The second day

I woke up with a ray of sunlight on my face, ugh, how annoying, I forgot to close the curtains, and the room faced directly east, so I'll always have the sun in my face in the mornings. But well, in this world, alarm clocks don't exist, so I'll have to get used to waking up with the sun. I slowly opened my eyes, still holding Nozomi as if she were a little stuffed toy. She was sleeping peacefully, evident from the drool dripping from her mouth and the silly grin on her face. She soaked my shirt... oh well, it doesn't really matter. I started gently poking what was supposed to be her forehead with my index finger. Nozomi's body wobbled with each touch; it seemed like my finger would pierce her skin at any moment, but it always just flattened out and returned to its original state. It was like jelly, but more elastic. Now I wonder if she tastes like strawberries...

"Uhhh, good morning, master."

After a couple of pokes, Nozomi woke up.

"Good morning, ready for a couple of missions?"

"Yes..."

She still seemed drowsy, but after yawning, she jumped out of my arms. I took this opportunity to sit on the bed and stretch my arms. I couldn't help but yawn, and Nozomi yawned too; I guess that's why they say yawns are contagious. I got off the bed and started putting on the pieces of leather armor. Nozomi was watching me curiously. When I finished, I put on the belt and attached the dagger sheath to it. I looked at Nozomi and gave her a smile.

-"Shall we?"

-"Yes!"

I withdrawn Nozomi and left the room. Passing by the reception, I left the silver grim with the young innkeeper.

"Here, payment for tonight. I'm not sure if I'll be back for dinner, so I'll pay the corresponding amount if I come."

"Thank you very much for using our services..." she said as she returned the remaining 30 grim. "By the way, I haven't told you my name, right?"

No, she hasn't introduced herself to me.

"No, you haven't told me."

"Ugh, pardon my manners. My name is Sol, Sol Enfield."

"Nice to meet you, Sol, and thanks for your hospitality."

She just smiled as I walked away. Upon leaving the inn, I headed to the market street.

"Master, we're going in the opposite direction of the guild."

"I know, I just plan to buy some breakfast. You wouldn't want to work on an empty stomach, right?"

"Of course not, master! You've had a great idea!" Nozomi sounded very excited. This girl is quite the glutton.

I had thought about having something light for breakfast. I only had 80 grim left, so maybe I'd buy various fruits, enough for breakfast and lunch. But since I didn't have anything to store the food in, I'd just buy breakfast. My goal for today was to get a bag for storing materials and food, so I went to the fruit shop and bought two apple-like fruits that were red. It only cost me 4 grim, two per apple, a cheap price, really. As I headed to the guild, I started eating one of the apples. It had a sweet and refreshing taste, much better than the apples in my world. The thing is, I don't know how to give the apple to Nozomi without summoning her.

"Master, can you try placing the apple on the palm of your hand and then look at it while thinking about giving it to me?"

Well, I don't think this will work, but it's worth a try. I put the apple in my left hand (I held the other one in my right) and stared at it while thinking about feeding it to Nozomi, as if we were a couple of lovers, although it's more like a master pampering his little dog. Before I realized it, the apple had disappeared.

"Eh!?" I couldn't help but be surprised. The few people on the street were looking at me strangely and had started whispering. Great.

"This is delicious, master! Although I've eaten apples before, this one tastes much better!"

This world keeps surprising me more and more. Truthfully, I quickened my pace as much as possible to get to the guild as soon as possible.

"That surprised me. I didn't think the real apple would actually go to you. Magic keeps fascinating me more and more."

"I didn't think it would work either, but I'm glad it did!"

Sure, as long as you eat, everything's fine. Ah, what will I do with this girl? I finished the apple quickly. When I was about to throw away the core, Nozomi asked me to give it to her. I obliged, and shortly after, we arrived at the guild. I was surprised to see it so active despite being so early. Rosie was attending to several people, but as soon as she saw me, she greeted me. Her receptionist companion wasn't there, so it seems she's much busier than yesterday. I got in line, hoping it wouldn't take too long.

