Chapter 6: Celebration

Rimuru managed to drag his eyes away from the Demon Lord who had just turned the great Charybdis into nothing, looking down to the person that was largely responsible for the whole mess. 'Great Sage, what do you say?'

Answer: fusion rate of individual Phobio and individual Charybdis is over 90%; it will take less than an hour for Charybdis to return to full power and reform GS informed him.

Milim saw him scowl and asked 'What's up?'

-'If we leave him here, the monster will just come back...I've got to separate Charybdis from Phobio.'

-'Can you do something like that? Even if you do, won't it just go somewhere else and start over? ' she asked with some worry; she wasn't wrong: as a spiritual being, Charybdis, once separated from its host, would vanish and reform in another place; even so, he had a plan. He looked back up at her and offered a reassuring smile

-'Yeah, no worries. I got this' 'All right, Great Sage, we can do this...' he told his partner as he placed both hands on Phobio's chest. 'Parallel activation of Degenerate and Gluttony. You control the power, I'll handle the rest.' Understood Great Sage replied

A black mist enveloped the beastman; Degenerate, a power he had gotten from absorbing Shizu, was capable of separating or merging powers, and as a spiritual lifeform Charybdis was vulnerable to its use; once its core was separated from Phobio, he absorbed it with Gluttony and quickly put it into his storage space where it would have no escape. Eventually, it would be disassembled, vanishing into nothing. The process toke only a few seconds, but it was far from simple and he felt exhausted afterwards, falling backwards to sit down; Milim watched the process with starry eyes and sat down besides him once it was over

-'How did it go?'

He gave her a thumbs up 'All done; it was a success.'

The two stood there in silence a few minutes, alone, while the rest of the troops made their way to where they were; Milim looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't. She was fidgeting a bit, but he really could't place why. Well, he'd ask later once everything settled down. He too had some things to say to her, but decided to do so later. Watching her completely annihilate Charybdis within seconds while they barley made a dent in ten hours really made him realize just how far apart they were in terms of not just power ranking, but in general. She was a Demon Lord, someone at the pinnacle of the world; if she wanted to, she could probably very easily take everything she could ever possibly want by force; that she didn't made him realize she may not be as selfish, inconsiderate or irresponsible as he first believed her to be.

Their attention was distracted by the sound of footsteps; behind them, Benimaru and a few of the others were fast approaching. After reassuring them everything was over, he filled them in on what Milim had done. They were slack jawed to say the least

-'Unbelievable...' was all Shion could muster 'but I would expect nothing less!' a cheer rang out from the troops at their victory. Milim for her part really seemed to enjoy the compliments.

-'Urg...' Rimuru turned his attention to the sound, realizing it was Phobio. His eyes were slowly opening, and he looked like in a daze. When he set his eyes on him and Milim, however, his eyes shot wide open in realization

He immediately- and painfully, by what he could tell- shot up and got on his hands and knees, prostrating himself before them 'I am sorry!' he shouted 'I humbly apologize!'; Rimuru could feel the sincerity in them. Whatever happened to get him possessed by Charybdis, Rimuru figured it gave Phobio a real doze of humility

-'All of this...I did on my own! Lord Carrion had nothing to do with it!' he hastily added 'If you want vengeance, take it with my life alone, please!' he begged. Rimuru considered how to properly respond

-'I didn't have Milim spare you just to kill you afterwards, you know...' he told the man; hearing that, Phobio cast a quick glance at Milim, shocked, then looked back down in shame 'I do however want you to answer some questions. Treyni...' at the sound of her name, the dryad in question materialized nearby; he had sensed her coming while they were talking

-'Yes, thank you.' she said with a small bow to Rimuru, then turned her attention on Phobio 'How did you know where Charybdis was sealed? Only us dryads knew the place, entrusted to us by the hero.' she asked with unusual gravity in her voice 'I do not believe you came upon it by coincidence.'

-'I was shown the place by two clowns wearing masks.' Phobio replied immediately

-'Clowns wearing masks?' Rimuru asked confused. Treyni however looked to contemplate something, then keeled down and drew something in the sand; it was a clown mask, with a winking face

-'Was one of it like this?' she asked; Phobio sat up to look, then shook his head

-'No, none of them were like that.' he began drawing next to the one Treyni made 'one was a little girl wearing a weeping mask- said her name was Tear; the other was a fat man wearing an angry mask- Footman, he said.' he explained as he drew. Out of the corner of his eye, Rimuru saw Benimaru tense

-'A fat man with an angry mask?' the orge asked with barley restrained anger. That was when Rimuru remembered, during his first encounter with the ogres they said their village was attacked by orcs led by a masked majin. He assumed at first it was Gelmud, but now...

