That time I got reincarnated as a slime does not belong to me.
Turn the Clock:
Demon Lord Milim Nava. A frightening existence but he held no fear for her.
"Pleased to meet you! I'm the Demon Lord Milim Nava! I came to greet the strongest being here!" Were the words she used as her introduction, words he remembered hearing before.
"The pleasure is all mine! I'm the slime Rimuru Tempest, the leader of this city. You're amazing, to have seen through me."
"Fufun! Nothing escapes my sight! My [Dragon Eye] can see even hidden magical energy! I can't be deceived!"
"That's one handy ability. You must be an even more amazing fighter than you already seem to be with it."
She grinned "I know, right?! I'm amazing!"
"Indeed." He nodded softly "What brings a Demon Lord here though?"
"I just came to greet you." She stated bluntly. Honest as always. "But I want to ask something, too! You know, when we saw you through Gelmudo's eyes, I thought you were amazing, but you're already an Awakened Demon Lord." She said the last part while leaning close, in a hushed voice "You should declare yourself a Demon Lord right away! You have every right to! A Demon Lord with your strength… you might be able to beat even me! Maybe even Guy!"
He shook his head "Haha, that's flattering but I have to refuse."
"W-What?!" She yelled shocked "But why?! You'd be such an amazing Demon Lord! Y-you can fight all kinds of strong people and order others around!"
"That's boring."
"Huh!?" She was even more shocked "Then how do you pass the time?! What fun is there?!"
"A lot. There are many ways to enjoy life." He chuckled "If you can promise me some things, I can introduce some to you."
Interested and not accepting refusal, her expression turned serious with narrowed eyes but he could see the curiosity "What are your terms?"
"I want you to refrain from causing trouble or injuring anyone. Do anything against the city rules and I will kick you out. Also, from now on you'll call me Rimuru-san, at least."
"What?! Now way, it should be the other way! That's Lady Milim to you!"
"The how about I call you Milim and you me Rimuru, let's leave formalities aside."
She started to grumble but eventually gave up "Alright, got it. Be honoured. Only the other Demon Lords can call me that!"
"Good! Let's be best friends!" He held out his hand.
Milim seemingly had stars in her eyes and clutched his hand tightly "Got it! But no taking that back!"
"Of course not." He had missed her as much as he missed the rest of his friends "I wouldn't dream of it. How about we get going?"
"Yes!" She followed him excited.
He had kind of missed this but dreaded the coming of the chaos that was bound to ensue. He skillfully avoided Gabil, knowing he would mess up majorly. Because once in the city, she had taken off running.
It was easy to handle her when they got to the smithy. He immediately asked for them to make her a weapon and if she could sit still for a moment so measurements could be taken. She had sat down with a big smile and did her best to sit still which seemed to be an effort for her. After that she became a dress up doll for the Goblina's and then helped plow the fields.
He guessed these things were so exciting because she never had to do them but he didn't ask. As long as she had fun and nobody died.
He introduced her to the leaders in the dining hall at dinner. It went over smoothly after Souei thankfully diffused the situation. Responsibility for her was dumped on him.
The next day was happier. Getting new clothes and a special weapon just for herself, she was excited. He made sure to introduce her to Veldora who had been missing the night before, too. They just stared at each other at first but then seemed to quickly become friends. After that, Youmu and his group arrived, together with the two Devils.
Myulan. He hadn't forgotten what she did but in the end, she just wanted to live. Maybe he could undo her curse later when it wouldn't be so easily noticed that it was him.
After talking for a bit, they decided on terms for them to stay. A few days later, in the middle of a discussion, Milim remembered she wanted to go somewhere. Knowing how this would go and not really wanting to deal with it, he let her go and after excusing himself from the others, he instantly teleported to her side, asking her to land and talk with him for a moment.
She was fast though, they were already far away from the Great Forest of Jura. What terrifying speed!
"You're not going to do something stupid are you?"
Flustered, she replied "Of course not!"
"Okay, then. Can I trust you with something?"
She tilted her head "Yeah, of course! We're best friends after all!"
"Whatever you, don't try anything to help me if it comes to tensions with other Demon Lords. I know Clayman isn't happy with the destruction of the Orc Lord and I have a feeling he's planning something big but please, whatever he does, don't play along for my sake."
