Hey Readers!

Yeah, this chapter is super late, but it couldn't be helped. I still feel bad about it, though, so sorry. Expect the next chapter to come out 2 weeks after this Saturday, which is a week later than you'd probably expect, but this chapter was finished so late that I want to give myself enough time to write the next. I don't have a backlog of writing with this story (unlike with Predator, my collab fanfic).

I'm an adult with a full-time job and sometimes I just don't have the time and energy to write when needed, and forcing myself to be "creative" when tired is nearly impossible for me. This is what happened when writing this chapter, unfortunately.

Oh, and I have one more thing I need to tell you all. Many of you seem eager for me to cover Season 3 content (Harvest Festival!) from the Iruma-kun anime. I will get to that in due time, but there are some more things I want to cover (specifically in Tempest) before I get to that. I will be covering it, but it'll probably be a few more chapters before I do, so please bear with me for now.

Thanks for your patience, everyone, and I hope you enjoy this overdue chapter.

Work & Play

Rimuru POV

A week or so has passed since Iruma's date with Ameri. I've been pretty busy since the number of meetings I have with foreign dignitaries and such increased recently for whatever reason, which filled up my schedule.

This, unfortunately, meant I didn't have much time for Iruma right now, but as far as I know, he's been fine while staying here even without my attention. Trust me, I'd rather be spending time with Iruma than dealing with snobby nobles from other countries, but when I have to do my job, I have to do my job; it's as simple as that.

Iruma would pop into my office now and then, but only briefly. With how packed my schedule has been, I couldn't let him stick around for too long. It's one thing to have him hanging out when a close subordinate is meeting with me, but when it's someone I don't know very well, I have to keep up appearances, and having Iruma in the room would be problematic.

I didn't fully ignore the kid, though. We shared some meals and I let him talk about what he's been doing around Tempest or whatever else is on his mind at the moment. To help, I did run him, Sullivan, and Opera to the Netherworld for a day so that Iruma could hang out with Azz and Clara. He's been missing them and it wasn't any trouble for me to play interdimensional taxi, even with how busy I've been.

I didn't go with them though, because again, I've been too busy. I just made the gate and sent them on their way before doing the same to bring them back.

Azz and Clara apparently asked where I was, but Iruma made excuses for me, which I'm grateful for. According to Iruma, they seemed disappointed that I wasn't there, but the three still had fun without me. Those two are much closer to that kid than me anyway, even though I know they both like me too.

"Well, have fun on your day off."

I just finished a short meeting with Benimaru, which is a routine thing for us. Starting my day off with something easy like this is always my preference.

"Thank you, Lord Rimuru." he smiles at me.

He's also a busy guy, but today, he doesn't have anything to do after this meeting.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to do with my time today…Albis is visiting Eurazania this week and Momiji is spending time with Hakurou today, so I'll be coming home to an empty house."

"Oh really? Well, enjoy the peace and quiet, then."

"That's the problem though, I don't know what to do with the quiet time, I could really use more work!"

"You're starting to sound like the Black Numbers now, Benimaru, you know that?"

We both share a laugh about that but it quickly returns to us seated in silence, Benimaru trying to think of what to do with his quiet day and myself trying to decide how to handle the mountain of things to be done in my busy day including keeping an eye on Iruma.

Benimaru POV

As I leave Lord Rimuru's office, I spot a man in opulent clothing being led by a servant to the same room. Just at a glance, I can tell this man is of no value; it's a shame that Lord Rimuru has to speak with such a person.

The noble is making all sorts of horrid comments to the servant, acting like he has any importance here in Tempest and not to mention complaining about the wait to see Lord Rimuru. It makes me want to burn him to ashes, but that would be against Lord Rimuru's wishes. This is only a passing whim, though; nothing I would act impulsively on.

Having heard enough, I start walking away, taking my time since I truly do have nothing to do. Maybe I could watch one of the Dungeon's recordings and watch some people fall into Lord Rimuru's patented traps…that would be fun! Not as fun without Lord Rimuru, but I can still enjoy myself.

