An older man walked down the grand halls of the throne room, escorted by men donned in elegant robes much like himself, though he clearly stood out among them. He carried with him a magical staff, showing off his position as a mage, with the other cloaked men behind him wielding similar, albeit less grand looking staffs of their own.

 

The man approached the end of the room, stopping before the King on his throne and bowing, crossing his staff over his chest in respect as the other men followed suit. After a moment the King, hardly any older than the mage before him, nodded, “Raise your head, Razen.”

 

The older man in the front, Razen, raised his head, now looking up at the king as he spoke, “My lord, I bring some interesting news.”

 

The king seemed intrigued and nodded, “Go on.”

 

“We had previously speculated that it may be many years before we could again summon an otherworlder, however an interesting situation has arisen. Normally we are not only restrained by the excessive costs of the rituals, both in manpower, magic, and resources, but also in the link between worlds itself. This link is seemingly limited in how often we are able to control it to summon one. While with enough magic we could shorten the time between summons, we do not have that capability, at least not without leaving our mage corps vulnerable. However this situation changes that, at least briefly.”

 

“How so? Would we be able to summon another otherworlder sooner?”

 

Razen nodded, “Perhaps. You see we have long speculated that there are many worlds all interconnected with each other by these various ‘links.’ Until now only one link has had any sort of efficiency for summoning otherworlders, hence why almost all otherworlders come from the same world. Recently, however. We’ve detected another link that could be viable for summoning. It appears this link was damaged somehow, leaving it more vulnerable to a ritual. Theoretically if we start soon we could very well have a new summon in a matter of days.”

 

The King seemed overjoyed at this proposition, “That is wonderful news! Great work, Razen! See to it that it is done immediately! How much could we get out of this vulnerability?”

 

“I’m afraid not much, my Lord. I believe that by commencing a summoning ritual, the link’s natural repairing process that we’re already seeing will be accelerated. We should be able to get at least one, but I doubt we can get any more than that before the link returns to its normal state.”

 

The King sighed, “I suppose that will have to do. Getting just one otherworlder years ahead of schedule alone is a wonderful advantage. See to it that the ritual is commenced immediately.”

 

Razen lowered his head, “Yes, my Lord. I have already set out a summons for the mages needed. They should be here shortly. Once they are here we shall begin.”

 

“Good. I expect good results, I have utmost confidence in your abilities, Razen.”

 

“I will not fail you, my Lord.”

---

It had been a bit since Shizu and the other adventurers showed up in the village, I had originally planned to head out by now to start my business venture, however whatever was inside Shizu posed a threat to the village, so I decided I would stay behind for a bit longer. Ultimately this village is more important than any business venture I head out to do. If I can secure a good spot in this village, my future is set so long as it continues to grow like it has. The potential trade and resource value a nation right in the middle of the Jura Forest would have would be beyond almost any other nation.

 

I had originally planned to find the richest or most suitable nation to settle into and found a company in, however such an opportunity as this cannot be avoided. Not only do I have a chance to entrench myself in what could easily become the next major trading hub, but I can also help to shape it in a way that not only benefits me, but helps accelerate the world to the modern era I was forced to leave the first time I died. 

 

I have confidence in Rimuru’s abilities to handle threats, but he is one person and his skills can’t really be used too well for the defense of others. I at the very least have much better ranged options with my rifle, and my barriers don’t need to be placed around me, I can easily give someone else a barrier if need be.

 

The group of adventurers, specifically the male members, stood outside waiting for the two girls to come outside. Eren came out first with Shizu just behind them. Rimuru and some of the goblins Rigurd and Rigur stood nearby with me standing a few paces back, mostly in a worst case scenario. I knew elementals like the one inside of Shizu were strong against demons, but I wasn’t sure to what extent that was, or if the elemental inside Shizu was powerful enough to kill me. I just got into this life and I’m not taking my chances with it.

