The stillness of the night wrapped around the hut. There was only one bed within. That’s where the girl, whose name I still didn’t know, was in a deep slumber that would heal the wounds to her body and heart.
As a result, I was using Lily’s body as a substitute for a sofa, just like I did in the cave. Rose wasn’t in the hut with us. I had her standing guard outside.
It was a silent night.
I stared at the walls in a daze. They looked like they were sinking away into the darkness. I wasn’t thinking of anything. I was just staring blankly. Just how much time had passed since I began doing so?
“Can’t sleep?”
A voice came from behind me. The feeling of Lily’s body, which I had been leaning against, changed. As a slime, her body was something like a gelatinous blob. But that sensation on my back had changed into something with more substance, yet still soft.
“...That’s quite the skill.”
The Lily beneath my butt was still a slime, cutting off the cold and hard sensation of the floor. Yet the dainty arms of a girl wrapped around my neck and placed themselves atop my chest. In other words, only a single portion of Lily’s body had transformed into a girl.
She really was quite skilled to be able to do that, but I also wondered why she was doing something so pointless. With that doubt in my heart, I turned my head around and found Mizushima Miho’s... no, Lily’s face close enough to touch our cheeks together.
Her mimicry was just like the original. I could even feel the softness of her hair. A pleasant feeling shot up my spine. For just one instant, I thought this was bad. Physical contact brought pleasure. I came to fully realize this after wandering around that sea of trees for three full days in the throes of loneliness and despair. Even if my partner was a slime, the sense of relief and comfort of being in contact could bring tears to my eyes.
And with the body of a girl, I couldn’t possibly hold myself back. I didn’t mean that in a perverted sense. I simply wanted to cling to her. It was likely my mind was driven quite deep into a corner. I had just committed my first act of murder. However, that was nothing more than the impetus.
Ever since coming to this world one month ago, every single factor that had changed in my life had forced the mind of this immature and tiny brat far into the abyss. My desire to cling to someone was somewhat like a muddy stream. My sense of reason was nothing more than a small wood chip being washed away by its currents.
“Stop that.”
That’s why it was my emotions that rejected Lily’s embrace rather than my sense of reason. Her body belonged to the dead Mizushima Miho. She was mimicking the body of a girl who chose death over being violated. I couldn’t possibly sully her. That would be unforgivable.
“Why?”
The feeling pressed against my back vanished and I collapsed backwards. I stiffened up, expecting an impact, but Lily’s elastic body caught me.
“Master...”
After falling back, faceup, a girl’s body appeared from between my legs. Lily was crawling over me on all fours. Her bountiful breasts swayed in front of my eyes, pulled down by their weight. Nobody would blame me for being stimulated by this... But they should. I was stupid for being aroused by my desires.
“I want to heal you, Master. Okay? Hey, Master...”
“I told you to stop...”
I felt a great discomfort in my heart, which completely contrasted with the desires of my body to go with the flow. This was even reflected in my brittle tone.
“I have no intention of ‘using’ that body.”
By all rights, just having that naked body in front of me like this shouldn’t have been allowed. That’s what I believed.
“Stop.”
I quietly closed my eyes and clearly showed my refusal. As my servant, Lily should have withdrawn upon receiving my order. She should have. But the aroused voice of a girl... or rather, of a monster mimicking a girl, reached my ears with uneven breaths.
“Are you blaming yourself, Master?”
My entire face was wrapped in a soft sensation. Lily was embracing my head in her chest.
“I want to save you, Master. I want to protect you. So I can tell. I can tell when you’re hurt. I can tell that you hurt yourself for ‘this girl’s’ sake... for ‘my’ sake.”
“...Lily?”
Something was strange. And just as I realized that, Lily continued incoherently in a feverish pitch.
“I want to offer myself to someone dear to me. That was the meager desire this girl naturally held. That ‘I held.’ I want to do it like that ‘this time.’ If that could heal the heart of the person dear to me, then it would truly bring me joy. And the dearest person to the ‘me right here,’ is you, Master. I’m your servant, after all.”
I reflexively opened my eyes.
“...Master.”
I was met with the gaze of a girl lovingly embracing me in her chest. This was Lily. It wasn’t Mizushima Miho. However, I was able to sense the desire that girl possessed within her. I was able to sense the regret of being unable to accomplish that through the mental path we shared.
But why?
The feelings that girl felt as she died shouldn’t have had an effect on Lily. The memories and emotions she took in were nothing more than simple records. Lily should have been selectively sifting through them. And yet, having her feelings manifest so clearly like this meant...
Aah, dammit. That’s what it is...
It was nothing serious. This was my fault. I wasn’t conscious of it myself, but I was surely thinking that I wanted to fulfill Mizushima Miho’s final regrets. And just like that, my will was passed to Lily through our mental path. As my servant, she simply wished to grant that desire. That’s why it manifested here like this.
Lily was still Lily. However, her desire was Mizushima Miho’s. Perhaps that wasn’t quite the right way to put it. The two of them were already one and the same. All that together made up Lily’s existence right now.
“I love you, Master. Please accept me.”
Lily’s voice was feverish with affection and a small amount of womanly passion.
“...”
What was I supposed to do? I had a responsibility toward Mizushima Miho. The same applied to my servant Lily. Did that mean I should embrace her? But wouldn’t it actually be insincere to answer these two girls’ feelings in such a way?
No, that’s not quite right. Look in front of you.
“Master...”
She was anxiously awaiting my reply with a pained expression as her bangs trembled in front of her face. From the thighs down, her beautiful limbs were connected to the slime beneath me, which was also her body and my makeshift bed. The situation was thoroughly absurd... yet she was certainly a girl. It didn’t matter if anyone said otherwise. That’s because I felt this way myself.
“...”
This might be the wrong decision. It might be unforgivable. And before all that, it might be sheer insanity to do so with a monster. But even so, there was something I had to do. There were feelings I had to respond to. And above all else, my heart was telling me to do so.
“...I’ll treat you dearly.”
And so, in a daze, I uttered a vow as I pressed my lips against hers.