"How long must I wait!?" an obnoxious, entitled tone, draws my attention back to the noble, the servant trying to calm him and explain they cannot let him any further until he has been summoned to enter by Lord Rimuru, he starts making comments about how far he has traveled and that Lord Rimuru should be honored he came all that way and other drivel about how important he believes he is.

I decide it's best for the sake of my patience to pick up my pace in leaving this area rather than test how much it will take for that smug idiot to make me hit my limit. I'm already dealing with whispering thoughts of "Just give me an excuse, any excuse."

Making my way off down the corridor with haste, I find myself back in silence only the sound of my footsteps in the empty corridor to remind me I can still hear anything at all. I'm not sure how far I had been walking while lost in thought when a familiar voice catches my attention. I know that voice well and that tone…some poor soul is Shuna's dress-up doll.

This is odd, though, since it is normally Lord Rimuru who is the victim of this, but not this time. So, I peek inside the room to see who it is she has snatched up.

It's that Iruma boy that Lord Rimuru is friends with…his official guest. Shuna, I'm sorry, but this is too far.

Rarely do I intervene when it comes to my sister (she's terrifying when angry), but in this case, I feel I need to.

"Shuna, please don't bully Lord Rimuru's guest," I say as I step into the room, making sure to sound polite.

"Bully? I am not bullying you, am I?" She turned to Iruma, innocently tilting her head while forcing him to be the one to decide an answer with us both present, Shuna is truly terrifying.

"I guess I wouldn't call this 'bullying'..." the boy hesitantly admits. "...but..it's been 3 hours, so…"

She's had ahold of him for three hours already?!

"Shuna, I think Lord Rimuru might need your assistance right now."

"Why do you say that, Brother?"

"He's meeting with some noble with a nasty attitude. I think your expertise might be helpful."

Shuna's demeanor immediately changes and I can tell that I just diverted her attention completely. She'd never stand for someone pulling a nasty attitude with Lord Rimuru, and I don't blame her one bit.

"I must go to our Lord then," she insistently answers, putting away her supplies, and rushing out of the room.

"Someone is being rude to Rimuru?" Iruma asks, sounding concerned.

"Possibly," I say, suppressing a frown. "But it's nothing you need to worry about."

"Yeah, I know," Iruma nods. "Oh, and I should say thanks. I didn't want to tell Shuna to stop; she looked so happy putting different clothes on me."

"What led to that anyway?"

"Well, when I was eating breakfast, I overheard her talking about how she was disappointed that Rimuru was too busy to try on some of the clothes she's sewn, so, since I'm not busy today, I offered to help her a little. I didn't expect it to go on for so long though…I also didn't expect there to be dresses involved too…"

"Who should I bring you to? Don't you usually have a servant supervising you most of the time?" I ask, finding it odd that he'd be left alone like that with Shuna. I remember Lord Rimuru mentioning before that he assigned a maid to Iruma.

"Katelyn, yeah. Shuna said that her 'services weren't needed' and let her go back to her other duties for the day."

Shuna meant to keep him doing this the entire day! I just saved this kid from hell!

It could've been worse; there was one time when Lord Rimuru spent an entire week straight just trying on clothes for Shuna. This was to make up for something he did to upset her, I must add.

"We should leave before Shuna comes back."

"Are you sure she won't be mad? I don't want her mad at me!"

"If anything, she will be mad at me, which I can handle."

I guess I'll take him somewhere fun. Keeping Lord Rimuru's guest happy will make Lord Rimuru happy.

Iruma POV

Benimaru, Rimuru's friend and subordinate, takes me out of the room that I'd been holed up in all morning with Shuna. I changed my clothes first, of course, since what she put me in was something I wouldn't want to walk around in public wearing.

"Where are we going?" I ask the man, wondering what we're even doing.

"Somewhere fun. Yeah."

"Fun? What do you find fun, Benimaru?"

"Setting things on fire, slaying monsters with a flaming sword, fighting strong things," Benimaru answers in a nonchalant tone.

"Um…" I don't even know what to say to that, so I try to find something relevant.

Then I remember that Azz can fight with a fire sword too so maybe I could mention that. He doesn't fight with a sword that's on fire, but one made with fire magic, though. "I have a friend who uses fire magic a lot. He can even shape it into a sword."

