CHAPTER 1: A STRANGE CITY
Birds chirp.
The sun shines through his window.
A bedroom full of manga and anime figures. Subaru Natsuki wakes up in a cold sweat, screaming loudly. Finally, he calms down. After, he stares at the ceiling with an astonished expression.
"I... know that ceiling."
He slowly sits up in bed. He's wearing his tracksuit. He turns to look around the room.
"This... is my room. But how? I was just..."
A terrible memory sours his mood, making him look down with a guilt-ridden expression. Does this mean everything was a dream? No. That can't be. He still remembers... everything. He slowly gets out of bed and walks to the door. He pauses, scared to open the door and leave. He eventually gains the courage to open the door.
But nothing. There was no one to greet him. Exploring his house, he finds that he is alone. He opens the front door. The city is empty. No one walking the streets. The city looks almost pale, like it's an imitation. Subaru steps outside and walks down the street.
In another part of the city.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Kazuma screams out as he suddenly wakes up in a closet.
A bucket falls on his head. He looks around, weirded out by the change of scenery. He takes the bucket off his head and exits the closet. He's in a cafe. A maid cafe.
"Huh? Where the hell am I? Aqua? Megumin? Darkness?" He tries calling out the names of his party members, but no one responds. He chuckles nervously.
"O-Okay, if this is a prank, you can stop now. Oh, is this payback for what I did last time?" He puts his hands together as he continues, "About that, I'm sorry. Please forgive me?"
No one answers once again. He nervously walks through the cafe to the door and leaves, looking around frantically. He steps outside of the cafe to find an empty city. Offput by this, he starts to believe this might not be a prank.
"What is this?"
On the rooftops.
Rimuru wakes up. He is immediately offput by his surroundings.
Where am I? This doesn't feel like Tempest.
He decides to transform into his human form, though that proves to be difficult to do. He eventually transform and is able to see his surroundings. A random rooftop.
"Huh? I recognize this place."
He starts walking to look off the rooftop to be surprised by the view.
"This is Japan."
The wind blows his hair as he stares at the view in shock.
Subaru walks around the city with nervousness. This silence and isolation is unnerving. Was this the result of a Witch? He couldn't say anything for sure. He continues walking, looking at all the things he recognized. Yet, not a single person. He continues walking with caution. Anything could pop out.
The city was clean. It feels like someone had been taking care of the city, despite not a single person being within view. Why was he here? Why was he sent back to Japan only for there to be no one? It didn't make sense.
Kazuma also had the same idea. He walks around the city with nervousness. This wasn't like any place he's been, well, that wasn't exactly true. He knew this was Japan, but it was different than he remembers. Why the hell was he back here? Did Aqua do this? Is he finally free? Is this a joke? Maybe he's being given a break?
All these questions and no answers.
Rimuru was jumping rooftops in his human form, looking around and observing everything. He then jumps in-between two buildings, wall jumping till he lands on the ground. He walks out of the alley and to the sidewalk. He starts walking down the sidewalk.
"It feels nice being back in Japan." He speaks with a smile.
"Say, Raphael, what do you think?"
He walks in silence.
"Raphael?"
Nothing.
He stops.
"Hey, Raphael. You there? Come on, say something."
Nothing.
"That's strange. Why is Raphael-"
He notices someone. A boy in a tracksuit. The boy has a hand to his chin as if he was thinking. Across the street was another boy who seemed like he just came out of an RPG. He wasn't the only one to notice. It also seems the other two noticed him as well as the other one. The all look shocked as they stare at each other.
After some time, they decided to introduce themselves.
Subaru goes first. He raises a hand to the sky as he shouts, "My name is Subaru Natsuki. The Knight of Emilia, the half-elf."
A Japanese name? Kazuma and Rimuru both think as they hear Subaru's name.
"So, whose next?" Subaru asks with a smile.
Kazuma clears his throat as before saying, "Guess I can go next."
He puts on a smile as he says, "My name is Kazuma Satou. And I defeated a general of the demon lord's army."
Demon Lord? I don't remember there being a demon lord in Lugunica. Where is he from? His name is also Japanese.
"A demon Lord? Which one? Clayman? I don't remember that. A Japanese name as well. Weird. Just who are these two?
