“Bouncy.”
She went over to Kalgilm since she was a loyal familiar.
“Master. Master.”
Kalgilm pinched Bouncy suddenly. It didn’t hurt at all, but her body stretched outward and felt bad. ‘Master what are you doing after waking up so suddenly?’
“Hmm. There is no way that you’re that child.”
“Child?”
Kalgilm stared toward her for a long time.
“She wasn’t round and squishy like you. She was more like dried slices of daikon.”
Her mood turned to the worst.
In her last life, she never had a chance to eat proper meals and was very skinny and frail. Boys teased her and called her a flat screen TV because she had no chest. Another common nickname was dried daikon slices. She assumed that Kalgilm shouldn’t know of her past life and wondered if he was referring to another slime
Was there such a thing like dried daikon in this world though?
“What nonsense are you blabbering about after waking up?”
NeAffronti hugged her and glared down to Kalgilm. He stomped on Kalgilm’s head.
“Wake up. You sluggish dragon. Wasn’t 200 years of sleep enough for you? Why are you sleeping again?”
Even though Kalgilm was getting stepped on by NeAffronti, Elkiesel ignored the situation. Elkiesel got up and took Bouncy from NeAffronti.
“You should return to your own lair, why do you keep coming to mine?”
Kalgilm asked apathetically while letting himself get stepped on by NeAffronti.
“It’s my choice. What’s wrong? If you don’t like me here, you should act like a proper master.”
“I was behaving like a proper master. NeAffronti, do you know any dwarves good with their hands?”
“Dwarves?”
“I want to build Bouncy a house.”
She couldn’t believe Kalgilm’s words. This was the master that watched Elkiesel sleep on the cave dirt floor for the past hundreds of years. What kind of foolish dream did this master dream that he started talking like this?
NeAffronti took off his feet from Kalgilm’s head. He grasped Kalgilm’s shoulder and helped him up.
“Are you serious?”
“I should also build a house for Elkiesel while I’m doing this.”
Elkiesel watched Kalgilm with great attention.
A dragon, dark elf, and slime stared at a single dragon. The dragon’s mood turned sour.
“Is it bad for a master to build a house for his own familiars?”
“No, it’s not.”
Elkisel asked to NeAffronti in a small whisper.
“I heard there was a dragon that went insane after sleeping too much. Have you ever seen that dragon for yourself?”
“I also only heard of it from legends.”
“Isn’t it a little strange?”
“It is.”
Elkiesel and NeAffronti narrowed their eyes while observing Kalgilm.
“Do not label a perfectly normal dragon as an insane one.”
Kalgilm roared angrily and
“You want a house? You should just continue to sleep on the floor, Elkiesel. I guess I’ll just make one for Bouncy. I’ll make a nice house for you.”
She was one of the many 20 year olds in South Korea who didn’t have a proper place to sleep. If someone were to build one for her, of course she felt nothing but joy.
Her master would not pester her to pay monthly rent, and wouldn’t ask her to pay a higher rent once the contracted period ended. However, her master was a dragon, and it was worrying whether he understood what a slime house should look like.
“Do you know what a Slime’s house look like?”
It seems NeAffronti was worried about the same thing. Kalgilm held onto Bouncy as he drew a picture on the dirt floor with his finger.
It was a box with a circle on it. Next to the box was a tall pillar which supported a base floor. He drew another pillar which sprouted another floor on the top of it. Then, on top of the top floor, he drew a round tube.
She had seen a similar thing in her past life.
This is called a cat tower. Every cat owner would dream to buy one at least once.
She thought Kalgilm wouldn’t have ever had the chance to see Earth’s cat tower and assumed that the slime houses of this world looked like this.
NeAffronti gazed at Kalgilm’s cat tower with a serious expression.
“What is this?”
“A slime house.”
Kalgilm pointed to the round hole which was a doorway.
“She will sleep here, and if she wants to play she can climb on top of there and jump off. There is even a place she can hide, doesn’t this look nice?”
Kalgilm said with anticipation. NeAffronti answered with a frown.
“Only animals with legs will enjoy it. Bouncy doesn’t have any legs. Slimes live in nests.”
Kalgilm’s paused in silence. He stared at NeAffronti for a long while. Then, laughed through his nose and continued to talk.
“Only birds live in nests. How can a slime live in a nest on top of a tree?”
“There are many living organisms which make nests on the ground, why do you assume nests should be up on trees? You homebody dragon. Have you ever observed slimes before?”
“No, but she is my Bouncy. She is different from other slimes. I know what she likes the best.”
‘Master, I also think that slimes live on nests which are on the ground. Only cats who are good jumpers would be able to climb such a thing like a cat tower.’
It had been the first time her master put any effort into something so she didn’t criticize him, and took his side.
“Master. Master. House.”
