Monster’s Streamer Star

The reason this group was still together was because of the Lich incident.

Squishy had returned safely, and the added issue involving Brooks Vessilja had also been resolved.

That was why Nellin asked each member about their plans going forward.

But when she thought about it, the most important voice was Squishy’s.

(When you get down to it, Squishy was always at the center of every incident.)

A slime connected to everyone, and for some reason, Ventus kept watching over it.

(If possible, I’d really like it to follow me. This little guy’s massage skills are no joke)

Naturally, Nellin, along with everyone else in the room, turned to look at the slime.

▶ What is this, “pick which human to follow” time?

▶ If I want comfort, then maybe the orange-haired one or the muscle human? Eating streams would be steady enough. That clingy one does all sorts of things with Squishy—wouldn’t that be more fun?

▶ No, no. The best content is a travel stream where you never know which human it’ll bounce to next.

[Squishy Queen] ▶ Do not treat the choice of my kin as mere entertainment! Such insolence!

The viewers, too, watched closely to see Squishy’s choice.

▶ Who will it choose?

At Nellin’s question, Squishy thought for a moment, then acted immediately.

Boing!

“Huh?”

Squishy jumped high and landed on top of Paulen’s head.

“S-Squishy…”

Def called out to it, sounding deeply disappointed.

▶ So you picked the muscle human, lol.

▶ Ah, the lure of strong tentacles was irresistible.

[Just Slam First] ▶ Wait a sec! Then what about your wish to learn under me?

▶ Dunno?

▶ Like he cares about some wolf dude, lol.

Just when the viewers thought Squishy had chosen the Saintess and the Paladin’s side—

Boing! Boing!

Squishy bounced from Paulen’s head to Amelia’s, then to Gracie’s.

“Huh?”

“S-Squishy?”

Even as everyone stared in confusion, Squishy didn’t stop moving.

Boing! Boing! Boing!

From Gracie’s head, to Def’s, to Claire’s—Squishy bounced onto everyone’s head once before finally landing on the floor.

Boing! Boing!

Then it bounced in place, as if to declare, “This is my choice.”

The group naturally understood what Squishy wanted to say.

“Squishy, you… you’re greedy, aren’t you?”

(Greedy?)

Squishy tilted its body, as if it didn’t understand.

That sight made the group burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Looks like Squishy doesn’t want to pick anyone—it wants to be with everyone!”

“Squishy must really like us all!”

“Nellin, now that I think about it, we don’t even know what the Saintess or Gracie plan to do yet. Maybe we asked Squishy too soon.”

“Really? Well, as long as we got a good laugh, isn’t that enough?”

“Heh, you’re just dodging because you feel guilty.”

“Shut it.”

Smack!

“Ow!”

“You always manage to say something worth a slap, Hawane.”

“Ugh. This is my fate…”

“You make it sound noble, but really, you just can’t keep your mouth shut.”

After the mood lightened, Amelia spoke up.

“For now, I plan to return to the Holy Capital. I believe it’s my duty to personally deliver the news that Brooks Vessilja has been punished.”

“I will follow only where the Saintess leads.”

“As for me, I think I’ll have to stay at the Magic Tower for a while. I don’t know what’ll happen to our funding now, and I still have to submit my thesis.”

“I see.”

In the end, the group had no choice but to part ways.

Nellin, Godrick’s party, and Claire would continue traveling together.

Amelia and Paulen would return to the Holy Capital.

Gracie would remain at the Magic Tower.

(So, we’ll be parting with the Saintess.)

(Hmm, I wanted to hear more about magic tools, but I guess it can’t be helped.)

(Sparring with the Paladin wasn’t as brutal as with Nellin, so I kind of liked it.)

(Too bad.)

Though their journey together hadn’t been long, it wasn’t short either, so Godrick’s party felt regretful at parting from the others.

“Well, it’s not like being separated from you guys is that big of a deal.”

“Nellin, that’s a cold thing to say!”

“Cold, my ass. Squishy, hop onto my hand.”

(Hop on?)

Boing!

When Squishy climbed onto her hand, Nellin tapped its head with her finger.

“See? We’ve still got a little guy here who can go wherever it wants, maybe even spy on us, if it feels like it.”

(Are… are you talking about me, Nellin?)

At Nellin’s words, Troll—who had been watching the broadcast—flinched in reaction.

“If you really want to meet them, can’t you just ask that brat Ventus to teleport you over? Then you’d see them right away.”

“Y-You’re right. With Lord Ventus’s power, it should be more than possible. And with Saintess Presia there, there’s no chance of being found out.”

Amelia blinked, clearly never having thought of it.

“B-But… is it really okay to use Lord Ventus like that?”

Gracie felt uneasy at the thought of treating her ancestor like a stable hand.

To that, Nellin answered confidently.

“Of course it’s fine! We’ve basically been cleaning up their messes all this time anyway. If we give, there should be something in return!”

(Hmm…?)

Her attitude was downright brazen about making use of him, but Troll couldn’t refuse.

After all, Nellin was acting to let the two of them rest peacefully in death.

▶ What the hell? So Troll’s just the humans’ chauffeur now?

▶ Even if he used to be human, now he’s just being ordered around, lol.

