Slime Girl

- Liqu -

Why me again?!

My Shari said she needed help, so I was up to the task, but somehow I ended up again behind the counter.

Aligning with my Shari's predictions, it isn’t long until the first humans arrive.

Not like I wouldn't be able to do this kind of interaction, but I find it a bit difficult to behave in that certain way that is apparently required in this specific position.

However, I can't really complain.

After all, simply to have a role, a direction for me to be, is far better than having nothing at all.

So I'm up to giving this my all.

"C-could I have a stamina potion?" (customer)

"Sure. Right away, Sir." (Liqu)

Nia gave me some tips regarding what to say to buyers.

They will feel treated the right way and be more at ease, which will correspondingly make my job easier, was what she's been saying.

At least, I can confirm that they're not giving me a hard time, despite being on edge.

So, here comes the next one.

That one's even more uneasy than the others were.

"Uh, is what they're saying true?" (new customer)

"What do you mean?" (Liqu)

"You, you know, there are some, definitely not me, who're claiming you're, you're, uh, well... slimes." (customer)

"Yes, yes. That's correct." (Liqu)

"Wh-what!?" (customer)

Huh, now everyone who was around the shop is staring at me.

Did I say something weird?

"Is something wrong?" (Liqu)

"You're not even trying to deny it?" (customer)

"Is there a need to?" (Liqu)

My Shari didn't particularly admit to it yet, but she heavily implied that they would know one way or the other.

So, doesn't this mean I can just admit it and be good?

For me, this would mean I can stop pretending to be a human, which is quite straining to keep up all the time.

It makes many things easier for me.

"B-but... really? You, you are... talking. And, and your whole appearance and demeanor." (customer)

"Oh, it's that? That's just so humans don't attack. Here, see?" (Liqu)

I take this stupid mask off and wipe down the powder and thus the cover I have over my head.

As this disturbed my surface quite a bit, I then take a moment to arrange the structure back to how it was.

Once the wobbling settles, I'm presentable.

"Aackh!" (customer)

Why is he running now?

At this, the boy who helps me by bringing the ordered stuff runs in.

"What is going on here? Why aren't you covered!?" (Okin)

"Because they wanted to know if I'm a slime. I proved it to them, and now they're all acting weird. Is something wrong?" (Liqu)

Not just this man, who apparently wasn't a customer, as he didn't buy anything before running, but they’re all being strange.

"It's you! You are a slime!" (Okin)

"Yes, yes. I know. I thought that's what he wanted to confirm?" (Liqu)

"But you can't just... Urgh." (Okin)

Humans are weird.

You do as they say, and they still find faults with ya.

Yet the other humans, in and around the shop, don't seem to run like that one.

"Okay, you are all weird! What do you want?!" (Liqu)

The first to speak is a woman who was about to be next in line.

"Ehm. You, you are peaceful? You won't attack us?" (woman)

"No need to worry. My Shari told me I can't devour humans. Well, if they're not hostile at least. If they are, she's usually fine with it. You aren't right?" (Liqu)

"No, no, no, no! Absolutely not!" (woman)

"Great! Very nice!" (Liqu)

I like this talk.

It's very stimulating to speak with a human without having to hide anything.

So I give my best smile.

Though, for some reason, it doesn't seem to be appreciated.

"Ehm, you really need to work on that one." (Okin)

"Why?" (Liqu)

"Because it's creepy! There's just one slit that's stretching all the way through!" (Okin)

"Oh, Humans are weird. My Shari has the same smile, and I really find it to be the most beautiful!" (Liqu)

Seriously, I'm a good smiler.

And my Shari is too!

"Urgh. You’re hopeless. And you! Are you going to buy or not?" (Okin)

"Eh-ehm, I wanted a health potion." (woman)

"Coming right away! A pleasure to have you as our client, miss!" (Liqu)

I hope this was right.

Yet I'm not sure if my smile suits it.

Anyway, the selling works just as it should.

To think that I could get more flesh for this money.

It might not be as exhilarating as a good hunt, but it's certainly convenient.

I surely could get used to living like this.

If not for the issues while interacting with people.

In particular, I'm irritated by those who only stare at me without buying anything.

Could revealing my face so they can look at it have been a mistake?

Yet it's not like they're doing anything hostile.

No, I'd say they are curious.

Curiosity in itself is nothing bad, so I should be able to endure it.

