That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 4, page 29
part #4 of Reincarnated as a Slime Series
Thus, we decided they would remain here at the academy to learn. Seeing my magic for themselves must’ve convinced them how useful it was. They did cry, however, when I told them I was leaving. I promised I’d attend all their graduations, and of course, they were eager to welcome me.
Really, they’d be fine now. Their magical energy levels were now restricted to a little above the average, allowing them to live normal lives. Even someone with magical Assessment skills wouldn’t notice what’s going on inside them.
It was a topic I also discussed with Yuuki a bit. “Once a nation’s abandoned a child,” he reasoned, “I doubt they’ll try to take them back again. That’s a violation of international law, and it’d also make them enemies of the Free Guild.”
“You think maybe we could have them earn their adventurer’s cards and become guild members?”
“Hmm… Perhaps we could, yes, if they want to.”
“Sure. They’ll have time to think about it as students.”
“That they will.”
They were still children, but in this world, you were considered grown-up at age fifteen. It wouldn’t be long until they were all that age, qualified to join the Free Guild. They’d get to do whatever they want, living in pure, unrestricted freedom.
Yuuki also pressed me several times on how I solved their problems, but that was a secret. He assumed the children were just normal kids now, and I was fine with that. Their surging magicules were actually being neutralized by elementals, but I didn’t see the need to tell anyone about that. That really could make them the targets of rogue players worldwide, setting off wholly new problems for them.
The children had already been assigned new schedules and teachers. My role in their education was more or less over. They had undergone basic combat training, as well as gotten used to speaking with their pseudo-elementals. In between, we went out on picnics, with Kabal’s team stopping by for fun sometimes.
Potion sales, meanwhile, were going well. When I finally visited Mjöllmile in Blumund, I received a hero’s welcome. He had the profits he wanted, and I was happy with that, too. And every time I came back to Tempest, I saw more and more adventurers taking advantage of our lodging. It was turning into a lively place. I’d better get back for good soon, before some other huge problem reared its ugly head.
—The time had come to go home.
It was the day of my departure.
“You… You’re leaving, Mr. Rimuru?”
“You can’t make him wait any longer, Clo.”
“No, but I… I mean…”
“But…”
Chloe was about to cry. I wasn’t feeling much better myself…but, you know, I could pop on over anytime I want with Spatial Motion. This wasn’t the end.
“Ha-ha-ha! You’re such a crybaby, Chloe. Here, how about something to cheer you up?”
I removed the mask I had on and gave it to her. The Mask of Magic Resistance, a memento of Shizu’s that was broken once before I repaired it. I wasn’t sure what drove me to give it to her; it just seemed like the natural thing to do. She accepted it without hesitation.
“Awwwwww! I wanted it, too…”
“Hee-hee-hee! It’s all mine now!”
It cheered Chloe up, so I was happy. For the crestfallen Alice, meanwhile, I had a school uniform Shuna prepared for her.
“Ah!”
“Are these for us?”
I had outfits for Kenya and Gail—Ryota, too, of course. They looked the same as all the other uniforms in the academy, but they were sewn with sturdier custom cloth. The children all gleefully accepted them.
“Now listen, I want you guys to keep studying, all right? It’s hard to say good-bye like this, but it’s not like I’ll never see you again. Come over to my town once you’re on break, okay?”
“““Okay!”””
The children saw me off, their teary eyes turning into smiles. I left the Englesian capital while the smiles were still fresh on their faces.
It seemed like a short trip to human lands, but it wound up extending for quite a while. It was tough going, but I’d built some bonds I could never replace, not for anything in the world. Getting to interact with children like that again, as a slime, was something I never could’ve dreamed of.
Everything seemed to be going great.
—Or perhaps, a little too great.
In a world like this, negative emotions like jealousy and envy can unknowingly fester in the hearts of your peers. I had intended to be careful in all my actions, lest I become the target of such feelings.
But as they say, garbage in, garbage out. The Great Sage had astounding predictive skills, but if I gave it the wrong questions, it’d give me the wrong answers.
If Tempest grew prosperous, that meant somebody was going to lose out in the backlash. I instinctively knew that, of course, but I didn’t think it would happen at a scale or speed beyond my expectations.
During my time as a slime here, I had my own small ambitions. To live among the humans I looked up to. To make contact with otherworlders. I had made that happen, and now, in my new homeland of Tempest, I was building the foundation for even greater developments. In a way, I had already succeeded, and in another, I had failed.
I was just a regular person; I didn’t understand much about government or politics. About the cold egoism and Machiavellianism that often reigns. Now, fate was making changes at an ever more rapid pace, forcing me to settle upon my future direction.
The days of peace were drawing to a close; days of war were beginning.
EPILOGUE
A MONSTER’S NATURAL ENEMY
Taking my leave of Yuuki and the children, I had reached the outskirts of the city. Away from the gaze of others, I figured I could use Spatial Motion to return home without further delay. I thought so anyway, but for some reason, the skill wouldn’t activate.
What’s going on?
Report. You are covered in a long-range barrier. Any spatial-intervention skills targeted for beyond the barrier are forbidden.
Huh?
