With Milim's usual grace, or in other words, slamming feet-first into the ground at a ridiculously high speed, we landed back at the City of the Forgotten Dragon.

Milim walked right up to the entrance to one of her temples, with me still cradled in her arms, slime-style.

Sitting on the steps was Hermes.

So he made it back on his own, huh?

I did feel a bit bad about abandoning him when Frey caught us in the act, but what's done is done. He seemed fine enough to me, well, maybe a bit melancholic, based on that mopey expression, but he wasn't missing a limb or anything.

But, as soon as he noticed us, Hermes' eyes lit up and he sprung to his feet.

"Lady Milim, Sir Rimuru!"

Actually, now that I've got a better look at him, he seems tired.

"Glad to see you made it back home safe, Hermes. Milim and I got a bit busy and didn't have the chance to go back and pick you up."

"Oh! Uh… I managed just fine. Got a little tangled up by a giant spider, and then I–"

"Doesn't matter! It's omalut time!"

"Y-yes Lady Milim…"

"I'll make one for you too, Hermes."

"Only if he distracts Middray for us. We can't have that old man getting in your way, Rimuru!"

She was right, but the longer I looked at Hermes, the more and more sorry I felt for him. He was clearly exhausted, and that bit about the spiders didn't sound pleasant at all. He had a forlorn look to him, already muttering "I don't see how I can keep him occupied that long, he's already mad I was gone for a whole week…"

"Hey Milim," I said, "how about you help Hermes?"

"But I wanted to–!" She got a plaintive look and started to protest, so I steamrolled over that real fast.

"My bestie is just the best one for the job! Who else would Middray listen to, after all?" I said, giving her my best puppy-eyed expression.

Also, having her in the kitchen seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.

"Hmm…" Milim looked unsure, averting her eyes. "Mmmmph…" She screwed her eyes shut, "fine! I'll be the best distracter you've ever seen–he won't even know what hit 'im!"

Sensing the danger in that statement, I said, "Uh, Milim… you know you don't have to–"

"Don't worry, Bestie!" She grinned, patting my slime head. "I've got it covered!"

…you know what? I probably don't want to know anyway.

"Great!" I jumped out of her arms and landed in human form on the ground, turning to her with my hands on my hips. "Then you guys do that, I'll only need half an hour!"

"Let's go, Hermes!" Milim grabbed him by the collar and cheered, pumping a fist in the air as she dragged him away. "Soon we're going to eat the best omlites ever!"

"You're right," Hermes' expression was already brighter, which I was glad to see.

I waved goodbye to them and then ran off to the community kitchen, determined to make these the most delicious omelets this world had ever seen, and shove it in that old man's face when he finally learned he was wrong!

Entering the kitchen, I saw a bunch of the Dragon Faithful busily preparing what was probably a meal, or "offering", for Milim. Each of them was going around carrying baskets of fruit and veggies, while some others were cutting slices of meat.

…actually, "preparing" was too generous of a term.

They had a couple of sinks, really just basins in the counter with a drain in them. They were cleaned and then the fruit and vegetables were placed in the bottom, before buckets of hot water were poured over them… and that was it.

"What're you guys doing?" I asked, picking up one of the unwashed veggies. It looked sorta like a tomato. I started plucking the stem and leaves off.

"Sir Rimuru!" A nearby Dragon Faithful looked at me in horror and snatched the basket of vegetables away from me, "please don't do that to any of the others! That one is not fit to eat now!"

"Not fit to–!? What d'you mean, it's perfectly fine!" I retorted in shock, waving the de-leafed tomato in his face.

"No, the leaves are there for a reason," the Dragon Faithful said firmly, talking to me as if I was an ignorant young child needing to be taught a lesson. "Removing them before eating is a desecration of the bounties of nature. Father Middray would be most displeased."

Like I cared about what Middray thought. "What do you mean? If that's the case there's a whole tree this was probably once a part of, are you gonna eat that too!?"

"Our tenets state that it is not appropriate to eat the source from which our food is given," the Dragon Faithful said solemnly. "It's not food. Besides, nobody could eat a whole tree!"

Oh, you wanna bet on that?

My unusual diet aside though, "that's nuts," I huffed, taking a bite out of the tomato-thing since these guys would probably just throw it out anyway. "Anyway, I need one of the ovens. Milim asked me to make her an omelet."

"What's an… omelet?" The Dragon Faithful asked curiously.

It took me a long few seconds to respond, I was stunned realizing this was the first time I'd heard someone else say it correctly. "It's delicious," I finally said. "Anyway, can you help me?"

"Oh!" Someone nearby overheard our conversation and butted in, "delicious? A food that is deliciousness itself? Well, no wonder Lady Milim would want such a thing! Please, you can have my space. I was almost done preparing the hog-pig thigh."