 

As Shizu followed she suddenly stopped, causing Eren to turn around in confusion. Looking at her she just seemed to stop, but with my skill I could see that the elemental was starting to become active again. It had been doing that a few times since Shizu got here, but as she collapsed to the floor I realized it was getting out of hand. It was beyond the point of control. In a few moments Shizu wouldn’t have any control at all and there wasn’t much I could do to prevent it.

 

Eren called out to Shizu as my barrier appeared in front of them, separating the adventurers, Rimuru, and the goblins from Shizu as Eren looked confused, “W-Whats this?!”

 

“It’s a barrier.” I told them. “Stay behind it.”

 

“But what about Shizu?!” She shouted.

 

“Forget about her! It’s too late now, that elemental’s taken control!”

 

“Elemental?!” Eren shouted, shocked and confused, now looking back at Shizu.

 

Suddenly Shizu combusted, flames erupting into the sky as dark clouds began to swirl above, darkening the sky. Shizu slowly rose before once more erupting into a giant fiery explosion. Luckily the barrier held, blocking everyone else from the fire and wind caused by the blast. 

 

“What the hell is this? We charge hazard pay, you know!” Kaval shouted, taking a step back.

 

“You should be telling that to Fuze!” Gido remarked.

 

“Shizu! Shizu!” Eren shouted desperately as Shizu floated with fire swirling around her, flames of much more vibrant colors erupting from her head and hair.

 

“Shizu… Shizue Izawa?!” Kaval shouted, shocked.

 

“Isn’t Shizue Izawa the conqueror of flames?!” Gido exclaimed.

 

I tried to search my memories for any mention of a Shizue, but I couldn’t find any mention of her during my travels. 

 

Eren was shocked, “Y-You mean the hero of the guild from 50 years ago?!”

 

That would explain why I’ve never heard about her, I haven’t really looked too deeply into any powerful figures aside from the slight research into Demon Lords.

 

Not wanting to wait for that fire elemental to attack first I rushed up to Rimuru, “I’ll handle evacuations.”

 

“Eh?!” Rimuru blurted out, turning towards me, “But I could really use your-”

 

“That’s an elemental. From what I’ve been told, Demons are weak to them. I don’t trust that my resistances would even apply against one.”

 

“That sounds bad… I understand. I’ll take it down.”

 

“You should be fine, I have confidence in your skills.”

 

Rimuru nodded, “Thank you.”

 

I began to lift off the ground, preparing to help the evacuation. “Try to not cause any property damage…”

 

“Hey, why would I do that?!” Rimuru rebutted.

 

“Your two main offensive skills are highly destructive, I’m just telling you to be careful.”

 

Rimuru sighed, “Right. Rigurd, Rigur, help Tanya with the evacuation!”

 

“But…” Rigurd try to object.

 

“That’s an order.”

 

“Yes sir, as you wish.” Rigurd replied, getting up to join me as I flew off, gathering the townsfolk and taking them to a nearby hill.

 

Once I had gathered everyone on the hill I turned towards where Rimuru and the Adventurers were. There I saw Shizu had been replaced fully by the elemental, a large muscular looking man with flames all around him. He summoned numerous smaller fire elementals which began to fly around. Realizing the threat to the houses I exerted my magical power to place barriers over them. It was a mild strain on my magic, but I had quite a large stockpile. Surprisingly, it seemed doing an action like this takes a lot less magicules than I originally anticipated. The most difficult part was placing the barrier from such a far distance. With practice, that can be solved. It does give me some ideas…

 

Paying attention to the battle again I watched Rimuru and the adventurers fight the elemental and its multiple fire minions. Rimuru’s water blade attacks weren’t doing much, however it appears that after eating an ice attack from Eren, he began to utilize it himself, easily taking down the elemental’s goons before going straight for it. After the adventurers were injured by the last of the elemental’s summons, Ranga brought them up towards the rest of us behind the barrier where I had Eiga get the potions I kept.

