Time passed, and before we knew it, the day had come.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yeees!!!"
Following their guide, Vertis, the children stepped onto the warp portal. The portal flared with light, and in an instant, a deep labyrinth appeared before them.
[The House Where Spirits Live], where Ramiris resided, had been made by Ramiris herself. She possessed a skill that let her create labyrinths, and she spent most of her time shut away inside this one, living like a complete recluse.
Because of that, unless something unusual happened, she almost never showed herself outside the labyrinth. She was practically treated like a rare monster spawn, though of course she had no idea.
The place was filled with traps that muddled one's sense of direction, and the lighting shifted so that paths already taken were swallowed by shadow. Anyone who entered would end up circling the same places as if lost in an endless maze.
But such a maze and such traps were useless against me. Centered on myself, I could detect the terrain, traps, and everything else within my range.
More than that, Rimuru and the children were giving off less of a "we're exploring a labyrinth" mood and more of a "we're on a field trip" mood, and as time passed, their original personalities started to come out more and more.
Then something appeared from deeper inside the labyrinth. I turned, thinking it might be Ericsiller, who served Ramiris, but what stood there was a slime.
"A slime."
"It's a slime."
"Ugh, gross."
"It's just a weakling."
The children all gave their own reactions, but Rimuru recognized that slime. It was one of the many slimes he'd encountered in the Great Forest of Jura.
No one knew how that little thing had drifted all the way here. But Rimuru...
[Rimuru set the slime free. Bye-bye, slime~!]
With a distant look in his eyes, he let the slime go, and the slime bounced away, its body jiggling energetically as ever.
Then, what appeared before us as we continued onward was a humanoid golem made entirely of gold.
It looked like a golden Gundam from head to toe, and children like Kenya's eyes lit up at once. But Ranga and Rimuru immediately took battle stances, worried the children might be in danger. The golem's green glowing eyes swept over the children and Vertis, then it extended a hand and spoke.
"Welcome, Vertis. Please, go on through."
Like a butler, it raised one arm, bowed its head, and indicated the corridor stretching out ahead.
"W-What? Vertis, you've been here before?"
Not just Rimuru, but the other children as well looked like they had plenty they wanted to ask.
"Let's get moving first. We can talk after."
At the end of the long corridor, warm light wrapped around us, and there stood Ramiris to welcome us, along with the fairies who served her.
They were tiny enough to fit in the palm of a hand, and their bodies glowed like fireflies, so people called fairies all sorts of names, like guides of the forest or lights of the spirits.
And among them, one stood out in particular: a fairy with striking blond hair streaked with green and black, as if parts of it had been dyed, wearing a flared dress in colors similar to her hair and an outfit decorated with sparkling frills. She was Ramiris of the Labyrinth, known both as the spirit queen and a demon lord.
"It's been a while, Ramiris."
"Oh! Long time no see, Ves."
Shizu called me Betty. Milim called me Ver. And Ramiris called me Ves.
Then, while looking over the children behind me one by one, she spotted Rimuru, with his silver hair and mask, and said, "Huh? Aren't you the slime who founded the nation called Tempest—"
"Wait."
Rimuru cut her off. The only ones who knew his true identity were Kaval, Eren, Gido, Shizu, and Yuuki. If the children found out he was actually a monster, they might be deeply shocked, so until they had time to come to terms with it, he wanted to remain just an ordinary teacher.
An ordinary teacher. Right.
"A mysterious masked beauty who appeared out of nowhere, has an unknown past and overwhelming abilities, and may have the body of a child but the heart of an adult—"
"That setting feels a little overdone."
"Wow! Cute cute cute!!"
Apparently taken completely by the fairies, Elise grabbed one and shook it violently from side to side. The poor fairy screamed, and there was even a crack that sounded like something had snapped.
"Wait, Elise. You're hurting the fairy."
Only after Shizu stepped in was the fairy freed from Elise's grasp. By then it was utterly exhausted, and it only came back to its senses after receiving a simple healing spell.
"I was going to stay quiet, but I guess I can't with you lot. Didn't you come here to talk about something serious?"
As she said that, Ramiris pulled out a contract.
"Verbal agreements are no good. Three meals a day and snacks are the minimum contract terms. And since I'm rare, I should get triple that."
"Come on, that's too much."
"That'd wipe out a teacher's salary."
"Sorry, but that's not why we came."
Only after that little commotion died down were we finally able to return to the serious matter at hand.
"Hmm. So, to sum it up, you came all the way here to calm the enormous magicules inside the children, right?"
"More or less."
"But if that's the problem, you could solve it yourself, couldn't you? Why come all the way here?"
As Ramiris said, it would have been easy enough with Uranus and Astral Snatcher, which could interfere with the mind and soul. But the reason Vertis hadn't done that was...
"Chloe? Why that child?"
"That girl has poor compatibility with every spirit."
Every person has an elemental affinity that suits them. For example, if someone with a strong affinity for fire uses fire magic, its power is doubled. But if they use magic poorly matched to them, the efficiency drops and the power is cut in half.
Because of that, people normally form contracts with spirits that match their aptitude. But strangely, Chloe had no aptitude for any elemental spirit at all. Poor compatibility was one thing, but having no aptitude whatsoever should have been impossible. To be precise, it almost felt as if something were artificially blocking it.
And yet, even so, the power of her water magic was extraordinary. Calling her a genius didn't quite fit. There was something about the girl that felt deeply out of place.
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