Chapter 520:
Relaxing in a Cave
“ISN’T ALL THAT STILL GOING ON?” my father asked. “I think I heard rumors like that in a tavern in the royal capital about five years ago.”
Fische nodded. “Yeah, there’s still about two or three eyewitness accounts a month.”
So that means…the man’s ghost still haunts the castle? And he’s spotted two or three times a month? Isn’t that a lot? What is he trying to do? If his goal was to keep the former crown prince from ascending the throne, then he succeeded. But if he’s still hanging around the castle, wouldn’t that mean his work still isn’t finished?
“It’s not like I think about this all the time,” Zinal said, “but now that we’re talking about it, I realize just how gloomy the royal family is. Curses and phantoms galore. And now the elder and younger brothers are trying to kill each other over who gets the throne.”
I had to agree. I never thought life in the royal castle was all sunshine and roses when they were fighting over succession, but I’d never considered they were cursed.
“Wait a minute, a lot of time has passed, hasn’t it? Shouldn’t we be getting ready to turn in?” my father asked.
I glanced around, and my gaze met with my creatures. Oh no! Their dinner!
“Sorry, guys, I forgot to take out your potions! I’ll get them right away.”
My father helped me take out the potions from our magic bag and line them up in rows, along with a row of magic items for Sol. And when they all started feeding at the same time, the cave was filled with an eerie echo.
Shuwaaa, shuwaaa, shuwaaa.
Scrunch, scrunch, shuwaaa, shuwaaa.
Those noises! If somebody suddenly heard them in a cave, they’d freak out. Boy, my kids sure are eating a lot today.
“If you sent those slimes to every town and village, the trash crisis would be solved overnight,” Zinal said.
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“Well, Ivy’s also an important piece of that puzzle,” my father answered in a tone so serious that it made me smile sheepishly.
“Should we line up our mats around here? Check on your side to see if it’s okay,” Fische said, pointing to a flat part of the cave floor. Zinal stood on the opposing side and studied the ground.
“Looks good on my end.”
Since Zinal gave his permission, we started to line up our sleeping mats. We always looked for the flattest spaces to set our mats, since your body wouldn’t get a proper rest if you slept at an incline. Though if you ask me, just sleeping on a cave floor was a step up from sleeping in a tree.
“Don’t you need a tent?” Zinal asked.
“I don’t see why we would,” my father answered, glancing at the dozing dorya nearby. Ciel was also there, and with all of them there to guard us, the chances of monsters attacking us in the night were next to zero.
“I see your point,” Zinal said, following my father’s gaze and smiling at the dorya. If anybody attacked us in these conditions, that would be quite a feat…of stupidity, not bravery.
“I’m going to take a look around the cave,” my father said.
Ciel quickly stood up, and one of the dorya followed suit for some reason.
“I understand why Ciel is coming, but are you sure you want to join us?” my father asked.
The dorya started fidgeting. It was indescribably cute.
“Tee-hee! Okay, you can come with us. Thanks in advance, Ciel.”
Mrrrow.
Having gotten my father’s vote of confidence, Ciel happily wagged its tail.
“We’ll be back soon,” my father said.
“Okay. Be careful out there,” I waved goodbye to them.
“I don’t think I’ll need to be careful; I’ve got Ciel and the dorya with me.”
Well, true. But I want him to be careful anyway.
Zinal, Fische, and I washed the dishes and cleaned the area around our beds. After a while, my father came back.
“Hi.”
“Hi. Hey, Ivy, I found a river with hot water out there. Want to go check it out?”
“A river with hot water?”
“That’s right. Weren’t you saying you wanted to take a bath?”
I looked down. I had sponged myself off, but that really couldn’t compare to washing off in fresh mountain spring water. That was why I’d told the men a few days ago that I really wanted to have a bath and get nice and clean. I think I said it when they asked me what I wanted to do at that moment in casual conversation, but it was sweet that he remembered.
