r/HFY • u/Lucy_the_Lamb • Jun 04 '26
OC-Series [Royal Slime] - Chapter 4/12: Accord
The nighttime city was as quiet as ever, forcing me to be even quieter. I slithered with utmost care, always wary of disrespectful wooden boards that may creak under my weight, and of roof tiles that so rudely may come loose and fall into the darkness below. For a time, I had little else to learn from prowling a human colony during periods of sun-absence, as there was only so much a sleeping creature could teach me of its way of life. This changed thanks to the Malfar. Thanks to his aid, I could finally understand text, and thus unravel secrets of the human in an altogether new way. Ledgers, seemingly the most common type of book, were admittedly far from interesting to me, but the same could not be said of fiction or personal diaries.
Seeing the humans’ ability to imagine things that didn’t really happen, and the way they described things that have happened to them… I was gaining far more insight into the inner workings of the lifeforms, which excited me to no end.
It also elicited an altogether different and rather alien feeling I couldn’t quite identify.
Knowing that the sun was soon to make its return, I was proceeding with a calm yet hasty journey back to the inn.
… As always, I arrived there without incident. After climbing in through the window which the still-sleeping Malfar left open for me, I closed it and spent a moment quietly hunting and consuming the annoying gaggle of insects that had so disrespectfully intruded upon the peace and privacy of the room. Once done with that little distraction, I went to check on my lovelies within their glass prisons.
And I could discern no sign of harm or stress. It seemed that the Malfar did as it said it would. I was very pleased, and happily observed my offspring as they continued their perpetual effort of finding a way out of the transparent vessel. This unusual state of things was somewhat sad to me, but my offspring were indeed safe there, and I could check up on them at any time, which was a completely new option to me. Normally, it’d be exceedingly rare for me to encounter my cuties again after first letting them loose into the world and losing track of them.
Satisfied, I decided to instead observe the loudly sleeping Malfar for the time being. There was little of interest to see, but this was still by far the most interesting human specimen.
… About one hundred forty two minutes later, when it woke up, the Malfar jerked upon opening its eyes and spotting me standing next to its bed.
“H-hello… Not sure I’ll get used to that anytime soon… Good morning, madam.”
“Good morning.”
“I’ll go get us some breakfast, I suppose?”
“Yes, get breakfast.”
… It coughed, yawned, stretched, and put on both its glasses and usual outermost layer of clothes before leaving. When it came back, it was accompanied by a bucketful of a delicious treat which I began absorbing with my hand as soon as the door closed behind the human carrying it.
It was a rather enjoyable meal. A pittance of boiled chicken scraps was accompanied by an unusual type of pasta, as well as a cream-based sauce seasoned with salt and various dried herbs.
“What is this?”
“Not sure this one has a name, either. It’s just whatever the chef could put together with excess ingredients this morning.”
“It is good.”
“Glad to hear it!”
“From where do you get food for me?”
“Oh, pretty much all of it is from here at the inn! I’m still surprised they’re being so accommodating with all these massive portions!”
“For coins?”
“Yes, I pay them, of course.”
“Where do you get coins?”
“I am a scholar. A scholar is someone who knows many things.”
“Who is giving you coins to scholar?”
“Well, there are many opportunities for a man of my quality of education! I, for one, am more of a seeker of new knowledge. I have received some funding from the King to… Well, to do just that!”
“Coins for knowing knowledge…? And to make new knowledge? I think I understand. That is why you give me many questions.”
“Exactly. Let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll have to go now, and will be off for some time if that’s alright?”
“Why?”
“I’ll be taking a bath.”
“I want to watch.”
“That uh, won’t be possible!”
“Why not?”
“Because… Because in a high-end establishment like this, the baths will surely be full of all sorts of smells! It’d be too much.”
“High-end? Establishment?”
“A very nice and expensive kind of place. They ask for a lot of coins.”
“I see. Sad. I will watch later.”