Knowing she was trapped she hung her head sadly "But-"
"Milim, I'm happy you care for us. I'm grateful for it even!" He put his hands on her by the shoulders and smiled "But I want to prove myself capable, too. Let me prove that I can deal with things on my own. If anyone tries anything and I can't deal with it, I'll be counting on you. That alright with you?"
"Feel free to depend on me!" She laughed haughtily "I'm one of the strongest and oldest Demon Lords, so my opinion weighs a lot. If anyone insults you, I'll make sure their life is hell!"
"But?"
"But I'll try to keep out of anything myself." She answered once again sad.
"That's good. I don't know how this sounds to you, but there are people outside your domain and our city that genuinely care about you. If anything happened to you, they would be hurt as well."
"I don't know anyone like that…"
"I'm sure you do, you just don't realise. They are quiet and careful. Acting and watching over you from the shadows. But if you really want to help us right now, there is something I could need."
"Really?" She became excited "Tell me! Tell me!"
"Well, you see…"
Sunny and bright. A perfect day for going out. He had the trio guide him to Brumund's royal capital after making sure the city was taken care of. He took Shizue along just to be sure. Besides, she may want to see more than just the village, he wasn't going to confine her there.
Meeting with Fuse went smoothly and he even overlooked the Baron's deceiving. Not before telling him he knew though. It was just that he knew that they weren't in immediate danger of say, the eastern empire. Plus, he alone was plenty strong to ward anyone off.
Next were the things he wanted to sell and he was quickly introduced to Myourmilles. Negotiations went smoothly and the highway was to be constructed in reasonable time. He had left afterwards but only noticed while he was leaving that the attendants were quite surprised at the merchants humility.
He wanted to smack himself. Of course it would look strange! He had taken on his younger form after he first became a Demon Lord! It wasn't too young but still not an adult. He just felt more natural in this form... Maybe he should use the adult version he attained after being send to the End of Time and Space more.
Yeah, why not do that immediately. He changed at a discreet location with Shizue as a lookout for any people and returned in his adult form.
"So that's what you actually look like?" She asked surprised.
"Kind of?" He replied "The former appearance wasn't wrong, just a younger version. It changed into this one after a few events. I'm not completely sure what exactly caused the change though, never thought about it."
They left it at that and went towards the guild building, so he could register as an adventurer. With Shizue at his side, he attracted a lot of attention. She assured it wasn't her though.
He went up to the receptionist and asked to register. He was given a form to fill out. Now came up his former problem. Lie or not. He didn't want Yuuki to know his real name so he asked Shizue if there was any of the magic contract stuff in the list he had to fill out but she replied it didn't.
So he did what technically wasn't a complete lie on his name.
Name: Mikami Satorou
For his age he put 19. He looked like an young adult and nobody would argue about the age range with his current look. To explain away his superior skills away he put in Otherworlder, explaining that Shizue had found him and brought him to the city before he decided to join the guild. It also explained why he would register in Brumund and not another, more superior country. For his speciality, he put Swordsmanship and Magic. Outstanding, but he had put down Otherworlder which seemed to be a completely acceptable reason.
As for which guild he would join? Subjugation. When asked he said that he wanted to start somewhere and if it got too difficult he could just accept quests with low level monsters.
He still had to test though. The tester explained the rules to him. Not a problem, he would manage. He easily killed the hound and the other three monsters before the proctor once again asked if he wanted to do B rank. He nodded. The higher the better. He cut through the B rank demon with a magic infused sword. Again, Otherworlder, everything goes.
With that they started to make their way towards the Ingrasia Kingdom. Traveling with Ranga, they were advancing fast. Because they were going to the Headquarters, he had ensured that Diablo and Souei were available anytime. Souei's clones were there anyway but he and Diablo could move the fastest. If anything happened, one would inform the others and they could prepare for whatever could happen. He also left a warning with Benimaru to increase the lookout and defend against hostile activities.
Just in case the attack by the Farmas Kingdom happened again.
Shion would not die this time, nobody would. If they did, he would be mad, really mad. Like, catastrophically mad. World-ending mad.
Maybe destroy the responsible country by making bodies brutally implode by themselves-
Gah! Away! What was that?! Just like back then!
