The eerie premonition came true. From that day on, Carpeios was subjected to colorful, persistent, and foul-smelling experiments in the laboratory.

Didn’t they say that evil is punished with greater evil? Carpeios, who had become an insect, quickly lost his majesty as a demon king through repeated experiments.

His fear grew rapidly, and even the sound of human footsteps approaching the laboratory made his antennae tremble and his legs lose strength.

Then, later, he was put into a ‘reincarnation acceleration and automation magic device’ and was unable to feel emotions as he repeated efficient reincarnations.

Another change in his life occurred when the number after his name reached seven digits.

“Oh! You finally did it! Congratulations, Carls Million Years!”

‘What, what are you celebrating?’

When he opened his eyes in doubt, Carpeios felt his body tremble more than usual.

The mad wizard brought a ribbon and tied it to Carpeios, then showed him the mirror.

“You’ve become so cute!”

‘... ... !’

In the mirror, a translucent red slime was swaying with a yellow ribbon.

From then on, the mad wizard, Morifis Marcellion, demanded that Carpeios act cute.

He thoroughly treated the great Demon King as his pet!

‘How dare you!’

Carpeios naturally... ... .

Bouncing. Bouncing. Boo-boo-boo.

“That’s right. You’re doing great, Cals!”

He devoted himself to activities to be loved by his wicked master.

His efforts bore fruit, and Morifis came to love Carpeios very much. Before he knew it, it became a routine for Morifis to sleep every night in bed, hugging him like a cushion.

Morifis even confided in Carpeios.

“The Pope has no intention of divorcing that old paladin. But that’s okay. Waiting always wins. On average, women live longer than men. If that old paladin dies first, after about 60 years, I can try to remarry after my death. But I’m a little worried. I don’t want the Pope, who has become a hunched old woman, to feel burdened by me, a bachelor who has just married...” 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

‘... ... .’

In this way, Carpeios became a pet slime favored by the true and true mad archmage.

His body was at ease, but his heart, soul, and spirit were even more worn out. His pride as a demon lord was tattered.

‘Ah... ... . Why do I exist... ... ? I want to disappear... ... .’

He was driven into a corner, having lost his will to live. The slime lost its elasticity and sagged flat like a puddle.

But then.

“Is this Cals?”

‘You, you... ...!’

The voice that instantly awakened Carpeios’s mind resonated in his soul.

A beautiful human woman with pink hair and peridot-colored eyes!

The one before his eyes was an entity he had never forgotten, even in his dreams.

‘The Executor of Danak!’

The slime’s mucousy body trembled. It was a trembling of shiver, not fear.

‘I, my savior who came to destroy me!’

Ailet Rodelin. She was the only one who could save him from the prison of endless reincarnation.

At that moment, Carpeios felt an intense sense of destiny. So... ... .

“What is this? Are you being cute?”

He rubbed his hand hard against hers. It was a sincere and loving gesture.

✠

A red slime reminiscent of strawberry jelly was passionately rubbing its body against my palm.

I never thought my affinity for slimes was high, but it was a strange sight.

“Kals is a shy guy, but he seems to really like you.”

“Really? Terry, give me your hand.”

I pulled Tesilid’s right wrist and brought it closer to Kals. But Kals showed more than shyness.

He started to squirm and changed his body shape to avoid Tesilid’s hand, and even retreated.

“Why does he seem afraid of you, Terry?”

“I see.”

“Do you not have a good affinity with slimes?”

I asked, thinking of my passive skill, ‘Notoriety that Resonates in the Undead World.’

“I don’t really know. Before I met you, I had a bad affinity with the entire world.”

“Ah, our Terry.......”

My eyes naturally became affectionate as I looked at him at his heartbreaking words.

As I looked at Tesilid’s sea-blue eyes soaked in tears, I realized that the world had done something wrong, and I also made a promise to myself that I should give him more love.

As we kept staring at each other, our faces habitually got closer.

Suddenly, a red slime was inserted between me and Tesilid.

“Anti-collision cushion.”

“.......”

I came to my senses thanks to Morifis.

“Ahem, sorry. I guess it became a habit after living without caring about what others thought for a year.”

“......I guess being newlyweds is good.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to get married in 60 years too.”

“Really? Let’s make a plan.”

Everyone’s attention turned back to Karls. Morifis forced me to appreciate it.

“How is it? Isn’t it cute?”

“Well. The way you do things seems cute in its own way, but I don’t feel attached to you. What about you, Terry?”

“I.......”

Tesilid delayed his answer by lengthening his sentences and stared at Kals for a while. His gaze seemed somewhat uneasy, not like a simple observation.

“.......”

His gaze gave off a coldness like the North Sea, where glaciers had been frozen for ten thousand years.

As expected, Kals began to tremble. Then Morifis hugged the slime and protested.

“Master of the Holy Sword, what are you doing to the poor slime right now?”

I asked too.

