The culprit behind the pungent, sour stench was the residue the slime had failed to digest, fermenting in the sugar.
Mona poured purified water to dilute the sugars, then scooped the reddened slime back into its glass tube.
Before long, the slime began to regain its original blue hue.
However, the sour smell lingering in the air remained, so she pulled back the curtains and opened the window to air out the room.
While slimes typically inhabited shady places, letting them absorb sunlight about once a week was beneficial for speeding up the regeneration rate of their core substance, the 'viscous core.'
Rattle.
Just then, as if displeased with the sunlight streaming through the window, the slime by the windowsill trembled faintly inside its glass jar.
"Just bear with it for a bit."
When she tapped its slick head with her fingertip, the slime froze in its tracks.
Watching it react to her touch, Mona let out a soft chuckle.
'Cute little thing.'
She felt like teasing it a bit more, but it would be troublesome if anyone caught her acting like this.
Monsters and humans were fundamentally hostile toward one another.
Yet a brainless slime was obeying a human's words?
She would be lucky if she wasn't branded a witch and burned at the stake.
'If my luck is really rotten, I could end up strapped to an operating table and dissected down to the very last strand of hair.'
Just imagining it made a shiver run down her spine.
If she were an actual witch, being burned at the stake wouldn't feel quite so unjust.
Her constitution had simply turned out this way as a side effect of an experiment she had pursued long ago, but who would ever believe that?
'Even I wouldn't believe it.'
Someone might say she was nursing a distrust of humanity by being so guarded.
However, unlike monsters, who were consistent inside and out, humans were creatures who flipped like the palm of a hand depending on the situation.
Therefore, Mona had no intention whatsoever of revealing this peculiar constitution to others.
'Besides, reaping the sweet rewards in secret is how it's supposed to be done anyway.'
As long as she didn't get caught, having a constitution that attracted monsters did have its advantages.
For instance, securing time for her fangirling?
Glancing at the time, Mona rolled up her sleeves and pulled out a glass slide and a dropper.
Harvesting the viscous core of a slime and delivering it to the lab every morning by eight o'clock was Mona's morning assignment.
When Mona brought the dropper close, the slime yielded its viscous core freely, like the giving tree.
Having wrapped up in an instant what would easily have taken any other research student an hour or two, Mona decided they had received enough photosynthesis time and lowered the blinds.
"Phew."
Finally, it was time for some healing.
With a solemn expression, Mona meticulously checked the condition of each slime in the lab and adjusted the concentration of their culture fluids.
Into the glass jar of a slime that seemed oddly lethargic, she dropped a special treat of moss, while for a slime that had grown overly voluminous, she swapped its feed for low-calorie mold.
By the time she had finished attentively curating a comfortable environment for the slimes, it was already eight o'clock.
Mona listlessly slung the bag sprawling on the floor over her shoulder and headed toward the main laboratory.
'…Time to return to reality.'
Ah, she already wanted to go home.
***
Only five people, including Mona, had shown up for work in the Department of Monster Studies laboratory, which was filled with dilapidated equipment.
Originally, there were thirteen researchers enrolled in the master's degree program, but less than half of them actually wrote papers and conducted research.
This was because the vast majority were the useless spawn of wealthy nobles.
It was the disastrous byproduct of aristocrats trying to thrust an imperial degree into the hands of their inept children who possessed neither magical talent nor martial prowess, and the academy catering to highborn offspring arriving with bundles of sponsor funds.
The only irony was that the lawn paved by those wealthy aristocrats lay exclusively before popular departments.
"Hey, Mona! Hurry up and come in."
Today was no exception; seeing Mona step into the lab with her thick horn-rimmed glasses on and her disheveled gray hair hanging down, a researcher urged her on.
"The senior said he needs a slime viscous core right away."
"Yeah."
When Mona answered briefly and walked over to her senior, Jake, the senior research student, snatched the slide containing the viscous core as if wrenching it from her hand.
"Whoa..."
Jake let out a low whistle of admiration as he transferred the smooth, completely undamaged viscous core with a dropper.
"Seriously, Mona, your manual dexterity is something else. I could never extract a viscous core this cleanly."
Because she had never once interacted with monsters in front of others, the people in the laboratory simply assumed Mona had an extraordinary touch.
"If only you'd write papers that actually bring in money, it'd be perfect."
"..."
