I released the time stop.
"—We'll charge in and neutralize the gravity wave's effects!"
"And while they're distracted, Lord Jigil—"
"Count me in! We've come this far already, so I'll see it through to the end!"
In that instant, the clamor returned.
I'd need to calm everyone down before they'd listen to what I had to say.
The immediate crisis had passed, but the fundamental problem remained unsolved. To be specific, while the collapse of this world had been averted, the planet's lifespan was running out.
I was about to open my mouth to speak, but there was no need.
Michelle had awakened.
"Silence!"
A single command.
That alone was enough to shut the mouths of those who had been frantically debating their suicide mission. They stared at Michelle with faces washed in shock.
"Michelle!"
"Lord Michelle, you've regained control? But how did you reconnect with the 'Brain'?"
"That's impossible! Restoring control of the body alone couldn't possibly stop an energy rampage in that state!!"
"Lord Michelle, my partner says your condition seems stable—but are you really okay now?"
This time, questions filled with astonishment began flying through the air.
Well, yeah.
Even if the problem had been suddenly resolved, it would be hard to believe.
"I understand you all have things you want to say, but hold on. First, we must express our gratitude to our benefactor!"
With Michelle's words, those around her seemed to recover a measure of composure.
And their gazes fell upon Veldora, then carried straight over to me.
Squish.
A squishy, pale-blue sphere—well, technically an ellipsoid—of a creature.
That would be me, and I couldn't look more suspicious if I tried.
But Michelle fixed her gaze straight at me nonetheless.
And spoke.
"You saved me, and this world as well, didn't you? Thank you."
Something surprising: this Michelle person seemed to understand what had happened while the world was frozen.
Had she grown mentally during the time her 'Brain' had been separated from her body?
Or perhaps it was the effect of the special substance produced by the Infinity
Even Veldora's 'Analysis and Appraisal' had been obstructed, and given that
If that was the case, this would be easier.
Michelle seemed to be someone of considerable standing, carrying the aura of a natural leader who could command those around her. With someone like that already understanding the situation to some degree, it would be easier for me to negotiate.
Specifically, I'd go ahead and negotiate regarding the future.
With that thought, I shifted into human form as a basic courtesy.
My slime form was more comfortable, but it was difficult to make eye contact.
"Nice to meet you. The name's Rimuru. Looks like my companions caused you some trouble."
"I'm Michelle. Trouble—nothing of the sort. We're the ones who asked for your help."
Michelle returned my greeting, seemingly a bit nervous.
Beside me, Veldora was muttering something like, "Stop calling them 'companions'—that's so impersonal! Introduce us properly as allies!" but I figured it was safe to ignore that.
Leaving Veldora in his leave-it-to-me mode, I looked around.
At some point, the area had fallen silent.
And the stares from those around me pierced right through me.
What was that about?
This was seriously uncomfortable.
Still, I couldn't exactly say goodbye and leave. The problems hadn't all been solved yet.
"So, it seems you have your own set of circumstances over there, but I think we all share the same desire to put this chaos to rest. I'd like to discuss what comes next—would that be alright?"
Veldora and the others had sided with the Resistance.
They'd made enemies of the Empire in a pretty definitive way, but it seemed Michelle and I had a cooperative relationship.
In short, the Empire wasn't monolithic either—it had its own web of problems.
Given how far things had gone, laying all of that bare was the proper course of action.
"Of course. I'd also like the representative of the Resistance to hear this. At this point, there's no meaning in concealing anything anymore. Even if it means exposing the Empire's shame, this is hardly the time for that..."
With those words, Michelle smiled softly, with the air of someone who had made peace with things.
And then, accepting my proposal, she began to reveal the truths that had been hidden.
"—Taking into account the conflicting ethnic groups, language barriers, economic disparities, and religious differences, my father, Almusvine, carried out a selection of the City's residents. Everything was a gamble on the survival of humanity, and I firmly maintain that judging it by the concepts of good and evil is meaningless. Because if he hadn't done it, our civilization would have long since perished."
With that, Michelle concluded her account.
This was the full scope of the project.
Even if someone told those who had been cast aside to accept it, they could never reasonably agree.
But as a ruler, a decision had to be made.
If it could have been resolved through discussion, they would have done so. But with interests so diametrically opposed, there was no way they could have reached an agreement.