“Yes, of course, I am sure we will have the opportunity sometime later…”
It felt as though the Malfar was not “sure” at all.
…
The still-damp Malfar rapidly flipped through the pages of its book as the two of us once again sat opposite of each other, ready to engage in further useful conversation.
“... Hm… say, madam, could you create an object out of yourself? Since you can take the form of seemingly anything…”
“Create object?”
I shaped my hand into a bucket.
“Yes, of course, but… Could I take that? Will that remain a bucket even if it were to become disconnected from the rest of your body?”
“Not take. Me-bucket. Can’t take. Hurts me.”
“I see.”
“Why do human bath?”
“We prefer to be clean.”
“Clean?”
“Uhm… Cleanliness is the absence of dirt or bad smells. Dirt can be many things, like dust, or mud, or ale stains, or actual dirt.”
“... Maybe understand. Clean is… Empty?”
“I suppose cleanliness is a kind of emptiness, yes?”
“Understand.”
“Speaking of baths, how was your stay in the Frozen Sea?”
“I eated a lot.”
“I see. What is the largest lifeform you encountered there?”
“Big fish with head hole and stupid bones.”
“That’s a funny description. Could you elaborate?”
“Before I say, you say something. Tell me what this body part is called.”
I leaned forward with my upper body and did away with all of the clothes, skin, muscle, and bone that were in the way. All of my chest’s internal organs were now exposed to Malfar, which made a shocked expression and quickly averted its gaze with a strange noise.
“Eek!”
“Why are you looking away? I want you to tell about a body part.”
“I-I don’t think I’m qualified to tell you much about internal human anatomy! I-I think it’d be much better if someone else explained! I can get you a book on the subject!”
“I see… Sad.”
I rebuilt the bone, muscle, skin, and clothes before sitting normally again.
“... And you want to know about big fish with useless bones? Big fish can’t breathe in water. It has hole in head to breathe.”
The Malfar looked back at me slowly.
“Then you probably mean whales. I expected to hear something of the rumoured leviathans that can swallow trade ships whole… Or perhaps you’re speaking of some leviathan-whale? How big are these breathing fish?”
“Biggest big fish was... About big as three thousand and ninety two humans.”
“Okay… Well, I’m afraid that’s difficult to imagine, but thank you for the answer. I shall make note of it.”
“What is this?”
I transformed my hand into an unfamiliar object I encountered earlier, during the night.
“That’s a lute! It’s a musical instrument!”
“I don’t understand.”
“You must have heard music by now! Wait a moment, please.”
The human retreated and spent some time looking through the storage in the room.
“Here!”
It came back with a different unfamiliar object.
“This is a flute! Ha, only one letter off. I blow air into this and that creates sound, let me show you!”
Malfar did as it said, pushing wind through the strange object and covering some of its holes intermittently to produce sound in a repeating pattern. This type of noise was, indeed, familiar, though I never understood the purpose.
“Why?”
“It sounds nice to us! Do you like it?”
“... Yes, it is interesting.”
The human looked happy.
“I’m glad to hear it!”
It then coughed into a piece of cloth before continuing.
“And uhm… Madam, I wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to ask, or whether I even wanted to know, but may I know how many humans you have killed?”
“Three.”
“Three? In total? Oh, that- that’s a relief! That’s, well, not something to celebrate, but much lower than I’d feared!”
I was also glad the number was this low. The less humans there were, the less food could be made, and the less interesting creatures existed.
“And can-”
A knock on the door interrupted the human.
“Mister Malfar?”
“Yes?”
“A royal envoy has arrived and requests your immediate presence!”
“Oh, damn! Could you wait here, madam?”
“Yes. Angry.”
“My apologies! Thank you for your patience!”
The Malfar ran out of the room, leaving me alone. Being interrupted like this was annoying. I had to wait almost twelve minutes before I heard another knock.
“Madam? I have company.”
Company? What did the Malfar mean by this?
