One year had passed since the battle with Yuuki.
A lot had happened since then.
Seriously, a lot.
It was exhausting just thinking back on it.
I broadcast the news of
Using optical magic adapted from surveillance spells, I projected my image into the skies above every nation.
Then I declared, in my own name, that the global crisis was over.
The world was engulfed in joy, and slowly, the unprecedented chaos began to subside.
Needless to say, what helped bring this about was— The residents of the Monster Country.
In any case, the world had finally regained its former peace.
...
After defeating Yuuki and things settling down, I released Veldora.
And that guy— "Kuhaaaa—! What a good sleep! At last, it seems my turn has arrived!"
—went and declared something like that.
Even accounting for the fact that I'd been keeping him sealed off from the outside world inside the Imaginary Space, that was a spectacularly tone-deaf thing to say.
The price he paid was steep.
Being caught by his two elder sisters and given a thorough punishment was only to be expected.
That said, his two sisters—
He was lucky to get off the hook like that, but being abandoned by his sisters because of it was entirely Veldora's own fault.
"Grrr... that Gaia guy..."
My job became comforting Veldora as he jealously grumbled about his brother(?), and that was a genuine pain between you and me.
Well, all things considered, Veldora was his usual self.
Going forward, he'd keep causing trouble, and I'd keep cleaning up after him. That was our dynamic.
Thinking about it put me in a pleasant mood—though I kept that from Veldora.
Because, you know?
If I told him, he'd get insufferably cocky for sure.
Just as our relationship wasn't going to change, this was something that went without saying.
◇◇◇ As for those two elder sisters of Veldora's—one of them, Velgrynd, had already departed.
She'd gone to search for Rudra's reincarnation, presumably.
"Rimuru, don't you have some idea where he might be?"
"Wha—!? N-No, I have no clue!"
She'd asked me that out of the blue before leaving, and I expertly ignored her.
The slight stutter wasn't because I was afraid she'd drag Veldora to the gallows.
It was just that having that imposing beauty's face up close and personal had made me a little nervous.
...Seriously, though.
The truth was, I did have a suspicious person in mind.
But if I dropped his name here, it would look like I'd capitulated to Velgrynd.
And frankly, I felt it'd be a little cruel to sell him out.
Peace was finally here—surely he deserved to enjoy a few more happy moments.
...But despite my thoughtfulness, he went and got himself found by Velgrynd anyway, just like that.
I silently wished him well on his journey, thinking "My condolences."
—After that, a tale of a hero wielding a talking sword, accompanied by a dragon and a demon, would begin—but that's a story that has nothing to do with me.
◇◇◇ Velzard returned to the Northern Continent together with Guy.
They were going to build a paradise for demons in a frozen wasteland where no human could interfere, apparently.
The castle had been completely destroyed, but Guy said he'd recreate it using his ability.
Based on his experience in the final battle, he had evolved his Ultimate Skill 『King of Pride』
and obtained the Ultimate Skill 『God of Abyss』.
This ability apparently incorporated even Gaia's『All of Creation』, making it a truly omnipotent power.
He'd attempted to evolve his skill in order to process Rudra's rampage energy, apparently.
He seemed somewhat disappointed that I'd shown up at just the right moment and the final battle ended before he could use his hard-earned new power.
Not one to hide things, he told me directly: "I have no intention of fighting you. I'm the type who doesn't fight battles he can't win."
That was what he said.
Whether that was his true feeling or not, I didn't want to fight Guy either, so it was welcome.
At the very least, I sensed that if Guy got serious, he could fight Yuuki on equal terms or better.
I didn't think I'd lose even now, but getting injured from overconfidence was the last thing I wanted.
There was no reason or meaning to fight, and getting along was the best outcome.
Guy was, in his own way, a battle junkie too—so I was just glad he hadn't needlessly provoked me.
Having said all that, I did end up fighting Guy several more times afterward—but I'll leave those stories for another occasion.
◇◇◇ The Celestial World was designated as Milim's territory.
Using Gaia's『All of Creation』, the castle and sky gates destroyed in battle were repaired.
Residents were gradually migrating from Milim's former Demon Lord territory.
The Winged Tribe led by
The Tenma Tribe—a new race born from incarnated angels that had mutated, you could say.
It was said that the Winged Tribe and the Long-Nosed Tribe originally descended from angels that had fallen into demonhood, so you couldn't draw a clear line.
Dino himself was a
The true Angel Tribe had no Physical Body and could only operate in the Celestial World. So, as Milim's subordinates, the three main races were the Tenma Tribe, the Winged Tribe, and the Beastmen.
It had been decided to deepen cultural exchanges with the Monster Country, and new technologies would be trial-tested in the Celestial World.
