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Major Character Death
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転生したらスライムだった件 - 伏瀬 | Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken | That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - Fuse無職転生 異世界行ったら本気だす - 理不尽な孫の手 | Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu - Rifujin na Magonote (Novels)無職転生 ～異世界行ったら本気だす～ | Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu | Jobless Reincarnation (Anime)Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken - Fandom
Characters:
Rimuru Tempest | Mikami SatoruRimuru TempestRudeus GreyratFuture Rudeus GreyratRoxy MigurdiaSylphiette (Mushoku Tensei)Eris GreyratOrsted (Mushoku Tensei)Nanahoshi ShizukaPaul GreyratZenith GreyratPerugius Dola
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Inspired by Mushoku TenseiInspired by Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken | That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
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English
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Published:2026-05-20Updated:2026-07-24Words:112,051Chapters:25/?Comments:43Kudos:124Bookmarks:19Hits:5,214
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime in Mushoku Tensei
Mao00
Chapter 5: Chapter 4: RAPAN!!!
Chapter Text
The second floor of the Teleportation Labyrinth was a completely different beast. Nothing like the lower levels.
That was the first thing I noticed when we finally left behind the freezing nightmare of the third floor and reached a relatively safe area where adventurers had set up a temporary camp.
As we walked with the group, Roxy explained that each floor had its own ecosystem, monsters, and traps, and apparently the deeper you went, the more unfair everything became.
The first floor, according to them, was filled with relatively normal creatures.
The second was a chaotic mess of tunnels, ambushes, and monsters with serious anger issues.
The third...
Well.
The third floor was something else entirely.
More structured. More artificial. But also filled with random teleportation traps, endless hordes, Mad Skulls, giant spiders, complete darkness, and, as a bonus prize, permanent psychological trauma.
Right now we were inside a massive cavern being used as a resting area. Equipment was piled everywhere—blankets, backpacks, weapons—and a disturbing amount of people were staring at me like they'd just discovered a talking fish walking on two legs.
Which, honestly, was fair.
"...So," said Geese, the monkey-looking man, pointing at me, "a slime? I've seen a few on the Demon Continent and none of them looked anything like this. They definitely didn't talk either."
"I'm a special slime," I replied proudly from Roxy's arms.
Silence.
"Huh," Talhand muttered before taking another drink. "I hate to admit it, but that's pretty interesting."
"Thank you. I work very hard to maintain my level of weirdness."
Elinalise observed me with an amused smile.
"He's surprisingly polite."
"I was raised by modern society and trauma."
"I don't know what that means," she said calmly, "but it sounds sad."
"It is."
Paul, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, hadn't taken his eyes off me once.
"So you're the one who helped save Roxy."
"And technically I also froze an army."
"That too," he admitted.
Roxy lowered her gaze slightly.
"Rimuru helped me a lot."
"Sensei almost died several times," Rudeus added with a completely serious face.
"L-Ludy!"
"It's true!"
"...You didn't have to say it like that..."
I understood the family dynamic immediately.
Rudeus was sitting way too close to Roxy.
Paul noticed it.
Elinalise DEFINITELY noticed it.
And Geese was enjoying the emotional disaster from a safe distance.
Excellent group.
"So," Paul said as he stepped a little closer, "what exactly are you?"
"A slime."
"Yeah, we established that already."
"A very talented slime."
"That explains absolutely nothing."
"Reincarnated."
Total silence.
Geese blinked. Talhand slowly lowered his bottle. Even Elinalise raised an eyebrow slightly.
But the most shocked person there was Rudeus.
Looks like between my stupid little "I'm a good slime!" joke and the way I talked, he'd already picked up on something.
Not that I cared.
I wasn't going to bring it up unless he did first.
"What do you mean reincarnated?" Paul asked.
"I died. Then I woke up as a slime. Honestly I don't fully understand it either."
"And you're saying that so casually?" Geese asked.
"Buddy, after surviving alone down there for hundreds of days, existential crises kind of lose their impact."
"...Fair."
To my surprise, Paul was the first one to burst out laughing.
A loud, genuine laugh.
"HAHAHA! I like you, slime."
"Thank you, BUT MY NAME IS RIMURU. RI-MU-RU."
"No, seriously," he continued laughing, "anyone who survives alone down there and still keeps their sense of humor deserves respect."
Okay.
I liked this guy.
He had the energy of a deeply problematic but genuinely well-meaning father.
Rudeus sighed tiredly.
"Dad, don't get too close to the weird slime yet. We still don't know anything about him."
"Weird?" I replied, offended. "You're the one with infinite mana."
"Infinite mana?" Geese repeated.
"You're exaggerating," Rudeus muttered.
Exaggerating?