And while they debated, the resources would have run out and humanity would have gone extinct.
And yet, even so— "It's not enough, Michelle. Even still, we have no future..."
A man who had been sitting down in exhaustion murmured softly.
His voice somehow carried, and even those who had been listening in confusion around them could hear it clearly.
"Fuudra, what are you—?"
So his name was Fuudra.
He was the man who had stayed by Michelle's side until the very end, fighting against the gravity wave's rampage.
He appeared young, but Fuudra looked terribly aged.
And with a voice as weary as his appearance, he began to speak—not just for Michelle, but for everyone present to hear.
His words were filled with despair, and yet they contained a remarkably precise analysis of the situation.
"We have no future. Even if we maximized the use of our remaining resources, there was a limit to how many people we could sustain. We had no capacity left to support those outside the City—the ones called the Resistance. Even within the City itself, the West was only a matter of time. The North had already begun to collapse. That's precisely why the Infinity Equipment was necessary—"
His words came without strength.
They closely matched the future projections for this world that Ciel had calculated, with a striking degree of accuracy.
"—Wait. What does that mean? Didn't we push forward with the decontamination plan specifically to fight against those predictions?"
"No, Michelle. That was just the official story. The Super Beast Project was born from the desire to preserve the seeds of human potential—creating organisms capable of surviving any contaminated environment, and hoping that intelligence would emerge among them. We humans can no longer survive in the wild. Cut off from civilization, we can accomplish nothing. Decontamination alone is meaningless."
Fuudra said this.
And then Fuudra laughed—a wild, almost mad cackle.
The room erupted into chaos, and a furious argument broke out...
◇◇◇ Right, that was how it was.
According to Ciel, "Since technological knowledge hasn't been properly passed down, it's impossible to lower the civilization level."
To maintain their current way of life, they needed a civilized city—and maintaining that incurred enormous energy costs.
It seemed even food was being cultivated entirely automatically, and the knowledge of how to do it by hand had been lost. The civilization had been optimized to the point of no return, so to speak.
And that was without factoring in the contaminated soil.
Even if the contamination disappeared, they'd need technology to till the land.
Most critically, there was no water.
The land was parched, unsuitable for growing crops.
There were no rivers—just wasteland stretching as far as the eye could see.
What's more, even the seas appeared to have dried up.
The sun was invisible. It truly looked like the end of the world.
It was nothing short of miraculous that humanity had survived at all.
Doing anything about this situation by hand was hopeless, which meant they had no choice but to live within the City... but that had its limits.
Even a fusion reactor couldn't create something from nothing—fuel was still required.
Taking all of this into consideration— This world had no future.
—that was precisely why a man like Fuudra had placed his hopes in the Infinity Equipment.
And to ensure it wouldn't matter if that failed, he had plotted the elimination of anyone who might get in his way.
In short, it was a culling of humanity.
Perhaps Fuudra had been prepared to commit the gravest of sins when he took action.
They were talking about executing Fuudra, and me butting in wouldn't change that.
But I was firmly against something as barbaric as an execution.
Fuudra seemed quite capable, and I'd rather put him to use than have him disposed of in this world.
I'd leverage this situation to steer negotiations in my favor.
With Fuudra's revelations, everyone now understood the actual state of affairs—which meant this would go more quickly.
No one could accuse me of acting on my own later.
The plan was set.
Specifically: I'd solve this world's problems to earn their gratitude, and arrange for Fuudra's custody to be transferred to me.
At the same time, I'd ask them to turn a blind eye to the mess Veldora and the others had caused.
The atmosphere wasn't right for continuing the discussion, so I'd go ahead and solve the problem first.
"You all have your own circumstances. I'm sure you all have your own positions. But here's what I'd like: leave the situation in your world to us. Consider that a way to make up for the trouble we've caused. As for the future—let's discuss that once we've shown results!"
I cut in on their exchanges and made my declaration.
Either way, now that I knew about it, I couldn't just ignore it. It was a hassle, but it also worked in my favor.
In principle, contact with other worlds should have been handled cautiously.
That was why I'd told them not to go off on their own...
But now that Veldora and the others had gotten this deeply involved, abandoning them would be the bigger problem.
To be blunt, I'd never hear the end of it.
