- Shari -

The big field directly behind the mansion is surprisingly vacant.

I'm asking myself where the soldiers are since no one is using it for any practice.

The question is soon answered when I find a complex nearby, where people train on more earthen and sandy fields and spar in a rather rough manner.

It seems the soldier's quarters aren't too close to the main building so that guests might not feel bothered by that sight.

While the big field is far more spacious, this place here is better equipped with wooden training puppets and a storage shed close by.

I guess the other one is rather used as a place to train formations or hold events like yesterday.

Those facilities look comparatively more functional than the elegant mansion I've seen before.

There is a flat building made of stone that looks like the barracks and a less wide, but higher one next to it.

That could be the headquarter we are heading for.

My strongest impression is that it's easy to defend.

There is even a small wall built around it.

In case of an attack, this might be the safest place there is.

We walk to the higher building's entrance, while Liqu doesn't miss the chance to wave at the staring soldiers, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

Already right behind the entrance, Peras is waiting.

The number of combat-ready soldiers in attendance tells me that he might not completely trust us.

Probably one of the reasons why Dion is still with us, even if he as the lord's aide is of high status so that he should not be responsible for guiding us around the estate.

This is more something left for servants or maybe the butler.

So he's probably here to smooth things over.

"You came." (Peras)

This comment was one of those where you expect that there'll be a follow-up, but nothing comes so that instead an uncomfortable silence spreads.

As it is like this, I feel ought to say something.

"Second-rank officers Shari and Liqu reporting for duty, Captain Peras!" (Shari)

Right. No one has to tell me.

I know that this was absolutely the kind of random action I would usually expect from Liqu.

Saying this was incredibly weird, extremely edgy, and totally embarrassing.

However, my reason was that no one was expecting this.

This comment caught everyone off-guard and helped me to alleviate the terribly straining tension around here.

Everyone except Liqu is now rather dumbfounded.

And I believe the sixth soldier from the left actually chuckled.

Dion needs a moment to catch himself before he addresses Peras.

"The Lord sends you these two with the order to put them to good use. He is sure that you won't digress from his wishes." (Dion)

"You're talking..." (Peras)

Again one of these unfinished quotes.

I think he has quite some doubts about this.

Yet Dion immediately leaves before Peras can state them.

Like this, we are left alone with Peras and his soldiers.

Great.

I can almost see the aggressiveness flare in his eyes.

"What do you want?" (Peras)

"We would like to start our assignments, sir." (Shari)

At this, he gets slightly angry.

"You know I didn't mean this." (Peras)

"We want to live. Untroubled. Without having to worry about getting attacked. This collaboration appears like a good way to get closer to this ideal, by getting rid of the being hunted part and securing a steady supply of food. I'm sorry if I repeat myself, I don't eat humans. So I need something else." (Shari)

"And this is your reason?" (Peras)

"Does it matter? I believe the important part is that I intend to follow up on the agreement to reach my goal." (Shari)

I am sure he fights for his lord for reasons like honor and loyalty, but seriously even if I would come with something like this he wouldn't buy it.

So more or less the truth, as I think my reasoning is flawless.

"Grmph!" (Peras)

He growls, apparently not completely satisfied with my answer, but nothing worse happens.

To again break the setting silence I say something.

Mostly before Liqu does so.

"Can we start then? What shall we do?" (Shari)

"Run thirty laps around the field." (Peras)

"Captain?" (Shari)

"Was my order too vague." (Peras)

Is this a penalty?

"I would just like to know the reason. We won't benefit from any training, since we have no muscles to develop. This will only consume our energy." (Shari)

Not too much, as pure movement, if controlled, is not very taxing, but this is something he doesn't need to know.

"The reason is to see if you can follow orders and you aren't doing well in that regard." (Peras)

"Do I have to wear these clothes?" (Liqu)

"You intend to throw away what the lord granted you?" (Peras)

"No, no, she doesn't. We start. Liqu, follow!" (Shari)

Unfortunately, he meant the big field in front of the mansion.