I almost wanted to correct the misunderstanding, but it seemed to be making them very cooperative, so I decided to let sleeping dogs lie. Besides, given what these people ate, it probably was equivalent to some mythical ambrosia to them.

I watched as the Dragon Faithful who'd volunteered his space picked up a flat wood board and stuck it in the opening of their rudimentary oven–really it was more like a clay kiln with an open top where things could be grilled. He withdrew a sizeable chunk of meat, and I grimaced at its appearance. It was probably fine on the inside, these guys did know a little bit about cooking meat at least, but it looked like a piece of charcoal.

"Thanks," I said as the Dragon Faithful left to bring the thigh to a counter to be cut. Then I took another look at my situation.

A clay fire-pit with a lip where I could place a choice of either a grated or solid metal plate. A small tablespace. And a knife. Examining the rest of the kitchen, I found nothing else useful.

This place was barren. Devoid of all things utensil and appliance. A real wasteland, just looking at it was making me depressed.

Suddenly I was a lot less eager for this omelet, but I had to persevere. Milim was depending on me.

Wise Sage, do we have a frying pan? I asked Wise One.

In response, the handle of one suddenly popped into my hand, and I looked down at it in surprise.

"Thanks," I whispered quietly, feeling a bit warm inside. A swell of pride welled up in me, but it didn't feel like my own reaction.

I set the pan on the counter and started pulling eggs out of my [Stomach]. The large monster-bird ones I kept, not the smaller eggs that Frey had given me as compensation for the ones I'd handed back to her. Deciding I would make four omelets, for me, Milim and Hermes, and a spare just in case grandpa melonhead found out, I divided out the eggs between them.

Hermes and Middray ended up getting some of the smaller eggs, while I cracked open the giant, sparkly pink one into a bowl I had gotten from my [Stomach] to split between me and Milim. It was so large I actually needed both hands just to hold it properly, so I used [Water Blade] to cut it into clean halves and dump the insides. I wasn't sure it would've cracked well anyway, the shell was durable and thick–so much so that I decided to store it in case it might be useful later.

Producing a fork, I started whipping the yolk and whites together, mixed in cheese, salt, pepper, then stared at the mixture for a second.

Hey Sage, can you make some of the spices I liked back in Japan?

[[Affirmative. Close imitations of flavors can be reconstructed using Material Creation and recorded memories.]]

Feeling very happy and satisfied with the familiar smells, I added some other things I'd acquired in this world that I thought would taste good mixed in, then took a look at my pan. Then turned my gaze to the flames licking in the bottom of what the Dragon Faithful called a stove.

[[Suggestion: usage of skills can create the ideal temperature for cooking egg.]]

And what temperature would that be? I asked curiously.

[[Calculating for elevation and humidity… 120 degrees Celsius.]]

Alright then, Sage. Just help me out. Far be it from me to argue with the sentient calculator after all.

A vague feeling of irritation came from somewhere at the back of my mind, but I ignored it. The Sage could learn to get over its attitude, I had a suspicion its evolution might've influenced it somewhat.

I picked up the pan in one hand and the bowl with the whisked egg in the other, gently poured half the contents into the pan and set the bowl down, then summoned some [Black Flame] on my fingertips.

Hmm… Well. I couldn't walk away now, if I was functioning as the stove myself, so what to do? That whole thing with Charybdis still hadn't really processed for me. Just hours ago I finished a battle for my life and my forest… and here I was. Cooking eggs.

While I got lost in thought some of the Dragon Faithful came up behind me and started watching. Very closely. Too close, actually. I felt I might smack one of them in the face by accident if I tried to flip the omelet I was cooking.

"Alright folks, back up and watch this!" I grinned, and the Dragon Faithful members all shouted in awe as I shuffled the omelet in the pan a little to loosen it up, then flipped the whole thing in the air with a flick of my wrist.

"Hehe!" I couldn't help a delighted chuckle, I'd never managed that as Satoru despite a lot of trying. Being a slime now sure had its benefits, no more bones to get in the way of my coordination, better reflexes, and if I messed up, I wouldn't even end up burnt!

After a few minutes I slid the omelet onto a borrowed plate, then glanced back at my audience.

"...do you guys wanna learn how?" I asked, since pretty much the whole kitchen was watching me now.

"Yes please!" One of them clapped, and all of a sudden I had an impromptu group cooking lesson on my hands. Fortunately, Milim and I had stolen a ton of eggs.

The Dragon Faithful made a mess. A big mess. Eggs were hard enough to crack if you grew up doing it, or at least watching someone else do it, but these guys barely had a concept of what an egg was like to hold, since they had never used them to cook before now.

