Nemu looked into the room with Trewy standing behind him. And Nemu's fears were fulfilled. The room was a mess. Not only were Veldora's mangas lying around everywhere. It seems that Veldora had spent a lot of time here. And when you spend a lot of time somewhere, you eat. Only you should usually put it away afterwards. Something Veldora apparently didn't know yet. And so there were plates scattered all over the room, some of which even had food left.

"..."

However, Trewy stared at the sleeping man on Nemu's bed. Nemu had never slept on it, he usually laid on a pillow, but it was part of the standard equipment and it didn't bother him.

"Is that... the Storm Dragon Veldora?" Whispered Trewy, obviously afraid to wake him up.

"Yes, that's Veldora. Seems like he spent his days here." Answered Nemu and sighed.

Trewy still couldn't answer. She just looked at him in shock. In the history of the dryads, there were two people who stood above all others. The storm dragon Veldora, who had made the Jura Forest his home and protected it with only his presence, and the fairy queen Ramiris, who had given the dryads their name and purpose. And now the storm dragon lay before her. Snoring on Nemu's bed.

"He snores even louder than you." Said Nemu mockingly.

"Hey! I don't snore! Stop saying that!" Raised Trewy's voice.

Nemu just laughed. The laughter faded again as he looked around the room.

"I guess I need to clean up here first." Fortunately, what would take others an hour, he can do in a minute with his Slime Pocket skill. So he wasn't too mad.

"But... what if he wakes up?" Trewy asked, she was still overwhelmed by the situation and couldn't stop looking at Veldora.

"Then he can help us clean up." Said Nemu, simulating a shrug.

"...Us?" Trewy looked at Nemu with narrowed eyes.

"... Okay, me. You can sit there." Suggested Nemu. There was a table in the middle of the room, but with cushions instead of chairs. Rimuru also had such a table in his room, he preferred his slime form and with his body it was hard to sit on chairs. He called this japanese style. Something that he also had in his homeworld.

Trewy went to the table while Nemu started absorbing the trash in his room. He also absorbed the manga. He'll put them in a pile later when he's done.

Before Trewy sat down.... "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Nemu stopped and looked at Trewy who was staring at one of the pillows in confusion.

"Someone's lying there."

Nemu jumped over to her. "Hmm... A fairy?" On the pillow lay a small fairy with transparent wings and blonde hair that is done in pig-tails. She had a drop of saliva at one corner of her mouth and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. "She's cute."

Trewy nodded, she had a very familiar feeling, as if she had seen her before. But she couldn't remember. Maybe in another circle? Sometimes important memories from her past circles come back. "Do you think she is Veldora's friend?"

"Well..." Nemu thought about it. "Veldora has secretly asked me if he can use my room while I'm away. I think if Veldora brought this fairy here she would be his friend."

"A fairy and a dragon." Trewy giggled. "Do you think it's weirder than our dryad and slime duo?"

"It's close." Said Nemu, laughing.

It didn't even take a minute for Nemu to absorb every speck of dust in the room and have it look like it did when he left it over a month ago. When his adventuring career is over he should join a cleaning crew.

"What do we do now?" Nemu asked Trewy after he finished.

"Hmm... I guess going outside isn't an option anymore." She really didn't want to have to cross the building again.

"Yeah... And I actually wanted to finally release the red slimes." Said Nemu. "But with Veldora and the fairy in the room.... I'm sure that would scare them." After Nemu got his name, his magical perception got much better. But even before that, his perception was better than most races. And the slimes would know immediately who the man on the bed was. He didn't want to shock them.

"So we just wait until he wakes up on his own, right?" Trewy asked hopefully. Knowing full well that Nemu had other plans.

"I'll wake him up." Nemu said and jumped onto his bed. Trewy sighed. She wasn't afraid of Veldora, but very much respected her, and Nemu wanting to wake him up felt wrong.

"Veldora?" Said Nemu in normal volume.

But no response.

"Veldora?" Louder this time.

Still no response.

"Oh no." Said Trewy, burying her hands in her face.

"Veldoraaaa!" Shouted Nemu.

At first Nemu thought it had worked, but then Veldora just turned from side to side and kept snoring.

"I don't think that will work." Said Nemu, sighing, "Maybe I can absorb it."

"Whhhhat? You want to eat the storm dragon?" Trewy almost jumped up.

"I don't want to eat him! Just absorb him!" Said Nemu loudly.

"Can you even do that? I thought your skill didn't work on living things?"

