Chapter 35

We set off back down the road.

Rimuru said to It's time to build a Thought Communication room for us. Now that he's done it a few times, it comes naturally to us. The dwarves caught him too, which was a relief.

Thought Communication is a kind of high-level Telepathy, allowing you to build links and talk to many people at once. It also makes things like strategy meetings easier for us. It remained effective for half a mile or so, which was more than adequate for its purpose.

On the second day, the dwarves seemed to be able to survive their journey without collapsing. The force of the wind prevented them from opening their eyes, so Rimuru made some sort of shield for all of them out of silk. looks at it Kinda like a helmet replacement I guess, and it seems to work.

I'm also starting to notice that Rimuru can control his Sticky Thread to some extent via Telepathy. Once you get the hang of controlling magic it's amazing what you can do with it. Sticky Thread may not be the only thing he can apply. These tiny particles are the essence of magic.

Either way, the dwarves were in on things, and their makeshift helmet had the effect Rimuru wanted. we can talk to them now, and they're kind enough to teach us a thing or two about life in their kingdom as we move on. The goblins listened too, talking about their own experiences, and we had fun and friendly conversations most of the day. This should also be maintained in the village, I hope.

Dwarves, some sprites, live extraordinarily long lives. Goblins, partly born with magic, are notoriously short-lived. Evolution—or perhaps living conditions—has created quite a difference between the two.

I sometimes wonder if goblins are actually a step down the evolutionary ladder.

Hobgoblins, the next move, seem to me like monsters on par with dwarves. It was as if they had returned to their ancestral roots, with even more magic power at their disposal. I don't know for sure, but I imagine evolution did wonders for their lifetimes too.

They still weren't the easiest, and there were stark differences between monsters and fairies, but still...

Dwarves, for their part, are probably more closely related to monsters than, say, elves, any other race of sprites. Maybe that will help the two species get along too.

When I suddenly remembered something else, I decided to bring it up.

"Kaijin. I know I'm a little late asking, but are you okay with this? You respect that king a lot, don't you?"

"Oh that? I did, yes. No living dwarf would disrespect him. Imagine if your fairytale hero of the night served as your real king!"

That's an interesting thing to consider—a mythical hero of the past, still alive and kicking and protecting his people as a king. It'll help me build some pretty healthy respect, yeah. I want to support him—this ideal king, who always does the right thing and never allows room for error.

I wonder how much he had to sacrifice to keep those ideals a reality.

On the one hand, it's scary. It takes a lot of passion, I believe, to be such a leader. That's what made people believe in him.

...Are me and Rimuru ready for that? we both have become, more or less, the rulers of this goblin village. But what happened after that?

"Then let me ask you this, Kaijin. Why did you come with us? Wouldn't it be the best thing for your life if you rejoined the king?" Rimuru asked Kaijin.

"Gah-hah-hah-hah! Healthy! Much more sensitive than I thought, uh, Rimuru, Vegito? I do it because it looks fun. It's just instinct, you know? Like, 'Hey, this guy is going to go out and do something!' That's all the reason I need you know?"

...Yes. Possible. Fair enough. He's right!

"Hey," I replied. "Well, don't come crying to me later if it turns sour. I am quite famous for being cruel to others!

That's right. I practically do nothing alone. I entrust everything to others. But I do want to help. To be relied upon. I want to be the one who can manage that.

"Oh I know!" Reply Kaijin. I nod, satisfied.

Two days later, we arrived at the village on time. Mission accomplished.

<??? pov>

Tap, tap, tap...

Quiet steps echoed across the castle.

The demon lord had already fled, leaving his bastion

behind him. I was the rear guard. A sacrificial lamb. He used me like a tool right up to the end, showing me not a sliver of emotion along the way. The only kindness he ever showed me, I think, was when he called me by name.

Did I hate him for that? I honestly wasn't sure. Was it the will of Ifrit, the high-level flame elemental, that made me serve him, or was it mine?

I still don't know. And I didn't mind being a sacrifice very much. Nothing seemed to matter anymore.

It appeared that this castle was some kind of experimental facility. Abandoning it, however, didn't seem to be any great loss in the demon lord's eyes. What confused me was his goal in leaving me here. I could have just withdrawn instead of engaging anyone who came, but he ordered me to stay.

Maybe he had some plan in mind, but his thoughts remained a mystery to me.

The one who arrived was a so-called hero.

She had long dark-silver hair tied behind her head, and her light equipment was colored a uniform shade of black. Her beauty rivaled the demon lord's. The only difference was that she was a woman. A young one.

The moment I laid eyes upon her, I knew it. I had no chance of winning. But I wanted to fight her to the end—not as a person, but as a magic-born with powers of flame. 'It's the least I can do, I thought, to make up for the sin of living all this time.'

My sword of concentrated flame was easily caught by the hero's own. My weapon burned with intense heat, capable of ripping through anything, and her simple curved blade stopped it. It made me doubt my eyes. No doubt it was the power of the wielder more than her sword itself.

Thanks to the training I took under the demon lord's trusted black knight, I had gained some mastery of swordsmanship. It was nothing Ifrit ever learned. I remembered how the knight praised me, told me it was all my own talent at work.

As a magic-born, I was physically strong enough to be in the upper ranks of Leon's guard. Plus, I had mastered sword skills under the black knight's guidance. It was far more than Ifrit's power that made me such a close confidant of the demon lord.

And yet—nothing I did affected the hero. The strikes and slashes I had worked so endlessly to perfect were all effortlessly parried away. Gently turned aside before our blades could even clash in earnest.

Even when Ifrit's searing flames enveloped my entire body, the hero remained calm, shedding not a single drop of sweat. Just as I'd first thought, she was on a completely different plane of existence.

Then I felt Ifrit falling asleep in my body, a side effect of consuming too many magicules. It was impossible to keep fighting. I lost, incapable of landing a single blow. I collapsed to the floor, confident that I had returned the favor to the demon lord. I sort of wished I could live a while longer, but I doubted a hero would ever show mercy to a magic-born like me.

"Are you done?" I heard her say. "Why are you here?" It was a bit surprising. I was expecting death to come the next second. My head turned up to her. The hero was a hunter of evil, and I was her foe, a magic-born. If she cut me down right now, I would have nothing to complain about.

What whim of hers prompted these questions? Timidly, I opened my mouth. Then I told her about how I was summoned to this world, how I had lived up to now... What I had done.

It was selfish of me. I was a magic-born now. I had no right, no expectation, to be believed at all. But it was true— having someone take an interest in me and listen to my story made me happy. It left incontrovertible evidence that I had been alive all this time. I could throw out my chest and proclaim to the world that I had lived, even if it was just in someone's memory. That's what I wanted to do.

I doubted the hero would ever believe a magic-born's tale. But that was fine. If I just created a nook in her memory to occupy, that would work. And yet,

"It's all right now. You've been through so much." She believed me.

Her words brought tears to my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was clinging to her, crying. For the first time since I came to this world, relief embraced me as I expressed my true feelings to someone.