-'A fat man with a mask...' Geld contemplated from the side 'If I recall, there was a majin like that calling himself Gelmud's agent- said he was from some kind of 'Moderate Alliance'?'

-'The Moderate Harlequin Alliance' said Phobio 'they said they took on all kind of odd jobs. Never heard of them before that though...' then even Gabiru seemed to want to say something

-'Well, I do recognize the mask Lady Treyni drew...' he said as he stepped forward 'he said he's an agent of Gelmud as well, called himself Laplace.'

-'Laplace, you say...' Treyni said in an unusually hostile tone

-'Footman, huh? I'll remember that name' Benimaru said with a calm voice

-'Hmm...' he heard Milim say 'Gelmud was the guy in charge of the whole Orc Lord project, but I never heard of any Harlequin Alliance or anything like that...' she said absentmindedly 'I wish I could've meet them...' her disappointment was however quickly replaced by a look of realization 'Oh, but what if its's not Gelmud...'

-'What?' Rimuru asked

-'Perhaps Clayman was plotting behind the scenes!' 'Clayman? Sounds familiar...'

Notice: individual Clayman is one of the Demon Lord's mentioned by Milim Great Sage helpfully allowed him from asking aloud who that was; instead he asked 'Why do you say that?'

-'He dose love to scheme like this. If anyone were to try and sneak something like this under everyone's noses, its definitely him.' Milim suggested; however, as they did not have any real evidence, Rimuru decided to ignore it for the moment.

-'Well, there's no helping it right now. We'll just have to keep an eye out for these mercenaries. For now, everyone get some rest!' he shouted to his troops, who all roared in victory and began to disperse back to the city. He turned his attention to Phobio 'And you, careful on your way home, yeah?' he informed him as he himself turned to leave

-'Wait!' Phobio called out to him as he hastily got up on his feet 'You can't just forgive me just like that!' he protested

-'It's fine.' Rimuru reassured him dismissively 'You're not innocent, but you were being used too. No one died so we can just put it behind us. Right Milim?' he asked the Demon Lord; he figured she too would still have a beef with the beastman

-'Yup, it's okay! I wanted to give you a good wallop, but whatever, it's fine now!' she proudly proclaimed 'That okay with you, Carrion?'

'What?' was all Rimuru could think before he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps. A large man with beastly features and blond hair seemed to step in view out of nowhere, emitting a large aura.

-'Heh, of course you knew I was here, eh Milim?' he said in a gruff voice as he casually strolled towards them

-'Lord Carrion!' Phobio screamed, shocked, as he hastily walked towards his master 'So this is Demon Lord Carrion?' though Rimuru as he closely examined the man; his aura was quite something; nothing close to Milim of course but easily dwarfing his own or any of his subordinates. Suddenly, he hit Phobio so hard, he swore he could hear some bones breaking. The unfortunate beatsman now laid sprawled on the ground, bleeding, but Carrion continued nonchalantly

-'You cocky fool.' then, as if forgetting completely about what he did, he turned to face Rimuru 'So, you there...a measly slime like you, starting your nation of monsters.' he said as he got right up in Rimuru's face 'You ate the Orc Lord, didn't you?' he said, but it wasn't a question

-'So what if I did? Got a problem with that?' he calmly shit back; Carrion was easily almost twice as tall though so he had to really look up to say it to his face. After a short pause, Carrion billowed in laughter

-'Fwa, ha ha ha ha! How funny! I can see why Milim likes you! Ha ha ha!' after a few more seconds, he stopped and caught his breath, looking more serious 'Anyway, I wanted to apologize for my follower acting out of control like he did. For what it's worth, he only had orders to investigate the Orc Lord, not cause all the problem he did. Of course, I still hold some fault...'

-'Heh, I really didn't think you'd send that knucklehead here...' Milim interjected 'I'd have though for sure you were more of the careful type...'

-'Ah, c'mon Mililm, I thin you have to big an opinion about me. This was a blunder on my part...' he said, looking slightly embarrassed 'Let's call it a holdover from my younger days...'