"What skill lets this friend do that?" Benimaru asks, clearly interested.

"Skill? I think he just practices a lot and is very talented. Azz is a very smart guy!"

Benimaru looks at me, clearly confused for a moment before something seems to occur to him and he turns his eyes back to the path in front of us. We're already outside, walking down the busy street.

"People are giving us odd looks, is it some sort of big deal for them to be seeing you?" I ask, getting a similar feeling to the times I've been in public with Rimuru around here without her wearing a disguise.

"A big deal?…Heh. You live around such high company that your perspective is completely skewed."

I look at him, confused by what he means by that. Yeah, I know Rimuru is a very big deal around here, but I don't think my perspective is skewed.

"The highest-ranking Tempestians are generally regarded to be of a similar status to human royalty. A lot of them aren't readily recognized by the general public, but in my case, it's a little more obvious given my role and appearance." he further clarifies to me as we keep walking.

"Now I'm starting to get why Rimuru is so sneaky all the time, it must be a lot of trouble just to go out like this…"

With Benimaru's flashy scarlet hair and expensive-looking clothes, I can see why he grabs a lot of attention. It's all pretty distinctive but in a cool way.

"So, what would you be doing right now if you weren't with me?"

"Sitting at home, alone. But that is just today. I'm not sure if Lord Rimuru informed you, but I'm the commander-in-chief of Tempest's military forces." he says with a confident grin, clearly pleased with the title. "I guess you could say in rank I'm second only to Lord Rimuru when it comes to governing Tempest."

"I knew you were close with Rimuru, but wow!"

"I'm normally quite busy, but Lord Rimuru, for some reason, insists on everyone taking days off now and again, and today just happens to be one of those for me." Benimaru sighs as if this is a negative thing. He must be a big workaholic to be sad about getting a day off like this.

"Everyone needs a break from work sometimes, right? I think it's nice that you got a day off."

Benimaru shrugs at this, not exactly agreeing or disagreeing with that.

"Work gives us all purpose, so unless I have something else important to do at the time, I prefer to stay busy serving my country."

He's so diligent!

"But I don't mind spending a day showing a state guest around." he continues, flashing me a smile.

State guest? Oh, he means me. He said it so formal-like that it threw me off for a second.

…

After some more walking and much more staring from random citizens on the street, we finally got to where Benimaru was trying to take me. It took us a while since it's on the outskirts of the city, stretching a bit into the forest around Rimuru City.

"This is where Direwolf pups are raised," Benimaru explains, looking like he's trying to gauge my reaction.

"Puppies!?" I can't help but shout with excitement.

Ranga was cute enough, but tiny baby versions of him?! I'm so excited!

I can already hear the woofs, yips, and howls coming from them before spotting a single pup.

"What made you bring me here?"

"For fun." Benimaru beams.

I remember what Benimaru said earlier about what he thinks is fun, which immediately makes me worried.

"Please don't set the puppies on fire!" I plead.

Benimaru gives me a quizzical look."The fire-element ones do a good enough job of that without my help."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm sure the attendants working here can explain better than I can."

"Explain how to set them on fire?!" I exclaim.

"No, explain how elemental Direwolves work."

"Well, if you want the short version, Direwolves adapt to the environment they grow in very easily while young, which makes them have more affinity to some elements depending on where they grow."

A person I don't know answers, walking up to us both with a friendly smile.

"Welcome, Lord Benimaru of the Big Four! Have you come to tour the facilities?"

Benimaru talks with this person for a few minutes, explaining how he wants to show 'Lord Rimuru's guest', aka me, around.

After some touring and brief explanations, we're allowed into the largest zone which has all the youngest pups. They haven't taken on elements yet, but some of them are showing signs. The tour guide said that they get sorted based on the element they start to present when they reach a certain age.

As soon as we step inside, it becomes clear why the puppies were so excited, all the barking, yipping, and howling was caused by a slime hopping around with a panicking attendant chasing it, trying to catch it while a large group of puppies chases after it, jumping around, a unison of wagging tails of various lengths and fluff.