I was going to have to sit down with Veldora and
But that could wait.
How much should I interfere in this world's affairs—and whether I had the right to interfere at all—was an agonizing question.
That was precisely why I needed a pretext to save this world.
The moment I spoke, everything went quiet.
And everyone was looking at me with confusion.
There was even fear in their eyes.
I didn't get it.
I'd gone out of my way to take human form so they wouldn't be put off by a suspicious-looking slime.
But I wasn't about to let their bewilderment go to waste.
"Lord Rimuru, what exactly are you—?"
Ignoring Michelle's question, I turned my gaze to Veldora.
While I'd been busy dealing with Michelle, Veldora had been chatting away with Ramiris and
He seemed to be bragging about what had been decided during the time stop.
With me handling things, the whole affair with Michelle was apparently someone else's problem.
He was talking about getting the Infinity Equipment installed on Beretta as if it were his own achievement, and he seemed to be earning the admiration of both Ramiris and Beretta.
It was a little annoying, but whatever.
I'd put him to work. No holds barred.
"So, Veldora. This world seems like it's in pretty bad shape."
"Hmm? It would appear so. What shall we do, Rimuru? Shall we at least take in the children?"
"No."
"Hmph! How cold! Could we not at least rescue those who can be helped, so they might witness my magnificence?"
When Veldora came out with something like that, I gave him a bright smile.
Seeing my expression, Veldora seemed to sense danger.
"Wh-what are you planning? Put away that menacing fly swatter!"
I deliberately snapped the fly swatter so it would ring out with a loud crack.
Veldora flinched, his eyes going wide with alarm.
"Anyway, about the punishment for acting on your own behind my back—"
I paused there, then snapped the fly swatter again.
Confirming that Veldora's eyes were wavering, I continued.
"For the next operation, I think I'll be leaving you and Ramiris out of it."
"What?!"
"Huh!? Wait, me too!?"
"Well, obviously? You broke your promise and went off to do your own thing."
When I said that, not only Veldora but Ramiris started panicking too.
Ramiris had clearly thought she had nothing to do with this—as if I'd just let her off the hook.
If that was what she'd been thinking, I had to say she was being pretty naive.
"It's got nothing to do with me! I just got dragged along!"
"Wait, Rimuru! There are reasons deeper than the ocean for this!"
"Waaaaaah! I'm telling you, it's not like that, Rimuruuu! I was just kidnapped by my master!"
"Quiet, both of you! Don't lie! You both participated in the plan with gleeful abandon!"
The two of them broke into an ugly squabble.
"However... I'm not entirely ruling out letting it slide. Fortunately, the two of you are the only ones who know about your little escapade. If you'd be willing to hear me out..."
When I said that, putting on a show of deliberation, the two of them bit the hook in an instant.
"Qua—Quuahahaha! Don't be so impersonal! Just say whatever you need, Rimuru!"
"I'll do anything! Just leave it all to me!"
Too easy.
"Hmm, what should I do..."
"I swear I'll keep my promises from now on! I'll never sneak off again!"
"Me too! Besides, it's way more fun with Rimuru around!"
Veldora and Ramiris made their desperate appeals.
Beretta watched the two of them with a look that clearly said, "So this is how it ends," shaking his head in exasperation.
There had been no real damage, and both of them seemed to have reflected on it at least a little.
"No more running off on your own from now on, okay?"
"Mm!"
"I promise!"
They'd probably do it again once they thought the heat had died down, but they'd behave for a while at least.
That was enough for this time.
I nodded, and forgave the two of them.
◇◇◇ "So, what's this favor you need?"
"Just name it!"
The two rushed me, as if afraid I'd change my mind.
There was no rush—I wasn't angry anymore.
I shifted gears and answered them.
"Leaving this world as it is doesn't sit right with me, so I want to go ahead and save it. With the two of you, it should be easy, right?"
I said it casually.
"Whoa, whoa, Rimuru. Are you sure about this? Weren't you the one who forbade excessive interference with this world?"
"Y-yeah, I was? Saving this world would mean interfering on a level that can't be disguised or hand-waved, you know?"
For once, the two of them said something sensible.
Perhaps it was the fruit of my constant education—common sense was finally starting to sprout.
But really, it was a bit late for that.