-'Ha ha ha ha! Oh, I get it now!' Milim unhesitatingly laughed at his expense, though exactly at what Rimuru wasn't sure

-'Yeah, keep laughing.' Carrion said mildly annoyed, but he had a small smile on his lips 'It is what it is. Anyways, Rimuru...'

-'Yes?'

-'Let's just say I owe you a favor for keeping my subordinate alive even after all he did.' Rimuru wanted to ask what was the point, as Phobio was currently bleeding to death nearby on the ground, but wisely shut up and listened 'So if there's anything I can do to make up, just say the word.'

Hearing the sincerity in Carrion's voice, Rimuru quickly got an idea 'Anything? In that case, I would be interested in a treaty of non-aggression between our nations.' he informed the Demon Lord

-'Is that all?' Carrion asked, somewhat surprised 'All right, deal. In the name of the Beastmaster Carrion, you have my word. Eurazania will never bear it's fangs towards Tempest.' he said as he extended an arm forward; Rimuru extended his, and the two shook the agreement. He noticed Milim smiling on the side, but looking unusually solemn for some reason. He wondered how often Demon Lords made agreements like this. Before he could say anything more, he heard Carrion move; the large man picked up the unconscious, bleeding Phobio, and hefted him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

-'I'll send a proper envoy sometime later, okay?' the Beastmaster said as he began walking away 'Oh, and I'll make sure Phobio behaves next time. See ya later, Rimuru.' and disappeared in a flash

Thus ended yet another potential catastrophe from befalling on Tempest.

The night after the battle against Charybdis was a hectic, if extremely merry.

Shortly after the battle concluded, everyone from the soldiers to the evacuated civilians rushed back into the city to party. Even if he wanted to, Rimuru doubted he could have slowed them down; which he didn't. And so the entire city of Tempest celebrated through the night. Everyone's stress and worries were suddenly gone and erupted in dancing, eating, drinking and various other activities. Someone had the crazy idea of taking the megalodons- literary flying sharks- and cooking them. He wasn't so sure, but he didn't stop anyone from doing it; thank goodness he didn't, because the giant sharks turned out to be quite delicious, especially with a good drink.

The streets were packed with people having a good time, and Rimuru, though he continued to pay close attention so that no one was going to far, managed to finally enjoy himself some. He was sat at a specially set table in the central square of the city, filled with all kinds of foods and delicacies, though most of them were't for him. He had decided to treat Milim to a well deserved feast and ordered the cooks to make her some rare specialties; and it wasn't just because she had done a fantastic job against Charybdis; as they were returning to the city, he was greeted by the leader of the dwarven pegasus knights who informed him they would not be staying to enjoy the festivities. Before leaving, however, the captain asked him about the weapon they had used to one shot Charybdis. Rimuru pondered whether to tell him some made up nonsense, but decided against it and told him the truth, that Demon Lord Milim, who was right next to him, had taken the beast out.

He instantly regretted that decision. The man laughed at the idea of a 'little girl' being the dreaded Destroyer, completely ignorant of the murderous aura Milim sending his way. Then he just dismissed the issue, saying he can keep his secrets, then flew off. Calming Milim down from flying after them and slaughtering them to a man was, thankfully, easily done with the promise of food.

So here he was, staying at the table next to Milim who was scarfing down food at what would be an alarming rate for anyone else, but was actually pretty slow for her. He shook his head and smiled at her antics, then looked around to the festivities.

Shion was somewhere in the corner, face red from way to much alcohol; she was swinging around wildly, possibly an attempt to dance, as Shuna was trying hard to calm her down as an amused Benimaru was looking on.

Geld and Gabiru and some of their men had settled in a circle and were busy talking about the battle, laughing at each others's blunders. It was Gabiru's turn to be mocked by the looks of things, though he seemed to be laughing the most at it.

Hakuro, Gobta and the human adventurers were also in their own little group, chatting away; Fuze especially was looking like he had to much and if he didn't knew better was picking a fight with a similarly drunk Kabal. Gobta seemed to be edging it on but was quickly calmed with just a glance from Hakuro. Looked liken he would be in for it tomorrow.

