The Former Demon Queen Helps Her Friend Become An Adventurer

The trio had originally planned to grind for loot at a nearby dungeon, but since little Monica had decided to join them, Leafy changed their destination midway through the trip and brought them to an open field instead.

"This is much safer," Leafy whispered into Mary's ear while the little girl was distracted by the scenery.

"Ah, it's so big! Such a big field!" Monica exclaimed, laughing as she pointed around.

"Even though the monsters here are mostly slimes," Leafy continued whispering, "we still need to keep an eye out for any potential bosses that might appear."

Mary nodded.

"And Miss Leafy, you could just use the opportunity to also practice your sword swings."

"What? Look at the little cute slimes! No way!" Leafy suddenly shouted.

Mary blinked in confusion.

"Umm... aren't we here to hunt them?" she asked.

"Not these little guys, that's for sure," Leafy said, gesturing with her sword toward the creatures popping in and out of the grass.

"Huh?"

Mary took a closer look. The tiny creatures made cute, squeaky noises and came in different color combinations, red, green, blue, and even purple. They bounced around the grass like squishy little balls of jelly, completely harmless.

"Oh wow, they are cute," Mary admitted.

"Mhm," Leafy nodded.

"But I'm confused," Mary said. "Don't we need to hunt monsters to make enough money for your rent?"

"Yeah, but we're not here to hunt these guys," Leafy replied. "We're here to hunt those ones."

Leafy gestured with her sword deeper into the open field, and Mary turned to gaze in that direction.

There was a giant blob of something moving around.

"What is that?" Mary squinted.

"A blob boss," Leafy commented.

The thing was dark gray in color and possessed six tentacle-like limbs around its body.

"Wait... it kind of looks like a bigger version of the little ones," Mary whispered.

"Yep. They're like the corrupted version of the regular slimes. They're hostile to the others. They're actually bad for the environment, so travelers who come across them tend to destroy them before they can do any harm."

As Leafy spoke, Mary watched as the creature reached out with one of its tentacles to pick up several tiny slimes before shoving them into its mouth.

"My gosh! It's eating the rest!" Mary shuddered in horror.

"Yeah, and that's why they've got to go."

"Alright, Miss Leafy, go get it!" Mary encouraged.

"Hey, you!" Leafy shouted, pointing her sword at the blob boss.

"Huh?"

The creature paused mid-bite, confused, briefly stopping itself from eating more as it turned to face Leafy.

Little Monica was busy playing in the grass with a group of tiny slimes, and Mary made sure to keep an eye on the girl while Leafy fought the boss.

"My name is Leafy Olivia Herald Herondale! I work as an accountant, and I am here to destroy you today, so get ready!"

She charged forward in a sprint, positioning her sword for a swing.

The monster also charged at her with its multiple tentacle-like limbs.

The two of them met in the middle.

Leafy swung in a wide arc, slicing off one of the limbs.

The monster roared in anger, trying to grab hold of her with another, but Leafy stood her ground, trusting what Mary had taught her. She continued to slice each tentacle one after another, fierce determination written across her face.

Mary was proud at the sight.

"You are doing it, Miss Leafy!" she cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

Leafy briefly stopped and glanced back.

"You really think so?" she asked, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Uh-oh, Mary thought. Maybe I shouldn't have encouraged the girl.

She had left herself completely unguarded now, open and undefended.

"No, no! Focus on your opponent in front of you..."

Before Mary could finish talking, the boss stretched a tentacle around Leafy's leg, pulling the girl up and dangling her upside down.

"Whoa!"

Even her sword had plopped onto the ground.

Seeing this, Mary didn't even wait to think. She burst forward with thirty percent of her speed, so fast that the tree behind where she stood cracked at its base.

She shot across the field in less than a heartbeat, using her body as a battering ram as she violently slammed into the monster, exploding the creature into droplets.

"Whoa!" Leafy cried out as she fell back down after the tentacle holding her let go.

Mary momentarily didn't even care if her secret was exposed or not. Her friend was about to be hurt. She needed to save her. That was all that mattered.

"Thanks, Mary," Leafy said, slowly getting to her feet and wiping bits of slime that were stuck to her forehead. Mary also discovered that her own clothes were covered with the stuff.

"Oh, it's no problem," Mary smiled. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Leafy responded. "Just lost focus for a second, didn't I?"

"Mhm," Mary nodded. "But you did so good, Miss Leafy."

"Yeah?" Leafy asked.

"Yes," Mary answered. "Extremely good."

"Alright, I see some more slime bosses coming this way, so why don't we do this? I'll go up ahead and fight them, and you keep an eye on both me and Monica. Whenever either of us is in trouble, you jump in and save our butts. Okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," Mary answered.

