S-grade Enchanter.
Elizaveta Lilybet Rose.
Ability Name – Machine Infection.
The enchantment abilities commonly known are simple.
To grant a special ability or effect to weapons or equipment by infusing the enchanter’s mana.
It may seem like straightforward enhancement, but the kinds of enchantments vary widely.
Some grants are for unlocking hidden doors or codes in weapons, or to bestow simultaneous fire and ice attributes, or even to turn a simple pipe into a legendary sword worthy of a hero. This is precisely the true potential of an enchanter.
Lilybet had reached the pinnacle of such enchanting abilities.
Over a decade ago, the powerful physical enhancement she originally had was nearly reset, and now it was practically nonexistent.
However, even though her physical strength was weak and her direct combat skills were lacking, she could cover all of that with her top-tier enchantment abilities on Earth.
The green drone firing high-compression mana beams was probably the embodiment of the enchanting ability Lilybet possessed.
Kim Hana silently watched as Lilybet shot beams at her mother, passing by her.
Only when her mother was completely smashed into a corner of the sewer by Lilybet’s beam attack did Lilybet turn her head to Hana.
For a queen of a nation, her face looked surprisingly carefree.
“Haha! I know you! You’re the lackey of Saint Shia, right? It was impressive when you brought back the Hunter train car that was taken by the Uranium Dragon, striking cool poses with that girl!”
“L-lackey? D-did you see that!?”
“Just like a special effects show or a great wizard! Haha!”
“…No, what did you just say? Great wizard? I can’t just let that slide…”
“Hahaha, but I’m glad to see you have a strong voice! I was worried something might have happened, but it seems you’re safe!”
“But why was Elizaveta IV following me in the first place?”
“Haha, I’ll tell you later!”
Splash!
Splash!
Then, from all the various cracks in the sewer, a blood-red, viscous liquid began to burst forth like blood. This substance seeped into the body of the parasitic werewolf that held Hana’s mother’s core.
The Mother of Slime had already consumed various monsters for sustenance, hiding the remnants in this sewer.
Was it a precaution for strong enemies that might show up?
The lost flesh of the werewolf, pierced by the beam, was filled by blood slimes and began to noticeably strengthen.
“You should be more concerned about that terrifying liquid mother that wants to eat you right now!”
And then, the Mother of Slime, rising in the form of the werewolf, glared at Lilybet.
At this point, it was closer to a blood slime taking on the appearance of a werewolf than an actual werewolf.
[What are you? Another human?]
“Me? Haha, I love self-introductions! My name is Elizaveta Lilybet Rose! The Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and an S-grade Enchanter Hunter!”
[I don’t understand.]
“Haha, interesting! Still, I took down a B-grade monster in one shot, but…”
Yet, even though she fired a pretty powerful beam, the Mother of Slime was only pushed back a few times and appeared completely unharmed.
It wasn’t that it took no damage at all.
Some parts of the werewolf’s body that the mother had inhabited melted away, but the core remained deeply embedded and utterly unharmed.
[My child.]
“Y-yes…!?”
[A human who threatens me has appeared. You must kill it. Choose your mother’s side.]
“…..!”
At this, Kim Hana looked at Lilybet’s back, which stood protectively in front of her.
If she attacked Lilybet from behind, even if she couldn’t take her down, it would create a significantly favorable situation for her mother.
Actually, there was no need to hesitate since she was a monster.
If she was a monster, she should naturally follow her mother’s commands.
After all, she was born as her mother’s tool.
That was the original purpose of Kim Hana’s existence.
But despite hearing her mother’s command, Hana couldn’t move.
The tremendous sense of betrayal she felt from her mother trying to eat her was one factor, but for some reason, she didn’t want to listen to her mother.
She wasn’t afraid of death.
She didn’t understand why herself.
Her purpose of life was to be her mother’s tool, but right now, she just wanted to deny that purpose.
Lost in confusion, Hana’s gaze met Lilybet’s, who was smiling down at her.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
“…..”
What did that mean?
Lilybet didn’t even seem to know she was a slime; what on earth did she know to say that it was enough?
Hana stared blankly at Lilybet, and in that moment, Lilybet took a step toward the Mother of Slime.
“Hahaha, a mother who urges her child to commit murder! You’re a disgrace as a parent!”
[That’s none of your concern. No. Our lives are like that. I never thought a human could understand the life of a monster.]
“Hahahaha!! Well, perhaps the life of a monster could be like that!”
A monster that eats its child.
A monster that eats its mother.
A monster that preys on lives devoid of ethics.
