Beyond the walls of the research institute, nature stretched as far as the eye could see.
Actually, it was an island—though close enough to the mainland that I could see the coast in the distance. After scouting the perimeter, I realized the institute was the only thing there. It was a completely isolated location, surrounded by nothing but open sea.
"So, Zold. What’s your plan from here?"
"My plan? I suppose I’ll start by looking for a boat."
"Well, I guess this is where we part ways. I’ll leave you with the food I found in the institute. There are some emergency rations in there too, so make good use of them."
"I see. And what about you?"
Me? Well, let's see. I was planning on opening the menu and selecting ‘Yes’ on the prompt asking: ‘Join the 1st Character?’
This likely signaled the completion of Miti-chan’s scenario. It was probably how Penpen had brought Gin-chan into the fold as well.
"Well, if we cross paths again, I’ll see you then."
"Yeah... Thank you for everything."
"Don't mention it. Take care of yourself."
I tapped 'Yes.' A black, gate-like void opened up and surged forward, swallowing both me and Miti-chan.
In the next instant, I was back at Penpen’s house.
Penpen, Gin-chan, Alto-chan, and Tria-chan were all there, gathered together.
"Welcome back! That was fast! Based on the design of that Halo, you must be Tria’s 2nd character, right?"
"Oh? I’m back. Was it really that quick?"
It looked like Penpen was currently inhabiting the Penpen-chan body rather than Gin-chan.
"Lord Spirit! Welcome home!"
"I’m back, Tria-chan. Sorry, Penpen, but give me some meat before anything else. I need to eat something delicious!"
"Coming right up!"
Penpen placed a boar steak on the table. The aroma was incredible—almost aggressively so. Without thinking, I wanted to revert to my slime form and pounce on it. In fact, I did exactly that.
I absorbed the meat right off the plate.
Ohhh, yes! This was it! It was so good! The heavy hit of rich fat, the sauce bursting with umami! This was the true joy of being a slime—experiencing a meal with my entire being! This was exactly what I’d been craving!
"Oh! I thought you’d just overlapped your character with the beastman girl, but it was actually Slime Mimicry!"
"Ha! Sorry, I’ve gotten so used to the slime controls for eating that I just dove right in."
『Lord Spirit, Lord Spirit! This is incredibly delicious! It tastes way better than humans!』
My body—or rather, Miti-chan—was trembling with emotion. I was just glad she didn't follow that up by saying humans tasted better.
"Phew... It was only supposed to be two days, but it felt like I was gone for a week or two."
"Is that so? You must be exhausted, Lord Spirit."
"Ah, Tria-chan. This is Miti-chan. Try to get along with her."
『My name is Miti! Nice to meet you, Tria! I’m going to make you my little sister!』
"...Little sister? Nice to meet you, Miti."
Tria-chan tilted her head in confusion at the mention of being a "little sister." Honestly, I didn't really get it either.
Penpen quietly placed a second helping on top of my slime body. With a bubbling sizzle, I absorbed and digested it. So good! Seriously delicious!
"Hey, Penpen, from your perspective, how long was I actually gone?"
"About thirty minutes."
"That’s not even a day trip. That’s barely a run to the grocery store..."
Thirty minutes. To think that not even a full hour had passed since I left—space-time had been incredibly distorted lately. Come to think of it, Penpen’s 2nd character had increased before Tria and I had even noticed. From our perspective, that must have also been thirty minutes rather than a day.
"Alto-chan hasn't come back yet, though."
"At this rate, if we wait, she’ll probably be back in a few minutes."
"True. If Tria’s character is back, then Alto-chan should be right behind you."
It felt like another week or two might have passed for her as well. She’d mentioned as much when we were chatting at work.
"Penpen, make sure you have some insanely good meat ready for her. Apparently, she’s been eating some sludge called Defilement."
"A palate cleanser, then. I should probably prepare some sweets as well."
Penpen was far too capable...
"L-Lord Spirit."
"Hmm?"
Hearing her call me, I looked up to see Tria-chan staring intently at me. Oops, sitting on a plate in slime mode was probably bad manners.
I hopped down and... hup, 'Mimicry (Human)'!
"Yeah, what is it?"
"P-Please hold my hand!"
"Hmm? Sure."
I firmly grasped Tria-chan’s hand as she reached out.
"O-Ohhh, it’s really the Lord Spirit...! Lord Spirit... haa, haa...!"
『Tria-chan is such a cute little sister!』
"Miti? Tria doesn't recall agreeing to be Miti's little sister."
『You are now! No objections allowed!』
"If Lord Spirit says it’s okay, then I suppose it's fine."
"Well, I guess that’s settled then?"
Actually, Penpen couldn't hear Miti-chan’s voice like this. I should split us.
"And... Split! Go, Miti-chan!"
"Yay! Ehehe, hello! I’m Miti, and I’m the big sister!"
With a pop, Miti-chan and I separated into two distinct bodies. Now Penpen and the others could hear her voice too. Since I could still move my own body, there were effectively three of us now.
"The three of you over there are little sisters too!"
"Wait, me too?"
"...You’re too big, so I’ll pass on you!"
Miti-chan would probably be even bigger than Penpen if she were at her maximum size, though.
"The other two are little sisters!"
"Excuse me? No matter how you look at it, I’m the older one."
"Since I am a maid who serves the Lord Spirit, if the Lord Spirit wishes it, I do not mind."
"No way! Gin-chan is my maid!"
"Muu. My little sisters only increased by one."
Miti-chan slumped down, dejected. Tria stroked her head to comfort her. Looking at them, Tria definitely seemed like the older one.
"Anyway, what’s it like being a slime?"
"It’s interesting. Your arms can stretch out all wiggly. If I could do that in the real world, I’d be able to reach anything in the room without even getting out of bed."
"Oh, that does sound nice. It would be pretty convenient to reach the pull-string for the light even if you didn't have a long cord attached."
The pull-string for the light...?