Every time I looked at him with Magic Sense it felt like staring into an abyss.
That amount of mana wasn't normal.
At all.
And apparently nobody else seemed disturbed by it.
"Roxy," I whispered, "was your student always terrifying?"
She actually thought about it for a few seconds.
"...Well, yes."
"Sensei!"
"He was giving me lewd looks at age five," she whispered back only to me.
"THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO!"
"And you were always thinking weird things too!"
"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SAY THAT!"
Paul burst out laughing again.
"Yep. Definitely still the same guy."
Rudeus collapsed dramatically onto the table.
"Why is everyone against me?"
"Because it's funny," Elinalise answered immediately.
"Cruel."
While they kept arguing among themselves, I found myself relaxing a little in Roxy's arms.
And honestly...
it felt strange.
For the first time since arriving in this world, there were no monsters trying to rip my head off. No dark tunnels. No giant spiders descending from ceilings every five minutes.
Just a noisy inn full of normal sounds: people talking too loudly, plates clattering together, adventurers laughing after drinking a little too much.
Simple things.
Normal things.
And maybe that was exactly why it felt so strange.
Roxy adjusted her arms slightly around me when I shifted a little.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
"YES!!"
I forced my entire body to wiggle dramatically in order to express my happiness.
"I'm just processing the fact that nobody has tried to murder us in the last two hours."
That earned a small smile from her.
Tired, but genuine.
"You're with us now."
The sentence was simple.
So simple that she probably didn't even think much before saying it.
But it still hit me harder than expected.
Because ever since arriving in this world, everything had been about survival. Adapting. Pretending I knew what I was doing while desperately avoiding horrible death.
And now suddenly there were people talking about me like I naturally belonged there.
Before I could think too much about it, Paul slammed his hand against the table.
"Alright! I've made my decision."
Geese immediately raised his hand.
"The slime stays!"
"WELCOME TO THE GROUP!" Talhand added while lifting his mug.
Even Elinalise smiled from the other side of the table while looking at me like they'd just adopted a very strange animal.
...
Okay.
This was starting to feel dangerously warm emotionally.
Paul cleared his throat after Geese finally stopped laughing.
The relaxed expression he'd been wearing until now slowly disappeared.
"Roxy told me what you did down in the labyrinth."
The atmosphere around the table shifted slightly.
Not completely.
But enough to make it obvious that this mattered.
"Silent casting. Saint-tier magic or higher." Paul leaned forward slightly, staring directly at me. "And you protected Roxy down there."
His voice didn't sound excited.
Or impressed.
It sounded tired.
Like someone who had been holding himself together for so long that he no longer remembered how to stop.
"Normally I wouldn't ask a favor from someone I just met." He rubbed a hand across his face before continuing. "But we're not really in a position to be picky anymore."
Roxy lowered her gaze slightly.
Elinalise stopped smiling.
And for the first time since meeting this group, the atmosphere changed completely.
Suddenly they weren't just loud adventurers drinking together.
They were exhausted people.
People desperately searching for someone.
"Zenith is still missing," Paul said quietly. "And every lead we find keeps dragging us into worse places."
A small silence followed.
Geese slowly set his mug down.
Even Talhand no longer looked relaxed.
Paul looked back at me.
And this time he wasn't speaking like a party leader.
Or an adventurer.
He spoke like a desperate husband.
"So I'm asking you."
His voice lowered slightly.
"Please help me rescue my wife."
------------
The exit from the Teleportation Labyrinth was far less glorious than I had imagined.
Mostly because I was being carried between the massive breasts of a half-dressed blonde elf, gently bouncing every time she walked.
...
Okay.
I needed to admit something important.
"...This is dangerously comfortable."
"Hm?" Elinalise asked while looking down at me.
"Nothing important."
Because honestly—
the difference was enormous.
Being carried by Roxy was nice because her hands were warm and soft.
But Elinalise...
this was literally luxury-grade elven cushioning.
Like sinking into two clouds specifically engineered to destroy my dignity.
Of course—
there was one problem.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?" Roxy asked from beside us.
"Like what?"
"...I don't know. But I don't like it."
Shit.
Was my slime face really that expressive?
I'm pretty sure I'm a slime. I literally don't even have a proper face.
Paul burst out laughing ahead of us as we walked through the gigantic stone gates leading outside the labyrinth.
"HAHAHA! I like this slime!"
"Thanks... I think."
"He talks weird but he's got spirit!"
"I heard that before and it ended in geographical racism."
"I don't know what that means but it sounded deep."
Geese sighed from the top of a nearby wagon.
"...I still can't believe we accepted a talking slime this quickly."
"Quickly?" Talhand muttered while carrying barrels. "The thing froze half the labyrinth."
