"Is it weird? I decided to take him as a pet."
There was a naive smile on Lawrend's face as he spoke about the slime. He ran his hand down the top of the slime and caressed it with care.
Aleshia became more and more confused. She even doubted her own judgment that Lawrend had something sinister planned for this journey. She shook her head and remembered that she should be wary of this man at all times.
"It's weird."
Aleshia replied with a straight face. She had never seen anyone hugging a slime so intimately.
"Is it really that weird? He looks adorable though."
Lawrend felt awkward being called weird.
"Slimes are annoying."
Aleshia responded one last time before turning around to ignore him. She didn't want to deal with this child-like Young Master of hers.
There was a villager in front of the road leading into the village. He was an old man and his white beard was about 3 inches long.
"Young lady, are you staying inside the village?"
There was a kind smile on the old man's face.
"Yes, we would like a house if possible."
Aleshia responded calmly.
"That would be 1 gold for a night."
A greedy grin overtook the old man's face as he looked at their noble carriage. He was clearly taking advantage of them.
"I-"
Aleshia was about to complain but Lawrend interrupted her.
"Sounds good!"
Lawrend replied with a big smile on his face. To which, the old man's grin became wider.
"Yes, Yes! For the Young Master."
The old man bowed humbly and led them towards the house.
Aleshia looked at Lawrend as she furrowed her eyebrows. It might just be her imagination but this Young Master of hers is actually naive.
'No no no. There's no way he's that naive. He must be pretending.'
Aleshia shook her head in denial. The few times she encountered Lawrend, he was acting so smart. Now, he was acting so naive, she immediately became warier after realizing that fact.
Aleshia and Lawrend rode the carriage and the old man led them deeper inside the village. Several men were looking at the old man with dissatisfied looks.
"The old man got a jackpot!"
"Yeah. Just look how wide the grin on his face is."
Two men on the side whispered to each other. They were like the old man, they also bring in travelers and have them rent out a house or a room to stay for the night.
The old man heard their whispers and flashed them a smile. He then walked ahead just like nothing happened. The two men clicked their tongues and left in annoyance.
Lawrend was reading a book. He put down the slime just right beside him. It was not doing anything besides watching him read. It was very tame for a slime.
"I see, so you're an electric element slime."
Lawrend closed the book and looked at the slime once more. It was an electric element slime just like what its color suggested. He patted its head just as the carriage stopped once more.
Lawrend exited the carriage with the slime and entered the house they rented together with Aleshia. She reluctantly dropped a gold coin on the old man's hands. The old man bowed and left.
"Young Master, tell me, are you trying to trick me?"
Aleshia pulled her dagger on her legs and pointed it at Lawrend's neck. Lawrend was startled and gulped in fear. It was so sudden that Lawrend was pushed towards the wall.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
Lawrend asked her nervously. Having a dagger pointed at him out of nowhere scared him.
"Stop joking around! What the heck is this slime doing in your arms?"
Aleshia poked at the slime with her dagger. There was anger on her face. It hadn't been a day yet she had to deal with his antics.
"It's interesting and cute?"
Lawrend replied with puzzlement on his face. For him who has never seen a slime before, it was a very interesting creature. It was even very docile. It never hurt him and it only made him more willing to take it as a pet.
"No! Slimes are annoying! They melt your clothes. They will push you over if you don't pay any attention. They are the bane of adventurers!"
Aleshia listed some of the things that she has experienced with slimes to Lawrend. She couldn't wrap her head around why Lawrend was doing this.
"He never did that."
Lawrend moved the slime away from Aleshia's dagger. The place where she poked started leaking light purple fluids.
"H-he's bleeding!"
Lawrend panicked and covered the slime's wound with his hand.
"..."
Aleshia was speechless at what she was seeing. Lawrend was acting like a total dimwit.
"Tell me, are you pretending? Cause if you are, I will kill you!"
Aleshia's eyes were like the eyes of the devil as she stared straight into Lawrend's eyes.
"I'm not pretending! I really think this slime is cute."
Lawrend replied nervously. Her face so close to him was very intimidating.
"Hmph!"
Aleshia snorted and sheathed her dagger. She would believe him for now.
Lawrend sat down on a chair and rubbed the wound of the slime. To his surprise, the wound has already healed itself.
"What a relief…"
Lawrend sighed in relief. He became worried that the first slime he met was gonna die just like that.
"What do you even eat, little guy?"
Lawrend spoke as he caressed the top of the slime.
"..."
Aleshia was speechless as she watched Lawrend dote on the slime. She had never seen someone do that. It was driving her crazy. Her impression of Lawrend versus what he was doing right now does not match.
"Slimes eat anything. They mostly eat grass, but they prefer clothes for some reason."
Aleshia explained from the side. She just decided to accept what was happening as it is.
"Thank you."
Lawrend nodded his head at Aleshia with a joyous smile on his face. The books he was reading do not have the information related to taking care of slimes.