That is what a monster truly is.
“But you’re not good at lying, are you!”
[What?]
“You weren’t trying to do this, but I overheard earlier. You treated your child terribly. Hahaha! Truly ruthless! No, it’s not ruthless; you’re just greedy!”
For the first time, the Mother of Slime showed confusion.
“Fundamentally, ethics are proportional to intelligence. Conscience is also proportional to intelligence. The compassion spoken of in the East is also proportional to intelligence. Of course, it’s not absolute, but from what I know, it has mostly been so.”
[What are you trying to say, human?]
“Aha! Let me make it simple! You have enough intelligence to comprehend ethics and compassion like a human yet deliberately gave birth to your children as tools, didn’t you?”
“What?”
[………]
At this, Hana looked at her mother.
The mother that took the form of the werewolf squirmed without responding, merely twisting its blood-red body.
“Intelligent monsters are generally violent towards humans, but they don’t tend to be so towards their own children, you know? The reproduction of a species is a fundamental purpose of all life! Ah, shall I simplify it further? You purposely raised your children to think ‘You are tools’ for your own well-being and eternal life! A self-aware child would be a hindrance to your life!”
With Lilybet’s words, Hana’s eyes widened.
“There’s no such thing as being born to be eaten. Being born is about survival. In that process, being eaten or facing death is nothing but a sequence of nature, fortune, and misfortune. No being is born to die. Let alone…”
Click!
“No child is born to be eaten by their mother. Not humans, not even the variations of humanity… not even monsters or fiends!”
[Ha.]
Hana bit her lip at her mother’s mumbling, which seemed to come from a place of disbelief.
[Human, I do not know when you started to talk about me as if you understood me.]
Yeah, that was true.
Her mother had superior intelligence from the very beginning compared to her children.
Yet the children accepted their role as tools without question from birth.
Because that was convenient for their mother.
To ensure she could eat thousands of her children for healing or body growth without any rebellion.
What her mother hadn’t anticipated was that Kim Hana accidentally fell into the hands of the Saint of the Dead, Isia, and became the higher existence known as the Slime Empress, enabling her to rebel against her mother.
[So what are you going to do? Eat that child and become stronger to continue your life? What’s wrong with that?]
“Haha, how shameless!”
[To you, it might seem shameless. From the start, I gave birth to children to eat them. I raised them as tools. So what’s wrong with that?]
The mother possessing the werewolf glared at Hana.
Strangely, it looked quite emotional.
Annoyance, anger, and disbelief.
Feelings one might find in a human.
“This child feels maternal affection for you, even longing for your attachment. Is that not so?”
[If I eat that broken child and grow bigger, isn’t that enough? Though I died once, for some reason, I’m back; I don’t plan to miss this luck.]
“Well, if that’s your perspective, then I understand. I’ll give up on persuasion.”
[Ha, was that your persuasion? Ridiculous.]
“Ridiculous, huh? As if you’re human!”
Lilybet pointed her index finger at the Mother of Slime.
“Despite showing human-like traits, you’re inhumane in your emotions. That’s truly regrettable! No, is a mother devouring her child a very human trait? Hmm, I have no idea.”
What did it matter?
And with that, a drone powered with verdant mana aimed at the Mother of Slime.
“Haha! Fire away~!”
Boom!
[!!]
The mana beam containing Lilybet’s mana emitted high heat and massive mass, melting everything in its path.
When the werewolf that housed the mother swung its hand, the blood slime forming its body acted as a barrier against the beam.
Crash!
However, the blood slime’s body also had considerable resistance itself.
Especially, since this was the Mother of Slime, which could be said to be the pinnacle of mutant slimes, it possessed an even stronger resistance.
In perspective of the monsters, her mother was helpless against the cataclysmic Saint of the Dead, Isia, but against other humans, she could have a clear advantage.
Kraaak!
“Wow, it’s like a cute pup! No, a pup possessed by a liquid monster? It’s terrifying! Hahaha!!”
The rank of the werewolf was merely C-grade.
Yet, the way the Mother of Slime controlled the werewolf and injected herself into its brain exhibited movements that transcended rank, rushing at Lilybet.
Because she was possessed by slime, she didn’t care if bones were broken or muscles melted, wildly flailing about and running to devour Lilybet.
But contrary to the frightened words, Lilybet wore a relaxed smile as she flicked her hand.
Smack!
[Enchant – Division]
At that moment, the single drone instantaneously split into ten.
[…!]
The beam that originally shot from one drone was formidable enough. When that drone multiplied as if using a shadow clone technique, the mother again spread a barrier made of blood.