"THAT helped convince us a lot!" Paul immediately replied.
"...I'm still right here, you know."
Honestly...
I was getting along absurdly well with Paul.
Which felt weird.
Because technically he was exactly the kind of person who would normally intimidate me.
Tall.
Strong.
Loud.
Way too social.
And yet—
talking to him was surprisingly easy.
Maybe because he seemed physically incapable of treating me normally.
"Hey, slime!"
"I have a name."
"Right! Rimuru!"
"...Thank you."
"Can you turn into a sword?"
"...What?"
"And armor?"
"PAUL," Roxy sighed tiredly.
"WHAT?! It'd be useful!"
...I think I actually could.
I'd rather avoid it if possible, but maybe I could try if things got desperate enough.
Still felt like a waste of my Mimicry ability.
Elinalise laughed softly.
"Personally, I prefer keeping him this size. He's adorable."
AAAAAAAHHHHHH
An elf.
AN ELF.
AHHHHH.
She called me adorable.
I AM adorable.
Please hold me more.
"But you ARE adorable."
"...I am..."
"HAHAHAHA!" Geese laughed.
...
...
When we finally reached the surface, I genuinely went speechless.
Rapan stretched out before us beneath Begaritt's reddish sky.
Sand.
Stone.
Low buildings that looked straight out of some fantasy Sahara desert city.
Fabric hanging through narrow alleys.
Merchants yelling over each other.
The smell of spices everywhere.
Massive beasts dragging cargo wagons.
And people.
Humans, beastfolk, dwarves, elves—races my brain still hadn't fully processed yet.
"...Whoa."
Elinalise smiled slightly after noticing my reaction.
"First time seeing a large city?"
"...Yeah."
After weeks trapped in darkness, ice, monsters, and death...
seeing something so alive hit differently.
Very differently.
The inn where the group was staying was packed with loud adventurers and smelled strongly of alcohol.
Talhand immediately found a bottle.
"...That dwarf is going to die drunk," I muttered.
"He'll be fine. High resistance," Geese nodded.
Roxy ended up being practically dragged away by Lilia and several other women from the group so she could bathe and rest.
Which left behind an unexpected situation.
Me.
Alone.
With the rest of the group.
...
Awkward silence.
Paul looked at me.
I looked at him.
He pointed at me.
"So you eat monsters?"
"...Yes."
"INCREDIBLE!"
"I don't think that should be your first reaction..."
"...I'm going to die," I muttered from Roxy's arms.
"Can slimes even get hangovers?"
"They can now."
Roxy laughed quietly while we walked through Rapan. It was infinitely better than staying behind with Paul and Geese while they destroyed their livers until three in the morning.
Rapan looked nothing like anything I'd ever seen before.
The entire city had been built inside the ribcage of a Behemoth that died centuries ago. The massive white bones formed a gigantic cage around the oasis where everyone lived. The place was chaotic, packed with adventurers, and everything revolved around the magic crystals extracted from the labyrinth. Even the Adventurer's Guild had been carved directly into an enormous rock formation in the center of the city.
The air was dry and hot, filled with the smell of heated metal, roasted meat, and strong spices that clung to your clothes. Sand-colored fabrics fluttered between reddish stone buildings while demi-humans guided massive beasts of burden through the narrow streets and merchants shouted prices at passing travelers.
Begaritt had an absurdly high mana density, which made everything feel heavy.
Vibrant.
Dangerous.
Rudeus walked a few steps behind us.
He wasn't saying anything.
Just watching.
And Roxy was acting weird.
Very weird.
They had spent almost the entire night together after the rescue, and somehow she still looked more comfortable talking to me than talking to him. Every time Rudeus tried joining the conversation, she tensed slightly like she suddenly forgot where to put her hands.
"...Are there really that many orcs in Biheiril?" she asked while we stopped near a spear stand, clearly searching for any excuse to keep talking.
"I guess."
"'I guess'... the weird way you talk makes me imagine weird things."
"That's linguistic racism."
"I don't know what that means."
"Neither do I."
Behind us, Rudeus watched silently.
It wasn't the look of a jealous boy.
It was something else.
The look of someone staring at their goddess.
Because to Rudeus, Roxy wasn't just "his former teacher."
She was the person who dragged him out of isolation when he was a broken child. The one who taught him magic. The first reason he ever found to leave his house.
He admired her with a devotion that bordered on religious.
He followed her with his eyes like he was still eleven years old and she had just walked into his room holding a staff.
"Sensei," he finally said, using that unusually soft voice reserved only for her, "are you still tired?"
"Eh? A-ah... a little."
And immediately she turned toward me.
"Rimuru, do slimes sleep?"