Eggshells, egg yolks, and whites went everywhere. As did the salt and pepper and other spices, which the Dragon Faithful had never handled plant-based material when it was ground so fine. They had no concept of measurement except for roughly how heavy a piece of meat felt. I had to produce a dozen more pans, and then spatulas when half-cooked omelets started splatting on the walls and ceiling.

You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Apparently, you also need to break a few omelets to teach an entire culture how to make them.

By the time we were done, the poor kitchen was a mess. The only saving grace here was most of the Dragon Faithful knew how to produce flame with magic and had enough control of it to use it for cooking, so there was no waiting in line for the few ovens they had.

"I'm going to go serve Milim," I said, picking up the four omelets I had made by sliding them onto my arms waitstaff style. "How about you guys, uh… clean up? Feel free to try what you've made." Even if they all looked off, they would probably taste fine.

I was sent off with a chorus of "thank you, Sir Rimuru!"s, quickly sliding down the hallway to the banquet hall where the Dragon Faithful served Milim her meals.

The impromptu lesson took a lot longer than half an hour, so I hoped she wasn't too mad at me. Fortunately, all the food was still hot–a perk of using magic.

As I slid the plates onto the table and started setting out forks and napkins made with [Material Creation], a bruised, sweaty, disheveled Middray burst through the double doors at the end of the room, with a bald head bright crimson and nearly bursting with veins.

"...oh," I gulped. He's mad.

"WHAT is the MEANING of this!?" Middray stalked forward with his hands balled into fists. I quickly ran over to stand in front of him so he couldn't hurt the innocent little omelets.

"Uhhh…" I looked up at him, towering over me. "Sharing the… delight of cooking?"

The veins on his head bulged even more at that. Ohhh no…

"I think," Middray hissed down at me, "that your unusual privilege as Lady Milim's guest has gone to your head, little slime." He pounded his fist on his palm, looking ready to pummel me any second.

Crap! I didn't want to fight in here! What about the omelets!?

Middray's fist glowed as with his fighting aura coalesced around it, and I crossed my arms with a grimace, mimicking all the most realistic anime moves I could remember and invoking [Gluttony] slightly in hopes it would absorb some of the magic energy he was giving off. Anything for these omelets! They are precious and need to be protected!

Middray's fist connected. I twisted. The familiar hum of [Gluttony] filled my ears. I shoved, and his fist slid to the side, away from me.

Then, before I knew it, his foot followed it and was in front of my face!

"NO ATTACKING MY BESTIE!" Milim appeared, jumping Middray from behind like a guardian angel, and in an instant had him pinned to the floor with his hands behind his back.

"Rimuru!" She raised her head up at me. "Now! Do it now!"

I stood frozen… and her expression changed. "Rimuru?"

"I couldn't do that before," I looked her in the eyes.

[[You have analyzed the aura of Middray, which has enabled you to better negate the effects of his attacks.]]

Milim beamed. "Of course, silly! You're stronger! NOW DO IT! This is your chance!"

Getting caught up in the zero-to-one-hundred energy Milim was exuding, I said, "do what!? Chance for what!?"

"Feed him the omelate!" She insisted, "he'll never agree to try it on his own!"

"But I-I was gonna convince him by telling him about all the nutritional benefits and–"

"Not going to work! Just do it!" Milim yelled.

I looked at Hermes, who had burst in shortly after Milim. He just gave me a small nod.

"...if you insist…" I didn't think I'd actually get to "shove it in Middray's face"… but among all of my bewildered emotions, this had a small feeling of satisfaction. He's going to try this omelet, and he's going to LOVE it!

I picked up the omelet off Middray's plate, then walked over to him. He'd been yelling this entire time, at me, in general, he even had some stern words for Milim. "Lady Milim, I understand you've been influenced by your 'bestie', and I respect you to no end, but this behavior I cannot accept! If you place that blasphemy in my mouth it will be a sin of all sins! I refuse!"

I ignored his whining and stepped closer.

"Don't you dare," he shouted at me as I got on one knee in front of him. I stared down at him uncertainly, feeling like this had the air of an execution more than an intervention. "This is all your fault, you know! You corrupted Lady Milim with your sinful outsider ways, and I should never have stood for it!"

Sheesh, these aren't your last words, okay, man? Middray needed to chill.

I just had to get this over with. I folded the omelet, safely pressing all the toppings in the center, and shoved as much as I could in Middray's mouth. Then I covered his mouth with a hand for good measure.

"MMmpmmphf!" Middray said, glaring at me with righteous fury. His jaw worked.

"Stop squirming and just taste it dude!" I snapped.

Against his own will, Middray swallowed, and gradually went very still.

"...so?" I asked, looking down at him curiously while cautiously taking my hand off his mouth.

"It's…" He smacked his lips, tears pricking his eyes.

"See, Middray!?" Milim pressed, "Rimuru knows about a lot of cool stuff! This is what I want!"

It took Middray a long moment to respond. He seemed overwhelmed.