 

Now it was Rimuru against the elemental. He has Thermal Fluctuation Resistance, like I do, so he should be able to survive even the hottest flames. As Rimuru approached, the elemental began to make copies of himself, completely surrounding Rimuru. These copies, as it seemed, weren’t too durable as Rimuru simply spun around, launching icicles at each of them, leaving only the original remaining.

 

In the next moment, Rimuru was engulfed into a large spiraling pillar of flame, reaching high into the sky. For a moment I thought I could hear him screaming. After what was probably a bit too long to be screaming it appeared he realized he was not actually in pain as he was immune to fire. This of course proves that Elemental fire is basically just normal fire, meaning I probably would have handled this pretty easily but it was better safe than sorry.

 

After another moment, the elemental turned around before being trapped in place by Rimuru’s string. Turning back towards the flame, it gradually began to die down to reveal Rimuru, fully intact. Rimuru bounced towards the elemental who in a last desperate attempt, tried to breath fire to put down the Slime. After this failed, Rimuru promptly ate the spirit, likely getting more powerful in the process.

 

In the aftermath of the battle, Shizu was recovered, though in poor condition. She was given a place to rest as the adventurers she came with postponed their return. I had no personal attachment to Shizu now that she was no longer a threat to the village, so I let Rimuru and the others handle her. Rimuru, after all, with his analysis skill Great Sage and his internal potion factory, was much more adept at healing others than I was.

 

When the others went to visit Rimuru, apparently Shizu was gone and Rimuru was in a human form. The news was a shock to me, but it appears Rimuru ate her for one reason or another. Apparently she wanted to ‘rest inside him’, whatever that meant.

 

Allegedly,  she was summoned here a long time ago by the Demon Lord Leon Cromwell. I know this through Rimuru who had asked me if I knew anything about him. I learned a bit about the Demon Lord when I gathered information about the neighboring states of the forest. I only really know about only five out of the ten, mostly since they were the only ones I could properly research on. The ones I know about are the ones whose territories border the forest, Milim, Clayman, Carrion, and Frey, as well as the only one Noir could properly tell me about, the Red Primordial, Guy. Cromwell, who, from what I could tell, lived a bit far from any nation I had so far visited, so I had no idea who he was other than the fact that he was one of the Ten Great Demon Lords.

 

Afterwards the Adventurers were given new gear made by Kaijin and the other dwarves who apparently were a lot more famous than I had initially thought. That Magisteel must have been worth quite a lot to be able to pay for my rifle.

---

It had been a few days since Rimuru’s battle with the Elemental, apparently called ‘Ifrit’. I had already headed out to do some last minute examinations on some areas I thought to begin my business in. There’s still a few aspects I need to decide on, the most vital being what exactly do I want to start with. Ultimately I decided on creating one of the first proper banking systems. Similar systems exist already, but I plan to take it a step further. By taking in people’s money for safekeeping, giving interest and then giving it back when they request I can start using said money to invest into various projects or give out loans. Of course, I’ll eventually start dealing with more money than I actually have, so I’ll issue notes which are effectively glorified IOUs saying I owe someone a certain amount. Effectively, I’m inventing paper money. The whole process is a lot more complicated than this, but that’s the basic gist.

 

The hardest part of this whole plan is actually getting people to trust in a concept that’s never really been done on a large scale before. My plan is to start in Falmuth, where greedy nobles may just be willing to buy into the possibility of gaining money exponentially. Gaining their trust will be difficult, but I’ve already begun planning out ways. The recent adventurers have opened up another route of possibility. Through them it may be possible to get through the guild master, and through them the King of Blumund. If I can get their backing, I can establish a stable branch in Blumund for which to use as an example in other Kingdoms of how the system works and how they can benefit.

 

In the end, I hope to benefit both the middle and upper class, even the lower class to an extent. Offering total equality among all classes might cause some conflict with the nobility of some nations, so in the end I may end up having to make a sort of ‘VIP’ type deal with those who have excessive amounts of money like many banks in my old life did. Nevertheless if all of this succeeds, not only will I be gaining a whole lot of money at my disposal, but I’ll also have a large web of connections and influence in no time. I’m building a revolution here, and soon the time of coins shall be replaced by the era of the note. If I’m lucky I may be able to create a centralized paper currency based around my bank, but at that point I may be stretching it.

