A new environment, delicious food, and gestures of kindness directed toward it.
To the slime, none of these were unpleasant.
Still, the curiosity to see more remained.
In fact, staying only inside the mansion made the desire to see other places even stronger.
The reason was clear.
"Alexandros II! I'll read you a book again today!"
The biggest influence came from the books Jessie read every night.
The slime was Jessie’s first-ever pet.
And since it felt nice and squishy when hugged, she even cuddled it while sleeping in the same bed.
The slime didn’t mind, as it also liked the warmth of the human body and the soft feel of pajamas.
And every night, Jessie always read a book to the slime before sleeping.
‘It’s so smart, so I’m sure it’ll enjoy being read to!’
Seeing how intelligent the slime acted, Jessie judged it would appreciate books and took out some stories she had enjoyed as a child from the study to read to it.
These were legendary tales, folktales, or biographies that the Count of Ludendion had purchased for Jessie when she was younger.
The books were filled with illustrations like picture books to make them easier for children to understand, and some were even custom-made by writers and illustrators the Count hired just for Jessie.
With her back leaning against the bed’s headboard and the slime resting on her lap, Jessie opened a book and read aloud.
There was the tale of a hero who defended a city alone against hundreds of monsters.
The story of a knight who crossed the great continent to collect the venom of an Arachne to cure a princess poisoned by an assassin.
The adventures of a treasure hunter who traveled across the continent.
And Jessie’s personal favorite — the story of five heroes who fought against the disastrous black dragon.
Since the fairy tale-like stories were short, they didn’t take long to read.
Moreover, the way Jessie read with her signature theatrical tone made the slime tremble with excitement every time, which made reading even more fun for her.
And it wasn’t just Jessie who enjoyed the reading time.
The slime also found joy in the stories Jessie read.
Not only did it enjoy the content of the books in Jessie’s voice, but it also used the illustrations to imagine places it had never seen before.
At the same time, the stories of the heroes were fun in and of themselves.
Because they were tales of beings the slime didn’t know yet.
Meanwhile, the bedtime reading unintentionally became great content for the viewers as well.
▶ Why are human stories so fun? LOL
▶ Fights between weaklings are always entertaining.
▶ I could wipe out a few hundred humans myself—does that make me a legend too?
▶Nope, that’d make you a disaster, LOL.
▶Don’t you get human perspectives? LOL
Some were simply enjoying the stories for what they were.
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Oh my, so that human who visited back then came for this?
▶ ?? What are you talking about?
[Thread-Lady] ▶ The Arachne in the story — that’s me.
▶ Some viewers were amazed to learn that the characters in the books were based on real people.
▶ For real?
▶ LOL, that was you in the story?
▶ Is the book the same as what really happened?
‘Touched by the knight’s earnest plea, the Arachne personally gave her venom’ — was that true?
Naturally, people wanted to compare the book to the facts, especially when they could hear it from the person themselves.
[Thread-Lady]▶ Nope. It wasn’t a plea, he demanded I give him the venom.
▶ So did you give it to him?
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Would you call this giving? I didn’t want my babies to get hurt by some fool messing around, so I tried to solve it with poison.
▶!!!.
[Thread-Lady] ▶ I spat out the venom and he dodged it quickly. Then he bottled the venom that spilled on the floor and ran away. I was so surprised he ran off with just that, I just stood there and watched.
▶LOL
▶ Wait, it wasn’t a heartfelt plea?! LOL
▶He just stole the venom and ran?! LOL
Getting to hear the truth directly from the source only made the content even better.
▶It wasn’t a plea, I wasn’t moved, he just bottled up what I spat out.
▶ So what part of the book was accurate then? LOL
▶ OMG LOL he did take the poison though LOL
Even though it had only been three days, with mukbangs and now storytime broadcasts happening daily, the number of viewers watching the slime’s streams steadily increased.
If it were a monster craving recognition, it might have gotten excited seeing the rising viewer count, but the slime wasn’t even thinking of the broadcasts that way.
What really occupied its mind was the growing desire to see the diverse landscapes described in Jessie’s books.
That thought kept growing stronger.
And then, on the fourth day since the slime arrived at the mansion—
After breakfast, Jessie hugged the slime and asked Nina, the maid, “Nina, can I take Alexandros II outside?”
‘Outside.’
As soon as Jessie brought up the idea of going outside, the slime reacted immediately.
Thanks to Jessie reading to it daily, the slime’s language comprehension was growing rapidly.
“No, you can’t.”
“Why not? Alexandros II is so cute and harmless!”
“Still, it’s a monster. We can’t have a monster openly roaming around inside the Count’s territory. I’m sure the Count would say the same.”
“But Alexandros II wants to go outside!”
“What do you mean? The slime...”
“Alexandros II!”
“Ahem, how do you know Alexandros II wants to go outside, miss?”
“Of course I know! When we’re in the room, Alexandros II always stares out the window whenever I’m not reading to him! That clearly means he wants to go out! And he loves the stories I read! He’s definitely a curious one!”
Even in such a short time, Jessie’s unbiased thinking allowed her to accurately understand the slime’s nature.
But even so, it's not easy for others to accept that right away.
