The Introverts

"Ahem! Everything's alright now. Come on in. Let me introduce you to my brother."

"Hoh. I didn't know you had a brother, Mr. Slime."

"Yeah, and by the way, call me Rimuru. It feels weird to have you keep calling me Mr. Slime."

"..Okay then, Rimuru-san."

Well, I never thought she would follow me here, but well, she's here. I wanted her to meet Hiiro anyway.

But this is a very sensitive matter. Why? Because I don't know how Hiiro would react to her.

I had an idea or knew about her from when I was in the Dwarven Kingdom thanks to that Soulmate thing with ladies in the pub. Besides, I'm a rather open-minded guy with lots of years of experience under my belt, so it's a piece of cake talking to the ladies for me.

<..Scoff, Uh-huh.>

I'll talk with you later, Great Sage.

Anyways, for an introverted guy like Hiiro, I couldn't say the same. But still, I wanted him to meet her. It's crucial for a guy to know about lady or two. (Self-proclaimed)

And by this time, Hikari had already recollected herself and stood beside Hiiro with her usual aloof look and closed eyes.

I mean, look at that. I bet nobody could even notice she was the same girl who was bawling uncontrollably a few moments ago.

GLARE~.

"Lord Rimuru, I hope you are not thinking anything rude."

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

Yikes.

Look how sharp she is.

And to top it all off, she still had her eyes closed and wasn't even looking at me, for that matter.

Well, anyways, let's move on to introducing them; the silence is killing me.

"Hiiro, let me introduce you. She is Shizu. She is an adventurer. And Shizu, this is Hiiro."

I felt like a middleman introducing two different parties amidst an important deal. Well, this was important. To me, that is.

"Hello there, Hiiro-san."

"....Hello."

Silence.

Hmmm?

That's it?

Well, this is awkward.

They were staring at each other now. What is this, a cowboy duel to see who draws the gun first? I don't know about Shizu, but Hiiro might throw a spell or two to check how strong she is.

I mean, he is literally scanning her for her weak points even now. We know each other's habits as if they were my own.

Think, think.

I need to create a friendlier environment, maybe that would cause that introverted twerp to finally learn about socializing and talk to others more.

Not that I need to hurry, but I'm sure Shizu, a perfect candidate who can potentially open up Hiiro's heart using her kind words, will be leaving shortly. He has already developed a resistance of sorts to keep everything in his heart from everyone in the village; that might go for me as well, I'm not sure.

So, what he needs is a friend besides me to talk to.

All he and I have are followers. They haven't grown enough to walk side by side with us, physically or mentally. They will not understand matters of the heart.

And more importantly, as the rulers of this area, we cannot afford to look weak and vulnerable. This is not a matter of trust in the village but a testament to my resolve to not let anyone look down upon us and walk on our authority.

This may be a chance to let Hiiro grow in social matters.

I sound like his mother. In a certain way, I am but it feels weird, I'm not even married yet, even though my soulmate is few steps away from me.

Sigh~

Well, it's not going well, that's for sure.

Oh!

Let's do that.

"Hiiro, Shizu. Why don't we go out for a walk?"

***

Hiiro and I were atop Ranga. Shizu was on another Tempest wolf, and Hikari, well, although not visible at the moment, I'm sure she was following us around without missing a bit, truly living up to the name of The Shadow.

Should I ask him now...

"So, how did 'that' happen?"

"..that?"

"I mean, what happened that day? It took weeks for you to wake up, y'know."

"....Well, nothing in particular."

!?

Sigh~

I knew very well he wouldn't talk so easily, but to deny it altogether... I'm losing my confidence as your brother here.

I will not force him to talk; however, it would be very relieving if he would do so more often.

Where the heck does he get that personality from?

I'm pretty sure he was a cute kid when I first met him, always cuddling around and sticking to me. It was so cute and adorable.

Yes, it is all Veldora's fault. If that idiot tsundere of a Dragon hadn't frightened him, I'm sure he would be much livelier.

Don't worry, Hiiro, I'll give Veldora a drop-kick once his seal is lifted, in your stead, that is.

But aside from that, I'll take my chance to cuddle our little blob. It's been a while since we were together, after all.

However, Hiiro seems a bit distant for some reason. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid after what happened to him, but if he is, I wonder why.

Thinking such things, we arrived at a small hill with a good view of our town.

***