Monster Livestream Star - Chapter 32

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Asakusa

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Monster Livestream Star ◈

Chapter 32: Godrick's Party (4)

──────

The Ludendion Count's estate.

“Haah...”

Count Ludendion's daughter, Jessie Ludendion, stared blankly out the window with a sigh.

‘Alexander II...’

It had already been two weeks since she released the Slime.

For the day she met it again, she ordered the servants to bring more folktales and stories to the estate library.

After that order, her days continued as usual.

No, they were hardly different from how they had been before the Slime.

‘It’s doing well, right?’

Jessie sighed again.

Even now, if she closed her eyes, she could remember the sensation of the Slime trembling atop her head and the sight of it happily bouncing before her.

Her memories with the Slime were so happy and precious that she could not help sighing.

Still, Jessie decided not to remain lost in those memories.

‘I need to get ahold of myself. I need to have more interesting stories to tell Alexander II when I see it again!’

If she stayed gloomy like this, Alexander II would surely be sad too.

Thinking that, Jessie let out a deep breath and steeled herself.

After spacing out and remembering the Slime, she would pull herself together, regain her energy, and focus on the studies required of a noble.

Jessie Ludendion had repeated this several times over the two weeks since the Slime left.

And Jessie's actions were reported to Rufus Ludendion, the Count.

“Sniff! How admirable, my angel...!”

Count Ludendion found it so praiseworthy that she was moving forward instead of being consumed by the sorrow of parting.

Though she kept repeating this now, he hoped that she would gradually feel better with time.

‘Today, I should have them make our angel’s favorite foods!’

He was about to summon Albert, the head butler, and order a reward prepared for his admirable daughter when someone knocked on the office door.

Knock knock knock.

“Who is it?”

“This is Geren.”

It was the commander of Count Ludendion's knight order.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

The commander entered the office and immediately spoke.

“I came because there is an urgent matter to report, my lord.”

“What is it? Speak.”

“...The elven hero, Nellin, has entered the territory.”

“Wh, wh, what!?”

Bang!

Count Ludendion slammed his desk and rose in shock.

“Nellin!? Why would she come here?”

“I do not know. A soldier on patrol spotted Nellin and hurried to report it.”

“This cannot be...”

One worry had passed, only for another great worry to arrive.

Jessie was overcoming the matter of the Slime well enough, but what if the true nature of the hero she admired was revealed now?

‘Aah! Jessie!’

Count Ludendion could not help worrying that his beloved angel's heart would be torn to pieces.

All he could do was hope that Nellin had merely stopped by the territory and would not come to the estate.

After all, he could not directly send knights or soldiers to stop her.

The Count stopping the hero Nellin from coming to his estate?

Why?

Was he hiding something?

Turning away a hero at his door?

If such rumors spread, his honor could fall into ruin.

But the Count's hopes were swiftly crushed.

Less than an hour later, Nellin arrived at Count Ludendion's estate.

As soon as he received the report, the Count ordered a soldier to guide Nellin to the reception room.

And so, Count Ludendion met Nellin again for the first time in nearly twenty years.

“Hahaha! It’s been a while. Wow, you’ve grown so much! That handsome young man has become quite the dashing man.”

“Th, thank you, Lady Nellin.”

‘Ngh! Lady Nellin said I’m dashing!’

The illusion of the “amazing Lady Nellin” he had imagined had shattered when they first met, but Count Ludendion's respect for Nellin, the Starlight Archer, remained pure.

Praise from a hero he admired made him happier than he could say.

Still, he could not simply bask in that joy.

“But what brings you to my territory? Has something happened in the Blue Elf Forest?”

“Hm? Ah, don’t worry, it’s nothing like that. I came because I wanted to talk with you and... your daughter.”

“My angel!?”

“Angel?”

“Ah, ahem! You wish to speak with my daughter, who is as pretty and lovely as an angel?”

“...Huh. That sharp kid has become a complete doting dad after having a daughter.”

Nellin looked faintly impressed, then continued with the reason for her visit.

“You sent a letter to our village, remember? Saying you had picked up a strange Slime.”

“Yes.”

“I actually met that Slime too.”

“You met the Slime, Lady Nellin?”

“Yeah.”

Nellin briefly told him about her short encounter with the Slime and the Elder's concerns.

“My grandma nagged me so much that I had no choice but to release it outside the village. I never expected you all to have taken it in. I was surprised when I read the letter, you know? I never imagined it would be smart enough to understand writing.”

“I see. Then, Lady Nellin... Are you here to dispose of that Slime?”

Count Ludendion wore a bitter expression after hearing of the Elder's concerns through Nellin.

“Hm? No. Why would I be? I told you, I just came to hear about it. I wanted to know more about how that Slime lived in this territory.”

“You will not dispose of it? You said the Elder was worried...”