 

For now though, I’m remaining in the village while I gradually make trips to various locations to sell off Magic ore, and even using Rimuru to make some Magisteel to sell for higher profits. It's a lot harder to start a bank with nothing than it is if you have a large stockpile to fall back on at the start. Through this money I can also sway nobles to my side to get the business going. It will be slow at first, unprofitable even, but given enough time I’m sure It’ll start making profit.

 

Having enough of my internal planning I decided to go outside and see what was about in the town. Not much out of the ordinary usually happens, though people often have a lot of free time due me making sure everything was organized and running at maximum efficiency, causing most tasks to be done quicker. Walking through the town, I noticed a few people eagerly preparing… something. I wasn’t quite sure what, but it seemed Rigurd was among those eagerly working hard. Curious, I approached him.

 

“Everyone seems excited today, is something happening Rigurd?” I asked, having to tilt my head up to actually look at the towering Hobgoblin.

 

Rigurd clapped his hands together with excitement, “Ah yes, Miss Tanya, since Rimuru now has a mouth he said he will be joining us to eat today! As such we are preparing a grand feast for tonight!”

 

I nodded. It made sense, these guys will find an excuse to celebrate something. I’ll give it to them though, I don’t even need to eat and even still I find myself getting a meal. I’m not sure if it's just that I’ve grown tired of eating the same slob I got on the front line or what, but their food is delicious enough to eat regardless of necessity. I suppose I could contribute to this, don’t want to look like a slob leeching off of others’ hard work, “How about I head out to a marketplace in Blumund and get some drinks? The food is great, but we currently lack some of the needed equipment to make certain beverages.”

 

“That would be wonderful! Do you think you could get them before tonight?” Rigurd asked, visibly more excited than he was before.

 

“Shouldn’t take me too long, I’m quite a fast flier. Though I might get Rimuru to come with me because of his stomach. Much better to keep it in there than to have them shake around in my flight. Any idea where he went, anyways?”

 

“I’m afraid I’m not quite sure, but if I see Rimuru I will tell him you were looking for him.”

 

“Thank you Rigurd.”

 

Rigurd nodded and went back to his work. Rigurd was a man, or rather, a goblin that I could respect. He was a great leader, and I can see why Rimuru placed him at the top of the hierarchy. If I was in Rimuru’s shoes, I would’ve done the same thing. When I reorganized the entire Village’s structure, I gave him a bit more jobs to handle. I was initially concerned that I may need to split it up among a few people, but he took to his jobs well and effectively. As it currently stands, there is no better Goblin in this village than him for his role.

 

Flying up, I decided I would try to find Rimuru, eventually spotting him in a confrontation with a bunch of Ogres. I had seen ogres before in some of my flights, though much like all other villages I spotted, I didn’t do much to bother them. Initially I thought it was a simple discussion, however I felt like it was going to turn south rather quickly. Noting that I descended down, landing softly next to Rimuru who was wearing Shizu’s mask.

 

“Ah Tanya! Tell them I’m not-” Rimuru began to ramble before being suddenly interrupted by one of the Ogres, the eldest one in white clothing and a large scarf covering his mouth.

 

“A demon huh? Should’ve expected as much.” The old ogre said as the strongest-looking red one pulled out his sword.

 

Looking around now, there seemed to be quite a few knocked out goblins. None of them really injured, so it must have been intentional to only knock them out, but it appears that they now have hostile intent against Rimuru for some reason, judging by Rimuru’s reaction, some sort of misunderstanding most likely.

 

“I’m suspecting there may have been a-”

 

“We have no intention of listening to either of you.” The red one interrupted.