Since Magicules existed—substances that could be directly converted into energy—it was clear that scientific development would differ from the original world.
Research and development would continue inside the
Then, based on the data gathered there, the completed technologies would be deployed in the Monster Country.
Naturally, technologies rooted in physical engineering would go to the Dwarven Kingdom first, and those rooted in magical engineering to the Sorcerous Dynasty Sarion.
This way, each nation would retain its unique character while the Western Nations received technology that was several generations behind.
The hefty licensing fees flowing into my pocket went without saying.
As for Milim herself, she was the same as ever—sneaking over to visit whenever she could, slipping past Frey's watch.
Well, I played along with her—or rather, I was blowing off steam too, so I had no complaints.
Dino would come along as well, ostensibly as Milim's bodyguard, but his real motive was clearly snacks and slacking off.
Because, like clockwork, just when we'd finished having fun, Frey would show up, and both Milim and Dino would turn pale.
Neither master nor servant seemed keen on working—would the Celestial World be alright?
Well, as long as the ever-diligent Frey was there, it'd probably be fine.
◇◇◇ Speaking of Milim, there was one problem.
Recently,
What the heck was that? It was the kind of thing that left me too exasperated for words, and my head started to ache.
I didn't have children, and since I was immortal there was no need for marriage anyway.
If anything, it would only create the preconditions for conflict.
Chloe, for one, was endearing in how she clung to me, saying "Sensei is (my one and only) Sensei!"
"That's cheating! Rimuru is my best friend, so I should be number one!"
"You're being deceived! If anything, I'm Rimuru-sama's one and only secretary!"
"Chloe—she's more of a schemer than I expected... More dangerous to watch out for than the brawny Milim-sama or Shion..."
When I was enjoying a peaceful tea with Chloe, the other three burst in.
And, as usual, a raucous time began.
This was becoming routine, so maybe I should think of countermeasures soon.
Besides, if I acknowledged a legal wife, would they start clamoring for concubines?
No, no—let's not think about that. Way too much trouble.
《Fufufu, my lord's official wife is me, you know—》 I thought I heard something, but I decided it was best not to think too hard about that either.
As usual, I resolved to put the problem off for another day.
◇◇◇ The Monster Country had undergone enormous changes as well.
After
Geld's engineering corps rebuilt the city in the blink of an eye.
Satellite cities were re-established with ease, thanks to
Adventurers pitched in, and Imperial soldiers were mobilized too.
As for their pay—that wasn't my problem.
Myourmiles came to me with tears in his eyes, begging "Rimuru-sama~~~," but I warmly encouraged him with "Hang in there! You can do it!" so he'd be fine.
I heard Rigurd was patting his shoulder and consoling him, so they seemed to be getting along.
But thanks to Myourmiles' tireless efforts, the Monster Country was reborn as a futuristic metropolis unlike anything the world had ever seen.
I'd freely thrown out ideas without restraint, and Geld had brought every single one to life.
Inventions from the research phase were implemented without hesitation—some even without waiting for experiments in the Celestial World.
While maintaining the hot spring town's appeal as a tourist destination, the futuristic renovation was spectacularly completed.
Seriously, it was so thorough that people might suspect I'd deliberately razed the surface to bare ground.
A multi-layered defensive barrier achieved through massive magical arrays.
Internal logistics routes connected by teleportation devices.
Since teleportation arrays were installed in each district, movement throughout was smooth.
Ultra-high-rise buildings were functionally arranged, surrounding the city core like cascading light.
Residential spaces for citizens spread outward around them, blending harmoniously with the forest.
A fantasy city was complete, complete with healing spaces and all.
Because magic and science had merged, convenience that seemed impossibly ahead of its time had been achieved.
Naturally, there was a mountain of work to do for inter-nation exchange as well.
Installing Teleportation Relay Arrays was urgent, but alongside that, we also needed to build a railway network.
With that in mind, I decided to deploy magicule-powered trains as the transportation link between cities.
Combining the finest of various magical technologies, they could operate at speeds exceeding 300 kilometers per hour without leaking any shock or sound to the surroundings.
The tracks were laid by Imperial soldiers.
The Western Nations, the Dwarven Kingdom, the Sorcerous Dynasty Sarion, and the former Demon Lord territory— Transportation networks connecting the Monster Country's neighbors were also progressing at full speed.
Between the Dwarven Kingdom and the Empire, the tracks were to be installed by dwarven crews.
Incidentally, the former Demon Lord territory after Milim's faction departed was still completely untouched.
It was a bountiful land with abundant resources.
As for its future management, I planned to discuss it with the kings of various nations before deciding.
These development projects would take over a decade to complete as national initiatives.
Nobody had objected.
Simply making construction requests in my name had been enough for every country to eagerly offer cooperation.