"Um... It's kinda awkward when you're both silent like that." Kazuma breaks their thoughts.
Subaru chuckles nervously before giving a thumbs up toward Kazuma as he says, "Nice to meet you Kazuma."
Kazuma can't help but chuckle at this. "Well, there's still one more who has to introduce themselves." He then turns to Rimuru as he says, "Well, miss?"
Hearing this, Rimuru's thoughts are interrupted.
"Ah, no, I'm not a girl."
Kazuma is confused by this as he just stares. "Really? So you're a boy?"
"Yeah, I thought you were a girl too." Subaru joins with his hand raised.
Rimuru is caught off guard by this as he says, "Oh, well... I'm actually a..." He stops himself. Should I really reveal that to them? I have no idea who they are or what they're capable of. I mean... They both seem to be fairly weak in magic, plus the Japanese names. I guess it'll be okay.
He clears his throat before saying, "I'm actually a slime."
This completely confuses Subaru and Kazuma.
"Aren't slimes supposed to be, like, weak creatures with no intelligence?" Subaru questions.
"Well, where I'm from, slimes are absolutely terrifying. You aren't a general of the demon lord as well, are you?"
Rimuru takes a step back with a nervous smile. "U-Um... Well... I am, so yeah. My case is actually unique where I'm from."
He then looks up to notice some dark clouds. "Maybe we should go inside somewhere."
Subaru then says, "We could go to my house, though only if you don't mind sharing a bed. Maybe an apartment? I haven't seen anyone else in this city, maybe someone left their door unlocked."
In a big apartment, the three take shelter as it starts to rain.
Kazuma looks out the window at the rain as he says, "Wow, it's really pouring down out there. Good thing it seems all these apartments are unlocked."
"Yeah, but isn't that kinda weird? I mean, come on. All the apartments were unlocked. What are the odds of that?" Subaru speaks from the couch as Kazuma turns to face him, closing the blinds.
"Well, yeah. But isn't that fine? What's the deal?"
Rimuru comes from the kitchen and looks to Kazuma as he says, "The deal is that this place is weird. Just think about it. This city is empty except for us. How exactly did we get here to begin with? Do you know?"
He then looks to Subaru as he says, "Also, it seems the fridge is empty. I don't know if there is any other food in this city. If there isn't, that might be a problem for you two."
"Do you not need to eat?" Kazuma questions.
Subaru grabs a remote and turns on the tv. "Well, looks like we got electricity. There might be food at convenience stores and restaurants."
Rimuru only nods. Kazuma walks toward Subaru with a smile as he says, "Hey, do you think there are game systems and stuff like that? We are in Japan after all."
Rimuru's eyes look at Kazuma with suspicion.
"H-Huh? I mean, I guess. Are you from Japan as well?" Subaru questions.
Kazuma nods with a smile as he says, "Yep, I figured you were from Japan as well with that tracksuit you were wearing. What about you, Rimuru? Are you from Japan as well? Maybe not. You are a slime."
Rimuru nods before saying, "Actually, I am. I died and was reincarnated as a slime."
Surprising news for Subaru and Kazuma as they both look at Rimuru.
"Anyway, I'm going out to see if there is any food. You two will need that if you wish to survive."
Kazuma looks at Rimuru with a down expression as he says, "Once again, do you not need to eat?"
With that, Rimuru leaves in the rain in search for food, leaving Subaru and Kazuma alone.
"So, were you also reincarnated into another world?" Kazuma asks, sitting on the couch beside Subaru.
Subaru looks at him and replies, "Nah, I was actually summoned. I thought that maybe I'd get awesome powers or something like that, but nothing. Such a cheat."
"Oh, do I know the feeling. All I got was a useless Goddess, a mage who can only use one spell a day, and a crusader who can't hit anything. It's so unfair man."
Both of them shared their feelings of disdain for being cheated out of their awesome powers. After they're done, Kazuma speaks.
"So, what exactly happened when you got summoned?"
Subaru looks up and thinks before he replies, "Well... First I found this half-elf chick. I helped her a bunch with some complicated things. I also live in a mansion with her. Well, the first one burned. The people in the mansion are me, Emilia, that's the half-elf, two demon maids, well..." He grows quiet at the maids.