I didn’t like the sound of that. In a way, I felt in more danger than I ever had before. When Milim attacked us, she didn’t really have any intention of killing anyone. I wasn’t overwhelmed with a sense of danger. Now, that sense was sounding its loudest alarms yet.
My suspicions were confirmed when I saw Soei appear before me, badly wounded.
“Sir—Sir Rimuru, you must flee at once—”
This Replication of Soei must’ve expended all its strength coming here. The body was already starting to fade into thin air.
“What happened?”
“Enemies, sir. More powerful than I could ever imagine—”
And then, he disappeared. I was sure his original body was okay, but these Replications were supposed to be on the same level as the original strength-wise, weren’t they? Did he fall into a trap or something?
I called for Ranga from my shadow. No reply. Just as the Great Sage warned, I was so shut away from the outside world that not even Ranga could intervene from beyond. This barrier must have been the spatial-division type, fully isolating me from beyond its borders. I could neither call for help nor run away from it.
The bad feeling I had was now pushing me into a panic. Just in case, I put out some insurance. Fortunately, there were no restrictions on my skills within the barrier itself, I didn’t think…but then I heard another warning.
Report. You are covered in a long-range barrier. Any skill usage within the barrier is forbidden… Resistance succeeded. However, restrictions are in place on all magic-oriented skills.
What? What’s going on here?! Magic-oriented kind of describes, like, all my magic and everything that involves controlling magicules! Things like Dark Flame and Dark Thunder were similarly restricted, as well as control-based skills like Sticky Steel Thread. This kind of barrier wasn’t in place even during that Sky Dragon attack before.
If there was someone capable of deploying a barrier like this, there was no way Soei wouldn’t have noticed. And if I was caught in this before he could warn me via Thought Communication, it had to be spread out across a vast amount of terrain. It felt safe to assume it wasn’t meant for someone else. This was an attack targeted squarely upon me.
For what purpose, though?
I waited for my foe to make itself known, steeling myself against the potentially lethal threat surrounding me. Even if I wanted to release this barrier, the Sage needed time to analyze it. I could begin the process immediately, but with such a broad range to cover, I’d need to wait a while. All I could do right now was wait for the enemy.
This was really bad. For the first time, I thought I felt my heart tremble with anxiety. It wasn’t an emotion I had experienced very often since coming to this world.
Becoming a slime had changed the structure of my mind, yes, but the biggest reason for that was because the Great Sage could always predict results for me in advance. Whenever I thought about doing something, it’d give me a general idea of how the plan would work out. That was what allowed me to fearlessly confront powerful-looking monsters. They might’ve looked strong, but the predictions, the odds, were already in my mind. On the other hand, if I knew for a fact that I couldn’t beat a foe, that wasn’t anything to strike anxiety in me. If I couldn’t win, I could just run. And if I couldn’t run, I could at least try for a parting shot before I got struck down.
This time, though, I was dealing with an unknown. I had nothing to make a prediction on—but I knew the enemy was out for blood. I didn’t know if I could win, and I couldn’t escape. I had no idea about their numbers. It had to be several people launching this long-range barrier, but Sense Heat Source told me that only one was approaching.
The magicules had seemed to disappear from within this barrier. Magic Sense wasn’t working. If I was booted out of human form, I wouldn’t even be able to see. Without that all-purpose vision, it’d be that much harder to grasp the situation around me. From the moment I was caught in here, my chances of winning plummeted.
But sealing away your foe’s abilities before the battle even begins… Yeah, that’s another way to fight, I guess. Get into range without being noticed, then deploy a barrier before the opponent can recognize it. The work of a professional, one well seasoned in monster combat.
If I had to guess, this barrier extended over at least a mile-long radius. It caught me completely off guard. I had to marvel at how well planned it was.
Time passed slowly…
“Hello. I suppose this is the first time we met? It’ll be good-bye before long, though.”
With that greeting, a woman appeared—right in front of me, alone. And with enormous self-confidence.
She was maybe twenty, maybe not quite there yet, and her frighteningly cold eyes contained the shine of a deep intelligence. The beauty to her countenance made the ice in her gaze even more striking. I didn’t remember meeting her, but there was something familiar about the sight.
Her shiny, beautiful black hair was cut above the shoulders, combed down and back on the right side and flowing down the left, not quite hiding her eyes. On that almost-hidden left eye, there was a monocle—perhaps just a fashion item, because she quickly removed it and put it in a pocket.
Her clothing was chiefly white—loose, easy to move in, and reminiscent of business attire. Her legs, visible underneath her short skirt, were long, thin, and covered in black stockings. The rest of her was covered in a robe of pure white, like something a cleric would wear. There was a cross symbol on the front of her collar, indicating she held a high position in the Western Holy Church.
This was a paladin, a Church-ordained guardian of law and order—and a sworn enemy of all monsters.
“I suppose it is, yes. What is it that you want from me? My name’s Rimuru, but perhaps you have me confused with someone else?”
It was pointless, but I thought I’d check anyway. She was obviously gunning for me. I doubted this was mistaken identity, but if it was, I definitely didn’t want to get killed over it.