"Hmm..." Nemu thought about it. "I read that dragons are made entirely of magicules. Just like slimes. And I was able to absorb the slimes."

'Guide?'

[Your skill isn't strong enough.]

So it might work if his skill was stronger? Rimuru had told him that he had absorbed Veldora right after he came to this world. But even if he had a unique skill by now, there were still huge differences in the strength of the skills, even if they were the same level.

"No! Just... no!" Trewy said aloud, not even caring if she could wake up Veldora with her voice.

"I guess I have no choice then." And then he jumped up, shouted "Hardening!" and smashed on Veldora's stomach. The bed cracked loudly.

"Ouch." Said Nemu. The imprint of Veldora's muscles was clearly visible in Nemu's slime body.

"You don't even feel pain." Said Trewy, shaking her head. She would have to lie if she said the sight didn't amuse her.

However, this time there was a reaction. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

"Huh?" Was the first thing he said after seeing Nemu sitting on his belly. "Nemu?"

After a long yawn, Veldora finally realized what was going on. Then his facial expressions changed. There was panic in his eyes. "Wait. I can explain..." And turned his head to the side to look at the room. Immediately his panic disappeared and changed to wonder. "Huh?"

"I've already cleaned up. Don't worry." Said Nemu and jumped back on the floor.

Veldora and Trewy's eyes locked.

"What's a dryad doing here?" Asked Veldora. He had just woken up and wondered about the unusual visit.

"Hello..." Trewy's voice was trembling as she was incredibly nervous. Nemu hadn't realized when, but she was now standing in the middle of the room, bowing exaggeratedly. "I'm Trewy."

"Hmm..." Veldora stood up and looked at them. Trewy was even more nervous than before. "You must be Nemus travel companion, right?"

"Yes." Said Trewy, nodding exaggeratedly.

"Okay! Good! Welcome to my residence and stop being so formal. It's annoying how everyone treats me around here."

"Your... Residence? This is my room! Why are you even here?" Asked Nemu.

"Because it's annoying out there! Even in my room. Every half hour someone arrives and wants to bring me something. At first it was pleasant but eventually it got annoying. I couldn't even take a nap without someone knocking on the door all the time." Veldora explained and sighed. Nemu could understand. After 300 years of captivity and loneliness, he was now treated like royalty. Not really a bad thing, but it would become troublesome after a while. That's why Veldora asked Nemu about his room in the first place.

"Anyways, how was your trip? Tell me everything!" Said Veldora, slowly walked to the table and sat down on a cushion. Nemu did the same and Trewy also sat down without taking her eyes off Veldora.

"I will, but first.... Who is the fairy?" Nemu asked, looking at the pillow. There were a total of four pillows that were around the table, and there was still a fairy sleeping on one.

"Oh, that's Ramiris." He said as if it was completely natural.

"Ra-mi-ris?" Stuttered Trewy. Nemu looked almost as surprised as she did. The little fairy with drool on her mouth is supposed to be the fairy queen? No way. Everyone had heard of her. The fairy queen who became the demon king. She became a story of legends. Even if she didn't show herself for centuries, everyone knew her name.

Veldora nodded. "Yes, Ramiris. I actually expected you to recognize her." He said to Trewy. Dryads had been given their name and a task by the Fairy Queen. Therefore, she was the most important person for all dryads.

"I... had no idea. My memories are only 12 years old and I haven't seen her since. Master Ramiris suddenly disappeared centuries ago. Treyni told me that she had finally returned. Actually, Treyni also told her that Ramiris is often in Tempest." Trewy explained while staring at the little fairy. She still couldn't believe it. But if Veldora said it... then it must be true. She had no doubt about that.

Trewy had been looking forward to seeing Tempest, but she hadn't expected this. Dryads had a connection to Ramiris and they deeply cared for her. Even before Veldora said it, she had felt it. Besides her unusual, nicely said, appearance, there was no doubt.

Pop. A bubble coming out of Ramiri's nose quietly burst. And then she opened her eyes. She immediately felt that they were staring at her. "Huh? Did they find us?" She had the same problem as Veldora. It was also impossible for her to read Rimuru's manga in peace.

"Fortunately, no. Nemu came back from his trip." Explained Veldora.

"Oh! This is the red slime you told me about, isn't it?" Ramiris was now completely awake and flew frantically across the table. Right in front of Nemu stopped himself. "He's actually red!" She stated without even waiting for a response.

Only inches separated Ramiris and Nemu now as she curiously flew around his body as if inspecting it.

