Day Five of Reincarnation as Rimuru

The slime’s dream of idling away life in comfort and doing nothing had been ruthlessly shattered by harsh reality. If even Morax’s people lived so tightly straitened, how could he have the nerve to eat and drink for free with such righteous confidence?

Losing all will to live, Rimuru collapsed into a miserable heap, the resentment pouring off him so thickly that Morax kept glancing his way.

“This is the village my people and I built together in the mountains of Tianheng—Shanhui Fort. Mm… why have you suddenly become so listless?”

Morax stopped his explanation, his expression puzzled.

Had he offended this temperamental slime somewhere along the way?

Rimuru did not even notice that the tribe Morax spoke of was not Liyue. He only waved a limp tentacle and muttered, half dead, “N-nothing…”

Nothing, my foot.

Even in his former life, he had merely been a poor ordinary person, but at least he had enjoyed decades of technological convenience. Now, after abruptly arriving in another world, he had to face a village life scarcely different from that of a primitive tribe. To Rimuru, this was nothing short of a nightmare.

“Speaking of which, Morax, since you’re already a god, why can’t you build sturdy big houses for them to live in? Wouldn’t that be safer?”

Since Morax did not wish to disturb his people while they worked hard, they did not descend openly. Instead, they hovered high in the air, letting the slime take a look at the place where he would live in the future.

So when Rimuru lowered his head to look, his gaze was immediately caught by the crude thatched huts below.

Just how crude were they?

Well… to put it this way: if Rimuru had not seen people coming and going from those huts, he might have thought they were stables for cattle, or pigpens.

It made the slime feel terribly sorrowful.

Surely his own future home would not be like that too!

“It seems you have a serious misunderstanding of the gods of this world.”

Morax’s suddenly cool voice cut off Rimuru’s complaints.

After hearing Rimuru’s question, Morax also lowered his eyes toward the camp below. The warmth that had lingered in his gaze only moments ago gradually hardened, like rock in the mountains.

“Gods are not synonymous with omnipotence. Humans are fragile, but they are also intelligent and industrious enough. I have already given them safe homes and abundant mineral resources, and when they are lost, I will guide them toward the right path. But as for the rest, they must still seize it with their own hands.”

The Geo Archon, born among the mountains, was not the sort of doting parent who spoiled his children. He would not, like some other gods, personally raise his people with endless fuss and care.

Rimuru’s slime body jolted at Morax’s almost merciless words.

“Wait, that’s just leaving them to fend for themselves! Aren’t they your people?!”

The slime voiced his opinion, staring at him with a look that was almost accusatory.

Damn it, it must be because Morax had left them to their own devices that he did not get to live in a luxurious big house!

The slime was shifting blame with reckless abandon.

The person being blamed did not care in the least about Rimuru’s accusation, and only said coolly, “Humans are not pets. I do not think I should govern them as though they were.”

“Uh…”

Though that did make sense, the real reason their lives were so crude was probably still because Morax was good at fighting but not very skilled at building, right?

Otherwise, why would people living in the mountains still reside in such simple thatched huts, with some even living in caves?

The wind in the mountains was so strong—wouldn’t the roofs of those thatched huts get blown away all the time?

At the very least, they could put up wooden roofs or build stone houses directly. Even at the worst, that had to be better than living in thatched huts, right?

No, Rimuru, you can’t let Morax the straight-laced man lead you by the nose. Use your clever brain and think of something!

[Begin scanning… scanning complete.]

[Alert. According to calculations, there are more than 3,600 ways to improve the lives of the humans here. Execute?]

As expected of Teacher Raphael!!

Rimuru was delighted at first, but in the next instant he sagged again.

‘Sigh, no good, Teacher Raphael. Morax is a stubborn rock-headed sort, and I’m just a monster who has only just arrived. We may have signed a contract, but interfering in the construction of his territory the moment I get here would just make it obvious I’m trying to seize power, wouldn’t it?’

It’s not like he was bored enough to go courting death.

The round, bouncy slime shrank into a little ball, frowning as he thought hard for a long while. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and a small blue exclamation point sprang up swiftly from his highly malleable body.

“Morax, what about your friends?” Rimuru looked at him expectantly. “You must have some, right?”

Yes, if he could not talk Morax around, that did not mean the other adepti could not!

He vaguely remembered that, back when he had watched fan-made videos, those adepti had been very kind to humans.

Especially the one most often referred to in those videos as “that woman,” who could almost be called the archetypal example of someone sharp-tongued yet soft-hearted.

For a thousand years, they had diligently guarded Liyue and its people. Even after Morax’s feigned death, when the Seven Stars were eager to seize power and failed to give the adepti a proper explanation in time, the adepti still did not fall out with them outright. In the end, they even joined the Traveler in protecting Liyue once more.

Well… though the one who ultimately defeated that blue five-headed serpent was the falling jade from the heavens.