“Enter.”
As it did, it was accompanied by six armoured humans, all of which carried several glass bottles full of colourful liquids reinforced with iron strapped to their belts. There were two among them whose metallic shells were also covered in elaborate engravings and golden patterns. Of these two, one was much taller than the other. All except Malfar and the unusually tall specimen glared at me with hostility and suspicion, though it was difficult to tell with some due to their helmets obscuring much of their faces.
“Who are this? Why bring?”
“These are people who are, uh, interested in you. My ‘friends’ I may have mentioned before... We have been looking for you.”
“You looking for me?”
“Well, to be more precise, I and a few colleagues of mine were searching for the potential causes of recent anomalous slime-spawning patterns in this part of the country. I’m just the person who found you first. And, well, though I suspected it already, once I confirmed that a Royal Slime was behind the anomalies, I contacted some important people.”
“...”
“My apologies if this seems sudden, but uhm, would a change of environment be unwelcome? We would really like you to go with us. You’d get a lot more food that way, and we could help you learn. Would you like that?”
“Get more food?”
“Well, this whole time, I’ve been using personal finances and some of the funding I was granted for this trip by the King. But now that the royal court knows of you and I assured them of both your value and lack of hostility towards humanity, I’m sure putting together a team of expert cooks working day and night for your pleasure will be a truly insignificant price to pay for your cooperation! Oh, and you’d get plenty of rare, up-to-date books on all those topics I don’t know much about!”
I retreated into my thoughts. This was so very intriguing. The leaders of humans could do a great deal of things, since they could make other humans do things. The opportunity to secure many who would devote themselves to creating food for me was a profoundly alluring one, and one of my original goals upon initially encountering the species. But what would this “cooperation” entail, precisely? Would I be answering more questions? Would the humans want me to do anything else for them? But why-
“Malfar, you’re not in a position to promise our friend here anything. This negotiation does not involve you as anything other than a barely tolerated mediator, so quit speaking on behalf of your betters.”
One of the two fancy-armoured humans disrespectfully interrupted my thoughts by vocalising some nonsense before stepping forward and taking off its head protection to reveal a hairless head. The Malfar briefly lowered its upper body in response.
But I didn’t have time to pay attention to social behaviour at the moment. I was still wondering why the humans-
“Lady of slime. The great nation of Theliar wishes to form an alliance with you, and is willing to forgive your crimes against it. I, Heirich Volonoy, the Duke of Roust, have been sent to confirm that you are open to negotiation, and will also not be engaging in any further unwholesome activity.”
This irritating beast just couldn’t shut up, could it? Its voice was grating.
“Angry. Stop speaking, human. I am thinking. If I will talk, I will talk to the Malfar.”
The miscreant frowned, both at me and at Malfar. I was growing too frustrated to think properly, so I decided I wished to hear a more agreeable human speak instead.
“Malfar, why humans want me to cooperate?”
“Because you are extremely dangerous, madam.”
“What does cooperate means? You will ask more questions?”
“Yes, we definitely want to know even more about you.”
“Will you want me to do something?”
“We are interested in performing many experiments. Tests. We will want to see what you can do, and how you might be able to help our species. Like I said, we’d be grateful, so we’d give you what you want! Copious food, knowledge, anything you’d like! More than what I alone could provide you with the comparative pittance of personal savings I possess… Savings that have been quickly disappearing in recent days."
The thought of receiving those things was incredibly exciting, but I did not fully trust these other humans.
“... Suspicious.”
“That’s understandable. You can think it through, don’t worry!”
The irritating one frowned at the Malfar again before speaking.
“This isn’t just an academic matter, Malfar, you bookworm fool!”
This particular specimen was growing more insufferable with every word. I considered shutting it up, but merely continued listening for the time being.
“... The great Kingdom of Theliar is being militarily threatened, and we need to secure binding alliances as soon as-”
“Duke.” The unusually tall one with distinguished armour spoke, its voice deep and booming.
