"Hello! I'm Nemu and Welcome to Tempest!"

The red slimes looked up at Nemu. They knew about Tempest. Nemu had told them. Sanctuary. That was what he had said. And after the many months they had been trapped by the big blue slime, they wanted nothing more than a sanctuary and their freedom. But all of them shared another feeling. Uncertainty. Trust was not in the nature of red slimes, however, if they trusted anyone it was other red slimes.

"Are we... safe?" Asked one of the red slimes. Nemu had told them before, but now that they had arrived at their destination they wanted to hear it again.

"Yes. Tempest is a place where you will be safe." Confirmed Nemu. But what now? After freeing them, he felt a sense of responsibility. Something he had not felt before. Well, maybe the feeling was similar to when he tried to save the Harpies. But still... Should he ask Rimuru? It's already evening, but maybe he's still busy. He knows responsibility better than anyone.

'Rimuru? I need your help.' He told Rimuru mentally.

'I'm already on my way. Wait for a few more minutes.' Answered Rimuru immediately.

Huh? Did he already know what was going on? Nemu should stop being surprised, Rimuru already knew he was here, so it shouldn't surprise him that he knows what's going on. He gave him a mental thumbs up.

The red slimes were still looking at Nemu. Obviously, they were expecting something. Even if they didn't know exactly what. So Nemu decided to explain the situation.

"We are now in Tempest. A town in the middle of the Jura Forest. And it will be a safe place for us, like the Grove of the Dryads." All of them had heard about it and Nemu felt the group relax. There was even joy and relief. He should have told Trewy to stay here. Even though he doubted she would have let Ramiris go alone. And then he continued.

"The leader of the town is a slime. And he promised me to protect you. He even built a place for us." Nemu really hoped he hadn't forgotten. But he believed in Rimuru.

"A place? Like a cave?" Asked one of the slimes. That was the natural habitat for red slimes before they had reached Tempest. And they didn't have good memories with it. 

Unfortunately, Nemu didn't know the answer. He had no idea what Rimuru had prepared. He hoped for a village, but could not be sure.

He shook his body like humanoids would shake their head. The slimes looked at him in confusion. Hmm, didn't they understand? After thinking about it for a second, he realized they had never seen anything but slimes. Nemu decided to experiment. He nodded. Wobble Wobble. The slimes were still looking at him in confusion. However, they were not laughing! That was the first time! Anyways, no time for that now even if it cheered him up. 

"It's not a cave." He then began to explain hopefully. "But it's safe, even safer than hiding in caves." He was sure of that, even caves were often visited by monsters, some even made caves their home where before there were only red slimes. Rimuru had to have something better prepared.

The slimes looked at each other. Unsure what to make of it. Safer than a cave? Maybe a place like this room? For the slimes this place was.... strange. An environment they had never seen before, so they didn't know if it was safe or not. However, what they did know was that Nemu had saved them and so they trusted him.

"Are there as many people there as here?" Asked one of the slimes of uncertainty. Of course, they had their magical perception. Even through the walls, they could easily perceive the surroundings. After their time in Nemus stoma... dimensional space, their magical perception became even better. But still, it was nothing compared to Nemu.

"I guess not." Said Nemu honestly. "It's probably a place outside of Tempest. But I assure you it's safe there." He had told Rimuru that slimes couldn't live in the city because they weren't built for it. They were stronger now, but if an orc stepped on them, it could still end badly.

Knock Knock

Oh! Someone was at the door. Nemu knew he was. Because he hadn't noticed anything, so it could only be Rimuru, or Diablo, but he doubted that.

"Come in." Said Nemu. The slimes looked nervously at the door. They were not used to others besides slimes and everything was a danger to them. Fortunately, when the door opened, a blue slime jumped into the room.

"Wow. Five at once. Good job, Nemu!" Said the slime in a friendly manner. "I am Rimuru. Welcome to Tempest!"

Still, the red slimes looked at him fearfully. A talking blue slime? They had had very bad experiences with that. Rimuru noticed this immediately.

"I'm not a bad slime." 

He said and a smile formed on his slime body. It was wise of him not to enter the room with his humanoid form. Nemu knew it was intentional. Besides, he had such a calm aura around him that made many people calm. So did the red slimes. They believed him.

"Yes, I found them in a cave and brought them all here." Explained Nemu.

"Oh, that's good! So you were together before?"

Nemu flinched. He hadn't told Rimuru about the cave. He should have, he now realized. The slimes didn't respond.

"Hmm, not exactly talkative?" Rimuru laughed. "I think you'll get used to it quickly."

"Did you prepare something?" Nemu asked nervously, if he forgot then....

"Of course! I told you so. I even chose the place myself and the orcs should have been ready by now." Said Rimuru and raised his slime brow. That was definitely a 'don't doubt me' look. However, considering the building speed he had seen on the road, it probably only took a few hours to build a village for slimes.