Nina acknowledged that the slime was calm and didn’t attack people recklessly,
But she still found it hard to believe that the slime was that curious or intelligent.
Even though she had seen it follow commands and hop onto Finn’s head, she still had doubts — could a monster really behave like that?
“Miss, I don’t think a slime could be that curious...”
“It’s true! Look!”
Jessie put the slime down on the floor and spoke.
“Alexandros II! Do you want to go outside? If you do, bounce three times!”
‘Outside! I want to go out!’
Boing! Boing! Boing!
As if fully understanding Jessie’s words, the slime bounced exactly three times.
“See!”
“...You didn’t train it to bounce three times when placed on the floor, did you?”
“No way! Alexandros II! I think Nina doesn’t believe us! Run around her!”
Boing! Boing!
The moment Jessie finished speaking, the slime started running in circles around Nina.
“Huh? Wha—?”
“See! Alexandros II is smart! Stop running and come here!”
Boing!
As Jessie reached out her hand, the slime leapt accurately and landed on her palm.
“Can’t we really take it outside? Our Alexandros II is smart and obedient! Right? Right? Can’t we?”
“Ah, no. Even if that’s true, without the Count’s permission...”
“Alexandros II! Use your secret weapon! Head massage!”
Boing!
“Kyaah! W-What is this?!”
When Jessie raised her hand, the slime landed perfectly on top of Nina’s head and began to tremble.
Along with its soft texture, a rhythmic vibration massaged Nina’s scalp.
“Ugh!”
‘This feels unbelievably good!’
The faint vibrations descending through her head loosened the stiffness in her shoulders.
“A-Ah. W-Wait. Can you try going on my shoulders instead of my head?”
‘Shoulders?’
Boing!
As Nina slightly tilted her head to the side, the slime shifted from her head to her shoulder and began to tremble again.
“A-Aaah~ Just as I thought—this is perfect...!”
Feeling the slime’s vibrations directly on her shoulders, Nina felt the tension in her muscles melt away in an instant.
“Alexandros II! Come back here! You don’t need to do any more favors!”
Boing!
The slime returned to Jessie’s arms.
“Ah...”
As the perfect massage disappeared, Nina instinctively reached out in disappointment.
And then—
“Hehe.”
Seeing Jessie’s smug smile, Nina came to her senses and quickly withdrew her hand with a cough.
Ahem! “I understand now that Alexandros II listens very well.”
“Then can we go outside?”
‘Outside!’
“That’s not a decision I can make. In any case, we still need the Count’s permission. Sigh... I’ll go ask the Count.”
“Really?! Thank you, Nina! Alexandros II, let’s thank Nina together!”
‘Thank you! Nina!’
As if expressing its feelings, the slime bounced softly on Jessie’s hand.
Nina couldn’t help but think it was cute.
“I-I’m just making the suggestion. We don’t know if the Count will approve, so please don’t get your hopes up.”
***
“This concludes the report on the slime currently staying by the young lady’s side.”
“I see. Good work, Albert.”
Count Rufus Ludendion was receiving a report about the slime from his butler, Albert.
He wanted to know if there had been any suspicious behavior in the past few days or whether his beloved angel Jessie had been put in danger.
But according to the report, the slime had been following Jessie around very obediently.
The sight of the slime trembling with joy every time it ate had even inspired the head chef to feel a renewed sense of purpose, and Jessie often placed it on her head while moving around, further amplifying her own adorable charm.
As Count Ludendion, it was frustrating that he couldn’t personally witness his daughter’s lovely appearance.
What’s more, he’d heard that his daughter even picked books from the study to read to the slime before bed.
At any rate, he was relieved that the slime hadn’t shown any aggression so far.
However, there was one thing that puzzled him.
‘It seems to have a rather high level of intelligence.’
It wasn’t just the report — Rufus himself had noticed the slime seemed quite intelligent.
Almost like a pet that had lived alongside humans for years.
No, maybe it even had full communication ability — it followed Jessie’s instructions so well it made him think that.
It obeyed so perfectly that even the Countess had admired how well-behaved it was.
This clashed with the common sense Count Ludendion had.
Normally, a monster with that level of intelligence should be incredibly powerful — but this was just a slime, so he couldn’t help but be skeptical.
While Count Ludendion was pondering about the slime—
“Father!”
His beloved angel entered the study, holding the slime and accompanied by Nina.
“I want to go outside with Alexandros II! I want to show him around our estate!”
“Outside, you say?”
“Yes! Nina said it would be fine!”
“Count! I only meant if you gave permission, then it might be okay!”
“Alexandros II is really smart and gentle! So he’ll be well-behaved even outside! Please, Father!”
“Hmm.”
His daughter’s sparkling eyes and Nina’s conditional approval, on top of his curiosity about the slime’s intelligence.
Count Ludendion opened his mouth with a decision.
“Very well. Then let us go together to inspect the estate.”
“Really?! I’m so happy, Father! I love you!”
“Hahahahaha!”
Delighted by his beloved angel’s love, Count Ludendion laughed heartily.
‘We’re going outside!’
Brrrrrr!
The slime, realizing it would finally get to go outside, trembled with excitement in Jessie’s arms.