"...Lady Milim… you want this?" He said, his voice hoarse.

"Yes!" She said emphatically, pressing down on top of him. "It's delicious, isn't it!?"

"Ugh…" Middray dropped his head onto the floor, staring at the wood. "Let me up, please."

Milim obliged, and I cautiously stood back, half-ready to spring again in case Middray turned out to hate eggs and was just preparing to beat me up. And just because he accepted what Milim wanted didn't mean he was cool with me. Why am I this jumpy though? It felt like more of an extreme reaction than normal.

[[As a prey species, slimes are more prone to extreme response when under great distress. You also have prior experience regarding Middray that is contributing.]]

W-well, can you fix it? I shouldn't be feeling this anxious! I asked, almost snapped.

[[You are perfect the way you are, Master.]]

I was stunned silent. I had never heard that, in this life or my last.

Middray had gotten to his feet, and was not looking down at Milim. "Lady Milim," he said, "you are our Goddess. Whatever you wish, we will fulfill it to our best ability. And if this… 'food' pleases you, then we will oblige."

He had a reluctant grimace on his face, but I was just happy Milim would finally be served good food. And maybe eventually he'd come around. Hopefully. So long as Milim was happy either way, it didn't matter.

"Everyone else gets to eat this food too, you understand?" Milim said.

"...yes, my Lady," Middray bowed.

"Great!" She beamed happily, "now come eat with us!"

Middray followed us to the table, where Hermes picked up his fork, Milim just picked up the whole massive omelet with her hands like a cookie, and I eagerly prepared to dig into mine.

Shortly she noticed something was wrong, as Middray sat down at an empty plate. The rest of his omelet was scattered on the floor where he'd been force-fed.

"Rimuru," she said, "give Middray some of yours."

"What!?" I whined, hugging my plate protectively. It was a huge omelet, twice the side of my head, and my short arms barely reached around it. "You're just gonna make me give my food away!?"

"Well, you have plenty!" She frowned that no-nonsense frown of hers.

"You're one to talk!" Milim's omelet was just as big as mine. "What if I don't wanna?"

"Rimuru," Milim said sternly.

"...ugh." I whined, cutting out about a fifth of the omelet and slapping it down on Middray's plate. "You better enjoy this, y'hear?" I said to Middray.

"C'mon Rimuru, you can do better than that," Milim said. "Don't be a stingy little slime."

Grumbling to myself, I cut out another tiny sliver so that the portion on Middray's plate equaled a fourth. "Happy?"

"That is plenty," Middray raised a hand. "...thank you, Lady Milim."

Milim looked happy as pie at that, and dug into her omelet with gusto.

I spent the next few days teaching a few more recipes to the Dragon Faithful, but after getting sick of that, I ended up compiling most of my culinary knowledge into a cookbook and left that with them to use instead.

It felt good to teach again, but it brought up some negative thoughts for me at the same time.

I need to find my kids.

But I wasn't in tip-top shape just yet, still recovering from my encounter with Charybdis. I may have gained some magicules from fighting it, but if anything, I gained more capacity than actual raw energy.

I still needed some time to recharge and fill up my reservoir of magic before I could take on Yuuki and find out what he had done to my five students. After nearly dying last time, I wouldn't have any leeway whatsoever. I needed to be in peak condition when I faced him again.

"Sooo… when ya gonna take that guy on? The one that stole those kids? I think you're strong enough now to handle 'im," Milim said suddenly.

I swear she can read minds sometimes…

I continued walking alongside Milim through the City of the Forgotten Dragon, going silent as I considered what to answer her with.

"I need some more time to rest first, I think. Just to be safe."

"Why?"

"I'm sure you can tell I'm still worn out from fighting Charybdis."

"Well, yeah, but that's easy to fix."

Milim held up her hand and a ball of raw magicules started balling up above her palm.

"Nonono, not that again! Milim, your energy is too much for me to absorb without it eating away at me first!"

"Phooie…" Milim pouted and dispelled the energy. "Well, you'll have to get it from somewhere else then. Have anything in mind?"

"Well, no, or I wouldn't be here right now," I huffed. "I don't want to go hunting. Who knows if I'd find enough anyway."

Milim thought for a long moment. "Ooh, I've got it!" She smacked her palm happily.

"Eh?" I glanced at her.

"You remember those 'energy drinks' you told me about?" She asked.

"Yeah…?" Where's she going with this?

"Well, I know something just like them! Spirits! All ya have to do is eat a bunch'a spirits!"

"...spirits, huh?" That was a good idea. Lesser spirits were basically just little bundles of natural energy, and they didn't have enough of an ego to fight back. I wasn't sure where Milim would get them though, the only place I knew of that had a lot of spirits was Ramiris's Labyrinth.

"Where do you plan on getting these spirits, exactly?"