"Sorry." Said Nemu ashamed.

"Don't worry about that." Rimuru now scanned the room. "Where is Trewy?"

"She is with Ramiris." Nemu simply said. Rimuru immediately nodded. How is he so good at this? Nodding as a slime shouldn't be that easy… Of course he knew how dryads worship Ramiris. So she was out for the day.

"Hmm... So she was with Veldora the whole time." Said Rimuru. Nemu was not surprised that he knew about Veldora's hideout. However, that a Demon King was hiding in Tempest was kind of a big deal, wasn't it? Usually Rimuru would have found out immediately with his magical perception. However, if she was with Veldora... Nemu had also not realized that there was someone else in the room when he entered it. She was like a stone on a mountain.

"So... wanna go there? Do you have any luggage?" He asked the red slimes. Of course they didn't have any luggage. It was more of a rhetorical question.

At first, Nemu thought that they would have to walk through the city. But then remembered that Rimuru can teleport. The first day he met Rimuru, he also teleported Nemu to Tempest. Apparently he only has to enter the place once and he had chosen the place for the village. So it was no problem.

It was also interesting that Rimuru was alone. In his week in Tempest he had never seen Rimuru alone. Shuna, Shion or Ranga were always with him. But even Ranga was not in his shadow. The slimes would have sensed it, and wolves weren't exactly slimes' best friends. Rimuru deserved a compliment for that. He was really smart.

[...]

What was that?

"I guess we are ready." Nemu said. He looked at the red slimes, but they didn't even understand what they were talking about. And the best explanation is to show them.

Rimuru nodded again. And a magic circle with dozens of runes appeared directly below them. An amazing skill that Nemu really wanted to have. 

And before they even knew what was happening they were outside. In a village.

Rimuru and Nemu sighed. At least Nemu had expected it. There were about 20 houses in the village and each of them had the shape of a slime. The eyes were windows and where the mouth should be was an entrance. There was a curtain in front of each entrance. 

Probably reinforced by magic so that no wind or rain could get into the buildings but perfect for slimes who had problems with doors. 

But it wasn't just the buildings. There were also several columns of slimes and in the middle of the building was a large slime house. 

Nemu immediately knew where they were through Guide, but Rimuru explained it for the other slimes.

"We are outside of Tempest. There used to be a goblin village here but all of them live in Tempest now. It's one of the safest areas in Jura Forest. All the monsters here have been gone for months." He meant killed, but didn't say it. "So... Over there is a farmland." Actually, they were in a large open area in the middle of farmland. It was a few hundred meters until the forest began. That gave the slimes even more security.

What was growing here? Nemu had no idea. Probably something special. 

"There's a village over there, they're farmers who've been living here for a few weeks. But they are peaceful. You can visit them anytime. They also knew you are here." Explained Rimuru.

"Oh..." Nemu felt something familiar. He was surprised. "Rabbitmen."

But not as surprised as Rimuru. The village was about 800 meters away and Nemu could not only tell that people lived there, he could even tell what race. Rimuru could too. But only with the help of Raphael after she had analyzed it. Of course, Nemu wouldn't have been able to tell if he hadn't spent time with Rabbitmen before, but it was still very impressive. Nemu's magic perception was better than Rimuru's.

"That's... really impressive." Admitted Rimuru. "Yes, Souei found them in the forest a few weeks ago, he had invited the leader to Tempest. Instead he came with his whole tribe. They apparently had a lot of problems in the forest and wanted to live here. That happens a lot and since Tempest is still growing we can use all the manpower we can get." Rimuru shrugged it off like it is nothing. "However, I don't really know if they are happy with being farmers. That's not usually a job beastmen like to do."

"Rabbitmen were already farmers in the Beast Kingdom." Nemu explained. Hey, the first time he could help with his knowledge. "It's the perfect job for them."

"Really?" Rimuru was surprised but let out a relieved sigh after that. Finding suitable jobs for any race was difficult and something that had caused him a lot of worry. That he no longer had to worry about this tribe obviously relieved him.

"Okay, let's see the houses!" Nemu then said. He had just realized that the red slimes were staring at them. There was no time for that now.

Nemu jumped forward until they reached the entrance of the house. The door... or whatever it should be called, was a blue cloth. But not a normal cloth. There were definitely magical threads in it that strengthened it. But slimes could enter the houses just like through a normal cloth. Nemu had no idea how that worked.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Rimuru said proudly. "It was my idea."

[No, it wasn't.] A female voice then said, only audible to Nemu and Rimuru. Nemu had completely forgotten, even Rimuru had not thought that Nemu was able to hear her voice.

‘Oh, hello Raphael. How are you?" asked Nemu.

[I don't have such emotions.]