“See. Bouncy likes the plan I made.”
NeAffronti looked at her with an expression of betrayal. She pretended to be oblivious and looked onto the ground.
What can be done? This lazy master was her master after all.
“Wait just a moment.”
NeAffronti left the lair and returned with not a dwarf, but more dragons.
‘A dragon’s purpose in life is to continue to play and be lazy.’
This was the dark elf, Elkiesel’s motto in life.
As per his words, dragons loved to be lazy. Dragons were the protectors of this world, but if dragons were working hard for something, it meant the world was nearing its end.
However, as long as it’s not too troublesome, dragons enjoyed doing a thing or two while lazying.
Kalgilm only ever had NeAffronti visit him, and this was the most dragons he ever had inside his lair.
She never realized how many dragons were living in this vast mountain side. Red dragon, blue dragon, green dragon, gold dragon, and many others. The dragons surrounded Kalgilm manifested a scary, dreadful energy.
She sat on Kalgilm’s lap as all the dragons stared at her with a scary look. Kalgilm looked very irritated. Dark energy kept leaking out from his body and it felt like she was sitting on top of a hot frying pan.
Elkiesel, ran off saying he had to go clean the lair and escaped, betraying her. She wanted to escape with Elkiesel, but Kalgilm held her tight, and she could not escape anywhere as all the dragons continued to watch her.
Stop staring. You will end up boring a hole into this slime.
Other than NeAffronti, the green dragon, there were many other dragons who dwelled not too far from Kalgilm’s territory. There was the red dragon, Raikalot. Silver dragon, Serubus. White dragon, Aselus. Blue dragon, Margines.
“If you woke up, you should have come to greet us. I didn’t know you were awake.”
The red dragon, Raikalot said.
“Why should I? I’m lazy.”
“Don’t you know how to say anything other than you’re lazy?”
“I’m lazy.”
All the dragons around Kalgilm looked like they were about to let out their dragon breath.
Master, you may not die getting hit by a dragon breath, but that’s not the case for me. Why don’t you take pity on this poor slime and let go?
“If you’re lazy, then why are you asking for dwarves to build you a slime house?”
“What’s wrong with building a house for my slime?”
“When did you become such a slime enthusiast.”
“I’ve become its owner, so it should be expected of me.”
The six dragons all turned away into a different direction. She looked over to where all the other dragon’s had directed their gazes, and found Elkiesel stuck against a wall.
She thought Elkiesel escaped outside, but instead he was squatting on the floor while gripping onto his broom. Enduring the dragon energy was too much for the dark elf, and although he was usually tall and dependable, now he just looked like a tragic elf.
“It’s just you never bothered to build anything for your lair guardian, the dark elf. For you to call dwarves for your slime is a rare sight. We’ll take care of making your slime’s house so you should prepare yourself to go out and see the world.”
“If you care about your familiars so much, then you should look around the world so that your familiars can live with a sense of safety. You should at least try to behave like a dragon. You don’t need to travel far. Turn yourself into a human or elf and peek around your neighborhood.”
“I’m too lazy to go outside.”
“It’s your job to oversee the world. Isn’t enough that you were able to laze for 3000 years?”
“Even if I need to leave, I’ll only leave after making a house for my slime.” Kalgilm said stubbornly.
The air felt strange, so Bouncy quickly snuck off Kalgilm’s lap. She quietly rolled over to Elkiesel who looked weak and frail.
Elkiesel hugged her and threw his broom on the floor, before escaping to the outside of the lair. There were many familiars of the visiting dragons waiting just outside.
All of the familiars seemed very powerful, and showed off their charisma. Elkiesel was also one of the familiars who was famous for his looks. Most of the familiars waiting outside were high elves who had outstanding physique and visuals themselves.
“Hey, Elkiesel. Has it been 200 years?”
A short dwarf with a grand ax on his shoulder approached the two.
“Harp, have you been well?”
“I’ve been well, mining magic ores for Master Raikalot. During the times Master Raikalot left the lair to survey the world, I guarded his lair. So this is the famous slime.”
A dwarf named Harporis winked to the slime.
“Hi. Pu-ring.”
“It talks like I’ve heard. It’s my first time seeing a slime talk. I’m Harporis, Master Raikalot’s familiar. I’m the lair guardian. Feel free to call me Harp.”
Harp? She thought of the classical instrument from Earth. Harporis looked very different from a harp.
He had red hair and a giant red beard; he resembled the classic dwarves that had been in many of the fantasy novels in her past life. Harp was equipped with heavy armor, and his beard was braided and several luxurious jewels were incorporated all throughout the beard.
Harp was only half as tall as Elkiesel, but since he was dubbed a lair guardian, he must be as strong as Elkiesel.
“Harp. Harp. Hi.”
“Yes, Hello. But this kid’s name…”