Chapter 278: Slimo’s Unfortunate Secrets

Sheeby groaned and tried rolling herself on to Slimo. He pressed his back against the gargantuan dragon.

"Damn it, Sheeby! Stop rolling on me when you sleep!"

If it wasn’t for Slimo’s insane strength, he would have been crushed under the weight of her indestructible white scales. Lidia laughed and walked over to Slimo to help push Sheeby slightly backward.

"You don’t have to stand so close to her while she sleeps, you know?"

Slimo sighed and scratched his head.

"I know. But I strangely feel very safe when I’m close to her."

He rubbed his hands against the glimmering white surface.

"She is a really beautiful creature. I’m happy she likes you and Maria so much."

Lidia smiled and grabbed Slimo’s hand off Sheeby’s back.

"Me too. Speaking of which, I wonder where those two are?"

Squabee crossed her arms and looked off into the distance.

"I left them like twelve hours ago, but they told me not to bother them until Sheeby woke up. Obviously, Mrs. Sheeby is a little more tired than I thought she would be."

Slimo scoffed.

"She’s fine! I think she’s just being stubborn because she doesn’t want to fly through all of that jungle junk!"

Sheeby’s tail smacked Slimo in the face. Causing him to hold his now bleeding nose.

"Argh! Damn you, Sheeby! I take it back! I don’t feel safe by you!"

Slimo started to slap against her scales doing no damage at all. Lidia looked back at Squabee.

"I can go after them. We’ve all been able to sleep and eat plenty by now. I don’t want them to be starving or hurt when all they are trying to do is strengthen themselves."

Slimo wiped his bloody nose and stretched his shoulders.

"I’ll come too. Squabee and Sarah can take care of Sheeby if she wakes up."

Squabee laughed and planted her foot in the ground.

"That’s because she knows Aunty Squabee is the best! HAHA!"

Slimo and Lidia ignored Squabee and began walking away.

"Hey! Don’t ignore me! You’re making me cringe at myself!"

"I found it amusing."

"Shut up, Sarah! You’re just saying that to make me feel better!"

Slimo and Lidia walked through the desolate field looking for signs of Maria and Jacob. However, there was hardly anything to be seen. Everything was eerily quiet. Slimo kissed Lidia’s cheek and slowly walked away.

"Let’s keep in eyesight of each other and split up. We’ll find them faster that way."

Lidia nodded and slowly drifted away from Slimo.

"Are you sure? This is the farthest you let me wander away from you in a while."

"Please don’t say anything before I change my mind."

Lidia giggled. The two of the walked far away from each other but made sure they were always in their vision. Lidia saw the giant metal creature and walked up to it before kicking it with her foot. Instantly, it tipped over on its side and crashed into the gray grass without any retaliation.

"I didn’t find them, but I did find this weird metal thing. Any luck over there?"

Slimo continued walking and looking around until his foot finally got caught on something. He looked down at his feet to see...

"Jacob’s... armor? Wait a minute."

Slimo walked slower through the grass until he saw Jacob’s naked back peeking through the tall grass, rising and falling as he breathed. Slimo froze, refusing to take another step forward to investigate.

"No... they didn’t. Did they?!"

He peeked his head slightly higher, still unable to see what Jacob was wearing or who he was with, but he didn’t have to see to understand. He covered his mouth and quickly walked away as quiet as possible.

’Lidia can’t know. She can’t possibly find out about this! We have to run! Run, Slimo! Run, but don’t make it look obvious! Lidia won’t let him live this down for as long as he lives! He’s a goner!"

Slimo grabbed on to his white hair, holding back tears from his stress.

’Why is it me?! Why is it always me who has to keep these things secret?! I’m going to explode!’

"Did you find anything?"

"AHHH!"

Lidia was right next to him, leaning close to his face. Slimo raised his hands in fear, not expecting Lidia to show up so quickly.

"What is it? Did you see something!"

Slimo cleared his throat and dusted off his beetle armor.

"I just... you startled me is all. We should head back now. Immediately."