 

I rolled my eyes and prepared my rifle to blow his head off. If he didn’t want to bother listening and clearing up this misunderstanding, then I’ll blow his brains out. I’m not going to waste my time with battle-hungry morons. If they want a fight I’ll make this quick.

 

Rimuru turned to Ranga who was standing next to him, “Keep the pink-haired one occupied.”

 

Ranga nodded, “Yes, master.”

 

Rimuru now turned to me, “Tanya, please refrain from killing them. I believe this misunderstanding can still be cleared. Even if you don’t like them, they could have information that is important.”

 

I sighed. If I had known they had valuable information, killing them wouldn’t have been my first move. I had assumed they were just a bunch of battle-hungry Ogres, but it appears there’s a bit more going on. They’re still morons for not even bothering to listen, but looking at them, or rather their faces… That’s the look of desperation, I’ve seen it far too many times in my last life, I can now recognize it at a glance. Yeah, there’s something going on here.

 

I placed my rifle back on my back as I pulled out a simple knife. Rimuru nodded at my weapon change, understanding that it meant I didn’t intend to kill them. If they got hurt, oh well, I frankly couldn’t care less.

 

The red-haired one launched forwards towards us, swinging his sword sideways as he looked shocked to see both me and Rimuru vanished. I moved quickly towards the one with black hair who quickly lifted his hammer up to smash down onto me. His hammer was stopped simply by my barrier, cracking and breaking the hammer into various strands of wood while I launched my fist towards him, knocking him back against a tree, practically knocked out.

 

Suddenly from behind a mace swung down, bouncing off my barrier before swinging again at another angle. I turned my body quickly, this time hitting the mace with my knife, funneling magic through it as I shattered the mace before swinging my hand back and hitting the purple-haired girl with the bottom of my hand. Next I hit her stomach with my fingers extended parallel to the ground, knocking the wind out of her as she fell to the ground, similarly knocked out.

 

I looked to see Rimuru fighting the blue-haired one, blocking and breaking his katana with his Body Armor skill before his punch launched him into a nearby tree.

 

Both me and Rimuru met up again in front of the two remaining Ogres, the red-haired one and the older gray-haired one.

 

The old one gazed at us as I could tell he was analyzing our every move. “Be careful, young master.” he muttered to the other, looking towards us as Rimuru tried again to negotiate.

 

“Can we stop this, I’d like for you to listen to what I have to say no-”

 

“Quiet evil majin!” The red one shouted, now starting to get on my nerves with his stubbornness. “I admit that you are both strong, but that makes me all the more certain.”

 

“Certain of what exactly?” I ask, visibly annoyed.

 

“That you are one of them!” He shouted.

 

“One of who?”

 

“It is unthinkable for us Ogres to be defeated by mere Orcs!”

 

“Orcs? We only got Goblins here. And some dwar-”

 

“Quiet! I know it was all the work of you and your majin comrades!”

 

“I don’t even know any Majins. Unless you wanna count Rimuru, but he’s a sl-”

 

“Don’t deny it!”

 

“You’re getting on my nerves, moron.”

 

The old man suddenly came from behind, his katana slashing quickly against my barrier from behind. His slash was stronger than any of the other Ogres I had fought, but even that wasn’t enough to break my barrier.

 

The old man looked at me now, “Quite fast reaction time. I know I can’t beat your barrier, but you don’t have it active all the time. You activated it quite quickly if you saw me coming.”

 

“A soldier must always be aware of their surroundings.”

 

“You’re a skilled warrior, I will give you that. But next time I will be faster.”

 

I sighed as I prepared for another round of Fighting, Rimuru seemingly distraught that they wouldn’t listen for a second.

 

Suddenly the red Ogre shouted, “Enough of this! Ogre flame!”

 

Suddenly flames swirled around me and Rimuru, similar to that which Ifrit seemed to make, albeit a good bit weaker. Nevertheless it was a strong ability. Fortunately for us though, both me and Rimuru had Thermal Fluctuation resistance. We were immune.