'Hmph.' Is she offended? Nemu suspected that Raphael did a lot more for the village and Rimuru took all the credit for it.

Rimuru just looked innocent and avoided eye contact.

Anyways, they finally went into the room. Seven slimes bounced through the entrance. That had to look funny.

As they entered the room they were greeted by a warm light. There was only one light in the room and yet it was bright. There was a glowing magic crystal on the ceiling of the room. Nemu knew immediately that it was valuable. Really valuable. The village the Rabbit Tribe not far from them certainly didn't have stones like that. They must have spared no expense for the slime village. 

Even Rimuru was surprised. His house was full of these stones, even his cottage, but he knew how valuable they were and had not expected it. They really love slimes in Tempest.

Anyways, the room looked almost like Nemus' room in Tempest. A carpet on the floor, the same table with 4 pillows, a shelf with books?, again something very valuable, Nemu was sure that slimes can't read and there was also a simple bed. Something that Rimuru and Nemu did not use, but the other slimes might like. It was a simple home, but of course incomparable to a cave.

The red slimes looked at everything with interest. This was where they were going to live? For slimes who had never entered a room an hour ago, it was incredible. Everything was new. They could not perceive warmth, yet the room gave them a warm feeling. They liked it.

Rimuru especially noticed the books. "Can slimes read?" Maybe it was a racial ability, something that's pretty common in this world, but he highly doubted it.

"No." Replied Nemu. "But they could learn."

"Sooo, we need a teacher." Suggested Rimuru.

"Hmm, what about the rabbitmen?"

"Rabbitmen can read?" Rimuru was puzzled. It was unusual for the tribes in the Jura Forest to be able to read.

"Yes, but mostly only the women." Explained Nemu. 

For beastmen, strength was the most important thing. And it showed in their historiography. Tales of epic battles, strong warriors and wars were common. However, everything else about their history was never written down. Especially nothing about weak tribes like the rabbitmen. Everything that Nemu had learned in his days with the rabbit tribe was known to no one but the tribe itself. Their history, their culture, and that only the female Rabbits could read was something that no one knew except him, Trewy, and the Rabbits themselves.

This is also the reason why he wanted to share his knowledge. Everyone should know more about the Rabbit tribe and the stories of the world, he had already decided that before he started his journey. Before he starts his training, Nemu decided, he will write a book about the rabbit tribe! 

Maybe he should write a book about how to learn to read? With the help of Guide, it was no problem for him to explain it with pictures. And there was no one else in this world who could write books and mass produce them with his skill. Except Rimuru and Nemu.

The next few days... He will be very busy.

The red slimes stared at Nemu. Reading? They didn't even know what that was. So Nemu took the time to explain it to them. It was surprisingly hard to explain for someone who didn't even know what letters were. But he was successful. 

He will ask the rabbit tribe soon. But not today. It is time for the slimes and him to relax. They need a few days. Besides, it will be hard for the slimes to get used to other races. 

"What about you?" Rimuru then asked Nemu. 

Nemu understood what he meant. Now that there is a slime village and he is a slime. Maybe he wanted to stay here. He had even thought about spending some time here, but....

"I want to stay in Tempest. I have some things to do before I leave for my next journey." Said Nemu. It was not a decision that was easy for him. He would certainly return and perhaps live here for some time, but for now he wanted to prepare for his next adventure.

Rimuru nodded, he could understand. Actually, he had expected the answer.

And so they decided to explore the village first. All the houses were furnished the same. However, the big house was different. There were no beds, but a big table in the middle with a dozen pillows. There was even a table with chairs. Obviously meant for other races. Nemu was satisfied. It's a nice place and he will bring many more red slimes here.

"What do we do now?" Rimuru whispered to Nemu. The question was whether they could just be left alone like this. Everything was new to them and the situation.... visibly overwhelmed them.

But Nemu wasn't worried. "Slimes are not used to company. They live on their own for usual and this place is... something they have to get used to on their own." He explained.

Naturally, Nemu knew far more about slimes than Rimuru did. Rimuru had been reborn as a slime, but his personality remained that of a human. So he just nodded.

"Okay! Then it's time for us to return to Tempest!" Nemu said. He was looking forward to seeing the city. And he missed Trewy a little bit. They spent all the time together for over a month and he had become very used to her presence.

The red slimes looked happy and relaxed. Working through the experiences of the last few months would take some time, but Nemu was sure that they could do that. There was something else that reassured Nemu. Now that they had met, Nemu was always able to communicate with them through telepathy. 

"So if you ever have any problems, questions or anything just ask me, I will always come to you if you need me." Said Nemu before saying goodbye.

"Okay." Said the red slimes together. Rimuru almost laughed. It was nice to see that they trusted Nemu.

And after another short goodbye, Rimuru and Nemu finally returned to Tempest.