He clutched his head, making Ranga stop and worry about him. Shizue asked him about his wellbeing.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little headache, it's gone now." He uttered softly and though worried, they continued.
If Ranga was running less fast, he didn't comment on it.
'Ciel, have you completed the analysis on that?'
-Apologies Master. It appears to be more troublesome than originally thought but I should have results soon.-
'Alright, I'm counting on you.'
They arrived at the city soon after. It was as enormous as he remembered. Together they easily went through the checks, hiding Ranga in his shadow and went off to the headquarters where Yuuki greeted them, overjoyed at seeing Shizue in good health.
It was hard to look this man straight in the face without the urge to at least punch it once. But he managed.
Milim was overjoyed. Though she had to argue a bit with Frey because their former plan fell into the water, she had something to do that could help her friend. Ramiris was already informed about his plans to meet her and she had gone out of her way to arrange a meeting with a certain other Demon Lord.
Aside from that, well…
"But I don't want to. It's too much work." Lazy and unmotivated to do anything as usual was one Demon Lord of what could be called the second generation.
"I can just throw you over there, too."
"Don't."
"But you need to meet my best friend!" She whined.
"Why me? Annoy someone else, like Guy."
"But I can't force him. I want someone to meet him and show him how amazing Demon Lords are! He believes it's boring and doesn't want to be one! He would be an amazing Demon Lord!"
"With all due respect, Dino is hardly someone that can be called 'amazing'." That was another Demon Lord, Dragule. Whose home they were intruding in.
"But he's laid back and- and..." She stopped "Maybe you're right. He's the most boring."
"Hey." A weak protest, completely ignored by the two.
"What about Ruminas? Sure, she hardly leaves her place but she's a better pick than him." The giant proposed.
"That's no good. Veldora's there."
"Oh." He resounded. Bad idea.
Dino sighed "What about Leon? Not exactly the most social but he's a Hero, no? Might be an interesting meeting."
"That's no good either." She complained "There's this girl in his town and he told me that if she wouldn't do it, then he'd be the one to owe him a punch in the face. A 'gentle but very painful one' he'd said."
"How does that even work?" Dino asked slowly.
"Dunno but it sounds cool. He promised to even teach me one day!"
"You don't need that." The fallen Angel replied.
"Yes I do! I need as many cool attacks as possible! Then I can have a showdown of cool attacks with Veldora!"
"Come to think of it, you did mention him earlier." Dragule joined in again "I thought he disappeared."
"I did too!" She exclaimed happily "But he didn't! He was suppressing his aura and changed into a human form. He lives in Rimuru's city, they're friends, too!"
"Friends with a True Dragon..." Dino muttered "What a pain. I'm not going there."
"But~ Come on! I'm going to ask Guy to force your lazy ass over there!"
"Where did you learn that?"
"What?" She asked clueless "'Lazy ass'?"
"Yeah, that."
"Uhm… Let me think…" She tapped her chin before grinning "I heard it from one of the guys at Rimuru's place! ...Ah, they asked me to never repeat it though… Oh well!"
"Who was it?"
She replied carefree "Don't quite remember. Somewhere on the streets."
"Well, I might just go and take a look…" And be even more lazy, but he wasn't going to say that.
"Oh~! As expected of Dino! You're smart after all!"
"I've always been smart."
"Really? I must have not noticed!" Not waiting another moment, she left, she had other things to do.
"You'll really go?" Dragule wondered.
"Yeah, need to make sure she isn't trying to force some kid into becoming a Demon Lord."
The class was a mess. He hadn't taken Shizue along, told her he wanted them to trust him by himself first and bring her then. They were so not getting out of a test. And they didn't. Everything went as planned. At the end of the week, he brought Shizue along and they set off to the Dwelling of Spirits. Not telling Yuuki a single word or letting him know that he knew something was wrong with the children. Remembering the location he found it easily and they proceeded inside.
It didn't take long for Ramiris to show up, Milim had kept her promise. He'd have to thank her again later. Shizue was more than surprised with what she heard about Leon. Why she believed her, he didn't know but Ramiris was a good person, it's not like he wanted her to dislike the fairy because of some stupid exaggerations.
Everything went as planned but then the future Chloe arrived. He'd warned Shizue but not Ramiris. She was cautious and intend on not letting the being proceed. But ultimately, it failed. But to be honest, just as planned.
