Chapter 10: Conquering the Labyrinth
It had been a month since he had come to Ingrassia and became a teacher at he Freedom Academy, and Rimuru was beginning to finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Though he had searched in every library in Ingrassia, which were some of the largest in the world, he did not find much on the issue the summoned children were facing. He guessed it there was, Shizu or someone else would have found it by now and it would't be an issue by now. Fortunately, he had gotten a general idea of what he needed to do, thanks to some simple deduction
-'Alright, everyone take a break!' he shouted to the kids, who were busy sparing with each other. They were currently outside the city limits, where he had instructed them to do some mock battles in the hope that it would expend some of their unused energy; it didn't seem to be doing much- if anything- but at least he hoped it kept them occupied and not dwell on their situation to much.
-'Woo hoo! Food!' shouted Ken as he rushed ahead of the group to where he set up a picknic
-'Hey, no fair Ken!' shouted Alice after him. The group quickly- and loudly- made their way to where he was and began digging in with little manners. He shook his head with a fond smile, remembering someone else who did much the same...
-'Ah, hey Teach, what's with that weird smile?' Alice asked with a skeptical look'
-'Ha ha, nothing nothing.' he said as he sat down 'You lot just made me remember someone...' he said a bit sadder
-...'what dose...' Alice wanted to say something more but Gail quickly interrupted
-'Alice, it isn't nice to pry into other people's busyness.' he scolded and looked at Rimuru 'sorry, she doesn't know when to stop..'
He just laughed it off, however, and said 'No, it's fine. I should be focused here anyways...' he said as he began eating. The other kids exchanged glances, looking like they decided to ask about it later. He mentally sighed, but was kinda happy too. He knew he was close to figuring it out.
A week prior, after exhausting the libraries in both the Freedom Academy and the Guild Headquarters, he decided to try his luck and go out on a hunch. For that, he wanted to brainstorm with his advisors back in Tempest; fortunately, going back proved much easier thanks to Vesta and his teleportation circles. Rimuru had learned how to set them up himself, and while a trip from Lune and Tempest would take a lot of energy, he had plenty. The journey was instantaneous too, so it was well worth it. Of course, he had to set up a temporary circle outside the city, otherwise the magical barrier would immediately detect it's activation and he would be busted. But still, it was leagues better than a week of travel by carriage (or day at best by flight; thanks to finally assimilating Charybdis fully, he was capable of much faster flying speeds, but that would be a: less energy efficient and not as quick and b: might get him into trouble as he flew over human lands.).
In Tempest, he gathered everyone who was close to him and presented some souvenirs (mainly sweets from the world-renown bakers of Lune) and explained to them his predicament. Many were understandably shocked, with some (Rigurd) openly crying at their plight. However, thanks to Treyni being there, he did manage to confirm his hypothesis: the way to save them involved mimicking Shizu, who had been fused with the higher spirit Ifrit. As Treyni explained, spirits were highly adapt at controlling energy like the one going amok in the children's bodies, but there was a big problem: only higher level spirits, or higher elementals, would be good enough for the level they had. The only sure way to have a chance of acquiring some was through the Queen of Spirits. Even assuming the higher spirits wanted to help, no one, even the dryads who were once the servants of the previous Queen, knew where the current one was located.
Thus he returned to Lune with a firm idea in mind: find some higher elementals, at any cost. He searched the books he read again but didn't find anything solid. In the meantime, he had to keep the kids occupied, hence their current picnic.
They spent some more time talking about various things when suddenly a screech echoed through the land. Looking up into the sky, he saw a demonic looking dragon soaring straight towards the city. He quickly calmed the kids down when he saw them panicking; the dragon, he knew, had no chance of penetrating the city barrier...but the people outside the city were another thing. Near the gate entrance, he could see a long line of travelers and merchants still in customs. They would be sitting ducks to the monster, and so he decided to quickly take actions
-'Stay here.' he told the kids 'I need to do something.'
