Chapter 3: Of Seeds and Secrets

In a foreign land somewhere in the middle realm, in a burned building, two people could be seen arguing. A disciple confronted the professor.

"Professor, what are you doing? Why are you burning the books?"

"Huh, you shouldn't be here. You should have escaped by now, my disciple."

"Wait, aren't those books— Sensei, please don't! That book belonged to my mother."

"I'm sorry, my disciple, but I have to burn all of it. It's too dangerous."

The disciple charged at the teacher to save the book, but it was too late. The only thing the disciple could save was a single page.

"I hate you, professor!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry, my disciple, but I—"

"Ah, look out, my disciple!"

The professor saved the disciple by pushing him away from the falling roof.

"Professor, no! Please don't die. I'm sorry—I shouldn't have said those words."

"Hehe, it's fine, my disciple. cough At least there's still some left. Preserve it well, my disciple."

"Sensei, please don't die."

Then another piece of rubble fell on the professor.

"No, professor!"

Then I woke up.

"Ah, what was that dream I just had?"

My scream awakened the baby dragon. I checked on the baby dragon's crib.

"Ah, sorry I woke you up."

I patted the baby dragon's head, and it purred happily.

"Oh, are you hungry?"

The baby dragon seemed to nod.

"Hehe, okay then. Here's some fish—I hope you like it."

Then I noticed the drawer was glowing.

"Huh? That didn't happen the last time I cleaned this bedroom."

I opened the drawer to find the page glowing.

"Eh, what? Why? How?"

I could barely form a sentence because the glow reminded me of the old tree. But then the page stopped glowing.

"Huh? Hey, come on, glow again! Eh, ahh!" I angrily punched the wall.

Then I heard my door creak open.

"Risette, what's wrong? Why did you punch the wall?"

"Huh? Eh, nothing, Mimic."

I secretly closed the drawer.

"Eh, are you sure? It seems like you're trying to hide something. What's behind your back?"

"Eh, oh, it's a fishing guide! Yeah, a fishing guide. And did you know, Mimic, that it says if you want to catch the biggest fish, you need big bait too? You know what that means, right?"

"Eh, what? No! Mimic would never do that, like ever! Mean Risette!"

Mimic then closed the door angrily.

"Ah, wait, Mimic! I'm... I am a horrible person."

I sat on the bed, still thinking. Should I accept my fate of living in this world, or should I find a way to go back? Even if I had a chance to get back, I'd just return to being stressed with paperwork. Ugh.

Then I went outside and found the slime bouncing around happily, seemingly without any worry at all. It looked like it had returned to its normal blue form.

"God, I wish I could be a slime instead of a human."

Then I found Mimic sitting under the tree, looking upset. I approached him.

"Huh, Risette? I mean, go away, ugly ogre."

"Ugly ogre? You know, right now I could order the slime to swallow you again."

"Eh, please don't! Mimic doesn't like it when my body is being swallowed."

"Hehe, well, yeah, me too, fish bait."

"Ah, again? Is it because Mimic looks like a loser?"

"No, it's just... uh, well, in my culture, we show closeness by how much we fight or tease each other."

"Risette has a weird culture."

"Hehe, I know, right? And, eh, Mimic, what do you mean by 'you look like a loser'?"

"Well, back in my village—remember, Mimic used to get bullied by my friends. They mocked me for being small and dumb. Mom said to ignore those words and told me something special about myself. She said I have a big heart."

"Oh, that's so cute."

"What do you mean, cute? My mom said I have a big heart, but my heart... I think it's the same as anyone else's."

"Eh, Mimic, I think your mother meant you have a caring personality and that you're very kind."

"Really? Is that so? Oh, I guess that makes more sense now."

"Oh, you. Hehe."

I patted Mimic's head.

"I'm sorry, okay? If my words hurt you, okay? So how about it—will you forgive Risette the ugly ogre?"

"Eh, fine. I forgive Risette."

"Hehe, good! Because right now we're going to plant."

