My Slime Wife: Training and Pampering Her Makes Me Stronger
Chapter 4: A Husband and Wife Argument

Chapter 4: A Husband and Wife Argument

The television was still on.

The news continued covering the Ace of Swords Guild’s successful expedition, but neither of them was paying much attention.

Liam sat in one of the dining chairs.

Across from him, resting on the table, Lydia remained a small green gelatinous blob.

The System chat appeared once again.

[Lydia: I don’t like this silence.]

Liam sighed.

"I already told you. I was just thinking."

[Lydia: Whenever you say that, you always end up doing something stupid.]

"It’s not stupid."

She replied almost immediately.

[Lydia: It is.]

Liam folded his arms.

"Just hear me out first."

The little green blob remained still.

That was enough to tell him she was listening.

"If I really awakened this System..."

He glanced at the floating window.

"...then there’s a chance we can become Hunters."

[Lydia: Liam...]

"I’m not just talking about the Ace of Swords Guild."

He pointed at the television.

"There are plenty of guilds. Big guilds. Small guilds. Even independent Hunter parties."

He took a deep breath.

"Any Hunter who’s affiliated with a guild earns at least three times what we used to make before we lost our jobs."

His gaze slowly dropped to the termination letter.

"Three times... That would be enough to cover the rent. Our debts. The bank loan. Everything."

Lydia’s reply came almost instantly.

[Lydia: No.]

Liam had expected that answer.

[Lydia: I don’t like that idea.]

[Lydia: I want us to try something less dangerous.]

The little slime gave a small hop.

As if emphasizing her words.

[Lydia: I was happy cleaning houses.]

[Lydia: And selling desserts to the neighbours.]

[Lydia: We could go back to doing that.]

Liam stayed silent for a few moments.

Then he spoke as gently as he could.

"Lydia... I’m sorry to say this."

She didn’t reply.

"But we can’t anymore."

Silence filled the dining room once again.

"You..."

He struggled to find the right words.

"...you’re a gelatinous blob now."

He looked at the little slime.

"You can barely move. You can’t go clean someone’s house. You can’t deliver orders. You can’t stand in front of customers."

The next messages appeared almost instantly.

[Lydia: Thanks for reminding me!]

[Lydia: As if I didn’t already know!]

The slime’s surface began to quiver.

She was obviously upset.

[Lydia: Besides...]

[Lydia: You’re the one who awakened the power.]

[Lydia: But you don’t even know what you can do.]

[Lydia: You don’t even seem to have a useful ability!]

That left Liam speechless.

"..."

She was right.

So far, Lydia had done everything.

She was the one who had levelled up.

She was the one who had evolved.

She was the one who would supposedly be doing the fighting.

He...

He was just reading green windows.

As if responding to his thoughts, the System appeared again.

[Tamer Skills]

Liam’s eyes widened.

"Huh?"

A new list unfolded before him.

[Encouragement:

Motivate your beast before battle.

Temporarily increases its determination when facing enemies.]

[Call

Allows you to communicate with your beast regardless of distance.]

There were no other skills.

Just those two.

"..."

Liam suddenly felt like laughing.

"That’s it?"

No attack skills.

No magic.

Just...

Cheering up his slime.

And talking to her.

"What an amazing power..."

he muttered.

"I’m basically a pet trainer."

He looked at the skill list again.

’’I don’t have anything for combat. I’m completely dependent on Lydia.’’

That was simply reality.

If they walked into a Dungeon right now...

They’d probably die before making it thirty feet inside.

Then he remembered the strange message that had appeared earlier.

’’Achievement Unlocked.’’

’’Feed your Slime a Legendary Apple.’’

He still couldn’t understand why the System considered an ordinary apple pie to contain a Legendary Apple.

But the result was undeniable.

Lydia had gone from Level 1 to Level 10.

From a single bite.

’’What if...’’

’’What if levelling up really is that easy?’’

’’What if this System works completely differently from every other Hunter’s?’’

He looked at Lydia again.

She was still trembling slightly with irritation.

’’Right now... we couldn’t even survive an F-Rank Dungeon.’’

The weakest rank of them all.

And yet...

He couldn’t let go of the idea.

He took a deep breath.

Then stood up.

Slowly walked over to the little slime.

"Lydia."

No response.

Just another tiny, annoyed hop.

Liam smiled softly.

Then he reached out and gently stroked her gelatinous surface.

It was warm.

Soft.

Strangely pleasant to the touch.

"I’m sorry for getting carried away."

The blob stopped trembling.

"I know we’re going through something awful. Honestly..."

He let out a quiet laugh.

"...I still don’t understand how we ended up like this. This morning I’d only lost my job. Now my wife is a slime."

He shook his head.

"None of this makes any sense."

He continued gently stroking her.

"But... the one thing I’m absolutely certain about..."

He looked directly at the little green blob.

"...is that I’m not giving up."

"Trust me. I don’t want to force you into anything. I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do. But... I really believe we can grow stronger together. We can become Hunters... and find a way to give you your body back."

Just then, a small window appeared before him.

[You have used Encouragement.]

Liam blinked.

He hadn’t done anything.

At least, that’s what he thought.

Then he felt a gentle warmth spreading across the palm of his hand as he continued petting Lydia.

Her gelatinous body began to emit a faint glow.

The chat window opened again.

[Lydia: ...]

[Lydia: It feels warm.]

[Lydia: Your touch...]

Several seconds passed.

[Lydia: I think... I understand.]

The little slime made a tiny hop.

This time it didn’t seem angry.

It felt... determined.

[Lydia: You really mean it.]

[Lydia: You truly believe we can do this.]

Liam smiled.

"I do. I don’t care how long it takes. I don’t care how many times we fail. We’ll find a way. No matter what."

Several seconds passed without another message.

Liam waited quietly.

Finally...

The chat filled with words again.

[Lydia: Alright.]

He looked up.

[Lydia: I trust you.]

A wave of relief washed over him.

[Lydia: Let’s grow stronger together.]

[Lydia: And we’ll get through this the same way we always have.]

[Lydia: As husband and wife.]

Liam smiled brightly.

"Thank you. I won’t let you down."

At that exact moment, the System interrupted them again.

[Achievement Unlocked.]

[Tame your Slime.]

"..."

’’Tame her?’’

Liam grimaced.

’’That doesn’t sound very romantic.’’

The System, however, ignored his opinion entirely.

A brilliant green light enveloped Lydia once again.

[Lydia Davis has reached Lv. 15.]

The little slime began shining far more brightly than before.

Her status window changed once again.

[Lydia Davis — Mobile Slime Lv. 15]

And beneath it, a new line appeared.

[Next Evolution: Lv. 20.]

Liam read the sentence twice.

Only five levels to go.

He looked at Lydia with a mixture of surprise and excitement.

Maybe...

Just maybe...

The journey to reclaim their old lives had finally begun.