After the girl fainted, the sli decided it needed to move her to a safe place.
It shaped its tentacles into a square tray, lifted her up, and started moving.
During the bouncy trip, Claire nearly fell off six tis.
Through trial and error, the sli learned how to move its tentacles during the jumps so that the vibrations wouldn’t reach Claire.
And about ten minutes later, Claire woke up.
▶ Went confidently but got rejected lol.
[Squishy Queen] ▶ How would my kin know the way in a place he’d never been to! This is all Troll’s fault for not explaining ahead of ti!
[Free Spirit] ▶The important thing is figuring it out on your own.
▶ It’s no fun if you know everything from the start.
[Just Slam First] ▶ More importantly, why haven’t we seen any other monsters yet? Show us your stronger body slam! That way I can give you advice!
▶ Why don’t you go bond with your kids first?
[Just Slam First] ▶ SHUT UUUUUP!!!
▶ LOL.
While the chat was buzzing with conversation, the sli kept moving in the direction Claire had pointed.
“Left here.”
'Left!'
Boing!
“Now go right.”
'Right!'
“You went too far. A little left.”
'A little left!'
It had been a month since the sli had seen a human, so it followed Claire’s directions with great excitent.
anwhile, Claire was growing confused on top of the sli.
'It really understands . This sli is weird.'
She had only given directions to see if it might respond.
She even deliberately pointed in the wrong direction and then corrected it.
But the sli changed direction perfectly every ti.
'Could this sli be the one Marin was looking for?'
That elf had said she was searching for a smart and friendly sli.
‘Is this sli smart?’
At the very least, it could understand her instructions.
‘Is this sli friendly?’
It had tried to protect her from monsters several tis.
At least it wasn’t hostile.
'Still, I can’t let my guard down. After all, a sli is a mons...'
Just as she thought that, the sli suddenly stopped, lowered its tentacles, and set Claire gently on the ground.
“What’s going on?”
The sli put its tentacles away and stood still.
'Is it tired?'
-Kya kya kyaa!
At that mont, a monster appeared from the bushes.
It was a Rock Monkey, a C-rank monster native to the Lightning Strike Forest.
It looked like a monkey but had rock-like thick skin on its forehead and fists.
Normally, the sli would have changed course after sensing another monster.
But since it was following Claire’s directions toward the village, they encountered it.
As soon as she saw the Rock Monkey, Claire instinctively stood up and prepared to fight.
Though she’d only been unconscious for about ten minutes, she’d recovered so stamina.
'Aim for its torso. I’m not just going to sit here and be protected.'
She clenched her fists and braced her legs to attack.
Boing!
SMACK!
-Kuuh-hak!
Before Claire could even move, the sli used Bounce Tackle to take down the Rock Monkey in one hit.
Struck squarely in the torso, the Rock Monkey slamd into a tree with a loud crack! as its spine broke.
After taking it down instantly, the sli bounced over to Claire and extended two tentacles.
Pop!
Then it shaped them into soft platforms.
▶ Look how awkward it looks lol.
▶ LOL. Stop posing and just give her a ride!
▶ Stop talking and ride the sli! Furry!!!
As soon as the sli struck a pose, Claire’s flustered reaction provided great entertainnt for the viewers.
But Claire’s awkward monts didn’t stop there.
Three more tis on the way out of the forest, the sli set her down and defeated monsters.
At one point, Claire grew stubborn and tried to run ahead as soon as a monster appeared.
But no matter how fast she tried to move, the sli always acted first and took care of the monsters.
Since it used detection to know exactly where the monsters were going to appear, it was inevitable.
But of course, Claire had no way of knowing this.
***
After Alia and Paulen filed their report, the Holy City imdiately ford an investigation team to track the lich.
Naturally, they were tasked with investigating all rumors about the lich.
At Alia’s request, the Great Church also included a search for the sli they had seen.
While the investigation was underway, Paulen was fired up with the determination to beco stronger and threw himself into training.
“Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff! I need more muscles! More muscles!”
Alia, not wanting to repeat what had happened before, also dedicated herself to honing her skills, heading to the sacred arts training grounds after her regular duties.
“I’m still not there yet. I need to focus the divine power more…”
“Lady Alia, you’re incredible.”
“To perform such amazing sacred arts and still strive for improvent...!”
Without aning to, Alia earned the respect of the other believers training there.
And then there was Gracie, who had traveled to the Holy City with them.
“There’s… nothing to do!”
She found herself in a very awkward situation, sitting in the room the Great Church had prepared for her.
Gracie had thought she would be running around the city looking for the sli herself.
But things didn’t go the way she had imagined.
Since the investigation of the lich and the sli was being handled by a separate investigation team sent out from the Holy City, the Great Church told Gracie that there was no need for her to get involved directly.
