"Gracious Sisters… Goddess… I've never been a pious woman. I know I haven't been to church since I was a kid, but if you are listening, please… smite me! End my misery! Send down a lightning bolt right now!"
"How rude," Min replied, glaring at the alchemist. "I was only telling you my grandma's gelatin recipe. I thought it might give us some insight on how to free ourselves. Since, oh, you know, we are trapped inside a giant jelly!"
Min and the alchemist remained stuck inside the transparent green mass, only their heads poking above the lemon-scented surface. The sun had moved positions in the blue sky, but the blob had scantly shrunk a few inches.
"For the last time, it's a slime, not gelatin! Can you please close your mouth for just ten seconds?!"
"I wouldn't have to talk so much if you at least answered my questions! Like, who is that goddess you mentioned? Does she look like a pale woman with white eyes? If so, I might have met her…"
"I beg you, just let me suffer in silence. Every second that you speak feels like it stretches into an hour."
"I would, but if we are not talking, I have to look around, and well…"
People from all over town had come to see the giant jelly blocking the street, along with the two girls floating right in the middle of it.
The sun's rays pierced the mass in a mesmerizing way. They gave Min's slim physique and the alchemist's curvy body a colorful outline as if they were artworks inside the stained-glass window of a church.
Staring at the stunning alchemist was like seeing a portrait of the Goddess herself. She was naked with her ample chest uncovered and her arms open as if she was welcoming her followers into her bosom. Min was like her less-endowed but still quite lovely cherub. Her body was slimmer, but her breasts were still firm and perky.
Bakers exchanged gossip about the duo. Some milkmaids glared at them as if they were showing off on purpose. Peddlers pointed at their chests and played at trying to find the fruits closest to their bust size. So far, they were settling on apples for Min and grapefruits for the alchemist.
It was not the heroic first impression Min wanted to give the town, having been defeated by a single stationary slime. She could feel her cheeks burning with the sting of defeat and all the attention directed towards her lovely intimates.
If possible, she would prefer to distract herself from all that racket, so…
"…as I was saying, the secret to giving the jelly the right amount of sugar is…"
The alchemist head-butted the slime to scream, her elegant face contorting as the bitter substance entered her mouth.
"Hey, you two! Want to get out of that thing?" a woman yelled from the street. She had sharp blue eyes and wavy golden hair that reached up to her shoulders. Her skin was fair, and her ears were pointy. She looked like the spitting image of-
"Is that an elf?!" Min yelled.
"Erm, yes, I am an elf," the woman replied. "My name is Celeria, and I can help you, girls, for a small fee."
"Yes!" the alchemist yelled. "Please, I beg of you! Get me away from this freak!"
"Y-you mean the slime, right?" Min asked.
"Very well, brace yourselves…" Celeria grabbed the last arrow from her quiver. She aimed her bow and muttered a few words to herself. The arrowhead turned red, steam rising from the glowing metal.
"Oh, that is so cool!" Min's eyes almost twinkled. That was magic! Real-life magic! Not some cheap fifth-grade chemistry project like the gelatin she was currently floating on.
Celeria released her string. The arrow flew straight into the slime, which quickly dissolved it.
"Wow, great job, hero!" the exasperated alchemist was less than impressed. "I would hug you, but, you know, I STILL CAN'T MOVE MY ARMS."
"Give it a minute."
"Yeah, give her a minute!" Min added.
The blob turned from neon green to sickly yellow and finally crimson red. It evaporated almost instantly, leaving only a small pool of slime under the two naked girl's feet.
"Finally!"
"That was amazing!"
"Hah, no big deal." Celeria shrugged, opening the palm of her hand. "Now, about my payment… HEY! GET BACK HERE!"
The alchemist didn't wait. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she sprinted at full speed away from the street. Celeria could only watch as her soft ass bounced up and down while the woman disappeared over the other end of the road.
Min, however, stayed put. She was too busy being entranced by the elf. The first living proof that she was living in a real-ass fantasy world.
"Well, I guess that leaves you to foot for the bill-oww! Stop that!" Min pulled the tip of Celeria's ears to see if they were real.
"Wow, you really are an elf. That's so cool!"
"Thanks? Now can you please let go?"
"Sorry, I just never met an elf before! Your ears are quite pointy and big," Min helpfully informed Celeria with a goofy smile.
"Did you just call my ears fat?" Celeria shook her head. The conversation was going off-track. "It doesn't matter. I just helped you get free of the slime, so I believe you owe me payment."
Once more, Celeria extended the palm of her hand.
"Ah… I would love to pay you, I really would! But… I don't exactly have anything to pay with."
Min offered an apologetic grin as she bent her knees and folded her arms around her body. Half the street was still staring at her general direction. The peddlers were trying to take a peek to see if the apple was the right fruit to describe her chest.
"No problem, we can go back to your home and-"
"I mean it literally. I don't have a home, coin, or even underwear, as y-you can see."
"Hmrf…" Celeria pouted. "Maybe next time then. I'm not about to force a vagrant to go into debt."
Vagrant?! Min liked to think she was a heroine-in-training, thank you very much. As a matter of fact, she could probably help the elf with her adventures.
"W-wait, I have an idea. You are an adventurer, right? I am one too…" An adventurer without a single real quest under her belt, but Celeria didn't need to know that. "…Maybe I can pay by helping you? We can form a party!"
Min's brain patted itself on the back. She would love to go on an actual quest with an honest-to-goodness elf adventurer. If she framed it as payment, there was no way Celeria could reject her. Her legend could finally start for real!
"You do seem the adventuring sort. That explains quite a bit…" Celeria narrowed her eyes and rubbed her chin. "Lost your equipment to a corrosive slime, eh? Don't worry, it happens. But I already have a partner."
"Where is your partner?"
"She was supposed to meet me at the inn, but she is, hmm, a couple of days late now."
"I can fill in for her until she arrives! Pretty please?" Min's eyes sparkled, growing twice as big as she tried to mimic a kitten's face to the best of her abilities.
Her cute act seemed to be working. Celeria's expression softened up.
"…Fine, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have some backup."
"Yessss! Thank you!" Min hugged the somewhat annoyed Celeria, pressing her slim chest against the elf's curvier physique.
"You can let go now."
"I rather not…I kind of don't want to keep flashing my err, intimates, if possible. They are nicely tucked in and hidden now!"
"Not to point the obvious, but you are still showing off your ass to everyone from here to the main square."
"Yeah, but that's only like a third of what was exposed until a few seconds ago. It's like I'm only half naked!"
"That's not how the math…" Celeria sighed and stopped. She had to pick her battles. "You aren't going to let me go, are you?"
"Not until we reach somewhere more private. I can hug you from the back if that's more comfortable?"
Celeria growled, already regretting her decision. This naked girl was not shaping up to be a great partner. But well, when life gives you lemons…