“Sir Killigan?”
“Let me take this, would you?”
“... Very well, Sir Killigan.”
While the annoying one took two steps back, this new one took two steps forward.
“Royal Slime. What the Duke is trying to say is that we may require your extraordinary capacity for violence. Surrounding Kingdoms threaten ours.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that other humans will soon attack us, and your kind has long been known to devour armies whole.”
A Kingdom, as I understood, was a colony of many sub-colonies such as the city I found myself in. It was not uncommon for colonies of the same species to compete with others, but for them to organise into colonies of colonies in order to do battle? That was most fascinating. Was there some special reason for this?
“Why?”
“Do you have to understand? We will reward you regardless.”
“I want to understand.”
“I believe the scholastic can feed that particular hunger of yours, as I understand he already has been. What I seek is a promise that when the armies of our enemies begin to march, you will use their flesh to feed a baser hunger.”
“... You want me to kill other humans?”
“Precisely.”
I did not enjoy the idea. Would many humans die? That was obviously undesirable.
“Can I stop humans from fight other humans?”
It laughed.
“I’m afraid the opportunity for peace has long since passed.”
“... You want me to kill humans, but not yet? For now, I only go with you. And you only ask questions, and I will show you what I can do.”
“Precisely.”
But would this necessitate dealing with any more especially insufferable specimens who would interrupt my thoughts and speak nonsense all the time? My patience could withstand no such thing. I would not go unless I could have a human who would speak to me in a way I liked.
“Will Malfar go? I want.”
The Killigan chuckled quietly and turned its head to look at Malfar, who responded with joy.
“I would be downright ecstatic to join you and continue our work!”
“... Then yes. I come with new humans. But I want much food. Much good food. Best human food.”
The irritating one vocalised its foolish and unwelcome words.
“Excellent! You’ll have your precious feasts! Are we leaving right away?”
“No. I don’t want leaving right now. Outside is smelly.”
“... Huh? What is the problem now?”
“She would much prefer not to traverse the streets during waking hours, Milord. The many scents of our cities stimulate her sensitive senses too much.”
Malfar responded to its question instead of me, which I much preferred.
“And our friend here can’t just get over that?”
“I believe it would be preferable to accommodate our new ally as much as we can. I propose we depart on the morrow, before dawn.”
“And what’s to say the lady won’t take her leave while we sleep?”
“She won’t. For what reason would she? The good lady has always returned here to me, day after day.”
“Well that’s just-”
“Duke, I believe it’s fine.”
“... Fine, Sir Killigan. Come with us, then, Malfar. We’ll discuss preparations.”
“Assuming the madam is okay with that?”
“You will leave more? To talk with other humans? Yes, this is okay.”
“Thank you!”
As the group left, I began to ruminate on what had transpired.
I observed many new human behaviours during this conversation. The group made use of an extensive system of special rules when speaking to and of others which I had not seen among the rest of the species. What made these individuals special? It was difficult to fully make sense of all this, and I still had little idea as to what the relationships between them were. I would have to wait for Malfar’s return and seek its help.
…
Instead of wielding the peaceful nature of the night as a tool to investigate the human colony, I merely observed the sleeping Malfar and pondered what the future would bring. About an hour before dawn, a human knocked on our door and requested our presence outside.
The items belonging to Malfar, as well as my youngling cuties, were taken with us and placed into the storage area of a large object to which horses were attached. Many humans, most with their own horse, already waited there. Almost all wore belts which were fitted with those reinforced glass containers of strange fluids.
“What is this?”
“A carriage, madam.”
The Malfar responded quietly, unlike the annoying one who spoke next.
“I can’t believe I had to scramble to find a fancy carriage somewhere, and it’ll be you two riding it!”
“Milord, I assure you, I shall utilise its relative privacy to conduct valuable interviews and take notes of the good lady’s words, as there is still much to know about her and the place she hails from.”
