“Haa…….”
Alia sighed in her room.
Boing!
‘What should I na it?’
It had already been five days since Presia told her to try getting along with the sli.
She had also reported to High Priest David.
Of course, High Priest David got angry the mont he heard about the report and the treatnt of the sli, asking what nonsense that was.
Fortunately, Saintess Presia personally guaranteed it and suggested they observe, so the matter was settled.
And Alia tried to care for the sli, just as the respected Presia had advised.
However, when it ca down to actually getting along, she had no idea what to do.
Well, it was a sli after all.
‘W-What do slis eat? Can I give it human food?’
Starting from the basic worry about what to feed it, to whether she could take it around in public—
And even wondering how to treat a sli with so intelligence, and whether it might be full of dissatisfaction toward her.
Alia’s worries were often resolved by the thoughtless yet intuitive approach of Paulen.
“Hahaha! I heard in sli-raising villages, they even use slis for food waste disposal! Just feed it whatever!”
“Why bother worrying? If you just hang out with it naturally, people will get used to it!”
“As expected of Alia! Your low self-esteem hasn’t changed! Just treat it like you made a new friend!”
Thanks to Paulen’s bold approach, most of her worries so far had been solved.
And this morning—
Alia brought up a new question to Paulen.
“Paulen, now that I think about it, what should I na this little one?”
“Huh?”
“I realized we haven’t given it a na yet.”
“Oh…… huh? You’re right?”
Paulen blinked at Alia’s question.
Since they had just been saying “let’s try this” or “try that” without using a na, they hadn’t felt the need.
But suddenly they realized the sli still didn’t have one.
“This is terrible! I can’t believe I forgot even to na it! I still lack muscle!”
“………Why are you bringing up muscles?”
“It’s because there isn’t enough blood flowing to my brain! To supply blood properly to the brain, muscles are important! Hrrrng!”
Paulen flexed his biceps and psyched himself up.
“I don’t think it’s good to associate everything with muscles.”
While Alia stroked the sli, which had bounced onto her lap after jumping around on the floor, she began thinking about what na to give it.
But she really didn’t know what would be a good na.
‘Should I na it after a hero? No, wouldn’t that be too cool? Maybe a cute na? But would a monster like a cute na……?’
As Alia was lost in thought, she asked the sli, “What kind of na do you like?”
‘Na?’
When suddenly asked about a na, the sli tilted its body sideways.
▶Now you're thinking about a na? lol
▶Humans, so slow lol
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Now that I think of it, how many nas does that squishy have now?
▶ Squishy, Alexandros II, Tongtong.
▶What’s with Alexandros II’s presence? lolol
▶Ack lol but still, it’s a cool na, let’s drink to it\~
As the viewers laughed, the sli, on the other hand, felt a small sense of anticipation.
‘A na!’
The sli also knew it had several nas already.
But rather than finding that annoying, it actually looked forward to what the next na would be.
Brrrrrrrr!
Trembling with anticipation.
“…Sorry, you probably can’t answer that.”
“There’s no need to overthink it. Just give it a na you like, Saintess.”
Because they were inside the Great Church, and others might overhear, Paulen referred to Alia as ‘Saintess.’
“Even if it’s one I like…”
Alia drooped her shoulders in discouragent.
‘Alia! Don’t lose heart!’
Boing!
Over the past five days, the sli had figured out that Alia drooped her shoulders when she was feeling down.
And it also knew that giving massages during those tis was helpful.
Brrrrrrr!
The sli climbed up onto Alia’s shoulder and began to tremble.
“Ah, aaah, aaaah~.”
“This little one is really kind. It even gives you a massage when you’re feeling down.”
“T-t-t-thank you, I k-k-know that~.”
‘The only one who trembles just right for a massage is this sli…… trembling?’
After the massage ended, Alia gently removed the sli and said, “Paulen, how about ‘Jiggly’?”
“Jiggly, you say?”
“Yes, because it Jiggles—Jiggle Jiggle is it too childish?”
Paulen smiled at her suggestion.
“Not at all. I think it suits perfectly. Let’s ask the sli. Do you like the na Jiggly?”
‘Jiggly!’
Delighted by the new na—
Brrrrrr!
The sli trembled to show its happiness.
“Hahaha! Seems like it likes it!”
“Then your na from now on is Jiggly. Nice to et you, Jiggly.”
‘Yup!’
▷Jiggly! I got a na!
▶ Lol got a new na now.
▶ Jiggly lololol
▶ Humans really have a weird sense for naming.
The sli wanted to proudly show off its new na.
But the Sli Queen was displeased.
[Squishy Queen]▶ Haa, why give such a childish na to My kin!
▶????
▶Says the one who nad herself Squishy Queen… is that a joke?
[Squishy Queen]▶What’s wrong with Squishy Queen! It’s an elegant, refined, and beautiful nickna!
▶ Wow.
▶That’s what we call… hypocrisy?
***
Even after starting to live with the sli, Alia’s daily life hadn’t changed much.
Early morning.
