Apostle of the Gods

Chapter 5 – Saria’s Feelings.

I leave the girl and the middle-aged man, and run through the forest.

「It took a bit longer than expected」

Still I have no regrets.

I do not know their situation or identity, but they don’t seem to be bad people.

Moreover, I love their attitude of not abandoning their companions.

While I was running through the forest in a good mood, I realize that someone is chasing me.

How am I being chased even though I erased my presence?

I carefully look at the surroundings to see the person who is chasing me.

「Pigi!」

It is a beautiful blue slime.

Its size is about 0.2 meters in diameter and is a relatively small slime.

1

The slime is chasing me while crying out with all its might.

Though I am not running at full speed, I am still quite fast; not the speed an average slime can catch up to.

I am curious, so I stopped running.

「You, what happened?」

「PigiPigi!」

The slime is jumping around me as if it has something to say.

A behaviour unbefitting a slime. Normally, slime is a weak monster with low intelligence.

「Hmm」

As I watch the slime, it starts acting meek.

I feel as though it is trying to say「I am not a bad slime」.

2

「Do you want to come with me?」

Somehow I feel like I can understand the slime’s intention, although I do not know exactly why.

「Pigi! Pigi!」

The slime looks at me like it wants to befriend me…,

「Well alright, come along with me!」

「Pigi!」

The slime jumps around happily and leaps onto my shoulder.

My instinct tells me it’s not a bad slime.

If it is a bad slime, I’ll take responsibility and exterminate it.

「You can come with me, but don’t leave my side for the time being」

It will be troublesome if you do bad things while I’m not looking.

「Pigi!」, sounds like the slime is saying 「Of course!」

I run towards the Royal Capital with the slime on my shoulder.

Before jumping over the walls of the Royal Capital, I inform the smile.

「Hide in my clothes so you won’t be seen by people」

「Pigi!」

The slime answers with a single cry and goes inside my clothes. Quite the obedient slime.

It is not illegal to bring monsters into the city, as some adventurers have monsters as their familiars.

However, it is a different story if it is an eight year old child. The guards will surely make a fuss.

I decided to hide the slime from even the retainers after returning to the mansion.

That night, we grilled and ate the bird meat from the birds I caught. It was very delicious.

And after eating, I tried to sleep with a blanket in the stable as usual.

The slime is jiggling like a jelly beside my pillow.

And I call out to RunRun.

「RunRun, let’s go to bed」

「Woof」

Usually, RunRun sits near the entrance of the stable facing outside.

By the way, RunRun noticed the slime immediately because of his sharp sense of smell.

But I was not on alert. After returning to the stable, he sniffed the slime to his heart’s content.

「What is it, RunRun?」

「Woof!」

RunRun runs out of the room with a silent bark, and returns soon after.

Saria is on his back.

「Saria, what happened?」

Saria is still young, so I entrusted her to the retainer who was a former wet nurse.

I sleep in the stable because I was instructed to by the scions. It’s cold in winter, but I can manage it because RunRun is together with me and the retainers offered me a good blanket behind the scions’ back.

「I want to sleep together with Anicha and RunRun」

「…This is a stable, you know」

「I want to sleep together…… No?」

「It’s not that you can’t… … Well, tell me if it’s cold」

「Un」

Saria happily crawls into the blanket with RunRun.

「Ah, it’s jiggling! Kawaii」

「Pigi」

「This is a living thing called slime. Don’t tell anyone about the slime」

「Ok! Fluffy is secret!」

Saria covers her mouth with both hands. So cute.

For a while, Saria keeps happily rubbing the smooth skin of the slime.

「Saria, what happened? Were you scolded by the nanny?」 I ask.

Nanny is the former wet nurse.

「I was not scolded. Saria is good girl」

When I heard the story, it seems she told the nanny she wanted to sleep together with me today and asked the nanny to send her to the stable.

And the nanny seems to have carried Saria near the stable.

The nanny must have dropped her on RunRun’s back when he ran out of the stable a while ago.

I have bothered the nanny retainer unnecessarily.

As the older brother, I have to thank the nanny properly tomorrow.

I pat Saria’s head gently.