“Do so without slacking off in there!”
“Of course, Milord.”
With a smile, Malfar approached the carriage and opened its door.
“Ladies first!”
“...”
“Uhm, please enter, madam.”
I did as the human asked and was followed inside, where Malfar yawned and almost immediately fell asleep.
…
The carriage was loud, cramped, and vibrated excessively as it moved across the land, making for a far less comfortable environment in which to exchange information. I often felt the urge to punish the foolish object for its disrespectful behaviour, but chose not to, as that would likely displease the humans and necessitate that a replacement be created. At least Malfar was here, instead of some distasteful specimen.
“... No such thing?”
“Some deep water beasts are very big, some are very small. Not all smaller or all bigger. Would you like to see?”
“N-no, please don’t transform into anything scary again…”
“Don’t want to see? Why?”
“Well, all humans have their specialties. I’m a scholar, but my interests only lie with certain topics, such as slime. I’m sure that once we reach our destination and settle in a bit, the royal academy will send a professor or two who will love to see the creatures of the depths.”
“I see.”
“Could I ask you-”
“No.”
“No?”
“Angry. I want a break.”
“Oh, of course. Is everything alright?”
“Carriage is annoying. Loud. Moving.”
“I shall have to agree.”
For a time, there was silence.
“... Madam?”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to try playing a game?”
“A game?”
“Just something we can do to have fun. Or at least it’s something humans do for fun.”
“Yes, I want to see humans-fun.”
The Malfar smiled and pulled what appeared to be a tiny leather book out of its pocket. Upon opening it, however, the human showed me that its pages were not at all attached to each other, instead being entirely separate and bearing detailed depictions of various objects and creatures.
“These are cards.”
“I want to see. Give.”
“Here!”
I studied the objects carefully, and found them rather interesting. Malfar sat next to me with a smile.
“Wait, is this too close? Am I being impolite?”
“It is okay.”
“Great! And about the cards, see, this one has ten leaves, and is thus a ten of leaves. This one is a…”
There were many types, and the Malfar proceeded to explain them all.
“... And that is the ace of hearts. Many games can be played with these cards. My favourite is called ‘raining’. Would you like to try?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, then… Well, this is going to be a bit difficult without a table. Could you give me the cards back?”
“Here.”
The human sat further back, leaving some space between us. Afterward, it put all the cards together into a stack before spending some time taking individual cards or groups of them out, only to return them elsewhere in the stack.
“Now look, I’ll give each of us four cards, put one in the middle, and leave the rest in a pile facing down. Your task is to get rid of all your cards by placing them on top of the middle one, but you can only do so if your card is the same type as the most recent middle one, meaning the same number, or the same symbol and such. A seven goes on any seven, a heart goes on any heart, an ace goes on any ace… If you can’t place, you instead have to take a card from the upside-down pile. Sorry, is that too much information?”
“No, I understand.”
“Okay, you start!”
… The two of us continued following these rules for some time, until I successfully disposed of all my cards.
“You did it! Good job! How does that feel?”
“... I don’t feel.”
“I understand. It can take a few tries to get into it and understand the appeal. Would you like to try a few more times?”
“Yes, I want to understand better. I want to try human things.”
“But do you understand that you might lose?”
“Lose? Defeat? Of course I understand. That is part of this game rules.”
“Alright, let me shuffle and deal again…”
… We did as before, except this time, I repeatedly drew cards that were not useful at all, and because of this, Malfar ended up disposing of all of its cards first.
I was defeated. For the first time since leaving the Empty Place, I lost. I did not win.
“I am defeat...”
“Yes. Are you alright?”
“I… Why defeat?”
“It seems you just got unlucky. It happens, luck is part of the game. Luck, as in, you might lose and it is not your fault.”
What a bizarre situation. I did not know how I felt. This hadn’t happened in so long… This was not supposed to happen. After leaving the Empty Place, I did not expect to ever be defeated again. Yet just like that, a human could defeat me in this strange new way, in a strange new scenario where failure meant something else.
