The next day, while waiting for the schedule to be finalized for our resource-gathering trip, I figured I’d work on the mana trap. I made my way through the castle and headed for the R&D department, feeling surprisingly refreshed. I had last night off—first one in a while—so I was full of energy. It was nice to have days like this once in a while!
“Ooo.”
While that thought was crossing my mind, a lazy voice made me look down just in time to see Lime ooze out from the stone floor in front of me. Literally. Not that there were any visible gaps between the stones, so how she managed that was a mystery.
Before I could ask her about it, I heard a loud smack from behind me. I turned around to find green, bubbling liquid taking human form. It was Poiso.
I couldn’t even think about why they’d showed up because right away, the door to my left swung open.
“…Howdy.”
Standing there silently was Bess, her body shimmering like translucent red jelly. I figured she would pop up as soon as Lime and Poiso appeared.
But what was up with their vibe? Lime was always smiling, sure, but Bess and Poiso had a strange, almost sulky air about them.
“Kooousuke?”
“Hm? What’s up?”
“What about uuuus?” Lime asked, tilting her head, her smile unchanging.
Us? Hm? What did she mean?
“You’ve spent time with everyone else, but ignored us?” Bess asked.
“Er.” I instinctively raised my voice in surprise at Bess’s question. Poiso chimed in after hearing that.
“Does that mean you don’t even think of us…?” Poiso added quietly.
H-huh?! I mean, sure, we’ve definitely been involved together, but like, wasn’t that more like they were feeding on me?!
“What about uuuus?”
Before I could react, Lime got up close and personal with me, looking up at me with a smile. And just like that, Bess and Poiso were right next to me too. Close enough for me to touch, even.
“Um…”
My eyes darted around in the hopes of finding someone who could help me, and that was when Melty rounded the corner.
Yes! Melty’s here! I’ve won!
“Mel—”
“Ah, take your time!” she said with a cheerful smile, walking straight past.
Clearly they’d planned this beforehand. I was doomed.
This is it… It’s over…! I can’t escape…!
“Of course I didn’t forget you girls,” I said quickly. “I’m always grateful for everything you do around here,”
In perfect unison, all three of them placed their hands on my cheeks and collarbone.
What was about to happen to me?
“He’s nooot lyyyying.”
“Not guilty.”
“I see.”
Wait. Did they just test me to see if I was lying? Holy crap, that’s terrifying. They can do that just by touching me? Oh, man.
“Don’t be scared.”
“Your heart is racing.”
“People tend to sweat when they’re scared or panicked, you know.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. My bad. I surrender. So, can you please stop freaking me out? Okay? Cool.”
I raised both hands in defeat. Satisfied with my response, they took their hands off my cheeks and collarbone.
Honestly, they weren’t wrong. Compared to the other women in my life, I had been neglecting the slime girls. They were fond of me, sure, but I’d always felt like they saw me more as their plaything, or as their food, almost.
And as I thought that, they pressed closer. Actually, scratch that, they were already plastered against me. I was overwhelmed by soft, boingy, squishy sensations coming at me from three directions.
I had no words.
“Then it’s oooour turn now.”
“Prepare yourself.”
“We’re going to get serious.”
“Just, be gentle, okay? Just because you can put me back to normal afterward doesn’t make it okay to do anything and everything. Hey, are you even listening?! Where’s your answer?!”
I was being dragged into the room that Bess had appeared from, and inside was a staircase that most likely led underground. This was bad. This was definitely bad.
“Hey, wait! Wait, hold on! Promise me you’re not gonna—hey, stop! Noooo! Someone save me!!!”
My cries were cut off the instant a blue liquid tentacle slipped out and closed the door of the room shut.
✦ ✦ ✦
Long story short, the slime girls’ “hospitality” turned out to be surprisingly gentle.
“Ooooaah…”
Lime’s pleasantly warm body enveloped me, massaging every inch of my body. It felt like I was taking a dip in a hot spring and the water itself was massaging me.
“Feeeels good?”
“Real good…”
I thought I was screwed when they first ripped off my clothes. Then Poiso wrapped herself around me, her body tingling against my skin, and for a second, I panicked—convinced that she was about to eat me. But instead she was…cleaning me. She was melting away all of the dirt and grime on the surface of my body.
“Wouldn’t this be dangerous if you messed up?” I asked nervously.
Her response was blunt.
“I practiced a lot to make sure I’d get it right.”
I was too scared to ask her what—or who—she practiced on and what happened when she screwed up, so I didn’t press her for details. I’d seen this trio melt through chunks of gizma meat like butter more times than I could count.
After that, Bess took over and gave me an oil massage. And that brings us to the present.
How was I doing? Well, Lime had me completely wrapped up from the neck down, her entire body—if you could call it that—was warm and pliant. My head was pressed back against Lime’s cleavage, and it felt wonderful… Although to be honest, given that she was a slime and didn’t have a set body shape, she didn’t exactly have a chest or a butt, so these breasts were basically imitations. Very convincing ones.
“You okaaay?”
“Ah… Hm? What do you mean?”
“Are you puuushing yourself too hard?” Lime asked, peeking at my face with a genuine worry written across her own.
“Siiiince you’re not from this world, you don’t have to wooork so hard, you know?”
“Ah, right… Well…” I smiled faintly. “I’m not really pushing myself. Honestly, I’m having a blast every day. I’ve got kids with the harpies, and Elen and Amalie are due to give birth this fall. I just want to close the book on some stuff for my kids’ sake.”
I wanted my children, the ones already born and the ones still yet to meet the world, to live somewhere safe and peaceful. Working toward something like that was hardly a struggle for me, and if anything, it felt worth doing. I had no desire to chase around something as lofty as “world peace,” but I had to do anything I could for my children.
“Oooooh…”
“Whach are fuu doofing?” I tried to ask, but Lime’s hands began to knead my cheeks. Apparently, my answer wasn’t the one she was looking for.
“If things ever get to be too much,” Bess said softly, “you can always come running to us. We’ll protect you from everything in the world. It’d be fun living together again, just the four of us, like before.”
She’d started pushing up the tip of my nose mid-sentence.
“Nrgh.”
Why was she trying to make my nose look like a pig’s?
“I’m not nearly as sweet as they are,” Poiso chimed in. “You’ve done plenty, so I think you should take responsibility for your actions. But if you ever get tired, don’t hesitate to come here and relax. I don’t mind looking out for you for a little while.” She gently slapped my cheeks with her green viscous hands.
“Yooou say that, but yoooou’re sweeeet tooooo,” Lime sang.
“You’re basically saying the same things we did,” Bess teased.
“Not at all. We are not remotely the same. Were you two even listening to me?” Poiso protested sternly while Lime and Bess giggled.
It was her right to disagree with their observations, but I really wished she’d stop slapping me, because it was really starting to hurt.
Poiso did her best emphasizing why she wasn’t sweet like Lime and Bess, and how her words were totally different, but the other two completely brushed her off.
Mind you, from my perspective, I felt Poiso was being just as sweet in her own way. Having people tell me I could come and get comfort from them when things got too heavy made me genuinely happy. I ended up spending the rest of the day being completely spoiled by the three slime girls.
When I woke up the next morning, they were the ones rousing me—smiling like nothing had happened. And as usual, I realized I had no memory of anything that happened after dinner. I decided not to think too deeply about it though. This sort of thing happened a lot after hanging out with the slime girls.
But it was fine. Totally.
Whenever I tried to think too hard about what happened, my head started to hurt, so it was a bad idea to go down that path.
Got it? Cool! Wonderful.