In yet another corner, Kaijin, Vesta and the other dwarves were going over and gushing over one of Charybdis' scales they had recovered (hundreds more were scattered though the forest). According to Kaijin, the things extremely durable and hard, yet also flexible; in terms of quality, not far below something made out of medium-grade magisteel. Nothing like what his high-grade magisteel could make, but still would be a useful resource once they were all gathered up, at least according to Kaijin; Rimuru had toned his explanation out halfway through and excused himself, and a good thing too because it didn't look like the five's conversation had slowed down at all in hours.

-'heh'

-'Hey Rimuru' he turned to the sound of Milim's voice, who had stopped eating and was looking at him curiously; she was wearing a simple black blouse and white skirt 'did you say something?' she asked. He didn't realized he 'heh'd aloud.

-'Ah, no, nothing.' he quickly dismissed 'I was just really glad to see everyone having a great time.' he said as he gazed over the merrymaking people.

-'Yeah, this sure is a lively party!' Milim exclaimed as she gulped down another drink; though at first Rimuru wanted to slap it out of her hand, he quickly stopped himself. For one, this world did not have anything like a 'legal drinking age'. Most nations simply let it up to their parents. Second, even if there was one, he realized Milim- somewhat childish personality aside- is so much older it was almost hilarious. And thirdly, as Great Sage had informed him, Milim had Poison Resistance so high she could quite literary drink their entire city's supply of alcohol and not feel a single tingle from it. So he didn't bother stopping her; he figured she just enjoyed the new taste. But back to the present

-'Yeah, lively is one word. I known I said it before, but...thanks for the help today. We really were screwed without you.'

-'Ah, think nothing of it, I mean it!' she dismissed him again 'I'm a Demon Lord, its part of my job to do awesome things anyway! Wahahahaha!'

-'Right, right.' he said amused, shaking his head again 'But I really do mean it. Personally, I mean; this city and its people mean a lot to me.'

-'You said that before...'

-...'Yeah, I did. But, I don't think I ever realized it myself just how much I cared until earlier today, when I almost though we were out of options.' he said honestly 'So, for myself...' he flashed a smile and put a hand on her shoulder 'Thank you, Milim.'

Suddenly, Milim turned to look away from him. He though she looked to be...embarrassed? He wasn't sure why though.

Meanwhile, Milim was fuming with embarrassment; she almost though her heart would leap out of her chest when she saw Rimur smile at her like that. 'Uwaaaa!' she screamed internally 'This is getting seriously baaaad! Am I really doing this?! Is it really...?! Ah, calm down, calm down, calm down! I can do this...I can do...Anything! Yeah!'

'Ah, but...first...' she though as she managed to calm her mental storm somewhat, then turned to Rimuru who didn't seem to have noticed just how far gone she was. 'Than god for that...'

-'Rimuru?' she asked as gingerly as she could, drawing his attention; noticing she was in a weird mood, Rimuru turned his full attention on her

-'Yeah, what is it?' she fidgeted a little before she could continue

-'I was just wondering...would it be okay for me to come back here when I can?'

He didn't know why, but he could feel a slight wave of panic rush him as he heard that 'Why? Are you...leaving?' 'Is she leaving? Why so sudden?'

-'I mean, not right now!' she frantically waved her hands '...but a bit later, yeah. I...have a few stuff I kinda have to do, you know?' she said as she placed her hands on her knees 'Need to check up on my followers, for one...'

-'Followers?' he remembered hearing about how she didn't have any subordinates, but he guessed he heard wrong 'Are they worried about you or...'

-'No, nothing like that.' she dismissed 'They aren't worried about me. I'm the strongest Demon Lord, so they are too terrified of me to be 'worried' or anything.' she turned to cast a strange look at the partying people 'But I am their protector, so I kinda need to make an appearance once in a while. And other things...'

He wasn't sure what these 'other things' were, but he didn't presumed to guess. At another time, he would have dismissed them as meaningless nothings she entertained herself with, but he decided a while back to give her some benefit of the doubt. However...

-'Milim...' he drew her attention and made eye contact with her blue eyes 'You'll always be welcomed here. Anytime you want.' he told her with a smile. He was startled when she leaped forward, draping her hands around him and dragged him in a hug shouting 'Thanks!'. However, while he was happy she seemed to get whatever she had off her shoulders, he was royally panicking over something else

'Ahhhhh! Wha...no, stop hugging me!' he mentally anguished, but not because he hated it; the opposite in fact: it made him happy. So happy he started getting scared 'please just...have some mercy on this poor slime!' before he could say anything, Milim let him go of him very, very quickly and dashed out of sight. He could barley discern anything, but he did though he saw a tear or two. This time he didn't dismiss it.

