According to Dojin, there was no doubt about it: it was cute. He said so now and then, cute, and stroked its body while he said it.
From the look in Dojin’s eyes and the way he acted, it could tell perfectly well that cute meant something very good.
The slime bounced down off the pool rim and took a look around the room. If it had hands, it probably would have planted them on its hips.
Phew, so much to do.
Before Dojin came back, it had to scrub everything squeaky clean until it all looked brand new. And then it had to use the leftover fruit to get a meal ready, too.
Because when Dojin got home he’d be very hungry, and very thirsty. Every time he came back from a food run he’d scoop up a huge helping of water from the pool and gulp it down.
Then the slime suddenly remembered something Dojin had said before.
‘I could really go for a cold drink.’
It hadn’t known what he meant, so Dojin had explained, the way he always did. A drink was water that tasted sweet.
The slime stared at the water in the pool, then at the leftover fruit sitting in front of it. Oh...! Maybe, just maybe! The slime’s body lit up all over again.
That should be enough.
Dojin looked at the fruit piled in the food basket, hefted the load onto his shoulder, and turned back. Picking fruit and carrying a load one-handed — after a few rounds of it, he’d gotten used to it fast.
Nothing’s happened, right?
Knowing there was someone waiting for him, his pace naturally picked up. He’d only stepped out for a little while, and yet he felt as antsy as if half a day had gone by.
Walking fast enough that it was practically running, he spotted the mouth of the nest in the distance. Dojin hurried inside.
“I’m back.”
The slime, which had been bustling around in one corner, spotted Dojin and came over, squeaking against the floor as it went.
It was a composure quite unlike its usual chipper bouncing. The bandana and apron Dojin had made for it were draped neatly around its body.
A little bow.
The slime stopped in front of Dojin, folded its body slightly, and dipped its head. The demure posture made it look as if it were greeting him with a ‘Welcome home.’ Dojin nodded, his face a touch bewildered.
“Yeah, yeah. ...What were you up to?”
When he glanced at the corner the slime had come from and asked, the round little body set off ahead of him as if to say follow me. The same quiet movement as before. Why’s it suddenly so calm?
He wondered, but he followed along without a word. The prim and proper walking didn’t last long; it must have gotten impatient again, because before he knew it the slime was doing little hops. With every hop the small bandana and the adorable apron fluttered.
Where the slime led him was the pool they always drank from. The slime bounced up onto the stone rim around it. Following the round body with his eyes, Dojin noticed something. A wooden bowl filled with water. A soft smile formed at the corner of his mouth.
“You set this up for me?”
Koong.
“Thanks. I’ll drink up.”
Dojin picked up the bowl and brought it to his mouth.
Watching him, the slime’s heart pounded like it was going to burst.
It’s the first drink I’ve ever made for Dojin...! It braced itself so tight with nerves that the little circle went stiff as a board. Not noticing how tense the slime was, Dojin tipped back the drink in the cup.
Gulp, gulp.
Dojin’s magnificent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. The slime stared at the sight with a fervent gaze. If it had been able to swallow, it would have gulped — that was how nervous it was.
A moment later, Dojin took the cup from his lips with wide eyes.
This is...
It didn’t taste like water, it tasted like fruit. The same flavor as the fruit they usually ate, but oddly richer and sweeter. It’s like an actual drink. Dojin’s eyes turned to the slime.
“You made this?”
Koong!
A confident answer. There was no way the slime knew about drinks like this, so it must have remembered something he’d said at some point and made it from that. Which meant it had made this entirely...
“For me?”
Koong!
Unable to contain its excitement, the slime gave a little hop on the stone. Then it slipped a bit on the water pooled there. Dojin quickly reached out and caught the teetering little lump.
“Thank you. It’s good.”
「...!」
The small body seemed to surge upward, and then the squishy flesh was rubbing itself against Dojin’s big hand. At the affectionate little gesture, Dojin scooped the slime straight into his arms.
“Did you try this yourself?”
Koong.
Of course! To make the drink taste good, it had had to sample it over and over. It wasn’t until later that the slime learned humans had a word for that: ‘taste-testing.’
“Tasted sweet.”
Jjong-jjong.
Freeing itself from that big, hard palm, the slime headed for the spot where they stored food and supplies. It rummaged wildly through the pile of medicinal herbs, then set a single small leaf on top of its head.
