Chapter 2

*Rimuru's Perspective*

I entered the first restaurant I stumbled upon. The interior of the restaurant was loosely decorated with semi-fancy decorations, and overall it looked fairly high end. Currently they weren't very busy, so I was escorted to a rather large table with seating for 10 people. After I took a look at the menu I ordered my favorite American food: steak.

While I was sitting at the table waiting for my food, I detected quite a few curious glances in my direction from the other customers. I suppose the main culprit was my rather out-of-place looking outfit. From what I gathered on the street, apparently most commoners only had basic-looking clothes made of poor materials, and only royalty or nobles had clothes with such softness and fine thread.

Additionally, the style of the nobles' clothing differed from mine, further adding to the attraction-gathering of my outfit.

I suppose it would be rather inconvenient for me to stand out like this, huh? Let's change my outfit.

{No! Master shouldn't have to change his preferences just for these people! Instead, allow me to change theirs!}

*Sigh.* No need for that Ciel. Why do you always do this..?

10 minutes later, they brought out my juicy 100 oz steak on a plate that was clearly too small to carry the food. In fact, the largest steak that was listed on the menu was actually 16 oz, but I was starving, and specially asked for a 100oz steak. When I made the demand *erhm. Request*, the waiter stared at me for a full 3 seconds.

Anyways, after I slowly enjoyed my meal, I used Material Creation to whip up a few silver coins to pay. Weirdly enough, when I paid for my meal, all of the waiters looked even more shocked than before. I'm guessing it's because I accidentally paid them too much..? Ah well. It's not like that'd cause a large mess… right?

Now that I feel satisfied with my meal, I think I should go take a walk to work off the excess calories. Yeah, I know what you're saying, but it's the idea that counts! Besides, there was another reason why I wanted to walk around.

More specifically, the reason why was because while I was enjoying my meal, in addition to the glances from the other customers, I also detected a rather..unique stare originating from a small little spider that was hiding in the window of the restaurant. This little spider gave off the same aura as the other hundreds of spiders I ran into earlier. From this, I concluded that the tiny spiders were all related to one another somehow, and that someone was possibly controlling them from afar.

Thus, I chose to distance myself via a walk in order to try to lure them out into the open. Of course, it would be all too easy for me to simply trace the magical connection between the spiders and teleport straight to the perpetrator, but where's the fun in ruining a cool detective moment?

While I was strolling around the town, I took deep breaths and slowly breathed in the fresh nighttime air. After about 30 minutes of non-stop walking, I began to wonder if the perpetrator would ever show up. The entire time, I could tell that there were no less than 10 different spiders looking at me intently at all times. It was clear that the person, whoever they were, was trying to keep a close eye on me with their spiders.

Finally, after about an hour of walking, they finally showed up.


*Shiro's Perspective*

Nai waaaaa..

Nai wa..

Nai wa..

Backing up a little

I don't get it!

From what the spider watching in the window told me, apparently the woman entered the restaurant while wearing those unique-looking clothes of hers, and then proceeded to eat a whole 100oz steak?!

Where does all the food from that even go?! All I can see is a barren wasteland for her chest!

What did you say? I used to eat that much also?

Well, I'll have you know, I used to be a spider, so it was nothing more than basic nutrients and necessities. Yup, that's right! B-A-S-I-C nutrients.

Could the woman be doing something similar? Let's observe a while longer.

Ok, now that she's finished with her meal, let's see what happens.

HUH?! Did she seriously just pay with some silver coins?! First of all, that's WAY overkill for a little restaurant like this. It's only expected that the waiters reacted that way.

Second, where in the world did she even get that money from? She first appeared out of nowhere in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, but how about before that? No part of her outfit matches anything I've seen before, and I've gotta say, my intelligence network of mini-mes is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

Oh hey look! She's going on a walk now. Let's observe her a little bit longer.

30 minutes later

She's still on a walk. Is she just leisurely walking around? Or is she waiting for someone…?

No…. Don't tell me…

Nope. I don't want to hear it!

Nope nope nope

Nope.

UGH FINE!

I'll go see what's up. Might as well go meet them in person.

Wait.. first of all, what am I even going to say? I usually try to avoid talking.

Shut up. It's not like I don't know how to talk, ok? Got it?

Ah whatever.. Let's just deal with it when the time comes.

Ok, teleportation, commence!


*Rimuru's Perspective*

{Master, I have detected a tear in the fabric of space next to your location. Someone will arrive in the next 0.00001 seconds.}

Finally. I thought to myself while under the effects of Thought Acceleration.

Let's see who this stalker is now, shall we?

Once I turned Mind Acceleration off, the person in question immediately appeared nearby. They were roughly 50 meters behind me, and they were standing behind some trees.

Did they think I wouldn't notice them? Ah well, might as well go say hi.

I then turned around and gave them a friendly wave, as well as a smile. Then, I proceeded to walk towards them.

Upon nearing this person, or should I say, woman, the first thing I noticed was how both of her eyes were closed, and she was standing very still. Of course, there was also the fact that her entire body was purely white, but that was obvious even from far away.

