「 ✦ Rimuru Tempest ✦ 」
"Hey there."
"Gah!?"
Hajime nearly jumped out of his skin as my voice whispered directly into his ear. His whole body tensed up like a coiled spring.
"What the—where did you even come from?!" he shouted, spinning around and putting several steps between us.
"Oh, you know. Around," I said with a casual shrug, as if materializing out of thin air was the most normal thing in the world.
The truth was a bit more complicated than that. After the fight with Hel and spending a bit of time in that desert, I'd finally pulled myself together enough to leave. One quick teleportation later, and here I was. Since Hajime's aircraft was cruising through the sky, I couldn't exactly knock on the door like a polite visitor.
So I did what any reasonable person would do.
I used Godstep to phase right through the hull.
Apparently, I'd gotten pretty good at being stealthy, because nobody noticed me until I was practically breathing down Hajime's neck.
"Rimuru!"
The excited shout came from across the deck. Shizuku was already running toward me, her face lighting up with a beaming smile.
"Well, well. Hey there," I said, spreading my arms wide in an exaggerated welcoming gesture. "Didja miss me while I was gone?"
Now, let me be perfectly clear about this—I had no idea what I'd done wrong. My invitation seemed harmless enough, maybe even a little charming if I do say so myself. So you can imagine my confusion when Shizuku's reaction was less than enthusiastic.
"Ugh." She actually grimaced and came to a complete stop just a few feet away from me, like she'd hit an invisible wall.
I blinked, looking down at myself. "What's wrong? Did I step in something nasty out there?"
Her grimace only got deeper. "It's... it's hard to breathe when I'm near you right now."
"What?"
That didn't make any sense. I took pride in my hygiene—always had, even back when I was a human. I kept myself clean, made sure I looked presentable. Hell, I'd even taken the time to wash off all the sand and battle grime before teleporting back.
I should have looked and smelled fabulous—
<
Raphael's voice echoed in my mind, calm and matter-of-fact as always.
Oh. That would explain it.
I tilted my head, processing this information for a moment, then decided to just roll with it. My eyes wandered around the deck until they landed on what had to be the most out-of-place piece of furniture I'd ever seen on an aircraft—a full-sized countertop, complete with cabinets underneath.
"Hajime," I called out, already making my way over to it. "I have to ask—what's with the random kitchen setup?"
"It's practical," he muttered, but I could see the slight flush on his cheeks and the reluctance in his expression. Guy was embarrassed about his decorating choices.
I opened one of the drawers and, sure enough, found exactly what I was hoping for—a bottle of wine and some glasses. "Well, practical or not, I'm not complaining."
"Hey! Who said you can touch that?"
I thought I heard something but it must've been the wind.
As I poured myself a generous glass of deep red wine, I took a moment to really look around at everyone present. The mood was... tense. Understandable, given everything that had just happened.
Tio was the first to approach me, moving with that graceful pace she always had. When she reached me, she executed a perfect formal bow.
"I offer my congratulations on your ascension, young master," she said, still holding the bow.
I nodded in acknowledgment, taking a sip of wine while I tried to figure out how to respond to that. But before I could say anything, Princess Liliana was already making her way over, flanked by her usual entourage of lackeys and with the younger prince—whose name I was still drawing a blank on—walking beside her.
"Lord Rimuru," she said, offering a much more restrained bow than Tio's. Her followers quickly mirrored the gesture, and the prince gave a stiff nod of his own. When she straightened up, Liliana looked me directly in the eyes. "I assume this means we have successfully fulfilled our end of the agreement?"
Skeptical little princess, wasn't she? I couldn't help but chuckle internally at her directness.
"Yeah, you did your part just fine," I said, swirling the wine in my glass. "Don't worry about the gods—I'll handle everything from here on out."
Her eyebrows knitted together in a small frown. She clearly wasn't entirely convinced by my casual attitude.
I could understand her confusion, honestly. From her perspective, I'd just obliterated an entire demon army and then evolved into some kind of higher being right in front of everyone. Most people in that situation would probably be more... dramatic about it. More serious, maybe. Instead, here I was, casually drinking wine.
