Nemu and Trewy had left Tempest about a month ago. And now they were finally back in front of the entrance.

Each direction of the beginning of the city was decorated by an archway. Although the road to Sarion was not yet finished, there was already an archway at the entrance. And all of them looked the same. Tempest was carved into each entrance and in addition, a lot of slimes, with half moons as eyes so it looked like the slime was smiling. No question it was cute but wasn't that a bit much? But you could say the same about the leader of the city. Anyone who doubted that a slime really was the leader of Tempest lost all doubt here.

For Trewy, the young dryad, it was like the first time she stood in front of the entrance. She had been in Tempest briefly before, but decided it didn't count. So it was her first time!

And already at the entrance she was impressed. She looked at the archway. The carvings looked flawless. Not that it was hard to carve a slime, but it looked like a direct copy. She looked alternately at Nemu and the slimes. As if it were evaluating her. Nemu saw her look and rolled her eyes which made Trewy smile.

"Do you want to go in?" Nemu asked. Trewy nodded.

There were two guards at the entrance. Both were lizardmen. And they looked bored. Bored guards were usually a sign of peace. 

When they saw Nemu and Trewy, they looked surprised. As the two of them were already used to. The carriages, wagons and goods of the various visitors of Tempest were partly checked by the two. Not all, but if they noticed something unusual, they had to check it. This was the case in all countries. In most countries you even had to show a passport before entering the city. But here the entrance was open. Since Nemu and Trewy had all their luggage in Nemu's dimensional space, a check was unnecessary for them. But even with luggage, they could have entered the city without checking. 

Outside of Tempest, in all the various tribes, it was dryads who were immediately trustworthy to each race. In Tempest, of course, it was no different, but here slimes had the same status as dryads. And soon there would be more. Because Nemu brought five more red slimes. Occasionally he checked how they were doing and all of them had stabilized. Nemu could also sense their thoughts and they were calm. Ready to release them. He would do that as soon as possible. No, he decided to do that first. Hopefully Rimuru kept his promise and already prepared a home for them.

"Hey Trewy, I know you want to look at everything and we can do that today, but let's go to my room first so I can release the red slimes." Said Nemu, expecting Trewy to want to see as much as possible right away, but she immediately agreed. She knew how important it was to Nemu. Nemu was no different, by the way. Even though he had already lived here for a week, he had by no means seen everything. And considering the speed at which Tempest was growing, a lot had probably changed in the last month. So it would definitely not be boring.

After they took the first step past the guards, they stopped. In front of them was a real city. In the whole Jura forest there was nothing comparable. Buildings lined up, stalls with goods stood on every corner and... what was most impressive. Was the huge variety of races. 

"Wow, there are so many people here." Trewy said, impressed. On the street they had often seen isolated groups, but never so many people together. And it was noisy. Still the last month in the forest, it was unusual for either of them. Hundreds were talking, carts driving through the streets were making noise and many were loudly trying to get customers to their stalls. The complete opposite of the quiet forest in which one often heard nothing but the quiet wind through the leaves of the trees. However, it did not bother either of them. They even enjoyed it.

"Oh! Look at them!" Trewy said loudly, pointing his finger at a group. There were three beastmen. But of a race even Nemu had not seen before. Centaurs. They had a humanoid upper body but the lower part of their body was that of a horse. In general, there were many more beastmen than a month ago, Nemu noticed. The situation in the beastmen kingdom must have improved if so many of them could go on a journey again.

Nemu blushed a little. "It's rude to point fingers at people!" Said Nemu to Trewy who then looked at him in confusion. 

"But they do the same thing, don't they?"

Only now did Nemu notice that even with all these races, many people stopped and looked at them. Nemu sighed.

"Nevermind." He said resignedly. 

The many people had another disadvantage for Nemu. He was small. Even with all the different races, everyone had to look down on him. This was often a problem because he was simply overlooked. And with the busy people, not everyone was looking at their feet all the time. Actually, nobody did. Even on his first visit to Tempest that was a problem but now there were a lot more people around.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Trewy noticed Nemu's look and understood what he meant even without showing it. However, this was something new. In the forest it was never a problem. Again Nemu blushed, but this time for a different reason. 

"Okay." Said Nemu. Nemu felt strange. But he didn't want others stepping on him all the time. So Trewy picked him up. 

Nemu had seen this many times before. Rimuru was constantly carried around. Mainly by Shuna and Shion. The duo had also carried Nemu many times. Even Milim had carried Nemu around. But Trewy hadn't yet. Even though he found it strange at first, it was kind of comfortable. So he didn't mind.