Her face and body were also both quite beautiful, and her hair was laced in braids and wrapped around her shoulders.

Once I got within earshot, I proceeded to greet her with a short introduction in Japanese. Apparently, according to Ciel, this woman was able to comprehend Japanese even though the language here was certainly different.

"Hello there, I'm Rimuru Tempest. Who might you be?"

After a substantial pause of a few seconds, she finally responded with, "Shiro."

Eto... That's it?

I waited for a few more seconds for some follow-up, but that was all. She didn't utter another word afterwards.

"Umm. Ok then. I guess you're not too fond of talking?"

She then nodded.

Hmm. I guess I should start by asking her about what she was doing earlier.

"That's fine, I guess. Could you first explain to me why you were busy stalking me with those spiders of yours earlier?" I said.

For the next minute or so, we both just stood there without a single word. After quite some time, she finally responded with, "Watching Unknown Stranger. Destroyed home."

Ahh. I get it. She was watching me since I guess I cut down her spider's webs? In that case, I should quickly apologize.

"Ah. My bad. I didn't realize those webs were your spiders' homes. Allow me to sincerely apologize on behalf of Tempest."

After a pause, she responded with, "Tempest?"

"Tempest? Oh that's the name of the former empire I ruled a long, long time ago. I've since given up my kingly duties due to stress and overwork."

I paused. Then I dropped a bombshell to see her reaction.

"Speaking of stress, would you happen to know why the souls of the people around here appear so fragile and stressed out? I noticed this earlier, but almost all of the souls I've seen are old and degraded, with the exception of yours."

Upon hearing my comment, she gave a slight reaction with a jerk of her head, almost as if she was surprised at my statement.

I guess I was right on the mark, huh?

This was a thing I had noticed earlier, but when I was hypnotizing the soldiers, I also took the liberty of inspecting their souls. Since the soul also contains memory, I thought it would be a quick and easy way to learn more about the world I was in. But in the process of doing so, I realized that all of the souls of the people were quite fragile. In fact, they were even more fragile than that of the souls of the humans back on Earth.

{Master is on the right track.}

Well, that's encouraging. Let's see how she responds.

"Who… are… you?"

"Me? Well like I said earlier, I'm Rimuru Tempest. But I guess that's not what you're looking for, eh? To elaborate, I suppose I am a being which humans call 'God'. I've lived for far too long and thus went into a little sleep on this planet I whipped up a long time ago. I recently awoke in a lava cavern, which was when I stumbled upon your spiders. By the way, you're also a god, aren't you?"

"How.. do you know?"

"Well, I mean, your soul contains quite a bit of energy compared to the pitiful souls of the humans around here. Also, I can sense that you don't have a mortal lifespan. And since you don't appear to be a spiritual being, I can only assume you're one of the so-called gods in this universe."

"Anyways, as for what I'm doing here, it's simple. I just wanted to check out what's going on with this planet. I'm also looking for something to entertain me."

After a long pause of 5 minutes, she finally responded with, "Come", and held out her hand towards me.

I guess she's inviting me to teleport with her somewhere? Well, since I've got loads of time on my hands, why don't I take her up on her offer? I thought to myself as I took hold of her hand.


*Shiroari's Perspective*

I proceeded to teleport behind the silver-haired woman, into a patch of trees. There, I stood behind one of the trees and watched her from afar.

If you asked me, I would say that my teleportation skills were quite good, even for a god. Guli-guli even complimented me on my teleportation abilities once.

However, I was completely unprepared for what happened next.

A few seconds after I teleported, the person in question immediately turned around and waved at me through the trees.

NANI?!

Could she sense my teleportation?

Oh no.

Nope

I should get out of here quickly.

Alarm bells were ringing in my head, telling me this person was dangerous. In the past when I was still a little spider in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, I had to go up against many tough monsters stronger than myself. All of them gave off an aura of strength, and over time, allowed me to instinctively recognize a being stronger than myself.

Additionally, after I teleported I had appraised them with my appraisal Evil Eye, which allows me to detect the strength of someone's soul. To my complete surprise; however, the soul of the person in front of me was not readable.

By not readable, I don't mean that I got an [Unable to be Appraised] message from the Appraisal skill using the System, but I instead literally could not observe their soul.

When I tried to, all that I could see was a black and empty void, where their soul should have been. All souls normally shine or give off some sort of "light", but when I tried to look at this person's soul, instead of giving off light, it seemed to be "absorbing" light, and looked like the embodiment of the void itself. In fact, it looked to me like their soul didn't even exist and had no presence in this world.

The only other person who's soul even somewhat resembled this was D. Her soul was similar in that it was pitch black, but even then, it still emitted some sort of response when I viewed it.

But now; however, this person's soul was even beyond that of D's. It was simply an endless void.

To top it all off, I had only briefly observed this person's soul when suddenly, it went away. The all-consuming void all but disappeared completely from the world.

Now, it looked like they had no soul, and weren't even alive. Observing a rock would have yielded a larger response compared to this girl. It was like they were an anomaly to the world itself.

The alarm sounds in my head were ringing even louder now, and I was seriously considering running away.