"I can't just leave this world to its doom now that I know what's going to happen, can I?"
Doing that wouldn't just give me a bad conscience—it'd be unforgivable.
If I hadn't known, I could have looked the other way. But now that I did, I felt I should at least extend a helping hand.
"Quuuaaahahahaha! You're right about that! Then I'll use my full power without hesitation—is that acceptable?"
"Yep, go for it."
I agreed generously.
Once I returned to my own world, I'd be done with this one.
So there was no need to worry about being dragged into troublesome situations repeatedly or anything like that.
"Hey, hey! Can we wake up the sleeping Spirits and share some of our power with them?"
"Sure, but the power—"
"Don't play dumb! Obviously I'm getting it from Rimuru!"
Yep. Called it.
It was always like this...
"Fine. But this time only, okay?"
"Okay! You can totally trust me on that!"
I absolutely could not trust her on that.
But Ramiris was fired up, so there was no point putting a damper on things.
Plus, activating the Spirits was the right move in terms of extending this planet's lifespan.
The Spirits played a vital role in maintaining a naturally rich environment.
And so, the two of them set to work.
"Then let us begin!"
With a grand cry, Veldora returned to his true form.
What manifested was the great black dragon.
The suppressed Demon Aura was released, and an enormous quantity of Magicules enveloped the planet.
Impressive. Seeing him like this, you could really feel his majesty.
And yet, all of that was undermined by the way Veldora usually acted...
"Quuuaaahahahaha! Behold, I shall bestow upon you my blessings!
Wave of Abundant Mystery!!"
The vast quantity of Magicules that saturated the atmosphere—they purified the toxins and wrought miracles— Barren earth, contaminated soil—within moments, they bloomed with green.
The thick clouds that had blotted out the sun were blown away by the storm.
And the black clouds that rose up gathered moisture and became torrential downpours.
The terrain shifted. The land took on color.
And when the rain subsided, what poured down was the warm light of the sun.
—Veldora had revived the greenery, created water, and filled the land.
Honestly, seeing it with my own eyes was something else.
Come to think of it, Luminous had lodged a complaint with me after the great war too.
A desert had turned into a forest, a city had been swallowed by a sea of trees, or something to that effect.
She'd condemned Veldora fiercely, saying he'd gone too far.
But Veldora himself had run off, and I'd been the one left to grovel apologies.
Seeing the scene unfolding before me now, I could understand Luminous's complaints a little better.
In the end, it was all Veldora's fault.
It was unfair to blame me, and I'd been forced to pay enormous reparations. Looking back, it made me angry—but it was all because of Veldora.
He'd seemed pretty restrained lately, but I supposed even this was him holding back considerably.
It was good to be reminded of what happened when Veldora forgot to show restraint.
The miracles didn't stop there.
"My turn next!
Paradise World of the Spirits!!"
With that cry, Ramiris set to work with great enthusiasm.
She drew freely on the energy of my Void Collapse, transforming into her adult form.
A beautiful woman of elegant age—though in truth, she was still the same childlike Ramiris on the inside.
Ramiris sang.
Her beautiful voice awakened the dormant Spirits.
And— The land was blessed, restored to its former glory.
Flowers bloomed across the earth in profusion, the air grew rich with fragrance, and it became a paradise of Spirits invisible to human eyes.
With this, there was no need for reckless development—nature's bounty could sustain life on its own.
As expected of Ramiris.
It seemed the rumors about her being the Spirit Queen were true.
If she'd stayed in that form all along, no one would have looked down on her—but unfortunately, that wasn't the case!
I'd only lent her my power, and once this was over, I'd be taking it back.
She'd definitely complain about that, but giving power without spiritual growth wouldn't do her any good.
This was for her own sake.
And just like that, the planet was reborn.
They could now survive without fighting over food and water.
◇◇◇ Alright then.
I left Beretta to guard Veldora and Ramiris—probably unnecessary, but still.
And I finally turned back to Michelle, who I'd been leaving hanging.
Michelle and the others were speechless, staring blankly as they watched events unfold.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
When I called out to her, Michelle looked at me in surprise.
Yeah, I figured. She was probably dumbfounded by how absurd Veldora and Ramiris were.
There was a massive structure behind her belching smoke from the upper levels, and it looked like Veldora was responsible for that too.
