Esmeria

"Ugh...c-can't...breathe..." In a vast, ruined castle hall, a girl with pale blue hair, dressed in a tattered white robe adorned with blue patterns, was being choked by a man clad in white armor.

Bodies of monsters, beastmen, and beings with horns or wings littered the castle floor. The scene was bathed in crimson, both from the blood pooling around the corpses and the eerie glow of the red moons in the dark sky above.

"Somebody...help me...!" She struggled desperately, kicking and thrashing against the armored man, but her efforts were in vain.

"W-why...did...you...betray...me?!" She managed to gasp out between choked breaths.

"*o** **ig* ** **e*." The man's voice was stern, though it was difficult for her to hear clearly through the pressure on her throat.

"AH!!!" Regina bolted upright from the bed, drenched in sweat from the vivid dream she had just experienced.

Beside her, Richard sat calmly on a chair by a small table, focused on arranging his gun and various bullets. Pouches filled with powders lay scattered around, indicating he was in the midst of preparing something with meticulous care.

As Regina scanned the room, it dawned on her that she was in an unfamiliar place. She glanced down and noticed she was clad in a fresh, unfamiliar dress, clean and neatly arranged.

"What happened? Where am I? Did you change my clothes? Is this an inn? Am I in trouble?" Regina bombarded Richard with questions, her voice tinged with confusion and a hint of anxiety.

"Talk slowly, you're safe for now." Richard's calm reassurance helped ease Regina's nerves as she adjusted to waking up in an unfamiliar place. She glanced around the room and then out the window, where the endless expanse of the blue sea spread before her. The sight seemed to mesmerize her, drawing her attention completely.

"We're on a ship heading toward Acacia," Richard continued in a steady voice.

"I asked the ship attendant to change your clothes; your old ones were dirty."

Regina nodded silently, processing the information. She then rose from the bed and approached the window, captivated by the rhythmic motion of the waves and the vastness of the ocean beyond.

"Do you want to have a look outside?" Richard asked, sensing her curiosity.

Regina turned to him with a hint of excitement in her eyes.

"Yes, please," she replied eagerly.

Richard nodded in response.

"There shouldn't be any danger. Feel free to explore the deck, but avoid entering any other rooms."

Regina dashed out of the room, her excitement palpable as she bounded up the stairs to the ship's deck like an exuberant child. The vast expanse of the sea stretched out before her, a sight she had never beheld in person before, only in stories and dreams. Her eyes widened with wonder at the sparkling waves and the occasional sight of fish darting near the surface.

Richard, from time to time, quietly ascended to the deck to check on her, ensuring her safety without disturbing her reverie. Satisfied that she was enjoying herself, he would return to their room to attend to his equipment and tools.

As the sun began its descent, casting a warm glow across the horizon, Regina's excitement gradually gave way to a sense of unease as darkness settled over the ship. Sensing the chill of the evening and feeling a slight tremor of fear, she decided to make her way back to her room.

In her haste, Regina inadvertently descended one more set of stairs than intended, finding herself disoriented in the labyrinthine lower decks of the ship. The narrow hallways seemed to twist and turn, their dimly lit corridors unnervingly quiet. It was then, as she navigated her way back, that she heard a faint whisper, barely audible above the gentle creaking of the ship's hull.

"Mama..." The voice sent a chill down Regina's spine, causing her to hunch down, instinctively trying to conceal herself as she moved cautiously forward.

"Mama..." The voice persisted, growing slightly clearer with each repetition.

"It must be a child... looking for their mother," Regina murmured to herself, attempting to rationalize the unsettling occurrence. Determined to investigate, she followed the sound, her footsteps echoing softly against the wooden floors.

"Mama..." Drawing nearer, the voice became more distinct. Regina approached the door from which it emanated and hesitantly pushed it open.

Inside, her breath caught in her throat as she dropped to her knees, eyes widening in horror. Before her, in a cage adorned with strange papers, was not a human child but a monstrous figure. Its humanoid form appeared translucent, gelatinous, and blue, waving a wooden stick erratically.

