Imaginary

With control back in my hands, I explored the third basement floor.

Hopefully Annette-chan's little sister would be here. By now I'd gotten used to this, so searching came easy.

… Oh. Found a cell with several beastkin children locked up!

They had collars on and wore tattered clothes that just screamed "we're slaves!" Bingo.

The unsanitary cell had a box of food scraps giving off a stench. Was this supposed to be their food trough or something…? That'd wreck anyone's stomach. Maybe beastmen are tough enough to handle it?

Ahh, but one kid was clutching their stomach in pain. Guess not.

Let's see if there's a cat beastkin child resembling Annette-chan…

Hmm, none here. That one's a dog boy, over there's a rabbit girl. Bird girl.

Oh, that one! … Hmm, well it's a cat, but unfortunately he's a boy.

"… No cat girls, huh."

When I muttered that, a sharp glare turned my way. Oh, a cat-eared boy.

"Hey, you."

He even called out to me.

"Huh, you're talking to a Slime?"

"Yeah. You're a Slime but you can talk… What are you? … I know a cat girl. I'll tell you about her if you get me out of here."

"Getting you out is fine. But tell me first."

"No way. Get me out first."

What a cheeky brat.

"I need to save Annette-chan's little sister. Letting out some noisy kid like you is low priority."

"Annette! You know Annette!? Is she okay!?"

Clang! The cat boy grabbed the iron bars and stared at me.

Hey, hey, don't make loud noises like that. You're startling the other kids.

"Honestly… I'm not sure if she's okay. But she is alive, and she asked me to help her sister escape too."

"I see, sister… Wait, sister? She had a sister?"

"Huh? She said they were twins? That they got bought together and brought here."

"No way… Ah, come to think of it, she did sometimes mutter to herself while facing the wall…"

Ohh. So that's how it is.

An imaginary friend? So the sister never existed in the first place—that's what he's saying.

… Or maybe memory confusion? Hallucinations from that red horn, or false memories, something like that.

"Okay, I get the situation a bit now. So, what are you to Annette-chan? What's your name?"

"What am I? Just a fellow cat beastkin, I guess? Name's Zord."

Is that all? Well, if that's all, that's fine.

At his age, it's doubtful he'd even be aware of any romantic feelings. Right, Zord-kun?

"Anyway, if you're saying Annette-chan doesn't have a sister, then I have no use for you right now. Well then, I'm off."

"Hey! Let us out! I told you what you wanted to know!"

"… Right now, Annette-chan has a red horn growing from her head. If we don't do something about it, she'll probably die."

"D-die? Annette will?"

Seeing him shaken, I added—

"So I'm looking for information on how to remove it."

Zord-kun went quiet at that.

"Sorry, but my priorities are first-come and favorites. I'll come open this when I'm ready to help Annette-chan escape, so sit tight until then."

"… Got it."

Also, keep me a secret, okay? It'll be hard to move around if I'm found out before we escape.

… Now then, let me search a bit more to see if the little sister really doesn't exist.

"Spirit-sama? Sister, doesn't exist?"

"There's a chance Zord-kun is just saying whatever. Between Annette-chan and Zord-kun, who do you trust?"

"Annette."

"Exactly. Still, even if what Zord-kun says is true, it doesn't contradict anything. And whether Annette-chan can recall accurate memories in her current state is questionable. Taking all that into account, I'd say it's about fifty-fifty."

"Ooh… Spirit-sama, so smart. As expected."

If it's an imaginary friend, that would make sense too. Annette-chan, subjected to intense stress as a slave, created a fictional sister. It's entirely possible.

So I should keep both possibilities in mind while investigating.

As for which reality would be better… I honestly can't tell. This is tricky.

But in the end, after thoroughly searching the third basement floor, I didn't find anyone matching that description.

At this point, maybe what Zord-kun said was right after all.

What about the floor below, the fourth basement floor…? I headed down the stairs.

I confirmed it was a monster den and garbage dump, then turned back.

The monster den continued beyond the iron bars, stretching even deeper, but as a total small-fry Slime, going there would be difficult.

Besides, from this point on it looked like a natural cave. There were lights, but no safe spots like hiding behind walls.

Maybe this is a dungeon. Building a research facility on top of a dungeon where materials are easy to gather—that'd make a lot of sense. The basement floor layout that makes you walk unnecessarily far between stairs would work as a safety measure against dungeon threats. Same with the high walls surrounding the facility.

And on this fourth basement floor, there was only one worker wearing what looked like a hazmat suit covering their whole body.

This person was probably counted as a servant.

No need to search any further here… Yeah. While I was at it, I used Predation on some garbage to bulk up my volume.

Now then, should I report to Annette-chan that I couldn't find her sister or not…?

… If she's at a different facility, there might still be hope. But is there actually any hope in that?

I'm starting to feel like there isn't.