For the sli, living in the secret workshop with Troll was quite fun and stimulating in its own way.
It was a novel experience to taste new “flavors” and ats with new “nutrients” that Troll brought during every al.
Based on the taste standards it had developed while growing, it couldn’t compare to the food it had eaten at the Ludendion estate.
But the sli could enjoy Troll’s food for its nutritional value alone.
The old stories Troll told were also fascinating and entertaining.
Although there were words it didn’t understand here and there, Troll kindly explained them whenever the sli asked.
And unlike Paulen, Troll used various tactics during their sparring matches, such as summoning golems or casting spells.
No matter how curious the sli was, life never felt boring.
However, that lasted only about a month.
Even when it had lived in the Ludendion estate or at the Great Church.
After about one or two weeks, the sli would start to crave going outside to experience sothing new.
In fact, the reason it had stayed in Troll’s much smaller secret workshop for a whole month without complaint was because the stimulation Troll provided kept its curiosity satisfied.
[Squishy] ▶ I want to go out!
At this point, life in the secret workshop could no longer satisfy the sli’s curiosity, and it expressed its desire to go out through chat.
Are we finally going out?
▶ You held out for a while, lolol.
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ I was wondering when you’d say it.
anwhile, Troll felt conflicted.
It had now been about a month.
Gracie and Paulen would be arriving in the capital soon.
If possible, it would have been better to stay in the secret workshop for another month as originally planned.
However, after spending a month together, the sight of the eager and adorable sli made Troll want to grant its request.
‘But parting with Squishy…!’
At the sa ti, the thought of ending this cozy life in the secret workshop with the sli felt deeply saddening.
Wanting to fulfill the sli’s request, but not wanting to be separated from it—even for safety reasons—made Troll’s feelings very complicated.
▷ Squishy, do you really want to go out?
[Squishy] ▶ I want to go out!
The sli answered Troll’s question imdiately.
[Squishy] ▶ Troll, you should co too!
▷ too?
[Squishy] ▶ Yeah! If we go out together, it’ll be fun!
From the sli’s experience, going out for a walk with soone was always enjoyable and exciting.
So it innocently believed that going out with Troll would definitely be fun.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Troll, you rascal! How dare you try to go for a walk with my kin before !
▶ You’re sounding a little desperate.
▶ Squishy’s first walk will be with a human anyway, right?
▶ Haha, it’s the first ti with a monster, lol.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Silence, all of you!
Troll was deeply moved by the sli’s suggestion.
But that didn’t an Troll could go out with Squishy.
Because Troll was a lich.
The unique aura of death that a lich emitted was sothing even an ordinary person could sense.
More importantly, staying together would actually put the sli in danger, as it could be targeted and attacked.
If Troll were to let the sli go outside, it would have to be alone, as originally planned.
▷ Squishy, I can’t go with you.
[Squishy] ▶ Why?
Troll explained to Squishy why it couldn’t go out.
Humans were very afraid of it and would attack.
So it shouldn’t go outside casually.
If it did, Squishy would have to go alone.
[Squishy] ▶ I see…
The sli slumped forward in disappointnt.
It wasn’t that it didn’t understand Troll’s explanation.
It rembered how Alia, Paulen, and Gracie had all been tense when Troll appeared last ti.
Back then, it didn’t understand why they were so afraid.
But after hearing Troll’s stories about the black dragon subjugation journey, the sli gained much more knowledge than it would have from simply reading.
One key thing it learned was knowledge about different types of monsters.
Based on that knowledge, the sli reasoned that Troll, who had beco a monster from a human, was an undead.
Troll had also ntioned that back in the day, it had hunted many undead with its companions.
Therefore, humans attacking Troll, now an undead, was understandable.
With this reasoning, the sli accepted Troll’s explanation without throwing a tantrum.
After briefly feeling down, the sli looked at Troll and asked again.
[Squishy] ▶ Then when can I go out? I want to go out!
▶ Lolol, quick to give up, huh.
▶ If we can’t go together, then I’ll go alone, lolol.
[Just Slam First] ▶ Yeah! Leave Troll behind and go test your improved body slam on other monsters! That guy always blocks it, so it’s getting boring!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ I also found flattened Squishy very cute and fun to watch~.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ If you’re going, you should go quickly! you can’t keep cleaning Troll’s nest forever, you know!
Among the viewers, many wanted new content and didn’t like seeing the sli stuck in the sa place.
Of course, Troll didn’t plan to let the sli out just because the viewers supported the idea.
The sli’s safety was the top priority.
Therefore:
▷ If Squishy really wants to go out, I’ll let you.
[Squishy] ▶ Yay!
▷ But first, I need to check if it’s safe. Only then will I let you out.
Troll decided to assess the situation first.
[Squishy] ▶ Check?
▷ Yes. I’ll check if it’s safe outside first. Please wait.
[Squishy] ▶ Okay!
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Hey! If you go outside, the stream will get cut off! Are you telling us not to watch in the anti…
Troll imdiately stopped the stream and used warp magic to move outside the secret workshop.
***
After moving outside, Troll imdiately used detection magic to scan for nearby animals.
‘Good, this one will do.’