The attendant lets out a surprised yelp when Benimaru suddenly appears in front of her and catches the slime with ease. She starts thanking him profusely while I'm trying to catch up with him since he moved so quickly from my side.

"Lord Benimaru, thank you so much, this slime seems to have made its way inside somehow and a visiting child yelled about it. That got all the puppies to see it before we could grab it without startling it or alerting the pups."

"Wait, how did you…?" my head is left spinning by how fast Benimaru must've just moved.

Benimaru politely accepts the thanks while carefully handing the slime over to an attendant off to the side, the Direwolf puppy pack now at his feet following him the whole way jumping up at his legs.

The attendant who accepted the slime from Benimaru quickly shuffled out of the room, leaving behind a couple of pups with heads tilted staring at the door before they gave up and returned to the toys and people to play with.

The other attendant then turned to us "If you would follow me, I can show you the various environments we have created to suit each puppy's individual personality, as that influences what affinity they will take to best and tell you a bit about how we can make it possible."

Once we started walking around, I realized how big this place actually is with a bunch of different areas with varied terrain and weather. It's all so different that it makes me question how it's possible, but my best guess is that it's magic-driven like most things around here.

I think the guide mentioned something called 'spirit engineering' as the way that this all works, but since I don't know what that is, it doesn't mean much.

"Benimaru, what's spirit engineering?"

"A very complicated mix of technology and spirits that hurts my brain to think about. Only those eggheads understand it. You know; Tempest's scientists, Lord Rimuru, and Lady Ramiris."

Benimaru just called Rimuru an egghead…that doesn't seem right. With how much he seems to respect Rimuru, I don't think he'd outright insult them like that to me.

"You do know what an egghead is, right Benimaru?" I ask, sensing that there's some sort of misunderstanding here.

The man stops walking for a moment, actually looking a bit worried.

"It means a smart person, right? Lord Veldora and Lord Rimuru use the term sometimes, so I've adopted it," he explains.

"Well, you're not wrong…but it's kinda a mean thing to call someone, at least where I come from."

Benimaru looks like I just dropped a big bomb on him.

"Please keep what I just said between the two of us," Benimaru mutters in a whisper, his face pale and still wearing a horrified expression.

He obviously didn't mean to insult anyone just then, so I can keep quiet about his little mistake.

"Don't worry, I will," I promise him.

Benimaru is quiet for the next few minutes, still looking like he's stewing on his mistake.

"Um…Benimaru?"

"Hm?"

I sift through my memories for something relevant to ask, wanting to change the subject, and I recall a brief conversation I had with Rimuru when I asked some questions about Ranga. To be honest, I don't remember it all since she rambled for a while about some things I didn't fully understand, but I think I can still ask Benimaru about it with what I know.

"Rimuru mentioned the various elements of Direwolves all have uses in Tempest but I've only ever seen the Tempest wolves around town. What do the others do?"

Benimaru visibly perks up, probably appreciating the change in subject.

He starts to tell me all about the history of the use of the Direwolf elemental variants in their military. I don't understand much of it, but he looks like he is really enjoying himself talking about it so I just listen quietly. He then begins telling me about the role each variant plays in their military.

"Infernal Direwolves are excellent when paired with the Red Numbers, they have immunity to our flame attacks and their riders are always those who have fire resistance, so while a large area of effect bombardments of fire magic is used, the Infernal Direwolf riders charge in through the flames and catch the enemy unaware."

"That sounds pretty scary, having fire thrown at you and then people charging out of that fire right at you…"

Benimaru starts nodding proudly.

"Yeah, that's also part of why we use that strategy, intimidating our opponents will break their morale and end the battle in our favor much easier! But battles rely on intelligence, which our scouts find much easier to gather with their partners, the Illusory Direwolves. They can easily remain unseen and observe the enemy numbers as well as any weaknesses in their ranks we can take advantage of because the Direwolves can cast illusions concealing themself and their riders."