It was early morning after the massive city-wide party, and the city was a mess. Dishes, empty tank, turned tables, drink stains and sleeping drunk monsters and a pile of sleeping drunk humans littered the city streets. The few who had abstained from wasting themselves the night before were now starting to rouse people up and forcing them to start participating in the clean-up. In Rimuru's experience from his previous life, cleaning up after a party was the worse job ever; cleaning up after monsters was worse. But he still regretted nothing.

What he did regret however was not running after Milim last night to see what was up with her. He followed her aura to her room with his magic sense, but decided against going there himself. For once, he didn't though it was a good idea to go into a girl's room just like that; second, he really didn't know how to sort out the weird feelings he now had around her or even when just thinking of her, especially after last night's hug. The warmth of it still made him zone out at times, wishing she didn't stop. So he stayed, continuing to keep an eye on the party; when Shuna came by later to ask where Milim was, he did't answer; for some reason the pink-haired ogress looked kind disappointed, a little mad even, before leaving with a exasperated sigh. At him. He wasn't sure why, but as the night progressed, he began to have a realization...

As he watched the people begin to clean up, he thought about his past life. He never had a girlfriend or even a one night stand, but more than than he realized he never met anyone who really made him interested in starting a relationship. In fact, the best he could say was that he had a crush or three in high school, but that was it. A crush on the popular girl in class hardly counted as 'interested'. At most it was teenage hormones going out of control, at worse a failure to even comprehend what 'liking someone' was; his crushes were, in his opinion, superficial. He sure as hell liked to see some big...assets...but that to was wholly superficial, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. But thinking on it, he never really felt genuine attraction for a woman in his life. He didn't knew Shizu for more than a day, and he though there may have been something there, but that was long gone. Slipped away like water down a sink.

Thinking on that, he realized that...he liked her. He liked Milim. Immature, selfish, crazy powerful as she was, he still liked her. When he realized that, he didn't knew what to think at first 'Seriously? What's up with you, Rimuru, are you some kind of lolicon?!' he wanted to admonish himself; well, at least he could safely dismiss that though; he really liked 'big assets' so as far as he was concerned, this...attraction was not exactly physical, though he admitted she was very pretty. So he started thinking about what he liked about her. '

'She's genuine. All the time.' was one of the first things he though about 'If she says she likes you, there isn't any hidden meaning; she just likes you.'

'Immature as she is, she's pretty considerate' was another important thing he noticed 'Being as powerful as she is, there's no real reason she should ever humor anyone with anything, like me asking her to tone down her power, but she dose anyway.'

'She loves life.' he though with a fond smile at all the fun she had entertaining herself with the smallest things 'There's no end to how much she wants to experience everything...'

He though of a few other things, but those three were what really made him look at her in a different manner than he had before. He though about all the thinks he didn't like, trying to find a way to deny it, but ultimately...could not.

He did, in fact, like her.

'Ah crap, what do I do?' he thought as he paced back and forth in his office 'Do I tell her?' Would she even really understand, or even care? Would she be cheeped out?'

He could not make any decision that day, but he did decided one thing: even if he never told her, even if she hated him one day, he wanted to keep seeing her happy. He didn't know if she felt even remotely the same, but he didn't care; as long as he saw that smile that warmed his (non-existing) heart, he would be content.

In all her many hundreds of years of life, nothing came close to being as confusing and terrifying as the feelings she was having now. Nothing Milim had experienced- and she had experienced far too many things that she cared to remember properly- helped her make sense of it all. In theory, she understood; she had understood it quite well when they were at that table and Rimuru had send that charming smile her way; she hugged him, but quickly regretted it- it was even more impulsive than what she usually did and she feared Rimuru hated her for it. Even if she heard Rimuru say she was always welcomed in Tempest, that fear of being hated by him made her almost lose her mind.

She suspected, but that feeling she had when she hugged him convinced her; she was in love with Rimuru, and she had no idea what to do. What was she supposed to do next? She just could't come up with an answer that satisfied her. It hurt a lot just thinking about it, but the worse thing was that it made her so indecisive; she would usually make up her mind on something instantly, relying on her intuition to be right, which it usually was. This, however, failed her here; her intuition just wasn't telling her anything, and she wasn't sure why . She knew what the feelings she had meant- she had hear it from many fellow Demon Lords, or listen in on conversations of her followers, among a few other sources- but how would she apply that to herself in her current situation...she was at a loss there.