As soon as it found the desired animal, Troll teleported to its location.
Using magic, it restrained the bird it had been looking for.
Chirp! Chirp chirp!
Suddenly faced with the presence of sothing emitting a strong aura of death, the bird instinctively felt fear and tried to thrash about.
However, bound by magic, the bird couldn’t move at all and could only make noise.
Troll spread his skeletal hand and cast a familiar control spell on the bird.
Vooooom!
As the light from the magic circle shone upon it, the bird that had been chirping suddenly fell silent.
At that mont, the bird beca Troll’s temporary familiar.
‘Let’s check the vision… good, the connection is stable. Hearing is fine too.’
After testing sensory sharing through the familiar, Troll used warp again and moved to a forest near the closest village to the capital.
‘Go.’
At Troll’s command, the bird flapped its wings and flew toward the village.
Since it was now a familiar, Troll could track its exact location.
When the bird arrived at the village, Troll shared its vision and hearing to observe the atmosphere of the place.
-Hey, grab so bread on your way back!
-Yeah, and by the way, that girl I saw last ti—she was smoking hot!
-Daddy! Mommy’s calling you!
Casual everyday conversations were transmitted to Troll through the bird.
Anyone could tell it was a peaceful village.
Still, Troll didn’t imdiately recall the bird but had it move around different parts of the village to eavesdrop on more conversations.
Then, when he moved the bird near a tavern:
-By the way, did you hear? A lich showed up at the Magic Tower.
‘This is it.’
Troll stopped the bird and began listening closely.
-Of course. I heard the next Saintess and the Paladin were there too.
‘So the news has reached villages near the capital too.’
-Can you believe it? A lich, sothing we only heard about in legends, actually appeared.
-No kidding. But I’m glad the Saintess and the Paladin managed to drive it away.
‘What?’
-But the Magic Tower is in big trouble. Tower Master fought the lich with the Saintess and Paladin, but he got badly hurt by the lich’s attacks.
-I heard it was so bad he’d been bedridden ever since.
‘Huh.’
Troll was dumbfounded.
Of course, rumors tend to change and exaggerate easily, but this was ridiculous.
‘Co back.’
Troll recalled the bird and used warp again, this ti moving to a village closer to the Magic Tower.
He sent the bird into that village as well to gather more rumors.
The results weren’t much different from what he had heard near the capital.
Just in case, he warped to a few more villages and listened to the villagers through the bird—but it was all the sa.
‘How could this be… Not only is the story this exaggerated, but there’s not a single ntion of Squishy? And nothing about Gracie either!’
It was as if they had completely thrown accuracy out the window.
Troll felt foolish for worrying that the sli might be targeted by bad rumors or unwanted attention.
But there was no helping it.
The positions of the people present at the scene were simply too impressive for the average person.
A lich, the Tower Master, a Saintess, and a Paladin—four powerful figures gathered in one place.
And with the Tower Master falling and the lich retreating.
Hearing only that much, it was natural for ordinary people to imagine, “Ah! The Tower Master must have fallen while fighting the lich!”—and that image beca the widespread rumor.
anwhile, the sli, or Gracie, who was rely the grandniece of the Sage of Magic, didn’t even receive a ntion.
Troll felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
He would have liked to send the familiar directly to the Magic Tower or the capital itself for more accurate verification.
But naturally, the Magic Tower had defenses against eavesdropping through familiars.
And while he might be able to listen to street rumors in the capital, trying to sneak a familiar into the Great Church would be a reckless move.
Troll returned to the entrance of the secret workshop, dispelled the familiar magic, and released the bird.
Then, back inside the secret workshop, Troll conveyed his judgnt to the sli via telepathy.
[Squishy, I think it’s safe for you to go out now.]
‘Yay!’
Boing! Boing! Boing!
The sli was so excited to finally have permission to go outside that it bounced up and down repeatedly.
Seeing the lively sli made Troll happy, but parting from the sli still felt sad.
[It would be better to go out tomorrow.]
‘Okay!’
The sli bounced once more in agreent with Troll’s suggestion.
Once Troll turned the stream back on and enough viewers had joined, he made an announcent.
▷ I’ve decided to let Squishy go out tomorrow.
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ You’re not ssing with us, right?
▷ Why would I joke about this?
▶ Lol.
▶ Troll isn’t that twisted yet, lol.
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ And what’s with this guy again!
As soon as the news of the sli going out was shared, the Sli Queen addressed Troll.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Even if you say outside, where do you plan on sending my kin, Troll? If you leave it in a dangerous place, I won’t forgive you!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ That’s right. Our cute Squishy should be in a safe place!
[Just Slam First] ▶ No way! It should be sowhere with enemies it can handle!
Squishy is going to be moving around anyway, so anywhere’s fine, right?
It’ll be more fun to see it actually hunt and fight instead of just sparring.
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Squishy probably wants to test its own skills too.
As the chat filled with various opinions, Troll spoke firmly.
▷ I’ll let Squishy decide.
Saying that, Troll took out a map stored in the secret workshop’s display case, spread it out in front of the sli, and asked:
▷ Squishy, where would you like to go?
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