It was hilarious.
I couldn’t help but do a spit take as he spoke. “I’m not a bad slime” was how he chose to describe himself! Just like Yuuki’s “video game.” I began to wonder whether it was a coincidence.
Still, there was something inviting about the space this slime created. The strange creature somehow made me recall memories of my own hometown. My heart felt full. Now I was glad I’d decided to step away from my intended path. This meeting, I thought, was fate at work. And yet—
✦ ✦ ✦
The hours we spent enjoying ourselves came to a sudden halt. My life was about to expire. I had yet to reach my destination—to fulfill my goal—but here it was.
Ifrit had been waiting for this moment. I could feel his will taking over mine. It’s happening… I’m going to ruin all of this, too…
If only, one last time, I could just—
The titan manifested himself, all but laughing at my folly.
My consciousness faded away.
✦ ✦ ✦
I went to see how she was. She didn’t have long. In fact, she might never regain consciousness. Still, I wanted to take care of her to the end, this fellow otherworlder human.
The wounded adventurers all pulled through, thankfully, whining incessantly about how it’d take more than hazard pay to atone for getting burned half to death.
“Hey, what’s the deal with this?” Elen asked. “I don’t see any burn scars or anything… Like, my skin’s as soft and shiny as a baby!”
“Dang,” Kabal added. “I didn’t think I’d be able to move for another week or so, too.”
“Yeah, count me surprised. That’s some potion he had there!”
They were right. That potion had made all of them good as new.
“You know, though… This probably means they’ll turn down our request for hazard pay, doesn’t it?” Elen moaned.
“Yep. Nobody’s gonna believe us…,” Kabal replied.
“Yeah, I s’pose so. Beats bein’ laid up for good, though!” Gido commented.
It never took long for this trio to start bickering with one another over their own self-interested quibbles. I wondered if they ever really had a thought about anybody besides themselves. They didn’t have anything against monsters, at least.
“You know,” I suggested, “once things calm down a little, maybe I could go visit your town.”
“Oh, if that’s the case, I could give the guild master a message for you!”
Just what I wanted to hear. Kabal had made my day. I looked up to adventurers, kind of. I didn’t have any sort of ID papers, though, and I didn’t even know whether they’d let monsters join the registry, but…it could be fun.
So Kabal promised me that I could just say the name “Rimuru” and the guild master would hear about it soon enough. Nice guy. I was in such high spirits that I decided to give them a farewell gift—a few pieces of equipment, freshly made by the dwarven brothers. They were all test models, made with materials they had procured themselves, but the quality was respectable.
I also tossed in some food and ten recovery potions for good measure.
“Ooh! Look at this robe! It’s so light, and I can’t believe how sturdy it is! And pretty, too!”
“Whoa! I’ve always wanted some real scale mail! This… Waaaait a second, did Master Garm make this?! This’ll be like a family treasure to me!”
“Yeah, are you sure we can have these? This is almost too nice for the likes of me. I mean, real direwolf fur?”
It was a miniature celebration for a little while. But—I mean, the fire had torched all their equipment, and I doubted their salary would let them replace it all that easily. It wasn’t exactly my fault, but I had to feel a little sympathy for them. The equipment was all prototypes, crafted before the dwarves could move on to mass production, but it was decent enough.
Besides, look how happy they are. I was confident they’d remember to pass my name on. They were calling me “boss” with the rest of them, too.
The three of them had their qualms about what happened to Shizu, but not enough to keep them from setting off again after three days of rest. They had a report to file and a looming deadline. If anything, three days was a generous amount of time to worry over a woman who’d essentially shoehorned herself into their traveling party uninvited.
Still, I promised them all that I’d take care of her, and that was enough to put their minds at ease.
✦ ✦ ✦
A week passed before Shizu woke up again.
“Is this…? Oh. I…apologize.”
Despite the transformation, she still retained all her memories.
“I was dreaming,” she told me. “Dreaming about the past. The city I lived in… A place I can never return to.”
Japan?
“Tell me, slime. What is your name?”
Hmm. Maybe her suddenly elderliness was affecting her memory after all. I knew I had introduced myself in her presence. “Rimuru, ma’am,” I replied.
Shizu closed her eyes, as if thinking over something. “Could you maybe tell me your real name?” she said.
She must’ve known all along. I hesitated for a moment.
“Hmph,” I offered. “You aren’t long for this world anyway. I’ll tell you. It’s Satoru Mikami.”
My real name. A name I figured I wouldn’t be using again.
“Ah. From my land, are you…? I had thought you might be. I sensed it from you.” She fell silent for a moment. “I had heard from my students, as well. The city’s much better now? Prettier? The last time I was there, there was nothing but fire all around me.”
“Yeah. I could show you, if you’d like.”
I used Thought Communication to do exactly that. Fairly useful thing to have at a time like this. I liked it.
“Ahh…” The sight made Shizu shed a tear. “Listen, slime…or I should say Satoru, I suppose. I have a request for you. Would you mind listening to it?”
“What kind of request?”
Nothing particularly doable, I was sure. But I did promise to take care of her to the end. She deserved to be heard out.
“I want you to eat me…”
Um? What did this old lady just say?
“You consumed the curse…that was placed on me, did you not…? I’m so glad to be rid of it…” Her voice grew quiet. “I wish I had the chance—I doubt I could’ve ever done it, but I wish I could’ve had the chance to confront the person who placed it on me, one more time… So I have just one request for you—would you let me sleep inside you?”
Something about her eyes, the resolve that she just couldn’t relinquish, grabbed at me. It seemed so absurd, so cruel…
“I have to tell you—I have nothing but spite for this world. But I couldn’t bring myself to hate it, still. It’s the same as how I feel toward that man… Perhaps I can’t help but think of him when I look around me. That’s why I… I don’t want to be taken into the earth here. So please… I was hoping you could eat me instead…”
Hmm. Well, that’s easy enough.
Fulfilling her request would bind me, no doubt, and give me a curse of my own. I would be charged with taking on her despair and hatred.
Was there any need to waver on that, though? If I wanted her to see the afterlife with her mind at peace—the answer was obvious.
“All right. I’ll be happy to take on your feelings. And what was the name of this man…the one who hurt you?”
At the question, Shizu opened her eyes, scrunched up her burn-scarred face, and shed a few more tears. “Leon Cromwell,” she said. “One of the strongest demon lords.”
She looked at me with pleading eyes.
“I promise!” I declared. “By my name as Satoru Mikami, or Rimuru Tempest, or whatever works best for you, I promise I’ll make Leon Cromwell know everything you feel about him. I’ll make him regret every moment!”
“Thank you,” she whispered, and then she closed her eyes, her breath turning shallow as she slept.
✦ ✦ ✦
Use unique skill “Predator”?
Yes
No
—Here’s hoping you’ll find some peace inside me, then.
Yes, I thought to myself, in a sort of prayer to her—a hope that her dreams inside would remain happy forever. With no more rude awakenings.
✦ ✦ ✦
Tap, tap, tap, tap…
✦ ✦ ✦
She looked up, her face bearing the innocence of youth. Relief spread across it as a smile emerged on her face.
Well, there you are! Don’t leave me alone like that again, all right?
But the figure shook its head before pointing at something far away. The girl turned toward it, her expression suddenly clouded with doubtful sadness.
There she found—
Mom!!
A burst of happiness rushed through her entire body as she rushed toward her mother. The figure watched her trot off for a moment—then disappeared, as if nothing had ever occupied the space at all. Perhaps it was just an illusion crafted by the girl’s memories.
✦ ✦ ✦
Thus, the girl was reunited with her mother.
It marked the end of what had been a long, long journey.