After founding Holloweye, the gnolls and beholders enjoyed a well-deserved night’s rest.

The town’s palace was dilapidated. The passage of centuries weathered the secret ruins, not to mention the eldritch abomination growing in the middle of it. At least the open roof let in some brightness. Few areas even gave a direct view of the well of light falling from the hole in the cave’s ceiling.

Many rooms were still functional if one could ignore the gaze of the motherpillar and its fat, veiny, pulsating tentacles. Thus, it provided enough shelter for everyone.

Inside a lavishly decorated meeting room, the leaders sat at a large table.

“Is the lighting alright?” Griscent held up her tentacle. It ended with an eyeball and diffused a purple light on the ceiling.

“It’s alright.” Milia sprawled on the table, dragging her finger along the dark wood grain of its surface.

“Let’s start the meeting then.” Violet rubbed the chonky slime on her laps. “Shaki will begin with today’s agenda.”

 “Today’s subject is our policy with Holloweye and its governors. First, we’ll listen to everyone’s report to assess our state and budget. Then, we’ll agree on the tasks at hand and assign the manpower. Is there any question?”

Milia yawned.

 “Perfect. Slade’s report comes first. His prognosis on Lady Violet’s disease will tell us whether we can still rely on her magic.”

Violet put Slade on the table like a bag of potatoes. He landed with a heavy thud.

 “The recent mana vortex has damaged her entire body. I healed most of it except her mana center, so the next outbreak might happen more easily, with bigger mana growth. Two slimes were enough to subdue the vortex, but that won’t work next time. I guess we can’t rely on the Cure spell to heal her mana center?”

 Metiva shook her head. “Cure can only do two things. It restores inert biological tissues to stop leaks and recharge defensive barriers. This spell is designed to patch up soldiers on the battlefield. Infections can even appear as a result! Unfortunately, I don’t know any spell to reverse the effect of aging, and they most likely won’t affect the mana center either.”

Inert tissues… In Earth terms, it must mean the extracellular matrix? The barrier must refer to the blue light that covered Lorely’s hand when she blocked the beholder’s rays.

“Here it comes…” Violet held her forehead, the corner of her lips fell down as if she swallowed a bitter medicine.

 “To be on the safe side, I recommend sealing Violet’s magic. Let’s stick to the original plan of repairing her seals and never let her cast magic again.”

Violet reached for something near her foot. A bottle of pear liquor appeared in her hand, generously provided by the gnolls. She uncorked it and took a mouthful.

“Mistress?! Please restrain yourself a bit…” Lorely got up from her chair to hug her friend.

Violet bawled. “But I looooove magic!” Her lament ended with a whimpering sigh.

It was her pride and her life. She was solely created to harness the power of mana vortices. As one of the few survivors of the inhumane research, magic was everything to her identity.

 “What else can I do at my age? I have nothing else… I would rather die than give it up.”

Her whole life was dedicated to meet the Dungeon’s expectations, only for her to be discarded before she could spread her wings. But it didn’t stop her from clinging to magic, hoping to earn the promised recognition.

The contagious tears got to Lorely as she cried alongside.

Did I mess up? What should I say? Slade was crushed by Violet’s breasts.

Milia sunk into her chair, slightly moved by the pathetic granny. She blinked fast, getting the moisture off her eyes.

Metiva got up. She patted the warlock’s shoulder. “Magic is not merely about casting spells.”

“Correct. Slime magic, very impressive.” Griscent’s words of praise hit home.

“I know wiiight?” She lifted her snotty face from Slade, taking in the validation she needed.

Slade stroked Violet’s cheek, removing her tears. “Please teach me your magic too!”

 “Let’s study magic together.”

Shaki cleared her throat. “Excluding Violet from the military is a good idea. She will have plenty of work, from teaching to researching new magic. But don’t forget that her main job is managing us as a sovereign!”

Violet’s eyes glazed over. She took a quick sip of pear liquor, not fond of paperwork or managing people. Recovering with alcohol, she swiped her tears away.

Metiva returned to her seat and raised her hand. “I’d feel like it’d be safer to increase the number of slimes and have one draining Lady Violet’s mana at all times. It could even allow her to cast weak spells.”

 “Right! Can you show us your new trick, Slade?”

The chonky slime separated into two equally sized blobs. A silly face appeared on each one of them.

““Ta-da~!”” Slade spoke through both slimes at the same time.

