"How could anyone look at a cute creature like you and think you're dangerous!?" the princess said as she hugged the tiger-slime around the neck, ignoring her brother's sharp stare beside her.
She sat on the step of her hut, the torch on the entry beside her the only light as everyone else drifted back to sleep. "What are you waiting for? Go to bed," she said, shooting her brother an annoyed look.
"Tsk. I swear he's going to bite someone, just wait," he muttered, giving in. He turned and headed to his hut to resume sleeping.
"Now we're alone~" Even though she'd been petting him for quite a while, the tiger-slime didn't show the slightest sign of boredom. Neither did the princess. She was studying him closely as she stroked him: blue skin and fur striped with black, razor-sharp fangs, sharp yellow eyes.
She reached for a tuft of fur out of curiosity, and luckily, he didn't care much. The moment she plucked it out, it turned into something like blue mud. Yes, the tiger really was that strange.
She pressed her lips together, trying to hold back her excitement. Saying it reached the heavens wouldn't be a stretch. What a wonderful creature! Thank the gods! She wouldn't have to spend the night alone again.
"Come on in," she whispered, pulling his head toward her hut. He understood the gesture this time after the last attempt. Her mud-brick hut with its thatched roof had no door, only a hanging curtain. When the tiger-slime reached the entrance—
"Oh! You're too big..." His shoulders were too broad to fit through. The entrance only lets one person pass at a time. Now what—
She didn't finish the thought before the slime shifted back to its original form and slipped between her feet into the hut. She stared, stunned. She'd heard from multiple people that the tiger could melt and dissolve anything he touched, but knowing that didn't make it any less bizarre.
"W-wait!" she called as she watched the slime bounce around, knocking down folded blankets, clay bottles, herb pouches, and anything else he came near.
He shifted back into tiger form since the entrance was small, and immediately the sensory problem returned. The vibrations from his body bouncing off the cramped surroundings gave him an uneasy sense of how tight the space was. He'd always been in wide areas, from the huge cave to the vast forest. This tiny place squeezed him in. Every little hop made him crash into something.
"Not there!" Too late. When he returned to his tiger shape, he took up half the hut. His tail brushed a shelf, sending a row of scrolls raining down. The princess tensed, watching her carefully arranged home fall into chaos in seconds.
"Go small! I mean, melt! Do you understand?" She waved her hands, trying to make sure she had his attention. "Come on! Smaller!" She had no idea how to explain to such a huge creature what she meant.
'Smaller'? The word echoed in the slime's mind, and as he rummaged through his internal functions, something clicked.
"Wow!" The sight of the giant tiger shrinking, not into slime but into a smaller tiger, was incredible. He didn't stop surprising her for a moment. "You're much cuter like this!" She scooped him into her arms, hugging him. The tiny tiger-slime felt a warm comfort from it. Light and soft, like a house cat. A very adorable and very strange house cat.
She sat on her layered-leather bed and stroked the small tiger-slime on her lap. His arrival was a delightful, unexpected event. To think something like this existed beyond the barrier... She glanced at the darkness through her hut's window, a square hole in the wall.
As the village priestess, it was her duty to maintain the barrier and handle matters concerning the 'outside'. It wasn't something she chose; she was born into it, with a few odd traits, like only needing sleep a few times a month. Having a creature to keep her company felt wonderful, and he was endlessly fascinating.
"Wait here a moment." She set him down and rummaged around until she returned with something wrapped in old white cloth. "You must be hungry." She unwrapped a piece of raw meat and held it in front of him.
Meat. His nose twitched as he stared at it curiously. He remembered the tiger he'd eaten earlier, but this meat was neatly cut. He opened his mouth, letting the princess drop it in. He had no stomach or digestive system; he dissolved food instantly in his mouth. The only difference from his original body was that this form gave better flavour.
The room was lit by a tiny clay pot stuffed with slowly burning dry herbs. They lasted for hours, so she lit them at sunset.
I wonder where he came from... He didn't seem harmful, but the question lingered. Not even the sage had ever seen something like him. Maybe she should ask the Lady... until then...
"We're going to have a fun time," she said, patting his head before standing to put things back in place. Meanwhile, the tiger-slime looked around. From his new size, the small hut suddenly seemed spacious, especially now that most of the floor was clear.
He noticed something shining in the corner of his eye: small stones shifting from deep purple to pale blue, kept in a simple leather pouch hanging from a peg. While the princess wasn't looking, he hopped from the bed to a nearby water barrel without making a sound, then leapt to the pouch, accidentally tearing it with his claws as he grabbed it.
"Hey!? What are you doing!?" The princess reacted too late. The tiger-slime had already eaten two stones and was about to eat the third.
Delicious… and familiar. They reminded him of the ones he used to eat in the cave. Back then, he couldn't see, but he could distinguish between two kinds of stones: flavourless ones and tasty ones. These were the tasty kind.
"Spit them out!" she said, tugging a stone from between his fangs. He had no intention of letting it go. What happened next made her question her sanity. He loosened his bite a little, and just as she thought he was giving up, the colours and glow faded from the stone bit by bit, until every hint of it was drained. It fell from his jaws, dull and empty.
She stared between the tiny tiger-slime and the drained crystal in disbelief. She held it close to her eye. There is no trace of mana essence left...not even a single bit. Then she glanced at the slime, who was about to bite into the last one. Luckily, she caught it in time, avoiding another tug-of-war.
This time, the tiger-slime didn't eat the whole stone. He only absorbed the mana essence, leaving behind pieces of ordinary mineral. The essence tasted far better this way, like sucking the juice from a lemon instead of eating the whole thing. Except this was mana essence juice.
The 'stones' he'd eaten weren't stones at all but crystals. When metal forms in an area rich with mana, the essence gathers inside and turns it into a shiny crystal. When the slime drained the mana essence, it became plain metal again.
How am I going to explain this…? she wondered blankly as she watched the tiger-slime purr with satisfaction. It was impossible to stay mad at him.
She wondered about his strange appetite for crystals. He'd eaten meat earlier, so she assumed that was his food. But apparently not. She hurriedly grabbed a random plant leaf and held it out. He ate it immediately without complaint. No disgust, no hesitation. He really eats anything.
He stopped searching the pouch for more crystals and looked around the room. Is he still hungry? She wondered right before he jumped onto a small clay pot and, well… melted it.
"Nooo!"
The rest of the night was spent chasing him around and praying for sunrise.
…
"Hmm… things are different here," the sage said as he looked at the princess holding the tiger-slime in her arms.
"Yeah… he can change shape…" she answered, exhaustion heavy in her voice, hair messy, dark circles under her eyes.
That's not what I meant..., the sage thought, looking at her worn-out face. The sun had risen half an hour ago, and villagers were beginning their daily routines.
"Anyway, your father is waiting for you. I've said all I can. Good luck." At that, she straightened up, thinking about the scolding she might get. He rarely denied her any request, but this case was… unusual.
"Please don't do anything strange," she murmured to the tiger-slime as she walked toward her father's hut, the chief's home. It was good to handle this early before distractions, though last night had drained her completely.
She reached a large red wooden hut decorated with old carvings, passed down for at least a century. It served as the seat of leadership for a village that once was just a cluster of straw huts.
She stepped closer and saw that the door was already open. She took a deep breath and pushed it, entering the living area with its wide white rug and hanging decorations of old weapons and bones. She turned right toward the reception room.
"May I come in?" she asked from the doorway.
"...Come in."