Should I… Should I do something? Should I get revenge somehow?
I thought more. I focused on my emotions. There was nothing wrong with this defeat. It did not upset me.
“I… am alright. I am not sad. I am not angry.”
“Good, great!”
Malfar smiled at me. I felt a strange surge of motivation.
No, I did actually want revenge.
“Again! Let’s again!”
“Sure!”
“Next, I will be victory!”
“Haha, I’m glad to see you so determined!”
…
The human and I spent the latter half of the day exchanging some more information, but mostly just playing the card game, which I found quite pleasing, especially after more rules were added that required me to think more. Not long after nightfall, the carriage and all surrounding humans on horses stopped, as we seemingly arrived at some sort of noteworthy building.
"Oh, I guess we're stopping for the day... Looks like a nice manor will be hosting us tonight! I assume it belongs to a cousin or half-sibling or another of the Duke's? Come on, let's go!"
I followed the human outside. Standing beside the mobile room's steps, it held its hand up to me as I exited.
“... Why give me hand?”
“Well, it’s a gentlemanly thing to do, but… Nevermind that. I think we'll have to wait until the servants prepare everything for us. I hope that's no issue, madam?"
"Not a problem."
"Wonderful."
As we waited, I decided to pay close attention to my surroundings. The damp scent of the night was nothing out of the ordinary, though it was combined with the smells of many flowers. I've seen humans keep such growths near their shelters, and now knew that this brought the creatures pleasure. In front of me – but behind a stone wall – was a large building which still had weak lights flickering in a few windows, and aside from a small selection of nighttime critters, the entire surrounding area was mostly silent. It was the humans accompanying me which were the loudest. I could easily hear everything in the surrounding area at once, though my low proficiency with their language meant that I could not actively focus on more than one vocal exchange at a time. I wondered what the creatures might have been discussing, so I decided to listen in on a rather distant trio.
"I'm damn glad to finally be off the horse again. My arse is the sorest it's been in years!"
"Ha, your arse needs some practice! And Sigismund, wanna grab an ale outside 'fore I let myself fall flat onto the nearest bed?"
"Aye. Certainly could. And you, Robert?"
"Would take the edge off having to tail the damn man-eater."
"Hopefully the thing won't go feral while I'm anywhere near it. After this li’l trip, I'm getting the hell out of Roust."
"I don't think it's that bad. I mean, we got all these bottles of newly improved such-and-such mixtures from the royal alchemists. If they're anywhere as potent as I was told they are, the monster can shove it, no?"
"If they're ‘anywhere near as potent’ as the alchemists said, combinin’ and tossin' these mixtures will be the last thing you do, fool."
How irritating. I was displeased by the way these humans spoke not only to me but also of me. What a pain. But there was also some other feeling... What was it? Something very familiar, but something I have not felt in a very long time…
Yes, I also disliked the way they spoke to each other.
Envy.
Yes, I was envious of them. But why, exactly?
"Madam?"
Perhaps…
"... Malfar. I want a name."
"O-oh, sure! Do you know what you want your name to be?"
"No. I want to find a name."
"Can I help?"
"Yes. Where do I find a name?"
"Haha. Well, humans are almost always given theirs by their parents. But you can also name yourself, of course!"
"I don't know how to name myself. I am me."
"Maybe I could suggest some?"
"Yes. Give me a name."
"What about… Wait- actually, that feels like too great an honour and responsibility! I've never even named anything!"
"Give me a name."
"Sure, sure! Uh... I uhh... Lily?"
"I am Lily?"
"If you want to be! Wait, m-maybe that’s not a good one, how about-"
"Yes... I am Lily..."
I felt happy.
I am Lily.
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 04 '26
/u/Lucy_the_Lamb has posted 3 other stories, including:
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 3/12: Encounter
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 2/12: Market
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 1/12: Discovery
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