The whole truth

Ultimately you decided to just go ahead and tell the truth. Somehow you knew that Elizabeth would be more understanding about your real situation compared to your father. She would not outright tell you to kill the slime, for one thing.

"No... he's not tamed, actually. He's not friendly at all. He is still hostile towards me, so I can't tame him," you confessed.

Elizabeth looked at you in confusion, eyeing the calm wolf slime, "what? But... He looks so docile, and he's not even wearing a leash. And he's so close to you?"

"Well, you see, that's the thing. This wolf is... umm, possessed?"

The witch looked at you even more confused, "possessed?"

"Yes, by my familiar. My newly tamed slime, to be exact. I was attacked by the wolf soon after I lost Pochi, so I couldn't bring myself to attack this one. But my slime could somehow control the wolf by getting inside of him. The wolf kept being hostile to me though, so I kind of let my slime takes over the wolf most of the time, like right now"

Elizabeth was frowning while listening to your story. She looked at you as if you were crazy. You didn't blame her, after all, it sounded like a ridiculous tale.

"Wait, wait, wait, you're saying that your slime... possesses a wolf? What sort of slime can possess another creature's body?!"

You sighed, "I don't really know... It's just, this slime, Blue, is a little different from the others. He doesn't have a core, for one, which is weird, right?"

"I think the ability to possess another creature is even weirder..." Elizabeth mused, "you're not pranking me, are you dear?"

"It's the truth, I swear!"

Elizabeth studied you, then the wolf slime, and finally nodded her head.

"Hmmm, you've always been honest, Alexis. Fine, let's say I believe you. But still, what you described sounds dangerous. That slime might have some other hidden ability aside from possession. And what if it uses that ability against you?"

You nodded, "well true, I was also quite afraid of Blue at first. But they're my partner now, as I've tamed them. So it should be safe, I think?"

Elizabeth sighed, "if you say so, my dear. Don't tell me I have not warned you. But still, what a unique slime"

Elizabeth stared at your wolf slime while crossing her arms. You already expected that she would be interested and curious about Blue. She was always intrigued by oddities, so a slime that could possess other creatures was definitely in that category.

"Well, putting your tamed slime aside, why did you come here today? Do you need some potions?"

"Ah, yes. Actually, I came to ask about some sleeping potions. I've decided to release the wolf back to the wild since I can't tame him. I need to put him to sleep before Blue exits his body so that I'm not gonna be attacked"

"Good thinking," praised Elizabeth, "let me see..."

Elizabeth walked towards the shelves behind the counter. There were various bottles lined on those shelves. The bottles themselves were filled with various kinds of colorful liquids. Some were green, some were blue, some were even red. Elizabeth picked up several vials and examined each of them in turn. After a while, she gave you one of those vials.

"Here you go. It should be enough for a wolf of his size," said the witch, giving you the vial.

You accepted the small container, about to reach into your coin pouch, but Elizabeth stopped you.

"You don't need to pay. In exchange, could you let me study your slime... wolf thing?" she then asked.

You looked at Elizabeth, wondering if it was a good idea. Elizabeth continued without letting you speak.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt your slime or wolf or whatever he is because it's such a rare find. I never heard of any slime with the ability to possess another creature's body. How does it work? Is it intelligent?"

She already approached and knelt down in front of your wolf slime before you could say anything. Elizabeth caressed the wolf's mane, and lifted its jaws. She seemed to be inspecting her physical features. As she did so, you decided to answer her question.

"Blue is very smart. This past week they have learned a lot of words. They can understand nearly everything that I tell them"

"I see... This wolf looks fine from the outside. There's no indication that it is being controlled by another monster, at least not physically. He seems quite healthy too...", commented Elizabeth, checking every nook and cranny of the wolf.

The witch then looked up to you, her hands still on the wolf, "so your slime is controlling this wolf right now? What about the wolf himself? Is he conscious?"

"Not right now, no. The wolf is **** inside. He would wake up only when Blue leaves his body"

"Hmm, I see. Can you ask your slime to leave the wolf for a bit, just to demonstrate for me?"

"Umm... I don't think that's a good idea. The wolf is feral after all"

"...right, I don't want him to wreck my store either," admitted Elizabeth, "what if you tell him to release the wolf partially? As in, only control the body of the wolf. Your slime could control the limbs like a puppet, but the mind is free for the wolf. Is that possible?"

"Well, I certainly never tried asking Blue to do that... And isn't that a bit cruel for the wolf?"

"It's okay, just for a bit," urged Elizabeth, "ask your slime if it's possible"

You sighed, and talked to Blue using your telepathy, "can you wake the wolf up while still controlling his body?"

The wolf looked at you and tilted his head. You could almost see the question mark floating above its head.

_"Wake wolf up?" _Blue asked questioningly, it seemed it didn't know how to do that. You tried to explain as best as you could.

"Yes, make the wolf wakes up. Let him be aware of what's going on but you still control his body and his movements"

There was silence in your head for a few minutes, then Blue's voice spoke again, "Okay! Wake up the wolf!"