"Mama..." The creature repeated the word ceaselessly, its presence and appearance defying all reason and logic. Regina's heart raced as she struggled to comprehend the sight before her, her mind grappling with the unearthly reality unfolding in the confines of the ship's lower deck.

In her panic, she bumped into someone standing behind her, causing her to whirl around in terror. Before her stood a man with an unfamiliar face, his gaze chillingly indifferent. Flanking him were two mercenaries, their expressions equally devoid of empathy.

"So you saw it, huh," the man remarked, his voice cold and detached, as though addressing a mere inconvenience.

"Lock her up," he ordered crisply.

Without hesitation, one of the mercenaries stepped forward and struck Regina on the head, sending her collapsing to the floor, unconscious.

"I wondered which rat sneaked into the room, it's just a human girl," the man continued, crouching down to scrutinize Regina.

"She looks decent enough. We'll shatter her mind first, then sell her off to a brothel in Nyx's Haven," he decided callously.

The man was Galen, a notorious smuggler specializing in trafficking monsters across continents. He operated in the shadows, catering to the demands of nobles and wealthy merchants on the black market, where profits reaped from the exploitation of both creatures and people knew no bounds.

"I was beginning to think I'd been scammed by the merchant selling these [detection charms]. There was never any alarm since I bought them. Turned out they worked perfectly after all,"

Galen muttered to himself, contemplating confronting the merchant upon his return to Nyx's Haven. However, realizing their efficacy, he decided against it.

"Sir, this girl appears to be the companion of the new temporary guard you hired," one of the mercenaries interjected, scrutinizing Regina's unconscious form.

"Doesn't matter. Just tell him the girl disappeared when he comes looking for her. Blame her bad luck for stumbling into this room," Galen replied indifferently.

"Yes sir." The mercenaries swiftly moved Regina into another cage similar to the one holding the monster, locking her up in the same eerie room where bizarre papers adorned the walls, and the translucent, gelatinous creature continued its haunting repetition of "Mama."

Upon sensing Regina's absence from the ship deck, Richard immediately began searching the ship, growing increasingly concerned.

He retrieved a pouch and deftly opened it, allowing a swirl of powders to momentarily escape before they receded back inside.

"Her location can't be detected... She must be within an area negating search magic. Someone must have kidnapped her," Richard deduced, his brow furrowed in worry.

"Search magic can only be negated by second-tier magic or above. Searching for first-tier magic traces would be redundant," he muttered to himself, focusing on the task at hand.

With the pouch still in hand, Richard began a precise incantation:

“Type: Magic”

“Particle level: two and above”

“Trace on.”

The powders inside the pouch responded to his command, swirling into five tiny arrows that pointed in slightly different directions.

"All five of them are pointing to locations below me. She must be in one of those five locations," Richard concluded, determined to find Regina and ensure her safety.

“a…”

“Mama…” Regina awakened to find herself confined in a cage identical to the one housing the monster that had been calling out "mama." Strange papers adorned the bars around her, and she cautiously reached out, only to receive a painful shock from the cage's enchantments.

"Ouch!" She recoiled, hearing a cup clatter to the ground. Turning, she saw a man staring at her with wide-eyed astonishment.

"Y-you! What are you?!" The man stammered, clearly startled by Regina's presence and appearance.

"These Zap Charms should be ineffective against humans. That's why I was stationed here to watch over you,"

he continued nervously.

"I've never seen a monster that looks so human-like, almost like a doppelganger. I must report this to Mister Galen!"

Before he could leave, Richard entered the room unexpectedly, causing the man to collide with him in his haste.

"Are you a monster too?!" The man exclaimed, fear evident in his voice. Richard responded swiftly, silencing him with a blow to the head that rendered him unconscious.

Turning to Regina with concern, Richard approached her cage and swiftly unlocked it.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently as Regina stepped out, nodding in response.

“Mmm.” Regina nodded her head.

“What that guy said… is it true that I’m not a human…?” she asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

Richard paused for a moment, contemplating his words carefully.

