Rimuru Tempest.
Her former name had been Mikami Satoru.
A single man who got a job at a fairly well-known major company, then was unlucky enough to be murdered by a random killer while trying to listen to the romantic troubles of a junior from his college department whom he had been close to since their university days, and was then reincarnated in another world as a slime.
That was the past life of Rimuru Tempest as Adelio remembered it.
'She... was a woman...?'
At least, that had been true until just now.
Adelio had vaguely assumed that, even if there were small differences, the major roots of this other world would be the same as the novel. So when Rimuru's body changed into a female form, he doubted his own eyes.
Most Homunculi reflected the traits of the user's original body, because when someone tried to equip one, it partially read their thoughts.
In other words, Rimuru had recognized her own body as female from the very beginning.
Which meant Rimuru had originally been a woman.
"...Is something wrong?"
Yes.
There was.
A whole lot.
"......"
Suppressing the urge to tell Rimuru that there were far too many strange things about her, Adelio turned his gaze aside, pulled one of the coats from subspace, and handed it to her.
No matter how many things he wanted to ask right this second... he couldn't exactly have a conversation with someone who was naked. That much common sense still functioned.
"......For now... put this on first."
"Huh?"
Rimuru took Adelio's coat with a blank look on her face.
She stared at him for a moment, puzzled by the sudden gift, then noticed that his eyes kept avoiding her body. Her head slowly tilted downward, full of suspicion that something was off.
And then—
"......"
"......Uh..."
"........."
".........Eeeeeeeeeeh?!"
—she let out the highest-pitched scream her lungs could possibly produce.
**
"......"
'......Next time... I'll have to be more careful...'
His ears hurt for the first time in a long while.
Adelio regretted not telling her beforehand that if she used the Homunculus as a body, she would end up naked just like with an ordinary human body.
"......S-sorry... I just suddenly... realized I was naked..."
Beside him, Rimuru sat crouched down in the oversized coat that didn't fit her, trailing off at the end.
It had definitely been enough to shock anyone, but she still seemed to feel guilty about it. Her expression had dimmed slightly, and Adelio shook his head to tell her it was fine.
"You don't need to apologize. It was also my fault for not explaining it properly at the start."
It took about ten minutes before Rimuru finally stopped shrieking and recovered enough reason to talk again.
Fortunately, she quickly realized Adelio hadn't done it on purpose, so the other monsters didn't come rushing over.
"Anyway, how does the body feel? Can you use it freely?"
"Uh... probably?"
Rimuru swung her arms and legs up and down to check. She seemed to like the new body, and the gloom that had covered her face until moments ago began to fade back to normal.
"It's a little smaller than my body from my previous life, but it moves really well. Almost like it's my real body."
One might wonder if it shouldn't have been hard to adjust, considering she had spent the last few months doing nothing but crawling around after reincarnating. But that was possible because [Great Sage] could directly regulate the synchronization between Rimuru and the Homunculus.
"That's a relief. Make good use of it from now on."
There had been an unexpected incident, but in the end, Adelio was satisfied that Rimuru had gained a body, and a faint smile curved his lips.
The fact that Rimuru was a woman was a pretty major shock, but that didn't mean the person Adelio knew as Rimuru Tempest had suddenly become someone with a completely different nature. And this wasn't the right moment to ask about it, either, so he decided to set those questions aside for now.
From here on, he could ask about her previous life whenever the two of them were alone. Besides, what mattered in this world was probably not "Rimuru's previous life," but "the person she was now"—just as what mattered to him was not his own past, but the current Adelio Ruber.
"Yeah, thanks, Adelio!"
Thanks to Adelio's response, Rimuru completely shook off the dark mood. Her sky-blue hair fluttered softly as she smiled brightly in a way that perfectly suited her girlish appearance. Then she rose to her feet and held out her hand toward him.
That pure white, delicate hand, reborn through the Homunculus, was different from the vivid blue hand she had made from a slime's liquid body.
But what it meant was the same.
'......This is...'
The handshake she had shared with Veldora when they first met in the Sealed Cave.
It was that same kind of handshake.
"I'm still not someone amazing enough to repay a gift like this body... but someday, I swear on the name Rimuru Tempest that I'll repay you for this!"
Rimuru's eyes shone brilliantly as she said it.
With a beautiful, dazzling golden light.
"......"
Adelio stared at her blankly for a moment, then smiled as if he found it amusing. At last, he took her hand and spoke.
"I'll look forward to it."
As if to say he would always be waiting.
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