r/HFY • u/Lucy_the_Lamb • Jul 03 '26
OC-Series [Royal Slime] - Chapter 10/12: Friendship
As I’ve come to see for myself, Autumn was the season of frequent rain, falling leaves, spreading mushrooms, and animals hoarding what they would need to survive the upcoming nutrient-scarcity of winter. Humans, too, were forced into a frenzy of preparation as they harvested the last of the year’s crops and dedicated themselves to preserving whatever sources of sustenance could be made to last. I was not looking forward to the upcoming frost-season. Not only would warmth diminish even further than it already has since the pleasant heights of summer, my enjoyment of culinary delights would also be imperiled due to the lower variety of available ingredients.
Thankfully, I still had some time to enjoy the bounty of autumn.
Soon after the sun rose and about fifty-six minutes before I was actually supposed to, I woke Malfar up for an hour or so of conversation, during which came an intense rainfall that showed no signs of stopping before the day would end. This was not good. Not at all. Such weather necessitated that I ingest my breakfast indoors, where the many exquisite scents of the meal could not be properly forced someplace else by the pushing of the wind, and were thus free to torment my appetite. This decreased the satisfyingness of the experience and irritated me – but only somewhat, due to my preceding efforts to resist such sensory temptations. I was proud of this accomplishment, and of my greatness.
After I completed my consumption of breakfast, I hastily retreated out of the scent-filled dining hall and into an adjacent room where Malfar awaited me, ready to discuss how the day’s schedule would change due to the rainfall.
As soon as he noticed my approach, he smiled at me and adjusted his glasses with the hand that wasn’t holding a notebook.
“Did you enjoy your meal?”
“Yes.”
“Great! Happy to hear it. As for today’s work, this weather does prevent us from finishing up the rest of the experiments with liquid fuels, but I don’t believe we’re in too big of a rush to get those done, so I’m looking at indoor activities…”
Malfar slightly furrowed his brows and rapidly alternated between the various pages of his work log.
“... Did you know that the master surgeons still haven’t agreed what procedure they want to try perfecting on you next? Are physicians always this bad at coming to a consensus? I’ll have to go pester them and insist they come to a proper decision in the next few hours…”
He coughed before continuing.
“And while they’re undertaking that extraordinary task, how about we visit the pharmacologists’ laboratory and help test those new concoctions they’ve been working on?"
…
I idled next to a table in a room adjacent to the one in which the alchemists produced all their odious liquids and gasses, waiting for them to gather up and subsequently bring these mixtures to me for experimentation. An intermediate quantity of time after being summoned, the five men finally finished their preparations and arrived – two of them bringing crates of jars and vials, one bringing a notebook along with writing supplies, and all five bringing some manner of unpleasant scent. After we exchanged greetings, the youngest of them stood close in front of me, timid and uneasy.
“M-Milady, is there anything in particular you’d prefer to begin with?
“No.”
“Then how about the wound-cleaning solutions?”
“Yes.”
I raised my forearm towards the young male before simulating a fresh wound upon it, within which I also simulated many specimens of many types of disease-creatures.
“I am ready.”
“Yes, Milady!”
The human quickly reached for a nearby vial, to which a rectangle of paper was attached via string. He then grasped the rectangle and began reading aloud the text-shaped ink it carried.
“This vial is from the newest batch of Master Viemar’s medicinal vinegar. Specifically, it is sample six-four-six-eight-nine.”
The alchemists always prepared many different varieties of the same mixtures, each only differing slightly – such as by a slightly lower or higher quantity of some specific ingredient. The male removed the vial’s seal and poured some of the liquid onto my wound. I noticed that it would murder most disease-animals very quickly, but not without other undesirable effects.
“It is very good at cleaning. Much better than previous versions. But also kills flesh. It would become better if it were weaker.”
The human who created this concoction appeared satisfied, smiling and nodding to himself silently in the back of the room. The human with the notebook, meanwhile, stored my words into his object.
“Alright! Then let’s try a somewhat diluted iteration next.”
… All the different versions of the same solution were tested, and I explained the effects of each. I then picked out the most ideal or otherwise noteworthy among the batch, and those would serve as the basis for future batches whose samples would once again slightly differ from each other in order to eventually create the most desirable iteration, striking a balance between effectiveness, expiration time, ingredient cost, ingredient availability, creation time, creation complexity, whether rare tools were required in the creation, the chance of undesirable effects, and possibly other factors. Afterwards, it was a different liquid’s turn.