“You are not a monster,” he reassured her calmly.

Once he had freed Regina from the cage, Richard proceeded to unlock the cage containing the monster.

“Eh? Why did you let the monster out?” Regina asked, perplexed by his actions.

“This monster is called a slime. It won’t hurt us, although it appears to be a special one,” Richard explained.

“Special…?” Regina queried, her curiosity piqued.

“Usually, slimes have no fixed form and can't speak,” Richard continued, observing the translucent, humanoid-shaped slime inside the cage.

“Mama…” The slime moved toward Richard and waved its wooden stick.

“A-a-are you its mo- ouch!” Richard swiftly bonked Regina on the head before she could finish her sentence.

“Mama…” The slime then moved toward Regina and waved its wooden stick.

“It must be thanking us for letting it out,” Richard remarked. He opened the window, and the slime climbed through it, disappearing into the sea.

“Remember this, just as not all humans are good, not all monsters are evil,” Richard advised solemnly.

Regina nodded in understanding and followed Richard out of the room. The hallway they walked through was eerily silent. Regina suspected Richard had dealt with the mercenaries on the floor, but she didn’t ask. She quietly held onto Richard’s hand as they made their way back to their room.

A spot in the sea near a secluded beach began to bubble ominously, the water churning as if something beneath it were stirring. Then, with a resounding "plop," a gelatinous blob surfaced, holding a wooden stick tightly in its translucent grip. The blob quickly morphed and shifted, gradually taking on the form of a young child. With awkward but determined movements, the slime creature made its way towards the only house nestled on the shore.

Outside the house, an elderly lady sat in a creaking rocking chair, her eyes gazing out toward the endless sea. When she caught sight of the approaching slime, her heart skipped a beat. Tears welled up in her eyes, reflecting a mixture of relief and overwhelming emotion. With all the strength left in her frail legs, she pushed herself up from the chair and hurried towards the slime, disregarding the pain and risk of falling.

“Rurumi, you are back! I never thought I would see you again!” She held the slime tight in her arms, embracing it as if it were her long-lost daughter.

“Mama…”

“Rurumi…!” The slime wasn’t her real daughter; it was a creature she had found on the beach years ago, near death from its injuries. Its translucent core was broken and damaged, but the lady had tenderly nursed it back to health.

She hadn't done it out of hope or expectation; in fact, she had feared the slime might turn on her once it regained its strength. Stricken with grief after losing her daughter and unable to bear her pain any longer, she had almost welcomed the idea of the slime ending her life.

Yet, against all odds, the slime did not harm her. Instead, it stayed by her side, offering silent companionship and solace in her darkest hours.

Every day, the lady would gaze at a cherished photograph of her daughter as a child, a precious memento taken during a rare visit by a traveling merchant. They were poor, and such visits were infrequent, making the photograph all the more precious to her.

Moved by the lady’s grief and longing, the slime did something unexpected. It used its malleable form to try and mimic the image in the photograph—a young girl waving a stick and smiling. It wasn't perfect, but the gesture was enough to bring a glimmer of light to the lady’s sorrowful heart.

The lady cried out in disbelief when she saw the transformed slime. Over time, she patiently taught the slime how to say ‘mama’. At first, the sounds it made were mere bubbles, but as days passed, the slime gradually managed to utter ‘mama’ more clearly, bringing immense joy to her.

She began to treat the slime as if it were her deceased daughter, Rurumi, even dressing it in the clothes her daughter had once worn. Despite knowing deep down that the slime was not her real daughter, she couldn't bear to part with it.

"Perhaps this is my daughter reincarnated," she thought to herself, finding solace in this unlikely companionship, or

"Maybe this is a gift from God to ease my pain."

Her heart shattered when she witnessed unknown men forcefully taking the slime away.

“Mama…”

“Yes, Rurumi, let's go inside,” she whispered, her voice trembling with sorrow and loss.

Hand in hand, they walked back to their small house, where memories of her daughter and now of Rurumi would linger in the quiet corners, offering both comfort and heartache.