Home/I Am the Youngest Granddaughter of the Monster Duke Family/ch 4

Chapter 4

“I say, Morus. Are slimes normally this weak?”

At Callen’s words, Morus examined the slime and then stepped back.

“It seems it was startled by your lordship’s wings.”

“Weak as they are, to faint like that… That’s far too frail, even for a slime.”

Callen poked the unconscious slime in his hand, again and again. At that, the slime let out a small whimper, squirmed, and twisted its body away from Callen’s fingers.

“Oh ho. It has a bit of a temper, does it?”

Though his tone was stern, his hand didn’t stop poking. The soft yet resilient texture was rather addictive.

After prodding it for a long while, Callen cleared his throat and turned to Morus.

“Ahem. So, there’s nothing seriously wrong with it?”

“Yes. I’m not well-versed in slimes, but it appears to be a simple faint. It’s a little smaller than the size listed by star in the books, but it seems healthy. It looks like someone has been looking after it all this time.”

“Who, exactly? I never assigned any servant to it.”

It was a being he had completely forgotten about for an entire month. He had no idea what had become of this slime or where it had been.

“I’ll look into it.”

Callen turned his head back to the slime. Its appearance was a mess. Dirt and leaves clung to various parts of its body—it must have wandered through who knows where to get here.

According to Morus, it seemed the slime had been drawn to this place by Callen’s mana. Having hatched by absorbing his mana, it would have felt an instinctual pull.

Hearing that, Callen acknowledged his own fault.

‘What fault could this tiny, squishy thing possibly have?’

This child, too, hadn’t chosen to be born as a slime.

And yet, he had neglected it for a month, simply because it was a slime.

Though he had tried not to admit it, he had worried that the standing of the Rousman family would drop if it became known that his ‘Complete Body’ was a low-level monster—a slime. After all, every Complete Body and ‘Chosen One’ before this had been a high-level monster.

‘Lars was right, after all.’

Callen had no choice but to recognize that he had become tainted by worldly concerns.

His expression darkened as he thought of his youngest son, with whom he still had not reconciled after an incident several years ago.

“Move this child to the main building.”

Morus, who had been assisting him for a long time, noticed the shift in his master’s mood and bowed.

“Yes, I’ll see to it at once.”

Callen rubbed his wrinkled eyes.

“Ah, my lord. What shall we do about that matter?”

“You mean the one that was born a few days ago?”

“Yes.”

The Rousman family had spent generations proving they were different from monsters. Because of this, they had always taken the lead in monster subjugation and other such actions.

One of the unofficial undertakings in their activities was experimentation—testing monsters to find differences from magical beasts.

Occasionally, hermaphroditic monsters gave birth to offspring, and a few days ago, a low-level monster in the laboratory had produced young.

“You said it was low-level, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Focused on their conversation, Callen and Morus failed to notice that the slime had awakened at some point.

“Observe it for now, and when it proves useless, dispose of it.”

“Though it’s low-level, it may still have some use.”

“Hmph. But most low-level ones have yielded poor results.”

“I will follow your lordship’s will.”

Callen glanced back at the slime. Confirming that it was still unconscious, he left the room with Morus.

The moment the door closed, the slime’s tightly shut eyes flew wide open.

Its golden, bean-sized pupils trembled, filled with terror.

‘Me… if I’m useless, they’ll dispose of me?’

It would be quite some time before they learned just what kind of terrible misunderstanding the slime had made.

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“Observe it for now, and when it proves useless, dispose of it.”

Those words were clearly about me.

Putting together the talk of ‘low-level’ and such, there was no doubt.

‘Isn’t disposing of me a bit too harsh?’

I had thought that since my ancestor was a magical beast, they might at least understand the heart of a low-level monster. I wasn’t expecting kindness. But I never imagined they’d go so far as to dispose of me just for being low-level.

I had no idea how to overcome this situation.

Lying on the vast bed, I stared blankly and groaned.