“Terry, why are you suddenly pouring out your murderous intent on the slime?”

“......I did it?”

“Yeah. I thought you had encountered some kind of enemy.”

“I really did it?”

He looked genuinely confused.

Was it that he exuded his life force without realizing it, like a charm that radiates just by breathing?

To make our good Terry react so instinctively? This is the first time since Carpeios that there has been such a being... ... .

[‘The Inspector of the Secret Leakage’ is interested in the consistent character.]

[‘The Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ is looking forward to karmic retribution.]

“Ah.”

Thanks to the message from the gods, enlightenment penetrated my mind.

“Why are you doing that, Pope?”

“Morifis. This guy said that he only became a slime after being reincarnated a million times?”

“That’s right. Even if the progress is slow, it’s too slow.”

“Ha, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) as expected.”

I picked up Cals with an evil smile. The plump body of the slime, the size of an apple, fit perfectly in the palm of my hand.

Cals in my hand was docile. If it were a normal pet, I would treat it affectionately, but...

Tang! Taeang! Tang!

“Wh-what are you doing, Pope!”

“Ah, it bounces well.”

I threw Cals at the wall and caught it repeatedly.

“Eek! Stop it! Our Cals will die if you do that!”

“You’ll be reincarnated anyway.”

“Oh, right. I was getting tired of red anyway, so I’d like it if you reincarnated in pink!”

Morifis and I came to an agreement for some reason. At that moment, Tesilid’s eyes trembled.

“Hey, no matter what, it’s a bit much to harass a weak demon.”

“Who shot the weak demon with the death knell earlier?”

[‘The cynic who adjusts balance’ says they’ve met.]

[‘The scales that judge souls’ says it’s a good compliment.]

“......I’m reflecting.”

At this point, I decided to tell him the truth.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to reflect. There’s a high chance that this kid is the reincarnation of Carpeios.”

“......What?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a surprising sight unfolded.

The good aura from Tesilid evaporated in an instant, and the transcendent aura of a being who would definitely judge his opponent was emitted.

As that tremendous murderous intent was concentrated, Kals could no longer tremble and froze like an ice jelly. And then... ... .

Crack.

In reality, there was no sound, but somehow it seemed like it was heard.

Feeling suspicious, I actively kneaded the slime.

“Huh? This is strange?”

The texture of the slime changed. It felt like it had become slightly harder.

Morifis also seemed to sense something unusual.

“Kals? Kals? Answer me, Kals!”

“......It seems dead?”

What I felt with my palm seemed to be the rigor mortis of the slime.

“Oh no! It must be a heart attack!”

“Slimes don’t have hearts, but that’s roughly right. They must have died because they were alive.”

I looked around. Tesilid was dumbfounded by the excessively vain death, holding back his life.

“Really... dead...?”

I put the corpse down and crossed my arms.

“When will you reincarnate again?”

“If you kill them without putting them in a magic device like now, it takes anywhere from a second at the shortest to a day at the longest.”

“The range is too wide. Since we’ve seen enough anyway, there’s no need to wait.”

At that moment, Tesilid, who had finally gotten over his absurdity, asked.

“Why don’t you annihilate them?”

“Would you like me to annihilate them?”

“......Now that I think about it, annihilation seems like too merciful a treatment.”

“Yes. You’ll have to suffer through endless reincarnation.”

In addition, I somehow believed that Morifis would be able to handle Carpeios satisfactorily.

I celebrated his birthday and watched the slime. I felt like I had sufficiently achieved my original purpose of visiting the Magic Tower.

“Then we’ll go now.”

“Huh? Already? There are many rooms in the Magic Tower, so let’s stay and go.......”

“There’s a place we have to go before it’s too late. And I’m not going to catch a newlywed couple.”

“......Take care of your health for 60 years.”

I ignored Morifis’s words, which I couldn’t understand, and grabbed Tesilid’s hand.

“Shall we go, honey?”

He looked embarrassed for a moment, then quickly straightened his expression and whispered to me.

“Yes, honey.”

We went outside the lab.

The pitch-black Magic Tower had multiple barriers operating for security reasons. Such places were bound to affect the space transfer stone.

In order to avoid the accident of coordinate confusion and being moved to the wrong place, the transfer stone had to be used only outside the tower or in a designated place.

Tesilid and I walked toward the balcony at the end of the long hallway.

“It was annoying, but I think it was a good idea to come here. I’ll check out Lepeios’s recent activities and get some good information.”

“Good information?”

“Morifis said that. You and I have to work hard to maintain the dungeon.”

He and I have a mission to make a baby and protect the world.

“Ah... ... .”

Tesilid covered his mouth with one hand as if he were washing his face as a habit.

I suppressed my laughter as I watched him bashfully and asked him in a subtly subtle tone.

“You have to work hard when that time comes. Okay?”

“I’m working hard now... ... .”

“I was talking about childcare.”

“... ... I was talking about studying childcare.”