"Oh. Welcome home, everyone! How was the town of Thrushlaan?
"Pussy."
When I got back to the hotel, Cindy and Pugnobaron greeted me in the lobby as soon as possible.
Iris is surprised and hides behind Marion's back because he didn't think he'd meet him all of a sudden.
"Iris, come on, get used to Cindy."
"No, I'm used to it!? I was just surprised because it was sudden! Beth, I'm not scared of anything!
"Scared? What are you talking about?
He didn't think he was scared, and Cindy looks strange.
"Oh, no, talk about this one. I need to ask you something more than that. We went to the Puniqueen dining room."
The moment Iris uttered the name of "Puniqueen's Dining Room," Cindy's expression became rude.
Is there any cause?
"Is that so…… So have you also met the champion and the punniqueen?
"Didn't we meet? You were strong."
"And the rice was delicious - Chocolate parfait for dessert, I'd like another bite."
Eclipse seems to have faded the impression of the overwhelming strength of Puniqueen because of the chocolate parfait.
But not the Iris.
If Punigami competes in a slime sumo, he could end up fighting that Puniqueen.
No, if you want to win, inevitably you will.
Iris is also concerned about the champion's strangely chilled attitude.
I didn't like the slime, and it didn't feel like it.
I wish I was happy because I grew my slime splendidly and became so called a champion.
That much cheer and that much cold must mean there must be some reason.
"…… this is a good opportunity. The Slime Festival begins tomorrow. Before I do, I'll tell you about the champion."
Cindy always had the impression that she was a bloodthirsty girl.
But now he's in a calm tone, and he sounds serious.
Apparently, the story about touring the champion is going to be heavier than Iris thought.
Iris and the others sit on the sofa in the lobby and listen to Cindy.
"... Actually, I invited Mr. Iris and Mr. Punigami to the slime festival to have the Punigami defeated."
"Oh yeah!?"
To the sudden truth, Iris is amazed.
"Yes, I was continuing my journey looking for a slime that could beat Puniqueen. And when I heard there was a nice slime of colour in the Baron Silverlight territory, I headed there. Mr. Punigami was stronger than I ever imagined."
"Heh...... but why do you want to defeat Puniqueen so badly? In the first place, you and Pugnobaron are the Four Heavenly Kings, right? You can take it down yourself."
"... if I can do that, I'm doing it all the time. But... the power of champions and punniqueens is unique among the Four Heavens. No one can fathom it. Perhaps Puniqueen's strength is the strongest in Slime history."
"Well, not so... Yeah, it was amazing..."
"Puni no..."
Punigami speaks pitifully.
But I can't help it.
Punigami, in the battle against Punyobaron, was able to manipulate the rainbow magic power, providing a tremendous boost of power.
But even compared to that powered punigami, the puniqueen is strong.
Cindy regarded it as' the strongest in slime history '.
It must never be an exaggeration.
Of course, I can't know the strength of all the slimes from past to present.
Nevertheless, I had no idea there was a slime beyond that punniqueen.
"Actually, me and Emily... oh, Emily is the name of the champion. Me and that Emily are childhood friends. I'm the one who invited Emily on the path to Slime Sumo."
"Then what? So how come you've been traveling the world looking for a slime that can defeat Puniqueen? If the person you invited is stronger than you and you regret it, it doesn't make sense if you take them down yourself, does it?
"That's not why I regret it! No, of course I regret it... the only reason I want to defeat Emily and Puniqueen... is for more reason!
And Cindy starts talking about what happened with Emily.
"Me and Emily were classmates in elementary school. It still is, but Emily was a versatile kid, with all-purpose school studies and sports. He didn't like it the other way around doing anything well. Emily was an impatient girl for everything...... that's why I recommended a slime sumo!
Cindy screamed hot and gripped her fist.
"Slime Sumo is the deepest competition in this world! Build trust with Slime and grow incidentally with each other...... use tactics to push opponents out of the mound if it is a different match! And whether you win or lose, honor your opponents! Beautiful sportsmanship! What do you think!? Isn't a slime sumo great!
"Well..."
Iris responded appropriately to Cindy speaking with her eyes running blood.
"I thought if it was such a deep slime sumo, Emily, a hunk of talent, would struggle too! In fact, Emily couldn't do it at first either. It took me a while to get along with Puniqueen, and the game was a borough loss. He was the first Slime Festival to compete and lost his first fight. Emily was crying remorsefully about whether she had been hurt in her pride. And then Puniqueen and the bloody special training began! Oh, Spooney! Fantastic!"
"Shh, that's great... So what happened?
"Amazing, the next year's Slime Festival...... Emily and Puniqueen won the Slime Sumo! It's only been a year and months since I started growing slime...... all I can say is genius!
"Emily must have been delighted."
"That's already! I was also delighted with the work of my friends! But......... Emily won the following year as well. That's also finishing all the games in seconds. I didn't struggle at all and the tournament is over. There was no sense of accomplishment in Emily's face standing on the podium... it was that apathetic look before she started slime sumo..."
What a hard and vain story that is.
I'm sure Emily is hard-working more than anyone and hates losing more than anyone else.
Besides, it's full of talent.
So it quickly becomes stronger, and what needs to be challenged disappears.
Iris doesn't want to get out of bed as much as possible.
I hate the words hard work and guts.
But still. I can only imagine a little bit of the sense of vanity that Emily has tasted.
"So I worked hard with Pugnobaron and became strong enough to be called the Four Heavens King...... I tried last year's Slime Festival. We made it to the semifinals of the slime sumo...... and we lost. Regrettably, with me and the punyo baron, you can't beat the punyqueen. But maybe Mr. Punigami!
Can you win?
Puniqueen's movements, seen earlier in the dining room, were clearly faster than Punigami's.
Even Punigami got stronger with rainbow magic, but that doesn't mean she can win alone.
I can say that my share is rather bad.
Besides, Iris and Punigami have no reason to fight Emily.
I just came because I was invited to the Slime Festival.
That was also because Punigami seemed happy to 'meet the fellow slimes', so I wasn't very interested in slime sumos from the start.
I know how Cindy feels about wanting to defeat Emily, but I can't risk Punigami for that.
That's what Iris thought...
"Pfft! Pfft!
"Punigami...... you are seriously going to defeat Punigami Queen!?"
"Puppy!
Punigami seems to have been moved by Cindy's story.
How Cindy feels to think of a friend.
Emily's loneliness that has extremed the apex.
And most importantly, Punigami can't wait to be happy with "what he's been chosen to do".
"The boulder is the slime I expected! Mr. Punigami is a bloodthirsty slime!
"Puffy!"
Punigami puffs and shivers her body, expressing her motivation.
"Okay...... if Punigami is going to do that, I'll be there for you too. Defeat Puniqueen and win a slime sumo!
"Puppy!
"Punigami is cool -"
"It's great. Give Emily and Puniqueen their defeat!
"If Master Punigami wins, will the Baron Silverlight Territory become famous as the land where the strongest slime lives!? I could make a fortune as a tourist destination!
"I didn't know Punigami was so bloodthirsty... it's the height of a dragon! Great!"
"Ugh. Punigami needs to suck a lot of Iris' sleeping sweat for more power."
"Puppy!"
"I see. Then let's go to bed already today! This is a Punigami power-up operation, and it's never because I want to dive into bed!
Iris speaks powerfully.
Then a strange silence flowed.