"From the Dwelling of Spirits, where else!?"

"I don't think either of us are welcome back there, from what you've told me."

"Ramiris'll let me in, or I'll make her let me in! And I'll take you in with me! I'm great at convincing, so I'm sure I can talk her into giving you some spirits to gobble up!"

"I…" I didn't know what to say because, based on our last interaction, I didn't think Ramiris would ever agree to give me spirits to snack on.

But that look on Milim's face made me think that showing doubt in her "convincing skills" would be a big mistake.

"I guess it's worth a shot, right?"

"Of course it is, Bestie!" Milim said proudly, "Ramiris is my friend too, I'll get her to listen!"

I still wasn't convinced, but it was still better than sitting around all day. "Let's go then," I said, bracing myself.

In the blink of an eye Milim grabbed me and we were soaring through the upper atmosphere. I didn't even flinch this time, just went with the flow. The Beast Kingdom and its farms and orchards flew by below us at incredible speed.

Before I knew it, we had crossed Sarion and were back in Urgrassia, near the labyrinth. Milim shot towards the earth, and in one of her typical crash landings, we'd arrived.

"...we're further away than I expected," I said as Milim let go of me, looking around at the devastation we'd caused in the ancient forest.

"Well yeah," Milim answered like it was obvious, "I can't go bustin' up the front of Ramiris's place. We're trying to make a good impression here!"

"Oh…" I clapped softly. I had no idea Milim had it in her.

We took a short hike through the jungle to reach the entrance to the Labyrinth. Climbing the stairs to the big platform in front of the door, I noticed with a little surprise that my teleportation circle was still there.

Immediately, thoughts I had been suppressing flooded back, flashes of me and the kids standing here, in the sun, right after they were saved. I stopped, staring at it.

I could get from here to Englesia in an instant…

The thought came to me completely unexpected, and an image of Yuuki with his stupid, smug face flashed across my eyes.

I want to wipe that look off his face forever. I quivered, suddenly filled with more rage than I thought I had ever experienced before.

"Rimuru, get over here!" Suddenly, Milim's voice broke me out of the downward spiral I'd started on.

She was waiting for me next to the door, waving. Taking a deep breath, I shoved thoughts of Yuuki away, and hopped clear over the massive magic circle to stand by Milim, not touching the ground once.

Bang bang bang-bang-bang! Milim proceeded to knock on the labyrinth door with a sound that sent birds into the air behind us. "Ramiris!" She shouted cheerfully, "let me in! I brought a frieeeend!"

"GO AWAY!" A loud voice, that I realized with a jolt was the pixie I'd met here last time, yelled from seemingly nowhere. It should have come from behind the door, but I couldn't actually pinpoint its direction at all.

"Aw, come on! I know you're bored! You're always bored!" Milim said, knocking again with enough force that I felt the vibrations.

"STOP THAT!" Ramiris shouted, "Milim, I am far too busy to deal with you!"

"No you're not!" Milim whined, "I know you aren't! I promise I won't damage the labyrinth again!"

"YOU'RE ALREADY DAMAGING MY BEAUTIFUL, GLORIOUS FRONT DOOR!" Ramiris fired back, her voice shrill with frustration. "Just LEAVE and I'll see you at Walpurgis or something!"

"But you're lonely, aren't you Ramiris?" Milim responded, her tone suddenly very sweet despite still shouting at the top of her lungs. "C'mon, I know you want someone to hang out with! We're just here to visit!"

There was a long, telling silence, before Ramiris finally shouted "FINE!" Milim grabbed me, and in an instant we were whisked inside.

We appeared in a room that I hadn't visited before. It was mostly just open space, but there was a small table with one normal chair sitting at it and another much smaller one perched on top of it, facing the larger one.

"So what's this about, Milim? Spit it out!"

"I wanted to show you Rimuru!" She said, grabbing me and holding me out for Ramiris to see.

"Hi, Ramiris. Long time no see."

"Huh?" She squinted at me, buzzing up to my face and poking between my eyes. "So you found a new toy? Or, wait no…"

After a brief second, Ramiris's expression lit up in realization. "It's you! I remember you!"

I squirmed out of Milim's hands and dropped the whole two inches it took for my feet to reach the floor.

"I would hope so, it's only been a few months."

"But you're so different! You're bigger and your magicules aren't quite the same…" As she spoke Ramiris flew circles around me, examining me with a hand on her chin. "No, wait!" She suddenly stopped and crossed her arms, throwing her hands out emphatically. "What are you doing here!? Haven't I given you enough already!?"

"Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice," I said, sticking my thumb in Milim's direction.

Ramiris glanced between us, her rage abating into resigned grumbles. "I guess even someone as crazy as you can't deal with the Destroyer, huh?"