Michelle probably had a mountain of things she wanted to say.
But I wasn't going to accept any complaints.
I'd sworn never to repeat the mistake I'd made with Luminous.
Take your complaints to the one responsible!
With that in mind, I decided to stick to my own position.
"I think this planet will be regenerated before long with those two handling it. In exchange, please forgive them for the trouble they caused."
When I said this, not just Michelle but everyone present nodded their heads rapidly in silent agreement.
It seemed the meaning of the gesture was universal across worlds.
With that, there would be no issues between our worlds.
Now for the rest— "Oh, and I have a proposal, if you'll hear me. I heard something about executing Fuudra—well, if that's the case, I'd like to take custody of him. I'll make sure he's properly punished—"
My plan was to conscript him into Ramiris's research team.
That would allow for the advancement of their technology, and for me, it was an ideal outcome.
This world's airships looked like they could even fly into space—the possibilities were endless.
That was the calculation I was making as I spoke...
"P-please wait! Could you reconsider bestowing divine punishment upon Lord Fuudra!?"
A handsome young man—the one called Alvin—knelt before me as he spoke.
Divine punishment—that was overkill.
I thought that, but I noticed the others also seemed wary of me, as if they were afraid.
Because Veldora had shown his true dragon nature.
They probably thought I was the same kind of being. Oh well.
"No, no, nothing as grand as divine punishment..."
"Lord Fuudra is—"
I was about to explain, but before I could, Alvin began speaking earnestly on his own.
His words confirmed what I'd surmised.
The previous emperor, Almusvine, had been stricken with a terminal illness, and Fuudra had been serving as his proxy.
Not wanting to sully the name of the Almusvine he admired, Fuudra had decided to bear all the blame himself.
Well, it was a difficult problem.
The world will end.
Does everyone die together?
Or do a few survive?
When faced with that question, which was the right answer?
A ruler's job was to protect the people.
If you were told you'd abandoned the people you were supposed to protect, it would cast a shadow over all future governance.
And that would become a festering wound, creating an irreparable rift between ruler and ruled.
As scientists, Almusvine and Fuudra had unhesitatingly chosen the path of saving the few.
It was cold, rational thinking.
But it was also a burden too heavy for any person to bear.
—And yet, sacrificial lambs were necessary.
That was why Fuudra had decided to settle everything and entrust hope to Michelle.
"Is this true, brother?"
"Yes, it's true, Michelle."
With that nod in response to Michelle's question, Alvin's account came to an end.
Fuudra hung his head, utterly spent.
I patted Fuudra on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring nod.
Then I turned back to Michelle and said simply: "There's no need to worry. I'm not going to do anything as extreme as divine punishment. I'm simply going to take custody of him so that you can inherit the throne and rule this world."
That was my stated reason—my real motive was snagging a research scientist. But their reaction was different from what I'd expected.
"Oh... You would bestow upon Lord Michelle the right to rule, then..."
"Am... am I suitable for this?"
"Hm? Yeah, I think so?"
Wasn't that the natural progression?
The previous emperor Almusvine's daughter, Michelle, would become the next emperor. That was supposed to be how it worked.
That was all I'd meant, but the reactions were over the top every time.
I started to worry I'd gotten something wrong.
Or had Michelle's brother Alvin decided to become emperor instead?
If so, I was sorry, but that was their problem to work out among themselves.
Me stepping in at all was already a complete case of domestic interference.
I'd said something about recognizing royal authority or whatever, but I had no such power.
"I understand. I swear with my entire being that I will protect and guide this beautiful world that you have restored!"
Michelle knelt and spoke those words.
Really, the drama was laid on thick.
The one who'd done the restoring was Veldora, and the one who'd given them the power to sustain it was Ramiris.
Well, I'd contributed some power too, but those two had done the actual work.
I was going to end up being resented by Veldora and Ramiris for stealing their credit.
"Yeah... do your best, okay? Then I'll be taking him off your hands."
But anyway, I'd managed to sweep most of the mess under the rug.
On top of that, I'd secured a capable individual. I was probably being misunderstood in all sorts of ways, but I'd chalk it up as a win.
As long as the results were good, everything was good!
And since it was a hassle, I saw no reason to go out of my way to clear up the misunderstandings.
