Slime Reincarnation

Chirp, chirp, chirp...

"Mngh!?"

Soft morning sunlight streamed through the window, tickling my eyelids. Ugh, morning already... guess I dozed off without realizing it. Looking over, Irina was still asleep, using my left arm as a pillow.

"..."

So I’d finally graduated... here in another world, of all places. Somehow, I felt like a real adult now. Like life had a bit more room to breathe. ...Slime, so maybe "slife" is the word here? If I’d stayed stuck in my old corporate drone life back on Earth, I’d probably still be racing straight down the path to becoming a sage of celibacy right about now.

Even so, Irina really is adorable...

Ugh! There I go remembering last night. Not good, not good.

Chirp, chirp, chirp!

Even so, waking up to birdsong in the morning might be a dream scenario, but these sparrows sure are lively. Thinking that, I glanced out the window and saw...

"Number 36! Can’t hear you!"

"Chirp chirp chirp! (Sir! Yes sir!)"

"Number 97! You call that effort!"

"Chirp chirp chirp! (Sir! Yes sir!)"

"Don’t mess with me! Louder! You lose something down there?"

"Chirp chirp chirp! (Sir! Yes sir!)" (all together)

"Number 248! Want me to ship you back home!"

"Chirp chirp chirp! (Sir! No sir!)"

BAM!

I toppled straight off the bed, leaving my left arm behind as Irina’s pillow. I stretched my left hand out like a tentacle and crept over to the window without waking her.

Looking out, more than ten sparrows were lined up on a nearby tree branch. Behind them, the chick captain and the rest of the Ten Chick Generals were berating the sparrows, making them chirp. Every single sparrow was crying while chirping. This is getting confusing!

"What are you guys doing!?"

"Sir! You once mentioned the happy morning birdsong scene, so..."

"This is precisely that happy moment, boss!"

"The morning after the boss was first united with his wife is the perfect opportunity for the morning birdsong!"

The chick captain, Leopard, and Crusader explained proudly.

I mean, yeah! The timing’s perfect, sure! But making sparrows chirp (cry?) by force feels like a problem! And why is this styled after some drill sergeant!?

Still, the sight of chicks berating sparrows... this is way too surreal. Wait, are you training wild sparrows now?

"Boss, beyond the morning birdsong, these ones should also prove useful for gathering intelligence around the capital. Though naturally, all of them are equally worthless."

"You’ve absorbed way too much of that culture! Way too much! Where did you even pick up that kind of education method!?"

"Sir! This is the ultimate short term intensive training system passed down in the chick homeland!"

"When! When did you even come to this other world, you militarized freak! And here I thought the chick captain just naturally had that military bearing, damn it!"

"The sparrows have already been trained to a certain level! We guarantee flawless morning birdsong performances for your future mornings with your other wives as well!"

I never asked for that guarantee!

"Even so, that’s a lot of numbers, isn’t it!?"

"Even so, these are the carefully selected sparrows entrusted with the great honor of waking the boss!"

"To be specific, we’ve formed an elite unit selected from over a thousand sparrows!"

"That’s way too many!"

I could almost hear the soul crushed cries of the sparrows being worked to the bone under the chick corps.

"Mngh!?"

Irina stirred. She’d woken up. She patted around with her hand, touching my left arm, then reaching toward where my torso should have been.

"Huh? Where’d Yabe’s body go?"

Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Irina sat up. As the sheet slipped away, her bare upper body, having slept completely unclothed, was exposed.

"Mmm... Yabe, your left arm is stretched out really far?"

Since I’d moved to the window while leaving my left arm behind as her pillow, it had stretched out like taffy.

"Irina, aren’t you cold?"

"Mm... I’m fine."

She wrapped just the sheet around her bare body and walked over to the window, still holding onto my left arm. I pulled my arm back to its normal length.

"The sparrows sure are chirping a lot, aren’t they?"

"Yeah... it’s a happy scene from the world I used to live in. When you spend your first night with someone you love, and wake up to birdsong along with the morning sun, and the person you love is sleeping peacefully right beside you..."

Explaining it made Irina turn bright red.

"S, so that means, the person you love is me, and when you woke up to the sparrows chirping this morning and saw me sleeping beside you, you felt happy..."

"Well, yeah, something like that..."

Having it spelled out so directly was embarrassing!

Irina slowly leaned against me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I’m very happy too, Yabe..."

She said this, cheeks faintly flushed, looking up at me.

"Me too, I’m very happy."

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and we let ourselves bask in the soft morning light.

If every morning could be like this, that wouldn’t be so bad. That’s how it felt.

...Oh no, I was still completely naked.

—-

We couldn’t exactly stay lounging around naked together forever. Today, of all days, meant heading to the royal castle from the morning. Having already told the Coluna Frontier Count we’d be back by morning, we couldn’t afford to run too late either.