Slimo grabbed on to her hand and tried leading her back, but Lidia planted her feet in the ground.

"Now hold on a minute."

’Shit, shit, shit!’

"Yes, my love?"

As he turned around to look at Lidia, Slimo’s face dropped. Behind Lidia was Jacob in nothing but underwear standing up in the dead grass, glaring at Slimo in fear. Slimo started throwing his head sideways angrily hoping Jacob would get the hint to get down. Lidia looked at his face with concern before turning around herself.

"Is there something behind me?"

As she turned around, Jacob managed to jump to the ground in time.

’I’m going to kill that bastard if we survive this somehow! I’m going to really do it this time!’

"Oh, no! It’s just that... it feels like something got stuck in my ear when Sheeby’s tail slapped me. Probably just a bug!"

Lidia grabbed on to his face and brought it close to hers. She smiled warmly and whispered softly in his ear.

"You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?"

Slimo shivered and stepped back defensibly.

"Me? Hiding from you?! Pft. Never! I wouldn’t even know what to hide from you! I’m an open book right here, haha! And if I did hide something, it would only to be to save someone’s life. Oh yes, especially the life of your own child!"

Jacob managed to get his pants and armor on in time before standing back up and disappearing over the crest of the small hill he was on. Lidia pouted and pressed her palms against Slimo’s cheeks.

"Aww, you’re going to surprise our child with something? You don’t have to tell me what it is, my love. I’m sorry I almost ruined it for you!"

Slimo stared at her in disbelief.

’Squabee’s luck must be on both of our sides today, Jacob. I don’t even know how she got that from what I said!’

"Welp, surprise! You got me, haha! I’m just so anxious I can’t help it!"

Lidia hugged him tightly and started sobbing very loudly.

’Oh shit.’

"W-What? Is everything okay? Did I offend you?"

Through her sobs, Lidia let out a few words.

"You’re just going to be such a nice father. I’m just so excited."

"If you’re excited, why are you crying?"

Lidia sniffled.

"I don’t know!!"

She pulled away and punched Slimo in the gut. Slimo dropped to the ground groaning in pain.

"W-What was that one for?!"

"I don’t know! I’m really angry now and I don’t know why. Ugh, just looking at this disgusting place is pissing me off. You better not make me deliver this baby in a dirty place like this!"

Instead of responding, Slimo gave her a thumbs up.

’No wonder Sheeby gets along with her so well.’

Off in the distance, Lidia saw Jacob and Maria walking over the hill. Lidia’s mood instantly turned vibrant. She waved her hand at them and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Oh! Hey, you two! We were just coming to check on you! What the hell happened to both of your hair?"

Both Jacob and Maria’s face turned bright red. Jacob blurted out a response extremely quickly.

"MONSTER! W-We fought a monster"

Slimo groaned out on the ground.

"I’m sure Maria did."

Jacob started stomping on him while he laid on the ground, but Slimo was hardly affected by it. Lidia laughed and stared at Slimo.

"Stop teasing Jacob! I’m sure he put up just as good a fight!"

Maria couldn’t take it anymore. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out. Lidia caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Wow. Was the fight really that hard?"

Slimo giggled and nudged Jacob as he stood up.

"Yah, Jacob. Was it?"

Jacob held back throwing a kick into Slimo’s groin. Instead, he sighed and messed up his hair even more.

"I’ll have you know we had to kill a Spirit by ourselves!"

"A spirit? That’s quite impressive! Did Maria get the final blow? How much stronger is she now?"

Jacob coughed into his hand.

"Well... we sort of gained... nothing."

Slimo couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"You two risked your lives fighting a spirit for nothing?!"

"Well, we were hoping it would summon something more powerful."

"What do you mean?"

"It said if we killed it, we would be able to summon something called the Dreadnaught. However, whatever that thing was never showed up."

Slimo nodded.

"I see. I must say Jacob, yours lies are getting more convincing each day."

"I’m not lying! It’s the truth! You can ask Maria when she wakes up!"