And so they walked through the city. A young dryad wearing a red slime. It had to look funny to the others. But since they were being stared at by many they didn't mind if they stared at others. 

"What's that?" Trewy asked with wide eyes. There was a woman in front of them. She looked like a human, but with dark skin, only the absolute most necessary clothes to make it not completely obscene and she had ash gray trivals all over her body. Nemu could not tell if they were painted on or belonged to her race.

"I don't know. I haven't seen the race before either. Probably a beastman." He said as he noticed her fluffy tail. He could have asked Guide, but that would be boring. He was really impressed by all the new breeds. And before he knew it Trewy was standing in front of her. Looked at her from top to bottom. The woman noticed, of course, and did the same.

"What are you?" Trewy asked, making Nemu uncomfortable. Trewy didn't know about pleasantries yet. That was something Nemu should definitely teach her! Still, he couldn't blame her. He had done the same thing when he was first in Tempest and had only stopped when he was told not to. Still, Trewy was definitely less shy than Nemu was.

Fortunately, the woman only smiled. Trewy must look like an interested girl. Even though most cultures differed and races aged differently, most had the same image of child and adult. Some races were adults at the age of 5 and others at the age of 18. With Trewy and Nemu it was especially complicated. Both of them were about the same age in their minds. And both of them were often childish, but they often made their decisions like adults.

The different age process often caused problems for humans who were not used to talking to other races. Sometimes they treated younger looking races like children who could be their grandfathers. This often caused trouble but Nemu found it funny.

"Can't you speak?" Trewy asked with interest. Nemu was lost in thought and only now realized that they were also just looking at each other Trewy's question.

After the woman still didn't answer, Nemu had no choice.

'Guide?'

[She belongs to a very rare race of beastmen. They spend most of their lives among themselves and as one of the few tribes they don't speak the common tongue]. Explained Guide.

Wow. And yet somehow she made it to Tempest. Nemu wanted to hear her story, but alas, they had little time.

So he explained it to Trewy. Trewy looked alternately at the woman and Nemu. The woman kept smiling as Nemu explained and somehow he had the feeling that she understood him. Even if she didn't know every word, she still knew that Nemu had explained it to her. So they said goodbye again. The beastwoman even managed to say a broken goodb-ye.

They were on their way to the big house in the middle of Tempest. It was still the biggest house and only the leaders of Tempest actually lived there, yet Nemu had his room there. He shared a house with Rimuru, Veldora, the Onis and some other representatives of the races of the Jura Tempest Federation. Maybe he should become like the leader of the slimes so that he had earned this room? Hmm, he should think about it. Even if it sounds like a lot of responsibility. Troublesome!

They stopped once more at a booth before setting up their destination. The stall caught Trewy's eye because icy air came from it and she immediately went to it. They were selling something that Nemu was also very interested in.

"What is it?" He asked the goblin who was selling it. The goblin didn't even look confused when Nemu spoke. He knew that Nemu was not unknown even though he had only spent a week here. There were only two talking slimes in Tempest. Had the goblin already heard of him?

"This is chocolate ice cream. Do you want to try it?" Said the goblin proudly. Nemu had not seen this before. A month ago, such a thing was not sold.

"Yes, please!" Said Trewy excitedly at once. Nemu cursed his body. He really had to learn to eat! Rimuru did it too, after all. Still, Nemu wanted to know how it worked to create edible ice.

"How does it work?"

The salesman began to tell. You could clearly see that he enjoyed explaining the process. For five minutes he told everything in detail. Nemu and Trewy couldn't understand after a minute "...and we use these magic ice crystals to keep it cold." He showed a stone with a magic inscription, apparently he had prepared it just for such a situation. "You can only buy it in Tempest!" And with that, he finally came to an end. Fortunately, he had already prepared a cup for Trewy as he spoke.

Nemu had to pay. They had spent four nights in Inns before and this ice cream cost the same as the rooms. Nemu wasn't sure if it was really that valuable or if he just got ripped off. 

However, Trewy loved it. After she tasted the ice cream, she really wanted more. Rimuru should give her a job, Nemu decided. So she could buy her own ice cream!

After a while, they finally reached the big house in the middle of Tempest. They had passed hundreds of buildings before but nothing was even close to this house. It wasn't just the size. The architecture, the details, the precious materials used for this building. Everything about it was special. Even the surroundings. The grass almost seemed like it was shining in a green color. The flowers that grew around the house also had a more intense color than the ones they had seen before. Nemu had no idea how this worked, but magic was probably used. Really impressive. 