Not wanting to make a scene out of it, she ran from Rimuru as fast as she could, and was now held up in her guess room, hugging herself on the mattress, on the verge of crying

'Why did I do something like that?' she continually asked herself for hours 'Rimuru said he was my friend, but if I say how I really feel, he'll...he'll...' she almost could't even think of it, but 'make me leave' or 'say he actually hates me' were what she feared he would say. He seemed like he could't ever really hate anyone, but her fear just overwhelmed her anyway.

'There's no point.' she though dejectedly 'Rimuru won't like back someone like me, would he? Yeah, I bet he sees me like some dumb kid; I even look like some dumb kid. Why would he bother, when he has girls like Shuna and Shion to consider?' Not wanting to just make herself feel even worse by continuing to think about it like that, she considered just leaving right then and not looking back. Maybe, eventually, she'd just forget.

She got up and began looking around to all the cloths she had received in her short stay 'I should leave these; they'd only remind me...' and turned to leave, planing to jump out the window and fly away. However, a knock on the door stopped her. She considered not answering, but decided against it. She went and opened and...was met with Shuna. She was wearing a worried expression

-'Are you feeling okay, Lady Milim?' she asked

-'Ah...what?' the Demon Lord was caught off guard by that; why was she worried about her? Nobody ever actually worried about her. On the other hand, Shuna was looking at her with even more concern

-'I saw you leave in a hurry, and I though something bad might have happened with Sir Rimuru...' she said as she walked into the room while Milim took a few steps back in. The smaller girl tried to avoid looking at her and come up with an excuse

-'Ah, ha ha ha, of course not!' she tried to lie and hide all her emotions 'why, why would I...' however, she was stopped when Shuna placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and asked with a smile

-'Please, you don't need to hide' the ogress said. Now, Milim was seriously at a loss; she had never actually had to try and explain something like this; she wasn't even sure if she wanted too...but Shuna's reassuring smile stopped her from running away and seemed to calm her turmoiling mind a little, enough that she made the decision. That she could, just maybe, figure this out.

And so she spent the next few hours explaining everything she felt about the leader of Tempest; she began ranting for a bit and went off topic, but Shuna didn't stop her and simply listened. The ogress had always liked the small dragonoid, and was convinced that despite her power she was no different from any other person and, with the proper guidance, would become much better adjusted. She was pleased to see her becoming more considerate and mature as the weeks went by. So she listened.

Eventually, Milim finished her rant, putting all her feelings for Rimuru out in the open. She felt her face was ready to melt away from how embarrassed she was and looked at everything but the other girl, who only started at her. After a while, she heard her sigh

-'You don't need to be scared, Lady Milim.' she told her gently 'I'm sure that if you talk to him, you'll feel better. Talking is always better than bottling it in, no matter what the feeling is.'

Milim considered carefully what she said. She mostly agreed that talking was better, but how would she even start? As if reading her mind, Shuna continued 'How or when, I don't know...But if you don't, you'll just feel even worse, won't you?' Milim could only nod and sigh, plopping herself backwards onto the bed.

-'I'm sure someone like you would do it easily...' she said slowly

-'Ha ha, you think? I'm not so sure...' Shuna dismissed, looking a bit sad herself. Milim decided to ask something else

-'Would it really be okay, though? I mean, for me to...er...' she stuttered

-'Ah, why not? No one in Tempest would object!' Shuna reassured her

-'What about...er, you?' at that, Shuna had a small, barley noticeable blush appear on her face

-'Ah, ha ha...no no, it's not like that...it's... I'm more of a...I really don't...' she too stuttered for a while but quickly regained her composure 'What I want the most is for Lord Rimuru to be happy. If he is...I could not possibly be mad. Why would I be here otherwise? I had some suspicions, after all...' she told her with a light teasing smile. Milim began to panic

-'What?! You did?! But HOW?!' she shouted, but in a flash Shuna had gotten up and began moving towards the door 'Hey, answer me!' she screamed after her as Shuna stepped through the door, only stopping to offer one last supportive smile, then left. Milim felt like throwing something into the door after her, like the bed, but settled on a pillow.