It seems they're not afraid that we will be seen during this task.

I absolutely cannot see a reason in this order, if not for bugging us off.

I start, but internally I already demand a greater share of food to make up for this.

"Thirty laps! Is that even possible?"

"What does the captain think? Such an order."

"Will they really do this?"

The soldiers murmur to each other while we head for the start of the course.

There is no real reason not to run, but one adjustment I have to make before I start.

I slip out of my new boots.

Naturally, I receive stares from all the onlookers, but this is necessary.

"Oh great! At least this!" (Liqu)

Liqu doesn't waste a second to follow up and throw them away.

It feels liberating to have my feet in the free, but looking down, I know again why I hide them in public.

Aside from the obvious reasons.

They are rather big.

It's not like I don't already know that, since this isn't the first time I have them out.

The size isn't too excessive, but they are a little disproportional, especially now, while I still have pants on, which make my legs comparatively and quite abruptly thinner than the bulge below.

This is simply my natural state.

My body's mass has to be down there to help me maintain my stature.

I can do quite much through the direct control I have over my body, but this has its limits.

I may be able to pull myself up and jump like this, but I cannot fly.

Or make myself permanently lighter.

No, I don't want to know my exact weight!

However, the pressure I exert to the ground has to be absorbed.

For this reason, my feet are big or I wouldn't be able to stand on them.

And for the same reason, I have to buy oversized boots.

Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to order those in the tailoring shop?

While I use them I can reduce the size by condensing the slime and using the boots to contain the pressure.

Yet this is exactly the reason why I won't use them now.

They would rip apart with the force that would be continuously be invoked on them from the inside.

I have no intention to ruin a pair of high-quality boots in perfect condition.

Instead, someone else can clean the lane when I am done here.

Their problem!

Or not, as a certain someone is up to make it to mine.

"What is this supposed to mean?" (Peras)

"I can't run well in boots. If I shall move faster than walking pace this is necessary. In addition, they would end up being destroyed." (Shari)

"Tsk." (Peras)

Since apart from that grunt I don't get anything else, I take it as an agreement.

Motivated to get some distance between me and Peras I start.

But again it seems like Peras has a reason to complain.

"Show some effort! Speed up your slow pace!" (Peras)

"I'm sorry, Captain, but this is my limit. Any faster and I will lose my legs! That is detrimental for running, as far as I know!" (Shari)

"Urrgh, then keep on and don't dare to become slower!" (Peras)

Before he starts with something else, I increase my speed as much I can, to get out of Peras' shouting distance.

Liqu manages to keep up.

I wouldn't say she does so without effort, as the human body and its movements don't come as naturally to her as to me, but on the other side, she has much more general experience in moving her body than I have, which balances the difference.

Also, she is naturally totally motivated not to fall too far behind so she can stay always close to me.

As predicted, walking isn't too hard for me.

I can't even feel something like exhaustion and just to make sure I regularly check my condition by sending a wave through my body.

Actually, this isn’t too bad.

Quite the contrary, since this situation gives me the chance to keep my body at the limits my control allows me to maintain.

Through this, I can figure out the best movement pattern and develop a feel at what capacity I can most effectively move before I crumble.

"Splosh"

Yes, sometimes it doesn't work and I accidentally destroy my legs more than once.

Yet I don't have to bother with getting the lost mass back, since I can eventually recollect it during the next round.

Or I would be able to if it wasn’t for a certain someone.

"Liqu! Don't touch my mass! I want to take it back myself!" (Shari)

Also, it is creepy if she absorbs parts of my body.

I keep running and start something else, aside from my training my limits.

I increase the frequency of my self-check waves.

Not for confirmation, but to get a feeling for the wave itself.

This will become invaluable if I truly want to master this shoving technique, I should learn it so I can do it on the fly.

Liqu's greatest advantage to me is her experience and I intend to decrease this distance in our abilities.