-'Are you crazy?!' Alice shouted 'You can't take on something like that! Look how big it is!' the other kids looked equally unconvinced. He smiled softly at them
-'Don't underestimate your teacher!' he said as he began taking a different form; it wouldn't do for some in the city to recognize him, after all. The kids looked on in awe, but he didn't have time to enjoy their admiration 'Ranga...' the Tempest Wolf quickly jumped out of his shadow 'Look after them.' he said, not bothering to listen to a confirmation as he flew off on two large wings.
The dragon was fairly high level- and arch dragon, in fact, almost on the same playing field as Charybdis- but thanks to Gluttony he wasn't much of an issue; in fact, he had to laugh at how quickly he resolved it. The people were safe, but more importantly he met someone when he killed the dragon.
His name was Gard Mjollmile.
Gard Mjollmile was a famous and well connected merchant, famous (or infamous) through much of the western nations; he was also the owner of several shops and was even known as a money lender that even nobles would be wary of. When in Blumund, Rimuru had set up a good deal to have his potions set up in the market, but he needed a good, reputable merchant for that. Minister Velyard and Fuze immediately recommended Mjollmil; Rimuru trusted their judgement and had them contact the man, who was given special permission to purchase potions in Tempest at a premium and sell them himself. They both would make money and news would spread about their quality potions. As luck had it- or misfortune, some would say- Mjollmile was now in Ingressia to sell the very same potions; he nearly got eaten by the dragon when Rimuru saved him. When he saw the potions, he quickly deduced who the person was.
Later, Rimuru and the kids had been invited by Mjollmile to attend diner at a famous restaurant (which he had bought for the night just for them) as gratitude for saving his life. While the kids enjoyed the quality food- and later busy reading the manga he had made for them- Rimuru and Mjollmile were busy discussing busyness. The man was shameless about being a merchant, but had more than a good heart and was an expert at what he did; the two quickly struck a friendly relationship and agreed to some new trade deals.
The real surprise came when he met one of the hostesses at the bar: an elf woman whom he recognize from the 'gentleman establishment' he had visited in Dwargon. After talking for a bit, he learned the woman was a traveller who originated from Ulgrasia, a small nation far in the south, past the elf nation of Thalion (or rather the Sorcerer Dynasty of Thalion). The interesting pit came from what the people there were known for: worshiping and bonding with spirits. When he asked about the Spirit Queen, she informed him that she lived in a place called the Dwelling of Spirits, the entrance to which could move around at the Queen's will...and was currently in Ulgrasia.
Well, he most certainly had a destination in mind now...
Some time later, Republic of Ulgrasia
Getting into Ulgrasia was fairly easy, as the borders were largely open to travelers, but getting to the entrance of the Dwelling was less than easy, as it was in a heavily forested region. First, he went there alone, as quickly as he could; once he found the place, he set up a transportation circle to make things easier for the kids. Then he got back and prepared them for a journey.
The entrance was a large, engraved door that looked like it had been carved into a massive tree.
-'Whoa, cool.' Ryota said awed, as they stood in front of the thing
-'Kinda scary...' Chloe said as she clung to his shirt on one side, while Alice was on the other.
-'No worries. I'm here.' he told them 'This is it, guys. Our chance to make you better. Come on...' he steped forward and heaved the great doors open, then stepped inside with confidence. They also called this place the Labyrinth, but it was actually just a really massive corridor with columns running on either sides. And it was dark, illuminated only by lamps that didn't chase the darkness away for more than a few meters away. He made his own light source anyways.
As they moved further in, he realized that they must have been walking for at least an hour. He stopped, enhancing his magical sense, but didn't see anything but more corridor ahead.
'He he he, so you noticed, huh?' a voice rang out, sounding as if it came from inside his head; looking to the startled kids, he realized they too heard it 'Yes, be afraid! Ha ha ha! That's great!'
The voice continued to taunt them, but when he didn't show signs of fear- instead he increased his aura output- the voice seemed displeased 'Ah, c'mon! If you're not gonna be scared, then be dead! Ha ha ha!'
