Chapter 53: Chapter 92 – Slime and Mimic (Part 1)

We had been getting a lot of rain this past week. Thanks to that, grass has grown excessively in both the front and backyard. Rakka grazing naturally would normally be enough to keep the yards at bay, but not this time. Although I understood that the state as a whole desperately needed that water, it didn't make it any less frustrating having to break out the lawnmower.

"Baaa…"

"I know, Rakka… I hate wasting food, too. But an uncut yard is like untrimmed public hair. I gotta take care of it before it gets out of hand," I explained to the mana beast.

From the second floor, Val threw open the window to her room. I was about to wave good morning to her until she slammed it shut. Moments later, the elf came rushing out into the backyard.

"How is a lady supposed to enjoy her morning with all that racket?!" Val came out screaming.

I stopped the lawnmower.

Well. Even when you lived out in a remote area with no neighbors around, there were still people bound to complain. I picked today because Cresta and Irapesha went to work, Tamara was at school, and Ines and Ange went to the store.

"Sorry, Val. Trash day is tomorrow, and I'm trying to get all the grass cut to put in the bin," I said.

It looked like she was about to protest some more until her eyes flicked to the garden beds.

"Actually… This may be fine. Caretaker, I need you to build me a compost bin," she demanded.

"What? Why?" My eyes narrowed to slits at her.

Val gestured for me to follow her over to the garden beds, within which the leaves on her many flowers look sickly and pale green.

"As you can see, the soil has grown weak. Composting cut grass that you would otherwise throw away will breathe life back into my flowers," she explained.

"I see the problem, but…" I scratched the top of my head over the matter that was beyond my capability. "Might be best to ask Cresta and Irapesha's carpenter friends."

While the two of us were bickering, Ivory had come out.

"Whatcha guys yelling about? Anything I can help with?" the mimic asked.

"Alright, Val. Let's be reasonable here. I can try to hammer away at a few wooden planks, but you can bet it will come out poorly." I folded my arms.

"How hard is it to smash something together?" Val asked, folding her arms to match my stance.

"How about I just give you a hammer instead?!" I sighed, then turned in the direction of Ivory but they were already gone. "Sorry, Ivory. We were just— Ivory?"

Val pinched my ear to make me face her again. "I'm not done talking to you yet, Mister!"

"Wait! Stop pulling— owowowow!"

Later in the afternoon, I left to pick up Cresta and Tamara. Upon arriving at Rocket Burger, the feline fast food employee brought out a giant paper bag that was bursting at the seams.

"Are you trying to clog our arteries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?" I glanced into the bag to see it packed full of burgers and fries.

"They named me employee of the month of March and said I could grab as much as I wanted!" Cresta licked her lips and devoured a burger right in front of me.

"I want one, too!" Tamara said from the passenger seat.

"Here you go, squirt. A vegetarian burger with lots of salad!" She handed Tamara what was essentially a jungle between two buns.

"Oh, I wanna try one, too!"

Everyone jumped, seeing Ivory transform into their humanoid form in the backseat. Tamara was spooked so badly, she accidentally dropped her burger and made a mess.

"I-Ivory? Were you back there this whole time?" I asked, clutching my throbbing chest.

"Snuck in before ya left!" They snickered.

"Aha— I didn't even smell her this time around because of all the hamburgers," Cresta said.

"Wahh… That scared me half to death!" Tamara started picking up what had fallen.

I didn't even see how Ivory got in. If they kept pulling stunts like this, there was going to be a whole lot more problems down the line.

"Ivory, don't sneak into the car like that next time. If you want to come with me, especially don't turn into an object and hide like that. Look at the mess you caused for Tamara." I exited the car to help her clean the seat.

"Sorry…" Ivory frowned and stayed quiet the whole way home.

I took a nap as soon as we got back. Mowing the lawn and hauling all that grass into a pile for Val later sapped a lot more strength out of me than I expected. However, the rest was anything but restful.

There was a strange weight that followed me to my dreams, like I had done something wrong today. I awakened in cold sweat, alone in the room with nothing but my racing thoughts. The time was just past seven in the evening.

Downstairs, the tenants were dining on the burgers Cresta had brought home earlier and watching television. Val was happily humming to herself, lathering a whole lot of ketchup onto her meal.

"Sorry everyone! Looks like I overslept. Anyone still want me to make dinner?" I asked.

