Walk with her.

After lingering in the hot bath for perhaps too long, the two of you emerge with legs like jelly (perhaps even Jelly) and begin to redress. Well, you try. Alice had already come in wearing nothing but a towel. Apparently she undressed right outside the door, however. An interesting plan. That's a bold move to make. And for you, Yin had taken your clothing away to clean and dry. For the time being, Alice creaks the door open and peeks into the adjacent room before retrieving her things--a puffy white top with short frills around the collar and the short sleeves, which comes down to her thighs much like a dress. She doesn't wear pants beneath, but she does have dark green leather boots laced all the way up past her knees. Around her torso is also a matching leather vest.

You, however, have to wait.

She looks over to you as you stand nearby still in the nude, though you slip on your ring and lift your scabbard. The rest of your items can wait until you're fully dressed, such as your Arcane Eye, and your Boots of Herbes. You notice that she's smiling wide back at you.

"You look good like this," she comments coyly.

Grasping your sword, you strike a pose--body still glistening as a cloud of steam rises from the hot water dripping down your body. "Yeah? Maybe I should start doing quests like this then."

She giggles.

A moment later, there's another knock on the door. A voice comes though. "May I come in, Master? Your clothing is now dry and warm."

"Perfect. Come on in, Yin. It'll feel good to slip into something comfy," you reply.

After the devil girl walks inside with folded clothing in her arms, she looks to you with deep crimson in her cheeks. Quickly, she turns her head away, and you swear that even in this humid room of wafting steam, she's burning even hotter. "H-Here you go, Master! Oh and greetings, Alice."

Alice curtsies politely.

Meanwhile, you take the clothing offered. It's your comfortable stay-at-home garb with your suit of armour presumably safely stowed away. You slip on the blue raiments. As she said, they're warm on your skin, aided further by the touch of a devil, but they're also very soft as well. After everything, it feels amazing to be snuggled first by a cute girl, only to then by snuggled further by fabric. Next you slip on your boots, tie up your sword, slip the eye into your pocket, and otherwise finish getting ready to finally leave the bath before your legs give out and you begin to melt into a puddle.

"Do you wanna walk with us, Yin?" you ask.

"Yes! I would love to, Master," she answers quickly.

Your little detour to the deep sea is complete, and now you can spend the rest of the day resting. Tomorrow will be the start of a new adventure. Now that you have the Shard of Draconax, you can piss off Malakae's father all you want.

Yin, Alice, and yourself proceed out from the Royal Bath, through the Throne Room, and finally outside, where the sun is slowly on its way towards the horizon. People are winding down their activities so that they may prepare for dinner, and eventually sleep. Nyllia is sparring with both Bill and Phil, as well as the towering oni Zazra. Queen Catherine II is mingling with them at the same time, and near her are Bek and Tom--the former quite thrilled by the show of combat, the latter quite flustered by the show of beauty. Peony is tending to the flowers and trees. The bee sisters Summer and Taiga are speaking to one another not far from the castle doors. All three harpies lay out in the grass, bathing in the final moments of sunlight. Mipa the goblin is sparring with Sen-nu's twin bodies while being overseen by Stax, and Shivra watches as well from behind. Lynx is back inside, looking over maps and notes along with Snow. Linzeri isn't looming in the shadows alone for once, but is instead speaking with Delphi and Vivi in the distance. Laira is working on something in her shop pertaining to the Shard. You see Luna and Jelly speaking to one another, perhaps in regards to the slime girl actually wearing clothes. Dajy is with her harem within her home. Dix, Koblix, and Fang are sipping drinks together beside a shipment of supplies that just came in. Amara and Eva are heard chanting, "Go go go," as they watch Niki lift a massive boulder over her head.

You continue your stroll with the two girls, meeting with various residents and generally enjoying the display of joy and comfort among everyone within Castle Phoenix. It's contagious. After awhile, just as your stomach begins to rumble as a sign to tell you to eat, you run into both Fava and Mela.

With a complexion almost just like Alice, albeit a bit paler, the elven-golem-banshee has short blue hair which is braided neatly, and her body is covered by a navy dress which flows delicately in the evening breeze. She readjusts a pair of spectacles on the bridge of her nose. It's still quite shocking just how much she looks like the portrait you first saw back in that haunted house. It may not be her original body, but this is more than Mela could have ever dreamed. Beside her is Fava, who of course also has a similar body--a wood-like pattern to her skin, deep blue hair, baggy trousers. She doesn't carry the toy in her arms anymore, however.

