“I heard you were okay, but I’m still relieved to see you in the flesh.”
“Mrgh.”
As soon as I arrived at the castle, Sylphy called me to her office. The moment I stepped in, she wrapped me into her arms tightly. My face was in its happy place, but she was holding me just a wee bit too hard.
Mistress, please.
“I, too, was very worried.”
“Argh?!”
Melty yanked me away next and squeezed me even harder. My face was yet again smothered in pure joy.
Melty, I’m not a stuffed animal, so I’d really appreciate it if you treated me a little more delicately. I’ve got thoughts about how you forcibly ripped me from Sylphy’s arms, and if you don’t lay off my neck a little, this could get very bad.
“Melty, that’s bad manners,” Sylphy scolded.
“Hee hee. I couldn’t hold back,” Melty answered, still grinning.
Okay, ladies? Stop.
If the two of them kept this up, the mountain of paperwork on Sylphy’s desk was gonna fly everywhere and that would only leave the both of them in tears.
“Ow, ow, ow! So, what’s going on with those assassins?” I asked.
“We left everything to Lime and the others,” Sylphy said. “With them on the case, the prisoners won’t be able to take their own lives or stay silent.”
“According to their report, the assassins had fast-acting poison hidden in their molars. Poiso neutralized it right away though,” Melty added.
A chill ran down my spine. “Why am I getting the feeling they did something deeply inhumane to our captives…?”
I didn’t know the full breadth of the slime girls’ powers, but I had the distinct feeling that they could and would do just about anything.
Poiso’s knowledge of poisons and medicines was second to none, so she could probably synthesize a powerful truth serum. Honestly, the slime girl’s capabilities made everything about interrogations disturbingly efficient. They could hurt, heal, or utterly stupefy someone into confession.
“The assassins knew capture meant death,” Sylphy said quietly. “That’s why they had the poison in their molars. I told the slimes not to kill them.”
“S’that so?” Melty murmured.
I wondered briefly if not killing them meant sparing them so they could take to the stands or something.
No… When she told the slimes not to kill them, she was actually saying “Don’t break them.” Sylphy’s kindness toward her inner circle was real, but she could be merciless toward her enemies. Those assassins were in for a harsh reckoning.
“While we wait for the slimes to get intel out of them, tell me how you want to handle the Holy Kingdom.”
“Well, it depends on what we learn,” I said. “They had no IDs, and even if the slimes get them to talk, the Holy Kingdom could just deny everything.”
“If anything, they might claim we made it all up,” Melty said. “But the captives aren’t simple hired assassins. They may give us leads on Holy Kingdom spy cells or assassin bases hidden in Merinard. Then we could get our hands on some physical proof of their involvement.”
“We already have an assault squad on standby,” Sylphy replied. “Don’t leave the castle until we’ve taken out their base of operations.”
“Got it,” I said.
Sylphy and Melty were ready to take action. I didn’t expect either of them to actually be on the front lines, but with those two, you could never say for sure.
“Surely the two of you won’t be going yourselves, right?”
“Of course not. I can’t,” Sylphy clarified. “But I wouldn’t mind cutting loose every once in a while.”
“I’m the only one going,” Melty declared, matter-of-factly.
“You are…? Then at least take some cure poison potions, just in case, okay? The assassins used basilisk poison on their crossbow bolts,” I said, pulling a wooden box from my inventory and setting it on the table.
Inside were two dozen cure poison potions. This would be enough for the whole assault squad.
“Basilisk poison? How dangerous… All right, I’ll gladly take these.”
“You can also use them on the enemy if they try to kill themselves. Kousuke, give her another box,” Sylphy said.
“Coming right up. I’ll throw in some life potions too.”
I pulled out another box of cure poison potions and two boxes of life potions from my inventory. That meant Melty now had two boxes of each, for a total of forty-eight potions.
“This should be enough for the whole squad,” Melty said with a satisfied smile as she looked at the veritable tower of boxes in front of her.
Her smile was adorable, but I knew better. This was a woman who had the power to break through a steel door with her bare hands. She wasn’t fooling me with that face!
Okay, she was incredibly cute, but I digress. That wasn’t the point.
Just then, a blue, jellylike figure oozed out from the corner of the room.
“We fooound their base,” Lime announced.
“All right. Melty?”
“I shall head out now.”
“I’ll heeelp carry your stuff,” Lime replied cheerfully.
Melty and Lime each grabbed two boxes and hurried out of the office.
…Jeez, you guys are fast! Lime, you need to act more like a slime. You’re not supposed to sprint like that unless you’re silver!
“Now, then, I think I’ll help you with your work,” I said, turning back to Sylphy.
“Hmm? I appreciate the offer, but shouldn’t you check in on Elen and Amalie? They were quite worried about you.”
“You’re not wrong, but I’d rather spend time with you right now. I’ve been hanging out with them and the harpies a lot lately.”
“…If you insist, then I appreciate the help. You can fill in for Melty.”
“Hey, now, don’t expect that much from me,” I said with a chuckle as I took a seat beside her.
I wasn’t sure how useful I actually was considering paperwork wasn’t exactly my specialty, but Sylphy’s satisfied smile said it all and I took that as a sign of success.