At that, a massive golem like thing came out of the darkness, taking a stance in front of them 'He he, if you can beat this, I'll be gracious and let you leave alive!' the voice said.
-'Just beat this, huh?' he said as he took a step forward, drawing his sword 'Fine by me...' and lunged at it with a heavy swing. While the golem evaded, it didn't matter in the long run. Rimuru enhanced his sword with his aura, increasing it's sharpness and durability several folds. One strike would be enough, and it didn't take long for him to defeat it. He was faster and managed to land a clear diagonal cut; the thing crumbled into pieces instantly. He could hear the panic in the voices as he landed.
Without sheeting his blade, he turned to one of the columns 'I know where you are, so if you don't want to be next, get out.' he coldly said; he knew roughly the direction, but not exactly where, but it didn't matter. A small figure, a small, pixie or fairy girl, quickly emerged from the shadows, sweating bullets
-'Yes, YES!' it shouted in a high pitch voice 'I am here, please don't hurt me!' she said as she saluted him
-'A fairy?' he heard one of the kids say 'It's kinda cute!' Alice said.
The fairy in question began scratching its head, looking sheepishly at them 'He he, Hello...I am the grea-ack!' she shouted in pain 'Did she bit her tongue?' Rimuru asked himself 'I guess they must be used to talking telepathically'
-'Do you great all your guests with violence?' he asked, but she looked kinda insulted
-'Ha, says the HOME INVADER!' she shouted loud enough to make some of the kids cover they ears. He released some of his aura to make her back off; she instantly did
-'So who the heck are you?' he asked. She took a haughty look, one that really irked him for some reason
-'I am one of the Ten Great Demon Lords, Ramiris of the Labyrinth! Now kneel before me!' Rimuru- or the kids for that matter- were not impressed 'A demon lord? This puny little thing?' was what they all though. 'Hey, you were thinking something rude, weren't you?!' the 'Demon Lord' shouted indignant
-'Well, yeah. Try to sell a better lie next time.' he told her exasperated 'Listen, as it happens I am close with an actual Demon Lord. Her name is Milim and...' he stopped himself from saying something he didn't want yet to get out. He noticed that the kids shot him a look of concern, but he decided to continue with something else 'you being a Demon Lord like her is just absurd.'
Hearing that, Ramiris lost it. Her face twisted into a grimace and her eyes twitched 'eh..AAAAA!' she shouted and pointed at him as if hit by some realization 'You! Are you that slime that supposedly started a nation of monsters in the Jura Forest?! That Rimuru?!' he just nodded. She got worse 'Arrgg, NOO! Dammit! Damn that Milim! She shows up here for the first time in ages, bragging about her new 'friends' in Tempest or whatever and i just CHASED HER AWAY, LAUGHING AT HER! I'll never hear the end of it now!' she grabbed and pulled at her hair before turning to him and screaming at the top of her voice 'STUPID!' over and over again until he had enough. He swatted her like a bug.
After a while, they were all seated around in a circle, several fairies swarming around them much to the kid's delight. Ramiris had finally called down; he had made some tea and presented some food to them to keep things from escalating.
-'Listen, that Milim is on a league of her own even among the Demon Lords.' she explained while munching on a cookie 'We're nothing alike; she's the brute of the group, while I...' she again took on a haughty look 'I am the beautiful and intelligent o...hey!' she screamed as she barley avoided his hands 'What's the big idea?!'
-'Ah, sorry, but when I saw your smug face I could't help myself.' he also wasn't very happy with this annoying insect calling his girlfriend a brute, but he kept that to himself.
-'Listen you, you can't treat a QUEEN like that, you hear me?!' she said
-'Queen?' he asked, then added 'Wait, are YOU the Queen of Spirits? I find that hard to believe...' he said with a deadpan face
-'Ah, yes, yes I AM!' she protested
-'How can a Demon Lord become the Queen of Spirits?'