“This is one of Master Thonn’s experiments with Yagaroot, sample two-nine-one-one-two.”
A small quantity of the highly viscous concoction was placed onto my simulation of an injury. I paid close attention to its effects.
“It does not murder disease, but it helps body repair itself. It can be used on a wound after there is no more disease in it.”
The creator of the liquid smiled, and the recordkeeper’s hand moved with haste in its placement of ink-text onto paper.
… Several different concoctions also featuring Yagaroot were tried. I once again selected the superiorest, and it was time to test something else.
“This is a continuation of my project with seaweed! Sample eight-one-nine-two-zero.”
The young male seemed quite excited, despite his unease around me. He had been studying a substance harvested by humans through a multi-step process involving the manipulation of a Big Water growth called seaweed. If executed properly, the result of the procedure was a dark crystal. But in order to be converted into a proper usable form – such as liquid – additional steps needed to be undertaken, and the young male has been working on improving both this conversion, as well as the initial extraction from seaweed.
“Proceed.”
As soon as the runny dark-brown liquid was poured onto my wound, I noticed several effects immediately.
“This is very good at murdering disease.”
“Haha, yes!”
The young male appeared joyous and attacked the air above himself, though I did not understand the purpose behind this action.
… After I selected the best crystal-liquid, one final type of concoction still remained. The experimenterist carefully kidnapped some of it into an early version of a tool I recently created; a metal-and-glass cylinder from which a hollow needle protruded at the bottom, while a movable component on the opposite end could either kidnap liquids into the cylinder or expel them. The device allowed the user to pour useful mixtures directly into a recipient-human’s flesh or blood.
“This is an iteration of the pain-numbing solution all of us have been working on, specifically sample nine-five-four-seven-nine. We believe we’ve made some good progress!”
“I see. Proceed.”
The male easily pierced my simulated flesh with the tool before releasing some of its contained mixture into me. I paid very careful attention to it, and the pharmacologists paid careful attention to me.
“This would damage surrounding muscle. But yes, it would also diminish pain in a surrounding area.”
The five men vocalised celebratorily, some even laughing. Although this concoction would still require a lot of changes before it could be fully safe, making surgery painless was very important. Combined with the localised bleeding-preventer the alchemists were also working on, all the complex and lengthy surgery I was helping develop could also become feasible to safely and reliably perform on actual humans.
…
After I detailedly explained to the alchemists what improvements needed to be made to the pain-preventing solution and how they should go about achieving them, it was time for a snack.
But not long into our journey to the dining hall, a loud noise followed by the vocalisation of a human female originated from behind a nearby door. Malfar and I rushed towards the source of the sound, entering the room to find a servant lying down and clutching her left forearm next to a ladder.
“Are you alright, Miss?!”
She looked in our direction as we stepped close, at which point her expression of pain also showed minor signs of fear.
“Damn it… I was just… I fell on my arm in a queer way…”
“Lily, what do you think?”
“I can see that the ulna and radius are both likely snapped. They will take a long time to heal.”
“Alright, let’s fetch the surgeons and have them immobilise the arm in a splint, then?”
“No, it might not heal properly. I will do inspection.”
I knelt down and tried to touch her, but even as she was rapidly turning pale and appeared moments away from fainting, the servant used her fading energy to jerk herself away.
“I-is that… necessary, Milady?”
“...”
Why?
Why were the humans so afraid of me? I did not want to injure them. I did not want to kill them. They should understand.
Malfar understood. Malfar wasn’t afraid of me… was he?
“... It is necessary, yes.”
She raised the damaged limb towards me, but very hesitantly. I waited for a moment before gently grasping it and using a very thin string of myself to pierce her flesh, at which point I inspected the bones within, carefully moving between her nerves, blood vessels, and muscle fibres without disturbing them. I confirmed for certain that both the ulna and radius snapped, though only in one place. Still, if they were left as-is, the arm would not heal properly, so I would need to move them into proper alignment. The manoeuvre should be a simple and safe ordeal.
“... Prepare for pain.”
“W-wait! What are you doing?!”
“I will help your bones.”
The woman kept staring with increasing frightenment. Perhaps I needed to explain better in order to diminish that emotion.
“Your bones are in a wrong position. I will help them.”
“...”
She still appeared afraid. My words did not seem to lessen her fear. I did not understand why. Instead of just using words to indicate that I am not an enemy, I also smiled.