Everything must've seemed so anticlimactic.
I was about to clarify—maybe add something about "I'm a monster of my word"—but then I heard the distinct sound of armored footsteps approaching.
Great.
The knight-in-shining-irritation "Kouki Amanogawa" marched over with zero tact, zero respect, and absolutely zero understanding of personal space—with all the arrogance and self-importance I'd come to expect from him
His armor gleamed like it had just been polished, boots stomping like they had something to prove, and he wore a permanent expression of moral constipation carved into his brow. And the worst part? I was still drinking. Who interrupts someone while they're enjoying a good wine?
"Hey, you—"
I held up a single finger, cutting him off mid-sentence. The wine was good—too good to waste on this conversation. And something in my demeanor must have gotten through to him because he actually stopped talking.
"Let me just make something crystal clear here," I said, taking another slow, deliberate sip of my wine. "That I hate having my good mood spoiled."
Kouki's jaw tightened, but apparently he wasn't smart enough to take the hint. "You owe us some answers—"
"Hey." I interrupted him again, this time swirling my wine glass in slow, lazy circles. "In case your dumb ass didn't get it, I'm telling you to fuck off. I tend to turn crass when I hear bullshit, you know?"
To emphasize my point, I let just a tiny bit of pressure leak out from my Lord's Ambition. Not enough to hurt anyone, just enough to make it clear that continuing this conversation would be a very bad idea.
"You already know what you need to know. You're in no place to question any more than that."
The sensation of power flowing through me was... intoxicating. There was no other word for it. It was like being drunk on pure energy, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the feeling just a little bit.
Which was exactly why I didn't want some self-righteous hero ruining my mood right now.
Finally—finally—he seemed to get the message. He took a step back, clicked his tongue—actually clicked his tongue like some petulant child—and stalked off toward what I assumed were the sleeping quarters.
Good riddance.
I pulled back the pressure and noticed Shizuku approaching again. Her expression was apologetic, which immediately annoyed me.
"I'm sorry about that," she said quietly.
"Why are you even apologizing for him?" I asked, genuinely curious. "It's not like you're responsible for his attitude problem."
She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's kind of my thing to look after him, I guess."
Before I could respond to that concerning statement, Kaori Shirasaki bounced over to join our conversation. Her timing was impeccable, as always.
"Shizuku-chan has been Kouki's childhood friend forever!" she explained with way too much enthusiasm. "So she's basically gotten used to cleaning up after him every single time he does something stupid."
"Is that so?" I poured myself another glass. "Must be awfully tiring to deal with something that obnoxious."
Both girls laughed, but it came out awkward—the kind of laugh people made when they weren't sure if they were allowed to agree with something that was obviously, irrefutably true.
I held up my glass toward them. "Either of you want some?"
"We're underage, Rimuru," Shizuku said, crossing her arms and giving me a look that clearly said she thought I should have known better.
"Oh. Right, sorry." I took another sip. "But I mean... it's just wine, though?"
"Still no."
Fair enough. I didn't push the issue and instead let my attention wander around the deck. Hajime was deep in conversation with Shea and Tio, but I caught him glancing in my direction every few minutes. Were they talking about me? Probably.
The rest of the hero class was scattered around the area, and they all looked... shaken. Which made sense, really. Their group had lost nearly half its members during that incident with the short-haired girl with glasses—Eri, I think her name was.
The one I killed, but also happened to be the one who'd tried to kill everybody. Death had a way of putting things in perspective, especially for kids who'd been thrust into a world war they weren't prepared for.
"So, Shizuku," I said, not bothering to turn around to face her. "What's your plan now?"
"What do you mean, exactly?"
"I mean exactly what I said. What are you planning to do from here? Where do you go next?"
The question seemed to catch her off guard. She was quiet for a long moment, and when I glanced over, I could see her genuinely considering the answer.
"I'm guessing... I won't be of much use in the grand scheme of things anymore," she finally said. "Especially now that you've declared war against the gods and the demons have suffered a fatal blow."
