Note: I would like to address several things (don't worry nothing serious)
For one, Shizue does in fact have an Ultimate Skill(s) :)
Second, I am a light novel reader, and in the light novel translations (at least the fan ones I read), Rimuru underestimates himself a lot, and I tried to portray him as similar as possible to that version of him. Of course, I may have cranked up the humor a bit.
Thank you all and have an amazing weekend!
...
After everyone had settled down, Rimuru then continued.
"Look, during the final battle, I made a parallel self. You know, before I reincarnated here, because I didn't want my old colleagues to be sad and stuff… Right now, I can no longer sense him, so I'm heading out there to check on him, see if anything is wrong. I'll be back eventually, so take care of Tempest while I'm gone, ok?"
Silence followed. Then, one by one, the subordinates stated their opinion. Their opinions were all the same.
"""My Lord, at the very least, please take someone with you to ensure your safety!"""
Rimuru, expecting this answer, moved to refuse.
"Are you sure about this, Rimuru-san?" asked Shizue, seemingly reading his mind and understanding what he wished to do.
"Dammit, why do women always have to be so intuitive?"
"Look, this is my parallel self, and as such, my business. It has nothing to do with any of you, so please, for once, let me do this myself!"
And yet, he already knew their answer.
"Rimuru-sama, please, we understand your feelings, but at the same time, we wish for nothing but your safety. So please heed our selfish request, and bring someone with you!" said Benimaru, stating the group's opinion.
Seeing no way to convince them, Rimuru sighed.
"Very well, one person, at max two. And preferably, it is someone from this group, since I want my departure to stay a secret, understood?"
"""Yes!"""
"Firstly, I really want to drag as little people as possible into this. Secondly, I don't want Milim or Ramris to do something stupid so that's why I'm not notifying them. I'll trust my subordinates to deal with them when the time comes."
Rimuru then considered who to bring.
Geld was a no go, he was needed for construction work.
Gabil was unavailable as well, since he was needed for the Hipokute Herb management.
The demoness trio were needed at the Tempest Federation, so they were a no go.
Zegion, preferably, stayed in the Labyrinth, since he stood out like a sore thumb, and Rimuru was in no mood to prepare a homunculus, since he was in a hurry.
Going by that logic, that would cross out Aldaman and Ranga and Kurama.
Shuna was not battle oriented, and she was needed at Tempest, so sadly she couldn't come.
Souei was needed for gathering intelligence, in case some terrorists like the Humanity Emancipation Alliance showed up again.
Shion, surprisingly, was actually in the middle of taking cooking lessons from Shuna, so she couldn't come. Rimuru desperately wanted Shion to improve her cooking too, so he went with this excuse to not bring Shion.
That left Benimaru and Diablo.
Benimaru was needed as the General of the Army, in case something happened.
And Rimuru refused to bring Diablo, as he thought it would be troublesome, and Diablo also needed to supervise Carrera, Ultima and Testarossa.
"So the only two people that I could bring, out of everyone here, is either Veldora or Shizue. An easy decision."
["Yes Master. Veldora will be a great asset to us."]
"Haaah?" thought Rimuru. " Ciel, is something wrong with your head? There is no way IN HELL I am bringing that spoiled brat. He's bound to cause trouble! Wait, this is about bringing Shizue, is it?!"
[" I have no idea what you are talking about, Master. Now we need to hurry up." ]
"Ugh, Ciel is so unreliable sometimes…"
"Alright, so it's either going to be Shizue or Veldora. Kurama, Ranga, Zegion, Aldaman, you guys stick out too much. Souei, Shuna, Benimaru, Geld, Gabil, Carrera, Ultima, Testarossa, you guys will be needed here at Tempest while I'm gone. Diablo, you need to keep Ultima and Carrera from blowing the place up if they fight."
"""...Understood…"""
"Stop looking so depressed!" he thought.
Veldora then stepped in to voice his opinion.
"Hey Hey Rimuru, can't you just bring both of us?"
"Yes, Rimuru-san. Although I have gained a tremendous amount of strength thanks to you, I feel that having Veldora with us can at least bolster our strength, and put less stress on you." added Shizue.
"Yea… but Veldora needs to stay near to the labyrinth to give Ramris enough magicules to keep it running…"
"Aw come ON Rimuru, PLEASE. I'm getting bored…"
"Of course entertainment is all you are after…"
"Besides," continued Veldora. "We recently had a breakthrough, I can store my magicules within the labyrinth through a device that Vesta developed. It can last up to 6 months, half a year!"
"WHAAAAAT?!" yelled Rimuru.
"OH COME ON, AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO DID NOT KNOW OF THIS?! Shizue's not even surprised! Don't go revealing massive technological advances like that!"
"Alright fine, both of you guys can come. Now then, this is goodbye for now, we will be back in around 6 months, max."
Saying this, Rimuru teleported Shizue and Veldora to his original world…
…
…
…
A barren and desolate wasteland greeted them. The sky was dark, the ground covered in dust. Broken down and windowless buildings surrounded them, with cobwebs covered the space between cracks and window frames. Rubble of once proud skyscrapers was found everywhere, and the whole place reeked of death, destruction and sadness.
"Oi Oi Rimuru, is this really where you used to live?" asked Veldora.
"Veldora really has no tact does he…" thought Rimuru.
"Rimuru-san, this is completely different from the memories you showed me. Something must have happened…" stated Shizue with a frown.
"Yea, something bad happened here…" said Rimuru. "Try looking around for any signs of life, to see if anyone is here."
"Alright." responded Shizue, before running South of their location.
"You got it Rimuru!" responded Veldora, before he flew North of their location.
Rimuru then sat down on some rubble, his mind racing.
"Ciel, can you try and determine what happened?"
["Understood, Master! Though it will take some time…" ]
"It's fine, thank you Ciel."
Rimuru then started to think. He started to ask himself questions. Could he restore this world? Should he? If the world ended and that was its course, should he change this fate? But he really wanted to see his other self. And his co-workers. And Tamura and his annoying girlfriend.
His thoughts were interrupted as Veldora landed beside him, panicked in expression.
"Rimuru, you won't believe what I saw! SKELETONS. Like the dead ones, not the reanimated ones. They are decomposing, but they still have clothes on them. Even the bones are breaking down! How long does that take?! Plus, not all of them are even human!"
Silence. Then, Rimuru spoke.
"It takes a very long time… so it seems that it has been like this for a longtime now…"
Veldora grimaced, the reality of the situation hitting him. Rimuru deeply cared for anyone related to him. His subordinates, his friends, his old colleagues. Hell, he could probably throw Ruminas, Leon, Dino and his two older sisters into the mix as well! Their deaths could deeply impact him.
"Well, I guess we wait for Shizue then, right?" asked Veldora, no longer in his usual happy go lucky mood.
"Yea…" responded Rimuru.