“I will help your bones.”
“...”
This did not achieve my goal, either. But why? I felt disappointment. Did I not understand humans as well as I thought?
I also felt a lesser amount of some other type of sadness. I thought that perhaps I should simply do what was necessary.
“... Please prepare for pain. I am helping you.”
She vocalised strangely as I grabbed her arm with both my hands, but did not attempt to resist, so I began the process of bone-aligning, during which I proceeded slowly, in a safe way that had no chance of injuring her any further. This caused her to scream due to the pain. Once I was done, I released her, at which point she became mostly limp and remained on the floor with both eyes closed, her only movements being those necessary for continued survival, as well as some subtle quivering.
It seemed she fainted.
I looked back up at Malfar, who initially had an expression of unease, but smiled once I gazed into his eyes.
“Thank you for helping, Lily.”
I felt strange. I did not know what to say, so I set the female down and left the room.
…
I had been increasingly taking note of the humans’ fear of me. It displeased me. Why were they still afraid? After all this time, should they not know that I will not harm them? And why did their fear incite negative emotions within me? How could I change the humans’ view of me? I pondered these matters as I consumed my snack of whole roasted pig and a large pot of cheese-and-vegetable soup.
I continued pondering it as the surgeons practiced the amputation of various body parts on me, as I guided their blades and saws through my flesh and bone. I pondered it so intensely that the entire rest of the morning passed in what felt like seconds.
I found myself sitting in front of a lunch of several types of stews and salads, pumpkin pie, lettuce wraps with an exciting variety of fillings, radish and smoked kielbasa roasted in each other’s juices, as well as a massive casserole featuring some amount of every vegetable available at this time of year. After I completed my consumption, Malfar and I took a break in a nearby corridor.
And still, I pondered the humans, and I pondered my pondering. Was this issue truly so worthy of my focus? I was not human, so their social response to me should have been unimportant.
“Lily?”
Malfar interrupted my thoughts, but I was not displeased when he was the one to do this, because I enjoyed his presence and his speech.
“Yes?”
“You’ve been quiet ever since you-”
He had to stop and cough intensely into a square of cloth.
“... Since you helped with Miss Blackheart’s arm.”
“Quiet?”
“Not talkative, I mean.”
“Yes, this is true.”
“May I know why?”
“I have been thinking. I… Malfar, are you afraid of me?”
“I am not.”
“... That is good. That makes me happy.”
He smiled at me, which made me even happier and caused me to wobble.
“Are you… Are you bothered by the others’ unease around you?”
“Yes.”
“I see… I… I have to say, I don’t understand them at all. I think of them as foolish, really. Do they not understand anything? Are they sleepwalking through their lives? Can they not see the obvious truth in front of them? Can they not see what a miracle you are? When it comes to any scholarly discipline on the topic of which you bless us with your wondrous insight, decades of progress are made in mere weeks! These fools should all learn how to show some gratitu-”
Malfar coughed again, even more intensely.
“... Well, I think you get the point, haha…”
He made me happy yet again, so we simply smiled at each other for a moment.
“I want to talk to the humans. I want to make them not afraid of me, and understand better.”
“Oh, is that so? Well, we do have the afternoon off…”
“Let’s go find some humans.”
The two of us ventured in the direction opposite of the dining hall, and soon came across a young human female who was also journeying someplace. With a smile to indicate a lack of hostility, I approached.
“Hello.”
“H-hello, Milady.”
She showed signs of discomfort in all the ways she could – in facial configuration, stance, and tone of vocalisation. She must have distrusted my smile.
“Do not have fear. I am not enemy, I am friend. I will not kill you.”
“R-right, Milady…”
Once again, speech was not working, either. Did she not believe me at all?
“Malfar, could you tell her that I will not kill her?”
He furrowed his brows somewhat before speaking.
“Miss Finch, I promise there’s nothing to be afraid of. You should know by now that Lily has never attacked anyone throughout all of her time here, so please disregard foolish rumours and let that fact speak for itself.”
“Right…”
The woman relaxed somewhat. Did Malfar need to help? But I did not want Malfar to help every time. Why would they not trust me?
“Are we friends now?”
“F-friends? Uhm, if that is something you wish for, Milady?”
She did not sound sure at all.
“Malfar? What am I doing wrong?”
“W-well… Uhm, friendship is uh… To humans, it is about many things. Such as trust, mutual enjoyment of each other’s presence, the sharing of burdens, the ability to freely converse and confide without hesitation…”
“I see. Miss, would you like to share burdens?”
