WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Monster Livestream Star ◈
Chapter 16: Encounter (3)
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“Nina, really? I can’t?”
“No, Miss.”
A lovely young woman with wavy blond hair, sapphire-blue eyes, and an old-fashioned dress puffed out her cheeks at the maid seated across from her.
“But why? Can’t we just visit the elf village once?”
“No, Miss. The elf village? Do you know how dangerous the road there is? The forest is crawling with monsters.”
“Tch, do you think I don’t know that? The Blue Elf Forest only has goblins, at most. Our house knights can take care of those in no time!”
Nina sighed inwardly at her mistress’s reply.
‘Sigh, where did she hear that this time...?’
This was one of the conversations Nina went through whenever she and her mistress passed near the elf forest.
At first, she had somehow managed to smooth things over.
But as time passed, Jessie only grew more persistent.
“Just once is fine. Please? I want to see Hero Nellin, okay? Can’t I? Really?”
The young woman pleading with her maid was Jessie Ludendion, daughter of Count House Ludendion.
The reason she wanted to visit the elf village was simple.
She wanted to see the elven hero.
A member of the party that had defeated the Black Dragon, the calamity of fifty years ago.
She wanted to see Nellin, the Starlight Archer.
The legend of the heroes who had slain the calamitous Black Dragon was still told even fifty years later.
Biographies recording the heroes’ stories from that time.
Plays in which actors performed the heroes’ exploits onstage.
Statues and dolls modeled after the heroes.
Even storybooks for children.
Jessie Ludendion had heard stories of the heroes through all kinds of media, starting with storybooks when she was young.
Aldor Meyer, the human Shield of Iron Wall.
Kachal Dempft, the dwarf Strong-Armed Warrior.
Fresia, the human Saint of Healing.
Ventus Frail, the human Mage of Heavenly Law.
Nellin, the elf Starlight Archer.
However, only three of the five heroes were still alive.
The Shield of Iron Wall had grown old and passed away surrounded by family.
The Mage of Heavenly Law had unfortunately died thirty years ago in a magical accident.
The remaining heroes had lived peacefully in their respective hometowns after defeating the Black Dragon.
And the elf village, hometown of Nellin the Starlight Archer, happened to be near Count Ludendion’s territory.
So whenever Jessie passed near the Blue Elf Forest on her way back from an outing beyond the count’s territory, she always begged her maid Nina to stop by the elf village.
She said she wanted to see Nellin, the Starlight Archer who lived there, in person.
Jessie’s requests had begun when she was six and continued even now, ten years later.
“No matter how much you beg, the answer is no. Have you forgotten how sternly the Count and Countess scolded you about it last time?”
“Ugh...”
A painful memory surfaced in Jessie’s mind.
+++
With her birthday approaching, Jessie had put on an especially adorable voice and manner for Count Ludendion and his wife.
“Father, Mother, I want to visit the elf village!”
“You still have not given up, Jessie!”
“Do you really not understand when we tell you it’s dangerous?”
Her parents normally granted anything she wanted, but they firmly opposed her visiting the elf village.
+++
The fact that the conversation they had had before remained unchanged even now made Jessie puff out her cheeks.
“Father, Mother, and Nina are all so mean! Why doesn’t anyone understand these pure feelings I have for Hero Nellin?”
“I understand perfectly well. You were so obsessed with stories about the heroes that you kept begging the Count to let you see Hero Nellin.”
“Then can’t you let me meet her just once? Or invite Hero Nellin to our estate!”
At her fairly reasonable suggestion, the maid prepared her usual excuse.
“Hero Nellin is a great hero. Even the Count cannot invite someone like her carelessly.”
“Eee...”
Fortunately, Nina’s excuse worked.
‘Whew. At least this excuse still works.’
Normally, inviting a hero would not be difficult for a count.
Moreover, Count Ludendion’s territory and the elf village in the Blue Elf Forest regularly exchanged goods through merchants.
That was not all. Count Ludendion had thoughtfully allowed the elves to purchase whatever goods they needed, and every year the elf village elder sent a letter of thanks in return.
Their relationship was close enough that inviting Nellin to the count’s estate would not have been difficult.
In truth, the person keeping Nellin and Jessie from meeting was Count Ludendion himself.
Rufus Ludendion had told Nina why he did not want them to meet.
And agreeing with that reason, Nina had spent over ten years trying to protect Jessie’s childlike innocence.
Jessie had a body mature enough to seem like an adult, but her heart was still as dreamy and delicate as befitted her age.
Taken in by Nina’s excuse, Jessie stuck out her lips.
The happiness she had felt after the outing completely deflated.
‘I want to visit the forest where Hero Nellin lives.’
Jessie turned to look at the forest through the window.
Then, at that moment.
‘Huh?’
Jessie spotted a slime bouncing out of the forest with particularly energetic Boing! Boing! hops.
A round, pale-green slime.
It was a monster Jessie had never seen before, having lived mostly within the count’s territory for all sixteen years of her life.
‘That’s a slime!’
A slime.
A monster said to be far weaker than even a goblin.
Jessie’s interest shifted from meeting Nellin to the slime outside the window.
“Nina! Stop the carriage!”
“Miss, how many times must I tell you? The elf forest is...”
“It’s not that! Just stop already!”
“?”
At Jessie’s firm request, the carriage traveling at a steady pace came to a halt.