I look over to one of the pups that I was told earlier is growing to be an Illusory Direwolf, it's rolling around, panting, and wagging its tail. I find it hard to imagine that the same puppy will one day be helping spy on other countries' armies. Benimaru is looking at me expectantly, I guess he is waiting for my feedback, I'm not sure what to talk about but the sight of one of the Glacial Direwolf puppies pouncing onto the Illusory Direwolf pup gives me an idea of how to keep talking to Benimaru about this.

"What about the icy Direwolves?" I ask while pointing to the overly-fluffy puppy. Benimaru briefly turns to look at it then back at me.

"Well until winter they don't often do much in our military, their specialty is being unhindered by snow or ice and very easily able to see in a snowstorm. During winter they are the Direwolf of choice for the goblin riders on patrol instead of the usual Tempest Direwolves. Any other time, a Tempest Direwolf is the fastest, but in winter it's the Glacial Direwolves who claim that title. All other times though they just make a lot of noise in your house."

I can't help but laugh at that, thinking of a dog breed that it reminds me of. Though, I stop to think about something he said.

"So the Tempest Direwolves are only for patrols then?" I ask curiously, I had seen them and their riders quite frequently in the city and wonder if it's all they do.

"Nah, Tempest Direwolf Riders can easily race circles around the enemy lines and when the Yellow Numbers use their earthquake stomp, a Tempest Direwolf is the best at getting airborne to avoid it and quickly picking up speed to take out those briefly stunned by the quake. But outside of war, they patrol both the city and the forest. Their speed makes them perfect for a swift first response."

I had no idea just how much the goblin riders actually did, Benimaru looks really happy to be able to talk about all this.

"That brings us to the final type of Direwolf variant the-" Benimaru is cut off by yipping and barking, looking down at a puppy whose fur is covered in dirt is standing on its hind legs and has both its front paws on his leg, leaning down he picks it up and holds it in front of me as he continues.

"The Gaiac Direwolves bodies harden whatever earthy material is on their fur at the time of their evolution, which makes them able to easily take blows and shrug them off, and while they may not be too nimble, they are still decently fast which makes them excellent at protecting others and intercepting attacks. Though because their body armor usually takes the appearance of gemstones, many nobles like to hire Gaiac Direwolf riders as bodyguards to escort them to look impressive."

Benimaru sounds a little angry as he explains that last part, the Direwolf puppy in his hands just relaxed and panting while he talks about how nobles only care about how it looks.

The puppy I'm holding seems equally happy, practically melting in my hands while I pet it. But, another puppy runs up to me and I decided to give it a little attention too. I make a motion to set the first one down and it squirms a little in protest.

{{No! Keep petting! Pet me more!}}

I nearly drop the poor pup, I'm so startled by the sudden voice appearing in my mind. It was some sort of telepathy, I know that from prior experience, but expecting is a whole different thing than understanding.

The second puppy just tilts its cute little head at me, lightly wagging its tail while the first scrambles to get back into my arms.

"I-I think it just talked to me," I say, still surprised but now cradling the first puppy again.

"Yes, they start doing that around this age, I believe. Direwolves are all born with the intrinsic skill Thought Communication, but they have to mature a bit before they can properly use it." Benimaru explains.

*FWOOF*

Suddenly, the pup that was wanting to be held but got stopped by the first one I was holding, bursts into flames!

I immediately look at Benimaru in horror, wondering if he's responsible.

"See? I told you they do that." he shrugs, dismissing it as completely normal.

And, looking at the Direwolf puppy, apparently it is 'completely normal' since the little guy is still standing at my feet wagging his tail despite being engulfed in searing flames. I can feel the heat coming from the fur of the puppy and the fire pouring out of it.

Benimaru swaps out his 'gaiac' puppy for the 'infernal' one at my feet, not bothered by the heat at all. I guess he's good with fire, just like Azz is, so it makes sense that he can't get burnt by that.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, more infernal Direwolf pups run up to Benimaru and all catch on fire as well. Not wanting to get singed, I back off from the horde of burning canines.

"Hehe, they're a little excited, it seems." Benimaru chuckles, smiling at them as if he thinks it's cute that all the dogs are doing that. Some are even climbing their way up his clothes using their claws, threatening to bury the dude in their fiery fluff if this keeps up.