As a thanks, he summoned Beretta for her. He was also someone he held dear and was important to Ramiris, he couldn't just not do it. If Beretta would extent the contract again, he would see.
They left after that and stayed the rest of the three months in the Kingdom in which a lot happened. Shizue had found nothing while observing Yuuki but admitted to finding his behaviour concerning the children suspicious. She had also managed a great feat, getting a chance for them to speak with Hinata in secret.
While meeting, he destroyed the [Thought Restraint] which quickly got her interest. They explained their suspicion, Rimuru's circumstances and the truth about the children. Upon knowing that she had been manipulated, the destroyed Curse Crystal as proof, she immediately rushed out. He'd told her about what he 'believed' to be Yuuki's goal- The End of the World.
And the monster country was possibly in the way. He also not so politely told her that he knew about the blood shadows and that if anyone died, he'd not take it kindly. Shizue also joined in that the best option was to leave the town and its surroundings be.
Of course that was before the most important news reached them- The order from Ruminas to leave their country be, no matter what!
Forget thanking her, he owed Milim a huge favour now!
Unfortunately, the Blood Shadows weren't called back in time. Even worse. Diablo was the one who found them.
So- worse for the church, not them. Well... they were alive if it mattered. He couldn't speak about their wellbeing. After all, they were openly hostile and probably tried some stupid things. If they were messed with a bit, it was their own fault.
One day, Hinata would come and say to him "A bit is good." while shaking her head. But that was not important.
They agreed on various things after she returned. She and Shizue would save the children while under a disguise. When they were going to execute the plan, they would tell him with advanced [Thought Communication] and if something happened, he'd come.
Next, they started observing Yuuki's movements closer. His public movements, all other observations would be noticed. He didn't plan for Yuuki to go freely long, he was too dangerous but he had to honour Shizue's wishes.
His eradication was certain, he and Velda had to disappear. But one last time, she wanted to try. The stage was the rescue of the children.
If he turned out to be the kind of person Rimuru told her about she'd have to accept the reality. Cruel as it may seem, if there was no sudden change in reality trying to save him would prove futile and he wasn't going to wait for him to gather more power.
So the next step was already decided for him. Wait for them to confirm reality and then move out to capture and ultimately silence him. Confirming that the plan was set he left Shizue with the Church and immediately went back to Tempest. He was greeted by Benimaru who informed him about the arrival of the Farmas Kingdom's troops at the edge of the forest.
As per instructions, their own troops were ready to advance anytime. Without the help of the church their numbers were pitiful and the men lacked the will to fight. They on the other hand were full of that will, nobody would let their home be destroyed. There was no way this would turn into an all out war.
Youmu had been worked into the plan, a strategic meeting was held beforehand. His ascension to a King certain. The travellers and adventurers were send away to prevent potential victims that could be blamed on them.
Ellen and her two companions had offered to inform the guild and even Gazelle Dwargon offered to send troops but he declined both offers. This was their problem and not something they couldn't handle. His friends would deal with it and if it got close, he would assist. Not that it would.
Even though they hadn't evolved like they did before, this would be nothing to them. The 'war' started a week after he arrived. It went well, all things considered. The soldiers were left alive and their own forces only sustained injures. A few heavy ones here and there but nothing a potion couldn't fix. The King was sent back in a... not so great 'appearance' but again, nothing a potion couldn't fix.
The conference after would have been fine, too, had it not been for three separate disturbances.
Ellen's father. An easy thing to deal with. Get Ellen and talk a bit, let him participate.
The King of the Dwarf nation, also easy to deal with. A communicator was set up. Rimuru guessed he wanted an update on how things were going.
Now the last one, that topped the cake.
The conference was just over. Like, a second ago and in comes one of the Hobgoblins, freaked out written all over his face.
He had assumed the worst. A message from Ingrasia that something terrible had happened, that Shizue, the kids and Hinata were hurt or even worse, dead. That there was another force of the Kingdom that had somehow not been noticed and attacked and that there were victims. That Yuuki had already started some sort of rampage. That in any way, by whoever it was, someone was dead.
But no. The culprit of the crime just casually strolled in after the panicked Hobgoblin. As if he was taking a relaxed walk on a sunny Sunday afternoon.