Slime Tensei. Taikensha ga Youjo Elf ni Dakishimeraretemasu Prologue

Due to an illness, my life is about to end. Without life support, I requested to peacefully rest in the house I have gotten used to living in in my final moments.
Of all people, my, Merlin Enlight, a great sage who has left countless legends, last wish is excessively ordinary: to laugh by myself.
I do not have even a single regret in my life.
……which I am not going to say, but I do think my life was a happy one.
This way, I could be taken care of by my cute daughters as I die.

「Otou-san, don’t go」

Even now, my daughter is grasping my hand tightly and shedding tears. She is a young elf lady whom I have no blood relations with, but we have a bond even tighter than that of real family.
I have four daughters here with me.
All of them are orphans with talent. I, a great sage, drilled into them techniques which are suitable for them.

「Don’t cry, Orfeu. I have lived enough」(TLN: オルフェ)

I’ve ran through these fifty years with all my strength.
Desiring for anything more would be uncouth.

「But, there’s still so many magic arts I haven’t learn from Otou-san. Please teach me more」
「You spoilt child. Since I’ve handed you my 【Magic Arts】, walk your path alone from now on. If it’s you, you’ll be better of me. Don’t leave me with too much worries when I’m on the brink of death, okay?」

I smiled wryly.
My third daughter, the elf Orfeu, inherited my 【Magic Arts】, and grew until she was called Enlight of 【Magic Arts】. The greatest sorcerer in the world.
That girl nodded deeply as she shed tears.
I shifted my gaze to the side.

「Nikola, on the other hand, I am too worried about you. It’s okay for you to behave more like a spoilt child with your older sisters」
「My sisters are all unreliable. ……Instead, Nikola has to support them」
「Pu, you’re a firm one. Please complete the research I’ve abandoned, Enlight of Alchemy」
「I swear upon the name of Enlight」

The youngest daughter, the dwarf Nikola, gripped her small hands firmly in front of her chest, and swore to succeed my will.
I’ve drilled into her all the 【Alchemy】 I possess, and she became the foremost alchemist as Enlight of 【Alchemy】.

「Shimazu. There’s nothing left for me to teach you techniques related to the 【Sword】. Now, what you need is what exists ahead of techniques. Keep battling and keep learning. You still have a long way to go」

The second daughter, Shimazu the fox-girl, has a cool countenance, but her hand which usually holds a sword is shaking.
It seems like she will grieve for my death.

「Chichiue, thank you for your advice. Please don’t worry. I will definitely exceed Father. I swear upon this tsurugi I’ve received from Father」
「You’re as stiff as always, huh. If anything happens please take care of your sisters. You are the strongest among my daughters」
「Of course. After all, they’re my important family」

The emotionless and stoic Shimazu smiled gently. I’m glad I was able to see this smile in my last moments.
Although she never opened her heart to anyone when she just came here, she has grown.

「Helen. I want you to save people with your 【Healing Arts】. I pray that you become the ideal doctor which won’t let anything slip through. If it’s you, you will achieve it」
「Yes, Otou-sama. This is the miraculous work Otou-sama created. I’ll show you that I can save many people with this power. ……Then, I will become an amazing doctor that can save even those who have the same illness as Tou-sama」
「Haha, that’ll be amazing. I look forward to the future. Helen, as the eldest daughter, take care of your younger sisters」

Helen, the eldest angel daughter, nodded. I’ve instilled all my 【Healing Arts】 in her.

「Orfeu, is Leona not coming back?」
「Yes, Leona said that she will not return until she carries out your test. She sent a verbal message…… “I’ll show Chichi that I can safely complete the reconstruction of the Kingdom of Granlid, which you entrusted me with. Until then, don’t you dare die”」 (TLN: orz each of them call merlin differently)
「She’s being unreasonable. I feel lonely since I can’t meet her, but I’m happy. That’s just like her」

What Leona, my fourth human daughter, received from me, was the ability to reign as a 【King】.
I am a great sage who went to the extremes with everything.
Fearing that everything I’ve acquired will disappear with my death, I searched for a successor. However, one person couldn’t succeed all of me. I’ve covered too much knowledge and too many techniques.
That’s why I divided them and let each of them succeed each of the divisions.