 

Rimuru walked out the flame first as I decided to let him take over ‘negotiations’

 

“How unfortunate, fire has no effect on me. I’ll show you what I’m like when I’m serious.” Rimuru took off his mask and let out his aura. Startling the nearby Ogres and even some of the Goblins. “Take a good look.”

 

Rimuru lifted his hand, black flames erupting into the sky in a giant flaming twister. It wasn’t a skill I had seen him have before, he must’ve gotten it when he devoured Shizu.

 

“Now I’ll show you something even more interesting.” Rimuru said, turning to a nearby rock, “This is my true power!”

 

Rimuru raised another hand as sparks flew from it, clouds circling ahead as a streak of black lightning struck the rock in front of him, completely destroying it.

 

Rimuru turned to the Ogres, “What now? Still wanna fight?”

 

The old man spoke first, “Young master, please take the princess and flee. I will end this.”

 

“Quiet, old man.” The red one said, “That is intense, it saddens me to say it, but it seems we are no match for you. Still, I have my pride as the next leader of the powerful Ogre clan! And what leader would fail to avenge his slain brethren?!”

 

I rolled my eyes, “If it results in his death, a moronic one. It’s hardly ‘avenging’ if you just fight and die in the process. Even worse if you’re fighting someone who had nothing to do with it in the first place.”

 

“Silence demon!” The red one shouted again.

 

I could kill you right now if I wanted to.

 

Rimuru seemed unimpressed, frankly annoyed by their answer as he was hoping for a peaceful resolution. Before the red one could begin his attack, the pink one stepped in to intervene, holding her hands up to stop him, “Wait, Brother! This individual may not be our enemy!”

 

“Step away!” The red one shouted.

 

“No!” The pink one responded.

 

“Why?! He’s a masked majin, just like the one who attacked our village! You said so yourself!”

 

“Yes… But please, try to think this through calmly. Why would such a powerful majin use such underhanded tactics as forcing the pigs to attack our village? It makes no sense.”

 

I can actually see a few reasons why one would, but I’m not going to interrupt her to say that, most of them boil down to laziness anyways.

 

The pink-haired ogre girl continued, “They surely have the power to kill us all on their own if they so desire! There is no doubt they are unlike us, but I don’t think he has any connection to the ones that attacked our village.”

 

Rimuru smiled, “Feeling a little more willing to listen now? I don’t need this anymore, right?” Rimuru finally let the swirling black flames die out as I sighed, exhausted from having to deal with this entire situation.

 

“Who are you?” the red ogre asked.

 

“Me?” Rimuru said, “I’m just a slime.”

 

“A slime?”

 

Rimuru transformed back into his slime form bouncing onto Ranga as he pulled out his mask, “This mask is a keepsake from someone I knew. Feel free to see for yourself whether it's the same one.”

 

The read ogre leaned down, taking the mask in his hand and looking over it, muttering “It does seem similar but…”

 

The pink haired girl moved over, looking at it before commenting “This one contains anti-magic power.”

 

“But the majin from back then wasn’t concealing their aura.” the old man mentioned.

 

“Then…” The red ogre knelt before us in apology, “Forgive us, it seems our desperation caused a grave misunderstanding. Please accept my apology.”

 

Rimuru made a slight bounce, “Sure, I accept.”

 

The ogre got back up, helping all of his comrades get back up as well as the Goblins seemed to get back from their cover behind the trees. Rimuru speaking again, “Well, this is no place to talk. Let’s head back to the village. Come with us.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yep, I want to hear about what you’ve been through.”

 

“But we wounded your companions.”

 

“And we did the same to yours, your point?”

 

The old man approached Gobta and Rigur, “Forgive us.”

 

Gobta promptly jumped behind Rigur in terror, though Rigur remained firm in his standing. Remind me to never trust Gobta in any leadership position.

 

Rimuru continued, “Besides, we’re having a feast today! The more, the merrier, right?”

 

The Ogres agreed and Rimuru began to lead them to the village. I waited a bit before continuing to walk, the older man approaching me as he walked by my side, “Is this Rimuru always this trusting?”