“Oh shit! There are two Slade!” Milia leaned on the table.

 “My current status allows up to 3 separate bodies simultaneously, but I only have two slime cores for now. It feels like moving my right and left arm.”

 “We need to test the distance limit between slime cores.”

 “I can’t use all my skills with both of them at once. For instance, I can use symbiosis on Violet and Lorely at the same time. But if I try to heal them both, the skill ‘First Aid’ will only help me with one of them.”

 “This is great. Can you pilot a golem on the battlefield while staying near Violet?”

 “Yes, but I can’t hold a discussion while fighting a tense battle. Otherwise, I can relay conversations!”

With his measly 1 health point per slime core, it was great that he could die on the battlefield without harsh consequences.

 “But how do you make new slimes?”

 “Why, with hot steamy sex, of course.” Violet poked both slimes.

Milia exploded in laughter.

 “Wh-why are you laughing?”

 “Sorry, I didn’t expect jokes.”

 “Huh? I wasn’t joking!”

The minotaur hammered the table in laughter.

 “D-do you also remember us having sex?!”

Violet listened to the account of Griscent’s telepathy messing with Slade’s memories. It possibly influenced her since he was in symbiosis with her at the time of the telepathy. He insisted that the Evil Eye didn’t do it on purpose. But she smirked at Griscent, unconvinced.

The Evil Eye looked away, sweating from her tentacles.

 “Hmm… I see, so you saved me with my emergency rations.”

 “My ‘Impregnation’ skill says that I can make slime eggs that need a week to mature and 100 spell points to hatch. Or I can put it inside a host, and have it drain mana and nutrients every day until it hatches automatically. Finally, I can also use the genetic data I have absorbed to produce children of another species.”

 “That’s wonderful news!” Metiva clapped her hands.

“Sounds like I designed it perfectly well.” Violet nodded, proud of herself.

“More like, perfectly degen.” Milia chuckled.

 “Pawns could produce slime cores, but it could take up to 6 months for them to produce that much mana.”

 “I suggest we assign pawns’ mana to sustain Crown instead of slime cores. The golem is a powerful town guardian, and can help with construction work.”

 “Amazing! I forgot we could sustain our golems without the summoners now.”

 “This has huge potential! We could get battle strength with civilian’s mana.”

I see… Mana transfer is uncommon in this world. Slade felt relieved to have an irreplaceable feature.

 “For now, Lady Violet should focus on producing as many slime core as she can as a prevention for mana outbreak, while we gather ores and crystal for new seals. Is it fine?”

“I approve this plan.” Violet nodded.

 “Now, onto the next topic...”

The meeting went quickly thanks to the efficient management. Shaki presided over the meeting. Milia kept track of time with her regular yawns, which happened with uncanny precision. And Violet gave her final verdict on each item. The rooks benefited from their past life as office workers in Atlanoth.

They agreed on how to allot the budget for the initial stage of development. But the future looked messy. Milia was eager for the palace renovation. Metiva wanted housings. And Griscent wanted a mage guild.

Before parting ways, they flocked around Violet.

Shaki kneeled. “Thanks for saving us.”

 “No worry. Please work hard in return.”

“Of course.” Shaki left to extract ores from the mine.

Milia kneeled. “You were awesome back then. But take better care of yourself. You really gave us a fright.”

 “I can’t let my precious rooks die while you are all doing your best.”

Slade divided in two. While one went with Violet, the other one jumped on Milia’s head.

 “Yes, I’ll prepare an amazing party for you!” Milia left with one slime.

It was the gnoll matriarch’s turn to kneel. “I am forever indebted. Thank you for saving us from beholders, and reviving my clan.”

 “I couldn’t have survived without your witches. I have great expectations from you, matriarch.”

Metiva left to organize her tribe.

Only Griscent, Slade and Lorely remained. The large Evil Eye was still taller than Violet, even if it touched the ground. It stared at the ground in deference.

 “Your acts of mercy earned our infinite gratitude.”

“You can’t be bad if you fell for my Slade! Let’s do our best together!” Violet gave her a pat.

“Y-yes.” The awkward Evil Eye floated away.

Lorely sauntered. “Shall we fly together?”

They had some free time before the rooks finished organizing the town gathering.

Slade jumped on Violet, wrapping her neck like a scarf to keep her warm.

Violet’s smile bloomed. “Let’s go.”