"Wow." Trewy said, impressed. Nemu felt the same way. He had his room in this building, but still found it as impressive after this month as the first day. After looking around, he saw more slime statues. He wasn't sure, but he thought there were more since the last time.  

In front of the entrance, two guards stood in front of an open gate. Both were lizardmen. But they wore different armor than the guards at the entrance to Tempest. Their armor was tangled with gold and magical steel. It was not just show Nemu could see, the armors were valuable and very good. And they were not the only guards. There were more eyes on them already since they had approached the main building. Already during his first visit he had recognized with his magical perception that several guards were hiding here. But this time the feeling was familiar. They were using illusion magic to avoid being seen. Nemu almost used his detective skill to see them, but he left it anyway.

As they approached, the lizardmen turned to them as well. Unlike the guards at the entrance to Tempest, they didn't look surprised at all. Had they been expecting them? Nemu's question was answered immediately.

"Oh, you must be Nemu and Trewy. Master Rimuru has already told us that you will be arriving today. Please come in." They were greeted kindly by one of the guards.

Nemu looked at them confused. However, Trewy was even more confused. "Huh?" Was the only thing she could say.

"You... knew we were coming today?" Nemu asked.

And the guards both nodded with a smile. Smiling lizardmen looked creepy.

Nemu had already told Rimuru in the rabbit village that he would return soon, but he had not mentioned that they would return today. Nemu knew that they had not been watched, so he could only explain that the goblin riders at the end of the road had told him. Probably with a magical device.

"Apparently you're famous." Trewy said, laughing. 

"Hey. He said your name, too." 

"..."

And without further questions, Trewy and Nemu walked through the gate. Nemu wondered how hard it was for others to get into this building. There were many important people living here and he doubted that one would be let through the entrance just like that. 

The large entrance door to the building was also open and he heard many hurried footsteps in the building. When he first came to Tempest it was at night and the door was already closed. Even though he entered and left the building more times after that, he felt even more welcome this time. Trewy didn't think about such things, her eyes scanned every little detail. And... many of them were...

"Tempest really loves slime, apparently." She giggled.

"There weren't this many last time, I swear!" Said Nemu. This town is really... strange. But what else would you expect from a town owned by a slime?

And then they were finally in the building. Nemu realized immediately that there were not so many people here the last time. Dozens of people were hurriedly walking back and forth. Is this some kind of event? Nemu decided that he shouldn't ask them. They seemed really busy. 

"Has it always been this busy here?" Trewy asked as she looked around the inside of the building. She too was distracted by all the people. 

"No." Nemu shook his slim body. "Maybe there's some event today. But outside wasn't that busy last time either. Tempest is rapidly growing, so it may be every day from now on."

"Hmm..." Trewy looked a little disappointed. Nemu could understand her, when he first entered the building it seemed almost magical, now the magic has disappeared due to all the people running back and forth.

"Don't worry. I'll show you everything tonight. In the evening, only the people who live here are still in the building." Explained Nemu. That was true. Although it was a residence for the important people, virtually all life in Tempest was organized here. Although the building looked large, it would soon be too small for the main building of Tempest.

"We have to go up the stairs." Said Nemu. They shouldn't stand here so long or someone will run them down. Nemu was happy that Trewy was carrying him. Otherwise, someone would surely have tripped over him already. "Upstairs is my room."

Trewy ran fast but still had to dodge often. Humans, Goblins, Orcs, Beastmen, Dwarfs and even some elves were almost running through the building. There were no elves here last time, Nemu noted. The road to Sarion, the land of the elves, was not yet finished, but it seems that some of them had already come here by another way.

Actually, Nemu wanted to contact Rimuru as soon as he arrived here. But with all the people, he was sure to be more than busy. Besides, he already knew that Nemu would arrive today, so he will just wait for him to contact him.

Ever since he entered the building, Nemu had another bad premonition. He sensed a massive and unmistakable magic in the building. To be precise, in his room. But he was also excited. He was finally going to see his friend again! I wonder how Trewy will react to him? 

"There's someone in there." Said Trewy when they finally stood in front of Nemu's door. Of course, she already sensed him too. Even though he suppressed his aura, as soon as you go near him you could still feel his magical energy.

"I know." Nemu said and jumped out of Trewy's arms. The first time since they arrived in Tempest. 

It was his room, but he knocked anyway. Knocking as slime was actually a bit exhausting! Nemu had to use his Hardening Skill and then use part of his body to knock on the door.

Knock Knock

Silence.

"Hmm...?"

Knock Knock

And again no answer. So he slowly opened the door and was greeted by a snore.