Infinite Adaptation: Starting As A Level 1 Slime-Chapter 33: My Heart

Seria blinked. "What?"

"Nothing." He smiled. "Safe journey."

With that, the three adventurers turned and walked away, disappearing into the forest.

Lunaris watched them leave.

Then he looked to the side.

She left?

He had detected a presence hiding near the village. It seemed they had been looking for this group. Well, that was good - at least they didn’t seem to be an enemy.

He didn’t mind being spied on. They seemed to be human. He hoped they would return and report good things about their tribe. It might raise humanity’s view of them.

His expression turned serious.

He looked at Roselle.

"We need to talk."

Roselle’s ears flattened. A nervous look crossed her face.

"...Yes, my Lord."

...

The three adventurers walked through the forest, putting distance between themselves and the village.

"I still can’t believe we survived an encounter with the Demon Princess," Garen muttered, shaking his head. "That Lunaris guy is really impressive."

"Speaking of," Yuna spoke up, "don’t you find that person strange?"

Seria glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"Lunaris," Yuna said. "Like... the Eternal Moon? Don’t you get it?"

They all stopped walking.

"It can’t be, right?" Garen said slowly.

Now that I think about it, it is indeed strange, Seria thought. Before, she had been too nervous to realize this.

"Don’t the beastmen worship the Eternal Moon?" Yuna asked.

They all looked at each other.

A heavy silence hung in the air.

Then Garen shrugged. "It’s probably just a coincidence."

"Right," Yuna agreed uncertainly. "Just a coincidence."

They continued walking.

Is it though? Seria wondered.

Then again, while it was uncommon to be named after any of the three primordials, it still happened. There were even people in the Church named after Azurath.

She also remembered how Roselle and Lunaris had interacted.

She sighed.

Nah. Maybe I’m imagining it.

Still, there could be a scheme here.

She decided to look into this matter some more.

...

The two sat opposite each other in the small room.

Silence hung between them.

"Are you lying to me?" Lunaris asked.

Roselle remained silent.

"Scratch that. Why are you lying to me?"

Roselle placed her hand on her chest. Her expression was sincere.

"While I am not being entirely truthful," she said slowly, "I would never do anything that would harm the Lord. This is what I was taught as the priestess."

She met his gaze.

"The Lord is a kind and caring person. That is why I carry the burden of making the tough decisions that the Lord might not be willing to make."

Lunaris looked at her. She seemed quite sincere.

Even so...

"Why do you always go out of your way to not do what I say?"

She remained silent.

"It makes me really sad when you do that," he said. "Could you stop?"

"I cannot promise that," she replied. "It is just as I said. It is my duty to make some decisions that the Lord might be unwilling to."

"What does that have to do with the humans?" he pressed. "Why did you want to kill them despite me specifically asking you not to?"

Roselle looked down at her lap.

"I just... didn’t want a repeat of last time."

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"I have just gotten you back..."

She shook her head slightly.

"Anyway, it’s complicated. I have my own reasons. But as I said, it’s all for the Lord’s sake."

He looked at her.

Last time?

She didn’t seem to want to talk about it.

He sighed.

Is she really not going to budge?

Then Roselle smiled.

"Is the Lord suspicious that I’ll harm him?"

Before he could respond, she reached out and took his hand.

He tensed.

Then he grew even more nervous as an eerie smile spread across her face.

"There is actually one way you could stop me from acting out of line."

"There is?" he asked cautiously.

She pulled his hand to her chest.

His face flushed slightly.

"What are you..."

"That’s right," she said softly. "My heart beats for the Lord."

Her eyes locked onto his.

"If the Lord feels I am doing something dangerous and is unable to make me follow his orders, the Lord can always put an end to it."

Her grip on his hand tightened.

"While there are some orders I can choose not to obey for the sake of the lord, giving my life when my Lord asks for it is one I cannot deny. No matter what."

Her smile didn’t waver.

"So the Lord can always ask for my life. And this will stop me."

She tilted her head.

"Permanently, of course."

Lunaris pulled his hand away quickly.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "There is no need to go that far."

He took a breath to compose himself.

"Anyway, I understand your sense of responsibility. But next time, tell me first before you act. That way, I can think of a middle ground."

Roselle bowed her head. "Of course, my Lord."

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"No."

This chick is insane, he thought. There’s no getting through to her.

He quickly got up and left the room.

...

As he stepped outside, he encountered Luna.

"Ah, Luna. You’re back."

"I returned!" she announced cheerfully.

"Did you have fun planting crops?"

"Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically. "We even harvested!" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

He reached out and placed his hand on her head, patting her gently.

"You can’t just plant and harvest in a day," he explained. "Growing crops is all about patience."

She probably uprooted a weed and thought it was a harvest, he thought. I need to teach her more.

Luna reached behind her back and pulled something out.

A massive carrot. Easily the length of her forearm. Perfectly orange and fully grown.

"We harvested though," she said.

Lunaris stared at it in shock.

He took the carrot from her hands, examining it closely.

"What? This..."

He looked at Luna.

"You really harvested this?"

"Not just this!" She spread her arms wide. "Lots of them!"

Is this some sort of special carrot that grows rapidly?

Then he paused.

The blessing...

The Spirit Queen really outdid herself with this.

He looked at the fully grown crop in his hands, turning it over slowly.

Hmmm...

Maybe...

"Luna."

"Yes?"

"Why don’t you go have fun with the others? I have some work to do."

"Oki!"

She turned and ran off toward the other beastmen.

Lunaris watched her go.

Then he looked back at the carrot.

His expression turned serious.