“Fire.”
The ten drones simultaneously firing their beams collided with the barrier, piercing through the werewolf’s body.
“Fire.”
Perv!
“Fire.”
Smack!
The defeats seemed already decided, as Lilybet took a step closer to the Mother of Slime for confirmation of the kill, flicking her fingers as if she were ensuring a close shot. The werewolf, already full of holes as if it were made of sponge, was burned away as if its very existence were evaporating from the mana beam.
“Hmm, is that all?”
Lilybet shrugged her shoulders and turned back.
There, Hana was still sitting there, dumbfounded.
“Um, I’m sorry. I killed your mother.”
“…….”
How Lilybet saw that Kim Hana was a slime monster and a child of the Mother of Slime was unclear.
At some point, Lilybet had appeared and spoke as if she had known them all along.
It couldn’t simply be because of eavesdropping.
“Am I being resented? I’m really sorry. However, this is Green City. Your mother will likely resurrect…”
“That’s not it!”
Hana looked up at Lilybet.
“I didn’t realize before… but now I know how painful it is to be born to be eaten. Back then, I thought it was natural, and just until a moment ago, I believed I was born to be eaten by my mother… I thought I had to willingly sacrifice myself…”
“Um, I see. You’ve experienced a major identity crisis!”
“I don’t think that’s it… but my chest feels a bit heavy.”
“Haha, you’re quite human! Now I have some understanding of why you’re Saint Shia’s lackey…”
Perv!
But at that moment…
“Huh?”
Kim Hana watched as Lilybet’s head was pierced by the red liquid.
[You’re… underestimating me, human.]
Though the Mother of Slime had weakened, she was still the master of blood slimes. She was far from being just an ordinary dungeon master.
She might not have emotions like a human, but she had enough intelligence to understand her weaknesses and strengths.
If she had a weakness, she would hide it, and if she had a strength, she knew how to amplify it.
In this case, the mother’s strongest attribute was her liquid form.
She could seep everywhere and easily disguise death.
[Although I’ve died once, capturing you is not a difficult task.]
The Mother of Slime had disguised the werewolf’s body as a corpse and sucked into the ceiling of the sewer, looking for a chance to ambush.
Hana stared, horrified, at Lilybet’s head, which had been pierced by the red liquid.
Fizzle!
“L-Lilybet!!!”
Kim Hana’s scream erupted, belatedly.
“Mother!!!!!!”
With the way Lilybet’s head was penetrated, the liquefied substance began to burn her skin, and only then did Hana grit her teeth, preparing to attack her mother.
The massive liquid far greater than her mother’s surged like a wave behind Hana.
No matter how monster she was.
No matter how she was born as a tool, a consumable, a mere slime.
She was now Kim Hana, who possessed human feelings.
Now that she was much like a human.
She couldn’t help but express her rage at witnessing someone who tried to help her be ambushed and sentence to death by her mother.
[It’s too late. Since your head is pierced, this human is dead. And her body will belong to me.]
Squeeze
Squeeze!
The tentacles of the mother twisted Lilybet’s neck and face in abnormal angles.
Her irises that hadn’t melted yet flipped over her eyes, and her once delicate and refined fingers folded grotesquely as if they were broken.
[S-grade Hunter. I’m excited. Being with me, you’ll grow stronger than now.]
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The drones that Lilybet had deployed, following the mother’s will, aimed at Hana all at once.
“…!”
Then, the mother maneuvered Lilybet’s body.
[First, I’ll punish this broken child… and eat her. Thank this mother for treating even defective offspring without removing them.]
The harvest is good.
An S-grade hunter’s body, after all.
It must be quite useful…
○○○○
-A while ago-
“Mint Queen.”
“Mmm, haha! I’m not the Mint Queen; I’m the Queen of England! But since we’ve become friends, that’s okay! So, why is that, Saint Shia?”
…Is it really tasty?
Dipping chicken in mint-colored sauce like the bright Mint Queen doesn’t seem feasible for me, no matter how hard I try.
Ah, I wasn’t trying to ask that.
“But why did you suddenly suggest running a restaurant with me?”
“Hmm, gulp! Suddenly?”
Meeting in the middle of Green City out of the blue is itself a mystery.
We encountered by sheer coincidence in this vast city.
“There are many Hunter customers, and the response is good, but for you to want to run a restaurant with me… when I think about it, it makes no sense, and I can’t find a reason for it. Also, being a queen, you must have attendants. Don’t they disagree with this plan?”
