This time, we have two super short stories.
Among the members who currently come and go from the Tower Management Layer, if you were to ask who is busy, it would undoubtedly be Wanri.
Starting with patrolling the floors where the foxes reside, managing the foxes that frequent the Lily Shinto Shrine and the fox inn, and recently, though things have been calmer, managing the foxes accompanying Kousuke’s children, she juggles many tasks.
Of course, Wanri isn’t handling everything alone; there are leader foxes overseeing each area, but it’s still true that Wanri is busy overseeing various places.
When such a Wanri, after a long time, showed her face in the management layer, she found someone sitting with their knees hugged by the teleportation gate.
“…Sol? What are you doing here?”
“Hm. Wanri? No, I made a small mistake and I’m reflecting on it.”
As fellow familiars, Wanri and Sol are good friends.
Therefore, among those in the management layer, Wanri is one of the rare individuals with whom Sol doesn’t use honorifics.
Seeing Sol hugging his knees, Wanri tilted her head slightly.
Even when Sol thinks he’s made a mistake, it’s often something minor, but this time the atmosphere felt different from those times.
Thinking it would be best to properly hear him out, Wanri approached Sol.
“A mistake? What kind?”
“…I was supposed to buy salt, but I mistakenly bought sugar.”
Upon hearing his answer, Wanri let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
She had initially thought he had committed a more serious mistake, but she relaxed once she knew it wasn’t a big deal.
However, in this world where sugar is not widely circulated, the price is vastly different, so she wondered why he had made such a mistake.
“Why did you make such a mistake?”
When Wanri asked, Sol paused for a moment before answering.
“…You said it was for tamagoyaki.”
“Ah… I see, I understand now.”
Hearing Sol’s answer, Wanri nodded with a look of understanding.
In the management layer, tamagoyaki is made with both salt and sugar, depending on Kousuke’s mood.
Kousuke likes both, so it changes based on his mood at the time.
However, in Sol’s understanding, there’s a formula of tamagoyaki = sugar, so he mistakenly bought sugar without hesitation.
This time, Kousuke’s mood happened to be one where he wanted the salty version.
Although Sol was certainly wrong to buy sugar, based on the conversation, he couldn’t be held entirely responsible.
“I think it’s Sol’s fault for not confirming properly at first, but wasn’t Older Brother’s instruction also not clear?”
“Well, that’s true. Kousuke-sama also comforted me by saying so…”
“Huh? Then, you don’t need to reflect on it that much, do you?”
When Wanri asked, looking puzzled, Sol slowly shook his head.
“No. In this case, the problem is that I followed my own desire (?) instead of Kousuke-sama. I can’t rely on Kousuke-sama’s kindness.”
Seeing Sol state that firmly, Wanri thought to herself, “Is that so?”
At the same time, judging that it would be fine to leave him be, Wanri decided to leave the place.
“Reflecting is good, but please do it in moderation. Even if you’re doing it where no one can see, people can somehow sense it, you know?”
“Ah, I know that.”
Reflection is important, but for others, being stuck in constant reflection over something minor can be tiresome.
Sol, who understood this well, nodded in response to Wanri.
Seeing that, Wanri then truly left the Teleportation Room and headed towards the Lounge Space where Kousuke and the others were presumably present.
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Upon entering the Lounge Space, Wanri tilted her head at something wiggling in the center of the room.
“Sura? …It doesn’t look like it. Did you decide to keep another slime?”
“No, that one somehow slipped in from somewhere and ended up residing in the management layer before we knew it.”
The one who answered Wanri’s murmur was Floria, who entered the Lounge Space shortly after.
“Floria-onee-sama. It ‘ended up residing’… aren’t you going to get rid of it?”
“Hmm. That idea did come up, but… the opinion was that if Sura is fine, why not that one?”
Looking at Floria’s face, Wanri realized where that opinion might have originated.
The faintly sweet atmosphere that filled the air was likely not just her imagination.
There was no point in pointing that out, so Wanri tilted her head and looked at the slime.
“I understand that, but… won’t it multiply too much?”
“We’ve agreed to exterminate it if it multiplies too much, but strangely, there’s no sign of that happening yet.”
The yet-unnamed slime had shown no signs of splitting since it was discovered in the management layer.
Therefore, the residents of the management layer were simply watching the slime’s movements with a sense of ease.
Wanri blinked, as she had thought slimes would split as soon as their living conditions stabilized to some extent.
“That can happen, can it?”
“Hmm. There was also a theory that slimes split as an instinct to pass on their species, and that they don’t split in a completely stable environment.”
“Is that so?”
“No, I think that’s stretching it too far.”
Since slimes cannot converse, no one has been able to confirm the true reason.
The only one who might be able to confirm it would be Sura, who is always by Kousuke’s side.
As Wanri nodded, appearing impressed, Floria continued,
“Personally, I suspect Sura might have spoken to it when no one was looking.”
“Ah, that seems plausible.”
Wanri voiced her agreement with the most convincing reason.
Sura, who is believed to perfectly grasp Kousuke’s intentions, would easily be able to accomplish something like that.
There was a theory circulating in the management layer that Sura was omnipotent when it came to slimes.
The truth of the matter remained unknown, but it was certain that a single slime had settled in the management layer without splitting.
Since it posed no particular harm, it was gradually becoming established as a mobile ornamental creature within the management layer.
Looking at the slime, Wanri suddenly said, as if struck by an idea.
“…Is it perhaps not a clone of Sura, for monitoring the management layer?”
Wanri had merely blurted out a sudden thought, but Floria let out a groan.
“…It’s not entirely unthinkable.”
If that were the case, Sura would be capable of even more than she had imagined, further enhancing her omnipotence.
There was something about Sura that made such an unlikely possibility seem plausible.
Sensing that pursuing it further might reveal a terrifying truth, Wanri and Floria did not speak any more about it.
Wanri realized, in various senses, that some things are better left unexplored.
This was an episode where Wanri was the protagonist after a long time.
Although it appears to be a continuous story, the actual events took place on different days.
*I do not intend to make people fight over whether they prefer sweet or salty. By the way, I’m the type who can go either way lol.
