The large cat decided to think of the slime, which it had felt compelled to invite to live with it, as emergency food. With that decided, the cat chose to no longer be bothered by it.
It was the next day, and the slime was still in the den. The cat was exasperated by the slime, but it was hungry, so it had to leave to hunt as always.
Hey, I don’t think you can understand me, but you better wait here if you don’t want to die. This area’s real dangerous, the cat grunted at the slime, then left to find food in the Evil Forest.
Perhaps the cat’s thoughts got through to the slime, because after seeing the cat off, the slime proceeded to have its own meal.
As the large cat was out hunting, it couldn’t help but think about the slime. The den was saturated with the large cat’s scent, so it was unlikely that predators would come around. However, there was also no guarantee that other monsters wouldn’t enter. There were plenty that went after young creatures, which is why you couldn’t let your guard down if you had offspring—that was something that the cat had heard from other feline monsters. As it continued to think, the large cat began to feel restless.
Ugh, what am I even doing?
It secured its prey, and instead of eating it all, it saved a piece and took it back to its den.
What?! Why is the den clean?! the cat thought.
Surprised, it dropped the food it had brought back. The sound of the monster flesh hitting the ground alerted the slime to the cat’s return, and it happily crawled out from the back of the den to greet it. The cat was still surprised that the slime had cleaned the den, and it bashfully offered the monster meat it had brought back to the slime with a gentle growl.
Don’t get ahead of yourself, the cat communicated. This is a reward for cleaning my den. I didn’t bring it back for you or anything, so don’t get the wrong idea!
The slime seemed a bit confused, but it understood that the food was meant for it to eat, and it happily consumed the prey that the cat had offered. The slime’s meal earlier in the day had been all of the scraps and bones left around in the den. The large cat preferred having a clean home, but it wasn’t very good at actually keeping it clean. It was quite impressed that the slime had cleaned its den, and it turned back to look at its guest.
You can live here, the cat growled. But, if you do, you have to keep the place clean. You got that?
The slime listened to the cat’s growl and seemed to nod. At least the cat thought it saw the slime nod.
Did that get through to it? Whatever. It probably did.
After it finished trying to communicate with the slime, the cat went to sleep. The slime also finished its meal, then settled near the cat to sleep.
From that day forward, the two monsters began living together. The large cat would go out and hunt their food, and the slime would keep the den clean. Though they couldn’t communicate, the monsters each managed to understand what the other was thinking. The cat was a bit sad that it couldn’t speak to the slime, but other than that, there were no issues with its roommate.
One morning, when the cat was asleep as always, it suddenly heard something.
Mister Cat! Mister Cat! You need to wake up! It’s time to go hunting! the voice said.
Huh? the cat responded. I only go hunting when I’m hungry...
As soon as it finished responding, the large cat realized whom it had responded to, and it shot up in surprise.
“Slime! You can talk?!”
“What?! You can understand me, Mister Cat?!”
The large cat and slime were both shocked by this revelation, and they just silently stared at each other.
✦ ✦ ✦
Once the two creatures calmed down, they decided to test out several things. They learned that they hadn’t managed to speak the same language but rather were able to understand each other thanks to the slime’s magic.
“You’re not just a slime, are you?” the cat said. “I’ve never heard of a slime that can use magic.”
“Really?” it responded. “Well, regardless, I’m happy that I can, because I get to talk to you!”
It was so straightforward with its feelings that it made the cat bashful. The large cat quickly got over its embarrassment and looked right at the slime.
“I’m glad to hear that. I know that you need a lot of mana to be able to use magic. Has there been anything else you’ve been thinking about or imagining?”
“Hm, well, I was thinking this whole time that it would be nice to talk to you.”
The cat nodded as if it understood something. “That must be the reason. I think your desire to do something caused you to use magic, which made us understand each other.”
“You think so? In that case, I wonder if I can make myself look like you.”
The slime seemed excited about the cat’s theory.
“I’m not sure about that. I don’t know a lot about magic, but thinking you can probably will make it possible rather than thinking you can’t.”
“I see... In that case, I’m going to do my best to become like you!”
The cat bashfully smiled in response. Though embarrassed, the feline monster seemed quite happy.