Mikoto- “Wait, now’s not the time for that!”

Mikoto runs up to me and grabs what’s remaining my left arm, worry clouding her face.

She lifts up my ripped and tattered sleeve and concernedly inspected the ‘wound’.

Rimuru- “Not to worry, ‘tis but a scratch.”

I say with a calm smile in an attempt to pacify her. I move my magicules to my arm and overpower the lingering holy energy with it, causing my [Infinite Regeneration] skill to finally work again, regrowing my arm in barely a second.

Holy Energy is what the Church uses to combat monsters and demons since it has an ‘anti-magicule’ property. When Hinata cut my arm off, some holy energy remained, hindering my recovery. If not for that, my arm would’ve recovered naturally.

Although Holy Energy is a counter to magicules, you can overwhelm it and ‘wash’ it off. Kind of like how in small quantities, water can't put out a large fire, but with enough water, that story changes.

Hinata is still kneeling on the ground leaning against her rapier as support with one hand while the other holds her wounded waist. She looks at my newly recovered arm without a hint of surprise on her face, her impassive eyes glance at my arm before shifting to my face.

Hinata- “A regeneration skill? And quite a powerful one if your arm recovered that quickly.”

Rimuru- “I know, right? [Ultraspeed Regeneration] was a skill that took a lot of work to acquire. I’d say it’s worth it…”

That’s a fucking lie.

I have [Infinite Regeneration] which is already many times better than [Ultraspeed Regeneration]. Not to mention that I got that skill on my first day after being reincarnated due to my rather smooth evolution into an Origin Slime.

Hinata- “I would assume so, especially if it could regrow your arm so quickly.”

Hinata seems a bit more talkative than usual…

Ah, I know why now. She’s buying time. The hand that’s holding her waist is softly glowing with Holy Energy, subtly healing her injury.

If not for my astounding genius, I would’ve missed it.

Luckily she’s quite resistant to magicules since she’s bathed in the holy juice, so Mikoto’s Railgun didn’t hurt her as much.

Unfortunately, Mikoto is an esper originally and is simply using magicules to augment her attacks, so she still dealt heavy damage, which is why Hinata can't move carelessly.

Which reminds me, I have to remedy this situation. How do I do that…?

Oh, I know!

I can use Shizue’s Anti-Magic Mask!

My genius… it generates gravity…

Rimuru- “Right, I think I should start explaining…”

I mutter as I take out Shizue’s mask from my stomach. Hinata quickly recognizes the mask.

Hinata- “You… where did you get that mask.”

With eyes and a voice that struck a chill down my back, she asks me with coldness on a different level than before.

Rimuru- “Woah, calm your tatas. Shizue gave this to me, I didn’t steal this from her or anything of the sort.”

Hinata’s eyes widen, some of the coldness disappearing as shock settles in.

I create a simple wooden chair and place it down in front of me. I jump up and turn back into my slime form as Mikoto quickly catches me and sits down on the wooden chair, placing me on her lap.

I trained her well…

Hinata- “A slime…!”

Rimuru- “Yeah, I get that a lot… Listen, we need to talk.”

Hinata stares straight into my eyes with her own sharp, calculating ones. She closes her eyes and sighs before standing up slowly.

She shifts her right foot on the ground. Thinking that she’s getting ready for yet another attack, I prepare to transform back into my human form and push Mikoto out of the way, but instead, a small pillar of the earth rises from out of the ground behind her.

She sits on it.

… It turns out it was a fucking makeshift stool…

(A/N: I don’t think it was ever mentioned that Hinata could manipulate earth, but I'm just going to assume that one of the world’s strongest humans can at least do something like this. Especially with Hinata’s Unique Skill [Upsurper] that lets her learn techniques at an insane rate.)

Hinata- “If you’re lying, I’ll kill you.”

Yeah, figured as much…

*Ahem*

And so I proceeded to explain the course of events that led to me getting the mask.

Shizue and three other adventurers she met on the way arrived at my village. Unfortunately, she was already close to death at that time due to the Greater Spirit Ifrit slipping from her control.

Rimuru- “Well, to be exact, she wouldn’t have died physically. Ifrit was escaping her control and would’ve taken over her body and probably return to its true master, Demon Lord Leon. She would no longer be Shizue at that point, and that counts as a death in my books, so…”

Hinata and Mikoto nod in understanding.

I continue to tell the story of Shizue’s last days.

I told Shizue about her condition and after realising that she didn’t have as long as she’d liked, she decided to spend the rest of her short time in my village.

I did everything I could to make her happy, from giving her all kinds of modern luxuries like food to playing games, reading manga (Jojo specifically), and just sitting down and talking with smiles on all of our faces.

Unfortunately, the day had to end and just as Shizue was about to fall asleep…

Rimuru- “… She asked me to consume her body.”

I say with a hoarse voice.

A tear rolls down Mikoto’s cheek. She always regretted not being there at that time.

Rimuru- “That human form you saw previously was the result of me mimicking a human using Shizue’s body as a base. You didn’t realise it because I was concealing my identity. Granted, it’s a younger, genderless version though…”

I finish speaking and we all just sit there in silence. Mikoto brings my slime body up and begins hugging it and Hinata is just closing her eyes, digesting the information I just gave her.

Regardless of how cold she is, Hinata considered Shizue as the only person who showed her kindness before she rose to fame as one of the Ten Great Saints of the Luminous Faith. Likewise, Shizue was someone Hinata cared for, regardless of how the latter denied it.

At least, that was how the light novel depicted their relationship.

Hinata opens her eyes while taking a deep breath. Looking into them, I smile a little.

Seeing the mournful emotions passing through her eyes just confirms it.

*Snore*

Due to the silence, that snore was heard by all of us. Turning to my right, I look at the source of it.

Ranga.

He’s lying on the ground with closes eyes fast asleep, his stomach rising and falling slowly. Leaning against his stomach sitting on the ground is Illya who is also asleep, breathing calmly as she unconsciously snuggles into Ranga’s fur.

Mikoto chuckles to herself as I turn to Hinata.

Rimuru- “It’s been a long day. Can we continue tomorrow?”

Hinata nods her head and stands up, already completely healed. If not for her damaged armour, I wouldn’t think she was ever hurt in any way.

I open a portal leading to reality next to her and she walks through it. I close the portal before looking back at the wolf and the loli.

Now, how should I move them…?

-----

Name: Rimuru

Race: Origin Slime

Protection: Crest of Space

Title: Highest Tier Spirit, Leader of the Monsters, Onii-chan, King of Avalon, Master of Headpats, Procrastinator King, The Nutcracker

Manas: [Manas: Illyasviel]

Ultimate Skills: [Belzebuth, Lord of Gluttony] [Ahura Mazda, Lord of Creation] [Scathach, Lord of Runes]

Unique Skills: [Spatial Ruler]

Intrinsic Skills: [Infinite Regeneration] [Universal Shapeshift] [Universal Sense] [Enhanced Replication] [Universal Thread]

Extra Skills: [Lord's Ambition] [Thought Communication] [Control Natural Elements] [Control Magic] [Control Gravity]

Resistances: [Cancel Pain] [Resist Melee Attack] [Cancel Natural Elements] [Cancel Ailments] [Resist Spiritual Attack] [Resist Holy/Demonic Attack]

Equipment: Yamato, [Raphael] Skill Orb, Limiter Ring