"Wahahaha! Rimuru may be strong, but he doesn't stand a chance against me!" Milim laughed.

"Are you her subordinate now?"

"No, we're friends," I explained, shaking my head.

"Besties! Not just friends, silly!"

"Yes, Besties," I corrected myself and Milim patted the top of my head, satisfied.

I still couldn't help but avoid the word since it was so embarrassing to say out loud, but Milim always insisted on using it.

"Hey! What!? Since when!?" Ramiris shrieked, doing the midair equivalent of stomping her foot. "You never said anything about that!"

Is she jealous or something?

"Wahahaha! Since the day I met Rimuru! I said he's my Bestie, so he's my Bestie!" Milim gloated with her hands on her hips.

"Hmph. I don't see why you put that slime above me friendship-wise, but whatever…" grumbled Ramiris with crossed arms.

Ramiris and Milim sat down together at the table, and I was left wondering what I should even do since not long after, they started talking about people I didn't know and talking about events I had no knowledge of. Probably Demon Lord business, if I had to take a wild guess. It didn't really surprise me that Milim seemed to have forgotten the reason we came.

I didn't feel the need for attention at all times or anything, but I felt a bit left out, and kind of hungry. It was just the three of us in the room, and I was clearly the third wheel.

Well… I guess it wasn't just us three, there were some of Ramiris' little pixie friends flitting around the room, although they were keeping their distance from me. I got the feeling they held my first visit here against me a bit, based on the dirty looks they all kept shooting me. Still, I resorted to idly watching them, sitting on the floor while leaning against the wall of the room, and half-listening to Ramiris and Milim's conversation.

The pixies came in an assortment of colors, both in aura and physical appearance. I could tell that they had different primary elements.

I wonder if they taste different, based on color… like, is that red one spicy, or…?

I shook the gluttonous thoughts out of my head before I could make a mistake I'd regret. Not that I'd really regret eating the pixies, though I'd prefer to consume something a bit less… sentient.

I closed my gaping mouth too. Was I drooling? No, slimes don't drool! And they definitely don't drool over the thought of eating pixies that definitely don't remind them of colorful candies!

Man, how long had it been since I'd had something sweet? Something really sweet, y'know? Staying with the Dragon Faithful sucked when mealtimes came along, with them not believing in cooking and all, let alone baking and candy-making. That had improved lately, of course, but it had still only been a few days.

With a sigh, I wondered if Ramiris would catch on if I "wandered" away for a little bit, but before I could think it through I heard an unusual sound in the corner of the room.

Almost instinctively, I turned to see a light blue slime, about as small as I used to be, meandering along the wall.

"Ooh, Rimuru!" Milim noticed it too, "it's a slime! Isn't it like your cousin or something? You should go say hi!"

"Ugh, another one of those things," Ramiris scowled. "You know, ever since you left Rimuru these nuisances have been invading. I don't even know how they get in!"

Feeling a bit offended on behalf of the slimes, I said to Milim, "slimes don't 'say hi' Milim. And it's not my cousin."

"Why isn't it? You look pretty much the same!" She asked curiously.

"Are all humans cousins?" I replied.

"Well, no…" She said uncertainly.

"Exactly," I shrugged.

"Fine, I get it," Milim waved me off, "but still! Have you ever held a slime like you before?"

"...well, no," I said, a bit bewildered. There was just the little palm-size one when I was with the kids, but that wasn't quite the same as this.

"Then try it!" She urged, "maybe you can talk to it!"

"Mmh, I doubt it," Ramiris interjected skeptically. "Rimuru's too strange for that. I bet he barely counts as a slime now, based on how his magic feels."

"I do too count as a slime! I'm just… a Unique one," I objected, feeling suddenly defensive.

"So?" Milim gestured toward the slime that was oozing across the floor.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes a bit, "if it makes you happy."

I walked up to the slime, bent down, and picked it up in my arms, ready to get the charade over with so Milim could get back on task.

It was soft, smooth, and cool to the touch. Is this how it feels to hold me? I could see why people seemed to enjoy it.

But, right after I touched it, and as I was standing up, something came over me.

Wait…? That was when I felt it. A strange mix of… emotions? No, they weren't quite as well-defined as emotions, this was something more simple, more primitive.

The best I could describe them as was a mix of both fear and happiness, the fear part lessening and the happiness growing by the second. The slime was happy to be held by me.

I stared at the strange creature, transfixed, and held the slime a bit closer to my chest, feeling a sense of calm and safety just from being in contact with it. I'd never felt this before, not in this way at least. I didn't want to let it go.

Milim, seemingly picking up on my feelings, spoke up, "See! See! I told you he would like it! Right, Rimuru? You like it, right? Aren't I the bestest Bestie you could ever have?!"

"Mmh…" I nodded and plopped down on the floor, still holding the slime close.