After that, I was given a tour of the city, and we discussed the finer points.
I secured an agreement that once things settled down on their end, they would establish a school and accept students I'd send over to learn their technology.
Michelle was completely on board with this and readily agreed.
They asked for a means of communication, so I gave them a communication crystal.
This way, we'd be able to reach each other if anything came up.
Once the school was established and their reception system was in place, they'd contact me.
And so, I successfully concluded my first inter-world negotiation.
◇◇◇ —As an afterword, Almusvine was alive.
After we'd returned to the Monster Nation, Fuudra had dug out the cryogenically preserved "Brain" and told me he wanted to research a treatment.
It turned out that Fuudra had put the terminally ill Almusvine into suspended preservation as a desperate measure to save him.
Using my Recovery
I'll simply say that Ciel was omniscient when it came to medicine as well.
She wouldn't normally have helped, but if it meant she could exchange ideas about the Infinity Equipment, that was a different story—she hadn't said as much, but I could read between the lines.
I decided it was best not to dig any deeper into that matter.
Veldora was satisfied at having been able to go wild for the first time in a while.
Ramiris was the same—and on top of that, she'd gained a capable assistant.
Beretta had his hands full too, but he'd acquired new powers to match. And once the Infinity Equipment was complete, it was slated to be installed on him.
In the end, the trip to another world had become a fun memory for the three of them.
For my part, I'd gathered operational data on the Gate to Another World.
And I was pleased to have made new acquaintances with another civilization, expanding the possibilities ahead.
Looking at the results alone, it was a resounding success.
But I couldn't let my guard down.
That absolutely did not mean I could just let Veldora and the others do whatever they wanted.
Troubling others, and being troubled in return.
This was how our daily life would continue...
◆◆◆ —In later ages, the day would come to be known as the "Day of Rebirth."
Zaza had witnessed it.
That overwhelming presence.
A godlike being from legend and myth.
A dragon.
(Truly... I never imagined it would actually be—the Dragon who commands the storms...)
His body trembled with a mix of shock, terror, and awe.
With a single roar from that dragon, the thick clouds were blown away and sunlight poured down.
With a single beat of its wings, tornadoes formed and storm clouds gathered.
An incarnation of the supernatural—a being worthy of that name.
Zaza looked up at the blue sky, his heart flooded with joy.
"Great Dragon... what terrible discourtesy I have shown—"
Remembering his attitude up until now, Zaza murmured, overcome with shame.
And then he heard it—or thought he heard it— —Quuuaaahahaha! As always, you're far too stiff!
—in his ears, the cheerful, endearing voice of Veldora.
"So that's how it is. I wasn't being myself at all... In the end, I could never beat you. Not once."
Zaza smiled happily as he said this.
He could see children running toward him.
Beyond them was Kalman.
Sharma, Lindou, and his comrades in the Resistance.
Now that this beautiful, magnificent day had arrived, to continue fighting would be an affront to the will of the gods.
That was what Zaza believed.
—And on that day, the Empire and the Resistance signed a lasting peace.
It was a historic moment, but it seemed to pale in comparison to the miracle of a planet reborn.
◆◆◆ Michelle stood speechless, her eyes fixed upon that being.
The mysterious, squishy life-form had transformed into the very embodiment of beauty.
And then, words from the heavens were spoken.
Having saved the world and been entrusted with its governance—Michelle swore an oath.
—I shall lead humanity so that this world is never again sullied— And this became a duty of the Imperial House, passed down through the generations.
It would, in time, become— ...…
……
…
The myths tell of it.
That the embodiment of beauty descended with a dragon and a shrine maiden at her side.
The thriving Empire proclaimed the legitimacy of its rule through the divine right of kings.
Each successive emperor claimed to have been appointed by the gods to govern this world.
However— —Should the gods judge that the emperor's actions lack justice, the prosperity of this world shall once again vanish like a dream— —so it was inscribed upon the stele.
The Imperial House revered the gods to that degree, devoting their very souls to governance in order to fulfill the role bestowed upon them.
The right of rule granted by the gods—a tradition stretching back unbroken from the Day of Rebirth, and a sacred obligation of the Imperial House.
...…
……
…
—And so, the myth was born.
But that is now a story that has nothing to do with Rimuru.
This concludes this installment. See you somewhere next time!