A new morning has arrived!
That nostalgic phrase echoed in his mind.
The pleasant sensation of waking up — something he hadn't felt in ages.
He hadn't needed to sleep since long ago, so this was his first such experience since reincarnating in this world.
Rising and taking stock of his surroundings, he could see everyone bustling about with preparations for the festival. Just extending his senses, he could feel a surging strength pulsing through the monsters moving about town.
It seemed his evolution had allowed everyone else to grow as well.
"Oh! Lord Rimuru, you're awake!"
A familiar voice. And a familiar sensation against his back.
Soft, warm — two hills enveloping him.
The evolution into a Demon Lord had apparently completed successfully, but his slime form hadn't undergone any major changes. If anything, he looked somewhat silvery-white or golden at times.
Could this be… a Gold Slime? He got the impression he could move at the speed of light. In reality, that probably wasn't possible, but there was an air of refinement about it — the feel of the highest-tier slime species.
Mmm. This feels wonderful.
But thank goodness. Just as he'd calculated, his evolution's power had successfully resurrected them all. Becoming a Demon Lord had been worth it after all.
Not just Shion — everyone who had been killed by the Blood Shadow Berserkers had been successfully resurrected.
They'd made him worry with talk of a success rate on par with the digits of pi, but everyone coming back was a welcome miscalculation.
Well, even the Great Sage made mistakes. Pleasant ones like this were more than welcome.
He rejoiced in Shion's return and savored the feeling of her chest — a truly elegant moment.
But that bliss was interrupted— "Oh, Lord Rimuru, you're awake! But I can't feel at ease until I confirm you still have your rationality intact, right? You remember the password, don't you? Then allow me to verify. 'Shion's cooking is?' — Please answer!"
Of course he remembered. "Utterly disgusting," obviously. What a worrywart.
He was about to give the password when a terrible realization hit him.
Wait — he was currently being held by Shion.
If he answered "utterly disgusting," what would happen…?
A horrifying image painted itself in his mind. She might crush him in her fury!
Damn it! He'd been set up! This was a trap worthy of Zhuge Liang!
What should he do? Was there no way out?
Wait — he knew!
The Great Sage would surely prepare a brilliant answer!
He went to activate the Great Sage and realized it was gone.
Wh…at? The…Great Sage?!
<<Notification. The Unique Skill "Great Sage" has evolved into the Ultimate Ability "King of Wisdom." As a result, it has been erased and is no longer usable.>> Oh… So his abilities had evolved too.
King of Wisdom, huh? A power bearing the name of an angel — that sounded impressive.
But that could wait. Right now, he needed to figure out how to navigate this crisis.
All right, then — King of Wisdom, give me a brilliant answer to throw Shion off!
<<Analysis. Based on computational results, no matching answer was found.>> USELESS!!!
The Great Sage had been equally unhelpful in situations like this, and it seemed the King of Wisdom had faithfully inherited that particular design philosophy.
Really, the name sounded impressive and nothing more — it didn't seem like much of an evolution at all.
That was the conclusion he'd reached in less than a second of thought.
"Hm? What about my cooking?"
"Hey — Benimaru's saying he wants to try your cooking again after so long. He wants to see the results of all your hard work. Why not happily make some for him? Needless to say, I don't need any!"
Benimaru had just said something outrageous. And to top it off, he'd preemptively distanced himself from the fallout. What a bastard!
Look here — you've ruined what was supposed to be a pleasant awakening! I could end up falling into an eternal slumber before I've even properly woken up!
Shion accepted Benimaru's proposal with a vigorous nod — "exactly my thoughts!" — and took off at full speed.
The feeling of dread was overwhelming.
"What are you going to do about this!? In that situation, how could I possibly say 'utterly disgusting'!? You set me up, Benimaru!"
"Hahaha, I have no idea what you're talking about. But hey, just eat it again after all this time, right? I've been taste-testing for so long that I've actually developed a 'Poison Resistance' skill lately…"
Benimaru gazed into the distance with a look of enlightened resignation as he murmured those words.
Wait — Poison Resistance…?
Isn't that basically admitting her cooking is on par with poison!?
What a disaster. Barely awake and already thrust into a crisis.
Even when you overcome one danger, another one comes along, doesn't it?
The resurrected ones came to greet him one by one. Their aura had shifted somewhat, but their personalities seemed identical to how they'd been in life. No memory loss, and their souls seemed firmly anchored.
However, they had all apparently acquired the Extra Skill "Perfect Memory."