-'Ah, no no, you got it backwards!' Ramiris quickly interjected 'I was the Queen of Spirits first! Then things...happened...and I fell from grace.' she said with a weird look on her face 'But I am still the Queen of Spirits. Always have, always will be.'
-'Wait, always have...' he said with some realization 'so you're the same Queen the dryads of the Jura Forest served?'
-'Ah, yeah, the dryads!' she quickly replied 'I remember them! That was centuries ago, before the Storm Dragon was sealed! He he, they were such cute little spirits back then! Especially that Treyni' she giggled
Hearing that she knew Treyni, Rimuru realized that the pixie- though annoying- was telling the truth. He did wanted to ask more- like what the 'thing' was that caused her to fall from grace- but decided to move on with the reason they were there. He spent the next few minutes explaining the kid's situation and his own theories (and how he arrived at them). After listening, Ramiris remained silent, with an aura or seriousness that he though didn't really match her personality but would surely match a Queen of Spirits
-'Hmm, I see.. yes, I heard about these kind of things.' she said as she flew over the kids, looking down at them with kind eyes 'Alright, I'll help ya out!' she exclaimed
-'You will?' 'Really?!' 'Woohoo!' the kids all began shouting
-'Yeah, of course! It's my duty, after all, as the Queen of Spirits to guide heroes and champions!'
-'I see...' Rimuru said as he looked at her. He and the kids began following her down a side corridor she had opened for them; as they walked, he asked 'Do you get many of those? Heroes I mean?'
-'Ah, not as often as I'd like...the last was like two hundred years ago and he was a HUGE disappointment!'
-'Disappointment?' he asked in confusion. She then launched on a tirade about how some summoned kid who had been deemed the Hero came to her looking for specific spells. Even after passing the trials meant for Heroes, he kept coming back, eventually asking for a help with summoning spells, which she couldn't help with. Apparently, he broke down crying, then stole some high elementals from her. The crazy part was that, apparently, the Hero was Leon Cromwell...who later became a Demon Lord, and was the one who had summoned Shizu to this world; Ifrit was one of the spirits stolen from Ramiris. He was miffed to say the least to hear the great Demon Lord he was planing to slug was not just a Hero once, but a giant crybaby.
In any case, Ramiris lead them to a large chamber with a huge column in the middle from which extended several walkways that looked to be made of nothing but magicules. An eerie beam of light shone upon the top of the column, which Ramiris explained to be the most important spiritual shrine in the world. If one prayed at it, they were certain to at least attract a spirit's attention- even if they didn't descent to them, the spirits energy would be siphoned off and one could, technically, even create a pseudo-spirit with them (the last bit he was informed of by the Great Sage).
Starting with the oldest, Gail, they headed for the altar.
-'Just think something!' Ramiris instructed 'It can be anything, like a 'please help me!' or a 'come out at play!'' she dramatically said 'as long as it attracts their attention, it's fine!'
An so Gail knelled down on the platform and began praying. No spirit came at first, but numerous 'flakes' of spiritual energy began descending down like snow. Thinking about what Great Sage said, Rimuru quickly gobbled them up, ignoring Ramiris' protests and instructed Great Sage to form a higher spirit with the absorbed energy; infusing the resulting pseudo-spirit with a pseud-personality, he then had the think fused with Gail. After a quick analysis, he was extremely happy to announce that it had worked. Gail was no longer going to die.
After a quick cheer, he began taking turns with the other kids. He didn't quite knew what to say when Kenta summoned some high level light spirit that happily fused with him, but decided to think on it later. More problems came with Chloe
As the black haired girl was kneeling down, she looked at Rimuru shyly and stuttered an 'I love you..' at him. He was really caught off guard but quickly regained his composure, scratching his cheek he said
-'Ah, he he, thank you but...erm...see, I already have someone...' he told her. He also wanted to tell her she was his student and her age was barley even in the double digits, but refrained from it. Chloe had a weird look on her face but seemed to accept the answer and continued praying. What happend next, he wasn't sure at all. Another spirit, a mature looking woman in a white dress, appeared and looked rather angry at him for some reason... she lunged at him, grabbed his face and tried to kiss him, but being a spirit passed right through, then headed for Chloe with a dejected looking face. Ramiris was quite freaked out for some reason, trying to stop her, but it was useless. She fused with Chloe and was gone. On the plus side, Chloe too was cured. Ramiris wasn't much help describing what the spirit was, saying something about the Great Time Spirit; he got none of it so decided to ignore it.
