Next day.

Mikoto is currently crying.

I mean, Shizu died only just last night, there’s no way I can hide this, so I made some breakfast for Mikoto before telling her that Shizu is no longer here.

Regardless of how long they knew each other, they ended up becoming friends they can confide their secrets in. In this foreign world, finding someone with a familiar origin is comforting, for both Mikoto and Shizu. With those emotions, their friendship skyrocketed.

So when Mikoto learned that Shizu died… Well, you can see the result. I feel sorry for her, honestly. It’s barely been a week since she was officially summoned into this world, and yet, she’s experiencing all these emotions…

Mikoto doesn’t even have the leisure to feel embarrassed about cuddling me in her arms. And like when she was summoned, she’s crying into me like I'm a stuffed animal.

Mikoto- “Why… did she not tell me? I could have been there in her last moments…”

Rimuru- “For the exact same reason you’re crying now. Seeing you would be another reason for her to keep living.”

Mikoto- “And what’s wrong with that!?”

Rimuru- “Living, to her, is a curse.”

Mikoto becomes quiet after hearing that. She just grits her teeth in frustration as more tears spill from her eyes. Frustration at now knowing what to do. Should she be happy her friend died, or sad? It’s a confusing thing.

Seeing her like that is honestly a bit painful. I want to do something to alleviate her pain. For myself as well. I mean, although Shizu and I weren't on the level of friendship she and Mikoto were on, we were still friends. And I want to do something.

A couple of days pass. The atmosphere in the house is still quite depressing. Mikoto just never seems to smile as often.

I, myself, am the same.

Believe it or not, I never had to deal with the death of a loved one before. I died at a young age in my past life, and therefore, my parents were still alive. My grandparents from my dad's side were already dead before I was even born while my mom's side grandparents are still alive, although they live far away.

My parents are getting old, but they’re still alive, and any of the pets my family had always disappeared before they died. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is questionable.

So besides my own, I never had to deal with the death of a loved one in my life. And now that someone I was close with is no longer here… it’s… a new feeling. One I don’t necessarily want to feel again. It’s hitting hard.

And so, with that thought in mind, I kept thinking. What could I do?

I quickly came to an answer within 5 minutes.

I could make a new body with [Limited Creation] before using [Illya, Heaven’s Feel] to reincarnate Shizu’s soul into said body.

Canon Shizu mentioned how she didn’t want to die in this world and would rather be eaten by Rimuru, so I didn’t think it was right to just let her soul go. Besides, her soul is a little strained and a bit damaged from her link with Ifrit. Without support from my [Heaven’s Feel], her soul might never completely heal.

So… what should I do? I'm conflicted. I want Shizu to live again, but this is nothing more than a selfish desire of mine. Should I be selfish and force Shizu to keep living?

<<… Replaying memory.>>

[Great Sage] suddenly makes an appearance. A memory of mine gets dug up by it and starts to play in my mind.

It’s the scene of Shizu lying on her bed, asking me to consume her.

Shizu- “It’s okay to be a little selfish, right?”

And like that, I made my decision.

I will reincarnate Shizu. Of course, she won't be exactly the same either.

Because her soul is strained, it can't exactly reincarnate as is. I can fix her soul, but it comes at the cost of removing her memories. Her personality will stay the same and her core memories like habits, speech, muscle memory, and the like will remain. It will just be like she has amnesia.

Of course, it’s because of this that I can rest easy in my decision. The moment I reincarnate her, I’ll be watching her facial expression. If she still shows a face of reluctance, I’ll know she doesn’t really want to live again.

And so, I begin. I made an egg. It’s basically a pseudo soul vessel. I took inspiration from the avatars OG Rimuru made further down the line for their use in the dungeon.

Basically, it will create a body from magicules in the form the user thinks about. But since Shizu will be in a clean state, it will instead create a form that will fit her best.

The bad part about this is that she can't be human. Because her body will be made from magicules, she basically has no choice but to become a monster of some form.

How did I make this, you ask? Well, I made the stuff I could with [Limited Creation] and did the rest with [Rune Master] while [Great Sage] supported.

Finally, I heal Shizu’s soul with [Illya, Heaven’s Feel] and control it to enter the egg. And now… we wait.

Oh, and [Great Sage]?

Rimuru- “… Thanks for replaying that memory…”

<<…>>

[Great Sage] didn’t say anything, but I swear I felt something from it.

After everything was completed, I rushed over to the still moping Mikoto. In case something went wrong, I didn’t tell her to get her hopes up. But now that everything’s finished, I no longer have to keep things a secret.

RImuru- “Mikoto!”

I accidentally called her first name, but she nor I really noticed. For me, it’s because I'm excited. For her, however, it’s just because she’s depressed.

She’s a strong girl, she’ll recover soon. But it’s better to recover sooner than later, right?

I hold up the egg to her and speak.

Rimuru- “This is Shizu!”

.

.

.

Ok, that came out wrong. I admit it, so can you stop looking at me like I'm some kind of fucking idiot, Mikoto?

-----

Name: Rimuru

Race: Origin Slime

Protection: Crest of Space

Title: Highest Tier Spirit

Ultimate Skills: [Illya, Heaven's Feel]

Intrinsic Skills: [Infinite Regeneration] [Universal Shapeshift] [Universal Sense]

Unique Skills: [Great Sage] [Predator] [Limited Creation] [Rune Master]

Extra Skills: [Control Water] [Lord's Ambition] [Thought Communication] [Shadow Motion] [Cloud Step] [Language Comprehension] [Control Wind] [Far Sight] [Snipe] [Silent Movement] [Evasion] [Reinforcement] [Greater Prediction] [Hinder Senses] (+14 more)

Common Skills: (There's a fuck ton, I'm not writing this.)

Tolerances: [Resist Temperature] [Resist Melee Attack] [Cancel Pain] [Resist Electricity] [Resist Paralysis] [Resist Earth] [Resist Water] [Resist Wind] [Resist Spiritual Attack] [Resist Holy Attack] [Resist Ranged Attack] (+7 more)