4 days have passed since then. And again, Nemu learned so many new things. The life in Tempest, for him, it was like paradies. Nothing compared to the endless sea of trees he was used to. Nothing compared to the danger he had to live through every day. Tempest was peaceful and exciting. And he met a lot of people, a group of elves in a cavern, made him add “Visiting the elf kingdom” to his list. Yep, he will definitely do that. Nemu was young, but for the first time, he had some interest in the other gender. Well, if you could say that slimes even have a gender. It was complicated. Or maybe it was simple? Even simpler than for most other races? Love was an abstract thing and contrary to every other life form, slimes didn't need a male and a female for reproduction. So every slime had his own preferences. Some liked women and some liked men. Some liked none. And after meeting the beautiful elves, Nemu decided he likes girls! Rimuru was also there and he always had a big smile on his face when he saw the elves. Nemu was sure. Rimuru was the same as him!

 

On the first day he started his tour with Veldora. He was enthusiastic in the beginning, but after a while, he lost interest. So he started reading his manga again. Nemu wanted to see more things. But the wise Rimuru has foreseen something like this. So a replacement was already prepared! It was Shuna. A young oni girl he had already seen the first day when he arrived in Tempest. She wanted to teach him how to bake a cake. But well, for a slime who couldn't even eat and had no hands, it was as hard as expected. In the end he managed to bake a cake that looked like a slime. All wobbly and not very tasty looking. Surprisingly, everyone applauded him for his failure. And they didn't even make fun of him. That brought him to something other that he hadn't noticed before. There were pictures and statues of slimes everywhere. Even the door handles looked like slimes. He obviously knows that they just wanted to show their loyalty to Rimuru. But to be honest, slime door handles? Really? However, he was once again sure that his idea to bring red slimes to Tempest was a good idea. They will have a good life here.

 

In the meantime he talked to Rimuru again. He explained to him a problem that he had witnessed before. The houses weren’t suited for slimes. Slimes were weak and even a simple door could become an insurmountable obstacle. So he talked with the orc building team and explained it to them. Homes suitable for slimes. A new challenge even for the builder team. They won't build houses in the form of slimes, right?

 

On another day they visited a school. Shuna told him that this was probably the first school for monsters in the entire world. Nemu joined them for a few hours. But sitting in a chair all day and studying books? He didn't like it. He wanted to explore and learn new things by seeing them. Maybe he would have liked it after a while. The people there were really nice and they had fun. They even played games, something he had never done before.

 

Talking about playing games. After a solid 16 hours of sleep in Nemus bed, Milim was back and she wanted to play with him! And Milim was eager to play hide and seek. Milim told him before she was really good at it and she was right. She always immediately found him. Later Rimuru told him that she has a skill and you can't hide from her. Thats cheating! However, since Milim never suppressed her aura, it was the same for Nemu. Even without being sensible to mana like he was. There was absolutely no way to not feel Milims presence. So the game became boring rather fast. Oh, and she also tried to go to school. But only after 10 minutes she started snorting. A young goblin woman kicked her out. A scary demon lord got kicked out of a room by a goblin. Only that made the school day worth it. He will definitely include that in his books. Will Milim get angry? Probably doesn't matter because she won't read it anyways. Also Rimuru made a joke, Nemu did not understand. He called the game “Finding Nemu” and couldn't stop laughing. Sometimes he was weird.

 

He also visited other places. They were in a tailor shop because Shuna wanted to buy him a cape. Unfortunately, they didn't have capes. Nemu would have liked that. So Shuna promised to make him one by herself. After all, capes are cool. Later they visited a training ground. And there was this scary, old oni. He wanted to teach Nemu how he can fight with a sword. Nemu told him that he can't even hold a sword properly, but he just answered that he can't teach someone with that attitude? Very confusing. On the training grounds he found something else out. Nemu was actually strong. Besides having no skills for fighting, his physical abilities were way better than he expected. He was fast and could easily break a brick wall just by jumping against it. Also he was very durable! He found that out while that old guy was training with him. Something he dont really want to repeat.

