Troll was sure of his own conclusion.
Everything about the elf Claire had described except the na matched.
A ponytailed elf with pale green hair, striking blue eyes, and incredible strength.
And if the elf was looking for a sli, it could only be Nellin.
But then why was the na Marin and not Nellin?
‘She must’ve thought using her real na in public would be a hassle! But Marin? Seriously! Couldn’t you have at least twisted the pronunciation a bit more, Nellin?’
It was just like Nellin to co up with a lazy alias, but even so, Troll thought she went too far this ti.
He was debating whether to tell Squishy that Marin was actually Nellin.
Right then, Claire turned to the sli and said, “You’re still a helpful sli. I got a lot of help from you.”
No matter how much Claire hated monsters, she wouldn’t turn her back on a sli who had saved her multiple tis.
Besides—
‘If I show her such a smart sli, she might teach sothing.’
Even if this wasn’t the sli she was searching for, if she showed it to Marin, Marin might think it was the one she was looking for.
Thinking she might be able to learn sothing from Marin, Claire decided to take the sli to her.
“If you co with , I’ll treat you to a al. You coming?”
‘Food!’
Boing!
The sli happily bounced along, thrilled at the idea of eating town food again.
Claire walked a bit ahead and, seeing the sli follow, assud it would keep up and continued walking.
Boing! Boing!
The sli kept bouncing after her.
On the way to the town, Claire suddenly stopped in her tracks, rembering sothing.
“Oh, I forgot to collect the loot.”
In the chaos of the fight, she had completely forgotten to take proof of the monster’s defeat.
But Claire didn’t regret it.
She cared more about defeating monsters than the actual requests.
Besides, missing out on a reward wasn't going to hurt her financially.
***
It was easy for Claire to bring the sli into town.
Right before entering, she lifted the sli with both hands and marched in confidently.
A guard at the town gate ca over and asked, “What’s that sli about?”
“Found it.”
“Well, technically it’s still a monster...”
“It’s safe.”
Claire’s na, "Frost Fist Claire," was well-known in the town.
The champion of the recent Black Dragon Festival at the Colosseum, and an adventurer infamous for her fury and obsession with monsters.
A sli brought in by soone like Claire, who swore it was safe, wasn’t going to be much of an issue.
Plus, there were other veteran adventurers in town, so even if the sli went wild, they could easily take it down.
“Understood. Go ahead.”
“Yep.”
After entering the town with the sli, Claire headed straight to a restaurant.
It was way earlier than her usual alti.
But after an unexpected intense battle and the energy spent recovering from injuries, she was starving.
Inside the restaurant, Claire placed the sli on the table and looked at the nu.
What she really wanted right now was a at dish.
While browsing, she suddenly felt a gaze from right in front of her.
‘Food.’
The sli was looking at Claire with a hopeful sparkle.
‘What kind of food does a sli like?’
“What do you wanna eat?”
Claire held up the nu for the sli to see.
She didn’t stop to consider whether the sli could read.
If it didn’t choose, she’d just order herself anyway.
‘nu!’
The sli was overjoyed by Claire’s gesture.
It was the first ti anyone had offered it a nu.
Back with Godrick’s party, no one ever showed the nu to the sli—they just ordered whatever and handed it over.
The sli scanned the items listed on the nu.
They were mostly the sa dishes it had eaten with Godrick’s party before.
▶ Hmm. I understand perfectly what’s written.
▶ Say what it is, then.
▶ I don’t listen to those weaker than .
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Just spit it out.
▶ I don’t yield to those stronger than either.
▶ Classic "answer-you-wanted" jerk lmao.
▶ Gahahaha.
‘This one!’
Pop!
The sli extended a tentacle and pointed to a specific dish.
“Huh?”
Claire blinked in surprise—she hadn’t expected the sli to really point to anything.
‘It can read…? That’s… amazing.’
Claire herself only learned to read after becoming an adventurer.
She started learning so she could read books to defeat monsters more quickly and efficiently.
Right after becoming an adventurer, she asked the guild receptionist where to learn to read, and was told the guild offered lessons.
There were plenty of adventurers who ran out into the field without knowing a single thing, unable to even read a request.
That’s why the guild offered literacy classes for a fee.
Claire, who had studied in those classes, knew just how hard it was to learn to read.
So she couldn’t help but be amazed by the sli.
Claire flipped over the nu to check what the sli had picked.
Vegetable soup?
‘It likes vegetables?’
Since the secret workshop, the sli had only eaten monster at that Troll had hunted.
All it wanted now was to enjoy a good bowl of vegetable soup for the first ti in a while.
But Claire, unaware of that history, suddenly rembered the words of the martial artist who taught her the basics of combat.
—at’s great and all, but eat your veggies too!