"There are all sorts of adventurers around here" Nozomi spoke to pass the time.

"Yeah, indeed," Huh, it's my first time talking to her through telepathy; I hope it works. "The diversity is greater than I expected."

The few adventurers I had managed to see were quite diverse, from men and women who seemed younger than me to individuals who appeared experienced and skilled in combat. There were also more species besides humans; there were elves, dwarves, and beastmen. I was surprised to see a man much shorter than me but with much more muscle mass, as well as a beard of light brown. I thought humans would discriminate against other races, but here, at least in the guild, there didn't seem to be any discrimination. That's strange coming from the human race. Before I realized it, it was my turn to talk to Rosie.

"Hello, Ray, here for some missions?"

"Yes, I want to accept as many as I can. What Rank F missions are there?"

"Let's see... slime hunting, goblin hunting, prairie rat hunting, medicinal plant gathering, and magical flower gathering."

Yesterday's tasks and other hunting and gathering missions. Nozomi can take out blue slimes in one hit, but I wonder how she'll fare against other enemies.

"I'll accept them all."

"All of them?" Rosie seemed surprised. "It's only your second day. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm capable of. If I sense the slightest hint of danger, I'll withdraw."

Rosie sighed. I handed her the EI, and she registered the missions. After a few seconds, she returned it to me.

"Before you go, can you tell me if you've already chosen a job? I need to put it in the database. In case of a threat, we might call adventurers with a specific job, like mages or swordsmen. This information won't leave the guild, so don't worry."

I figured this moment would come sooner or later. It's information the guild needs, no doubt. I don't think they'd want an "unemployed" person doing dangerous missions.

"Sure, I can tell you without any problem. I've been thinking about it since I saw the question on the guild application, and I've found one that suits me perfectly."

"Oh, then give me your EI, and I'll update the database with it. It's to prevent people from lying since your EI is linked to your magical energy. Everything you do will be recorded here, including your stats, level, job, and title. I know I should have mentioned this before, but I'm sure you've noticed. By the way, for added security, your stats are only shown if you want to display them, and it's not obligatory."

Understood, that's what I suspected. It won't hurt to show her my "Monster Tamer" job. I handed my EI to Rosie, and when she registered it, she had a surprised expression.

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't really like the expression she's making."

Even Nozomi was getting worried.

"'Monster Tamer'... It's the first time in a long while I've seen a job like this."

"Is it that uncommon?"

"It requires much more effort than other classes and puts you at a disadvantage on many occasions. Besides, 'Monster Tamers' have many limitations. For starters, it's very difficult to tame a monster, and the stronger the monster, the more challenging it becomes. Also, tamed monsters don't get stronger as they fight; they don't gain experience. In short, it's a lot of risk for almost no reward. Training daily with a sword to become a master swordsman is more efficient."

Wow, I didn't know monster tamers had it this tough, but these rules don't apply to me and my "Dark Pact." She must be wondering why I chose this profession.

"Still, I don't have much combat experience, and my stats aren't very high. If it weren't for Nozomi, my little gelatinous friend, I would have been seriously injured against the other slimes."

"So, you managed to tame a slime even without any experience in the field..."

Damn, she's getting suspicious.

"It's as if I already knew about it. I vaguely remember it."

"So, you were probably a tamer before losing your memory. It makes sense, but... where's 'Nozomi'?"

"Oh, her..." Think of something, fast! "Since I wasn't sure if I could bring a monster into the city, I left her outside." You don't even believe that, you idiot.

"But poor slime! As long as they're tamed, monsters can enter the city, but only under strong surveillance. Bring Nozomi to the city this afternoon. If you show your job to the guards, they'll let her in."

Phew, that was close. I feel like I just dodged a bullet, and it hit one of my enemies. Still, bringing a blood slime into the city... people will definitely be suspicious.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Rosie returned my EI.