And true to her word, that was exactly what she did.

...

The trio spent the next three hours hunting slime bosses while occasionally taking water and food breaks. Leafy did most of the upfront fighting with her sword, but just as promised, whenever she was slowly being overwhelmed, especially when dealing with more than one boss or bigger ones, Mary would intervene.

She had picked up a few tiny rocks just for the occasion. So whenever she saw Leafy being overpowered, she would simply place a rock between her thumb and forefinger and flick it with superhuman speed.

The projectile would shoot through the air with intense force, slicing through the creatures and obliterating them in half.

Leafy would turn around, flash a thumbs-up, and smile. Mary would do the same, returning the gesture, extremely happy from the bottom of her heart that she was helping the girl achieve her dream of becoming an adventurer.

Little Monica, however, was lost in her own world of play.

She was continuously being covered in an increasing number of slimes as the tiny creatures gathered around her. She'd pick them up and plop them onto her head and shoulders while talking to them.

"Yeah, Mom says elves can also do magic, so when I'm big enough, I want to attend the Royal Academy to learn magic."

"Aha, I want to become the greatest Elvin witch ever. Although I am pretty shy, and the thought of attending school with other kids makes me nervous."

"Hmm, maybe I can develop some kind of magical technique that wouldn't require me to speak, so people in class wouldn't even notice I was there. What do you guys think?"

"Eeee, you guys are just so colorful! So far I have found blue ones, green ones, and even purple ones. I wonder if there are any gold ones."

Mary briefly turned her attention away from Leafy and flicked an extra pebble she had been holding in her right hand in the direction of the little girl.

The tiny rock shot past the girl's head and sliced into a large, corrupted slime boss that had been trying to sneak up on her while she played.

Mary breathed a sigh of relief.

The girl remained happily oblivious.

The group kept up this momentum for another hour before eventually deciding to call it a day.

The sun had started to fall behind the mountains, signaling it was time for them to begin packing up.

"Please, can I bring them home with me?" Little Monica asked as she stood in front of both girls with puppy-dog eyes.

"I don't know, Monica. What would your mom say? And do you even know what they eat?"

"But I promise to take care of them and feed them and take them out to play in the grass," the little girl protested. "Don't worry about Mom. She will be okay with it. I'm sure."

"Ah..."

While Leafy was trying to figure out how to reply to the girl's request, Mary felt that familiar sensation again on the back of her neck, as if someone was watching her.

This time, when she turned, she caught sight of a shadow standing among a thicket of smaller trees in the distance.

For a brief moment, she could once again make out the humanoid shape and the pair of horns.

Then, almost immediately, the shadow seemed to melt into the ground and quickly slipped away between the trees.

Mary narrowed her eyes.

Very well, I'll simply have to confront this person tonight. It's too dangerous to do so right now.

"Please, I promise I will take care of them!"

Mary's attention snapped back to the group. Monica was still trying to plead her case.

"But Monica," Leafy tried to say, and Mary quickly jumped in.

"Okay, what about this? We'll let her take the slimes home and hear what her mother says. If she agrees, she can keep them. If she doesn't, we'll just bring them back here tomorrow. And whenever you want to visit them again, Monica, we can always bring you here to play. Sounds good?"

Mary looked at both girls for their reaction. She wasn't sure if she had overstepped her bounds, but it seemed like the little girl really wanted the slimes, and Leafy wasn't quite sure what to do either. Mary simply wanted to help.

"Yes!" Little Monica instantly agreed.

"Hmm, okay," Leafy also replied. "Now let's get going. It's getting late."

...

Ultimately, little Monica's mother, Everdeen, agreed to let her daughter keep the slimes, just as long as she promised to feed them every day.

The girl was overjoyed that she now had four tiny little friends, a red one, a blue one, a purple one, and a yellow slime.

Both Leafy and Mary said goodbye to the elven mother and daughter as they left for the Adventurer's Guild.

"Hey, um... thank you again for today," Leafy said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And for also keeping my secret."

"No, Miss Leafy, please. You don't have to thank me. I agreed to train you."

"Still, you're doing a lot for me, and I really appreciate that. So thank you."

"Please, Miss Leafy, you really don't have to."

Mary was only halfway through talking when the girl rushed forward and wrapped her in another hug.

"...!"

Mary was confused for a moment. Her brain just stopped working. Somehow, Leafy was hugging her again.

She was starting to like how this was becoming a regular occurrence for them.

"And you really should stop calling me that," Leafy added.

"Anyway, we made a significant amount from the slime bosses today. And since I was there personally to witness the slimes being killed, we can simply go and claim our reward from the treasury back at the guild. Normally, adventurers would have to present proof of the kills, but since I was there, no problem."

"Alright, let's go," Mary answered.