"You... Like... humans...?" Geline says in a confused way, as if she can't wrap her head around it. "Demi-humans and orcs and elves I understand... but humans?!" Her face looks more confused than angry. That's good, I can work with that.
"I-I can explain.." I raise my hands, or my hand-like things to defensively cover my face.
"Please do!" Her eyes are wide, uh oh, this is sliding into outrage quickly.
"I-I had a human mother..." Which isn't a total lie. I was pretty sure I did have a human mother at one point.
"A... human... Took care of you...?" Her face is softening, as if she can understand that. Maybe she's remembering her own slime parents.
"Y-Yeah... I was the last one... too small to run... she hid me from the bad ones..." Now I'm just lying, but it's not like it was outside the realm of possibility! I had seen how those warriors had cared for the fallen orcs, after all. Some humans were still good, we couldn't condemn them all.
"And before... when I was alone... h-humans mourned the orcs..." I carefully left out the part where they almost mistakenly accosted me for casting Minor Bloom, thinking it had been some attack.
But I had also almost jumped the gun just as bad. I could have taken out the caster for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time because I let my emotions go unchecked.
"Huh... Those four warriors..?" Geline asks, opening up a hole in my stomach. Oh no, had she already eaten them.
"They were powerful, so I didn't want to endanger Blobert." Geline says looking over at her baby brother thoughtfully.
Powerful? Oh man, I had probably been seriously overestimating myself before... I'm really glad I hadn't tried anything with that caster. If Geline didn't want to fight them just in case, there was no way I could have done anything.
"Though it is strange, they were without weapons besides their side-swords. Well besides the casters' staff." Geline continues, pondering something deeply. Huh... Maybe I should ponder too..
Thinking back, it wasn't until I had cast Minor Bloom that they had reached for something that seemed to appear from nowhere. Hmm... What were they.. I could tell they were some sort of knights or royal guard by the armor, but I hadn't seen any crest I don't think... Then again I was pretty caught up in everything with the village and casting Minor Bloom. And it's not like I would be able to do much with the knowledge. Even if I had seen a crest I couldn't exactly copy it down with these twig fingers.
"M-Miss G-"
"Big Sis." She corrects me again, and it relieves me instantly. Phew, I'm still in her good books if she wanted me to call her big sis. Well hopefully.
"Big sis, what's a side-sword?" The name is pretty explanatory but just in case. I have a weird feeling...
"It's the result of the skill Side Sword. Most human warriors with sword skills have it. It allows the user to pull a blade from thin air. It's not a very strong blade, doesn't boost stats or anything, but in a pinch it can be very handy. It also mean you're never unarmed. One day I will absorb that skill from a hero!" She clenches her fist again. Oh right, she had this whole battle junkie knight thing. Well at least she seemed less upset than before.
"But what you said..." Shit. Here it comes.
"This... human... she.... was she... a good... mother?"
Is that... Envy I hear? Oh of course, she had just finished telling me her whole slime clan had been wiped out. She was kinda short about it so it slipped my mind. Maybe I would pry later... if she didn't melt me down in her acidic body of course.
"Y-Yes... she told me stories... of the Gaia Knights when I was a sapling ..." Im not eager to keep stretching this lie out.
"Title Acquired, Liar!" Alice says, and I panic for a moment. Can Geline hear that?! No... She doesn't seem to be responding... Wait...
"B-Big sis, another question... do you have a Stat Screen?" I ask, doing my best to look the part of an adorable little sibling. Well as much as I can as a mildly-creepy wooden doll.
"Stat Screen? I'm not sure what you're speaking of." I pop open my Stat Screen, showing it to her, but she looks right through it. Clearly it's only visible to me.
Yup, that sealed it. I might be the only one with Stat Screen. And I can't even ask someone who knows the human language to read my stats to me!
"It's nothing... But... so do we have to kill all the humans...?" I ask, trying to be cute again. And bashful as I close the Stat Screen.
"Well..." Oh wait is this working? Can I truly win her over with this underhanded tactic? I lay it on thicker, willing my leaves to change shape into small hearts.
