Even though she's the next Saintess, a Saintess is still a Saintess.
A Saintess’s expedition doesn’t end with just packing her bags.
No matter how much Presia had already made the decision, she still had to formally report to the High Priests and go through the ceremonial Saintess’s Expedition Rite.
And after finishing all that, Alia, who finally departed, “Ughhhhh……”
Even after sleeping a whole day, she hadn’t regained her drained energy.
Sitting across from her in the carriage, Paulen sighed and asked, “Alia, are you still spacing out?”
“Soone like you who’s so social would never understand. eting people drains the life out of .”
“I think in Alia’s case, it’s not energy being drained, but your low self-confidence that’s exhausting you.”
“I don’t want to hear that kind of brutal truth right now!”
More than listening to Paulen’s nagging, Alia wanted to reward herself for enduring the exhausting Saintess’s Expedition Rite.
“Jiggly, massage please.”
‘Okay!’
Boing!
Alia lay down flat on the long bench inside the carriage.
The sli, who was sitting across from her like Paulen, jumped and landed squarely on Alia’s waist.
That move made Paulen let out another deep sigh.
“Alia, your conduct is improper. Is it appropriate for a Saintess to lie down like that in a carriage?”
“It’s just you, , and Jiggly in here, isn’t it? There’s no danger or anyone to worry about watching.”
“I’m saying not to do that in such a confined space and in front of a man.”
Paulen thought Alia’s bold behavior could be troubling at tis.
“You’re overreacting, Paulen. Jiggly’s a monster, and you have that strange taste where you’re only interested in muscles. Isn’t that incredibly safe?”
“I do not have a taste for only muscles.”
“Today is upper body or lower body?”
“I plan to focus mainly on my chest muscles. For Alia to ask such a thing—have you taken an interest in exercise? If so, why not start with light lower body work instead of just walking—”
Ignoring Paulen, who was sparkling with excitent as he tried to recruit her as a workout buddy, Alia spoke to the sli.
“Jiggly, my back, please.”
‘Okay!’
Brrrrrr!
“Ahhhhhh~!”
Alia let out a cry of joy that filled the carriage as the sli’s vibrating massage hit the spot.
“Alia, I say this out of concern, but you shouldn’t let others hear those kinds of noises so casually.”
“I-I-I know that much~ Ahhh~.”
Later, the carriage stopped for lunch.
After the al, Paulen finished supervising Jiggly’s daily exercise and sparring, and then did his personal workout until the carriage started moving again.
“Jiggly! I’m counting on you!”
Laying a blanket on the floor, Paulen laid flat on his back with his upper body exposed.
Boing!
Brrrrrr!
“Oooooooh! My muscles! The muscles that endured so much strain are rejoicing!”
He shouted in joy as he received the vibrating massage.
‘And he dares to lecture about proper behavior?’
Alia watched him with a dumbfounded look.
**
In the Great Continent, within the Sli Queen’s Nest.
‘Is vibrating massage really that good?’
Watching the humans delighted by the sli’s vibrating massage, the Sli Queen found herself curious.
As the top-tier being among slis, the Sli Queen possessed nearly every skill a sli could have.
Among them were detoxification, generation of antidote fluid, and vibration.
The Sli Queen raised one hand and tried using the vibration skill.
.....Brrrrr~
Then, she placed her vibrating hand on her own shoulder.
“…It’s just shaking.”
All she felt was simple vibration—nothing particularly pleasant.
Of course it wasn’t.
The sli developed its technique by sensing the reactions of those in need of massages, but what the Sli Queen was doing now was just monotonous, intensity-less vibration.
Besides, the Sli Queen had no muscles to tense up—she had a sli body.
With no knots to release, all she could feel was pure vibration.
“I don’t get it.”
Boing!
The Sli Queen turned her gaze to her subordinates, the regular slis.
With no orders given, they were either nibbling moss nearby or bouncing in place aninglessly.
“Co here, you.”
The Sli Queen called over one of the slis.
Boing!
The summoned sli imdiately approached, and the Queen placed her vibrating hand on it.
Brrrrrr~
The sli began to tremble from the vibration passing through the Queen’s hand.
“Oh.”
Because it was shaking from an external vibration and not its own movent, ripples began to form, which was surprisingly amusing to watch.
Feeling unexpectedly entertained, the Sli Queen called over slis of various sizes and colors to observe them.
‘I wonder how they’d react if one of their own did this to them.’
The Sli Queen recalled the reaction of slis.
—This feels great!
Brrrrrrr!
‘Heh, yes. My kin would surely enjoy my touch.’
She imagined this as a future where they had evolved enough to speak.
‘Still, seeing my underlings tremble is kinda cute.’
Then she thought, wouldn’t it be better to show this off rather than enjoy it alone?
“I should start streaming again—it’s been a while.”
The Sli Queen figured nothing much would happen on the way to the Magic Tower anyway.
And thus, a new stream was added to the usual sli-stacking content—The Sli Vibration Show.
— What is this? Making slis shake?