Those two are a little different than Alice of course. Fava's body is simply something to pilot by a tiny pixie driver inside, and Mela's body is something for a spirit to puppet. Alice's body is fully her own--an artificial lifeform, made by your nemesis. Still, they all appear just as lifelike. The magic of this world is truly impressive, as is the craftsmanship of those who reside here, as much as you hate to even indirectly compliment Elok Daven.

"Greetings, Meladarai and Fava," Yin says with a polite curtsy of her maid dress.

"Hiya!" Fava waves.

"It is good to see you all," Mela responds.

"Oh hey. Now that I happen to have you here, Mela. Can I ask you something?" You look to the elf. From her reaction, she still seems to be getting used to the informal way everyone here speaks, especially given the use of her first name so boldly. Though your Kitty Sense tells you she doesn't at all dislike it. She actually enjoys it. And considering that if you never found and brought her here, she'd never have been given a body, she for certain feels closer to you than perhaps anyone before. A warmth burns within her, despite the coldness of undeath. "It's about Jelly," you add.

"Ah! I think I can deduce what you are about to ask, but yes," Mela responds with a smile.

"I ran into her not long ago, and she was definitely different."

"Indeed. She is quite interesting. See, slime girls are created when regular slimes devour enough magic to where they physically and mentally evolve. They become sentient. Whether or not this grants them souls is something unknown even to me, but the world works in mysterious ways. I believe that she must, with the spirit she exhibits. When she first came here, she was quite simple-minded. Education has been... challenging. She does not enjoy paying close attention for long. Either way, I think she may have slowly absorbed additional mana." She judges up her glasses with a finger. "Plenty of slime girls are as fully intelligent as any other, so I suppose it was only a matter of time. Though now our classes struggle for a different reason. She is quite rambunctious, and her curiosity about the world has gone from blank staring to assertive boldness. Apologies if she caused you any issues. I am doing by best to teach her what is right, though everybody else here also has their own ideas of what that means."

"So she has evolved. That makes sense." You glance past them. "Oh . Speak of the devil."

Yin points at herself. "Me?"

"No it's--"

Once again, Jelly makes her appearance. She's still wearing a white t-shirt tucked into a pair of black shorts. Down past slender legs are actual shoes now--red sneakers, white socks beneath. She looks to you with a beaming smile, and now that she has more life in her eyes than back when you first met, she's even cuter. Her eyes practically sparkle as the translucent purple girl bounces up and down on her heels. Her hair, which is technically nothing more than globs of slime, reaches down barely to her shoulders, yet despite the hair not being real, she has a tiny red flower thread through just above her left ear. Overall she's an adorable, jiggly, bubbly girl, who you'd call sweet and innocent if it wasn't for what happened back in the bath.

"That is an adorable flower, Jelly!" Mela exclaims.

"Yeah. You look great," you say. "I hope you've been enjoying having clothing, and it isn't too restrictive for you. I know you don't have to, just like Peony. But honestly it looks really great on you."

"Oh. Thank you." Jelly crosses her fingers behind her back and glances away with a hint of bashfulness. "I have been enjoying it, yes!"

"Tomorrow is gonna be another quest. An important one. Eva, Niki, Amara, and I might be springing a dragon girl out of her own home. I'm counting on everyone here to take care of everything again. Hey, Fava. Do you think you could help out Laira too? If something goes wrong with this barrier and we have a massive powerful dragon coming this direction, that'll be bad."

Fava salutes. "You don't gotta worry about that. There's no way it won't be working. I already took a look at it before coming this way, and yeah. Laira and I will have a proper contraption set up long before you even get to this girl. You can count on--Aah! Hahaha, s-stop!"

From behind, Jelly wiggles her fingers under the surprised girls armpits.

"Wh-Why did I make this body ticklish?!" Fava screams as she flails in panic.

"Ooh. Can I come too?" Jelly asks. She stares past the girl in her arms to look at you, though her fingers don't stop.

"I don't know," you reply. "It could be dangerous."

"Let me go, or I won't stop tickling her!"

You cross your arms. "Hmm. Let me think."

"J-Just let her go! Let her go!" Fava begs.

You shake your head and chuckle. "All right. You can come. But you have to be on your best behaviour, all right, Jelly?"

At last, the slime girl retreats her hands and raises up a thumb. "You've got it, Kyle! I'll be a good girl, I swear."

Somehow I doubt that.