"Oh fine! If we catch up to the bandits who came through first... Then I guess we can leave it at that... I'll become a low ranking demon lord later..." Geline sighs.
Yes! Yes yes yes!
"But tell me more about this... mother..." Geline says, her eyes wide. Oh boy, my liar title is going to be well deserved.
I tell Geline stories of my mother, which are really just anecdotes I can half remember from TV show plots. I can't remember any shows or characters. Hell I can't even remember my own mother, if I had one. Maybe I was abandoned, and that's why I was here... Well anyways.. I can't really get too down on what I don't even know. Just keep moving forward. Yeah, that's the kind of person I was. Or am. Or I will be...? I don't know anymore! Either way Geline seems to really enjoy stories about my fake mom. Maybe she was close with her own mother. Either way it's best to keep her happy as long as I can.
"This is too slow." Says Geline impatiently as we walk. It's my fault, I know. My stubby little legs are killing the momentum. Maybe I could start using Shadow Step... Ahh but I didn't wanna drain my magic power before we got to the bandits...
I feel myself being picked up, and tossed high in the air. Landing on top of Blobert Jr. I do a few rolls on his head before softly landing on the topmost part of his rotund stomach. Courtesy of Geline no doubt.
"Kick it into high-gear Jr!" Geline calls and suddenly the forest is rushing by. He's walking at incredible pace, his steps bounce and spring him forward every time. Geline has clambered atop him as well and joined me.
"You wanted to just get the slavers right?" She asks.
"Y-Yes please.."
"Then let's go." She braces me against Blobert and points behind us, and uses some kind of powerful wind magic. :She chants a language I can't understand and I get the feeling it's not Common or the Tongue of the Land. Great another one I don't know, this blows! Speaking of, the air current propels out of her hand, rocketing us forward. Blobert makes a sort of giddy whooping noise like a dog. He really was adorable.
"T-That's them!" I call out as I see the caravan from between the trees. We've easily caught up to them with the use of wind magic and Blobert's elastic body. The real issue seems to be how we stop.
"Here comes your favorite part Jr!" Says Geline as she angles her hand down towards the ground, rocketing us up into the clouds. This is absolutely insane. There's no way someone could be this strong right?
A pink bird with exceptionally large wings flies past and pecks at my leaves as we reach max altitude, floating for only a moment. The bird latches on, bad idea. I try to knock the bird off as we head towards the ground. This was insane right? Maybe Blobert and Geline will be fine but I'm surely doomed. Maybe this is my punishment for speaking out against her earlier? Big Sis is gonna let me die with my precious humans!
I close my eyes tight as two arms wrap around me. We land hard. There's screams. Crunching sounds, viscous materials had a habit of becoming solid at high velocities if the chemical composition was right. I got good money on the bet that the same goes for Blobert. Well if I had money... what kinda money is here... Oh right, the screams.
I open my eyes slowly, Geline is laughing.
"Haha, puny humans! You shall become the life force that guides my ascent to evolution!" Geline yells at the disoriented slavers.
"Now die!" She gently sets me on Bloberts shoulder, who seems to be more enraptured by the horse halfway encased in his slime body. Yikes... Sorry horse, I know you didn't choose to carry this kind of cargo, but slimes have gotta eat all the same.
Both of Geline's arms are swords below the elbow. She's practically a blur of light blue as she moves between the men. They never had a chance. Once again, I am so thankful to be on her good side.
After she finishes rounding up the runners, she tosses them into Blobert, and they float freely, screaming without sound into the gelatinous graveyard. For a moment I almost feel bad, but then I remember the desolation they left in their wake. Behind the two caravans we had crushed is a third.
The driver of the last caravan is sitting there without a care in the world.This human just watched us fall from the sky, defeat all his comrades, and he's just sitting there.
He has a head of curly red hair, a monocle over his right eye and some leather and cloth attire. It seemed like maybe simple adventurer clothes, the leather only covered his shoulders and knees like athletic wear. He doesn't seem to be particularly burly or strong but there's a definite aura around him.
And he's still just sitting there as I take this all in. This might be bad. It looks like he's manning the largest caravan, the one with the cage crammed tight full of children.
What's wrong with this guy.. Seriously?