The name of the Great Demon Lord who had saved the world was no mere figurehead, it seemed.
The emergence of new technology could potentially cause mass unemployment—giving jobs to those people wasn't entirely a bad thing, either.
Or perhaps those with foresight had realized that building this transportation network had nothing but upsides.
In the coming era, whoever controlled information would control everything.
I'd decided not to hold back, and there was no one left to stop me.
In that case, how quickly other nations could adopt the new technologies from the Monster Country—that would be the move that put them ahead of everyone else.
Economic warfare was so fierce it made direct military conflict seem utterly foolish.
What supported it was information and the efforts of the people.
If individuals didn't make an effort, their nation's standard of living would remain low and the gap would widen dramatically—this was the future projection
Or rather, it could be interpreted as me trying to effectively control the world through economic and technological power...
No, no—I was probably overthinking it.
I'd said I wouldn't hold back, but I never once said I wanted to conquer the world.
Going forward, if we all worked hard together to make this a better world, that would be enough.
◇◇◇ I decided to establish two new cities in the Great Forest of Jura.
They were currently under construction.
A mining city for the High Orcs, and an underwater city for the Lizardmen.
The mining city would produce high-quality ore.
The extracted materials would be transported to the central hub—the Monster Country.
The underwater city would be a metropolis floating on Lake Sez, also serving as an airship maintenance facility.
The Monster Country had workshops too, but there wasn't enough space to dock large numbers of ships.
With the vast Lake Sez, however, there would be plenty of room to float as many ships as needed.
The Monster Country would be governed by Rigurd as Prime Minister.
The mining city would have Geld as its king, leading his tribe, and the underwater city would have
I was a little worried about Gabiru, but he'd reconciled with his brother
He wasn't the same Gabiru as before—there'd be no problems.
And so, a system that operated without my interference continued to be built smoothly.
◇◇◇ "Otherworlders" discovered across the globe were now being safely protected as well.
Those who chose to live in this world were sent to the "Academy" in the Ingracia Kingdom, where they were educated in this world's common sense, combat techniques, and other matters.
After graduation, it was up to each individual. Those who wished it could also choose to work at important institutions in various countries.
Those who wished to return home would join the Interdimensional Exchange Investigation Division, which Mai was leading research on.
The truth was, I was capable of sending them all back to their original worlds.
But doing so like a charity—returning everyone to their respective homelands—felt somehow wrong.
Besides, now that it had been confirmed that multiple worlds existed, you couldn't just lump all "Otherworlders" together.
Some might have come from a different otherworld entirely from my homeland.
I would provide information. But I wanted them to work hard on their own to discover inter-dimensional teleportation—interdimensional navigation.
For that, the strong desire to go home would be the greatest driving force.
If a few years of effort didn't pan out, I was thinking of quietly sending them back anyway... but I had a feeling they'd pull it off, so it might not be necessary.
Their efforts bore fruit, and interdimensional navigation was developed.
And through inter-dimensional exchange, a new story would begin.
◇◇◇ Ramiris was furious.
"I was supposed to make a magnificent appearance! And now I'm stuck as a kid for another few thousand years!"
She came to complain directly to me.
My honest response was: sorry, can't help you with that.
Even
But still—for her to only be able to maintain her adult form for a few years out of several millennia? That was the weird part.
This time she'd forcibly awakened, so she had to start all over again from the beginning, apparently.
"Come on, it's not so bad. As a kid, you can play freely, and you won't get stuck with unpleasant work like Milim."
"Well, yeah, that's true. My research becomes my job, and this place is the best, so..."
"Right? And besides, now that you're an adult, it's not like there's anything in particular you want to do, is there?"
"Hmm, when you put it that way..."
We had that exchange, but after that she was back in good spirits and back to normal.
It seemed she'd just wanted me to see her adult form, and Ramiris' anger was always like that.
As for the Dungeon—it had become far too difficult.
By no stretch could humans conquer it.
Even with the latest combat equipment—mobile weapons and magical armaments—it would be a stretch.
The lower floors had even begun to take on the character of a testing ground for new weapons.
So, I decided to issue a passport to the Elven City upon clearing the 50th floor.
Otherwise, the wonderful healing spaces in the upper levels would go completely to waste.
While they were being used as VIP facilities for us and the royal families of various nations, that alone felt insufficient.
That aside, the Dungeon forces, led by Ramiris and
...
And so, that was how one hectic year had gone.
Looking back, it had been an incredibly dense period.
But now that things had finally settled down, I wanted to take care of one last thing.
◇◇◇ Towering high-rise buildings.
The surroundings were engulfed in noise—filled with screams and shouts.
The distant wail of police sirens.
The scene was so nostalgic it made me dizzy.