Then, I hear a deep howl in the distance, past some trees in the area, and all the puppies nearby go running toward it, their flames disappearing. Even the ones we both were holding squirm their way out of our arms to join the pack of puppies.

"It seems like it's time for them to sleep or eat. Perhaps we should go do something else fun instead of sticking around and waiting." Benimaru cheerfully suggests while straightening his outfit post-puppy attack.

Rimuru POV

Finally.

That was probably one of the most annoying meetings I've had recently. The noble dude was obviously trying to schmooze me, but I wasn't having it. Honestly, the way he was looking at me just made me feel uncomfortable if anything, so his tactics didn't work, not that they would ever have anyway.

Ciel didn't like him at all either, complaining the entire time about his attitude.

I feel another nudge against my ankle, something I'd been experiencing the entire meeting. I've been letting my little slime friend free-roam in my office today, and since it wasn't getting into any trouble (and by that I mean it hasn't eaten any of my belongings), I let it stay out during the meeting, hidden behind my desk. But, they're a needy little thing, wanting my attention a lot.

Reaching down, I pick up the small slime, setting them down on my desk "Okay, okay. You can sit up here now." Petting it a few times I focus myself and start on the mountain of paperwork, but then the small slime immediately rolls into the middle of the document in front of me.

"No. You can't sit there." I gently but sternly say as I shimmy the slime off of the papers and back onto the open part of the desk.

Then a few seconds later, the same thing happens again.

"I said no. Let me get this done, then we can play."

This 'smarter than the average slime' can definitely play, I've figured that out already just by letting it hang around my office. It can even mimic various objects to different degrees, not as well as I can, of course, but much better than a slime off the street.

It's actually really cool to see, but right now I don't have time for it.

But, this little slime is insistent and just keeps rolling right into the middle of my work, bumping against my hand and even trying to grab my pen out of it.

With a sigh, I set my pen down and it's almost immediately grabbed by the little slime, who begins grabbing and spitting it to throw it. Scooping them up with one hand and using the other to keep them from jumping back down I set them on my head, one of their favorite spots to play. It may be slightly distracting but it's much less disruptive than playing on my desk and interrupting my paperwork hell. "Here, you can play up there, but I can't have you taking my pen or getting on the papers."

But, my solution isn't a perfect one.

*PLAP*

The little slime slips off of my head and guess what? Right onto my paperwork again, not content with just relaxing up there.

Normally they seem to love it up there, but right now for whatever reason, that's not enough.

The slime spreads out, blocking the entire sheet at the top of the stack I'm working through, making it completely impossible for me to do anything without first moving them.

"Okay, back to the floor you go." I huff as I pick up and set the slime back at my feet. Just like earlier, I feel a few nudges, but I ignore them and continue working. I don't want to reinforce this negative behavior.

I'm sure it can figure out how to play on its own down there, maybe even wearing itself out a little since it seems so full of pep right now. Which, after a few minutes of ignoring their bumps, seems to be the case. The slime starts rolling and bouncing around the room, climbing and moving different objects around but not wrecking or eating anything, which is completely fine.

It even started trying to climb the wall but kept losing its grip and falling. This happened so repetitively that after a while, I start completely ignoring it. It's not like this little cutie is gonna hurt themself doing that; slimes bounce, after all.

*SPLASH*

Coffee splatters everywhere. All over my face, all over my desk, and all over my papers.

Out of nowhere, my tiny apple-sized slime friend fell right into my coffee mug, causing the contents to splash in all directions.

"Did you just…fall from the ceiling?" I ask out loud and look at the mess it made in annoyance, knowing full well that the 'perpetrator' can't respond in any meaningful way.

[[In its attempts to climb across the ceiling, this slime lost its grip and fell into your mug, Master.]]

Yeah, I figured as much.

With a little wiggle and an audible pop, the slime slinks out of the tipped-over mug it was still inside, and 'innocently' rolls right up to me, again on top of my paperwork (now stained brown with coffee).

"That's enough 'playtime' for you, little buddy," I say as I move them into my Imaginary Space where they can't get up to any more trouble.

After stowing away the slime I clean up the mess it made, which isn't anything hard for me to just take care of myself.