"Now I can come back no matter how many times I die!" they said — comments that could be taken as either jokes or deadly serious.
Extra Skill "Perfect Memory" — it was apparently the ability to retain memories even at the soul level. A skill that should be impossible, unique to spiritual life forms. That must have been the blessing that came with his evolution. Thanks to it, they'd all been resurrected. A joyous occasion indeed.
After exchanging greetings, everyone headed back to their festival preparations. The townspeople had received some sort of blessing as well, but he decided to let them enjoy the festival for now.
That said, he wished they'd stop seriously debating names like "Demon Lord Birth Festival" or "Lord Rimuru Worship Society." Those sounded like jokes.
Oh well. One day of unguarded enjoyment couldn't hurt. He said that to himself, though he felt like he was already getting caught up in the festive spirit.
Japanese people loved festivals. Give them any excuse and they'd celebrate. Like a middle-aged guy who could conjure up any pretext to organize a drinking party.
He'd offered to help with preparations but was politely turned away — they said it would be presumptuous. Fair enough. He wasn't particularly good at festival prep anyway, so he decided to take it easy.
That was when an unfamiliar figure approached him.
"I see you have awakened. That is wonderful news. I offer my heartfelt congratulations on your successful evolution into a Demon Lord."
The figure bowed deeply.
Who was this? At a glance, he seemed to be a high-ranking demon, but Rimuru had never seen him before.
"Regarding the matter I mentioned previously — my wish to join you as your subordinate… Have you had a chance to consider it?"
Join him as a subordinate?
Let's see — one or two of the Arch Demons he'd summoned had said something like that…
But this guy in front of him was clearly a far more powerful existence than those. Back then he'd been too drowsy to see clearly, but could this actually be one of those he'd summoned?
"Are you one of the ones I summoned using soldier corpses as offerings?"
"That is correct. I was most grateful for the offering. Thanks to it, I was able to successfully incarnate."
"…Ah, I see. Glad to hear it."
What had happened to the other two?
<<Analysis. When the Secret Art of Resurrection was invoked, the Magicule count was insufficient. Accordingly, I granted their wish to contribute to the shortfall and consumed them to compensate.>> What?!
The King of Wisdom casually dropped something terrifying. Even more heartless than the Great Sage — a difference in class, it seemed. He'd thought it was useless just a moment ago, but it had actually been working behind the scenes all along.
Sorry for thinking you were useless.
Still, he couldn't just abandon this demon who had gone so far as to offer up his own kind to help him.
"All right, understood. From today onward, you're one of us. What's your name?"
"Ohh! Thank you most graciously! I am but a nameless demon."
Hmm? He looked like a high-ranking being but had no name?
No choice but to follow the usual procedure — give him a name.
But what would be appropriate?
The image of a demon he knew. Ah, of course — the one who became humanity's ally. That one.
Would naming him that cause copyright issues? Well, this was a different world from his previous life, so probably no complaints would come.
Oh well.
"Fine then. I'll give you a name — is that acceptable?"
"That is the greatest reward of all!!!"
The handsome-faced demon twisted his features into an ecstatic grin.
He really did seem to attract monsters, didn't he? He was starting to accept it.
He might as well go with his Super Cars series names.
Let's see…
"Your name is
The moment he bestowed the name, a massive chunk of his Magicules was drained away.
He was used to this by now. Though wait — only about half had been taken. He'd been worried it would be even more, since the demon seemed to be a high-ranking one.
Last time he'd named
<<Notification. The individual named Diablo was formerly an Arch Demon General. Master, your Magicule count has increased dramatically due to your evolution. For comparison, it is more than ten times what it was prior to evolution. For reference.>> O-oh.
So Raphael felt like giving casual advice now… But more importantly, he'd just said something he couldn't ignore.
His Magicules and magic power having increased tenfold was genuinely welcome, but to have half of that enormous amount drained away in one go?!
This had "I've made a huge mistake" written all over it.
He felt like he was evolving into something monstrous.
The demon before him was crouching, motionless. A black cocoon enveloped his body, fully prepared for evolution.
He really was something else. You can't fix stupid, even in death — might as well give up on that front.
If this demon goes on a rampage, he'd just have to stop him himself. That was how he decided to frame it.
The evolution didn't seem like it would finish anytime soon, so he left Diablo to it.
From now on, he'd be more careful with naming!
He made that vow, though he doubted he'd keep it.
Pushing Diablo out of his mind, he turned to observe the festival preparations.
