Rin didn't even wait for Naga to finish her teasing. He turned on his heel and marched toward the scent of vanilla . "I'm going to stop the kitchen from becoming a crater. Naga, go find some wine or a blood-orange and stay out of trouble."
He found the kitchen in a state of shimmering, golden chaos. Milim was standing on a flour-dusted prep table, her white fox tail fanning out like a halo. In her hands, a tray of cream puffs was glowing with enough Holy Magic to exorcise a mid-sized cathedral.
"Just a little more... pure... light..." Milim muttered, her eyes glazed with sugary ambition.
"Milim! Drop the pastries!" Rin shouted, lunging forward. He grabbed her by the waist—noting again how small she was compared to the "Saint" upstairs—and hauled her off the table just as the cream puffs began to hum a Gregorian chant.
"Rin! No! They were almost transcendent!" she wailed as he dragged her out the service door.
Rin didn't stop until they were inside their opulent guest quarters. He kicked the door shut and sat Milim down on the edge of the massive, silk-covered bed. He stood over her, his silver hair messy and his expression unusually grim.
"Alright, playtime is over," Rin said, his voice dropping an octave. "I just spent an hour with a guy who has my face, my sword skills, and my soul's 'Hero' settings. He thinks he's a Saint, but I'm a Slime."
Milim tucked her tail around her legs, looking like a scolded puppy.
"Explain it, Milim. The Soul Split. Why is there a 'Saint of Steel' walking around in a 6'3" tower of muscle while I'm stuck in this... 'consultant' body? And why didn't you tell me the moment we saw him?"
Milim looked at her lap, her ears drooping. "Because I was scared, Rin! When the reincarnation ritual hit that 'Void' pocket in the Labyrinth, your soul didn't just move—it shattered."
"Your other half gave Finn the 'Martial Essence'—the strength, the chivalry, and the raw Holy Mana. He's the 'Light' side of your old self. That's why he's so... dense. He literally lacks the 'Cynicism' and 'Self-Preservation' parts of your soul."
"You got the 'Ego' and the 'Intellect'. You kept the memories, the sarcasm, and the magical adaptability. But without the physical vessel Finn has, your mana is unstable. That's why you have Mana Poisoning—your soul is trying to expand, but your body is a Level 2 Slime."
"If I told you immediately, you would have tried to merge. But if you merge now, while your levels are so lopsided... Finn's personality might swallow yours. You wouldn't be 'Rin' anymore. You'd just be a slightly more sarcastic version of that idiot Knight."
"So I'm the 'Brain' and he's the 'Brawn'?" Rin asked, rubbing his temples.
"Exactly," Milim whispered. "But there's a catch. Because he's the one who absorbed the 'Hero's Destiny'... he's the one tied to the prophecy. If he dies, your soul loses its anchor to this world. You'd just... evaporate."
Rin sat down next to her, the weight of the situation finally hitting him. He was literally his own worst enemy—or at least, his own most annoying half.
"So," Rin said slowly. "I have to protect that idiot so I don't die, but I can't get too close to him or I'll stop being me. Is that it?"
"Pretty much," Milim said, finally looking up. "Also... I didn't want to tell you because I liked having 'this' version of you. The big hero version was always too busy saving the world to share cream puffs with me."
Rin stared at the ceiling of the guest suite, the sheer absurdity of his new life finally sinking in. He was a reincarnated legendary hero trapped in the body of a slender silver-haired "consultant," and his other half was a dense knight who thought "breaking someone in half" was a structural engineering problem.
"Okay," Rin said, rubbing his temples to stave off a fresh migraine. "Stabilization. How do I do it without turning back into that armored idiot and losing my personality?"
Milim fidgeted, her four fox tails swaying nervously behind her. "There are two ways, Rin. The first is a Divine Soul Stone. It's a concentrated shard of primordial mana that can act as a temporary 'external battery' for your ego. It would stop the mana poisoning and let your Slime core expand safely."
"Great. Where do I find one?" Rin asked, hope flickering for a second.
Milim's ears flattened. "That's the problem. Every world is different. In some, they're in the hearts of Ancient Dragons; in others, they're buried under holy cathedrals. We'll have to investigate this kingdom's legends to find one."
Rin sighed. "Of course. Nothing is ever easy. And the second method? The one that 'takes longer'?"
Milim's face went from pale to a shade of pink that rivaled the cream puff fillings. She started twiddling her fingers, her gaze fixed intently on a loose thread on the bedspread. "Um... well... it involves a deep... sustained... transfer of my Divine Mana. But since your core is so unstable, a simple touch won't work. We would need to... you know..."
Rin watched her for a beat. He lived a full life before this; he wasn't as dense as his armored counterpart. "It's sex, isn't it?"
Milim squeaked, a small puff of white smoke literally erupting from her ears. "Yes! Yes, it is! It's called Soul-Binding Resonance! It's a very sacred and ancient method of stabilizing a familiar's core through physical and spiritual union!"
"Right," Rin said, standing up and pacing the room. "So my choices are 'Go on a dangerous quest for a rock' or 'Become the very thing I just made fun of Finn for.' This world really has a twisted sense of humor."
Milim looked up, her eyes wide and shimmering. "I-I'm not saying we have to! I just... I wanted you to know all the options! But the poisoning is getting worse, Rin. If we don't pick one soon, your silver hair might start turning back into blue slime permanently."
Rin stopped pacing. He looked at his hands, then toward the door where the "Saint" was probably still trying to figure out how to hug a princess.
"We look for the stone first," Rin decided firmly. "I'm not ready to... 'Resonate' just yet. Besides, I need to keep an eye on Finn. If he's the anchor for my soul, I need to make sure he doesn't accidentally get himself executed for being too handsome at the wrong person."
"Okay," Milim whispered, looking a tiny bit disappointed but mostly relieved.
"Then we need a map of the High-Mana zones in this Kingdom. And maybe some more cream puffs. For strength."