"Shizuku-chan..." Kaori whispered, reaching out to grip her best friend's arm. The gesture seemed to ground Shizuku somehow, and when she spoke again, her voice was more resolute.
"I suppose I'll try to clear the labyrinths. Nagumo is working so hard to find a way home for all of us, so I'd like to think I can be at least remotely useful to that process."
I studied her expression while she spoke. There it was again—that front she always put on. That desperate, almost frantic need to appear strong and capable when she was anything but certain.
"You know you can just relax, right?" I said, turning to look out the aircraft's window where the sun was beginning to rise on the horizon. The sky was painted in shades of orange and pink that would have been beautiful if I'd been in the mood to appreciate them.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, why don't you take it easy for a while? You've got a lot of stuff bottled up inside you, don't you? If all that comes spilling out during some critical moment in battle, it'll be your life on the line."
I paused, remembering all the times I'd seen her push herself too hard.
"I've been on your ass about this since day one, haven't I? You don't have to be strong every single moment of every single day, Shizuku."
I heard a small, choked sound from beside me, and when I glanced back, Shizuku was looking down at the deck with her hands clenched into fists.
Kaori looked back and forth between us for a moment before pulling Shizuku into a quick hug.
"I'll... I'll leave you two alone for now," she said softly, then made herself scarce.
For the first time since I'd awakened, I turned to look at Shizuku with complete focus. Really look at her. She seemed so much smaller now. I used to be shorter than her but now we were roughly the same height—whereas before, I barely even reached her nose-level.
I set my wine glass down on the countertop and moved closer, placing a gentle hand on her back.
I knew what I needed to say. The problem was, I also knew what saying it would mean for me. I already had enough curses weighing me down—adding more to the pile would be incredibly stupid.
But looking at this girl, this teenager who was trying so hard to hold herself together when she was clearly falling apart—
"I'll see to it that you get home, Shizuku," I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them. The cabin had grown quiet around us—most of the others had probably gone to rest. "If nothing else, I promise I'd get you home."
Oh, fuck me.
The irony wasn't lost on me—I was the one who needed to get home. I was the one who'd been torn away from everything familiar and dropped into this insane world. But it was too late to take the words back now.
"Rimuru..." Shizuku's carefully maintained composure finally cracked completely. She threw herself into my arms, sobbing like the scared teenager she really was underneath all that forced strength—like the kid she'd never really gotten a chance to be.
"I-I'm really... I'm really..." She was crying too hard to form coherent words, holding onto me so tightly I was surprised she wasn't crushing my chest.
"It's okay. You're going to be fine," I said automatically, rubbing her back in what I hoped was a soothing manner. "I gotchu."
More curses and obligations for my ever-growing collection, apparently.
But somehow, with Shizuku crying in my arms and the morning sun painting everything in warm light, it didn't feel like a burden. It felt like the right thing to do.
"Hang in there, Yaegashi-san."
The voice came from across the cabin, and I looked up to see a kid sitting on one of the sofas—someone I could've sworn hadn't been there a moment ago.
He was truly unremarkable.
The kind of person who seemed to blend into the background without trying.
"Ha?" I blinked in surprise. "How long have you been there, kid?"
"A-ah, I've been here all along, Rimuru-san," he stammered, looking embarrassed. "And, um, you can call me Kousuke. I'm Endo Kousuke."
"Yeah, I know you." I studied his face, trying to place where I'd seen him before. "You left a considerable impression on me with the way you look."
His face went red. "G-Gah! What's wrong with the way I look...?"
"You don't need to know."
He didn't need to know that he looked like the protagonists from hentai.
I chuckled, feeling some of the tension leave my shoulders. There was something oddly comforting about the mundane interaction, even with Shizuku still crying against my chest.
I kept patting her head, running my fingers through her hair and rubbing her back in slow, gentle circles.
It didn't matter that my clothes were getting soaked with her tears, or that I probably looked ridiculous standing there playing therapist to a sobbing teenager.