 

Also, there was this big cave. Even calling it a cave didn't seem right. It was a huge underground area. Shuna told him that this was the place Veldora was imprisoned for 300 years. He once again felt sorry for him. Must have been a very lonely time. But he was also told that this was the place Rimuru came to this world. Nemu asked some question how this was even possible. But nobody had any answers. Weird. Maybe he will find that out later! In the cave, there were lizard men. They looked like humanoid dragons. One of them seemed to be really impressive because the other lizard men praised him all the time. Sadly, they didn't have time to talk. Because they were working. In the underground, because of the high magicular density, they build farms. Mainly for herbs, but they also tried several food projects. Something Rimuru told them to do. Nemu decided to visit this place again when he returned to Tempest, because he was also interested.

 

And today was the day! The day he will finally leave for his next journey. He already missed Tempest before even leaving. He had the greatest memories of his life here. But well, he wouldnt be Nemu if he wouldn't have many more even greater experiences outside of Tempest! He was sure about that. Also, he will return soon. So no problem at all, he told himself. But he was still sad.

 

What he was most excited for was his travel companion. Rimuru told him he had the perfect partner for him and Nemu was obviously very excited! And so, the preparations began. Fortunately, Nemu had his Absorption Skill. When he started his journey he had nothing with him, but Rimuru told him he had some stuff for him.

 

And so, on the final day. They all met each other in the middle of Tempest. At the pond, where Nemu first arrived. He felt almost nostalgic. And there were a lot of people there. The dwarf, Kaijin, who should him first around and his dwarfs friends he already met in the smithy. A few young goblins he met in the school. Shouldn't they be there now? Ah, no. They told him something about weekends when they didn't have to go to school. Even Rangar, the big bad wolf, who wasn't actually so bad, he had met before was there. Only this time he wasn't in Rimurus' shadow. Even Veldora was there! Finally able to take a break from his mangas. Yesterday he brought Nemu his favorite manga and Nemu had to promise that he would read them while he wasn't in Tempest. There was also Shuna and the big booby oni who was with Rimuru when they first arrived.

 

With them, was a carriage. Filled with all kinds of stuff. Rimuru told Nemu that he had something for him but he didn't expect that. A tend, wood, ropes, why would he even need ropes?, he should find that out very soon, food, paper and ink, he wanted since the first day, and there was a lot, like really a lot! Also a lot of small packages. Rimuru told him that they were gifts. Suitable for most known races of the Jura Forest. Well, that was kind of a problem, because there were many unknown races, but he was prepared for most eventualities! But something, or should he say, the most important thing was still missing.

 

“Mmh, they are late.” Rimuru said.

 

Honest to say, Nemu was nervous.

 

It was then that something arrived right near them. First, it was like a tree was growing but it soon turned into a humanoid figure.

 

Nemu knew what they were. Dryads. He had heard a lot about them. They were almost like mythical figures for red slimes and he always wanted to meet them. And now, they were right in front of them.

 

One of them looked like an adult woman. She had long green hair, eyes that couldn't decide if they wanted to be blue or green as they shined in both colors and a beautiful smile on her face. She looks like the personified nature, Nemu thought. And not only her look. She had this green, calm aura around her. And near the woman, there was another Dryad. However, she looked young. Maybe Milims age? Well, Milims mental age. Veldora told him that Milim was probably thousands of years old. She wore a long white and green dress with beautiful flowers and green vines on it. Her hair was the same color as the woman's hair. Shorter, but still long enough to fall on her shoulders. But her eyes were different. They didn't have the green blue color, her eyes were ocean blue. Without any green in it. You might think it looked out of place because her main theme was obviously green, but the contrast in color made her look even more beautiful. However, what was most different wasn't her look but her expression. Nemu learned to read faces in the past few days. But he still wasn't very good at it. If he had to guess, she looked shy without the bright smile on her lips the adult Dryad had.

 

Nemu was still staring at them, as the adult Dryad greeted everyone with a light bow. Only for Rimuru and Veldora she kneeled. She had this elegance in everything she did. Something Nemu had never seen before. She moved slowly, like a warm breeze of wind, without losing her smile. Maybe Shuna would be the most comparable, but still. The Dryad was different. Her natural behavior was something that stunned Nemu. Forget about elves, Dryads were the most beautiful thing in the world. He was sure about that. And so, he didn't even realize that she greeted everyone while he was still staring at her.

