, everything was left for the locals to handle. Apparently all the benefits that would be coming to the conquered nations came from volunteers and materials sent by various local groups working together. Road building, schools, everything.

According to the history section, the Azure Empire had originally been a more ordinary empire before a series of revolutions starting four hundred years ago that established the Azure Way. AZURE was also a young god, having been called into being two hundred years ago by those believing in the Azure Way. There were also other less interesting historical details.

Aono laid back onto her bed. She felt mentally exhausted from trying to figure out just how something like this could possible work for three hundreds. Instead, she cast her mind onto other concerns. She was pretty free this evening, so she made a decision she had been putting off until she was less busy: what her ultimate ability would be. It didn't take long.

After brief deliberation, she picked Oozing Domain of Love. It would provide major buffs as well as powerful healing to all friendly slimes, with non-slime allies getting reduced but still powerful benefits, which were increased by her previous investment in Enhance Slime allowing it to affect non-slimes. As she laid there feeling happy with her decision, she felt an oppressive pressure suddenly pour into her soul. Just as it was beginning to hurt, she passed out.

When she awoke, she pushed herself up and managed to with some effort keep from throwing up. Her soul ached in a way she'd never felt it ache, and there were multiple confusing sensations. As she focused upon those sensations, they resolved into what she realized was a new sense.

Aono blinked multiple times in disbelief. Somehow she intuitively understood her new sense as the knowledge filled her head. She could now sense not only mana but even the fundamental force underpinning the world, which was handled only by gods. In short, she could sense essence itself. And there was a core of essence in her soul, humming with readiness to be unleashed whenever she used her ultimate ability.

.oOo.

The downpours and storms of the Storm season ended, turning into the Dream season, when everything became just a little unreal. Everyone looked a little wispy, shapes shifted in the corner of your eyes, and everything took on some strange colors. It was the ideal season for assorted plants with recreational uses to grow.

Right now Aono was at school. Not for herself, though she did occasionally attend the adult-level classes they offered. No, she was there to pick up the children of one of her newest friends, Jouu, who was away with her wife, Ohulu, and a number of workers bringing crops to one of the more remote pick-up sites. She wasn't the only one waiting to pick up children, either. There was several others: two parents, an uncle, and an older cousin, as well as one unrelated but trusted adult like her.

Aono could hear the teacher lecturing. "And thus SYSTEM was made by CREATOR after the chaos of the Second Godswar, to rule power itself, so that none may gain power too quickly for their minds and souls to handle. And thus also was LIMITER made to limit the gods, so that they cannot cause such destruction again. They can only take subtle actions such as the waves seeking to eat away at the stones of the shore, giving blessings to encourage actions, or through the actions of those most devoted to them. Do not forget that gods dwell everywhere within the world, within the things they rule, so always give your thanks and do not insult them within earshot of what they rule. Not all or even most gods will care, but those that do can curse you."

It was then that there was an audible pause from the teacher. "And with that class is over. Next time we'll go over the Regrowth, when everyone were rebuilding what was lost in the Second Godswar. Now, have fun but stay safe. You may go."

There was a number of joyous yells and a small flood of children surged out of the doors of the school. Aono found two children slamming into her to hug her, both of them bats, though with touches of fox in the colorings of their fur and the shape of their ears. One even had a short stubby but thick tail. "Aono!" the more vulpine one, Kouu, yelled.

The other one, Yhulu, said, "Mom and Mom are away, play with us!"

"Alright!" Aono said cheerily. "There's a hour or so before I've got to make dinner for you. We can do Dragon Hunt."

A number of children and a couple of adults quickly joined the game, which consisted of taking turns being the dragon and hunting the prey, which was everyone else. The one who caught the most prey by touching them was declared the winner at the end. That winner turned out to be a nervous-looking mole child who had excelled at stealth catches.

That evening, after a dinner of lamb and yams which the children's parents had came in at the tail end of, Jouu took Aono aside to talk while Ohulu kept the children busy shucking yams for tomorrow. "So," Jouu said, "You interested in taking an apprentice in a couple of years, if Yhulu's interest in slimes stays?"

Aono considered. She already had Kamu, but he had learned effectively everything she had to teach him, and his Slime Friend class didn't hurt either. And anyways, she was beginning to take on a few additional workers as her business expanded steadily with the support coming her way from others in the Empire. "I certainly could make space for one," she said.

.oOo.

The season turned to the Still Season, when even water itself stood still. There were still some crops growing in the season, but overall it was a quiet time for everyone. In this season, Aono developed a thick fuzzy coat and so did her slimes. Those without thick coats instead grew layers of fat to insulate themselves. Of course, there were those that simply ignored the cold, especially the metal folk, flame folk, and other such types.

In defiance of the usual quiet, the Evaluator had came, sent by the Paper Agency. There were only a few contentious evaluation results, mainly parents upset that their children who didn't want to follow in their trades were a poor fit for those trades. But some results did raise eyebrows at least a little.

"Okay, I get that Sardu got high scores for monster hunter. But me and Aono too? We're happy just doing our things." Chamu paced back and forth as she muttered, having taken her feminine form today.

"Not as high as Sardu's," Aono pointed out. But that result had her in deep thought herself. She had hated to admit it, but as scary and awful as fighting monsters had been, the tension had been exciting in its own ways. That didn't mean she would abandon her slime farm, though. She had gotten a higher score for that than for hunting monsters as a profession.

Sardu picked at her fingernails with one of her throwing blades. "Hey, Princess, Duchess, it just means that you two enjoy getting pumped up by danger at least a little. Those Evaluations're just suggestions anyways."

"Hm!" Chamu said. "Yeah, not like I hated it exactly, back when we were still doing patrols instead of those soldiers doing scouting."

Aono paused. "Those Empire folks are... weird. But I'm beginning to see where they're coming from. Honestly, the Empire's been good to me. As odd as it is giving mana gems to people without them paying me anything, I think I like this setup better? My gems go where they're needed and I get everything I need and many things I want. And my slime farm's still growing."

Sardu shrugged as she tossed knives up in the air. "Guessing they just sent the really excited good-doers."

Chamu paced back and forth. "As fun as Oddball Huju's theories are, there's never anything in them really. I guess those folks're pretty legitimate, other than the whole conquer thing."

"Yeah... But at least it's for a better creed than PURITY's lot." Aono shuddered at the memories of some of the things she had seen done to unbelievers in that kingdom. "That's one group I really don't want to see conquering others."

At this point, Sardu had already caught every knife she had thrown up. "When it's not so chaos-forsaken cold, let's go sneak in to leave them a present. Courtesy of us pranksters."

"Ah, yeah, something nice, because Ayu is pretty nice!" Chamu had that fire in her eyes that she got when she was working out a good prank to do.

"It's agreed, then," Aono said.

.oOo.

The season turned to the Flower season, when it was as if all the plants and animals had suddenly erupted into growth after holding their breath. Flowers blossomed everywhere the very moment the season begun, and it was a nice season for pranks.

It also was a nice night for pranks, the gentle warmth encouraging the Prank Society to venture out, creeping towards the locked up community hall. Said locks were no obstacle for Sardu, and they slid into the silent meeting hall, aiming toward the door of Ayu's office.

They weren't expected for what they would learn.

kajarainbow

I keep forgetting to do this, the highly talented artist @aiyuki4s, as you can probably guess by the new cover art, finished my commission! Here's the final result:

Spoiler

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