"Brother, hurry up!"

"We're going to leave you if you're slow!"

"Alright, just calm down. I'm coming," Sid said as he let his two sisters pull both of his hands. They were going to head to Aspiration Plains to pick the herbs Grandma Annie needed to make potions.

It had been several days since Sid returned to Leaf Village, wanting to stay with his sisters for a little while before he embarked on a journey to strengthen himself.

His Master, Lux, had told him that he would be gone for several months in order to fool Twilight Rain into thinking that he was really out of the picture, and allow Scarlet to gain the full support of the Dark Guild in order to become one of their Slayer Candidates, and eventually a Ranker.

Sid thought that his plan was excellent. If Lux were to be seen by the Dark Guild in Elysium while Scarlet was in the middle of acquiring her resources, things might get a bit complicated. In order to prevent this from happening, the Half-Elf even planned to go to the territories where Wildgarde Stronghold was in Elysium first to get a better understanding of what it was like to stay in those territories.

Of course, he would only go there after the Tournament of Barbatos Academy, because Iris' happiness was at stake.

'Master, I think you have started an unusual trend here in Leaf Village,' Sid thought as he gazed at the two baby slimes that were perched on top of his sisters' heads.

Ever since Lux had been recognized as the Eternal Guardian and Hero of Leaf Village, most of the Dwarves and foreigners who arrived there from Solais had decided to raise Slimes as their Beast Companions.

His sisters were no exception and, for the most part, he could only allow them to follow this unique tradition.

"Ei!" The slime on Laura's head, whom she had given the name, Cora, suddenly made a sound, alerting its Master that it was sensing the herb that they were looking for.

"You already found a herb? You are amazing, Cora!" Laura said in a happy tone. "Where is it?"

The baby slime jumped off Laura's head and immediately crawled in the direction where she sensed the herb that they were looking for.

Sid's little sister ran off to follow the baby slime in a good mood. Not wanting to lose to her twin, Livia ran behind her, leaving Sid to watch the two of them go, a smile forming on his face.

The handsome Dhampir had noticed that both of his sisters had become more lively after they arrived in Leaf Village. In fact, not only were they full of life, they were even healthier than before.

Unlike the Orphanage where the little girls had very little to eat, Grandma Annie made sure that Laura and Livia were eating enough and properly. Also, she would give them plenty of snacks whenever the two helped her with the chores and looked after the shop whenever she was busy concocting pills and potions for the villagers.

The appearance of the two girls brought color to Grandma Annie's lonely life, so the Old Lady had poured her love out on the twins, spoiling them completely.

"Ah! That horned rabbit stole our herb!" Laura exclaimed when a Horned Rabbit suddenly appeared, detached the herb from its roots, and ran off with it before she could pick it. "Cora! Punish it!"

"Nora, don't let it get away!" Livia also ordered her baby Slime to help her twin catch the Horned Rabbit.

"Your baby Slimes won't be able to catch that Horned Rabbi." Sid wasn't able to finish his words because he saw the two baby Slimes fired a stone and water bullet at the same time, hitting the Horned Rabbit, and making it collapse on the ground twitching.

"Bad Rabbit!" Laura took the herb that the Horned Rabbit had dropped and put it inside her basket.

"You shouldn't do that, you know?" Livia admonished the Horned Rabbit who was still in a daze after getting hit by the two magical attacks. "Stealing is bad."

When the Horned Rabbit recovered its senses, it gave the two girls a glare before running away. Clearly, it didn't intend to listen to their words, and returned to its usual routine in the Aspiration Plains.

"Cora, good job!"

"Nora, that was great!"

""Ei!""

The two baby Slimes lightly jumped off the ground after hearing their Master's praise. The twins happily picked up their Beast Companions and kissed their cheeks, making the baby Slimes' jelly-like bodies jiggle in happiness.

Sid, who was standing not far away from the two, could only scratch his head in disbelief.

"I guess the Slimes here in Leaf Village are built differently," Sid muttered. He had no choice but to admit that the Slimes that were being raised in Leaf Village were not like the common Slimes he had seen in the past.

The Dhampir then remembered the baby Slime that was always perched on his Master's head and pondered if Eiko had something to do with why the Slimes in Leaf Village were different from the rest of the Slimes in the Kingdom of Gweliven.

'It might just be coincidence,' Sid thought. 'Yeah. This is just a coincidence. How can ordinary Slimes be that powerful?'

This was the same question that would plague the adventurers in the other villages, towns, and cities of the Kingdom of Gweliven, when the young Dwarves from Leaf Village went to other places after becoming Apostles.

--

Meanwhile somewhere in the Kingdom of Gweliven

"You did well, Scarlet," the Elder, who was also the red-headed Dwarf's grandfather, said with a smile. "With this, you are now officially a Slayer Candidate. You've made me and our clan very proud."

"I'm glad to have become of great service to you, Grandfather, and to our guild," Scarlet replied with a respectful bow.

"The Guild Master had tasked me to bring you to the Slayer Training Camp tomorrow," the Elder stated. "You will also gain resources there. I hope that, after a year, you will be able to show me great improvements in your strength. There are very few Rankers in our family, so having a future Ranker like you gives us hope. Continue to excel, and climb the ranks of Twilight Rain."

"Everything will be done according to your will, Grandfather," Scarlet vowed.

A few minutes later, Scarlet returned to her room to rest. After making sure that the door was locked, the red-haired Dwarf laid down on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

"Climb the ranks of Twilight Rain," Scarlet muttered. "Just as that Half-Elf expected, things are proceeding smoothly on my end."

Scarlet sighed in her heart as she thought of her Master, who had promised that he would make himself scarce for half a year to allow her to train and accumulate the resources promised to her that would allow her to become a Ranker in a short period of time.

There was no doubt that she hated Lux, but it was also a fact that she couldn't disobey him. Her life was in the Half-Elf's hands, and if the latter thought that she was no longer useful, he could make her disappear with just a thought.

Although Scarlet thought that it was humiliating, she had no choice but to accept her current circumstances and follow Lux's orders to the best of her abilities.

"At least he kept his promise to make me a Slayer Candidate," Scarlet muttered as she closed her eyes. "I just hope he won't order me around like a slave and ask me to perform unreasonable requests."

Scarlet had just turned nineteen years old, and her future as an assassin was very bright. She was hailed as the greatest prodigy that their clan had produced, and she took great pride in this fact. If not for the fact that Lux had turned the tables on her, claiming her life, she might have been able to live her life the way she wanted to.

However, that was no longer possible. She lived and died for Lux now. This was the sad reality she found herself in.

'Maybe I can negotiate with him to buy my freedom back,' Scarlet thought as she laid on her side, looking at the dagger that she had embedded in the table in her room. 'I guess I'll have to wait until he returns in order to talk to him about this matter.'

For Scarlet, her freedom was just as important as her life. When Lux died then, she felt her body slowly disperse into particles of light, making her feel anxious.

It made her realize that she could no longer live the way she wanted to, because if anything untoward happened to Lux, she would disappear into nothingness, and everything she had worked had for would disappear without a trace.

This was a very scary thought for her, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Lux Von Kaizer," Scarlet said softly. "I hate you."

Yes. She hated her new Master, but also feared and admired him at the same time. That night, Scarlet slept and dreamed of the day she regained her freedom.

In that dream, she saw herself standing on the peak of a mountain and staring down on all of creation.

She felt so alive, so fulfilled, and so happy, that for a brief moment, she felt that becoming Lux's subordinate wasn't as bad as she originally thought it to be.