Rimuru and Shizu chatted happily, quickly growing close to one another.
"Miss Shizu, you work as a teacher? That’s amazing!"
"Not at all. To me, a slime who built a monster village like this is far more impressive."
At Shizu’s smiling words, Rimuru trembled with delight, then suddenly reacted as if a brilliant idea had struck him.
*That’s right! Great Sage? Could you show Miss Shizu my memories through thought transmission?*
[Notice. It is possible. Would you like to connect thought transmission to the individual named Izawa Shizue? YES / NO]
When Rimuru answered YES, images began to flow into Shizu’s mind.
"What is this?"
"It’s a scene from Japan in my memories..."
Just as Rimuru was about to explain, a room began to materialize before their eyes. It was a plain but neatly kept room, though the doll sitting on the bed looked strangely out of place.
It was the room Rimuru had lived in during his previous life. "Waaah! No, no! Not this one!"
"It seems like a very tidy room, though?"
Rimuru panicked and quickly switched the image. No matter how clean the room was, showing his private space—especially a room that looked like a woman's—was embarrassing in every possible way. Furthermore, he definitely didn't want her to see that mismatched doll.
What Rimuru showed next was a ruined town and the people working tirelessly to restore the streets.
The village that had once been engulfed in flames was gradually being transformed into something beautiful through the efforts of countless people, with color and vitality slowly returning to the landscape.
"This is..."
"I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but these are the people working to rebuild the town after the war."
"It’s beautiful."
Shizu was captivated by the images. She had never imagined that such beautiful streets could emerge from the aftermath of that terrifying aerial bombardment.
"Someday, we’ll develop our village into something just as wonderful! So I hope you’ll think of this place as your second home and come visit anytime, Miss Shizu!"
At Rimuru’s words, just as Shizu’s joy was welling up, Rigurd cautiously entered the tent.
"Um, Lord Rimuru. Another guest has arrived."
"Another guest?"
****
To see the slime named Rimuru with my own eyes, I went down in disguise. Since showing up unannounced might startle them, I politely waited at the entrance of the village for someone to approach.
"And you are?"
A burly, muscle-bound macho goblin spoke to me, and I replied,
"I was passing by and saw the village. Would it be all right if I rested here for a moment?"
At my words, the goblin bared his gums in a wide grin and shouted,
"Of course! Please, make yourself at home. Ah, and my name is Rigurd!"
From his imposing build alone, it was obvious that this goblin named Rigurd had evolved into a hobgoblin; he was indeed a Named Monster.
But that wasn’t the only surprise. Not only did he speak the human tongue fluently, but every single inhabitant of the village was a Named Monster. It was likely that the slime, Rimuru, had named them, but had he really given names to all these goblins—more than five hundred of them, by my rough estimate?
And the inhabitants were not limited to hobgoblins. I spotted many members of the Arang subrace as well.
"What an impressive city."
Looking at the settlement built by monsters, I murmured to myself. It still seemed to be under construction, but once complete, it would surely become a beautiful city.
It was a village as alien as my own city, and yet I could tell even more clearly that the leader of these monsters was an otherworlder like me.
Led by the goblins, I waited for a while in a temporary tent. Soon after, the slime I had only known through my subordinate’s testimony and images appeared before me—the master of the hobgoblins and the Arang.
"Ah, hello. My name is Rimuru Tempest. I’m not a bad slime."
Seeing that Rimuru looked somewhat intimidated, I gave a pseudonym instead of my real name. To help ease his tension, I revealed that I too was a reincarnator from another world.
Once he realized we were in the same situation, Rimuru quickly opened up, and we talked about various things. He was from the same country as Shizu, and like me, he had reincarnated as a nonhuman being. Feeling a sense of kinship through these shared circumstances, I found it easy to grow close to him.
The real reason I had come to see this child named Rimuru was twofold: I wanted to see him with my own eyes, and I wanted to thank him for saving Shizu.
"Thank you for helping that girl."
"I-it’s nothing, really. She just looked like she was in danger..."
"Still, the fact remains that you helped her, so I want to repay you. Is there anything you’ve always wanted to achieve?"
When I asked with a smile, Rimuru looked completely flustered.
Was that too forward? Perhaps it was wrong to suddenly show up and ask what his deepest desires were.
As I scratched my cheek, Rimuru seemed to hit upon a great idea; his eyes sparkled as he exclaimed,
"I want to have a sense of taste!!"
"A sense of taste?"
At my words, Rimuru nodded emphatically.
"Yeah! Slimes don't have taste buds, so since coming to this world, I’ve never actually tasted delicious food."
Slimes were originally mindless monsters that moved via magicules. Naturally, they possessed no sense of taste or similar sensory organs.
In other words, he wanted to see, feel, and taste the world just like a human. If that was the case...
"Rimuru. Do you perhaps... want a human form?"
At my suggestion, Rimuru’s eyes lit up.
"Yes! I really want one!"
"Then could you fill this out?"
With those words, I handed Rimuru a sheet of paper and a quill. The paper was filled with various questions.
"If you fill out this questionnaire, I’ll customize a human body for you based on your answers."
Customization—a term from games where a player creates the appearance, clothing, and other elements of their character.
I thought it would be more sincere to create a form based on Rimuru’s own wishes rather than tailoring it to my own tastes.
However, after receiving the paper, Rimuru looked completely at a loss.
"Um... I mean, anything is fine, really..."
"Really? Then do you have a general preference? Your past-life appearance would be fine, or perhaps an elf..."
At the prospect that I could create any appearance he desired, Rimuru pondered for a moment.
*Should I go with an elf?... No, I do like them, but I think I’d still rather be human...*
After agonizing over it for a long while, Rimuru followed the Great Sage’s advice: that the best choice would be to transform into the most beautiful woman he had seen so far. Without a shred of doubt, Rimuru trusted his skill's guidance.
And the most beautiful woman Rimuru had ever seen was none other than Shizu.
"Hmm... Are you sure about that? This is something you've wanted so badly; shouldn’t you be a bit more careful?"
I was being sincere. The human form I had struggled to obtain no longer retained a single trace of my former self, which had left me with a lingering sense of regret. I urged Rimuru to reconsider giving up his past-life appearance, but he seemed to have already made up his mind.
"Is that so? Then wait a moment."
I released magicules from my hand to create a clone, then reshaped it, kneading it like clay until it took Shizu’s form. Since Rimuru could simply use Predator to consume this body to achieve the transformation, the physical shape was the only thing that mattered.
I meticulously crafted everything—the face, the eyes, the shape of the nose, the size of the chest, the waist, and the hips—until it was eerily identical to Shizu. It lacked a soul, but outwardly, it was a perfect replica.
All that remained was for Rimuru to devour this vessel, but then, a problem arose.
Ifrit, who had been possessing Shizu’s body, seized the opportunity to separate from her. I didn't know how it had managed to escape, but weakened after being struck by the water spirit, Ifrit was desperately searching for a new vessel to possess.
A spiritual lifeform like Ifrit would disperse and vanish if it remained in the material world too long without a physical body.
It needed a vessel to maintain its existence. And what Ifrit found was the body I had just created. Without a moment's hesitation, Ifrit seized the vessel.
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