“Haha! I told you from the beginning! I went out for a walk in Green City because I was bored. But once I was outside, there was nothing to do, so I wanted to open a restaurant to serve food to Hunters eating tasteless canned goods alongside Saint Shia! And I snuck away from my attendants! I made a dummy too!”
“I see.”
Hmm, that makes sense.
It’s very natural.
Even higher than my human observational skills, Metelapie or Teresa wouldn’t be suspicious with such a natural answer.
When we met unexpectedly before opening the restaurant, she said the same things.
Surely, there shouldn’t be any oddities.
The Mint Queen didn’t know me for that long. The connections were merely a series of coincidences that occurred on the train.
Yet I don’t dislike the Mint Queen.
She seems to genuinely be a good person with a delightful demeanor. I learned that she gave up on her talents and transitioned to the niche awakening ability of enchantment, becoming an S-grade hunter herself. Hearing that she chases after romance by loving legends and fairy tales made me like her even more.
That’s why, in the past, I poured out tales of my previous world—great wars against the Demon Lord, the battles of heroes and saints, and the struggles of witches to her, and Lilybet seemed to enjoy it a lot.
Yet, there was one thing I never told that Mint Queen.
‘Even back when we first met in Green City… and even now, why are youlying to me?’
The power to see through lies.
The authority of a saint that I cannot easily explain.
If the person was someone who lies out of habit or a villainous character as one might find in a Hunter gallery, I wouldn’t care less.
But this queen had no need to lie…
It was just a simple everyday story, yet she lied.
Why could that be?
○○○○
“Wahahaha! It tickles; would you go out for me?”
[….?]
What is it?
Why do I hear a voice I shouldn’t?
Lilybet is alive?
That’s impossible.
Her head was pierced.
It’s natural for humans to die if their head is penetrated.
The moment the mother’s flesh made contact with Lilybet’s body, even her heartbeat was not to be heard.
It was certain she was not a living human, which is why the mother had tried to feed off Lilybet’s body.
What is this?
What on earth is this?
After piercing her head…
Melting away half her face.
Not even her heartbeat echoed.
But she’s alive?
If she’s a calamity known as the Saint of the Dead, that might be something I could understand, but this is…
With suspicious eyes, the mother stared at Lilybet.
[!!!]
Creak, creak, creak!
Ah, right.
From the very beginning, Kim Hana had felt something was amiss.
Why was the Queen of England, a person, at Shia’s restaurant, acting like then?
Why was she just idly there doing nothing?
The even stranger thing was…
‘The brain signals of the mother only communicate with slimes…’
Isia could understand those signals, but she wasn’t listening in a way; it was more like sensing malice.
But this Lilybet had been communicating with the mother as if it were completely natural.
As if…
‘As if she’s not even human…!’
Creak!
Creak!
Pipes.
Machines.
Batteries.
Electricity.
Pipes.
Wires.
Unknown parts.
Bolts.
Shimmering nuts.
Metal.
Iron.
All could be seen within Lilybet’s melting skin.
[You… aren’t human…?]
A machine, you say?
A machine?
The shrill sounds of metal fragments turning caused the Mother of Slime to retreat immediately from Lilybet’s body.
If her body were mechanical, it would be impossible for the slime mother to parasite.
[You, what are you?!]
Creeeak!
Click!
Click!
Click!
Clank!
Sounds came from Lilybet’s melting head.
[You, what are you?]
A robot?
Robots are not even worthy opponents for monsters.
Robots are tools, machines devoid of will, lacking technology and mana.
While goblins or orcs could be considered low-grade monsters, they do not match high-risk, complex monsters like the Mother of Slime.
If Lilybet were merely a machine, the Mother of Slime would’ve realized it immediately while engaging her.
[What on Earth, what, what, are you!!!]
But what is this?
Before her face melted away, she seemed human.
It was impossible to distinguish.
Can a machine speak?
Can a machine think?
Can a machine move?
Can a machine have abilities?
As if she was human… as if she was Awakened…?
“Haha….”
Yet no one provided the answer to that question as the machine resembling Lilybet grinned as she touched her melted face.
The sight of the melted metal framework forcibly depicting that smile was enough to terrify even Hana’s eyes.
“Wahaha! It’s all done! Is it not much better now?”
“……..”
[Ha.]
The Mother of Slime gnashed her teeth.
She had no teeth, but if she were to express a feeling, this was the only option.
[So you weren’t human, after all.]
“Haha! Don’t misunderstand! I never once introduced myself as human from the start!”
[Who is, calling who a monster…!]