“That’s just because my grandma worries over nothing. Not every monster with intelligence is hostile toward humans.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Besides... I defeated the biggest bastard among the monsters smart enough to think, you know? You can tell these things by instinct.”

The Black Dragon known as the Disaster.

It had been no ordinary monster, and the Nellin standing before him was the very hero who had defeated it.

“I came here entirely out of curiosity. Honestly, I was bored too.”

“Bored?”

“Try living in our village forever. Peaceful is nice, but it gets so boring I could die. Honestly, I’ve held back well until now. Oh, come to think of it, I’m a little hurt?”

“Pardon?”

“You should invite me to the estate sometimes. Then I can come out of the forest to have fun without worrying about Grandma watching me.”

“Uh...”

He had never expected to hear something like that from Nellin.

Of course, he had deliberately avoided contacting her to keep his daughter's illusion intact, but he felt a little guilty.

“I apologize, Lady Nellin.”

“No, there’s no need to apologize. More importantly, I would like to talk with your daughter.”

“That...!”

There was no avoiding a meeting between his daughter and Nellin now.

Then all he could do was try his best to preserve his daughter's illusion.

“Lady Nellin, I have a request.”

“A request?”

“My daughter respects and admires you greatly.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But that admiration comes from the stories describing you as brave and beautiful in the biographies. So please... I would like you to refrain from talking about the things you said when you met me before.”

“Did I say something strange when I met you?”

“I mean stories like when you shot an arrow into another hero's backside after they took your jerky.”

“Ahh. I get what you mean.”

Nellin understood what Rufus wanted.

For more than a decade, the Elder had lectured her about this.

Whenever Nellin visited the Elder's house to drink and tell old stories when she was bored, the Elder would frown at the completely unrestrained tales.

She told Nellin to tone down her stories when talking with others.

“Don’t worry. I’ll speak very heroically.”

“...”

Count Ludendion still remembered Nellin casually telling all sorts of crude stories in the past, but there was nothing more he could say.

All he could do was say:

“I beg you.”

And hope that the worst would not happen.

+++

“N, nice to meet you, Lady Nellin! I am Jessie Ludendion!”

Jessie's heart pounded.

After all, she was meeting Nellin, the Starlight Archer she had admired and wished to meet for so long, one of the heroes who had defeated the Disaster.

When her maid Nina suddenly told her that Nellin had come to the estate and wished to meet her, Jessie had pinched her cheek because she could not believe it.

“Hello. So you’re Jessie. You’re pretty.”

“Me!?”

“Your father said you were as pretty as an angel. I can see why.”

“Lady Nellin! Even if it’s true, you don’t need to say such things out loud...!”

“Father, honestly!”

Jessie was always happy for the love her father gave her, but she could not help feeling embarrassed now.

“Say, Jessie. Could you tell me about it too? The Slime you said you found.”

“You mean Alexander II?”

“Alexan... what?”

“Alexander II! Isn’t it a wonderful name?”

“Uh... It is. Yeah. It’s wonderful.”

She could not tell Jessie, whose eyes were sparkling, that it was a name that did not suit a Slime.

“I wanted to hear about how you lived with that Alexander II.”

“Lady Nellin is interested in Alexander II!”

“A Slime friendly with people is interesting, isn’t it? In return, I’ll tell you some old stories too. I heard you like the story of how my companions and I defeated the Black Dragon?”

“R, really!? I get to hear directly from Lady Nellin about defeating the Black Dragon...!”

She had spent her days worrying about the Slime, so she had never imagined such luck would come her way.

And Nellin, whom she admired, wanted to hear about the Slime she loved!

Their favorite topics overlapped, and Jessie's heart pounded happily.

+++

Boing!

Thud!

Graaah!

The Slime's Bounce Tackle drove into the Orc's side.

“Good! Nice one, Tongtong! Hey, Def! Attack already!”

“Y, yeah! Hyaah!”

“Seugol! Stop getting distracted and get over here!”

“Yes, Boss!”

It had already been two weeks since the group became adventurers.

Beginning with the Scarlet Goblin extermination, Godric Party had completed requests smoothly and were now able to take D-rank requests.

And today, they were in the middle of exterminating Orcs.

Their method of fighting was simple.

Whenever several Orcs appeared, the Slime would go first and deal heavy damage, then one member of Godric Party would step in with a follow-up attack.

The remaining three would coordinate to keep the other Orcs at bay or deal with them.

Once the Orc it was fighting fell, the Slime would quickly bounce over and attack the Orc assigned to the other three.

Using this method, Godric Party was hunting monsters smoothly without suffering any serious injuries.

“We’ve met our quota! Let’s head back!”

“Yes, Boss!”

“Tongtong! Come here!”

Boing! Boing!

After gathering the loot, the Slime climbed atop Def's head as usual.

It had been fun to take requests and defeat monsters together again today.

But the Slime currently had a concern.

‘Coins aren’t piling up...’

It was the problem of obtaining coins.