Suddenly, I realized that the slime was leeching my magicules. Hey! I thought, smacking it, stop that! Those are mine!

The slime quivered and I felt the fear from it more strongly. It had stopped draining, but after a pause it started to slowly, gently push magicules in my direction. Giving them to me instead of taking.

I quietly absorbed the magicules, breathing them in, in a way. It wasn't exactly the same as that, but the sensations were similar.

Realizing that the slime hadn't been stealing, but exchanging, I carefully "breathed out" some of mine, which the slime took in happily.

I sat like that for a short while, focusing completely on my little back-and-forth exchange with the slime and blocking out Milim and Ramiris' words.

But then Ramiris jolted me out of the trance by saying something that cut straight through to my core.

"Hey, how're those kids doing?"

I froze, dropping the slime and cutting off the connection we had formed.

It felt lonely.

"The ones you had with you? That I saved?"

Shaking my head to clear out the cobwebs and dismiss the odd feeling of isolation, I stood back up from the floor. It was strange that I let myself get so entranced by just holding another slime.

"C'mon, give me an update! I deserve it!"

"They're gone…" I said quietly, my hands balling into fists and quivering.

"So you finally scared them off? I was surprised they stuck around after they found out–"

"SHUT UP!" I rounded on her, roaring as loud as I could. "JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeee you're scary!" Ramiris freaked out, hiding behind Milim. "What's your deal!? I was just making conversation!"

I just stood there, seething mad and trying to calm myself the best I could, but I was boiling inside.

Milim stood up and quietly came over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and patting my head. It helped, and I took a deep breath.

"Yuuki stole them," I growled, feeling an animalistic rumble that surprised me a little, rising in my throat.

Well, I'm not human anymore. And I've acquired forms from plenty of growly monsters.

"S-s-stole!?" She squawked, equally nervous and outraged.

"I trusted him, and when I was gone to fight the Orc Disaster, h-he… he got rid of them somehow! Did something with them!" I spat out.

"Well you gotta get 'im back!" Ramiris yelled, "find those kids right now! They were your responsibility, so go find them!"

"You think I don't know that!?" I shouted, releasing my aura in full, "Yuuki already nearly killed me last time I tried! What d'you think I'm doing here!?"

"Playing with Milim…?" Ramiris asked in confusion.

"I'm recharging my magicules so I can take that creep down once and for all and squeeze some answers out of his cold, dead body!" I snarled, not even minding the raspy edge to the sound of my voice as I shook with rage. "I wanna punch my fist through his face, I wanna rip his bones out one by one, I wanna peel his skin off in ribbons until he TELLS me–" I cut myself off as I realized what was coming out of my mouth, a bit scared by my own anger.

"Hehee, that's right, Rimuru!" Milim slapped my back supportively, and I looked at her nervously. I didn't like how I felt, what I said, but if Milim approved…

That made me feel just a bit better.

Looking at my hands, I realized that claws had started to grow out of my fingers without me even noticing. It just happened so naturally–my mimic skill was now such a core part of me that it reacted to my emotions.

I ran my tongue over my teeth and noticed that my canines were no longer that of an average human's, but something more like a beastman's.

I need to rein myself in. This was just embarrassing at this point, no matter how sparkly Milim's eyes were as they looked at me. Returning my human form to its usual state, I looked at Ramiris. My best hope as of now.

"Ramiris, if you want those kids to be saved, I need your help," I demanded. "I came here to recharge, but if you give me some spirits, I could leave as soon as tomorrow."

"Mmmmh…" Ramiris waffled, shifting back and forth in the air. I stayed quiet, hoping, internally pleading, as she screwed her eyes shut and gave a conflicted grunt.

"Fine!" She burst out, opening her eyes and flying right up in my face to stick her tiny finger on my nose. "But you listen here! You can't let their sacrifice be in vain, alright!? I want you to make him pay. Inflict as much suffering as it takes to get him to spill!"

"That's the plan," I said darkly.

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Ramiris shouted. Turning away and pointing dramatically at the sky, she yelled, "to the Dwelling of Spirits!"

As if on cue, Milim and I were suddenly standing at the foot of the ramp of light that led up to the platform in the Dwelling of Spirits.

Wow, Ramiris's power really is amazing, I thought, looking up at the light coming down from the ceiling.

"Alright, go wild," Ramiris waved her hand, still looking a little reluctant. "Make it quick."

As she said that, hordes of lesser spirits suddenly came down from the light. The majority were fire element, strangely.

[[Fire spirits seem to be attracted to the emotions, anger and passion.]] Wise One interjected, and I nodded thoughtfully.

Well, I've never been angrier than this. Let's put that fire to use. Stretching out my hand, I invoked [Gluttony], and in a whirlwind of black smoke every spirit in the room was sucked up.