"Huh? More labor? But Risette, don't we... can't we just fish for everybody? Mimic's sure the fish probably would never run out." Mimic looked disapprovingly at me.

"Well, if the fish do happen to run out, what would Mimic eat?"

"Eh, Mimic will eat grass."

"Hehe, eat grass like a cow?"

"Uh, well... uhh... ahh, fine! Mimic will help."

"Hehe, good! Mimic, looks like your mother was right."

Mimic groaned uncomfortably.

Then I looked for a good place to plant.

"Ah, how about this place?"

I pointed to the gentle slope near our house.

"Yeah, Mimic agrees. It's not too steep, and it's near our house."

"Alright, let me find the slime."

"Huh? Slime? Why?"

"Hehe, you'll see."

I looked for the slime and found it still bouncing in the same place.

"Alright, come with me, slime."

I picked up the slime. It felt like it was getting heavier.

"Hehe, look at you—reminds me of my neighbor's cat, Totoro."

I carried the slime to the gentle slope.

"Okay, now that we have the slime, what do we do?"

"Eh, let me try to make a fire."

"What? Fire? Is Risette going to try to burn the forest?"

"Well, yeah, a little."

"Wait, what? Mimic won't let Risette do it!" Mimic fixed his posture and stood fiercely.

"Hehe, don't worry. I'll only burn a little."

I put the lighted fire on the slime, and it changed to its red color.

"Alright, slime, burn some of the weeds."

The slime quickly went near the weeds and burned some of them, leaving ash on the soil.

"Good job, slime! Now we're going to plant some of the seeds."

I ate the apple that I brought from the house.

"Eh, why is Risette eating right now? Does Risette get tired easily?"

"No, Mimic. I'm going to use the apple seeds. And yeah, I could use a quick snack."

"Mimic, find me a shovel."

"Huh? Where can Mimic find a shovel?"

"How about the empty house? You can start there."

"Eh, okay. Mimic's going to try to look for a shovel."

A few minutes later...

"Ah, Mimic found it! But I didn't find it in the other abandoned house—it was in that empty shed."

"Good job, Mimic! Now let's dig."

I dug the soil to plant the apple seed.

"Now time to water it. Slime, change back."

The slime looked at me with a confused expression.

"Eh, Risette, I think the slime can't change to its original form instantly."

"Eh, oh, I get it."

"Huh? Where is Risette going?"

I headed for the river to gather water with the bucket.

"Alright, slime, take this water."

The slime instantly changed back to its blue color form.

"Now go near where the apple is."

Instantly, the soil got wet.

"Perfect! Now the next step is... let's wait."

"Eh, how long do Mimic and Risette need to wait?"

"Eh, two months."

"Huh? Two months? You mean like two moons? That's a pretty long time to wait."

"Eh, hehe, well, for now, let's return to the house and cook some fish, okay?"

"Eh, fine."

Mimic then left.

"Now, since Mimic's gone... slime, come with me for a second."

The slime and I went to the upper slope.

"Alright, I'm going to plant the seed that the talking tree gave to me."

I dug up the soil to plant the seed.

"Now, slime, please water it."

The slime watered the soil.

"Perfect! Now let's return, okay? I'm going to give you extra fish today to keep it a secret from Mimic, okay?"

We returned to our house. Mimic was already in the kitchen, preparing all the tools we needed to cook, when suddenly the cooking equipment shook.

"Huh, wait, Mimic, do you feel the ground shaking?"

"Yeah, if Risette feels it, then..."

"It's an earthquake."

"The northern army is going to attack our home!"

Both of us looked confused and said "Huh?" simultaneously.

"Eh, anyway, let's check it out."

We went outside to find that where we planted the apple seed, a tree had grown quickly. Now an apple tree stood before all of us.

"Huh? Eh, Risette, do apples grow that quickly?"

"Eh, normally no, but—"

Before I could finish speaking, we heard a distant woman's voice:

"Help! Please, anyone! Help! My famili— I mean, my cat has been injured!"

To be continued...

See you on Monday!

Hope you enjoyed this surprise upload!