Enlight of 【Magic Arts】. Third daughter, the elf, Orfeu Enlight
Enlight of 【Alchemy】. Fifth daughter, the dwarf, Nikola Enlight
Enlight of 【Sword】. Second daughter, the fox-girl, Shimazu Enlight
Enlight of 【Healing Arts】. Eldest daughter, the angel, Helen Enlight
Enlight of 【King】. Fourth daughter, the human, Leona Enlight

I tempered my lovely daughters, they’ll grow beyond my expectations, and eventually exceed me.
……I’ll keep the fact that I also have an illegitimate child from these girls. There’s a meaning for her to lurk in the darkness, and to be honest, she came yesterday for a while to see me off.

「I’m glad that I could see your faces before I die. Good night. And also, Orfeu. Like I previously told you, my corpse……」
「I understand. Fill in the miracle drug inside the coffin so that Otou-san can sleep peacefully, right?」
「Yeah, I’m counting on you. This’ll be my last words. ……I was happy, thanks to all of you」

My consciousness went away.
If I let go of my consciousness now, I probably won’t be able to wake up another time.
My daughters saw me off with a desperate smile while they cried.
……I really had a happy life.

Just as her father told her to, the elf girl, Orfeu Enlight, filled the coffin with the miracle drug her father made until the corpse was submerged.
The viscous liquid was engulfing the corpse.
Orfeu lovingly caressed that cheek, and gazed at those lips…… she blushed, and shook her head.
She reluctantly closed the cover.

「Farewell, Otou-san」

The curtains fell on the great sage Merlin Enlight’s life.

The miracle drug which filled the coffin dissolved and absorbed the great sage Merlin Enlight’s flesh and soul.
The true ident.i.ty of this miracle drug is a prototype the great sage Merlin Enlight spent his life creating . A soulless, all absorbing, 【Infinite Evolving Slime】.

The great sage Merlin Enlight did not quietly accept death.
He left a possibility for a new life. To transfer his own soul into a soulless vessel.

For that, as an excellent vessel, he chose the soulless Infinite Evolving Slime.
Infinite evolving means that it will have endless capacity to adapt. Anything it receives, it will become that thing. Yes, it can absorb and acquire the great sage’s thinking ability and even his soul.
The empty slime which dissolved and absorbed the great sage’s soul and flesh obtained the great sage’s soul.
Thus, his life remained.
*Thump*, the miracle drug filled inside the coffin pounded. That movement rapidly became larger and flicked off the cover.
Then, the substance crawled out of it and gathered in one place. And it then became a slime the size of a fine human head.

『Phew, well, I only took a chance at it. I didn’t expect it to really succeed. Although I adjusted it a little, it’s success rate was thirty percent』

The slime thought.
That thought was the great sage Merlin Enlight’s.

He did not inform his daughters of this research.
In the first place, the success rate was too low; He didn’t want to worry them too much. Although it was to prolong his life, they might hate him disguising as a slime.
……Above all, those girls need to be independent from their parents. Anything more than this would be a hindrance to their paths.

『Also, I want to have some freedom for myself』

If I did what I like, influential people will naturally have an eye on me, and I will receive jealousy from every single field’s specialists, succ.u.mb to a weird sense of duty, and become relatively tired.

My daughters are cute, and it was fun teaching them, but that is that, and this is this.
I refreshed his body, felt rejuvenated, and replenished my energy.
From now on, let’s live a fun new life. No, in this case, a slime life, huh.
I went in front of the mirror. I then confirmed my own figure.

『I, am a slime』

I purposely said out my thoughts and confirmed it.
I’m completely a slime. Although it is the 【Infinite Evolving Slime】 I invested all of my wisdom into, I still have some way to go before I can have a human form.

I’ll have to quickly absorp many things and become stronger.
It’s bad as I am right now. I tried to create a magic circuit, but I’m too weak and even that is hopeless, and I can’t even use decent magic arts. I might even be killed in one hit by the lowest ranked adventurers.
First of all is…….

『Sleep』

The night is dangerous. A lot of monsters are crawling around outside.
While picturing his new life, rather, his slime life, the great sage returned to the coffin and slept soundly.

TL: Izzy