Chapter 221:
So Competitive
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
I crawled out through the big hole in the trunk of a giant tree and spread out my arms. It felt so good to exercise my back. Druid was yawning and stretching beside me.
“Pu! Puuu,” Sora said, doing its vertical stretches.
Do slimes do morning stretches, too? I wonder if it feels good? “Sora, does it feel good when you do that?”
Sora didn’t answer. I guessed that meant it didn’t necessarily “feel good.” Then why did it stretch? What a mystery.
Mee-how… Ciel’s sleepy mew was so cute. Since last night’s sleeping nook was too big for an adandara, Ciel had slept in slime form and now slime-Ciel was doing a vertical stretch just like Sora.
Meee…
That was a happy sound. Did Ciel enjoy moving like that? “Hey, Ciel, does stretching feel good?”
Mrrrow.
That was a yes. I guess slime-Ciel is different from slime-Sora? I’ll have to ask Flame how it feels the next time I see it stretching.
I raised my arms to the sky again. Huh. I’m not sure why, but I feel a bit heavy today. Maybe I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. I need to be more careful about that.
I let Druid pack up our beds while I got breakfast ready—which was easy, since all that really meant was reheating yesterday’s leftover soup. The only other thing I had to do was cut some fruit. Hot soup was a welcome breakfast, since the evenings and mornings got quite chilly this time of year. It was enough to give me the energy boost I needed to get through the day.
I asked Druid last night if my attitude toward the slimes and Ciel was what had made them so competitive. If I was doing something wrong, I would have to be careful or the three might quarrel again.
But Druid assured me my behavior was not a problem at all. I’d never said anything that would incite competition, and I’d never given one of them more affection over the others, so it was a mystery why the slimes had started this rivalry with Ciel. We bounced ideas off each other but still found no answers, so we decided to just keep an eye on them for a while.
We checked on the trio now as we ate breakfast. For some reason, Ciel—still in slime form—was jiggling. Why it was doing that was a mystery. Sora and Flame had hearty appetites, as always. The potions were disappearing in quite a flurry, and Sora was making swords vanish in the blink of an eye.
I wonder if slimes can taste things? “Sora, Flame, does it taste good?”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
I guess it does taste good. I’ve tried potions before, but they didn’t taste that great. Their sense of taste must be different from mine.
After we finished breakfast, we took a little break. Then, when it was about time to clean up and get moving, I looked over at Sora and Flame…
“Oh, Flame, not again…” I sighed. “Yikes…so much drool.”
Flame was carrying on its usual tradition of falling asleep mid-meal, with whatever it was eating hanging out of its mouth. I liberated Flame from the string of drool spilling out of its mouth and wiped its body clean. As I did this, the deteriorated potion slowly dissolved. I was a little impressed in spite of myself that the slime could eat while sleeping.
I washed the soup pot, put it in my bag, and checked the area to see if I’d forgotten anything. Everything was fine, so I put Flame in the bag and carefully slid my arm through it.
“Okay, everyone, let’s head out,” Druid said.
“Okay. Sora, Ciel, let’s go.”
“Pu! Puuu.”
Mrrrow.
We got on the village road we’d found the day before and started off toward Hatow Village. I’d wanted to go a little off the road and walk in the forest, but since Ciel had remained in slime form, I figured it didn’t have a problem with taking the village road and so we decided to head that way. Even if we crossed paths with someone, there would be no rumors of adandaras on our watch. I mean, if somebody saw Ciel in its slime form and recognized it as an adandara, that in itself would be an impressive feat indeed…terrifying, even.
“It sure is easier to walk here.”
“Yes, indeed.”
We marveled over the simple pleasure of a smooth village road. It was so easy to walk when you didn’t have to worry about tree roots or burrs in the grass.
“Pu! Puuu.”
Mewww.
I turned my gaze toward the sound of Sora and Ciel’s voices…and saw that they were bouncing up and down a few paces ahead of us. For some reason, the pair were jumping with all their might. What were they doing?
I watched them as we walked, and it looked like they were having a contest to see who could jump the highest. Sora had just bounced higher, which would explain the smug smile and the puffed-out chest. Seeing this, Ciel tried to out-jump Sora…which it apparently did, because now Ciel was the one puffing its chest out at Sora.
“I’m glad you guys are having fun. Just don’t hurt yourselves, okay?”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
Mrrrow.
They’d heard me, but were they really going to be careful? My goodness, look at them jump. It’s making me feel queasy just watching them…
Boing…boing…SMACK!
“Oh, Ciel! Are you okay?” I knew somebody would crash. Ciel had jumped so eagerly that it smashed right into a thick branch hanging overhead. It sounded really painful. The branch was broken as well. How much force did it take to snap such a thick branch like that?
I ran up to Ciel. “Are you okay?” I asked, touching it gently. Sora looked worried, too.
Mrrrow, Ciel jiggled in reply. Its pain now gone, it resumed its jumping contest with Sora.
You kids never learn, do you? “Oh, honestly!”
“Say, Ivy?”
“Yes, sir?”
Druid’s brows were knitted tightly together—he was pondering something. What could it be? I looked around and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. I didn’t sense any auras approaching us, either.
“What’s wrong?”
“You know how Ciel led us to that cave with the blackstones and how Sora made those sparkling potions…do you think that’s the reason why?”
I saw that he was pointing at Sora and Ciel, having their jumping contest. Was that what he was talking about? Um, how is a jumping contest related to finding valuable stones or making potions?
“Don’t you think they might have been having a contest to see who could help you out the most?”
Oh! I was mistaken. Yeah, that makes sense. Jumping high has nothing to do with finding valuable stones. It was actually pretty obvious once you gave it a little thought. How embarrassing… I’m glad I didn’t say the wrong thing out loud.
“Ivy? Something wrong?”
“Er, no, sir.” I softly touched a hand to my cheek. I thought it was just a tad hot.
“Ivy?” Druid looked a little concerned by my odd behavior.
“Ha ha ha, I’m okay.” Er, what were we talking about again? Oh yeah! That they were having a contest. “You may be right about that.”
I looked at the duo ahead. They were jumping even more brashly. They must be really excited. I hope nobody smashes into a tree again. I felt little prickles all over my skin as I watched them.
“Think we should just ask the little rascals?” Druid asked.
“Yeah. Let’s do that.” He’s right. We should just ask them if there’s something we don’t understand. I’m not sure why…but I feel a little lightheaded.
“Not so fast.” Druid grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks and turning me to face him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I’m not sure why…but he seems really worried about me. But…I feel totally normal. Just a little lightheaded, that’s all.
“Pu! Puuu?”
Mew?
Sora and Ciel peered anxiously at us. I hadn’t even noticed they’d returned to our side.
“I’m ohay.” Hm? Why can’t I move my mouth like I want to? I suddenly noticed something cold on my forehead. It felt so nice that I closed my eyes. “That feels good.” Wait, what’s touching my forehead?
“Ivy…you’ve got a fever all right.”
A fee-ver? A fee…ver?
“The sudden drop in temperature last night probably weakened your system. Are you okay?”
“Fee-ver?”
“Yes.”
“Fee-ver?”
“You don’t seem okay to me.”
Fee-ver? As I stood there, trying to remember what a fever was, I felt the bag on my shoulder rustle. Oh…Flame wants out. I plopped onto the ground and took it out of the bag.
“Teryuuu?”
I see Flame…oh. Why is it spinning in circles?
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