Body.

It was a long nap, but after shaking off the sluggishness of those first 10 minutes after waking up, Ishtar felt better again. She’d always known, but her focus on sex as sustenance made her underrate basic needs like sleep and regular food. And speaking of food, she was hungry.

Still controlling Cynthia’s body, she walked out of Will’s bedroom and found everyone else still in the living room. Actually, she spotted Aoi in there with them, which made her heart tighten. When she didn’t see Will, her heart sank back down despite thinking she was ready for it.

“I’m sorry,” Aoi said, looking down at the floor while sitting on the couch. “He wasn’t there. The apartment was empty. Traces of people but none we could follow.”

“...” Ishtar sighed softly. Nothing to blame Aoi for. She was just as disappointed, if not more than Ishtar. “Did you just come back?”

“Yes.”

“Where’s Johana?”

“Keeping watch. She volunteered to stay close to the apartment and see if the girl returned.”

Ishtar nodded.

“Hungry?” Amelia asked her, standing up from her spot next to Aoi.

“Yeah…” Ishtar said.

“I’ll heat up your lunch.”

“Thank you.”

There was a heavy silence in the room, interrupted only by the sound of Amelia turning on the stove and slowly stirring a pot. Eventually, Ruth had enough.

“So… What do we do now?” the blonde asked. “There has to be something, right?”

“I have birds looking around, but they haven’t found anything,” Belphegor said, sitting on an armchair with eyes closed. “Too many people in this damn world. It’s hard to even identify individuals in these crowds.”

“I need to get out there,” Ishtar said. “I should be able to sense at least some of my own essence in him. I don’t even need to see him. I have to go out and look for myself.”

“Doesn’t… Doesn’t this Helga girl want you, though?” Anna asked. “It’s dangerous if you go.”

“I fucking hope she’s looking for me, because I damn well want to find her.” Ishtar snarled. “I’m planning to do very unsexy things to her.”

“She’s right,” Aoi said. “She has the best shot at finding him, or at least the best chance of attracting Helga. If you want to go out, I won’t be far behind.”

Ishtar nodded. “Still… I can’t go out in Cynthia’s body. I don’t want to put her in danger, and besides…” she grimaced. “This body lacks oomph. She keeps herself well, but she’s no athlete.” Ishtar turned to Belphegor. “Hey, old man, any chance you’ve found an empty body already? Even if it’s temporary, I could use that.”

The old man groaned. “I did find one, but… In buying something interesting, I ended up bringing something totally useless right now.”

Belphegor stood up and went over to the large refrigerator box he brought with him.

“Wait, you’re saying there’s a BODY in there!?” Ruth asked, eyes wide open.

“Yes, but not quite.” To the girls, it was a little unsettling how easily Belphegor lifted the box and opened it from below, but Ishtar was very aware of the raw strength of the old man. He’d be able to throw cars around if he wanted.

He pulled the box up and tossed it aside, revealing a large cylindrical container the size of, well, a refrigerator. It was transparent, showing that it was full of a viscous, grayish liquid.

“This is a body. Or rather, it will be. When it’s ready and when the host wills it.”

“Ah?” No one understood, and this time not even Ishtar, Nanami or Aoi knew what he was talking about.

“This is… Aetheric Ooze, a substance made from Slimes.”

“Slimes as in… These weird, gooey things?” Reina asked.

“The very same. Slimes are living creatures that very slowly turn aether into a gooey substance around them that protects their fragile core. They are arguably the most aether-dense creatures in the world, and this Aetheric Ooze is what you get when you take that goo and refine it. The issue is that, when I say that slimes create this goo very slowly, I mean that it can take one year for a single slime to produce around one liter of it.”

Okay, Ishtar knew slimes, but she didn’t know it took that long for them to grow. Then again, she had never seen one that was much bigger than a watermelon.

“Slimes are usually a pain in the ass,” Belphegor continued. “Harmless for years until they become too big. Imagine slugs. Just a mild, disgusting thing in your backyard… until it’s 300 kilograms. Good thing that their goo is a prime component for alchemical research, so they get hunted before they can grow too big. At least, they used to.”

“Let me guess,” Amelia said from the kitchen. “Overhunting?”

“Yes. Slimes used to be everywhere, but they got hunted so much they became extremely rare. And then the war drained the world of most of its aether and even the few that remained could barely grow.”

“When you say the world…?” Anna asked.

“Ah. My world, of course.”

“And… how did you get your hands on so much… Aetheric Ooze?” Reina asked, the words feeling foreign to her.

Belphegor smiled. “Back at the underground party we went to not long ago, I chanced upon a Slime Breeder! He actually found a way to grow slimes in this world and is selling the refined end product. Well, WAS selling it. I had to buy all his stock.”

“...With what money?” Aoi asked him.

“Cynthia’s,” Belphegor answered easily.

Ishtar sighed. As powerful, knowledgeable and even wise as the old man was, it was also easy to forget the was, practically by definition, a lazy bum who was fully dependent on Cynthia’s charity. Still, that kept him in their pocket, so it was a decent investment.

“And… How does all this goo turn into a body for Ishtar?” Ruth asked.

“On its own? It doesn’t. That’s what I meant by useless. See, I bought it assuming that the lass would want to remain with William.”

“Not wrong there,” Ishtar said.

“A physical body would’ve had plenty of inconveniences, such as where to keep it when not in use. Aetheric Ooze, on the other hand, is pure aether that can take physical form. With the right spells, the right alterations, and with the key ingredient being the specialized aether of a mirrorkin, William would’ve been able to absorb all this and then summon a temporary, shapeshifting physical body that would just return inside him when not needed.”

Ishtar walked over to the container and put her hand on the reinforced glass, clicking her tongue in frustration. “Well, that sounds a lot of fucking fun. Now if only that idiot was here…!”

“Ishtar,” Reina spoke up, raising her voice just a little too much and making Ishtar turn her attention to her. “You’re right. You need to go out there and look for Will yourself, but if Cynthia’s body won’t do and that ooze is useless right now… then how about me? Would my body be of use?”

Well, shit. The look on Reina’s face was that of someone who understood what she was asking. And she wasn’t asking it lightly.