「I see. Saria is a very good girl」 「Funfun」 「Pigi」

RunRun worrisomely sniffs Saria’s scent. The slime keeps jiggling.

I wonder if something else happened, if she wanted to sleep with me even though she wasn’t scolded.

If the scions made her cry, I won’t forgive them.

Saria hugs me while I was thinking about that.

「Anicha… are you going to leave somewhere to study?」

「Woof!」

While we were talking about the Academy of Heroes, Saria was on my lap. So naturally, she was listening.

Even though she is only three years old, she seems to have understood our conversation to a certain degree.

She must have been sad because she thought I was going to leave her.

RunRun is also uneasy after listening to Saria.

He might have also thought that I was leaving and he starts to lick my face. RunRun might be telling me not to leave in his own way.

「It’s alright. Your big brother is not going to leave you」

「Saria is not a baby, but… Saria will be fine alone」

Saria says so and sheds tears.

She must have thought I was leaving to Academy of Heroes without sparing a single thought about her.

She is already very smart and kind for a three year old. And I take it for granted.

It should be alright for a three year old child to act more selfishly.

「Don’t worry; when I leave for the Academy of Heroes, Saria is going together with me」

「Really?」

「Really. Well, there is the possibility of failing the exam」

「If it is Anicha, you can surely do it!」

Saria seems relieved.

However, RunRun is still anxious and has his ears drooped.

「Woof…」

「RunRun is also coming along so rest assured」

「Woof!」

RunRun is also relieved and wags his tail.

The blanket starts shifting away. I gently hold down RunRun’s tail with my hand.

Then Saria tells me everything that happened today.

「And you know… today, Saria…」Saria starts.

「I see, I see」

「Woof Woof」

My younger sister is so adorable. She spares no detail in her stories when I am listening.

RunRun is also seriously listening to Saria’s story with me.

After a while, Saria falls asleep after getting tired of talking.

「RunRun, thank you for your hard work too」

「Woof」

「Don’t lick, don’t lick」

RunRun licks my face while wagging his tail.

The blanket moves sloppily thanks to RunRun’s tail.

It would be a pity if that wakes up Saria.

I gently hold down RunRun’s tail and pat his head.

Then, RunRun shows his belly as if requesting me to pat there.

As I was petting RunRun’s belly,

「Fushu–, fushi」

(He fell asleep I’m guessing)

Three days later. As ordered by the scions, I am cleaning the toilet with my bare hands.

It is the toilet for servants. The Wolms house has many servants who do housework that is different from the retainers.

There are a total of seven private rooms for both men and women, so it is a little hard to clean them all by myself.

While I was cleaning with maximum effort, the entrance of the mansion abruptly became noisy.

Due to the sound, the slime in my clothes starts moving in an uneasy way.

Something must have happened.

But it concerns me not. I just focus on cleaning and training.

After the memories of my previous life returned, I always devise a way to train both my body and magic while cleaning.

Circulate magic in the body while doing chores.

At the same time when moving the body, apply weight in the opposite direction with magic.

Do it with your bare hands! As ordered by the scion it’s now a part of my training menu; enveloping my hands with a membrane of magic so as not to touch the filth directly.

It requires delicate handling of magic. This is good training exactly because it is difficult.

「That is too selfish!」

I hear the panicking voice of the eldest scion.

「That’s right! Even if you are from the Salvation Organization, this is the Wolms House!」

I also hear the loud voice of the second scion.

「If you have any problems, please ask the Lord of this house to send a formal complaint to the Council of Sages」

The voice of a calm woman… no, a girl echoes. It’s a quiet voice but resounds strongly.

「As I have been saying! While the Lord is absent, I am in charge of the Wolms House! So selfish…」

「Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking for permission from you or the Lord of Wolms」

「—!」

The voice is getting closer and closer.

As I continue cleaning while thinking it is about to get troublesome, the toilet door flies open.

「You are Will Wolms, right?」

It is an extremely beautiful girl with a serious expression on her face, who dons metal armour and a sword.

「Yes I am…, but what is it for?」

「Will Wolms, I have come to escort you」

Saying so, the girl, with a stiff expression, extends her hand to me.