The middle of autumn was also the end of the harvest season, and Tempest was about to have its very first come to and end; it was, by all accounts, a major success, and so the citizens of Tempest, at Rimuru's suggestion, were preparing a festival that their leader hopped would become a yearly thing, a holiday they would all have to look forward too. One more thing to keep the sense of community they had built.

With the preparations for that underway, Rimuru had become quite a bit more busy, though not only because of it. A few days after the Charybdis battle, Demon Lord Carrion, as promised, had send an envoy. To his surprise, it was Phobio, but this time he was very courteous and friendly; in fact, he felt almost like a completely different person. He didn't knew what his punishment was, but a quick conversation later he learned that Phobio had volunteered for the mission, so the fact that Carrion had allowed it meant he was satisfied.

The beastman had come with a letter from the Beastmaster, asking Tempest to send a delegation to Eurazania, while he would in turn send one to them. He decided on a date, then sent Phobio off with the assurance that he held no grudge at all; the beastman had offered a genuine smile at that, then was gone. So now they had far more than just the festival to work for; they would need to prepare to host the envoys of a different nation, and this time it would not be some ad-hoc meeting like when king Gazel invited himself over. This was official.

Around the same time, King Gazel, had sent an invitation, formally inviting Rimuru to come to Dwargo as the Chancellor of Tempest; he was, apparently, to be given the royal treatment (which he supposed he was), which did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves. He once again tanked the heavens slimes didn't have hearts, because he was sure his would give in to the stress. But, he was committed, so he pushed on.

Speaking of hearts, his metaphorical one was still in turmoil, ever since his epiphany on his feelings for their dragonoid guests. He wondered just what, if anything, he should do and just came blank. For a weak now, he tried burying himself in work and other activities to see if he could get his mind off of her, but could not. Especially since he still was, technically, the once in charge of handling her, so it wasn't like he could avoid her. A small mercy was that their interaction didn't seem to change much, if at all; she was sill hyper excitable about everything, and he was still trying to direct her from causing any damage. Of course, by now it was more of a running joke; he was very confident that she would not break anything important, and now that he had somewhat accepted how he felt he found himself enjoin her presence and even looking forward- if just a little- to her antics. Even in his past life, he had always had a more childish side to himself, playing videos games with his nephews, reading manga, and generally goofing off when he had free time. This was basically more of the same to him. It felt nostalgic and he was thankful.

However, he did feel something was a little off with Milim; what, he could't tell, but she was just slightly less selfish and childish, something which he was also thankful for. She had also completely ignored the whole 'hug incident', continuing as usual the next day as if nothing had happen; a few times, however, she looked like she really wanted to say something, but always changed her mind and tried to change the subject. Somewhere deep in his metaphorical heart, he dared to hope she wanted to say she liked him back...'Ha ha, fat chance, Rimuru!' he mocked himself over.

And so the days carried on, and the harvest festival was now here.

Rimuru stepped out from his office with Shion, wearing a simple outfit of white pants and a blue hoodie, having decided against some fancy formal wear. He also decided against some grand speech or ceremony; he just told everyone to have a good time and be merry, because that was what this festival was about.

As he and Shion entered the main hall, he was suddenly assaulted.

-'Rimuruuuu!' Milim's voice rang out as she rushed into the hall, followed closely by Shuna 'How do I look?' she eagerly asked.

Rimuru once again thanked his lucky stars for slime biology; Milim's outfit was nothing fancy, just a simple red yukata, and her hair was loose. But it was probably the best she had ever looked since arriving in Tempest, at least he certainly though so. Speaking of Rimuru's thoughts

'Ahhhh! NO, that is way to freaking cute! NO! Why are you doing this to me?!' trying really hard to not freak out, he ordered Great Sage to control his face and keep it from exploding red, and cast a quick glance at Shuna, who was wearing a small wry smile 'SHUNAAAA! he wanted to shout at the ogress; he didn't have any proof, but he was sure she at least suspected something, since he caught her giving him several weird glances whenever he was with Milim.

-'You look really great, Milim.' he complimented her while suppressing his other opinions. Milim had a small blush appear on her face as she looked away

-'Eh he, thank you...' but as usual, she was quick to perk back up, grabbing his hand and dragging him out through the door 'Let's gooooo!' Deciding that it would do no one any good to dwell on the situation, he decided to let her.

