An old proverb from the East.
There was a lesson a sage once left his young disciple in a marketplace.
「If you wish to open someone's heart, first serve them warm soup.」
For the warmth that fills an empty stomach shall become the finest key for breaking down tightly closed boundaries.
A single piece of bread filled with sincerity always reaches someone far more closely than a hundred grand words.
Meanwhile, the offering the nymphs sent was a girl, and we had welcomed a strange guest into the nest.
What kind of wind would she bring into this quiet nest?
***
The girl opened her eyes.
Her pale eyelashes trembled faintly.
Anxiety bloomed in the unfamiliar air, and that quiet tension colored the room.
Airi watched her while leaning back languidly.
And beside Airi was a bouncing slime.
The girl looked back and forth between us with unfocused eyes. Once she realized something, she squeezed her trembling eyelids shut.
Her detached bearing made it seem as if she had completely let go of any attachment to life.
'That certainly looks like the expression of someone who has given up on everything.'
I nodded my round jelly and examined the girl.
Her slender shoulders trembled faintly, plainly revealing how hard she was trying to suppress her fear.
"Hmm, you are rather quick to resign yourself, child."
Airi murmured quietly with her chin in one hand, sounding intrigued.
"......"
The girl remained silent.
Her lips pressed tightly together, she quietly waited for the judgment to come.
I rolled across the floor and took a step closer to the girl.
I lightly prodded her with my transparent body, but she showed no sign of resistance.
That was when Airi's languid amethyst eyes gleamed as she asked me.
"Yuri, will you take charge of that child, then?"
"Yes, I will."
I vibrated my core without delay.
We had already agreed to make this audacious girl my assistant.
I had lacked enough hands to manage the vast nest alone, and now a source of labor had rolled straight into my lap.
"Hehe. Thank you."
"Your happiness is my happiness, Airi."
That brief exchange settled the girl's fate.
From the prisoner who had attacked me to my assistant.
It was the beginning of a peculiar bond.
***
Time passed swiftly, and several more days went by.
The girl who had begun staying in the nest rarely spoke at first.
She merely crouched in a corner of the room with wariness filling her eyes.
But physiological needs cannot be concealed.
GRRRRUMBLE.
A small sound announcing her hunger echoed through the silent nest corridor, and the girl's face flushed bright red in an instant.
I opened my subspace and pulled out a ripe fruit for her.
At first, she eyed it suspiciously as though it contained poison.
But eventually, unable to endure her hunger, she gripped the fruit in both hands and devoured it.
MUNCH, MUNCH. GULP.
She worked her mouth diligently, both cheeks puffed to the point of bursting.
That was how mealtime continued.
The warm fullness gradually broke down the girl's tightly closed defenses.
After finishing the fruit, the girl spoke in a voice as quiet as a mosquito.
"......Adele."
That was the first time she told me her name.
Offering one's name was proof that the tightly locked bolt across one's heart had been drawn back.
I swayed my round jelly body from side to side and responded warmly.
"Yes, it is nice to meet you, Adele. I am Yuri, the Nest Manager here."
Adele gave a small nod at the gentle waves from my core.
But she still only fidgeted with her fingers, and an awkward air lingered between us.
Was it the shyness of someone who had received a favor, or guilt over her failed attack?
Some manner of anxiety dwelled in her large eyes.
'The best thing to do at a time like this is give her a light task.'
I opened my subspace, pulled out a fluffy towel, and dropped it in front of her.
"You do not have to be so self-conscious. If you want to earn your meals, would you wipe some dust off that wall?"
Adele's eyes widened.
She soon gripped the towel tightly in both hands and approached the wall with a determined expression.
SQUEAK, SQUEAK.
The sight of her standing on tiptoe and earnestly scrubbing away the old grime.
It quietly revealed her desperation to prove she was useful here somehow.
In any case, several more warm meals and peaceful hours passed after that.
A strange trust sprouted where her wariness had crumbled.
Now Adele had become a fairly capable assistant who followed close behind me wherever I went.
Our main routine was stripping away the nest's accumulated grime.
The ancient nest, abandoned for hundreds of years, was still desperately awaiting our touch.
Today, it was time to organize the tightly sealed Armory.
CREEEEAK.
The heavy iron door opened with a dull scrape.
Pale dust billowed in every direction like fog.
"Cough, cough!"
Adele covered her mouth with her two small hands and broke into a cough.
Gray dust settled like snow upon her silver veil.
"The dust is quite severe. Adele, step back a little."
I sounded my core and gave her a gentle instruction.
Adele retreated toward the entrance in quick little steps.
I kicked off the floor and leaped into the center of the Armory.
Puffing up my jelly to its fullest, I used the Swallow Skill.
SHWOOOOOSH!
Overwhelming suction, a furious vortex. Blue mana swallowed every trace of the room's stale air.
The dust obstructing our vision vanished without a trace in an instant.
"Ah......"
Adele's eyes opened wide.
Her tightly closed lips parted slightly before the wondrous magic.
"What do you think of my cleaning Skill? Pretty impressive, isn't it?"
"Yes. It is truly amazing......"
A cautious exclamation of wonder slipped from her.
I bounced high in place, displaying the proudest attitude I could manage.
