Intermission: Mira’s Confusion

I was confused. There is so much that I do not understand.

 

If you are talking about monsters, most of them would have no intelligence and would act based on instincts, is what I have learned at the elven village, it is true based on what I have seen throughout my journey.

 

I am now 19 years old, I am still a child among the long lived elves. My experience is shallow and it would be presumptuous to compare it to the amount of knowledge that the other elves have.

I went out of the village because I want to know the outside world, it has been a few years since I have been on this journey and without exception I have been attacked by both humans and monsters, I have gained power.

 

Yes, so far.

 

(If so then what is with this situation?)

 

I was impatient and without confirming anything I jumped into the river and almost died due to being exposed to a sparkfish attack. It cannot be described as anything else but carelessness, in fact, I probably would have died if I stayed there.

 

The nearby slime…..san saved me.

It is a lifesaver from that point of view, a person? (a slime?) I am thankful that it did not attack me and I understand why it’s behavior is too impolite and that it is rather cautious.

However, conventional common sense and experience was rejected with the two persons who are monsters in front of me. (TLN: RIP Common sense-chan)　

I woke up confused due to the misunderstanding, without dropping precaution I decided to blame  the two persons I saw who were talking comfortably.

 

The contents, speech and the manner of the conversation, everything seems human. It seems no different from the people in the village that I am indebted. If you close your eyes then it would seem like there are two humans there.

 

But in reality they are monsters, the enemy of humans and elves.

 

I was honestly confused when I was told that it wanted to talk to me. I wonder how such a talk will turn out, I am suspicious that it will only try to extract information from me.

 

But, no matter what kind of story I tell Slime-san he did not show any signs of being tired and listened to me sincerely. As the story goes on, I have told a lot of unpleasant things about the village children being entrapped and the long lasting indifference in the village.

 

We are going to rest now for tomorrow since we are already done talking, I could not sleep. Maybe, it may be due to having no fatigue because of sleeping for a very long time due to fainting.,

 

I continue pretending to sleep, I heard a noise.

 

“Hn!”

 

It was the sound of a slime moving because it didn’t sound like something with bones. But, what kind of business do you have in the middle of the night. In fact, it was him who told me to take a break. Then he expressly stayed up.

 

I wonder if it is to dispose of me. I finished hearing your story and since you are no longer necessary I will just easily kill you in your sleep, isn’t that how you would think of it?

 

My body is trembling with fear. My weapons have yet to be returned.

 

(I am scared!)

 

Isn’t he going to try to kill me as soon as I open my eyes. I think that he is not nearby yet judging from the sound that my elven ears could hear clearly.

 

(…… is the sound moving away?)

 

I heard the bouncing sound moving out of the cave. It does not seem like he is going to attack me, but then what should I do.

 

As soon as I thought that.

 

“Fuu, it is difficult to be a soft-hearted person.”

“What!!”

 

I hear the a voice and a chatter of bones this time. It seems that the one who is named Bleached Bones is awake as well. He also talked about Slime-san anxiously but I do not know what kind of person he is since he never talked to him other than his first introduction.

 

However, it was an honest impression but it is not so reliable because there was that easy going feeling.

 

Bleached Bones -san seem to have gone outside of the cave. I can hear their voices but as expected I could not pickup the contents of what they are talking about. The words that I fragmentedly heard and still lingered in my is,

 

“A soft hearted person?”

 

Bleached bone also said the same thing before. That means that there is only one person who that that word applies to.

 

(Is it Slime-san?)

 

I understand that he is soft hearted. He saved me even though it was unnecessary, I was somewhat concerned after I woke up in this cave. Surely, it is nothing else but a soft hearted person.

 

A soft hearted slime, no, if what Bleached Bone -san said is correct then he may be a reincarnated human.

In fact such a tradition still remains in the elven village.

 

It is said that there are some souls that continue to exist without change even after being sublimated into a distant height and passing through the circle of reincarnation.

Up until now,I thought this kind of story was just fantasy or an old man’s tale, I did not think that it was possible.

 

While thinking of such a thing, I realized that their conversation was interrupted. When you listen closely, you can hear Slime-san bouncing sound coming closer. It passed the place where I was just a while ago, he was definitely coming towards me.

 

All of a sudden he stopped moving and gives up. If I made a bad move here then he will know that I have been eavesdropping. I did not hear much of the content and I do know whether I should believe it or not, keep your mouth shut, it is not limited to such an outcome.

 

It moved slightly as I continue to pretend to sleep. I cannot help but feel a blank being wrapped around my body. As I thought,

 

(It’s, it’s cold! Isn’t the night time around here so cold!?)

 

I did camping out many times before but have substantial equipment to start a fire, I had to cover myself in several blankets as preventive measures against the cold.

 

I thought that I would just just capture ang angel rabbit and return and so I entered the forest without preparing anything, it was a good thing when it comes to hunting but it is also good to be able to move easily. I am able to bear this cold in this light clothing.

 

You will regret having let go of that blanket, it sounded like Slime-san landed right next to me. Furthermore this is the result of the two going outside and talking, did you come to dispose of me this time?

 

I do not know if I can survive even if I resisted. All I can do is wait with my body trembling from cold and fear.

 

“Geez, cannot be helped.”

 

At the same time as he said that, something was placed on my body. Warm, it is the feeling of the blanket that was wrapped up a while ago.

 

(….only this?)

 

Such a stupid thing, coming back just to renew the blankets. You were worried about me a complete stranger.

 

Once cooled your body would not warm up easily, I have no choice but to lie down confused.

 

I cannot even open my eyes, I do not wanna make any noise now. I wonder if he is stillnearby since there is no sound, I wonder what he is doing.

 

“This much should do”

 

The doubt in the voice and the coldness disappeared at the same time as if it was a lie. Warm heat soaked my body that make it seem like I am before a fire place.

 

(Warm …..)

“Hnn……”

 

My voice leaked out accidentally. I thought he was awake but I waited for a while and there was no response. I opened my eyes when I could no longer hear any sound, Slime-san was there as expected.

 

He was not right next to me but relatively close, clearly the heat came from that direction.

 

You can feel the heat more when you hold out your hand. Even though Slime-san is sleeping comfortably and breathing peacefully.

 

The reason for his action is clear. I thought my sleep was gonna be bothered by the cold but he did the role of a fireplace. Soft hearted person, I felt like I have finally understood the true meaning of that word from that time.

 

“You are so kind.”

 

It was not necessary for him to do such a thing. It is there just to warm me up.

It warmed my heart and made me wonder.

 

“……I am sorry that I doubted you.”

 

The me a while ago seemed terribly ugly and dirty. So many times have you helped me and kept good faith, I have doubted you.

 

Human, I did not want to paint him as such but it does not change the way I see him.

 

“Thank you so much”

 

These words does not reach him who is asleep, even so I felt that I had to say it. Of course I would have to thank him again tomorrow.

 

This person can be trusted, the moment I thought that, drowsiness came.

Apparently I could not sleep not because I was not sleepy, it would seem that it was because I was nervous and wary.

 

I had no more fear. I will travel to the world of sleep with peace of mind while being wrapped in warmth.

 

“……good night”

 

I used that words which I have not used for a long time, it made me feel pleasant somewhere.

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Translator’s Note:

I tried to crunch out this chapter since I have not much cash on hand for internet cafe fees. Having no net on my own is hard. 3 more weeks before they can resume my net on my new place.

I would like to thank David B.  for paying this month’s website maintenance. The website exists due to people like you giving a bit for the general good.

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