Thus his mission came to an end; he had saved the Shizu's students and could already feel a sense of relief wash over him. Before he left, he made Ramiris a new guardian to replace the one he destroyed. He made a puppet body and summoned a higher demon to inhabit it, named it Beretta and called it a day.
Before leaving, he decided to have a quick conversation with Ramiris
-'Hey, by the way, how was Milim doing when she came around here?'
Ramiris turned from gushing about Beretta and looked a bit confused 'Eh? Milim?' she asked as she began thinking 'She looked the usual to me! Loud, annoying, clueless about stuff most people call common sense!' she laughed again, so he suppressed the desire to swatt her; and she had no right to call anyone 'loud' or 'annoying'. He wondered about the other thing though...
-'Common sense? Like what?' he was a bit confused when Ramiris suddenly stopped laughing and looked embarrasses. '
-'Ah, errm, nothing really! Ha ha...' 'Why is she red?' Rimuru wanted but also did not wanted to know. So he just shrugged and left.
A long distance away, a certain Demon Lord shattered a glass of wine in her hand. 'Oops, really sorry about that!' Milim sheepishly said. Across from her, Demon Lord Fret looked unperturbed. They were sitting in her room, having lunch
-'Everything okay?' the harpy asked concerned 'Is the plan...'
Milim quickly waved dismissively 'Everything is going along just fine, don't worry!' she added 'I'm almost there with my assessment, just a few more days.'
-'Then what was that about?' Frey motioned to the broken glass; Milim sheepishly laughed
-' I felt a sudden urge to smash something.' the red haired girl said casually 'like someone was talking smack about me, somewhere...' she looked off into the distance, specifically to the west...
Frey just sipped her wine.
A few weeks had passed since Rimuru and the summoned children returned to Ingrassia from the Dwelling of Spirits. While their condition was theoretically solved, he wanted to stay a little longer to make sure there were no unforeseen side effects, as well as to ensure they would get a good sense on handling the spirits that now dwell within them. He wasn't sure what kind of powers they would now get- such as Shizu, who was able to control fire and summon Ifrit- but he could already feel their magicule level go up drastically, even if they weren't children. He was certain they would easily be categorized as D- at least, which would be no mean feet even for an adventurer. More than instructing them, however, he wanted to keep on hanging out with them;
Basically, he didn't want to say goodbye, not yet. And so he had spent the next month or so making as much of the time they had left; after making sure a suitable teacher would replace him, he began planing a camping trip to a nearby forest as a big final bonding experience.
They had already spent several days on the trip, fishing, playing in the river or simply wandering around the forests, admiring nature. On the last night they had gathered around a large fire for dinner, which was when...
As they were sitting around the fire in a circle, they were taking among each other about various things. Suddenly, he could hear the two girls, Alice and Chloe, whispering to each other. He had a bad feeling about but tried to ignore it. As he was sipping his tea, the two's seemed to get into a heated debate and
-'Hey, Teach, is it true you have a girlfriend?!' Alice asked all of a sudden. Caught off guard, he spilled everything he was drinking, right in the face on an unfortunate Ranga.
-'Eh, huuuh?! Wha...whe?' he quickly sputtered as everyone turned their attention to the blond girl
-'Well, Chloe said...' she tried to quickly add but Chloe interrupted
-'That's not what I said, Alice...' she said in her usual timid voice, sounding embarrassed to be mentioned
-'Well, what else dose it mean, huuuh?!' Alice grumbled.