The interior of the Armory was revealed once the dust cleared.
Rusted iron swords and chipped spearheads lay scattered chaotically along the walls.
They were traces of the warriors who had once guarded this place.
Adele approached cautiously and picked up an old dagger.
Her grip upon the weapon was rather practiced.
It must have been something she had to learn in order to survive the perilous forest.
"Are you very interested in weapons?"
"Ah...... Not really. My hands are simply accustomed to them."
Adele set down the dagger with a bitter smile.
It was a sorrowful means of survival, forcing a child of a weak race to grasp a harsh blade.
I stretched out my transparent jelly and lightly patted her slender shoulder.
"You do not need to hold one of those blades for a while. You are my broom assistant now."
She stared blankly at me.
Then she carefully set the dagger down and adjusted her grip on the broom.
A faint blush had spread across her cheeks.
We continued cleaning.
I lifted the heavy iron shelves high and pushed them into a corner.
Adele carried a damp towel and diligently wiped the surfaces of the rusted weapons and armor.
Her back as she struggled to polish a heavy shield.
The beads of sweat on her brow reflected the sunlight and glittered brilliantly.
That was when it happened.
"Ah!"
A heavy stone hidden behind the shield rolled down toward the top of Adele's foot.
There was far too little time to evade it.
I sprang off the floor like a coil and hurtled toward her.
Stretching my jelly long, I gently slid it between the stone and Adele's foot.
THUD.
With a dull impact, the heavy stone lightly bounced off my squishy body.
"You have to be careful, assistant."
I vibrated my core and teased her playfully.
"Ah...... Thank you, Lord Yuri."
Adele's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
Her slender hand rubbed her chest to settle her fright, its trembling palpable.
"You are not hurt anywhere, are you?"
"No. Thanks to you blocking it, Lord Yuri."
A shy smile bloomed across Adele's face.
A faint sense of relief passed behind her silver veil.
We began moving diligently again.
After our grueling labor, the mountainous piles of garbage were neatly cleared away.
At last, the Armory regained its original orderly appearance.
After organizing the Armory, our next destination was the Food Storage.
The musty reek of mold stabbed our noses when we pushed open the heavy oak door and entered.
Old ingredients once used by the nest's residents had been left there to rot.
"Ugh, the smell......"
Adele covered her nose and grimaced.
"Now, assistant. Stand back."
I puffed my jelly up once more and rotated my core.
SHWOOOOOSH!
Like an enormous vacuum cleaner, I sucked the rotten food and mold into my subspace.
The storeroom became pleasant in an instant.
Adele rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
She seemed inwardly curious about my magical pouch.
"Heh heh. My stomach is connected to the distant cosmos, you see."
As I made that silly joke, I discovered an intact-looking glass bottle in the corner of a shelf.
It was old magically preserved food filled with sloshing golden honey.
"Oh, this looks fairly useful, doesn't it?"
I stretched out my jelly and handed Adele the honey jar.
When she carefully opened its lid, a sweet, fragrant floral scent filled the storeroom.
"Today's snack will be bread slathered in honey. What do you think?"
Adele gulped dryly.
Soon, a hint of color brightened her face as she carefully nodded.
An exquisite sensation. Pleasant fullness. The fragrant floral scent gently embraced the nest.
We returned to the Lounge and enjoyed a sweet rest.
Adele pulled a clean towel from her clothes and carefully wiped the surface of my jelly.
Her gentle hands brushed away the dust caught in every corner.
WIPE, WIPE, SWIPE, SWIPE.
The sensation of soft cloth against my squishy skin was rather ticklish.
"Hehe, that tickles, Adele."
"Please stay still. There is...... too much dust."
She avoided my gaze and muttered quietly.
My assistant stubbornly polished my surface with devoted care.
My transparent blue jelly regained its original brilliant sheen.
SWEEP, SWEEP, SWISH, SWISH.
Adele diligently swept the Lounge floor with a broom as large as she was.
She could not use grand magic, but her hands were quite capable and diligent.
Beside her, I was puffing up my jelly and removing cobwebs.
Then Adele's gaze stopped upon one spot as she swept the floor.
The silver Trophies I had proudly placed in a specially prepared display case.
They were the [Trophy] Forest of Beginnings (Special) series, radiating pleasant halos.
Curiosity briefly crossed her large eyes.
'Heh heh. I am rather impressive, after all.'
I did not miss her gaze and bounced about, displaying a thoroughly proud attitude.
Pretending to puff out my chest, I released a soft glow of blue mana.
Adele quietly watched my boastful display.
Then she showed a faint smile before silently returning to her sweeping.
And so, within the nest decorated with my proud achievements, there were now Airi, me, and my assistant Adele.
Little by little, the place began to gain a lived-in vitality and warmth.
Then, one day.
"Yuri, it seems I must go outside for a short while."
Airi spoke in an unusually serious voice as she put on her coat.
I nodded my round head.
For Airi to venture out, she surely had some important business.
But she was not the only one leaving the nest today.
FLASH!
The instant Airi stepped through the door, a dazzling flood of light erupted from my transparent jelly body.
An overwhelming flash, an irresistible pull, gentle streams of light began bursting from within me.
That was right. The Black Tower was calling.