Alia stretched as she awoke from her tea nap.
“~”
After waking up, she would stroke the sli awake, get out of bed, and begin light stretching.
“One, two, three, four.”
Stretching that Paulen had insisted would be good to do in the mornings.
By the ti she finished stretching, she would be fully awake.
Knock knock knock.
“Saintess, it’s ti for your bath.”
When the ti ca, the devotee in charge of attending to Alia’s bath knocked on her door.
“Yes. Let’s go, Jiggly.”
Boing!
With help from the devotees, Alia headed to her private bath along with the sli.
The first ti she bathed with the sli, the devotees were extrely surprised.
But now—
Swoooosh.
“Let’s wash up thoroughly again today, Jiggly.”
Brrrrrrr!
While attending to Alia’s bath, the devotees also washed the sli with a smile.
This was because they realized the sli wasn’t dangerous at all—
“And after the bath, please do the usual thing.”
‘Okay!’
And also because, like Alia and Paulen, they had co to enjoy the vibrating massages the sli gave.
Since they t every morning anyway, this was an idea Alia had devised to help the devotees bond with the sli more quickly.
After the bath, Paulen, having finished his morning training, joined them for breakfast.
“A al after exercise is the best! What do you say, Saintess? Why not—"
“I’m not doing it.”
As always, she rejected Paulen’s suggestion to go beyond stretching and do morning training.
“That’s a sha. Jiggly! You eat well too!”
Brrrrrrr!
The sli also ate the food that had been served to it.
The als weren’t as luxurious as those back at Count Ludendion’s estate, but the ingredients were far more expensive than what it had while traveling with the Godrick party.
This was because the als prioritized health over taste.
‘Delicious!’
Of course, to the sli, it was a tasty al.
After finishing the al, they moved to the prayer room and prayed together with the regular devotees and clerics.
Of course, the sli ca along too.
“Let us give thanks today again to Lord Lutinus, the god of light, who protects our peaceful days.”
Prayer ti was very quiet, and everyone offered a mont of silent gratitude to the god.
Although there was a bit of a stir when the sli first ca, it was so quiet that people quickly got used to it.
In fact, it was so still that so devotees even tilted their heads, wondering if soone had just brought a model instead of a real sli.
After the morning prayer, most of Alia’s ti was free.
Sotis, when a patient with injuries or curses requiring the holy power of the next saintess showed up, she would personally provide treatnt, but outside of that, she could do as she pleased.
And Alia spent most of this free ti rereading the scriptures, praying, or focusing on sacred law training.
This wasn’t because the church pressured her to constantly show herself or train diligently as a saintess.
On the contrary, in this peaceful era, even more so than during tis of disaster—
The church actually wanted Alia to go out more and let the devotees see her face, making the saintess’s presence more firmly felt.
Right now, since Saintess Presia was still alive, they didn’t push the matter too much, but she was getting on in years.
Soday, Alia would have to take over from Presia and beco the emotional pillar of the believers.
However, Alia had low self-esteem.
Even five years after being chosen as the next saintess, she still wondered if she truly deserved the title.
She worried that if she went outside, she might actually break the illusion of what a saintess should be in the minds of the people.
That the devotees might be disappointed in her.
She couldn’t help but have those doubts.
Because, to Alia, the perfect saintess was none other than Presia.
Always kind, generous, and thinking of others—truly the saint among saints.
Because she respected and admired her so much, Alia felt even more keenly how lacking she was by comparison.
She lacked confidence, wasn’t sure if she herself was truly kind, and even now wondered why she was chosen as a saintess.
So, at the very least, she decided to keep diligently training in sacred law.
She thought that if her skills in sacred law were solid, she could avoid shattering the devotees’ expectations too much.
With that in mind, Alia continued to focus on gathering divine power and training in sacred law even today.
However, lately, she had found it hard to concentrate on her training.
‘Y-you want to go outside, don’t you?’
Since two days ago—
While Alia was praying and training in her room—
The sli had climbed up to the window sill.
As if it were looking out at the world.
If it were just one day, she would have thought it simply felt like being there that day—but now it was the third day.
Even if it was a sli, she could guess what it was thinking.
“Alia.”
And Paulen, who was always by Alia’s side except when sleeping or bathing for guard duty, noticed too.
“I think Jiggly wants to go outside.”
“Ugh… But if I, such an unworthy saintess, were to go walking around town with Jiggly, wouldn’t that damage Saintess Presia’s or the church’s reputation?”
“Saintess Presia and the church’s reputation aren’t so fragile. In fact, if you take it outside, people might say you’re the saintess who even reford a monster.”
“Well…”
Paulen judged that pushing any further would be useless for now.
“All right, then let’s do this. We won’t go to the town, but let’s at least step outside the room. Jiggly.”
‘Huh?’
Boing!
When it was called, the sli imdiately jumped from the window sill onto the bed.
Facing the sli, Paulen gave a sly smile and said, “Let’s go get so exercise.”
‘Exercise?’
The sli tilted its body sideways.
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