"Origins of monsters, ecology, habits—you only ever do old-fashioned research. Who's going to care about your papers? You should write practical papers, like me, huh? Just like this."
"Haha..."
Listening to her senior's nagging, which poured down today without fail, Mona merely offered a hollow laugh.
The "lucrative papers" Jake talked about meant using slime byproducts to make cosmetics or hair loss remedies.
'Though if you want to make a hair loss cure, you ought to go to the Department of Alchemy. Why in Monster Studies...?'
Besides, even the alchemists said that transmuting hair was harder than transmuting gold...
Looking at Jake's broad forehead, which already showed clear signs of an M-shaped hairline, Mona narrowed her eyes.
She found it absurd on the inside, but Mona refrained from voicing her thoughts.
Her judgment told her that she would have better luck holding a conversation with a monster than discussing the fundamental research directions of Monster Studies with a snob like Jake.
"Ugh, why do I even bother?"
Jake clicked his tongue at the sight of Mona merely scratching her head with a vacant smile, then gave an annoyed jerk of his chin.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and go write the research log."
"Yes."
"Ah, and manually remove those fine impurities. And what was it, the solvent ratio seems like it needs adjusting too. The professor asked for tests and records right down to the fine-tuned values from last month, so don't even think about cutting corners."
"...Yes."
Saddled with a mountain of tedious, thankless grunt work, a despondent Mona trudged her way over to a corner of the laboratory.
"Whew."
To think she had to waste time on this kind of experiment.
Her chest felt suffocatingly tight the entire time she wrote the research log.
'This department wasn't always such absolute trash.'
Three years ago, when Mona chose the Department of Monster Studies, it had been a place of genuine academic exploration into the ecology and characteristics of monsters.
However, two years ago, after Professor Emil was injured, a new professor took up the post, and from that point on, Mona's life in the lab began spiraling into utter misery.
The assignments given by the newly appointed Professor Thomas were less about monster research and more like slapping monsters carelessly onto whatever experiments were currently trendy.
Naturally, it was completely unsuited to her.
While writing the log, her motivation plummeted straight to rock bottom, but Mona tried her best to steady herself.
'Let's just focus on graduating early.'
Yet to graduate, she first had to pass her primary thesis...
'Why hasn't there been any feedback?'
It had been ages since she submitted her primary thesis, but even with the semester nearly over, there wasn't a single word.
Mona slowly began to feel anxious.
Even if she wanted to ask how things were progressing, that scumbag professor hadn't even shown up to the lab lately.
At this rate, wouldn't her graduation get pushed back?
'That can't happen...'
Filled with worry, Mona gnawed at her dry lips.
***
"Hey, Mona!"
"Yes?"
"We're heading to the pub for drinks tonight for the first time in ages. Want to join?"
"I have things I need to take care of at home..."
When Mona shook her head from side to side, her lab colleague smirked.
"Figures. I only asked out of courtesy anyway."
Just then, their senior, Jake, shouted from behind them.
"See? Didn't I tell you Mona wouldn't go?"
"Right, she must have hidden a pot of gold at home or something."
"Good grief, what's there to see in that shoebox of a dorm room that makes you crawl back to it every single day? Mona, stop cooping yourself up inside your corner and go to a party for once."
"..."
"What is with that look anyway? Dress up a little, huh?"
'Here we go again.'
Feeling a surge of weariness, Mona merely fiddled with the frame of her glasses.
"Word has it that your sister Olivia is the goddess of high society. Don't you think the contrast between you two is a bit much?"
"Come on, if she dresses up, the comparison will only be harsher. Let's just go, Senior."
"Gwahaha, is that right?"
Gleefully bursting into mocking laughter, Jake and the research student tailing him as his lackey walked off. Mona kept her eyes on them for a brief moment before turning around with an exhausted face.
"Phew."
She didn't even have the energy to waste her breath on bastards like that.
Having spent the entire day doing nothing but 'lucrative research' that didn't suit her aptitudes in the slightest, she was completely drained of strength.
'It's already nine o'clock.'
Only now feeling the pangs of hunger, Mona bought a hard, cold baguette sandwich and walked toward the dormitory.
Just then, she caught sight of a familiar silhouette near the dormitory entrance.
"Lady Mona."
The man with the rigid, straight-laced impression was Parnell, the butler of the Bellose family.
The moment she faced the butler, Mona's eyes behind her glasses turned frosty, and the line of her mouth hardened firmly.