"We all ate already," Ange said, flying over to fix my disheveled hair. "There is one more for you inside the fridge if you're hungry."

I opened the fridge to find a bacon and cheese rocket burger. Probably the worst possible option from Rocket Burger for anyone trying to have a healthy diet.

"Maybe I'll pass…" 

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As I cooked something for myself and joined my tenants in the living room, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Actually, not something. Someone.

"Has anyone seen Ivory?" I asked everyone.

All I got were shaking heads and worried looks.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen her all day," Ines said.

"I saw her earlier when we got back home!" Tamara added.

I turned to Cresta, and she shook her head.

Even the one person who was supposed to be able to sniff anyone and anything out with her keen senses had no trail. I had them help me look up and down the dormitory, in their own rooms, and even around the premise of the dormitory just in case, keeping our eyes peeled for the pendant which was Ivory's most notable physical trait in any form.

We were unsuccessful.

I convinced most of the tenants to sleep because it was getting late and stayed up myself to keep looking.

By midnight, I slumped down on the couch and tried to figure out why Ivory up and disappeared. When? How? Why? Nothing came to mind.

My thoughts were interrupted by Remmy coming back downstairs.

"Not tired?" I asked the slime.

"Slimes don't need sleep, remember?" Remmy answered. "I can stay up for as long as I want and not feel tired. Are you… still searching for Ivory?"

I nodded. "After oversleeping in my nap, I have all the energy in the world. Don't want to go to bed without finding Ivory either. I just don't understand why they're missing. Or hiding."

Honestly, I was at the edge of my sanity and so close to just calling Professor Markel for help. But with everyone sleeping, that wouldn't be a great idea. Although losing a tenant also wasn't such a good thing either.

"Have you been ignoring Ivory?" Remmy asked.

"Have I— No? Er… At least, I don't think so?" I thought back over the day and realized that wasn't quite true.

There was this morning when I was with Val. Then when I went to pick up my tenants, I didn't even notice Ivory getting in the car. Worse— I scolded Ivory when they were just trying to join the conversation.

"Remmy, I think I messed up." I buried my face into my hands and sighed.

The slime girl sat next to me to rub my back. Never did I expect a day to come where Remmy would be consoling me.

"If you did… then what are you supposed to do next?" she asked me.

"Apologize, obviously. But I need to find her first."  When I got up out of my seat to start searching for Ivory again, Remmy grabbed ahold of my hand.

"Try apologizing… right now."

Nothing in Remmy's eyes suggested that she was kidding. Apologize? Why here? Unless…

"Is Ivory in this room right now?" I asked.

Remmy didn't answer, but she swung my hand like an adorable child urging me on.

It was worth a try.

"Ivory, if you're in here and can hear me, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to straight up ignore you. With so many people in the dorm now and on top of my chores, I've been having such a hard time finding time for even just one person. I shouldn't have ignored you this morning, and I shouldn't have told you off so harshly in the car. If you can find it in your shapeshifting heart to give me another chance, I want to make it up to you," I said to the room.

"How?" Ivory's disembodied voice asked.

They were definitely in here, but I couldn't pinpoint where they were.

"Can we just… hang out?" they asked again.

"Want to go for a ride with me and Remmy?" I thumbed outside.

Ivory finally emerged, having superimposed themself onto the fireplace. Of course, I couldn't find them. Their pendant was hidden underneath all the logs.

"How long were you there?" I walked up to the mimic with a tissue to wipe the sooty face. 

"Since we got back home earlier…" they hesitated to answer. "I only told Cresta and Remmy, but I also told them not to tell you."

I figured that was the case. What happened to any child that was neglected by parents? They acted out in ways that defied logic. For Ivory, by hiding, they were finally able to get my attention.

This time, I wouldn't be angry about it. I shouldn't. Even if I wanted to lash out, I reminded myself who really caused this to happen.

Remmy smiled and waved at her friend from behind me, and Ivory waved back.

"Three of us aren't in need of sleep and night's waiting for us. I'll fire up the car, so come out when you're ready," I told Ivory in case they needed some time.

"Wait," Ivory said. "I want to be useful."

I had no idea what Ivory meant until we got outside and they changed into a bicycle.

"A bike, huh? I'm going to need a—" As I said that, Remmy changed into blob form and plopped onto my head. "This feels very weird, but I guess we're ready to set off like this, right?"

Ivory chimed the bell and with energy back in their voice again said, "Let's goooo!"

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