"Sooo... Why are you red?" Ramiris asked and finally stopped. She frowned as she asked the question.

"Um... I don't know, but I want to find out!" Answered Nemu honestly.

Ramiris nodded in agreement. "That's the spirit, little slime! If you ever need help, just call Detective Ramiris!"

Nemu had heard of Ramiris. The proud fairy queen turned demon king. But this... she had not expected. She seemed almost like a hyperactive child. Not that he didn't like it, somehow she reminded him a bit of Milim. But it was unexpected.

"Have you already told them not to tell anyone about this room?" Ramiris now asked Veldora.

"It's his room." Said Veldora and sighed. He had mentioned this many times before.

"Huh, Really? Anyways, don't tell anyone! It's our secret hideout." Nemu knew they were naive, he was pretty sure everyone in the building knew exactly where they were hiding but left them alone here.

"Okay." Nemu said in agreement, playing their game. He had a premonition it would shorten the conversation.

Ramiris nodded in satisfaction and crossed her arms as if she had just done something great. Only then did she realize there was someone else in the room. Trewy was still staring at her. Besides her unusual behavior and that Trewy had imagined her differently, she didn't lose respect for her for a moment. No matter what, she was the fairy queen.

"Oh, a dryad. Who are you? I haven't seen you before. You look young." Asked Ramiris.

"I'm Trewy..." Trewy paused, she was still over-promoted by the situation. "It's an honor to meet you, Master Ramiris."

Ramiris nodded proudly. She was used to being spoiled by dryads. Even if it was too much even for her sometimes. Actually, she also hid here from the dryads who didn't let her have a quiet minute.

"Nice to meet you." Ramiris exchanged glances between Trewy and Nemu. "Are you friends?"

Trewy nodded. "We are friends and travel companions. We were on a journey through the forest and have just returned." Trewy was the only person again standing in the room and bowed. Ramiris sighed at that.

"That's good. It's important to protect the forest and for that you have to know it." Said Ramiris. She switched to her serious mode and almost seemed like a real queen at that moment.

"Thank you. It is an honor. I'll be doing a lot more in the future."

"That's good." Ramiris nodded. "Can you please sit down and stop bowing?"

Trewy hesitated but then did. She couldn't ignore an order from Ramiris and everything she said was like an order to her and all dryads.

"Why are you back already?" Veldora asked Nemu. He had asked about his trip before but this interested him more. He hadn't expected Nemu back so soon and probably cleaned up before Nemu would come back. Probably.

"I... We... Had problems and we agreed we needed to become stronger." Explained Nemu and Trewy nodded.

"Problems?" Veldora asked and raised his brow. This time his face was serious.

So Nemu explained everything to him. That they were often in trouble. From the demon castle, from the rabbit tribe, and he didn't leave out the slime cave. The story he had kept from Gobsi.

It took hours, but Veldora and Ramiris listened quietly. Interrupted him only with short questions.

"Hmm... I see." Said Veldora, less serious now. He let out a bit of an aura. "So it's decided! I'll train you!" He laughed out loud. If the people inside the building actually didnt know where Veldora was, now they knew for sure. Even a bit of his aura was enough to send a shiver down the spine.

Nemu didn't know how to react. He was the mighty storm dragon. And Nemu skills... He wasn't sure if Veldora would be the right training partner for him. Actually, he knew that Veldora would not be the right training partner for him but he did not say it directly.

"I want to get stronger, too." Said Trewy resolutely. "Master Ramiris. I... have a request. Is it possible to get another Spirit?"

"I want a Spirit too!" Nemu said quickly to Ramiris. He had thought about it for a long time. He won't get any fighting skills. But a Spirit... That was something that would help him on his journey.

"You can't get a Spirit, you're a slime, I already told you that." Said Trewy, shaking his head. However, Nemu had seen that Cervi had a Spirit, so he was sure it was somehow possible.

"No. That shouldn't be a problem for either of you." Ramiris contradicted, thinking for a while. "But it's complicated. You can get a spirit but the spirit has to want to accompany you voluntarily." She also thought of Rimuru who had given the children a spirit, but that was cheating! She was sure it wouldn't work that way with Nemu.

Trewy looked at her with wide eyes. She always thought that only dryads were capable of carrying a spirit. Her sisters had told her that. Or did they not tell her? She wasn't sure anymore. But Trewy assumed so. Except for dryads, there were no other beings born with a Spirit.

Nemu smiled. However, Ramiris had an even bigger smile on her lips.

"But you have to beat my new and improved labyrinth first!"