Rosalina tilts her head to the side and pats the egg softly. She chuckles, as she looks at me with a slight glint of intrigue in her eyes...I can't say for sure why she's looking at me that way, but I'm curious as to why.
"Why are you so obsessed with this concept of family?" Her tone is rather dark, explicitly showing that she expected a sure answer instead of something vague. I scratch the back of my head and laugh awkwardly...all while she stays still, making the cold expression on her face a sign of her anticipation.
"I grew up in a loving family," I answer softly, averting my gaze from her. Perhaps she could see my trembling hands since I was holding the egg tightly now. It's exactly that I don't want to let go of it.
She arches her brow, her eyes darting between the ground and back to my face. "Hmm...the concept of a family no longer exists in this world," She says with a sense of clarity, her words hanging in the air...however before I could even ask what her vague words mean, she immediately asks me another question. "Is that why you seek to marry only one woman?"
I flinch for a moment, as she guesses my intention spot-on. "...yes. I want to be like my father," I say with a forced smile...a subtle one. The one I always use to hide my displeasure.
Of course, I do want to be like my father...before he cheated on my mother, at least.
Her eyes widen a little, looking at me with surprise. It seems like she's seen right through me...but, given that our relationship was made for our mutual benefit, she questions nothing of it. "...I see," She smiles slightly, refusing to ask or say anything about what I'm dealing with.
...silence enters between us after that interaction, and knowing how awkward it is, I decided to ask her questions.
"Umm...Rosalina...do you know where my bag is?" I ask, doing so while looking around the courtyard for any sight of it.
She nods, and points to the room where I was staying...come to think of it, I think it's the only room in this pagoda...perhaps, it's her room?
So I was staying in her room?!
I panic slightly, but I quickly recover...it's alright, I didn't do anything much there except for rest. I didn't disrespect her space and use her things...so I should be fine.
"Oh...okay," I smile, and then ask another question. "Do you know how to incubate this egg?" I look below and warmly rub the top of the egg...still unsure of what to do to take care of it.
All except, imitating the same loving gesture that my mother would do when I was still a young kid.
A rosy flush appears on her cheeks, catching me off guard.
What's up with that reaction?...
She covers her mouth with her hand and fakes a cough, looking at me with utmost confidence. "That is...a method that has been lost in the wreckage of time...no one knows of how to incubate beasts,"
A part of my heart shatters one knows? So then, how will this slime grow?
"Your egg contains a type of slime that has long been extinct...or so the world thought, until this very day," She sighs, but I sense...an intentional withdrawal of information from her. "The egg you're holding is the last Cultivator Slime that exists in this world,"
My jaw drops to the floor as I look at the egg with shaky hands. "As for what this type of slime does...it's good for cultivating crops. The strongest of these slimes can cultivate crops for harvest in a second...and the weakest can cultivate them for 10 minutes," She says, making me even more curious.
"However, it's useless in battle, and has a weak vitality," She continues, giving me more information about the slime that my egg has yet to hatch.
Sure, farming may not be useful on the battlefield...
But imagine! You're out in the world to survive, and you need food? Yeah! This will be very helpful!
"What an amazing slime..." I say with excitement, my eyes sparkling with happiness. "Do you suggest I travel with the egg, or do you suggest I leave it here?"
She ponders, looking at the egg with squinted eyes.
"Take it with you...if it's any other monster, the more experience it has in seeing battle, the faster it would grow," She says, making me laugh inwardly.
Despite being such a beauty, she has no maternal side to her...I wonder if it's because she's an NPC whose only goal is to fight against monsters that she had to adapt to life on the battlefield.
"Hmm...I suppose I can keep it with me," I nod...but I'm keeping it away from danger. Who knows? Maybe some part of her words would realize itself into reality.
Before I end my conversation with her, I then ask her about the last and most important thing for my plans...
"Hey Rosalina...do you have any nice clothes?" I ask, and she looks at me with...
...empty eyes? Like she doesn't know anything about it.
"Ah...I never considered that to be one of your needs..." Her face scrunches into annoyance directed not to me, but to herself.
"I'll be back and ask one of my subordinates to make it for you," I try to stop her, but she's running to the speed of light that I can't even speak a simple word.
Wait! No! It wasn't really necessary...I can just wear the same clothes she has!
...oh wait. But then I'd be borrowing her clothes.
She probably wouldn't like that.
So then, I stay standing for a moment...only to see her run back to me in just a minute.
"You're done?!" I exclaim in surprise, almost falling and dropping the egg...but luckily, I was able to keep my balance.
"A task like this is nothing at all, as making any equipment only requires magical items. This one in particular repairs by itself when it's damaged." She acknowledges, giving me a piece of clothes...similar to the type that she's wearing. It's a beautiful hanfu that's colored brown, gold, and white, with its design purposively masculine.
But still...even if it's amazing...
...what the hell?! The forums said that equipment was hard to obtain! Not to mention clothing-type equipment that is useful for both battling and lifestyle!
The information I got from the forums is all I lie! Damnit! The next time, I'm traveling this world carefree without any information!