“Do you think I could go take a quick bath?” I asked.
Ciel crept over to me.
“Will you come with me?”
Mrrrow.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
Huh? Sora and Flame are coming, too?
I looked at the two slimes, whose faces were filled with glee.
“We’re not going to play, okay? I’m just going to take a bath.”
Mrrrow.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
“Goff!” said three voices at once.
They multiplied! Three dorya have risen to join us!
“Oh dear…we’d probably better just let them win,” Zinal said.
A sigh escaped my mouth.
Well…even if I can’t have a nice long relaxing dip, I can at least wash myself off, so it doesn’t matter.
“If you take too long coming back, I’m coming to get you,” my father warned. “Sora, make sure everybody doesn’t play too hard!”
The slimes leaned at an angle in reply. They didn’t seem too happy.
“Hey!”
My father scolded the slimes, but they merrily bounced up and down. I assumed that meant I had to brace myself. After I got my things for my bath, my father explained the river’s location to me in detail. Ciel must have known where it was, but he was right to make sure I didn’t over-rely on my creatures.
“I’ll be back soon,” I told the men.
“Be careful. And don’t you kids exhaust Ivy too much.”
Mrrrow.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
“Goff!” said all the dorya together.
At least they were quick to reply.
Ciel took the lead and escorted us deeper into the cave. I was carrying a bright torch, and I could constantly hear the voices of my slimes around me, so I wasn’t at all scared. But if I had to walk this path alone, it would probably have been tough.
“Is it this way?”
Mrrrow.
When I came to a fork in the road, I remembered my father’s directions and took the right-hand path. After walking for a while, I started to hear trickling noises.
“This sound… It would fill me with dread if I didn’t know there was a river up ahead.”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
Sora hopped right up next to me, seemingly worried.
“Don’t worry, Sora. I’m fine. I’ve got all of you to protect me.”
The creatures all jumped for joy in reply. And for some reason, Ciel had shapeshifted into a slime and was bouncing playfully with them. When had Ciel shapeshifted? Lately, it had been happening so quickly that by the time I noticed, Ciel had already changed back to normal.
“Dorya friends, don’t push yourselves too hard, okay? You probably can’t jump as high as my slimes.”
For some reason, the dorya were trying their hardest to jump just like Sora, so I had to gently put a stop to that.
“Ooh, the air’s gotten warmer.”
Even though it was summer, the inside of the cave was chilly. Just when I was starting to sense a change in temperature, the river came into view.
“Found it!”
The river was much bigger than I’d thought it would be. When I got closer, I could feel the warm steam rising from it. I gently put a hand in the stream and felt its warmth seep into my skin.
“It’s so warm. Ooh, I’m excited.”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
Mrrrow.
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
“Goff!”
Even though everyone answered me so vigorously, worry welled up inside of me.
“Don’t go too crazy, okay? Rivers can carry you away if you aren’t careful.”
Everybody replied with another prompt yell as if to say they understood. Now I was really worried, but I decided I just had to trust them.
“Well, let’s get in.”
No sooner had I said that than all my creatures dove into the river. I watched them as I undressed, and when I heard a loud splash, I saw the dorya had joined them in the river.
“Sora, make sure nobody goes adrift,” I called out to Sora, who had made that mistake in the past.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
I guess they’ll be okay this time.
I undressed, doused my head and body with hot water, and then submerged myself in the river.
“Ahhh, that’s the stuff.”
I found myself a good boulder to sit on and stretch my legs.
“Baths really just can’t be beat, can they?”
“Pefu!”
I looked toward the voice to see Sol’s face peeping out of the river.
“Got caught in the tide… No, wait, doesn’t look that way.”
A closer look revealed that Sol’s tentacles were furiously paddling under the water. So it wasn’t caught in the tide but swimming and frolicking instead.
“Tentacles sure are useful, aren’t they?”
“Pefu!”