While everyone was in high spirits, he was waiting with mounting dread for Shion's cooking to be ready…
And it was finally done.
That terrifying… Shion's home cooking.
Shion came bearing the dish (?) with a radiant smile.
The time had come. It had come.
He eyed the steaming concoction— "Wait — wait a minute! What is this? What the heck is this!?"
This was not food. He refused to recognize this as food.
Was it supposed to be some kind of stew? A pot filled with random things? Is that what she was going for?
Look — the very fact that it could be questioned as "what is this?" meant something was fundamentally wrong.
"Hey! Shion, hold on. I need to ask you something. Do you know the word 'cooking'?"
"Of course I do, Lord Rimuru! Well? Doesn't it look delicious?"
"You fool! You absolute idiot!
Why are whole carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and other vegetables just… floating in there, completely intact?!
Just looking at it, I can't even tell them apart! You're supposed to peel them, chop them — there are things you have to do!"
He screamed from the depths of his soul.
Then he turned to Benimaru— "What's the deal? She hasn't improved at all, has she?"
Benimaru, brushing off the accusation with an airy expression, replied: "Nope, not possible for me. I hit a wall. The wall called 'limit.' I used to think nothing was impossible as a kid, but this was my first taste of true defeat."
What limit? What wall? Give me a break.
I'm the one who has to eat it…
Glancing over at Shion, she was on the verge of tears, lip trembling.
Fine then. He'd face it with the heart of an enlightened monk, treating it as training…
"I understand. I'll eat it. But next time, at least process the ingredients a little first."
"Well, you see, every time I try to process them, I end up cutting through the entire building…"
"Huh?"
"It's just that this 'Gorikimaru' has incredible sharpness, but it's a bit long…"
She pointed to the great blade strapped to her back.
She was going to use that to cook? No — she had been trying to?
He looked at Benimaru, who raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
What an unreliable man. Rimuru's opinion of Benimaru plummeted.
"A sword is not a cooking utensil. Got it? They have things called knives, you know?"
"Well, I'm a 'Gorikimaru' loyalist. I can't really be unfaithful…"
"Ah, okay. I was thinking of gifting you a kitchen knife next time, but I guess you don't need one."
"I was wrong! 'Gorikimaru' says a little unfaithfulness is perfectly fine!"
"Right… Next time I'll give you a kitchen knife, and you use that for cooking, got it?"
What a convenient person. Oh well. At least it was better than having whole vegetables come out.
Eating nothing but food like this — well, he couldn't even call it food — but eating this regularly, it made sense that one would develop a Poison Resistance.
This time it was his turn…
Oh well. He'd evolved into a Demon Lord. A meal couldn't kill him.
He shifted into human form and sat down to eat.
Steel himself, close his eyes, and bring something utterly unidentifiable to his mouth.
He tried to swallow without chewing… and then noticed something strange.
It was incredibly delicious.
Wh— What!? The taste was nothing like what the appearance suggested.
He opened his eyes wide and carefully, cautiously brought the next ingredient to his mouth.
It was good…
Benimaru was watching him as though in prayer, his eyes asking "Are you okay?"
Which meant when Benimaru had been the test subject, it really had tasted terrible.
He glanced at Shion, who was striking a triumphant "Nailed it!" pose.
He was slightly irritated.
"Shion, what's going on…? Why does it taste so incredible despite looking like that?"
"Hehehe. Actually, you see…"
Shion explained, and — to his surprise — during the evolution, when she'd been told to visualize her deepest wish, she'd wished for one thing: to become better at cooking.
He doubted anyone else had made a request like that in exchange for the blessing of his evolution.
What was going on in that head of hers?
Exasperating, but utterly, quintessentially Shion.
"Hehe. So, this is the skill I obtained! It's called — Unique Skill 'Cook'!"
He was so exasperated he was speechless.
She'd obtained a Unique Skill through sheer obsessive devotion to cooking? How intensely had she prayed for that?
From what he heard, it was an outrageous skill that guaranteed any dish she prepared would taste amazing no matter what she did.
When
Shion probably was putting in the effort, but she'd completely missed the mark on the approach.
But that was what made her Shion.
The day carried on directly into the festival, and the night arrived amid great revelry. The somber atmosphere of recent days had been swept away, and everyone was enjoying themselves with bright smiles.
Youm, Elen, and the others joined the festival too, spending a pleasant time.
Starting tomorrow, there would be all sorts of loose ends to tie up, and they'd need to think about the future.
But for now — for this moment — it was okay to enjoy themselves.
That was how they chose to live.