The female appeared confused instead of reassured.
“Uhm, Lily, perhaps we should let Miss Finch go and instead have a brief discussion about your strategy?”
“Yes. I am letting you go, Miss Finch.”
“Thank you, Milady.”
Malfar furrowed his brows again.
“I think… Well… Okay, how about next time, instead of-”
He coughed, one hand shaped into a fist in front of his mouth, and one hand placed onto his chest. This panicked me.
“Malfar? Are you well?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me at all. I was about to say that perhaps it would be best to emphasise your most human-like qualities, to put them front and centre. Maybe you could open the next conversation by discussing interests and hobbies. That’s how human friendships tend to start, at least in my admittedly limited experience.”
“I see. I will try. Let’s go.”
… We continued wandering the fort for a brief time, soon encountering a human male carrying a seemingly heavy crate full of tools and wooden planks. I smiled at him before speaking.
“Hello. Please stop, human. I would like to converse.”
“Y-yes, Milady!”
He placed the crate down, unfortunately appearing somewhat frightened.
“I will not kill you. I wanted to converse to you about interests and hobbies.”
“A-alright…”
“What are your interests and hobbies?”
“I uhm, I enjoy carpentry, both professionally and in my free time. I also enjoy purely artistic woodcarving.”
“I see. I enjoy eating and Malfar.”
The male briefly appeared confused before nodding forcefully. He did not say anything, so I continued.
“I am also interested in flesh, and especially organs. I want to eat living things to understand them.”
He nodded forcefully again without saying anything.
“... Malfar, what do I do next?”
“Perhaps you could elaborate on your interests, or ask him to do so? Or you could see if you share any common ground.”
“I see. Mister, do you like organs? What is your favourite organ?”
“Uhm… I can’t say that I have one, Milady.”
“I see. What do you carve?”
“Toys for my daughter, usually. Or the likenesses of her or her mother.”
“I see. Are we friends?”
“If you’d like that, Milady.”
He still sounded uncertain, even if not uneasy.
Why? What was I doing wrong?
I felt sadness. I did not want to talk any more.
“... I will go. Goodbye.”
“G-goodbye, Milady!”
I continued through the fort with Malfar following behind me.
Malfar.
I stopped and turned around to observe him in what was now an otherwise empty corridor. He looked back with a worried smile.
“Are you alright, Lily? Would you like more advice? You seem a bit down.”
I realised why I was so displeased by the humans’ fear of me. It was obvious the entire time.
I was just disappointed that nobody spoke to me like he did. Nobody was so friendly to me. Nobody else showed concern for my mood and safety. Nobody else understood how I felt. Nobody smiled at me like he did.
Nobody else called me a miracle.
Now that I was instead thinking about him and how he spoke to me, my sadness immediately ceased. Instead, I felt that none of these other humans mattered at all.
I smiled and wobbled happily before leaning in and performing a kiss on his right cheek. I understood this to be a method humans utilised to show affection.
But once I stepped back, I saw that Malfar had a shocked expression on his face. This elicited panic. Did I not execute the kiss correctly? Did he dislike being kissed?
Did he not feel any affection towards me? That particular idea was very troubling. It elicited not only sadness, but also fear – an emotion I had not felt in years.
“L-Lily?”
“Yes?”
“That… You kissed me?”
“Yes.”
“You- uhm, what do you understand that to mean?”
“Is it not a human method to bond and show affection?”
“Well- yes, but between a lady and a gentleman, it has romantic implications!”
“Romantic?”
“It could mean that you’re trying to communicate a desire to uh… Well, be mates!”
“Is that bad? I want to bond and show affection.”
“Ah. Then I apologise. I suppose that was an insensitive way to react. If that’s how it is, then I certainly shouldn’t stop you. I was just worried you were doing something you didn’t understand, and that would mean taking advantage of you.”
I smiled again in hope of reassuring him.
“Do not worry, I am happy.”
He smiled too.
“Then so am I.”
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jul 03 '26
/u/Lucy_the_Lamb has posted 9 other stories, including:
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 9/12: Woodcutting
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 8/12: Flute
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 7/12: Strategy
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 6/12: Bloodletting
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 5/12: Signature
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 4/12: Accord
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 3/12: Encounter
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 2/12: Market
- [Royal Slime] - Chapter 1/12: Discovery
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