NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81 Payback
Milim and I talked about several things while snacking on some meat buns. Sometimes we talked about random stories of stuff we experienced, sometimes we talked about the fight we just had, and sometimes we talked about completely random things.
Rimuru- “The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.”
Milim- “Wow!”
Shit like that.
And then comes the big question.
Milim- “Hey, why don’t you try becoming a Demon Lord?”
My hand that was moving a meat bun to my mouth pauses in mid-air. Slowly, I put the meat bun back down, and look into space with a melancholic face. An aura of sadness and regret emanates from me.
Milim, sensing my aura, temporarily stops eating and looks at me with a trace of concern on her face.
Then, I turn around, looking at her with dead eyes, and speak.
Rimuru- “It seems like a pain.”
Milim- “…”
Milim just stares at me with a blank face.
Rimuru- “*Cough!* On a more serious note, I honestly don’t want to bother. It sounds like extra work, proclaiming myself as one also seems like it would attract some much-unwanted attention.”
Or rather, can I still evolve into a Demon Lord? I mean, I'm already an Origin Slime, which is a Highest-Tier Spirit. I'm not sure I still qualify for a Demon Lord evolution…
Milim- “Eeh? Then what do you even do all day?”
Rimuru- “Nothing important. I just dump all my work on someone else and enjoy my day.”
Yes, I'm shamelessly admitting I dump my work on someone else.
It’s not because I'm lazy… Wait, let me rephrase that.
It’s not JUST because I'm lazy. It’s because I don’t understand politics and stuff like this in the first place. Illya was the one helping me manage the whole place while she was still [Raphael].
Of course, I'm not a monster… No wait, I am, but that’s not what I meant.
I meant I'm not heartless. I didn’t just dump all my work on Rigurd or Benimaru. I just made a clone using [Enhanced Replication] and let that ‘me’ do all the work with Illya supporting him.
Clones are a lazy mans best friend…
And before you ask, having Illya work in this stuff is not child labour. I'm barely 7 months old myself, so it’s fine. Besides, she handles all those affairs on an unconscious level, so it’s not like it burdens her.
Milim- “B-but you get special privileges as a Demon Lord!”
Milim still tries to convince to become a Demon Lord. Why? I honestly have no idea, probably because it would be fun seeing me run around as one?
Rimuru- “Special privileges? What kind?’
I don’t see it being any different than my current life.
Milim- “Uhmm…”
Milim’s eyes wander around as she looks for a good reason. A light bulb lights up above her head as she comes up with an idea.
Milim- “You get to boss some strong monsters and majin around, you know?”
Milim gives me a smug look as the rest of the lights in the house light up one by one. They’re set to automatically turn on after a certain time. I wonder why the one directly above Milim turned on first though…?
Rimuru- “…”
Milim- “…”
Rimuru- “… I can already do that though?”
*Thunder sound effects*
Milim looks like she just got the shock of her life as she stares at me with nothing but surprise written all over her face.
Milim- “No fair!”
She jumps off the couch and runs up to me, who is sitting on the couch opposite to her next to Shizu. Her hands reach out and grab my collar… before she starts to furiously shake me back and forth.
Milim- “No fair! No fair! You get to do fun things without me! And you get to eat all these delicious foods! Let me join you!”
Rimuru- “T-t-h-e-r-e-s n-n-o-t m-m-u-c-h I-I c-c-a-n d-o…”
My voice vibrates like talking into a fan because of how fast Milim is shaking me. I decide to transform back into my slime form. Also… are you a child!? Stop throwing tantrums like this!
As an aside, she didn’t stop shaking me. Now she’s just shaking me up and down. Is it just me or is she getting faster?
Rimuru- “W-wait!”
She stops and holds me up in front of her face. I can see her fang poking out of her mouth… that’s a little cute…
Rimuru- “*Sigh* Let’s do it like this then. I'm going to have to set down some ground rules that you HAVE to follow if you wanna stay in Avalon.”
Milim just nods while putting on a serious face… of course, from her, it just makes her look even cuter.
Rimuru- “First, no killing unless they want to kill you too. Even if you REALLY want to, you mustn't kill them. Of course, you can teach them a lesson IF you don’t deal any lasting damage.”
Milim’s face reveals her internal struggle, but she reluctantly nods.
Rimuru- “Second, I need you to restrain your aura. The runes around the house are keeping your aura from affecting the rest of the city, but you don’t want to stay inside all day, do you? I can maybe make some things that can help with that, but I need your aura gone while you’re in the city.”
Milim nods after thinking only a little bit. She agrees more easily than the first condition.
Rimuru- “And finally, the last condition…”
Milim- “…”
Rimuru- “… Call me Onii-chan, ok?”
Illya- ‘NOOOOOOOO!!!’
Illya screams at me through [Thought Communication].
*BEEP!*
Rimuru- “Call me Rimuru-sama.”
Milim- “Eeh? ‘Sama’? No way! If anything, you should be calling ME Milim-sama.”
Rimuru- “Well I can’t go around town acting lower than a guest, so how about this. I will call you Milim, and you will call me Rimuru. Deal?”
Milim- “Hmm… Fine. But only you can call me that! No one else! Oh, and maybe Illya and Mikoto too… But only you and them! Calling me by my name is a privilege reserved only for my friends, you know!”
Keikaku doori.
I didn’t know of a surefire way to get Milim to stay here in Avalon. She seems like a fun person to have around, and I would be sad if she just left. So I decided to follow the general path OG Rimuru took to get Milim to stay, and here we are.
We fought, talked about what we do in our free time and that I'm enjoying myself better than a Demon Lord, and now we’re calling each other without formalities.
I see this as an absolute win.
Rimuru- “Then, I guess we’re friends now. Once again, it’s nice to meet you Milim.”
Milim- “U-Umu! It’s nice to meet you too, Rimuru… Ehehe…”
Milim acts all serious from my reintroduction, but she eventually broke out into a small smile while lightly laughing.
Eventually, she sits back on the couch with me on her lap while humming a small tune.
Suddenly the door opens.
Mikoto- “Rimuru? You’re here, right? I was looking all over for you…”
Mikoto walks in and sees this scene. Illya pokes her head out from behind her, looking at me sitting on Milim’s lap with accusing eyes.
What is with this cliché moment…
Mikoto- “First Illya, and now Milim… Rimuru, I worry for your tastes…”
Mikoto just looks at me with a pitiful gaze.
Rimuru- “It’s not like thaaaaaat!”
I run away to hide from their painful eyes, leaving Milim, Mikoto and Illya alone.
Meanwhile, after Rimuru left, Mikoto, Milim, and Illya all high five each other with accomplished smiles on their faces.
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Name: Rimuru
Race: Origin Slime
Protection: Crest of Space
Title: Highest Tier Spirit, Leader of the Monsters, Onii-chan, King of Avalon
Manas: [Manas: Illyasviel]
Ultimate Skills: [Belzebuth, Lord of Gluttony] [Ahura Mazda, Lord of Creation] [Scathach, Lord of Runes]
Intrinsic Skills: [Infinite Regeneration] [Universal Shapeshift] [Universal Sense] [Multilayer Barrier] [Enhanced Replication] [Universal Thread]
Extra Skills: [Lord's Ambition] [Thought Communication] [Control Particles] [Dominate Space] [Control Natural Elements]
Resistances: [Cancel Pain] [Resist Melee Attack] [Cancel Natural Elements] [Cancel Ailments] [Resist Spiritual Attack] [Resist Holy Attack]
Equipment: Yamato, Harpe, [Raphael] Skill Orb