At the ti, Claire had thought at tasted better and ignored the advice.
But here was a super-strong sli… and it liked vegetables?
‘Is that how it got so strong?’
Claire, lost in thought, made a decision.
“One vegetable soup for each of us, and one roast at.”
There was no way she was skipping at entirely from this al.
Not long after, the food was brought to the table, and the sight of a properly cooked al sparked activity in the chat window.
Daaamn, finally so legit human food.
Compared to that fake at crap Troll made, this is gourt.
[Free Spirit] ▶ Hey, I did my best.
▶ Best effort? You just brought at and grilled it.
[Free Spirit] ▶ I couldn’t get any other ingredients, what was I supposed to do?
▶Not my problem. If you don’t like it, cook better lolol.
The sli slid toward its plate and absorbed the soup.
‘Delicious!’
The taste of freshly prepared food after so long truly satisfied the sli’s palate.
“Oh. That’s so weird.”
It was the first ti Claire had ever seen a sli eat.
The mont the sli absorbed the soup, Claire expected to see the food inside its body—but that didn’t happen.
It didn’t even open its mouth, yet the vegetable soup was sucked in effortlessly—it was a fascinating sight.
While the sli happily slurped the vegetable soup, Claire, trying to recover her strength and heal her wounds, tore into the roast at and downed her own soup.
After finishing the al, Claire picked up the sli and headed to the Adventurers' Guild.
“You’re back, Miss Claire. Hm? That sli is…”
“Found it.”
“I-Is that so?”
“I took down thirteen Howling Foxes. But a Gluttony Bear showed up in the middle, so I had to retreat and couldn’t collect the loot.”
“R-Really? Are you all right?”
Howling Foxes usually travel in packs.
And the fact that a B-rank monster appeared in the middle of that fight ant it had to be extrely dangerous.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Since I didn’t get any loot, I don’t need the reward. But I still ca to report.”
“Understood. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
Even if soone was trustworthy, rules were rules—no loot ant no reward.
But since there were so so-called ‘problem adventurers’ who’d demand paynt without proof, showing only injuries as evidence, the receptionist was thankful for Claire’s integrity.
After her report, Claire brought up her next question.
“I’ve got sothing I want to ask.”
“Sothing you’re curious about?”
“Where’s Marin?”
“Marin? Is that an adventurer?”
“Yeah. Super strong.”
“Uh, well… I haven’t heard of any B- or A-rank adventurer by that na.”
Claire then described Marin’s hair color, style, eye color, race—everything she had explained to the sli.
But the receptionist couldn’t provide a satisfying answer.
“I’m sorry. Even with that, I still don’t know.”
“I see…”
Claire lowered her head, disappointed that she couldn’t locate Marin even after finally finding a sli to show her.
‘When will I find her?’
“Do you have so business with this adventurer?”
“Yeah. Marin’s looking for a smart sli. She’s been looking while forming parties with other adventurers. I wanted to show her this sli.”
“She’s looking for a sli?”
The receptionist thought for a mont after hearing that Claire was seeking a sli, and then sothing ca to mind.
“I’m not sure about anyone nad Marin, but I’ve heard of a party of adventurers who were looking for a unique sli. They even spent money making flyers to distribute through the guild network.”
“Really? Do you have one of those flyers?”
“No, I only heard the rumor. We haven’t received any flyers here in this town yet. But the party’s na was… right, Godrick’s Party.”
‘Godrick!’
Shiver!
The sli imdiately reacted to the familiar na.
And it wasn’t just the sli.
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Godrick? That was one of the humans who traveled with Squishy.
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Ohhh, those total scrubs?
[Just Slam First] ▶ The humans who always made the sli body slam enemies. Are we eting them again?
▶ LMAO those pathetic human noobs flailing around was cody gold.
▶ Way better than sparring. Hunting with them was peak entertainnt.
The viewers who enjoyed the streams from the days the sli was with Godrick’s party reacted instantly at the ntion of his na.
Watching humans weaker than the sli fight with its help was entertaining in the sa way as watching low-level players struggle to survive.
“Godrick… Godrick… hmmm.”
Claire shut her eyes tightly and repeated the na.
It sounded vaguely familiar—but maybe not.
When they t at the Black Dragon Festival, all her attention had been focused on Marin, so the rest of the Godric party had faded from her mory.
“Ah.”
After pondering for a while, Claire finally recalled Godrick’s party.
“Godrick’s party. I know them.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. That’s the party Marin was teaching.”
“Then I guess Marin is in that sa party. That’s great—if it’s Godrick’s party, I think I know where they are.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The rumor I heard was that another town received a flyer request from their party.”
“Then where is that town?”
“It’s a place called Chilture, about a week’s journey from here.”
“I see.”
Claire’s next destination was set.
User Comments
0 comments from readers