“Yo,” Rimuru said, forcefully lowering his voice to a comical degree.

“Uh, hi” I replied, still slightly anxious despite Rimuru’s playful gesture.

 

Seeing that his light-hearted joke didn’t work, Rimuru sighed, before sucking the fake mustache back into his body. “How’re you doing!” Rimuru said, his tone still jovial.

 

“Fine…?” A awkward silence ensued immediately afterwards. Neither Rimuru nor I were the talkative type, so we just stared at one another. Shion, who was holding Rimuru, frowned, signaling her displeasure at the sudden awkwardness. And, for some reason, glared at me, as though blaming me for it. “How’s that my fault!??”I thought inwardly. Thankfully, Rimuru decided to strike up a conversation.

 

“So, where are you from?” He inquired

“Earth.” I replied, knowing this was my most likely decision to avoid a fight.

 

His eyes brightened, “Really? What part of Earth are you from?” He turned into his human form, his hands resting on his desk as he peered at me , leaning towards me with a wide grin. Shion, on the other hand, had a sad expression on her face as her beloved Rimuru-sama had escaped her clutches. Naturally, she pinned this onto me as well.

 

“Singapore.” I replied, trying to avert my gaze from the abnormally beautiful boy (girl?)(slime?)(asexual?) person.

“Where’s that?” Rimuru questioned, evidently having never heard of Singapore before.

“A small island county in South-East Asia.” I replied, backing up as Rimuru started moving closer to me. Seriously, why does he act like a girl so much?

 

“Oh, I’ve never heard of that place before,” he replied, his eyes unconsciously looking upwards, most likely conversing with Great Sage.

“Oh shit, maybe Singapore doesn’t exist in his world,” I thought, worried that my cover was blown.

 

As though noticing my tenseness, he waved his hand dismissively, “No need to be so tense, I’m from Earth too!” Rimuru replied, one eye closed and puffing his chest out, his thumb pointing back at his chest. Seriously, why did he act so girl-like!?

 

“Oh, really?” I feigned ignorance

“Yup! I’m actually a Reincarnator, I arrived here when I was stabbed in my past life, and became a slime.” Rimuru was way too relaxed, I couldn’t detect even a hint of suspicion.

“I’m not sure how I got here, I just appeared in this forest one day back from school,” I replied, trying my best to keep up a poker face.

“Oh, I see,” Rimuru put his hand on his chin, “Why don’t you stay here with us then?”

Hearing this, Shion’s gaze suddenly turned into a cold-blooded glare.

“I’d rather not…” I quickly shot down his suggestion.

“Ehhhh why not?” His childish voice responded, oblivious to the haunting presence behind him.

 

“I want to explore this unknown world,” I replied, hoping my bullshit answer would come to fruition.

Rimuru sighed, “Alright, I can’t keep you here forcefully either way.” My heart leapt with joy, “But just know that we’ll always welcome you with open arms.”

“Ah, but I haven’t gotten you name yet,” He quickly said again.

“Lucian.” I replied

“Nice to meet you Lucian! I’m Rimuru, Rimuru Tempest!” He offered me a handshake.

“Nice to meet you too,” I replied, as I shook his hand.

 

 

 

 

I heaved a sigh of relief as I exited the extravagant city hall. That must have been the hardest my brain’s worked in my life. The adrenaline really was pumping in that one. Well, its fine now, I guess. Thankfully, Rimuru didn’t press the topic and just left it at that, I think he was trying to be thoughtful but you never know what anime protagonists are thinking.

 

As I made my way through the roughly made highways of Tempest, the many residents often gave me inquisitive stares; I was sticking out like a sore thumb here. It didn’t take too long before we reached the entrance to the forest once more, and I didn’t hesitate to hop onto Shiro and speed off into lush greenery.

 

 

 

(Rimuru POV)

 

Meanwhile, Rimuru was seated in his usual position — held by Shion. He pondered on the recent conversation with Lucian. “Oi, Great Sage, there was something off about that Lucian guy right?” Rimuru asked inwardly.

 

*Yes, my Analytical Appraisal was being blocked, I was only able to slightly gauge his abilities during your handshake. But it was still mostly being hindered.*

 

“That’s odd, nobody’s been able to resist your appraisal so far. Just how strong is he?” Rimuru was at odds with the information he’d just received, after all, he couldn’t believe that nervous-looking boy could be so strong.

 

*It is anticipated that individual “Lucian” has a similar skill to “Great Sage”*

 

Rimuru’s eyes widened, “A skill similar to you, Great Sage!? That’s crazy!” He couldn’t help but be slightly worried, but he quickly brushed it off, “He doesn’t seem like such a bad guy.”

 

On the other hand, Shion was raging within, “That kid, daring to take my Rimuru-sama from me…” Her grip gradually increased in ferocity, slightly twisting Rimuru in the process.

“Oi,oi,oi Shion!? Shion!? Stop! Stop!” Rimuru complained in a panic, seeing his body suddenly stretched into a rope.

“Oh! Rimuru-sama, I’m so sorry!” Shion instantly stopped, worry creasing her face instead…

 

 

(Souei POV)

 

“Benimaru.” Souei rose from the shadows, appearing next to the red-headed kijin.

“What is it, Souei?” Benimaru replied, wiping the sweat from his face.

“Remain vigilant in the future, a dangerous individual has appeared.” Souei replied, a hint of seriousness present in his face instead of his usual nonchalance.

 

Benimaru, having known Souei since they were children, instantly noticed this. His sword, which he’d been swinging since the start of the morning, came to a halt. “What is it?”

 

“A Human.” Souei replied, “Male, fair skin, black hair, brown eyes, looks roughly 16 years old for a human.”

Benimaru was about to chid Souei to get to the point when he said, “Large quantity of magicules, more than both you and me.”

 

Benimaru’s eyes widened at this, the amount of magicules they had were already high, more so Benimaru with his magicule-dependant build. “Does Rimuru-sama know about this?”

“Yes,” Souei replied, “He’s already met Rimuru-sama.”

 

Nodding, Benimaru asked, “What happened?”

“He was let go unscathed,” Souei replied, “It seems Rimuru-sama wants to maintain a good relationship with him.”

 

Benimaru clicked his tongue, he respected Rimuru-sama, yes, but he didn’t fully trust his every decision. “We can only honor Rimuru-sama’s wishes for now, but if that human steps out of line, we will deal with him.”

“Yes.” Souei replied, before sinking back into the shadows, leaving Benimaru alone to contemplate the conversation they just had.