In fact, not only was she thanked for drawing an accurate depiction of the lich, but since she was also a guest of the Saintess, they didn’t want to trouble her and treated her with great hospitality.
-You may not find all the equipnt you need, but please continue your research here at the Great Church, Miss Gracie.
That statent, however, was nothing but frustrating for Gracie.
If she had been a natural mage, she would have happily imrsed herself in self-training.
But Gracie was a mage of magical devices.
And she had switched to being one precisely because she had realized her own limitations.
The Great Church didn’t have nearly as many magical devices as her own ho.
And the Holy City lacked craftsn who could create devices as excellent as those from the Magic Tower.
In the end, all Gracie could do was repeat magic she had already mastered—limited to using magical devices powered by her own mana, since she couldn’t afford to waste magic stones.
'I’m not like that muscle-obsessed paladin or the still-potential-filled Saintess! Honestly!'
Telling her to “feel free to do her research” was aningless.
'I can’t even conduct my research without a sli!'
There was nothing inside the Great Church worth researching.
It wasn’t like she could set up her own workshop there.
And so, for five whole days, Gracie had no choice but to idle away her ti at the Great Church.
The only consolation was:
'My skin’s looking better these days. And my hair too.'
A month of travel by carriage, followed by life at the Great Church.
If there was one thing these had in common, it was that she was now living a more regular lifestyle.
Most mages in the Magic Tower lived highly irregular lives.
Gracie was no exception, especially during the final stages of completing her thesis.
She would routinely pull all-nighters to perfect her work, with no set sleep schedule.
Sotis four hours, sotis six.
And if she woke in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back asleep, three hours would have to suffice.
She constantly relied on potions that boosted alertness.
Only when the potions no longer worked due to sheer exhaustion would she finally get about eight hours of sleep.
But during the carriage ride and since coming to the Great Church, Gracie had aligned her routine with people like Alia, Paulen, and the devout followers of the Holy City—people accustod to living balanced lives.
With regular, consistent sleep and no more reliance on stimulants, Gracie’s body naturally beca healthier.
And the results showed in her skin and hair.
Where her skin had once been dry and dull, it now glead.
Her once frizzy hair now looked lively and healthy.
Ironically, seeing herself grow healthier only fueled her guilt.
'At this rate, it looks like I’m just here on vacation instead of helping with the search!'
Even though she had spoken to Alia and Paulen about helping find the sli, she now found herself just sitting idly at the Great Church, which made her uneasy.
At that mont—
Knock, knock, knock.
Soone knocked on her door.
“Who is it?”
When Gracie opened the door, she saw a female acolyte bowing politely.
“Excuse , Miss Gracie. Saintess Presia is requesting your presence.”
“Pardon? Saintess Presia?”
***
“Thank you for coming, Gracie.”
“O-oh, no! It’s an honor for to et Saintess Presia again!”
As she entered Presia’s room, Gracie was visibly tense.
And understandably so—her host was one of the legendary heroes.
The Saintess of Healing, Presia.
A forr companion of her idol, the Sage of Magic, Ventus Frail.
Five days ago, their first eting had been in the council room with many High Priests present.
But now, it was just the two of them, face-to-face in Presia’s private room—no wonder she was nervous.
“So, um, may I ask why you called ?”
“I just wanted to have a little chat. I heard you’ve been staying in your room lately. Are you finding things uncomfortable here?”
“Oh, no! Not at all! It’s very comfortable! In fact, I think my skin has gotten better~ Ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“Pfft, I’m glad to hear that.”
“Yes! I an, it’s a good thing! Honestly, if I’m stuck here doing nothing, it’s because of my own shortcomings!”
“Shortcomings?”
“Yes, yes! I’m terribly lacking! Compared to my ancestor, Ventus Frail, I’m so inadequate!”
Overco with nerves, Gracie began rambling about herself.
She confessed that she was far less talented than Ventus Frail.
That was why she had turned to using magical devices to supplent her abilities.
As she kept talking, the guilt she had been harboring at the Great Church mixed with her long-standing feelings of inferiority and helplessness, which began to bubble up.
“Ha-ha-ha! Compared to my great ancestor, I’m just...”
“That’s not true.”
Presia gently took Gracie’s hand and shook her head.
“Don’t belittle yourself, Gracie. You are a wonderful and promising mage.”
“R-really? But without magical devices, I—”
“You recognized your own limitations and chose a new path through magical devices, didn’t you? Be proud of the path you chose for yourself.”
“Saintess Presia...!”
To Gracie, it was as if a halo shone behind Presia’s head.
“And besides, Ventus—while he was indeed great—wasn’t perfect. He was actually quite an adorable person.”
“P-pardon? My ancestor?”
“Would you like to hear more?”
“Yes, please!”
To hear about her revered ancestor directly from one of his companions—how could she pass that up?
“Oh, but by the way, the reason you called in the first place…”
“I’ll tell you about that a little later.”
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