And right now I am literally assigned to do exactly that what I want to do.

So I never had a reason to object.

If not for the gawkers.

Many of the soldiers stopped their training and instead proceed to stare at me while I run my rounds.

Also, I notice some people from the mansion, watching from the windows or stepping out of the entrance to gawk.

While I've got a little more accustomed to my body, in so far that I don't feel like crying whenever I wake up or have to do anything slime-like, I am still very self-conscious about my looks.

Internally, I'm comparing myself to my former looks as a human.

Knowing how far things went down in this regard, feeling so much attention on me is the worst.

Nonetheless, I have to push through and just cope with it.

While I'm at it, I also run numerous tests, hoping that the meal I get later will make up for the decrease in energy.

In the worst case, the provisions we brought with us should be enough.

Energy is the keyword here.

I want to know what exactly costs how much.

For example, I know already that in my current condition I could manage more or less ten slime bullets.

It depends on how well I perform the shot.

This running I could probably maintain for a week, solely based on the energy consumption.

But the amount of mass I leave behind tells me that my overall speed would decrease long before that moment.

If I pay attention to saving energy and walk slowly I might instead manage a little more than two weeks.

If I wouldn't do anything at all, it could even work out for half a year.

And if I were in a sealed container I'd maintain it probably forever.

Which is the most disturbing thought I could possibly have.

High-speed thinking, meanwhile, has quite an impact.

I guess after four consecutive hours at most I would completely run out.

But anyways I wouldn't make it this far, as simply utilizing this ability is terribly straining.

To describe it like this, it feels like my mind is on fire.

Or to be reluctantly more precise, my core.

It literally feels hot, as if something would melt or spring apart if this gets worse.

And this is not what it should do.

While I'm at it, I could also add that dissolving without benefit has rather high costs.

It depends how much I dissolve, but eventually I would burn out in the most literal sense.

I think I might be able to dissolve something as big as I am in my fully extended state.

This should also depend on the material.

Yet with dissolving at the highest intensity this should be even less.

The wave is like any normal movement, but it doubles the cost since I’m already moving.

For all of these expenditures, I have to keep in mind that losing any amount of energy will decrease my abilities.

Either I keep the mass, but lose efficiency or I shrink down in accordance with the amount of lost mass.

Both possibilities are not recommended.

After this, I have now the roughest idea of my energy and how spending it comes down for me.

Yet calculations were never my strongest point, as you can see at my spendings, so it only amounts to rough estimations.

I also discover something else.

I can slide on my feet and move rather fast like this, taking my momentum with me.

The problem is that to make this happen I need to let go of the surface which is in direct contact with the ground to bypass its gluing traction.

This means that I also lose the "good" energetic slime since it goes too fast.

And rather large amounts in addition.

However, something like this could for example improve my slime dash.

Like this, I don't have to deal with any boredom during my run.

Eventually, this activity comes to an end.

It might be positive that I didn't fall into a sweat, but this is more due to the point that my usual condition is far more extreme in terms of gushing out body fluids.

Making sure that there are no residues with energy remaining after my last round, I come at my boots to a stop.

At one point Peras left and instead put an officer in charge of looking after us.

Yet now he's back.

Before I deal with him I want to dress up properly.

"Thirty laps..."

"They don't show any signs of exhaustion."

"That's not human."

"Of course it isn't! Are you stupid?"

Seems like the soldiers have a new topic.

I do something like a fake stretch with my arms, only because it looks and feels appropriate.

Then I head for my apparent superior.

"Captain! Thirty laps as demanded!" (Shari)

I do a salute and look expectant at him.

Now let's see what he has next in store.

"Urgh, follow me." (Peras)

I do so without rebuttals.

And well, I assume Liqu follows rather me than him.

Always count on her obsession.

There is no reason not to follow him, even if he's not very likable.

If I can assess his demeanor right, he has now something to do he absolutely doesn't want to.

And this can only be good for me.