"Senpai, Senpai!? Hang in there, Senpai—!!"
A young man clutching a nice guy who'd been stabbed and collapsed, screaming and sobbing, and a woman watching with a sorrowful expression.
That was
Those two really hadn't changed—well, of course they hadn't.
I approached Tamura and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Move aside a sec, Tamura."
"Wh—!? Who are you...? How do you know my name—"
"Never mind, never mind. Same old Tamura, always fussing over the little things."
He turned to argue, but was struck speechless by my appearance—stunned by my beauty, I suppose?
I thought Sawatari would scold me, but I swallowed those words.
I pushed Tamura aside and held the Magi Crystal I'd taken from my pocket over the nice guy's body.
Right, then.
The corpse and the Magi Crystal fused together nicely, so all that remained was to transfer my『Multiple Existence Parallel』into it and we'd be done.
Oh wait, I forgot. A human Physical Body probably felt pain, so I should treat it properly.
Thinking that, I poured the Recovery
I watched the wound vanish in an instant and confirmed that the potion worked in this world too.
If it hadn't healed properly, I would have had to swallow the body and regenerate it, which would've been a hassle.
Thankfully, the Recovery Potion did the job.
Preparations complete.
I focused my consciousness and transferred my『Multiple Existence Parallel』into the Magi Crystal.
《Success. The ability seems to function without issue here as well.》 Good, that was a relief.
I had successfully split my consciousness and transferred it to the nice guy—that is to say, my original Physical Body in this world.
Now then, before I—
"Just what did you..."
"Hey, Tamura. From now on, treat your Senpai with proper respect, and don't even think about bragging about any wild adventures. Also, fix your own PC—cancel that commission!"
"Huh!?"
I flashed a grin at the bewildered, shocked Tamura, then walked away.
There was no need to say more.
After all, I—Satoru Mikami—would explain everything to him.
...
I woke up.
On a hospital bed, in the familiar sights of my original world.
And in the body of the man I'd shared thirty-seven years with—my own familiar flesh.
I gently checked, and yes, everything was intact.
Thank God.
I meant it, from the bottom of my heart.
Though I was a little worried about whether it still worked.
Huh? It's not like you ever used it anyway? I'll kill you, you bastard!!
Being ready to use it at any time—that's proper etiquette.
Preparation is key.
But anyway, putting that aside...
What happened until now wasn't some kind of dream, was it?
I didn't want to find out it was just a dream from the shock of being stabbed—please, no dream ending.
If everything I'd been through was just a daydream, it wouldn't even be funny.
But everything seemed so peaceful that if someone told me it really had been a dream, I might almost believe it.
"Oh, Senpai! You're awake?"
"...Tamura. Is this a hospital?"
"Yep. The police were here just a while ago, but the doctor said it'd be better to rest, so they came back."
"The police...? Why..."
"Calm down, Senpai. Do you remember almost getting stabbed by a random attacker? The police came to get witness information about that attacker."
"Ah, I see... Wait, wasn't I stabbed though?"
Huh? Was it really a dream?
If I'd just fainted without being stabbed, then it really could have been a daydream— "—Actually, I know you won't believe this, but... a mysterious woman—an incredibly beautiful woman, mind you, so gorgeous that models and celebrities pale in comparison—brought you back to life. I know how it sounds, and I won't blame you for laughing, but it's the truth! As proof, look over there."
In response to my confusion, Tamura pointed to my suit jacket hanging on the wall.
The back was torn in a small area, stained dark red with dried blood.
It was definitely from the massive amount of blood I'd lost.
So it really wasn't a dream—it had been a prank orchestrated by me—by Rimuru.
That bastard—well, he was technically me, but—pulling a stunt like that even on his own past self...
"You still don't believe me, do you?"
"No, I believe you, Tamura. And the police will have been out of luck, because—"
"Huh?"
"No, it's nothing."
That really would be something too incredible to believe.
The culprit who'd stabbed me—setting me aside, there was no way
By now, the culprit was surely being subjected to Diablo's infinite torment, made to regret even being born.
There was no point saying all that, so I smiled and deflected.
"Hey, Tamura—what if I told you I went to another world after I died? Would you believe me?"
At my murmur, Tamura looked momentarily bewildered.
He probably thought I was about to say something absurd.
That would be the normal reaction, I thought—but— "I'd believe you, Senpai. I saw some strange things, and that woman was oddly reminiscent of you... Come to think of it, I even wondered if that woman might have been you. I had all sorts of absurd thoughts like that, you know?"
"Is that so? Then I might tell you about it. Want to hear?"
I asked with a light laugh, and Tamura smiled back.
"Please, I'd love to."
So...
Then let me tell you— —About how I got reincarnated as a slime— The End