Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends - V 2.2 Chapter 6.5

— Purun! Purururun!

A sparkling, violet-colored slime quivered right in front of us.

The slime was dazzlingly bright. Looking closer, that glow seemed to be coming from a jewel-like crystal inside its body.

Hmm? Wait a sec… this slime… could it be…?

“Gier, I feel like I’ve seen this slime somewhere before…”

“I do too.”

Gier and I exchanged looks. N-no way…

“That crystal slime from back then!?”

The slime bounced with a puri~n, almost as if to say yes.

It was the very slime I accidentally squashed while resting on the Crystal Floor.

Back then it had been completely weakened, but now it looked plump, springy, and full of life.

“No way, really?”

Lulu and the others sniffed curiously around the slime, then their faces lit up. They jumped excitedly, as if celebrating the reunion.

“Hard to believe, but… it really does seem to be the same one.”

Gier stared at the slime in disbelief.

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Slime? Could you… maybe be that slime from back then?”

I tried asking just in case, and the slime happily bounced up and down. The jewel shining inside it glittered all the more brilliantly.

“But Gier, doesn’t this slime look kinda… sparkly? I don’t remember it glowing like this before…”

When I said that, Gier’s expression suddenly shifted, as though something had clicked.

“…I see. That crystal slime’s magic crystal must’ve affected the Atlantia flower, causing it to bloom.”

“Eh?”

“Kuna, don’t you remember? Crystal slimes are extremely rare monsters. The reason is that they generate magic crystals inside their bodies—crystals overflowing with enormous amounts of mana.”

“Ah!”

Come to think of it, he did mention something like that.

“There’s that jewel-like thing inside the slime’s body, right?”

“Y-yes.”

That jewel was now radiating a powerful light.

“After it parted ways with us, this crystal slime must have kept nurturing its magic crystal. Back then it was small, but now it looks like it’s grown quite large.”

“But… why would it come all the way here?”

When I gently held out my hand, the slime happily crawled onto my palm.

Ahh, it really is the same slime from back then. At that time it had looked so weak, but now it was full of energy—pyonko pyonko, purun purun—so lively and active.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. Did you maybe come because you had some business with us?”

When I asked, the slime suddenly began to tremble. Then with a pei! it spat out the jewel it had been holding inside.

“Wah!”

I almost dropped it, fumbling to keep the gem rolling safely in my palm.

“That’s a magic crystal. And judging by the feel of it… this one’s storing a tremendous amount of energy.”

Gier muttered in awe.

“Maybe it came to repay you, Kuna. For the lemonade.”

“Ehh!? C-could that really be it? You came all this way just for that?”

The slime seemed to nod up and down, un un. A slime’s gratitude? I’d never heard of such a thing. I was left speechless at the thought that something like this could actually happen.

Lulu and the others stared on in fascination. When I set the slime down, it started purupuruing again, as if to celebrate our reunion.

“…Still, what an incredible light.”

I pinched the magic crystal between my fingers and held it up to the sky.

Sure enough, it carried a kind of overwhelming presence. It reminded me of that sphere of light I’d seen inside the subterranean fish. Come to think of it, that sphere also held a massive amount of energy—enough that it made the golden scale I carried glow.

And then, as that thought connected, I finally realized something.

“Ah!”

…That’s right, that was it! I finally remembered! Why in the world had I forgotten!?

“What is it?”

Gier gave me a questioning look, and I blurted out in an excited, trembling voice.

“Do you know about the golden scale I picked up, Gier?”

“Yeah. I heard from Simon. He said you’d gotten your hands on some incredible item. If I remember… wasn’t it the Scale of Truth?”

“Yes, that’s it!”

I had obtained it, but in the end it required a magic crystal with immense energy to activate. That was why I’d never been able to use it.

“So that’s…”

As I explained, Gier’s gaze fell on the magic crystal resting in my hand.

“T-this would work…. right?”

“…Most likely.”

Even Gier nodded, just slightly surprised.

“What an amazing coincidence. I can’t believe something like this could happen…!”

With this, that item would finally become usable. Still, what an unbelievable bond of fate this was. I was so glad I had believed Simon’s words back then and held onto it all this time.

—Fate must be cherished. Even if it seems irrelevant, at some unexpected moment, that connection will suddenly come together. That’s one of the truly mysterious things about life.

…A connection. Fate creating a bond.

Those words echoed in my head.

Right now, something important was trying to surface in my mind. What was this feeling…?