That was so obvious even I noticed it.
Rudeus noticed too.
His smile froze for half a second before he kept walking like nothing happened, although I caught the way his hand tightened slightly around the strap of his bag.
"Sometimes. I can rest by absorbing mana," I answered so she wouldn't leave him hanging awkwardly.
"That's convenient," Roxy said while nodding several times, suddenly way too interested.
Rudeus didn't say anything.
He simply walked ahead toward a weapon stand and stopped in front of a longsword.
It was a good weapon.
I could tell even without touching it.
Mana flowed faintly through the blade, and the balance looked perfect.
"How much?" he asked.
The merchant gave him the price.
"THAT'S EXPENSIVE," the three of us said at the exact same time.
Roxy laughed in surprise, and for a brief second she actually looked at him properly. Rudeus sighed and paid for it anyway.
"I guess surviving the labyrinth is worth more than saving money," he muttered.
"That sounded painfully adult," I commented.
"I'm surrounded by irresponsible adventurers. Someone has to be."
"Hey!" Roxy protested. "I spent all my money on books!"
"See?"
They kept walking through the market stalls, and the pattern repeated itself over and over again. Roxy became formal, nervous, almost stiff whenever Rudeus spoke directly to her. But with me she acted normal. She laughed, asked random questions, relaxed naturally.
It wasn't rejection.
It was panic.
Like she genuinely didn't know how to behave around the student who now literally towered over her and still looked at her like she was the woman who saved his life.
After a while, Roxy glanced sideways at me.
"Rimuru... am I acting strange?"
"Yes. Very."
"Ugh..."
Two meters ahead, Rudeus pretended to examine a collection of amulets.
He heard everything.
He didn't turn around, but I noticed his shoulders sink slightly.
And that was when I finally understood the problem.
No.
Worse.
I understood the entire disaster.
Rudeus was completely screwed.
That guy looked at her like Roxy was religion, salvation, and first teenage love all combined into one person. Every time she said his name, he looked seconds away from passing out from happiness.
And Roxy...
Roxy was operating at roughly twenty percent mental capacity.
Not because she was stupid.
Because she clearly had absolutely no idea what the hell to do with any of this.
Every time he looked at her too directly, she looked away. Whenever he stood too close, she tensed up. And when Rudeus talked about her—even casually—she turned red all the way to her ears like someone had thrown her into boiling water.
It was awkward.
VERY awkward.
Especially because I was still physically trapped between both of them while we walked through Rapan.
The city was huge. Noise everywhere, crowded stalls full of adventurers, merchants yelling over each other, and that weird mix of spices, cheap alcohol, and cooked monster meat that I was honestly adapting to way too quickly.
Rudeus walked ahead of us trying to act normal.
He was doing a TERRIBLE job.
Every five seconds he turned around to make sure Roxy was still there. And whenever our eyes accidentally met, he'd immediately look away like a criminal caught red-handed.
Yeah.
He was absolutely in love.
"...I don't know what to do," Roxy suddenly murmured, leaning slightly closer to me as we moved through the crowd.
She spoke quietly.
Like she wanted to make sure he couldn't hear her.
Spoiler:
that magical monster could probably hear an ant breathing from twenty meters away.
"Why?" I asked. "Because he grew up?"
"THAT TOO!"
The squeak escaped her so fast that she immediately tried to disguise it with a cough.
She failed miserably.
Further ahead, Rudeus suddenly became extremely interested in a dagger stand.
His completely red ears betrayed him instantly.
He heard all of it.
"...Before, he was a little kid," Roxy continued after a few seconds, still avoiding looking directly at him. "A weird kid. Talented. Far too serious for his age... but he was still a child."
I watched her lower her gaze slightly toward the ground as we walked.
"And now I look at him and..."
She didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't need to.
Because even I could tell how nervous she became whenever Rudeus got too close.
"...And now what?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
Roxy turned red all the way to the tips of her ears.
"He's..."
Roxy fell silent for a moment, clearly trying to organize her thoughts without dying of embarrassment in the process. Her fingers tightened slightly around my body while we continued moving through the crowded streets of Rapan, weaving around adventurers, merchants, and the occasional guy who was clearly drunk despite it still being midday.
Ahead of us, Rudeus continued pretending to care deeply about completely random stalls.
The guy could probably destroy a mountain if he wanted to, but apparently he had no idea what to do with his hands when he liked a woman.
"...He's kind," Roxy finally murmured. "Reliable. Responsible when he needs to be... and strong, intelligent, polite, and—"
She abruptly stopped herself.
"...I'm making it worse, aren't I?"
"Significantly worse."
"Uuu..."
She lowered her face slightly into the brim of her hat while we kept walking.
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