Outside, the citizens of Tempest were bustling in the streets, lamps overhanded from most buildings and various treats and drinks were served in stalls. Sweet aromas lingered in the air. Before anything else, he was accosted by his councilors and forced to give a speech after all. Everyone was gathered together in the main square and was looking at him on the platform they had set up for such occasions. He decided to have some fun with it, and told everyone to get a glass of something to drink. He himself had poured himself a glass of the new brandy he had created.

Once everyone was there, he signaled them to be quite; they instantly obeyed.

-'I won't bore you with something long and boring' he told them honestly 'This day, this festival, is not for that kind of thing. This day is for us to come together and have fun! Nothing else. Its the time of the year when we stop to celebrate our long year of work and toil and enjoy the fruits of our labor. So for another productive and happy year...' he raised his glass high 'Cheers! For Tempest!' and downed the glass. Everyone in the crowd cheered and repeated his words and drank.

And so the festival began in full swing. Just like he had hopped, fun and joy filled the streets; it was the start of a tradition that would carry on through the entire history of Tempest, he realized, but for now Rimuru was busy enjoying every moment of the festivities. He would leave future problems for future him.

As night dragged on, the festivities didn't show any sign of slowing down; in fact, the night just seemed to make everything go into overdrive. He had never said just how long the festival should last, so he just decided to let the people's stamina run its course; he was talking about monsters, of course, so that made things difficult to judge how long it would take, but he let it be for now.

Eventually, however, he decided he really should step back a bit and make sure no one was going too far; as much as he didn't want to, he left Milim with Shuna and began making the rounds. He stopped at nearly every corner, talking with his people and listening away at the various conversations. It dawned on him that he didn't even let a few good hours pass before he got back to work, but oh well. He enjoyed this just as much. Mostly. After a while, he decided it was time to check up on a special project he had Vesta and Gabiru work on...

He found the pair a bit outside of the city with a group of dragon-newt carrying some boxes; he smiled at the though of his scheme as he approached them

-'Everything set?' he asked Vesta, who shot him back a smile

-'Oh, yes sir!' he sounded more exited than him 'I have the supreme confidence you'll be very pleased!'

-'Ha ha, indeed!' Gabiru exclaimed 'It will be the greatest show you have ever witnessed! Leave it to us!'

-'I'm counting on you.' he told them and walked back into the city, grinning. He could't wait to see the look on everyone's faces. He made his way to the top of the main government building, sat down over the edge and waited. He looked up at the starry night, and really came to appreciate their beauty for real as he smiled.

-'I told you they were pretty!' he was startled by a voice; turning to look behind him, he saw Milim floating down with a smug look of 'I told you so!' he smiled back

-'Yes, yes, you did...' he admitted, thinking back at the time she first arrived; he also tried really hard to suppress any blush that would appear as he though of how the discussion she mentioned happened while she was completely naked with him in the hot bath. 'Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think...I though about it, dangit!' he tried and failed to not go back to that image.

'Hey, you okay?' Milim asked as she plopped herself down next to him 'You look a bit...off...' she asked with eyes full of worry.

'Well I sure as hell can't tell her WHY I'm off...' Rimuru though to himself, and tried to make up a story that wasn't a lie. 'Ah, its just...you know...I have a lot to work on...busy, busy, busy...barley had time to enjoy the festival' it wasn't a lie, technically, just deflection, so he hoped it did the trick. He looked over at her and she seemed to want to say something. This time, however, something was different. She smiled and nodded

-'Okay.' she said gently as they locked eyes 'Can I tell you something, though?'

-'Of course.' 'What is she up to?' he wondered as she took a deep breath, looking as if she was trying to calm herself from something and contemplating how to start

-'You know...' she began 'I didn't known if I should even tell you anything...so...will you promise you won't laugh or anything?' she asked with what looked like a hint of fear in her voice. He didn't knew why she would think that, but he nodded. 'I also didn't know how to say it...I'm...usually not this hesitant, you know. My instincts are like always right, so I make quick decisions about anything I do...but now...' she began fidgeting with her hands 'I got scared...'

-'Scared of what?' he asked in worry

-'That's you'd hate me...' she answered, sounding like she wanted to cry 'but even if you do, I have to tell you...'

-'Hate you? Why...' he didn't get to say anything more though as she turned to face him fully and looked him straight in the eyes, ready to accept any answer he had.

-'I love you...'