"Irina, I know we’d both love to take it slow this morning, but let’s get dressed quickly. We need to get ready for the castle."

Still stark naked, I started getting my clothes together, and Irina put her dress like sleepwear back on. She tried heading back to her own room to change into regular clothes, but,

"Ngh... ow..."

Looking over, she was walking with an incredibly bowlegged, wobbling gait.

"NOOOOO!"

I clutched my head.

"No, I mean, while we were... doing it, it felt wonderful and I didn’t notice at all... but to have this much pain and discomfort afterward..."

"Healing! Healing! Healing!"

I cast Healing on her repeatedly, over and over.

"Oh, that’s much better, Yabe. Thank you. The discomfort’s still there a bit, but the pain’s calmed down a lot."

"Good, then let’s hurry and get changed and ready."

We scrambled to get ready.

"Good morning."

Coming down to the dining hall, Lord Darren and his wife Angela were already seated.

"Ah, good morning, Yabe kun." "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

Lord Darren greeted us, while his wife asked about my condition as if genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I slept very soundly, thank you."

Irina came down as well.

"Father, Mother, good morning."

"Morning, Irina." "Morning, Irina, did you sleep well?"

Her mother asked Irina the same question.

"Eh, eh? Yes... I slept very well..."

Irina answered, turning bright red for some reason. This felt like dangerous territory.

"A, um, we actually need to prepare to head to the castle, so if you’ll excuse us..."

I bowed repeatedly, trying to hurry Irina out with me, but,

"No, no, at least stay for breakfast."

Lord Darren swiftly cut us off, gripping our shoulders firmly and guiding us to our seats.

"No, really, we’re in quite a hurry this morning..."

Even as I said this, I took a sip of the coffee they’d poured, hoping to wet my parched throat.

"Even so, Yabe kun, proposing marriage just yesterday and already sleeping together the same night, don’t you think that’s a bit much?"

"Pfft!"

I sprayed my morning coffee everywhere.

"Ah... no... that’s..."

Perhaps finding my flustered reaction amusing, his wife spoke up.

"Ufufu, it seems Irina’s pillow was found in your room, Yabe sama?"

"Ngh...!"

Damn it, Irina had brought her pillow with her but never took it back when she returned to her own room. And the maid’s report reached them awfully fast!

"Ah wa wa, that’s not what it looks like, Mother! I brought the pillow but never used it! I slept on Yabe’s left arm..."

"Wa, wait a minute!"

"Ho ho... I believe we’ll need to hear more details on that particular point..."

Facing Lord Darren’s icy smile, Irina and I both froze solid.

We took a carriage from Earl Lubengel’s estate back to the Coluna Frontier Count’s residence.

"Man, that was rough."

"Absolutely."

Lord Darren had continued needling us with pointed little remarks the whole time after that. Thanks to that, though I’d technically eaten breakfast, I couldn’t even remember what I’d eaten, let alone how it tasted.

"Welcome back, Lord Yabe, Lady Irina."

Arriving at the Coluna Frontier Count’s residence, the butler greeted us. The familiar atmosphere helped settle my nerves a little.

But the moment we stepped into the entrance hall,

"Fuoo! Mashter!"

Rina came charging straight at my waist for a tackle hug.

"Welcome back, my husband."

Fileontina greeted us elegantly.

"Welcome back, Lord Yabe."

Luciana chan had come out to greet us too.

"Good morning, Yabe san."

Sarina greeted us as well. Basically the entire household was gathered here.

"...By the way. Irina san, you..."

"What? What is it?"

"You slept together with my husband!"

Fileontina pointed her finger straight at Irina, declaring it.

"Fue!?"

Irina turned bright red and confirmed it almost instantly.

"There’s something off about the way you’re walking! Could it be, could it be... you climbed the stairs into adulthood!"

Fileontina pointed again, even more emphatically.

"Fuwa!?"

Irina turned red as a fully ripened apple or tomato.

"Fuo? Did Mashter also climb the shtairs into adulthood?"

Rina asked innocently, still clinging to my waist.

"Eh!? Well, I guess... climbed them, yeah?"

"Fuoo! Sho enviable! Rina wantsh to climb the shtairs into adulthood with Mashter too!"

She said this, rubbing her face against me even harder. No, that’s not happening! You might open a door to a whole different world there!

"Ufufu... now that you’ve done it with Irina san, your first wife, there’s nothing left to hesitate about. Tonight, please climb the stairs into adulthood with me as well..."

Fileontina wore a seductive smile. I mean, Fileontina’s already plenty adult, thanks!

"I, I want to climb the stairs into adulthood too!"

Luciana chan declared this cheerfully, her face equally red.

"What’s all this ruckus in the entrance this early in the morning? We need to get moving for the castle, don’t we?"

Fenberg called out to us, coming out to the entrance hall.

At last, the audience with the king at the royal castle awaited.