Chapter 26 They're here!

And so, Rigurd led me to wherever those humans are currently at. Mikoto, getting curious, follows us. I mean, these are humans from an entirely different world, of course she would be curious.

I mean, I am too. This is the first time I'm meeting humans from this world. I guess this is what the original Rimuru felt too, maybe a bit more hopeful of the fact that they aren't absolute jerks like those from the dwarven gate.

Speaking of which, I wonder where those magical girl cosplayers went off to…

???- "Wh-whoa! Hey! I wanted that!"

???- "That's just mean, isn't it!?"

???- "Sir, I regret to inform you that I am not giving up this food!"

*Munch* *Munch* *Munch* *Munch*

The sounds of arguments and eating enter my (figurative) ears even though we still have a way to go. How loud are they?

Rimuru- "They're certainly… lively, arent they?"

Mikoto nods in agreement, growing ever more curious.

Rigurd- "I apologise. They said they were starving, so we provided them with some food…"

Rimuru- "Oh, I'm not scolding you. Good job, if they're not bad people, treat them well!"

I gotta instil in these guys to treat humans like they want to be treated. If they get attacked nonetheless, then no matter, but otherwise…

Rimuru- "Keep it up!"

Praise them and tell them they did a good job.

Rigurd- "Yes sir! I will strive to do exactly as you say!"

Rimuru- "Umu!"

As I finish my talk with Rigurd, we finally arrive at a certain tent.

Well, although I say "tent", if not for the fact that it's made of cloth, it's got quite a lot of space inside.

One of the goblins guarding the entrance lifts the flaps for me as I enter.

Jeff- "My nem Jeff".

Oh! It's Jeff!

I slide on through as Mikoto enters after me, looking around. My senses lay on 4 humans sitting around a metal plate with a large pile of meat buns on top.

It seems I don't really need to panic as they're the exact same people I met at the gate. The Three Stooges themselves.

Honestly, I'm a bit of a fan.

Of course, not to forget the person I'm most looking forward to meeting, while also dreading meeting the most, Shizue Izawa, or just Shizu.

Why am I dreading to meet her? Well…

SHE GUNNA FUCKIN DIE.

And I don't want that, really, but…

Screw you past me!

Rigurd introduces me, with the whole "This is our leader Rimuru-sama!" and stuff. He also introduces Mikoto as well, adding a "sama" honorific to her as well.

Mikoto seems surprised, but if I had to guess, she's simply surprised someone like Rigur also considers her as above him, rather than being surprised by getting called with the "sama" honorific itself. I mean, she's considered a princess at her school, so being called "sama" should be something she's used to.

I'm a bit jealous of that immunity, to be honest, I still get uncomfortable being called "sama" even though I'm not Japanese.

Oh, and yes, Mikoto understood him. She quickly learned the [Magic Sense] extra skill over the last couple of days so now she can easily communicate with everyone.

The trio adventurers swallowed their mouthful of meat buns.

Kabal/Elen/Gido- "Master!?"

Alright, Rimuru. You've got 1 shot at this. Don't fuck it up.

Rimuru- "Nice to meet you! I'm Rimuru the slime! I'm not a bad sli-*bites tongue* ah, fuck…"

Mikoto just smiles at me with a playful look. She's finding enjoyment in my suffering, isn't she… Well, at least she seems to have gotten used to my occasional curses.

Shizu- "Pu!"

Shizu laughed a bit. But she had a mouthful of food under that mask, and judging by that sound, the resulting mess shouldn't be pretty.

I'm sorry…

Speaking of which, how did she even get that food into her mouth? She was wearing a mask the whole time, but as soon as she brought the meat buns up to her mouth, it just disappeared. Damn, OG Rimuru's destined one sure had some skills…

No, wait, HOW DID I BITE MY TOUNGE!? I don't even have one of those yet! What the fu-

Anyway, the trio of adventurers takes this chance to speak up.

Kabal- "We appreciate the help. We never expected to get saved by monsters."

Elen- "The food is also very delicious! Thank you very much!"

Gido- "Thanks for your help. We didn't know a goblin village was here."

The trio of adventurers takes this chance to introduce themselves. Kabal, Elen and Gido, exactly like I remember. I'm so glad only a few things went out of wack in this AU, it makes things so convenient.

Kaval- "And this is a temporary member who was going the same way as us."

Shizu- "… Shizu."

She's a bit quiet, isn't she?

Anyway, nothing really exciting happened after that. I asked them why there were here and they confessed that they were here on orders to investigate the area, specifically the effects of Veldora's disappearance.

Kaval- "But when we looked into the cave, we didn't find anything. Well, there was this weird thing down there. It was white and small… Hold on, isn't it the same thing as what we're eating now?"

My meat bun! I wonder if it's still there?

During the talk, Mikoto also grew a bit hungry and sat down next to Shizu and also ate some meat buns. It's technically food for them but everyone just treated it like it was normal. There's plenty to go around.

Mikoto- "Shouldn't they keep that information a secret…?"

Mikoto mutters to herself, but I hear it. I shake my head/body.

My dear Mikoto, you shouldn't expect so much from them.

Elen- "I feel like someone just dissed us…"

By the time they finished, all the meat buns are gone. During the whole ordeal, Shizu hasn't said anything, she just calmly ate her food and when she had her fill, she just sat there listening to our conversation, and that was that.

Rimuru- "Right… I guess you guys can stay here in this village for now. Get some good rest."

Kabal/Elen/Gido- "Thank you very much!"

They thanked me and I left them alone.

I wanted, or rather, I needed to talk to Shizu though.

Rimuru- "Misaka-san, sorry, but I need to go solo for a bit."

Mikoto- "Oh it's fine. I can just guide the others around."

I nod my thanks, and I bounce off.

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Name: Rimuru

Race: Origin Slime

Protection: Crest of Space

Title: Highest Tier Spirit

Ultimate Skills: [Illya, Heaven's Feel]

Intrinsic Skills: [Infinite Regeneration] [Universal Shapeshift] [Universal Sense]

Unique Skills: [Great Sage] [Predator] [Limited Creation] [Rune Master]

Extra Skills: [Control Water] [Lord's Ambition] [Thought Communication] [Shadow Motion] [Cloud Step] [Language Comprehension] [Control Wind] [Far Sight] [Snipe] [Silent Movement] [Evasion] [Reinforcement] [Greater Prediction] [Hinder Senses] (+14 more)

Common Skills: (There's a fuck ton, I'm not writing this.)

Tolerances: [Resist Temperature] [Resist Melee Attack] [Cancel Pain] [Resist Electricity] [Resist Paralysis] [Resist Earth] [Resist Water] [Resist Wind] [Resist Spiritual Attack] [Resist Holy Attack] [Resist Ranged Attack] (+7 more)

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AN: The meat bun makes a reappearance!

MC: I totally forgot about it. Is it still there>

AN: Can confirm it is.

MC: Oh sweet.

AN: And it's in pristine condition! It's still warm and everything!

MC: Of course it is, mean buns are outside of the laws of physics and are unaffected by decay.

AN: Oh damn...

Let me know if I missed anything!

Also consider dropping some power stones!