 

“So, you must be Nemu, right?” Now she was standing in front of him. Nemu was still out of words. So he nodded. Well, he tried to nod. But it still didn't work out well. Nemu was embarrassed. How could he do that in front of the most beautiful being in the world? But the amused smile on the Dryads face made him immediately feel better. There was no mocking in it, just enjoyment.

 

And so, he was finally able to speak again. “Yes, I'm Nemu. What's your name?” He asked.

 

“I'm Treyni, Rimuru already told me about you and I wanted to meet you. You know, I have met red slimes before but after Rimuru told me that you were an adventurer I was really surprised.” Treyni said in a soft voice. “And he also asked me if I know someone who could travel with you.” To Nemus surprise she then looked towards the younger Dryad. No way, right? A Dryad? He can travel with a Dryad? He looked at the girl again and blushed. Once again, incredible thankful about already being red.

 

Then they looked at each other for the first time. Did she also blush? Nah, she was probably just shy.

 

“I'm Trewy. Nice... to meet you.” Trewy introduced herself with a light bow.

 

“I'm Nemu. Nice to meet you, too.”

 

“Trewy actually asked for coming with you after she heard about you. She is still young. We Dryads are living in the forest for our entire lives. So she always wanted to explore it. Gather experience and learn new things. Just like you. After hearing your story she immediately asked to come with you.” Treyni explained.

 

'A dryad? Just like me' That was something he would have never imagined. Actually, he expected someone from Tempest to come with him. A goblin or maybe someone of the younger lizardmen. But a dryad? Not even in his dreams. However, he was happy.

 

Just then did he realize that all the people around them were looking at them. All of them were smiling. Fortunately, Rimuru broke the silence before it became really awkward. “I'm sure you will become friends very soon. Sadly, I have to leave now. Country leading stuff, you know.” And let out a sigh followed by a shrug. Then they all said goodbye to each other. Again a new experience for Nemu. Saying goodbye to someone was weird. He knew that they would meet again soon but even that was new for him.

 

But there was another challenge for him. There was all the stuff he had to absorb. He used his {Absorption} Skill before but only for small things. Now he was standing in front of the large carriage.

 

'Do I even have enough room for this? And what happens if I absorb more than I actually can?'

 

[You can absorb it without any problems. All the material should fill about 80% of your dimensional space.] Guide said.

 

Once again, he was very happy about having Guide. Actually, he is also his travel companion, isn't he?

 

'Okay, let's do this!' He confidentially thought.

 

“Absorption!” Did he just say it out loud? Felt good. From now on he will always say it out loud, he decided.

 

And so, the entire carriage vanished inside his body.

 

“Did... you just ate the carriage?” The young dryad asked with widened eyes.

 

Now Nemu felt slightly embarrassed, that must have looked weird, right? “No, no. It's not like that.” he said and tried to explain it. “I have this skill called {Absorption} and it's connected to a small dimensional space. So I can later take it from the space again.” Good thing, he talked with Guide about his skills before. Actually, Guide was the one who suggested to explain him all of his skills. What a useful skill.

 

“You can absorb everything?” Trewy asked with a curious look on her face. She seems like she loses all her shyness as soon as she sees something interesting, Nemu thought and was happy about it. He then started talking about his skills.

 

After a while, they realized that they were still standing in the middle of Tempest. Only Treyni was still with them, but the streets became more and more busy.

 

“We should go.” Trewy then said.

 

Nemu was about to nod, but in the last second he saved himself. He will train this on his own.

“Yes, let's go.” Nemu said.

 

“But, where do we even start?” Trewy asked.

 

This time, Nemu was prepared. Before they left he took one of the maps of the already known places in the Great Jura Forest. He studied it before. So he made a copy of it and gave it to Trewy. “There is this lake. I wanted to go there. It seems like there is a mysterious island on it, but I haven't found any information about it. I wondered why. So we could start there.” He proposed.

 

“Okay.” Trewy answered. She was worried if they just started running around without a plan, but it seems like her travel companion was prepared. She liked that.

 

And so, after Trewy said goodbye to Treyni they started their journey together.

 

After they left Tempest, Nemu took a last, already nostalgic look at it. It was a great time for him. Probably the best time in his life. But now, it was time to move on.