The moment it stopped, Jessie opened the door and stepped outside, with Nina following after her.
“Miss, what on earth is the matter?”
“Look! Nina! It’s a slime!”
“What?”
With a smile as bright as the blazing midday sun, Jessie pointed in the slime’s direction.
“I’ve never seen a slime before! It’s so round!”
Her eyes sparkling, Jessie tried to approach the slime.
“W-Wait, Miss! It’s dangerous! You need to go with a knight! Miss!”
+++
‘Wow!’
When it spotted the moving carriage, the slime went boing, boing! as it bounced closer to get a better look.
Then the carriage suddenly stopped, and two unfamiliar creatures came out of it.
What was more, they were coming toward it!
Having become better at asking questions, the slime immediately asked the chat.
▷Are they humans?
Threadwork Madam, an Arachne watching Malangi’s broadcast, answered.
[Threadwork Madam]▶That’s right, Malangi~ Those are humans!
▷Wow! Humans!
The slime had finally met humans.
It watched the creatures approaching it with shining curiosity.
‘There are more!’
While the slime was asking the chat, Nina briefly stopped Jessie and approached alongside the knight who had been sitting in the driver’s seat.
▶Oh lol. Those really are hoomans this time.
▶Ruuun awaaay!
▶But those hoomans look fucking weak?
▶Isn’t the one coming from the back stronger than Malangi?
▶Hit first! Hit first!
The anonymous viewers casually sent messages while watching the humans approach the slime.
‘Humans! They’re coming!’
The number of approaching humans increased from two to three.
Kkanjuki had already told the slime what to watch out for when it met humans.
If a human attacked, it was best to avoid them.
But it still did not know whether they would attack.
Putting its curiosity first, the slime decided to observe the humans.
The Slime Queen had advised it to avoid humans whenever possible, but advice could not overcome the slime’s curiosity.
“Jessie! I’ve never seen a slime before! It’s pale green! Are all slimes like that?”
“Miss! Let the knight go first! Please wait while the knight checks it out! Pin! Hurry! You need to protect Miss!”
“Why are you making such a fuss over a slime?”
“What if Miss gets hurt? Hurry!”
“Fine, fine. Miss, please step back for a moment. I’ll check it first.”
“Okay! Please do!”
A young knight with a sword at their waist and armor on their shoulders, legs, and chest approached the slime.
They had trained at the knight training grounds in the count’s territory and were now a fully fledged knight.
Having encountered monsters far stronger than slimes during training, the knight stood before it without much concern.
‘No matter how I look at it, it’s just an ordinary slime.’
A slime.
It was an extremely nonaggressive monster that never attacked first unless attacked directly.
Since they absorbed nearly anything, some regions used slimes to dispose of food waste, sewage, and even at funerals. They could be considered a monster relatively close to humans.
‘Even if it attacks, I can deal with a slime in no time.’
Pin crouched down and held out a hand toward the slime.
It was a way of judging a slime’s disposition, learned from a fellow trainee who had raised slimes at the knight training grounds.
A slime that ran away when petted was highly wary.
A slime that moved wildly and tried to leap at someone’s torso was aggressive and needed to be dealt with immediately.
A slime that stayed still was gentle and could safely be kept as a pet.
Pin petted the slime with a gloved hand.
‘?’
The slime could not immediately understand why the human was suddenly petting it.
But the gentle touch did not feel unpleasant.
Delighted by the feel of the glove stroking it, the slime trembled all over.
‘It’s trembling? What kind of reaction is that?’
Caught off guard by the unexpected response, Pin considered it.
“Me too! I want to touch the slime too!”
Jealous of Pin petting the slime, Jessie bounced in place.
The slime already looked so soft and squishy.
She desperately wanted to pet the cute slime herself.
“Miss! Please calm down! Pin! Is it really safe?”
The noble daughter wanted to touch the slime, while the maid, Pin’s childhood friend, pressed him for an answer.
After considering what to do, Pin thought of a solution.
“Please stay there, Miss. I’ll bring it over.”
Pin lifted the slime with both hands.
It was to keep the slime from bouncing away while Jessie petted it.
“Stay still.”
‘Wooooow!’
Just like when it had climbed onto Nellin’s hand, the slime trembled with joy at the strange feeling of its viewpoint rising.
‘It’s trembling again? Does it like this?’
Holding the slime, Pin approached Jessie.
“Here you go, Miss.”
“Pin, is this really all right?”
“Don’t worry. I’m holding it tight.”
Eyes shining brightly, Jessie reached out toward the slime.
“Wow! It’s soft! Slimes really are squishy!”
Jessie beamed at the feeling of the slime beneath her hand.
At the same time, Jessie’s gentle touch delighted the slime as well.
Brrrrrr!
“Eek! It’s trembling! That tickles!”
“I-It’s trembling? Pin! Is it really okay?”
“It should be? I think it’s happy?”
“What do you mean, you think?”
“How am I supposed to know what a slime is feeling? At least it isn’t attacking Miss.”
While the maid and knight bickered, Jessie petted the slime to her heart’s content.
‘It’s cute, squishy, and looks so gentle!’
Completely taken with the slime’s texture, Jessie declared,
“I’m taking this one home and raising it!”
“What!?”
“What did you say?”
At the shocking statement, the maid and knight stopped arguing and stared at Jessie.
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