"Huh?" Kazuma speaks. "Why'd you get quiet?"
Subaru looks filled with guilt before looking back up at Kazuma. "Well... One of the maids is in a coma now. I just... couldn't save her. Another maid that apparently worked before I got there came back and one of the village kids became a new maid. A lot of stuff happened, but in the end, I got through it and became Emilia's knight."
Kazuma looks up with a thoughtful expression. "Wait... If you're a knight of this Emilia girl, does this mean she's some sort of royalty?"
Subaru replies with a nod. "That's right. She's a candidate for the throne of Lugunica, the kingdom I was in."
Kazuma can only look in astonishment.
"So, what about you?" Subaru then asks Kazuma.
Kazuma turns away as he says, "Oh, well... I died... How I died, I leave out. But after I died, I met this Goddess who called herself Aqua. Though all she did was make fun of me."
"What, really?" Subaru interrupts.
"Yeah. She said I could bring anything I wanted with me to the other world. So, to get back at her, I decided to choose her as what I wanted to bring with me. My wishes were apparently heard and Aqua came with me. I ended up creating a party, though if real adventurers saw us, they'd laugh. Besides my useless Goddess, I have a mage who can only use one spell a day and a crusader who can't hit a damn thing. I've even died a few times. About the only time Aqua was really helpful."
Subaru flinches as the mention of death. Does this mean he understands how it feels to die as well?
He looks back at Kazuma. Does Return by Death even work here? If I die, will I die for good? Can the Witch even get me from here?
K-Kazuma." He speaks.
Kazuma looks at him with confusion. "What is it, man? Everything alright?" He notices the serious expression on Subaru's face. "Can you cover your ears?"
"Huh? Um, sure. But why?"
"Just do it?"
"O-Okay."
Kazuma places his hands over his ears as he stares at Subaru. Subaru moves his hand and grips his chest tightly as he feels fear.
"I can Re-"
Time freezes.
Kazuma just stares as Subaru begins to talk before pausing. Suddenly, Subaru's eyes widen as he jumps back and gasps for air. Kazuma removes his hands from his ears and jumps up off the couch as he speaks in concern.
"Subaru? Subaru, what's wrong?"
Subaru doesn't reply. Nope, it definitely works. She's still there.
Finally, Subaru calms down.
"You really had me scared."
The both sit in silence with relief. Until a thought pops into Kazuma's head.
"Hey, Subaru?"
"Yeah?"
"If all of us were people who got sent to another world, does this mean it's more than a coincidence that we are all here?"
Subaru looks up to think. It makes sense. Why were they brought here? They were all brought to another world, and by their names, they could tell they were all from Japan. There has to be something to this. Why?
A knock on the door.
Enters Rimuru.
"Hey, I'm back. Are you all okay?"
"Hey, Rimuru's back." Subaru speaks with a smile as he looks back at the door where Rimuru is standing.
Rimuru walks in to the coffee table in front of the table. "Turns out, there is food in stores and restaurants." With that, his hand turns to a blue slime as out comes a couple of bags of food.
"Since we already determined that we have electricity, I decided to get some food for the fridge as well. I did also get some that don't need to be cooked of frozen just in case something happens. "So, what have you guys been talking about?"
"We've just been discussing our lives in the other world after our reincarnation." Kazuma answers. "What about you? How was your life?"
Rimuru looks up to think before looking back at Kazuma as he says, "Oh, well... I am the ruler of a nation of monsters. I also became a demon lord."
"Are you for real?" Subaru was the first to question.
"Yep." Rimuru answers.
"Man, why is your life so much better than ours? I bet you're also overpowered as well seeing as you're a demon lord." Kazuma was the one to speak with spite.
After all, it seems like him and Subaru weren't given any special powers at all. Yet, this guy was reincarnated as an overpowered slime, ruling a nation, and being a demon lord.
"Well, anyways, it seems the rain has stopped. I think we should stay on guard. Who knows what this city has for us. I checked to see if there was anything surrounding this city, but there was nothing. An empty white void I couldn't pass surrounds the entire city." Rimuru speaks with a smile.
Subaru and Kazuma nod. Kazuma looks out the window to see a raindrop falling down the window.