I thought that stuff was only good on wounds. Turns out it works as food, too. Dojin was honestly impressed.
“You even know how to use it. Smart.”
Bbyok!
The slime’s belly bulged out in front and its body stretched up tall. It was as though it had thrown out its chest and was shouting, That’s me!
Its actual body being so tiny, and with the bandana and apron on top of that, it had nothing remotely like gravitas — it was still nothing but cute. And the chef getup even made it look like a good cook.
Dojin held out the rest of the drink to the slime, but the slime shook its head and cried, Myung!
Understanding what the slime meant, Dojin drained the rest of the drink and showed it the empty cup. The slime looked at the empty cup with pride, then grabbed hold of the hem of Dojin’s pants. The two of them bustled off to the next stop.
The second place they arrived at was the low stone table where they ate every day.
The food was already laid out on the stone. On top of stiff broad leaves, each of their portions of fruit sat neatly arranged.
It looked rather like a scattering of soy-braised beans laid out here and there, but in that haphazard arrangement he could feel the care the slime had put in, thinking of him.
“Hey, you really are...”
Dojin covered his eyes with his palm for a moment, then let his hand fall. Faced with the slime just standing there staring up at him, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“You made dinner, too? And cleaned?”
Koo.
“You’re way better than any hunter.”
Compared to the hunters who’d thought only of their own lives and dumped him here while he was still perfectly alive, the slime in front of him was more human, and kinder.
His whole life was built around disposing of the monsters that hurt humans. At the moment he was a little bit outside of that life. A monster, something he’d only ever thought of as evil. And yet here it was, this gentle, this good.
For some reason the slime wore a puzzled expression. Dojin read it right away.
“A hunter means someone like me.”
Koong?
“Should we eat first?” Dojin said, tossing a piece of fruit into his mouth. He watched the slime settle down across from him and start on its own meal, then spoke again.
“In the human world there’s a job called hunter. You belong to a place, like a company, and you work there. You do hunter work and you get money in return. Humans have a hard time living without money. So with the money you earn from working, you buy food like this, and water, and clothes, all of it.”
A small circle appeared about a third of the way up the slime’s body. Apparently it found Dojin’s story fascinating.
“I belong to a guild, but there’s too much hassle involved, so I want out. Except I don’t have anywhere else to go, either.”
He deliberately left out the part where his rotten temper had gotten him into a brawl with a teammate and he’d walked out of another center on his own two feet. Dojin laid out the story with anything that reflected badly on him neatly removed.
“Still, the benefits are decent, so I’ve stuck with it. They provide housing, and the pay isn’t half bad either.”
The slime listened so avidly that if it had had a notebook and pencil in hand, it clearly would’ve been scribbling notes. Seeing it like that made Dojin want to keep talking, and his mouth started moving again.
“For you, you could say hunters are natural predators. Hunters catch monsters for a living. And monsters includes you, obviously. The second we step into a dungeon, anything we see, we kill first and ask later.”
...Shiver, shiver.
The slime seemed terrified by what Dojin had said, trembling all over as it came bouncing over, pok pok. Then it climbed onto his knee and burrowed into his chest. It was the sort of thing you’d do to hide your body, afraid a hunter might come chasing after you that very second.
Dojin gathered the small body into his arms and let out a laugh.
“What’s the problem? I’ll protect you.”
「...!」
The slime whipped its buried body back up. Dojin looked down at it with affection in his eyes. Face to face with it, he spoke gently.
“Don’t worry. You’ve got me.”
Pyut...
A faint flush seemed to spread through the slime’s blue body. Somehow its temperature felt like it had gone up, too.
Whether it was from fear, or because it didn’t want its flustered state noticed, or simply because it wanted to be pressed up against Dojin, the slime clung to his hard stomach with a wet chap and showed absolutely no intention of letting go.
Dojin enjoyed the squishy feel of it and let out a low laugh.
“Look at you, acting spoiled.”
Despite the gruff words, he held the slime like that for a good while. Thinking back on the slime shivering with fear, he suddenly muttered under his breath.
“Still, you never know. Maybe I should get ready.”
Kongjaban: black soybeans simmered in soy sauce, a common Korean side dish.