“You certainly are polite, for the lord of the monster nation. No, there’s no mistake. Your town, you know… It’s a bother to us. So we’ve decided to crush it. That’s why we can’t have you going home quite yet. Do you understand me?”
There was no evil sneer with these words. It was plain, emotionless fact—just not the kind I was too interested in accepting. Plus, they knew I was running Tempest? What the heck?
“Why are you calling me a monster at all, much less a monster lord? I’m just a regular adventurer, as you can see.”
“Oh, playing dumb? Well, it won’t work. We have an informant. I won’t tell you who, but that’s how we received word. We have ‘eyes,’ you know, all over Englesia. You’d best keep your own eyes open—there’s no telling who may be watching.”
An informant? I couldn’t imagine who. I had an eye out for people tailing me—any skill-based teleport, I executed with the utmost caution. I didn’t get it, but I could tell that she was pretty sure about it. And about killing me.
This is really bad.
She was armed with nothing but the rapier dangling from her hip. There was no armor, but she seemed totally at ease. No one else was in the area, no indication that the person or persons who built the barrier would be swooping in to assist. They had this perfect trap for killing me, but it was only one of them? Or was that how strong this woman was?
There was no time to think. If she was telling the truth, there was a force out there trying to destroy Tempest. If they’d already started attacking, I didn’t have any time to sit here idly.
Which nation was it? Or a demon lord? No, not one of those. The Western Holy Church would never associate with monsters. We were bordered by Dwargon, Farmus, Blumund, and Thalion. I could cut Dwargon and Blumund out of that, which left two countries. Thalion wouldn’t make much sense—there wasn’t a path built to there yet, so their armies would have to go through another country first. Soei would’ve spotted that right off.
That made the Kingdom of Farmus my primary suspect. Assuming Farmus had an army raised, it’d take at least two weeks to march to Tempest. They’d need to find roads wide enough for their forces, which meant a long, circuitous route. Even if they advanced without rest, it’d take ten days. However, this world had something called legion magic, which if used efficiently enough, could easily cut that time down.
I couldn’t assume anything, but there was no time to waver now.
“So I guess you won’t believe me when I say you got the wrong guy.”
“No. I already heard the monster lord’s name was Rimuru.”
“Oh.”
Well, great. She knew me by name.
“So are you ready?”
“No,” I swiftly replied as the woman motioned to unsheathe her rapier, “but could you at least tell me your name first?”
The stunning woman gave me a bemused look. “Since when were monsters interested in names? It didn’t matter to me, so I forgot to tell you.” She smiled faintly. “In that case: I am Hinata Sakaguchi, captain of the Chief Knights of the Holy Imperial Guard, the faithful servants of Luminus in the Holy Empire of Lubelius. I am glad to make your acquaintance, although I fear it will be a very short one.”
Aha. So this is Hinata Sakaguchi.
“Hinata? I heard you were leader of the paladins, but you’re running Lubelis’s imperial guard, too?”
“You were aware of that? Not that it pleases me to be known among monsters. But yes, I am the holder of both positions, although it is meaningless. I serve Luminus, not the mortal Holy Emperor.”
She then drew her rapier, a clear sign that the conversation was over. The grip was decorated with seven small jewels, its blade a light shade of silver that was covered by the faint, rainbowlike glint of magical force.
I had heard she was kind of an extreme rationalist when it came to reaching her goals, but if so, she was kind of botching the endgame. Going out to defeat her foe single-handed… If she wanted to be sure about this, she should’ve brought enough manpower to make it a slam dunk. I gotta hand it to her info-gathering skills, though, knowing all about the Jura-Tempest Federation and me.
But I still didn’t like this. Hinata was ready to go, but it kinda pained me to fight a former student of Shizu’s. Could we talk this out a little, maybe…? I took out my own sword, readying it, but still gave that another shot.
“Wait a minute. There’s something I’d like to tell you, and then something I’d like to talk to you about.”
“I care not for the words of monsters,” she coldly replied as she jabbed at me with lightning-fast force. I could just barely keep up with it. If my nervous system weren’t directly connected to my brain, that would’ve broken skin. Sucks that they took Magic Sense from me.
“No, wait! You’re Japanese, aren’t you? Me too. Shizu asked me to—”
“I’m a little surprised you dodged that. I suppose you really are the monster who killed my teacher…but revenge will be mine soon. And a monster being Japanese? Miss Shizu asking a favor of you? How ridiculous. Don’t make me laugh.”
Not too interested in believing me, then. Or really, in having any sort of conversation. But I had one more idea.
“
I said this in our native language. Hinata’s got to believe me. But her voice sounded colder than ever.
“So you speak Japanese. Just as I thought you would. There is no need for any more of this act.”
Instead of believing me, she acted as if I just added more fuel to her anger. What did she mean “Just as I thought you would”?! Does whoever leaked word about me to Hinata know I was Japanese? Because only a handful of people did— Or did she think I could speak Japanese because I claimed to be from there? Or was she just told that I killed Shizu and inferred that I must’ve known about other worlds and learned Japanese?!
That’s not just blind guesswork. That’s more…calculated by—
