12 『12』

I woke up due to the sensation of someone putting a blanket over me, I opened my eyes and spotted a pink haired girl that had a smile.

"Good morning Shuna." I said.

"Good morning to you too Shinju-sama, you're going to be cold if you don't have a blanket covering you." said Shuna with a frown.

"I'm fine since I'm quite resistant to the cold, plus I'm an orb remember? I don't really feel temperatures." I replied.

"That is true..." muttered Shuna.

Good thing she didn't catch my lie.

"Is Rimuru awake yet?" I asked.

"No, but his form is already back to normal." said Shuna.

"Then he's going to be up soon, we still have to talk but there's no need to rush. How long have you been here?" I ask.

"Uhm about..."

Hmm? Didn't she just put the blanket on me?

"Shuna..."

"47 minutes Shinju-sama..."

She even remembered how long she was even here.

"What were you even doing?"

"I laid down and stared at your dark hair since it looked so astral-like and accidentally fell asleep too."

"Well, I guess that's fine. Shall we go for a walk?" I ask.

"But a walk wit-" before Shuna could finish, I cut her off ,"It's fine, I do have something to tell you anyways."

"Then sure." replied Shuna.

We started walking down a path in the forest, the sun was quite bright so I guess it was already about 10 in the morning.

"What did you want to talk about Shinju-sama?"

I turned to her with a calm expression, I guess she'll be the first person I tell.

"I'm going to leave."

She froze and stared at me with a confused expression.

"What do you mean by...leaving Shinju-sama?"

"It's just as I said, I'll be leaving. I'm going to go on a journey to find out more about myself and the abilities I wield."

"But Rimuru-sama can help-"

"No, he can't. He's already tried, it seems my abilities are stronger than his so he can't peer into it."

"But..can't you just stay? They'll all be sad if you leave..especially Shion."

"Shion eh? It was quite fun sparring with her, but hey. It isn't like I won't be coming back, it'll just take a while."

"But-"

"And having two masters is quite hard, it should be just one."

Shuna looked down knowing I was right, one master was already enough since the second master might not get treated the same.

"Then..at least promise you'll come back one day." said Shuna with teary eyes.

"I promise, but first." I reached into a pocket and handed her a letter. "When I leave, give that to Shion. It'll make her feel a bit better."

She nodded in reply and soon enough, we were already back in our village.

When we got back, things were a bit troublesome.

5 goblins were trying to take down Hakurou only to get beaten.

"Come on! Strike back!" said Hakurou.

Sometimes, I wonder if he was someone young pretending to be old.

"Welcome back Shinju-sama and Shuna." said Hakurou.

""Welcome back Shinju-sama!"" said the 5 goblins.

"Oi, Shuna too!" said Hakurou.

""AH!"" the 5 goblins screamed in pain as the stick hit them all on their heads. "Welcome back Shuna!"

I waved at them in reply but Shuna went over, "Don't hit them that hard Hakurou."

What a kindhearted soul, I thought smiling mentally.

I walked towards where Rimuru, Ranga, and Benimaru were, they seemed to be talking about something.

"Hello Rimuru, Ranga, and Benimaru. What're you guys talking about?" I ask.

"Shinju."

""Shinju-sama!""

I nodded greeting them back and signaled them to continue.

"We're discussing about the Orc Lord." said Benimaru.

"Orc Lord? What's that?" I ask.

"That's why I'm trying to know too." added Rimuru.

"Well, put simply. It's a beast." said Benimaru.

"That's simple." I said.

"It is said that one is born to the Orcs every few centuries. It's a unique monster." said Benimaru.

"Unique huh?" muttered Rimuru.

Well, the day of my new journey is the day more trouble arrives.

How ironic.

"They say he devours even his own allies' fear and terror, which makes him an unnaturally effective leader." said Benimaru.

"Yikes." said Rimuru.

"That's quite troubling." I added.

"The orcs that attacked our village were unfazed by the deaths of their own, so I thought that might be the case." said Benimaru.

"I see." replied Rimuru.

I wonder if I was going to run into the Orc Lord or even run into the orcs. I wonder how many there will be, if it's more than a thousand then that's a decent warm up, though I'm hoping for at least ten thousand. It's a fair amount.

"Of. course the possibility of it is quite low." said Benimaru.

"Are there any more ideas why they might have attacked your village?" I asked.

"I second that." added Rimuru.

"Well, I'm not sure if there's a connection but shortly before the attack, a majin visited our village. He said, "I shall name you." But he sounded too untrustworthy. So I turned him away and he cursed me as he left." said Benimaru.

"There's the naming again, despite the importance of it, there seems to be people giving out names. But everything has a price, that majin probably kept that hidden." I said.

"Yeah, that was also one of the reasons I declined and left." replied Benimaru.

"A majin, huh? Does he have a grudge against you?" asked Rimuru.

"I had no other choice. I want no such gift from an unsuitable master. I wouldn't accept a name from anyone, after all." said Benimaru.

Awe~ Look at this friendship, it makes me jealous.

"What was his name?" I asked.

"I think he said Geli...gala..." before Benimaru could finish, there was a presence behind us so we turned around.

"Gelmud." said Souei appearing.

"Right, that's it." said Benimaru.

"Gelmud, I think we've heard that name before...oh right it was the person who gave Rigur-kun's name." said Benimaru.

An officer in the Demon Lord's army, that's quite suspicious.

"It's probably the same guy." I said.

"I have a report Rimuru-sama, Shinju-sama." said Souei.

We both turned to Souei and waited for him to continue.

"I witnessed a group of Lizardmen." said Souei.

"Lizardmen? Not orcs?" said Rimuru.

...

While they were busy talking, I put on my mask and walked away sneakily.

I changed into my orb form an headed to the deserted ends of our village that was still unfinished.

Changing back into my human form, I stepped towards the dark forest and entered.

I had a smile under the mask, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was a sad smile full of sorry since I couldn't say goodbye to them.

Shion, I hope you'll see my letter.

I walked deeper and deeper into the forest and soon, I wasn't part of the village anymore.

I was no londer Shinju-sama, just Shinju, Shinju Tempest.

Well, hopefully it'll be a decent adventure.

...

"I'll be going on a journey to discover myself for quite a while, so you better not lose to anyone else besides me Shion. your sparring partner, Shinju."

Shion had tears hanging from her eyes trying hard not to cry.

She was mad, mad at Shinju for leaving without saying goodbye.

But nevertheless, she couldn't stay mad at Shinju.

She taught her a lot of new techniques and helped her get stronger.

When she heard about the orcs, she swore she would use those techniques Shinju taught her as a goodbye.

...

"Luminous-sama, it seems you have a soulmate!"

"Who is it?"

"It seems to be a girl with blue hair and a mask."

"A girl huh, things are getting quite interesting."