(3k chap, and I didn't even get to write all of the things I wanted in it. This chap got delayed since I was working on a special collab crossover for the Multiverse of Madness after the story is technically over. Though who knows, it might turn into a volume 2 sort of thing. I am having a lot of fun writing right now.
Look forward to the crossover chap. It is 8k words long. Though I won't be able to post it for some time. Gotta get to the multiverse part first. If there are some mistakes it is because it's 3 am and I am tired. Goodnight.)
Tempest had suddenly fallen into Chaos. The once pleasant streets were flooded with people moving left and right all over the place. However, instead of panic, the faces of the people were filled with joy.
Moving here and there they were beginning to decorate the streets. And with a scary amount of coordination they were working two times faster than normal. And even with all of the excitement in the air, there were a few groups among the citizens that were in even greater celebration.
The ogres and kijin, whose population had grown dramatically whether by birth or the evolution of goblins, were having their own celebration. Among which their former leader, Momomaru, was crying with tears of joy and drunkenly cheering next to their general, Benimaru.
"My daughter is finally getting married! And to none other than the savior of our tribe and our leader Lord Rimuru!"
Cheers were heard from all the ones present. Even though Momomaru had passed his leadership role to Benimaru, most of the ones present still held great respect for him. So when he called this meeting they had all gathered together to celebrate.
"Not only is my pride and joy Shuna engaged to Lord Rimuru. But Shion, one of the greatest Kijin warriors to ever live, is also engaged to Lord Rimuru! Tonight we are celebrating the success of not only our own race but the success of the entire Tempest Empire."
Another round of extremely loud cheers was heard before Momomaru said his final words.
"Let us do one final round of drinks before we get to work. To show our loyalty to Lord Rimuru we must make sure that the wedding day turns out perfect."
The spirits were high as the ogre and kijin began to prepare for work.
Benimaru was standing off to the side with a bit of a smirk.
"You know, I don't remember you celebrating this much when I got married." he said with a bit of a teasing tone.
Momomaru simply wrapped one of his arms around Benimaru in a side hug before messing his hair up.
"You! You went off and when you came back you were already pretty much married! Didn't even invite your old man to the wedding! You are lucky I didn't fall over from the shock when you came back with a wife." Momomaru said as he squeezed Benimaru with his arm.
Benimaru just chuckled as he heard his father.
"Want me to give you some news that will make you fall over then? You'd be the first to know." Benimaru said as he began to smile widely.
"Wait… is it…?" Momomaru's eyes lit up.
"Momiji is pregnant. So you are going to be a grandpa."Benimaru said. And as soon as he spoke he was pulled into a tight hug by his father.
"I wish your mother was here. She would have loved to see everything that happened." Momomaru said as he squeezed as hard as he could.
Benimaru didn't say anything as he pat his father back.
"I swear, it feels like both of you were just kids a few months ago. I remember when you could hardly pick up a sword, and when Shuna would just hide behind your back and follow you all over the place. Now, look at you. You can kick my ass 20 times over before I even get the chance to unsheath my weapon. And Shuna could turn me into dust with her magic before I could even blink." Momomaru said as he broke the hug and patted his shoulders while laughing slightly.
Benimaru could only smile warmly at his father's words.
"Oh, I am not so sure about that… I bet I could probably beat you 40 times over before you pull out your sword." Benimaru said as he began laughing along with his father.
—---
"I, Gabiru, do declare. We will make sure that my sister's wedding becomes as awesome as I am!" Gabiru yelled out loud as he spread his arms onto the sky
"Soo cool Gabiru-sama!"
"Sasuga Gabiru-Sama!"
The crew of Dragonewts that followed Gabiru began to sing his praises while clapping.
"I, Gabiru, will personally make sure that my sister is- *Bonk*" Gabiru was prepared to begin a new round of speeches before he got bonked in the head by his father.
"Gabiru, don't go making this about yourself. This is the preparation for your sister's big day. If you ruin it I will ban you from ever setting foot in our homeland."
"Eh- father. I have no idea what you are talking about. I was about to make preparations to head out into Tempest City to help with the preparations with everyone." Gabiru said as he rubbed his head.
But his father only looked at him with a poker face.
"Don't worry father. I, Gabiru, will make sure to leave everyone impressed with how well we can put up decorations" He said as he began to stand proudly once again and just as he was about to raise his arms.
*Bonk*
"Ouch what was that for?"
"Sorry, my arm moved on its own..." Gabiru's father said as he passed the spear in his hand to one of his assistants.
"Go out there and make sure not to cause too much trouble. Ok?"
As Gabiru walked away Abiru heard the sudden chanting of "Gabiru, Gabiru" in the distance and could only sigh to himself.
Turning around he asked his assistant.
"Has a date been set for the wedding?"
Scratching his cheek he answered.