Thus, the day proceeds.

From time to time, the number of gawkers increases.

Then children also join the flock.

Those are a little more wild and even a little problematic in how they interact with everyone.

Particularly, I need to watch out that they don't break anything.

Also, they are giving my helper a hard time.

He even needs to leave the shop to chase after them.

"Hey, stop it! Why are you causing us trouble?" (Okin)

"Oh, the fine lord is talking to us? Are your monster friends paying you to deal with us?" (kid)

Oh, that one shoved him.

Are they playing?

Hm, maybe I should do something.

I walk up to the children and speak.

"Is everything okay?" (Liqu)

"Ahh, it's the monster!" (girl)

Well, it's objectively a true statement, so there's no need to correct this.

Yet, usually, people show greater signs of fear or hatred while saying this.

"That's right. But you shouldn't be so hard on each other." (Liqu)

"We're only playing! So you can go!" (boy)

I look at my helper, and he doesn't seem to deny it.

Ah, right.

I remember how children used to do this.

Yet it happened quite regularly that they injured themselves while doing so.

"Okay. But it's still dangerous. Humans are quite fragile after all, and easily get damaged. How about this?" (Liqu)

At this, I expand as much as I can and encircle them, while also filling the ground below their feet.

This should prevent anyone from falling too roughly.

Anvenia liked it if I did this for her.

"Eeehhk!"

"Aaaaahhhh!"

"No, no!"

Oh, they're playing again.

At least, they're running wild.

I only need to make sure not to repel them too hard when they smash themselves against the outside walls.

Though the ground is safe to fall on, so it's mostly fine.

On the other side, the people on the outside are sounding quite similar.

"The children!"

"Someone call help!"

"Shouldn't we do something?"

"No way I'm touching this! Those are just street urchins!"

Doesn't seem like there's a thing to worry about from this side.

Once the kids got a little calmer, I form my head appendage on the inside and start talking.

"See? It's much safer to play like this. Now you can go all out." (Liqu)

"Let us out! Let us out!" (girl)

"Oh, are you already done playing? We can continue if you still want to release your excess energy." (Liqu)

Personally, I'd rather hold onto it till I need it, but humans are built rather differently in this regard.

"N-no. We are done." (girl)

"Okay." (Liqu)

If they are, it's fine.

So I recede.

"Oh my god, the children are fine!"

"Are they still all there?"

"What happened?"

"It, it just let them go."

The children, on the other hand, are much calmer now.

Seems like I did well.

I pick my clothes back up, as Shari doesn't like it if I'm without them among humans, and walk to my helper.

While slipping back in, I speak.

"It's great that everything resolved so nicely with your friends!" (Liqu)

"My friends? You... What was that?" (Okin)

"Huh? What-" (Liqu)

"Splotsh"

Promptly, I find a stone embedded in my head.

The boy over there threw it, tells me my all-around vision.

Yet there was no real need to catch it.

"One moment, please." (Liqu)

With my usual short-range sprint, I quickly move to him.

Yet as most of these children seem to lack coordination, he plummets to the ground.

Still, I had something to settle.

"You lost this." (Liqu)

I hand him the stone I carefully held for him in my body.

"What!? No!" (boy)

He just looks at it.

Is it the slime?

Some humans have issues with that.

"But it's yours!" (Liqu)

"I, I don't want it!" (boy)

Okay, if you say so.

Then I guess he doesn't need it back.

"Zsch"

I don't need it, and if other humans find issues with a slimy stone, then this could be inconvenient to leave here.

Also, no littering around my Shari's place!

Huh?

Why is the boy running now?

The other kids as well.

Even faster than before.

Meanwhile, the other humans around are getting slightly agitated.

"You saw that?"

My little helper, meanwhile, approaches me.

"You... We're going back in!" (Okin)

"Oh, right. I shouldn't leave the shop for too long. My Shari relies on me!" (Liqu)

So I'm about to head back inside when I hear someone shouting.

"There it is! Kill it!"

Uhh.

That could spell trouble.

I reassemble my head in a way that the eye holes are now focusing on the new arrivals.

Uh-oh.

There's a group of adventurers.

Do I need to fight?

Well, my Shari says I should always try to solve things peacefully first and then fight.

If I do it like this, she has no reason to be upset with me when I kill them.