Gale, meanwhile, shook his head and sighed 'Alice, it's not nice to pry into people's life like that' he said as he looked over at Rimuru apologetically
-'Pfff, who cares if he dose, anyway?' Kenya added, bored. Alice shot him a dirty look
-'Ha, just what a brat might say!' she said trying to sound far more mature than she actually was. Kenya, for his part, didn't bite her trap, only smirked
-'That's funny coming from you.' he said dismissively 'You're the youngest here, and thus the brattiest.' he told her.
Alice's face turned red as she stood up 'WHAT did you say, punk?!'
Kenta got up too 'Reed my lips!' and was about to say something rude but Rimuru quickly jumped in before things got out of hand, as it usually happened with the two.
-'Alright, alright, sit down and calm down!' he got between them and placed his hands on their shoulders, gently pushing them down. After he was sure they calmed down, he sat back in his place with a heavy sigh. Looking at the questioning look on everyone's faces, though, he realized he wasn't gonna get away from the original question; even Kenya, who said he didn't car, was shooting curious glances out of the corner of his eyes. He sighed...
-'Fine, fine.' he eventually relented 'Yes, Alice, I DO have a girlfriend...'
-'I knew it!' she immediately said, looking proud of herself. She and everyone else quickly began throwing questions at him, like 'Is she pretty?' or 'how long?' or 'how strong is she?' (you can guess who asked the last one)
He just held his hands up to stop the barrage of questions, then began giving them some- vague- answers. They continued talking about it for several more hours.
-'Whoa, a Demon Lord?!' Kenya gasped; the others too had somewhat concerned expressions
-'Hey, it's not as bad as it sounds...' he tried to defend himself 'You met Ramiris; she's also a Demon Lord, and she wasn't that bad, was she?' he said, leaving out how he found her both annoying and far too weak to be considered a Demon Lord. 'And Milim, well...she can be a handful, at times, but she was never malicious or anything like that...in fact, she's was a real life saver when my city was being threatened by a huge monster that even I could do nothing against.' he told them. The kids perked up at that, looking awed
-'She's that strong?' Ryota asked '
-'Yeah, she is. But that's not all she is...she's friendly, cheerful...would rather goof off, have fun and enjoy some sweets than do anything you hear Demon Lords supposedly do...' as he said that, the others noticed he had a somewhat distant and sad expression on and exchanged glances 'Ah, but also, she always seemed...' he said as he looked up at the night sky 'really lonely...'
-'Maybe she doesn't have many friends?' Chloe said 'Being a Demon Lord sounds scary, so...maybe people are too afraid of her to become her friends?' she said in a surprisingly wise tone. Rimuru looked at her
-'Yeah, maybe...' he muttered as he considered her words. She seemed a bit...different than when they first met, but he couldn't put his hand on it
-'Hey, could we meet her one day?' Alice asked suddenly 'I really kinda want to meet her and...maybe we could be friends too?' she said
-'Any friend of Teacher is a friend of mine, too!' Kenya added. Rimuru heard that and though
-'You know, that actually sounds like a good idea...' he told them 'He he, you guys and her would get along, I think. She can be pretty...childish...' he smiled fondly 'but, then again, I can too...'
-'Yeah, we know, Teach!' Alice replied with a smirk
-'Heh, don't think we didn't notice you putting more sweeteners in your coffee than a five year old in his mouth at a candy store!' Kenya laughed
-'Or how you hold on to Ranga like a teddy bear when you sleep outside!' Alice said. Kenya was about to say more when Rimuru grabbed both their heads and ruffled their hair violently, ignoring their protests
-'You cheeky brats...' he grumbled 'Don't make fun of adults!' the others laughed at the two as they got their 'punishment', but then Rimuru let go and turned to them, a dangerous glint in his eyes 'Heh, don't think the rest of you lot will be spared!' he said as he menacingly twitched his fingers at them.
Immediately, the kids bolted out of their seats, Rimuru hot on their heals. No one's hair was shown any mercy that night.
A few days later, it was finally time. He had to leave and return to Tempest.