[Thread-Lady] ▶ She says it’s to get along with the humans she’s with. Could it be love? It has to be love!

▶ Love my ass.

▶ Ah! LoveXus!

▶ This idiot is spouting nonsense again.

▶ The fact remains, even if they part ways, she can meet those humans again whenever she wants~.

By now, viewers were firmly convinced that Troll = human taxi service.

“Master, I have a question.”

Claire, who had been quiet, suddenly asked Nellin.

“What is it?”

“Why did you lie?”

“Huh?”

Claire began extending her fingers one by one, as if carefully sorting through what she knew.

“You, Gracie, and Amelia all said it. The lich was the Sage of Magic. The lich died together with Saintess Presia. But that night, after Squishy disappeared, you told me to wait so I wouldn’t worry. And then, a weird skeleton and an old lady appeared. Master, you called that skeleton and old lady Ventus and Presia.”

After saying everything she wanted to, Claire tilted her head at Nellin.

“So what’s the truth?”

“Ah.”

Everyone in the room froze.

They had overlooked a crucial fact.

It had slipped by so naturally that no one noticed—Claire had never been told any of the circumstances.

“Why… why are you only asking this now? Come to think of it, why didn’t you ask back then?”

She was talking about the time after Squishy disappeared, when Troll and Presia showed up.

Fortunately, Squishy had returned and the incident was resolved, so they completely forgot about Claire.

On top of that, Claire hadn’t said anything at the time, nor had she brought it up since, so they let it slip their minds.

“Because I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know?”

“I didn’t know why Master said that. I didn’t know why everyone else said something different. I thought about it a lot, but… I still don’t understand.”

Claire had been puzzling over why Nellin’s group never told her the truth, but no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t figure it out.

Now that the topic had come up again, she decided to ask.

“Why did you lie, Master?”

“Ah… well, here’s the thing. First, let me just say this. Sorry. I completely forgot to explain it to you.”

“I see. I forget things all the time too.”

Claire immediately accepted her excuse of having forgotten.

Nellin’s lips curled into a smile, pleased by the straightforward reply.

“Right? People forget things sometimes! Alright then, I’ll tell you everything now, so listen carefully.”

“Okay.”

Nellin told Claire the ‘truth’ they had discovered.

After hearing the full story, Claire said—

“Ohhh, I see.”

Her voice was a little blank, but she was happy to have solved what had been bothering her.

She accepted the truth smoothly and was content to understand what had happened so far.

Their relationship didn’t suffer any cracks from hiding the truth.

The ones most shocked, however, were not Nellin’s group—but the viewers in the chat.

▶ So you got backstabbed and turned into a monster, lololol.

[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Wait, you mean you never once left your nest after becoming a monster? For real? I never knew you were such a pathetic shut-in.

[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Says the shut-in dragon himself. Aren’t you the one who’s been holed up even longer?

[Noblesse Fire] ▶ Shut up, you bag of bones!!!

[Thread-Lady] ▶ Oh my, oh my, oh my! So you really were a pair! I knew my prediction was right! Troll, is that why you kept silent? Too embarrassed to admit it?

They had wanted to keep some details hidden, but in explaining to Claire, Nellin’s group ended up exposing everything to the viewers.

Even the things that happened while Squishy was fighting the orc horde sent by the Orc Champion were all revealed.

[Smooth Wind King] ▶ So while I was making content, you were screwing around on the side?

▶ Dude, it wasn’t you—it was your underling who made it, lol.

[Smooth Wind King] ▶ The planning was mine, and any credit my underlings earn is my credit!

▶ Ha~ Even a bag of bones has a partner, so why don’t I have a girl?

▶ Look at the lake, you’ll see why.

▶ The hell does that mean?

▶ It means if you look at your face reflected in the lake, you’ll have your answer.

▶ Fuck you!

(Damn it! Everything’s been exposed!)

Now the monsters would use this against him, nitpicking and mocking him endlessly.

Troll let out a sigh without meaning to.

—Haa…

“Ventus, what’s wrong?”

From across the room, Presia looked up from the book she was reading and asked after hearing his sigh.

—Ah, Presia. It’s nothing. Sorry to trouble you.

“Is this another one of those things you can’t tell me yet?”

Living with Troll, Presia had come to suspect as much.

She had realized that watching the outside world through the slime wasn’t all there was—there was something more.

But whenever she asked, Troll only told her he couldn’t explain yet.

He just asked her to wait a little longer.

Since he said it that firmly, Presia had been patiently waiting.

“Alright. I’ll wait. But… you were watching outside through Squishy, weren’t you?”

—Y-Yeah.

“What are Nellin and the others doing now? Are they still at the Magic Tower?”

—Yeah, but it looks like they’ll be going their separate ways soon.

“Ah, of course. Amelia and Paulen need to return to the Holy Capital, and Miss Gracie has her home at the Tower. Oh, but…”

With a soft chuckle, Presia said—

“Couldn’t you, every once in a while, use your warp magic to let them meet again? After all, they humored my selfishness and helped me live quietly here with you. If you wanted, wouldn’t it be nice to help them in return?”

—Y-Yeah. That sounds good too.

(Is this what they mean when they say companions start to resemble each other?)