"Not yet. The moment news of Lord Rimuru's engagement broke out all of Tempest began to move at once. So we don't really have much information other than who he is engaged to."
"Isn't everything moving too fast then?" Abiru asked
"Well… Tempest had been waiting for the day Lord Rimuru got married. So it was all already planned out to surprise him."
Abiru began to laugh to himself before nodding with a proud smile.
'Souka, it feels like it is too soon for you to get taken away.'
"Begin preparations for me to leave. I cannot miss my daughter's wedding."
—---
Inside a small house in a part of the forest, a small letter was being opened.
"Hey there, mom and dad, it has been a while hasn't it?
I am sorry I ran off as I did, but I can say that everything actually ended up turning out way better than I ever expected it to.
Looking back I wish I had done things in a better way. But it is too late to do anything about the past.
I have so many things I would like to say but I don't know-how. Even now I am being a bit of a coward by not coming there myself.
I have missed you both so much. But I am still scared to meet with both of you again…
Well... I wrote this letter to let you both know that I am getting married. And I wanted to invite both of you to the wedding. Who knows, maybe you will be able to move near me and we could get together once again.
I am sure you both must be worried about who I am getting married to. But don't worry you both will love him. In fact, I think you both will already know who he is just with his name alone.
There is so much I want to tell you both. So if you are willing to see me again please come here. It would be too much to write it all down.
In the case you aren't willing to come, I understand, and I apologize for this sudden interruption."
The letter was shaking in the man's hands as he read it. As he passed the letter to his wife to read he felt a lump form in his throat that didn't allow him to say a word. He held onto the second envelope in his hands. Afraid to open it.
As she read it tears began to form in her eyes and she dropped to her knees.
"My stupid daughter why do you write as if we hate you?" She muttered while still on the floor reading the letter all over again.
The day Lina had run away from home had been an ugly day. There was a huge fight between her and her parents. They had engaged her to someone who would be able to help both families grow. Something that her daughter refused to do. But even when they did so they were mainly thinking of her future. If she married him she would be able to live a comfortable life. Free from the struggles that they had to go through in their youth.
Love could grow later on they had told her. But she had not taken this well.
And not even trying to reason with her they had a huge fight in which they had told her that it would be the best for the family. That she couldn't throw away all of the hard work they had done to get the engagement.
And finally their biggest regret. That if she didn't like it she could always leave. And leave she did.
They spent so many months worried to death that she may have been captured by slave traders, that she may have died, that something horrible had happened to her. And when their searches came out empty they had given up. And assumed the worst.
How many years had passed since that day? But no matter how long had passed the guilt still felt as fresh as the first day. And this letter had finally given them some relief.
"Do you think she found someone good? You know her, she is too quick when it comes to decisions. She might have even married him the day she met him? What if he is taking advantage of her? What if-" Lina's mother began to worry even more before she was stopped by her husband.
Opening the second envelope with shaky hands they felt complete disbelief as they stared at the handwritten wedding invitation.
"Lina Amakir and Rimuru Tempest.
Hey mom and dad, you read that right. I am getting married to the emperor of Tempest himself! If you are willing to come there should be two of his guards outside ready to transport you. No need to pack anything as you can find anything you need in Tempest.
If you are not willing to come, just disregard this letter.
I love you both. Goodbye,"
"My God, she is definitely getting tricked." Lina's mother muttered in shock.
"We should have taught her better…. Now some random person is going to take advantage of her." Lina's father muttered in disbelief.
"We have to save her!" They both said at the same time before bursting through the front door and spotting two Kijin guards dressed in formal attire.
"We are here at Lord Rimuru's and Lady Lina's request. If you are prepared for the trip we can leave now. However, if you require any assistance in packing for the trip we will lend you a hand."
'They even hired Kijin guards to sell the lie. My daughter is in danger,' Lina's father thought before rushing ahead in front of them and saying.
"Take us now!"
And with a snap of their fingers, they found themselves standing in front of the capitol building of Tempest.
Glancing all over at the streets around them and recognizing it from the descriptions of Tempest they had heard both parents looked at each other in shock.
And the next moment Lina's father passed out. Too confused and unable to process all of the sudden events.
—---
"..."
"..."
"Heyyyyyy sis" Veldora said with an awkward tone looking at his sister lying face down on the ground.
"I lost, I can't believe it. Out of all the things I would have imagined I can't believe it. My beloved dumped me." Velgrynd said as she just motionlessly stayed on the ground.
"You know he didn't do that… Right?" Velzard said, trying to comfort her by patting her back.
"Then… Why did he get engaged and not ask me? We were just starting to get to know each other better once again. Things were going so well. I could see that we were so close to finally being together… But he didn't ask me… If I had spent some more time… this is all my fault."
Veldora's face only continued to twist in awkwardness as he heard her talk.