I came up with a few possible plans.

First, escape from here.

Second, beg desperately for my life.

To execute the first plan, I needed preparation. I couldn’t stay in monster form out in the world, so I’d need to learn how to take human form, and I’d need money.

I’d read in books that money was extremely important in the human world. The more, the better—and while having none didn’t mean unhappiness, having plenty meant fewer misfortunes.

‘Money. I have to gather money.’

Then I’d escape!

The plan naturally took shape in my head. Trembling with excitement, I let out a hot puff of breath and leaped to my feet.

According to the books, the Rousman family was among the wealthiest in the empire. Surely even their statues were made of diamonds, right?

First, I looked around to figure out where I was.

The room was enormous, with furniture all oversized. For a moment, I almost thought it was a giant’s chamber—even though I knew better.

‘The owner of this room must be huge too, right?’

Then the memory of the gargoyle’s wings I’d seen just before fainting resurfaced.

I’d seen gargoyles a few times when I lived in the forest. But they never paid any attention to low-level monsters like me and my forest friends.

‘There was a time I envied gargoyles…’

The sight of them spreading their massive wings and flying had looked so magnificent.

But seeing a gargoyle’s wings up close—they were far larger and more terrifying than I’d imagined.

What’s more, gargoyles had nasty tempers and sometimes even bullied low-level monsters.

‘I’ll just sneak in, steal only the small, valuable things from this mansion, and slip away quietly!’

Hehe. Laughing to myself, I jumped down from the bed.

The bed must have been quite high, because the room looked even bigger from below. But I mustered my courage and crept toward the door. The gleaming doorknob caught my eye again.

‘…That looks like gold.’

Should I try stealing that? Knowing it was impossible, I backed up—then ran forward and leaped with all my might.

“Kuuut!”

And then—the door suddenly swung open, sending me bouncing back and tumbling across the floor.

The world spun around and around. My whole body ached, but the carpet softened the fall, so I wasn’t badly hurt.

“Oh dear, Complete Body! Are you all right?”

A shadow fell over me, accompanied by a worried voice.

It was an old human man, his face deeply wrinkled.

“Are you hurt anywhere? I’m terribly sorry—I wasn’t paying attention.”

His warm, gentle voice and kind face almost made me nod in trust.

But I soon recognized him as the same man who had been having that chilling conversation earlier.

“Kuu!”

What if he’d come to dispose of me right now? Panicked, I scrambled under the bed.

Clutching my racing heart, I quietly watched the situation—and then the human man bent down and peered under the bed.

“Kuuuung!”

I shrieked at the face so close to mine and tried to squeeze myself deeper inside.

As I desperately searched for an escape route, I saw the door open.

“Morus? What are you doing lying on the floor? You were supposed to bring the squishy one.”

“Ah, my lord. The little one has woken up, but it seems frightened. It’s gone under the bed and refuses to come out.”

“Under the bed, you say?”

Strange—hearing that ‘my lord’ person’s voice began to calm my anxious heart.

What? This is confusing.

‘Wh-what’s happening to me?’

Suddenly, I felt that it would be safe to go out from under the bed.

‘Safe?! The humans who are going to dispose of me are out there!’

But contrary to my thoughts, my body moved on its own—heading out from under the bed.

‘Nooo—!’

My body, having lost my control, dashed forward, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Mid-sprint, I collided with something and clung to it tightly.

“Hngh, kuu, hngggh, kuuuu.”

Frustrated by my own body that wouldn’t obey me, tears burst forth.

Overwhelmed by sorrow and despair, my body shook violently as I wailed—and then a warm hand clumsily patted my head.

“Were you very scared? It’s all right now.”

‘It’s NOT all right!’

Being comforted by the very human who was going to dispose of me only made it more heartbreaking.

Fine. Whatever. With a resigned heart, I threw my head back and cried even louder.

“Hngh, KUUUUU!!”

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