"Hello! Good day, sirs! A pleasure to make your acquaintance!" (Liqu)

I hope that was right.

Those quotes I got from Nia are somewhat difficult to memorize.

"Faldon, isn't that..." (Boris)

"The shopkeep. You're right. At least, I think so." (Faldon)

"It's right there! Attack!"

Hey, isn't this the one from that group of humans my Shari faced this morning?

"Please. No need to rush things." (Faldon)

Hmm.

Usually, adventurers would be much faster to take action.

What makes them so indecisive?

The one I identify as their leader approaches, yet not so close as to be in my direct attack distance.

At least, he supposedly thinks so.

"Ahem, we were called because of a proclaimed monster attack." (Faldon)

What does this have to do with me?

Does he need potions for the injured?

"Okay. How can I help with this?" (Liqu)

Why is he looking at me like that?

I was just trying to be helpful.

"You see, I have the feeling they were talking about you." (Faldon)

"What are you doing there? Stop idling around! Deal with it!"

"You think I'm stupid? I know this emblem. Do you believe I have no idea who you are calling us on? I'm not going to attack state officials on a claim alone. No matter how unusual they are." (Faldon)

"This thing ate children!"

I didn't!

That's a baseless accusation!

And if my Shari hears this, she might misunderstand.

I think I should dissolve him, so he can't say this to her.

Yet now the adventurer is again looking at me.

"Faldon! Snap out of it! Act!" (Boris)

Huh, that one seems aggressive.

I think I'm gonna have to fight now.

But before I can act, my little helper shouts loudly.

"No, she didn't! Okay, she scared them, and was overall really weird, but she didn't eat even one of them!" (Okin)

"Alright. I feel like we were called under false circumstances. Would anybody here be willing to tell us what happened?" (Faldon)

Then the boy explains.

I'm, for some reason, forbidden from adding anything.

"So, to get this straight, juvenile troublemakers caused issues with the shop and threw a stone at her. Boris, if something like this happened to you, what would you've done?" (Faldon)

"I'd beat up those damn brats." (Boris)

"As is perfectly acceptable. In this respect, the shopkeep's reaction was pretty mild. So, for what reason were we called again?" (Faldon)

"Ehm..."

"You want to buy something?" (Liqu)

Okay, now they could just say what they want instead of staring weirdly at me.

"You know what, why not?" (Faldon)

"Faldon, is this wise?" (Boris)

"That healing potion saved your ass last time. You can’t complain about the quality, and the price here is unbeatable." (Faldon)

"But that's only because..." (Boris)

"Because they're monsters? So what? Why can't we profit from their circumstances? Don't see how buying their stuff would affect anyone negatively." (Faldon)

"Alright! Then please come inside, esteemed customer." (Liqu)

I'm pretty sure this was right.

Still, why are they looking like this at me, nonetheless?

Anyway, I guide them towards the part of the shop where we sell things.

"I need to say, it's pretty bold to walk around like this in public." (Faldon)

"Might be because she's a monster and doesn't care?" (Boris)

"It's great, isn't it? I could go out and nothing bad happened! My Shari always says I need to disguise myself, but this here worked really well!" (Liqu)

"Can't say she was wrong. Without the pre-story, if something like you were to walk up to us, we'd probably have attacked right away." (Faldon)

"And then I'd have killed you, and probably everyone who comes next after I did that. Yes, yes. It's better this way." (Liqu)

"... Fair enough, I guess." (Faldon)

They buy an assortment of the potions my Shari prepared before for the counter, and after this head their way.

This is awesome!

I could speak with adventurers in a human town, and we parted after a normal chat!

Not the slightest event of violence happening between us!

I attribute this all to my Shari's great plans!

To think she could truly make that happen!

Never will I doubt her plans again!

In the end, they brought us right here.

There are even some more humans coming by to buy things.

Though most are still just there to stare.

Yet this isn't all that bad.

The day continues, and at one point, the door to the backroom opens again.

"Okay, Liqu. I'm done with Nia for today. You... WHY THE HECK IS YOUR HEAD IN CLEAR VIEW!?!" (Shari)

The boy speaks before me.

"I’ve got nothing to say." (Okin)

Not like he has to add all that much.

"Liqu! Did anything happen here? Are we in trouble?" (Shari)

"Nothing at all. It's all fine. It was a very nice and simple day." (Liqu)

As I could really come to like having them regularly from now on.