"He doesn't love me anymore. He is my entire world but when we met again he didn't even recognize me. He even rejected my kiss. And now that he decides to get married I wasn't asked.
Even though I said I was fine with having to share him, I don't even get to be a part of the sharing. It is all just so sudden. Why did he decide to propose now? If he had waited some time I would have been a part too." Velgrynd said as she continued to lay motionlessly on the ground.
"It's ok, it's ok, I am sure that guy doesn't deserve you-" Velzard said with an awkward expression on her face as she mouthed 'I don't know what to do?' to Veldora.
"Erm… Velgrynd… I was the one who told him to stop delaying and propose already…. Well, I made fun of him for not proposing until now…."
Velgrynd suddenly stiffened and raised her head glaring daggers at Veldora.
"I think your relationship with him is just too sudden and hasn't had enough time… So uh… he decided to hold off on proposing to you…. You know… to actually be fully truthful about his feelings when he asked you."
Velzard's icy glare joined Velgrynd's as she stared at Veldora as if he was the worst thing to have ever existed.
Veldora knew he was in deep shit at the moment but he decided to continue speaking. At least he would be able to clear everything up before he died, he thought. One final bro act before his demise. Mustering as much eloquence by squeezing every last drop of Bro's teamwork. One of the skills they had obtained when he finally escaped the prison.
"The reason he still hasn't done anything is that you are a bit too fixated on the Rudra thing. He isn't Rudra, he is Rimuru. If you love Rimuru then I am sure you will be engaged by tomorrow. However, if you only care about Rudra then I think you are never getting together with him.
I mean, this whole time he has been trying to get you to know about who he is, not who you think he was. So… yeah… rethink your feelings I guess… I know he likes you because he told me so…. But well… Do you like him?" Veldora said as the Bro's teamwork battery ran out halfway through. One final act of wingman for his bro before death.
Velgrynd's furious glare had turned into absolute shock as she began to rethink every interaction they had.
Velzard however was not as forgiving.
Dragging Veldora away forcefully while she was muttering.
"I am going to kill this stupid bastard. Why does he gotta go and make Velgrynd sad? I had never seen her like that in my life and it was all the fault of this stupid idiot. Should have killed him when he escaped the prison. A couple more rebirths and we will get a good Veldora."
'Goodbye, my bro. I shall see you in my other life…. Wait, aren't I immortal as long as he is alive thanks to the Veldora skill?'
—---
Unlike the formerly depressed Velgrynd, Chloe was preparing for a battle. A battle to win hearts.
"Luminous! I need a plan of attack!" Chloe yelled in a military-like fashion as she pointed to a board with Rimuru's picture on it.
"Why don't you just forget about him and stay here with me? Hinata basically already left me for him. So how about you stay?" Luminous asked while laying on the couch.
"Denied!" Chloe said as she asked her Manas, Chronoa.
[Now it isn't time to delay, we have to be forward! It is too risky to jump back in time for it. We could end up dooming the universe if we do it. We have only the present and future to work with! So we cannot waste it.]
'I like your thinking, be forward. I am not a kid anymore. I am thousands of years older than him. So if he tries to pull that card I can tell him that he is the younger one. Damn it.'
Luminous just kept on staring at her best friend with a poker face while thinking.
'I wish I could just keep her to myself. Yeah, he isn't bad, it would be worth it to play with him for some time. I mean, it would be fun to try out some things with him… he is a slime… and he also has a lust skill… There was that one time our skills resonated… Focus Luminous, focus.[1]
Compared to all that time we spent together? Chloe is really out here choosing hoes over bros. I guess I taught her too well, even if she is still as innocent as ever.
I mean if she's that horny for something I could take care of it… I can probably do better than him. Right? But well, I did meet with Hinata after they had-'
"Luminous, I need ideas! It all happened too quickly after I came back. So the plans we did in the past were all for nothing! If he had waited a year or two more I could have successfully completed plans A to Q. But now we have to reconsider.'
Getting snapped out of her thoughts, Luminous just took a moment to look at her best friend.
'Fuck me, why do I have to be such a good friend. If I was worse I could probably find a way to keep her for myself.'
"Alright, Chloe, here is my plan…"
—---
And finally, two beastkins met in secret as they began to prepare for their move.
"Stupid, he probably can't get drunk." Alvis said as she argued with Suphia.
"Well, it is worth a try. Not like you have any better ideas."
"I did-"
"No, you didn't. Do you really think if we beat up one of his fiances we'll be able to take their spot? That's probably only going to get us killed. Forget all the progress we made. Hell, can we even beat anyone other than the elf?" Suphia argued back.
"Alright, new plan!"
~AN~
Chunky chap, wrote it all in one sitting.
[1]Luminous has the Lust skill for a reason lol.