Before I got the chance, though, the woman had already walked in front of me, and began saying something.

"Hello there, I'm Rimuru Tempest. Who might you be?"'

Oh hey. That's a language I haven't heard in a long, long time.

Good to see another fellow Japanese here.

...

WAIT WHAT?!

….

Ummmm.. Come again?

Was that Japanese that I just heard?!

No way, right?!

Nai waaa

Ok but seriously.

Who in the world is this person?

How do they know Japanese?

What are they doing here?

What's up with their weird clothes?

I had SO MANY questions.

Oops. I might've spent a little bit too long thinking.

For now, let's just answer with my name.

"Shiro."

A few seconds later she replied with, "Umm. Ok then. I guess you're not too fond of speaking?"

YUP!

CORRECT! 10/10!

I hate talking. FINALLY someone who understands me!

I nodded in response.

The next sentence however, stopped me in my tracks.

"That's fine, I guess. Could you first explain to me why you were busy stalking me with those spiders of yours earlier?"

Huh?

Stalking?

I wasn't stalking anyone, thank you very much. If I was, I'd probably get arrested for it.

Spiders of mine?

Ah! You mean my babies! Yup!

They sent me an alert saying someone was destroying their home, so I intervened.

There. Are you happy?

Wait.

How did they know those were my babies? They even said, "spiders of yours". Clearly they knew they were either my pets or children.

The spiders ARE white and all, but still. What are the odds of that being a coincidence?

This person is definitely strong. I can't let my guard down. In fact, she might even be stronger than D.

Since I was keeping my guard up, I cautiously replied with, "Watching Unknown Stranger. Destroyed home."

Yup. Good job, me! I managed to get out 2 whole phrases! I should deserve a pat on the back for that one.

In response, she apologized with, "Ah. My bad. I didn't realize those webs were your spiders' homes. Allow me to sincerely apologize on behalf of Tempest."

Huh? Tempest? What sort of chuuni name is that?

Didn't they also introduce themselves as Rimuru Tempest, or something like that?

To find out, I asked, "Tempest?"

Rimuru answered with, "Tempest? Oh that's the name of the former empire I ruled a long, long time ago. I've since given up my kingly duties due to stress and overwork."

I feel you there. Paperwork is the bane of my existence. EVERY SINGLE DAY I get dragged into my office by Felicia and have to fill out paperwork as the head of the 10th Demon Army. WHY?! All I want to do is laze around in the Duke's mansion and do nothing.

Huh? You're telling me that people who don't work, don't eat? Shut up!

I've done a lot of other things, thank you very much.

And she used to be a king, huh?

..

Wait.. she.. Was a King?

Not a Queen?

No… don't tell me. Is this one of those "traps" you often encounter?

Her next statement; however, absolutely floored me.

"Speaking of stress, would you happen to know why the souls of the people around here appear so fragile and stressed out? I noticed this earlier, but almost all of the souls I've seen are old and degraded, with the exception of yours."

…..

WHAT THE HECK?! DID SHE JUST DROP A BOMBSHELL?

My mind was utterly shocked. In fact, I think I even gave off a slight twitch of my head from the shock I suffered.

How could this person, who I've never seen before, just casually discover one of the greatest secrets of this world, which only we, the administrators know of, and treat it as if it's NOTHING?!

….

NAI WAAA.

...

NAI

WAAA

I DON'T WANNA. Just let me leave, please. I beg you.

I'm sure that if I were to leave right now though, she wouldn't let me get away.

Resolved to find out, I asked the question, "Who… are… you?".

I was expecting the worst, but the result I got exceeded even my worst nightmare.

"Me? Well like I said earlier, I'm Rimuru Tempest. But I guess that's not what you're looking for, eh? To elaborate, I suppose I am a being which humans call 'God'. I've lived for far too long and thus went into a little sleep on this planet I whipped up a long time ago. I recently awoke in a lava cavern, which was when I stumbled upon your spiders. By the way, you're also a god, aren't you?"

Well.. it's confirmed I guess.

The person in front of me is a true, bona fide god. Unlike me who was just recently deified and wet behind the ears, they seemed to have existed for much longer. In fact, the way Rimuru phrased it, it seems like she was the one who CREATED the planet ITSELF. And the way she referred to the age of the planet as "a little sleep", tells me she's at least several billion years old, if not much older.

To make things even worse, they referred to themselves as "God", with a capital G.

Not lowercase g.

But CAPITAL G.

Yup.

Nai wa.

I'm completely out of my league here.

During this time, she continued talking, but I missed most of it except for the last few lines.

"Anyways, as for what I'm doing here, it's simple. I just wanted to check out what's going on with this planet. I'm also looking for something to entertain me."

Entertainment? Oh no.

This sounds like a certain god that I know whose name starts with the letter 'D' and ends with the letter 'D'. This is definitely not going to end well. I 100% CANNOT let these two get into contact with each other.

After spending 5 minutes trying to come up with a plan, I finally said "Come", and held out my hand to her.

If she's going to be here for some entertainment, why don't I use her to help my plans as well?

Hehehe.