Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Paper (1)

An unexpected sudden visit from the Saintess, the Paladin, and the slime.

It was surprising that they had come to her house, but Gracie quickly turned her head and made her own deductions.

‘If you ask at the Magic Tower, you can find out my house right away. Then, are they really planning to use me so thoroughly that they suck even the last drop! M, my research time...!’

Confusion quickly turned into shock and despair.

It was a shock similar to hearing from your parents that important assignments were piled up, but suddenly your cousins had come and you had to take care of them for a while because they would be staying together.

“I’m sorry, Gracie. Budul suddenly said to come here...”

“Y, yes? The slime?”

‘Are they being so shameless as to use a monster as an excuse while planning to work me to the bone?! This kind of beating around the bush is the first time!’

Gracie’s head spun.

Because she thought they were using the monster as an excuse to throw their weight around.

“Budul-ah, why did you suddenly say to come here?”

The Paladin’s words, asking as he approached from behind, shocked Gracie even more.

Because she felt that not only the Saintess but even the Paladin had joined in on this new form of throwing weight around!

‘This is... the Saintess and Paladin of the Holy City? This is throwing weight around on a whole different level!’

If the Magic Tower’s throwing weight around was openly demanding from the other party, was the Holy City’s version shifting responsibility to others while acting shamelessly? Such thoughts even crossed her mind.

‘Magic tool!’

Stretch!

While Gracie was in shock, the slime stretched its tentacle further and touched one of the magic tools Gracie was wearing on her hand.

Not forcibly taking it away, but simply touching it to check the texture.

Amelia was startled by the slime’s sudden action.

“Budul-ah! You shouldn’t touch other people’s things carelessly!”

Amelia stepped back, making the tentacle fall away from the magic tool.

‘No?’

Hearing Amelia’s words, the slime put its tentacle back in and leaned its body forward dejectedly.

“Ah! Budul-ah. You just need to get permission! So don’t be too sad.”

“Hmm, could it be that it came here because it wanted to see the magic tools?”

“What? Really?”

“Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be a reason for Budul to suggest coming here.”

‘What?’

Gracie, who had been under the misconception that it was a new type of throwing weight around, had a question mark appear in her head after seeing the previous action.

‘Are they really saying that slime came looking for me?’

They were saying not just the first verse but the second, third, and fourth verses, so Gracie was suspicious whether what they were saying was sarcasm or a new type of throwing weight around.

“Uh... Saintess? Paladin? Did you really come because that slime suggested coming here?”

“Ah. I’m sorry. It’s hard to believe, right?”

“We were taking a walk near the Magic Tower. Then Budul pointed in the direction of this house. We were surprised too. To think this would be Gracie’s house.”

‘Really? Truly?’

Gracie was still half in doubt, but she couldn’t chase away the Saintess and Paladin who had come all the way to her house.

Because she had been directly appointed by the Magic Tower Lord as the guide for the two.

If she carelessly chased them away here and it reached the Magic Tower Lord’s ears, it could affect the support funds.

More than that, from the moment she chased away the Saintess and Paladin, her reputation inside the Magic Tower could plummet.

The magic tool doping mage Gracie wanted to avoid creating unnecessary trouble.

“Um, could you wait a moment? Just a very short while is fine. The house is a bit messy~ I’ll tidy up quickly and come back!”

Gracie immediately closed the door and hurriedly started cleaning.

“This goes here! That goes there!”

“W, was the laundry piled up this much?”

“Just stuff it all in for now...!”

Five minutes later, Gracie opened the door again, dripping with sweat.

“P, please come in!”

“Is it okay to come in?”

“Of course! My house has magic tools installed, so it’s very comfortable!”

‘I shoved everything that looked dirty on the outside into the rooms, so it’s fine!’

Amelia, Paulen, and the slime entered Gracie’s house.

And the slime’s eyes sparkled while Amelia and Paulen exclaimed in admiration.

Because as soon as they entered the house, they saw countless magic tools.

Not only those decorating the walls, but there were even dedicated drawers and display stands for magic tools.

Someone who didn’t know much about magic tools might mistake it for a person collecting accessories while living luxuriously, but the things that looked like bracelets or necklaces had spaces for special jewels or magic stones, so Amelia and Paulen could recognize them as magic tools.

“There are really... a lot of magic tools.”

“It’s a spectacle.”

Since admiration for the magic tools came out, Gracie’s desire to boast welled up.

“Ahem! These are magic tools I carefully selected and purchased. Each one reveals amazing performance depending on the combination.”

“You can utilize all of them?”

At Paulen’s question, Gracie began speaking very enthusiastically and also quickly.

“Of course. I’m different from those foolish collectors who just gather them and don’t use them. Even these magic tools I’m wearing on my body! They’re all the result of finding the optimal combination! Of course, optimal means for everyday use, and depending on various conditions, you can newly combine them with the magic tools over there...”

Around the time they were being overwhelmed by Gracie’s most lively appearance so far.

Kkanjuk, who had induced the slime to come to Gracie’s house, was receiving an unexpected shock.

-How much is all that! Why did you buy so many! What are you so proud of...!

Since she went around with magic tools dangling so much, he had thought there would naturally be some magic tools at home too.

But Gracie’s house was literally a scene no different from a small museum of magic tools.

It far exceeded the imagination of the natural-type mage Kkanjuk.

When the slime walked the streets with Paulen, the analysis of magic tool market prices had already been completed.