You saw the wolf shuddered a bit, and then nothing else. At least, that was what happened outwardly. You reached out using your taming skill, and you noticed two different minds coming out of the wolf's body. Blue was calm, but the wolf was completely terrified since it couldn't move his body the way he wanted.

"Wow... it really works," you said, surprised.

"Is the wolf awake now?" asked Elizabeth.

"Yes, I can feel two different consciousness within the wolf. The wolf is terrified since he doesn't have any control over his own body. Blue has him fully under their control," you explained.

"Interesting... If you were the dominant type of monster tamer, you could have tamed the wolf right now"

You grimaced, "you know I don't want to do such things to tame a monster, miss Liz"

The witch shrugged, smiling wryly at you, "ahem, sorry, my dear. Didn't mean to offend you. Well, I wonder, would you allow me to observe the de-possession process? Not here, of course. I'll close shop and we'll head to the forest. We can also release the wolf as you planned after that"

"Eh, that's... Well, if you insist," you relented.

Miss Liz was always there for you ever since you were a kid. You could trust her not to harm Blue, and the witch herself had the skills to defend herself. You also didn't doubt that she was strong enough to handle a feral wolf, should her sleeping potion failed somehow.

Elizabeth thanked you and promptly closed her shop, and the two of you went to the edge of the great forest to observe the process of Blue's de-possession. But before you left, you told Blue to suppress the wolf's consciousness once more, and your slime could do that just fine. There was no reason to keep the wolf in constant fear of being puppeted, unable to resist.

"This will be a good field research, my dear," Elizabeth said while you walked, "tell me more about the time you found Blue. Where did you find this slime? Did you take the slime from their habitat?"

"Ah, no, Blue was just... suddenly appeared out of nowhere when I had just lost Pochi. It tried to eat Pochi's remains, so I smacked it out of reflex. But then I felt bad and gave it some healing potion and food since it looked so weak"

"Oh my, you're so kind towards monsters as usual," the witch giggled, "hmm... I think you said Blue didn't have a core?"

"Yup, Blue has no core"

Elizabeth was thoughtful, "no core, huh... normally that means either an evolutionary defect, or maybe it was destroyed earlier. And yet, Blue managed to survive without a core... and learn a strange skill as well. But maybe it would have died soon if you didn't give it your healing potion"

You thought that made sense. Evolutionary defects usually meant that the creature was weak, often dying during the early stages of life. But if that was the case, then Blue managed to survive for some time. And even if it was not the case and they had a core previously, they also still managed to stay alive long enough for you to save it.

"Hmm... If only there's an easier way for me to converse with Blue, I would have asked him a ton of questions right now... You said they have understand quite a lot of our language, right?"

"Yeah, but sometimes Blue didn't know exactly what I wanted or meant, but it has been better and better lately"

"I see... Well, I think this is far enough, right?"

You nodded, looking around. The edge of the forest was quiet, as usual, with plenty of tall trees and thick bushes. It would be a suitable place to release the wolf.

"Here, just make the wolf drink this," Elizabeth gave you the vial she got from the shop, "and I will prepare to restrain the wolf just in case"

"Oh, thanks, miss Liz"

You approached your wolf slime, uncorking the small vial. It seemed Blue understood what they were supposed to do, and drank the liquid as you poured it into the wolf's jaw. Blue licked their lips and growled for a moment, maybe the potion didn't taste that good in the wolf's tongue.

"Hmm, will this affect the slime too?" Elizabeth mused.

"Blue understands that it's for the wolf. Also, Blue doesn't use the wolf's organ to ingest food, so I don't think so," you replied, "they have different... stomach, I guess?"

Elizabeth smiled, "well, now let's wait for the wolf to fall asleep"

It took a few minutes for the sleeping potion to work. The wolf fell ****, and its body was relaxed, lying on the forest ground. Elizabeth kneeled next to the wolf, waiting patiently. After a while, you heard a grunt. The wolf's snout partially opened, and a blob of slime rolled out of its mouth, right onto the ground. Blue was slightly bigger than you remembered, maybe it was because you had been feeding them regularly.

"Oh, that's a pretty blue slime," commented Elizabeth, "so this is the monster who controlled the wolf?"

"Well, yes," you replied.

"Can I touch it?"

"Sure... Blue, please don't hurt miss Liz, okay?" you warned your slime.

The witch touched the surface of Blue's body, poking and rubbing the soft skin of the slime.

"Oh, it's so squishy"

Blue moved its body, touching Elizabeth's hand. Elizabeth was fascinated by the slime's intelligence and her curiosity about Blue increased.

"Soft and smooth, like a pudding," Elizabeth described, "and it really doesn't have a core"

"Umm, miss Liz, maybe we should at least get away from here first? Before your potion lost its effect"

Elizabeth looked at you, and she finally realized that the wolf was still lying **** next to her. She quickly moved away from the wolf, and you followed suit. Blue stayed on her hands and the witch carried it with her. The three of you watched from afar as the wolf slept peacefully.

"He's not going to wake up so soon, I know my potion's capabilities," Elizabeth huffed, "but you're right, let's find somewhere safer to discuss things further"

You blinked. It seemed Elizabeth was completely invested in your tamed slime. If you let her be, she could become obsessed with Blue. Maybe you should call it a day?