Meanwhile, Morax, who had abruptly heard Rimuru’s question, was momentarily stunned.

Friends?

The word seemed rather unfamiliar to Morax, who was accustomed to walking alone. He had his people, his enemies, and the adepti who wished to follow him—but friends… he supposed he had none.

After thinking for a long time and confirming that he indeed had no friends, the rock-headed god shook his head and answered honestly, “No.”

“What? How can you not have any!!”

Rimuru, whose plan had been foiled once again, completely broke down.

The slime’s overly agitated reaction drew Morax’s attention. His gaze paused, and he lowered his head to look at Rimuru. “You seem very puzzled as to why I have no friends. Why is that?”

We’re all gods here, and all potential rivals. Isn’t it normal not to have friends?

“Hahaha…”

The slime’s eyes darted away. Oh no, had he made himself suspicious?!

No, no, he needed to think of something to smooth this over.

Right!

Rimuru quickly hit upon an idea. He straightened with righteous confidence, his earlier guilty look gone as he met those sharp golden-orange eyes again. Then he pouted and pretended to be wounded.

“Who says you don’t have any friends? Aren’t I your friend? That’s so mean, Morax. I’m heartbroken, boo-hoo!”

His voice rose and fell with feeling, and even the fake sobs at the end were so rich with emotion that Morax, who had already seen through the slime’s attempt to dodge the question, believed him for a brief moment.

It had to be said that Rimuru’s acting was poor, but his tongue really was sharp.

Morax did not answer at once. He simply stared at Rimuru for a while, long enough to make the slime break out in a cold sweat, before slowly nodding.

“You are right. We are friends.”

Having such an energetic friend by his side might not be bad at all.

Rimuru let out a long, hard sigh of relief. With the crisis resolved, he remembered the dilapidated houses of Morax’s people and, unwilling to give up, asked again:

“Even if you don’t have any other friends, you’ve lived so long. Surely you must know some people… no, some adepti?”

The adepti were different from the other beasts and monsters. They were noble in character and loved peace. After their birth, they had secluded themselves in the mountains of Aozang, cultivating and supporting one another. Apart from the progenitor of the adepti, none of the others had ever emerged into the world. How did Rimuru know the adepti existed?

Thinking of this, Morax cast him a meaningful glance. “Indeed, I do know some adepti.”

Rimuru’s eyes lit up. “They didn’t come with you to Tianheng to protect the humans?”

They must have, right?

Mentioning this, even Morax found himself somewhat troubled.

“You are correct.”

The Geo Archon, who had already entered the depths of Tianheng and once again drawn up his white hood to conceal his face, lifted a hand to stroke his chin. “The adepti who chose to follow me have always wished to come down from the mountain to Tianheng and help me govern my people, but I dissuaded them all.”

He did not wish to drag them into that dreadful abyss called war.

Morax was keenly perceptive. Before war had even begun, he had already caught the scent of the smoke that would herald the onset of the Archon War.

Rimuru was somewhat confused. “Huh? Why? Wouldn’t it be good to have subordinates handling the rear for you? Otherwise, no matter how powerful a god you are, it’s impossible to attend to everything perfectly, isn’t it?”

For example, what if another god came to pin Morax down, then sent his subordinates to circle around and ambush Shanhui Fort from behind?

Wouldn’t Morax’s people be wiped out in one fell swoop?

What Rimuru said happened to be exactly what Xianyun and the others felt. Morax frowned beneath his hood; by the look of it, he seemed persuaded.

Seeing this, Rimuru seized the opportunity and pressed his advantage. “You’ve already decided to protect humanity, so you can’t keep acting like a one-man army. Besides, you can’t keep refusing them forever. That’ll break the hearts of the adepti who only want to lend you a hand!”

Although some of Rimuru’s wording was completely incomprehensible to Morax, he somehow managed to infer the slime’s meaning from the context.

Rimuru was right. Since he had already chosen to wade into this muddy water, any weakness would be a solid blade thrust into his back.

Perhaps he should also begin thinking about the arrangements to come.

Once he had understood this, Morax seemed to set down a burden weighing a thousand catties. A faint smile touched the corners of his lips as he looked at the slime.

“Thank you, my friend.”

“!!”

Ah—had he heard that right? This rock-headed man had just thanked him??

Seeing Morax’s magnificent face smiling down at him, the originally blue slime instantly turned red, steam practically rising from the top of his head.

Morax, however, remained entirely unaware that Rimuru had turned red on his own account.

He let the slight smile fade and went on, “Would you like to go down and have a look? Though I rarely draw close to my people, I do know a little about how they have been faring.”

“O-okay… yes, sure.”

Rimuru was so dizzy he had no idea what he was saying, and agreed in a daze.

He did not know what Morax had done, but by the time Rimuru recovered his senses from that face that struck straight at his tastes, he was already surrounded by a group of little brats.

Rimuru: “???”

Huh?

Why was he the only slime left here?

Had Morax left him to fend for himself too?