"One last thing before you go. The threat of the giant eagles is still ongoing, although we have several groups of adventurers fighting them right now. I suggest being careful and not heading east."

"Don't worry, I'll head back to explore the north, so you don't have to be concerned."

After saying goodbye to Rosie, I left the guild and quickly exited the city. My goal was to return to the small lake from yesterday; I knew there were blue slimes there. On the way, I glanced at the mission details and their respective rewards. "Kill seven Goblins from the Brieze Great Prairie, reward, 105 grims." "Kill 10 giant rats from the Brieze Great Prairie, reward, 200 grims." "Gather 10 magical flowers, reward, 200 grims." Plus, in addition, the 130 for the medicinal plants and 50 for the blue slimes, making a total of 485 grims, almost all I spent yesterday.

"Looks like we'll make a lot of money. We'll be able to eat well!"

"Yeah, with this, we'll have enough to eat and sleep for four days, not counting today. Although I want to buy some sort of bag or container to carry things; it'll be uncomfortable to hold flowers and plants in my hands. I won't have enough space in my pockets for all that."

"Don't worry, master, I can carry them within me, if that's alright. They won't dissolve unless I want them to"

Have I hit the jackpot with this little slime, or what?

"You're incredibly useful. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't deserve your praise, master."

Talking with Nozomi, the journey to the lake seemed shorter than expected. There were several blue slimes there, six to be exact, happily jumping along the lake's edge. I summoned Nozomi and prepared for the fight.

"There are many slimes. We should be careful. If you want to fight, I can try to distract five of them while you test your dagger. What do you think?"

Oh, the little one's showing some intelligence. I like it when she comes up with plans.

"Then I want to do something. I'd like to level up my tamer skills, so take this, Offensive Boost."

As I mentioned the spell, Nozomi started glowing with an orange aura. She smiled at me.

"Thank you, master. Let's defeat those slimes!"

Nozomi launched herself at all the slimes. Initially, they seemed surprised, but they quickly prepared to fight. Nozomi is immune to their attacks, so I'll let her handle distracting the slimes while I attack. At this moment, all six slimes were trying to hit Nozomi. They had no coordination, and Nozomi was effortlessly avoiding all the attacks from the blue jellies. I took advantage of this, unsheathed my dagger, and quickly stabbed one of the slimes. It looked surprised, but before it could react, I began stabbing it repeatedly. Since slimes are highly resistant to physical blows, and my attack isn't very strong, it took exactly eight stabs to kill it. It's undoubtedly a good way to relieve stress. When the slime deflated, I moved on to my next target. I wanted Nozomi to level up her blood magic skills, but getting accustomed to combat took precedence. After I dealt with all six slimes, I wiped the sweat from my forehead. I put my hand there; I exerted myself greatly, but thanks to my high vitality, I don't feel tired.

"Well done, master. You managed to defeat all the slimes."

"But it took me a long time. I need to refine my technique and increase my physical strength."

"Don't worry, goblins and rats aren't resistant to physical blows, and both have weak points. With them, everything will be faster, but it's also more dangerous."

"I don't think they can beat us, no matter how strong they are."

But the main problem now will be finding them. For the moment, Nozomi and I started looking for medicinal plants and magical flowers. Nozomi told me that these flowers are similar to roses but intensely blue, emitting a faint blue glow. I don't remember seeing any yesterday, so I suppose they grow somewhere else. We found more medicinal plants than needed around the lake, precisely twelve, but only one magical flower. They're beautiful but quite rare. Also, there was no sign of goblins or rats.

"Maybe we should search in an area with more vegetation. Rat burrows are usually underground, and it's difficult for them to be here due to the underground water the lake might have. A bit further north from here, vegetation starts to flourish. Let's try over there."

Wow, this slime is a walking encyclopedia, just what I needed to learn more about the fauna and flora of this world.

"Then let's go."