▶ LOL their shaking looks so pathetic and cute
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Not as cute as our squishy queen, but this is cute in its own way~
— Is Squishy Queen not going to do a full-body shake stream?
— [User "PossibilityFan" has been banned.]
▶ LMAOOOOO
▶ Stack ’em neatly LOL
***
‘Wait, no way. Is Squishy really going to the Magic Tower? What the hell is this?’
Inside a secret workshop was a troll, a lich who had beco the Sli’s stream moderator.
Troll was deeply troubled.
The Magic Tower.
Back when Troll was still human—
During the ti he was known as the Sage of Magic, Ventus Frail—
That place ant everything to him.
A place full of mories.
The place where his journey began.
A place of glory.
And a place of betrayal and hatred.
Thirty years ago.
After defeating the disastrous Black Dragon, Ventus Frail returned to the Magic Tower and lived a peaceful life, dedicating himself solely to magical research.
He worked hard to create new magic, dreaming of surprising the comrades who had once fought beside him by gaining new fa.
With that mindset, twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.
He simply focused on research and occasionally gave kind advice to junior mages who sought his guidance.
A hero who earned fa by defeating a disaster.
Yet he remained humble, never arrogant, always in pursuit of magic and kind to his juniors—this unintentional humility only raised Ventus Frail’s renown even higher.
At the sa ti, however, his ever-rising reputation sparked the jealousy and envy of others.
And that envy exploded the mont Ventus was nominated as the next candidate for Tower Master.
“Cough! Brooks, why...!”
“With this! I’ll beco the next Tower Master! Not you—boasting just because you beat so monster! It’s !”
The culprit was Brooks, who had been a fellow classmate since their novice mage days.
Near the completion of Ventus’s new magical research, Brooks had co bearing drinks, claiming to celebrate his efforts—but they were laced with a powerful poison.
As Ventus writhed in pain on the floor, Brooks aid a spell at him.
“You’re going to die here from a magical accident, Ventus.
Isn’t it hilarious? The so-called hero dies in a dumb accident?”
“............. !”
The image of Brooks—whom Ventus had thought of as a comrade and friend—looking down and sneering at him, filled Ventus Frail with betrayal and rage.
“Farewell, Ventus Frail! The only prodigy of the Frail family! No one else in your house will shine like you did!
As the next Tower Master, I’ll take good care of your family!”
There was no feeling of remorse.
Only a sense of superiority—claiming rcy on the Frail family—and a petty attempt to make others believe this was truly an accident.
From Brooks’s expression and words, Ventus could imdiately grasp his intentions.
He wanted to strike down the despicable traitor standing over him right away, but the poison coursing through his body clouded his mind.
So Ventus Frail chose an uncertain thod.
“Mana Explosion!”
‘Warp!’
BOOM!
As Brooks launched his spell, Ventus activated the teleportation spell he had been researching.
‘I really thought I was going to die then.’
The teleportation miraculously succeeded, and he arrived at the secret workshop he had prepared in advance.
Though he had bought ti, Ventus believed death was inevitable and chose to perform the ritual to beco a lich.
‘Sigh, this is troubling.’
Troll couldn’t help but worry.
Worried about the sli’s safety?
Not really—there was a Saintess and a Paladin with it.
What concerned him was his own condition.
After becoming a lich, he encountered a new “system.”
And the shocking experience of “monster livestreaming” ignited a burning passion for magical inquiry.
Thanks to that, he was able to stay stable without going berserk as a lich, living quietly in this secret workshop.
But what if he saw that wretched Brooks again through the livestream?
Could he truly suppress his feelings of hatred?
That was Troll’s concern.
He was now a lich.
The worst form of a fallen Archmage, a being known for destruction.
It had been centuries since one last appeared, but the damage they caused was so imnse it remained in historical records.
Troll didn’t particularly mind the idea of going berserk, killing Brooks, and even slaying nearby humans.
He didn’t care if he didn’t commit genocide, but he had no strong aversion to killing humans anymore.
But doing so might force him into conflict with his old comrades.
As an undead, Saintess Presia would surely confront him.
And if she heard the news, Nellin the Starlight Archer might arrive too.
Troll did not want to fight comrades with whom he had shared hardship and mories.
‘Sigh. I didn’t think I’d have to go back to ditation training.’
To suppress the hatred that might explode at any ti, troll resud the ditation training he often practiced during his early days as a mage.
But that effort to calm his heart was utterly shattered the day Alia, Paulen, and the sli arrived at the Magic Tower.
“Welco to the Magic Tower, Saintess! And Paladin Paulen! I am the proud descendant of the Sage of Magic, Ventus Frail! The sprouting seed that will one day beco a great Archmage! I’m Gracie Frail! I’ll be your guide today! Pleased to et you!”
Until he saw the girl with red twin-tails shouting confidently, her body weighed down with bracelets, rings, anklets, necklaces—all sorts of enchanted gear.
‘There’s no way that magic-tool-doped mage is my descendantttttttt!!!’
Troll was firmly in the Natural Mage faction.
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