Ramiris clearly wasn't expecting things to happen that fast, as she stared, bug-eyed at me.

"Was that one of the sin skills?" She asked suddenly.

Sin skills? Uh, I guess Gluttony is a sin… not really sure, and not wanting to talk about my abilities, I just shrugged.

"Well, since when could you do that!?" She shouted, zipping over and pulling on my ear. "That's real scary stuff, you know! Warn me next time!"

"Uh… sorry?" I said in confusion. "But, thanks. For everything. Including the last time, it meant a lot."

"Don't get all sappy on me after scaring me senseless!" She threw an ineffective kick at my cheek. "But…" Calming down, Ramiris settled on my shoulder, giving me a pat. "Well. You just keep going, alright, Rimuru?"

"Huh?" I cocked my head a tiny bit, careful not to accidentally brush her off.

"Don't let this world beat you!" She shouted, punching my cheek again. "You may be scary, but there's a lot of scarier folks out there who'd eat you alive! So don't let 'em!"

"Where's this coming from?" I asked, "are you trying to scare me off?"

"Nah," Ramiris lifted a hand and waved vaguely. "I think we'll be seeing more of each other from now on. We could even be friends!"

What's with this fairy and her cryptic hints? I wondered, half sure she was just messing with me. And why's she being so nice all of a sudden? Again? "Yeah. I'd like that," I smiled.

I felt the pull of Ramiris's power again, and suddenly me, Milim, and her were all standing on the platform outside the labyrinth door.

"Listen, Rimuru," Milim put her hand on my other shoulder. "You're sweet, but right now, you need to be merciless, or you'll just wind up dead all over again."

"Wow," I laughed uncomfortably, raising my hands. "You too? Come on, it's just one guy."

"You don't get it, Rimuru," Milim said, and her uncharacteristic soberness was putting me off. "Those humans won't let you just waltz in and kill one person, they'll get in your way, and you're going to have to kill them. If you don't, they'll just chase you down when you're weakened and worn out, and get you then."

"I get it, I know you guys are demon lords, but I don't need to kill anyone else," I backed up slightly. "I'll just sneak in, real quiet. Quick interrogation, boom, on my way!"

"Milim's right," Ramiris snickered. "You're such a sweet kid."

"Stop talking to me like I'm a toddler!" I protested grumpily.

"Well, whatever," Milim said. "Just remember. You're my bestie, and that means you're coming back alive, no matter what. No matter how many sacrifices you have to make to do it."

"Okay, okay," I said, starting to see the concern. "I promise, it won't be that big a deal."

"If you don't come back," she threatened, and suddenly Milim looked a lot scarier as her ice-blue eyes glowed and her pupils shrunk to draconic slits, "I'll slaughter all the humans who took you from me. Everyone in that entire country. All of them."

"...I'll be careful, Milim," I said at last. "I promise."

"You better be," Ramiris gave me one last punch. "Now go get 'em, tiger! Take those kids back!"

As Ramiris flew off my shoulder, I gave a playful salute, and stepped into the magic circle.

On my way to Englesia.

On my way to Yuuki.

On my way to finding my kids.

After Rimuru left, Milim and Ramiris were standing outside the door to the labyrinth, watching him disappear into the blinding light of the teleportation spell.

"There he goes," Ramiris said, covering her eyes with a hand. "Are you still sure about all this? He may be a bit of a softie sometimes, but he's gotten awfully dangerous since I last saw him, and he already scared me a little back then."

"Of course!" Milim nodded, unusually serious. "We can't back down now, it's already set to happen."

"You gonna watch him?" Ramiris asked.

"From a distance, yeah," Milim nodded. "You wanna come with?"

"I think I'll wait until Walpurgis. It's only another day anyway." She glanced at Milim, "you're not gonna help him though?"

"Nope, that'd be against the rules, and would ruin the finish too. Can't do that. Rimuru has to do this on his own."

"I doubt he wants help anyway," Ramiris mused, then added, "I still can't believe Guy agreed to that though." Looking Milim in the eye, she said, "it's not like him to play along with other people's games. He usually makes his own and has other people play."

"It's not a game or playing, it's a master plan!" Milim scowled, "plus, he already wants to do something about Rimuru anyway."

"And the slime's okay with all this?" Ramiris asked skeptically.

"He only knows the important part, and he won't have a choice once he beats that human." Milim said, "he'd never agree to it otherwise, after all. Not as he is now."

"I feel a bit bad for him, really," Ramiris hummed. "Buuuuut… I suppose it's for the best. For him and the world. There's really no better outcome. He's too big a wildcard."

"And what's a couple centuries dealing with Guy's bossiness anyway?" Milim grabbed the pixie in a cheerful hug. "All that matters is that he survives the next hundred years. He can do whatever he likes after that." She smiled, "and I'll have a bestie for life."