 

I sighed, “Unfortunately, yes. I’ll have to work it out of him eventually if he intends to lead the nation he’s started to build, not that I think he even realizes it's getting to that point yet.”

 

The ogre let out a chuckle, “You were quite adept in that battle back there. There’s a clear difference between you and Rimuru.”

 

“Hm? How so.”

 

“Rimuru relies solely on his speed. He’s fast, sure, but there wasn’t much skill behind his movements. If he were to meet an opponent with equal speed to his, he would be greatly outmatched. You on the other hand. Each move you made was more coordinated, you must have a bit more experience fighting, am I right?”

 

“I suppose so. I doubt Rimuru fought a foe that was on his level in his life. I used to be a soldier, so being adept in physical combat was a must, though I will say I’m not experienced with a sword.”

 

“I didn’t know demons were soldiers, interesting.”

 

“Actually… well, yes I suppose they could be.”

 

“If you aren’t adept in a sword, I could always teach you.”

 

“Swords aren’t necessarily my forte, but it seems they’re a lot more common than the weapon I use. Having at least basic skill in one could come in handy if I ever lose my rifle.”

 

“I’m sure it would. Those goblins back there are quite skilled too, though some lack discipline, and there’s still much they can learn.”

 

“You think you could train em?” I asked.

 

“Perhaps. Of course we have our own tasks at hand. If the time comes and your Rimuru is generous enough, perhaps I will. It would be nice to take on some new proteges. I’ll make sure they’re whipped into shape. A good fighter must have discipline as well as skill.”

 

“I think this may be the start of a wonderful friendship.”

 

“Hohoho, I’m sure it is.”

---

It was still some time until the festival which was planned to happen later today, however I suddenly felt a slight rush of tiredness. Of course, since I don’t need sleep I can easily brush it off and it’ll go away instantly, but I’ve come to learn that it appears whenever Noir wishes to talk. Heading off for a brief nap, I awoke in my dream in the same realm he usually met me in, a hodgepodge of memories blurred together into one. Though recently I had noticed some aspects of this new world being added to the mess.

 

“It has been some time, Tanya.” Noir said, bowing politely before me.

 

“Indeed it has. What is it you want today, Noir.”

 

“Remember when we made our agreement, I said I would request some tasks for you to do?”

 

I nodded, “I do remember that, what do you want me to do?”

 

“It’s nothing complicated really. In fact you hardly need to do anything at all.”

 

“Hm?” I tilted my head slightly

 

“That slime that you’ve befriended. Rimuru Tempest… I believe he is the key to the truth of the world.”

 

“Excuse me?” I stated blankly

 

“What?”

 

“Rimuru? The truth of the world?”

 

“Yes. You see that mask defies my comprehension. It's got some factor I can’t fully understand. I had been watching it, and its owner Shizue for quite a while. When it fell into Rimuru’s hands, it broke and lost its power. It's… all so strange. Whatever the reasoning, you needn’t worry about the why. What I need from you is to make sure that when the time comes that he needs the service of a demon, that he comes to me.”

 

“How do you want me to do that, exactly?”

 

“Oh it's quite simple, really. Simply leave a good impression. You are a demon of the Black family, so long as you continue to work closely with that slime, he will think favorably of the family and in the end summon one of us. So when he does, I will be there and ready to be summoned by him.”

 

“And what is it that you want to do with him?”

 

“Oh I merely wish to be in his service. I’ll take the lowest position he has if I need to.”

 

“Eh?”

 

This all confused me. Rimuru was somehow the key to the truth of the universe, and now Noir was obsessed with him. For now, there isn’t much I can do about it other than go along with Noir’s request. With one final goodbye the realm dissipated and I woke up again in my bed from what was basically just a ten minute nap and set about helping to prepare the festival.

 

As I did help, a question rang in my mind…

 

Rimuru… The key to the truth of the universe… What kind of demonic drugs is Noir on?!