Chapter 101

They let the Dendro Girl off and carried on, walking back home.

Today's quest wasn't finished but they at least confirmed the existence and the location of the new monster, and that it borrowed an appearance of a little girl, so that already guaranteed them some rewards from the Guild.

He didn't want to care about that anymore.

Someone might fall victim to it in the future, but he would not kill a monster with an appearance of a crying Loli...

Call him selfish but he is in no way turning his claymore towards children.

(…That Mimic girl would definitely charm someone who was going to pass through there. Fuck, I am stupid, I should have just killed it...)

His indecisiveness might prove to be fatal.

After all, even after they agreed to spare it, everyone was still reluctant to leave.

Specifically, Paimon and Lumine were hesitant to leave, making him spend a lot of time and effort to herd them forth.

(Ahhh, how annoying. Be it kill or spare, both options leave a bad taste in the mouth. This monster was really evil.)

However, she said this was the first time she spoke with a human, so no one had fallen into its hands yet...

Did that mean there were multiple mutated species around?

So, sparing it would be…

Fine…?

"—But I am so glad that Party leader showed some sympathy...He usually just slaughters monsters and bandits left and right. It was nice to see a change of pace..." Lumine gave him a rare smile.

"I think there is a need to talk with you about how you normally see me. All of you should know very well that I wouldn't do something like that, right?"

Yomite said as he looked towards Lumine and Hu Tao…

"..."

The two of them averted their eyes in silence.

He truly wanted to strangle them right here and rightfully so.

He wanted some gentle comrades.

But all he had right now were:

An emotionless Isekai Character that turned her extroverted switch on once drunk.

Angsty Emergency Food, whose purpose was to eat and complain.

A Chuuni.

A Confused and Hyperactive Joke of a Character, that teased, annoyed and scared the shit out of him every day.

And then a Gluttonous Dragon that made him throw his money out of the window on a daily basis.

His party wasn't shaping the way he wanted at all.

(...Eh?)

Yomite suddenly stopped.

"Hey, wait. Isn't it bad if there is a mimic girl on this path?"

He spoke to his party, quite concerned.

Speaking of gentle comrades, he remembered a certain girl who was usually patrolling these borders daily.

If that energetic person who felt sorry for everyone and acted like a little kid, scolding her enemies instead of eliminating them, who had more compassion than the entirety of Teyvat combined...

If she were to pass that way…

(Amber...)

The mimic girl said that they were the first humans whom she spoke to, meaning that Amber had yet to patrol this area.

In that case, Amber was definitely behind them.

"Assistant-kun, your face is the same shade of color as the wall in our mansion, what's the matter? Does your stomach hurt? Do you need to poo~? There's some trees there, we will keep away so go there and settle it quick~!" Hu Tao noticed his expression and teased him.

"That's not it! Hey, you girls go first! I'm going back to the Dendr-...You know what, yeah I'm going to settle it quickly, I'll be right back!"

"Party leader?"

"Huh, wait, wait Assistant-kun? Are you serious? I was just joking."

He ignored the confused voices of Lumine and Hu Tao and charged back the way they came.

It hadn't been ten minutes since they parted with the mimic girl.

(I'll reach her soon if I run there.)

It might be a bit thick-faced of him, but he will ask that girl a few questions.

He will ask it to not smile or wave at a girl with red rabbit like eared ribbon and a pair of godlike killer thighs.

The girl with short tight shorts that covered her bubble butt might be passing by the Dendro Slime Girl at any minute now.

He had to protect those thighs and butt at all cost.

He thought about it as he ran.

He arrived at the place a few moments later, noticing that someone was talking to the mimic girl, but luckily, it wasn't Amber.

He immediately hid behind a tree and observed the situation.

The one talking to the mimic girl was a lumberjack of some sort.

(Someone from Liyue? No, probably from Mondstadt or from a nearby village judging by his clothes.)

The lumberjack approached the Loli with an axe.

(Was he planning to exterminate that child…? Better for me then...At least I don't have to go through with it...)

He brought the axe up high and was ready to kill it.

Moving slowly, he crouched and creeped closer to eavesdrop.

And so, he managed to overhear the man's voice.

"Ahh… Damn, why must it be so…? Sorry, I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

The lumberjack was on the verge of tears.

Yomite could sympathize with him.

Raising his hand towards a Loli or even a child-like mimic was hard...unless his life wasn't in danger, Yomite wouldn't be able to do it.

"Because, I, we, monsters live…Will cause trouble…"

Just then...

"Since born, first time, talk with humans…I'm sorry..."

Word for word...

"Meeting with you... beautiful...if next time...I born human...we meet again... Would be wonderful..."

The mimic girl said the exact same lines as before...

The exact same words she told to Yomite...

"Ah… Ahhh… I can't do it. Damn, I can't do it!"

The lumberjack screamed as he turned and ran away in tears.

Yomite didn't move and just stood in the shade of the trees, speechless.

"..."

(I thought it said to me that I was the first one it talked to...What the hell is up with that!?)

"Ahhh~ failed again. That lumberjack looked quite meaty and would've been great fertilizer…Getting new meat is so much work...What a pain..."

"..."

After the lumberjack was out of sight, he heard the voice of the mimic girl, speak smoothly without any stutters, as she wiped away her fake tears into her hand.

He sneaked to the back of the mimic girl and unsheathed his claymore.

But the mimic girl didn't notice that he was behind her.

"Uwaaahhh… Damn it, no fertilizer's coming… It's a bit cloudy, but whatever, let's photosynthesize a little…*Sigh*...What a pain..."

It mumbled and stretched itself to expose its entire body to the sunlight…

Leaning back, it locked its eyes with Yomite standing behind it.

"..."

After staring at each other wordlessly for a moment that felt like eternity, the mimic girl finally said softly,

"Just now, those words, could you pretend you, didn't hear them…?"

"So, you could speak fluently, you little shit!!!"

***

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After a nice exercise and a release of pent up anger, Yomite caught up with Hu Tao and the others and found them taking a break at the same spot, waiting for him.

Seeing his face as he ran over, Hu Tao smiled.

"You look refreshed, what happened~? Did you really poo~? We~ll?"

In response to Hu Tao, Yomite smirked and replied, "Yep! I had this terrible pent up feeling in my stomach since earlier, but I am all good now! Let's head back to Mondstadt, my dearest team!"