Therefore, it was easy to imagine that just the magic tools currently in Gracie’s house would total an enormous amount of money.

-If you’re going to buy magic tools like that, it would be better to pour that into training to make yourself stronger!

No matter how enthusiastically Gracie talked about magic tool combinations, to the natural mage who was already in shock, such words all felt like sophistry.

-You should hone your own skills during the time you think about such combinations! Ah! Ah! Aaaaaah!

The former Heavenly Law mage Ventus Frail, Kkanjuk.

It was a day when he felt intense mental pain for the first time in 30 years since becoming a lich.

The slime, who had no way of knowing Kkanjuk’s pain, began to show strong interest after hearing Gracie’s words.

‘Combination! Amazing!’

Just using magic tools was fun, but if you combined several of them, you could see more diverse effects?

Having felt the joy of using magic tools, the slime came to hold great expectations for the joy of build combinations.

“Ah!”

As the talk about magic tools came out, Gracie, who had been speaking passionately, returned to her senses.

‘This isn’t the time! I need to know exactly why they came to our house!’

“I’m sorry, Saintess, Paladin. Did I talk too much?”

“Ah, no! You were passionate and it was good.”

“Indeed, I thought it was only natural for you to have this many magic tools.”

“Ahaha. Th, thank you. So, is the real reason you came here because of the slime?”

“Well... it might be hard to believe, but I’ll tell you about what happened yesterday. It might be hard to believe, but first, Budul is a really smart slime that is friendly to people.”

“Yes.”

‘Is it like bragging about a pet?’

“First, after meeting the Magic Tower Lord yesterday, we went straight back. And...”

Amelia spoke about what happened yesterday from her perspective.

After returning, the slime started playing with the water-coming magic tool.

It seemed to be having quite a bit of fun using the magic tool with its tentacles.

And after going into the room, finishing reading, and coming out again, it liked using magic tools so much that it was putting its own mana into the magic tool whose magic stone had run out and using it.

“So, I don’t know how it knew, but it seems it suggested going to Gracie’s house where there are many magic tools.”

“...”

“Gracie?”

“What did I just hear? You’re not lying, are you?”

“It’s hard to believe, right? But Budul can really use magic tools by itself. It uses tentacles very skillfully too. Right, Budul-ah?”

‘Yes!’

The slime took out a tentacle and made a muscle.

“See, it understands words this well...”

“That’s not the important part!”

Gracie shouted loudly, hit the table with her hand with a bang!, and stood up.

“Yes?”

“Why are you suddenly like that, Gracie?”

Amelia and Paulen couldn’t understand what Gracie was so seriously surprised about.

Wasn’t the existence of such a smart slime the important thing?

Then what was she surprised about?

Seeing the two people with expressions of sincerely not knowing, Gracie felt even more dumbfounded.

‘Do they really not know? They don’t know this?’

‘Yes! You feel it too, don’t you! As a magic tool doping mage, you empathize even more, Gracie!’

Kkanjuk, who had taken mental damage, was happy that the reaction he wanted had finally come after seeing Gracie’s expression.

“How can a slime! Just inject mana and use a magic tool made for magic stones without a magic stone!”

“What? But other magic tools can be used if you blow mana into them...”

“That! Is strictly made so that it can be used even if you put mana in haphazardly! It’s fundamentally different in design from those made for magic stones!”

“Is that so?”

Amelia and Paulen made puzzled expressions.

At the expressions of not being able to understand how absurd the phenomenon they were talking about was, Gracie felt like her clothes were about to burst.

‘Frustrating! Why don’t they know this!’

Kkanjuk could think that there were those who didn’t know through various experiences, but Gracie had not yet reached that level of understanding.

‘Did this slime really do that? Really?’

She couldn’t believe such an absurd story just from hearing it from others.

Therefore, Gracie decided to confirm it with her own eyes.

“Please wait a moment. You said it was a magic tool that produces water, right?”

Gracie immediately picked up a water-spraying magic tool from the display stand, removed the magic stone inside, and brought it.

“Can you show me with this?”

Gracie thought that Amelia or Paulen might try to make excuses.

She couldn’t particularly think of a reason for the two to deceive her, but it was still a story so unbelievable that it made her suspicious.

But contrary to Gracie’s thoughts, Amelia immediately received the magic tool.

“Yes. Budul-ah, hold this.”

‘Okay!’

The slime extended a tentacle and received the magic tool, and Amelia picked up the slime and headed to the kitchen.

“Saintess? Where are you going?”

“Yes? I need to put Budul inside the pot. The water shouldn’t splash, right?”

“Th, that’s right. Indeed, that would be the case.”

After everyone moved to the kitchen, Amelia put the slime, which was holding the magic tool up, inside the pot.

“Budul-ah, try using the magic tool like yesterday.”

‘Okay!’

Click!

The slime turned on the switch, then opened the lid and pressed the tentacle against it.

And the moment it injected mana.

Swaaaa.

Just like yesterday, the magic tool activated and poured water over the slime’s head.

Brrr!

“Hup!”

At the unbelievable scene she saw with her own eyes, Gracie opened her mouth wide and covered it with both hands.

‘This is... this is...!’

Having witnessed a scene that denied the common sense she had known so far right before her eyes, Gracie realized one fact along with the surprise.

‘New paper material!’

The paper topic she had been worrying about so much had appeared right before her eyes.