"Oh~ You guys, welcome back~" Rimuru's voice greeted us cheerfully.
As Kakashi and I arrived at the once-gloomy cave camp, it had transformed completely. The darkness was now illuminated by beautiful lights, courtesy of Rimuru's (Great Sage) magic, casting a soft yet bright glow that lit up the entire space.
The interior was even more inviting. A fluffy rug made from dire wolf fur covered the ground where Riko and Rimuru sat, with a campfire burning brightly in front of them. Glowing orbs floated in the air, thanks to Rimuru's magic.
To top it all off, there was a barbecue grill over the fire, and a small magic circle that sucked in the smoke, keeping the air clean and safe to breathe.
"Where did you get the meat?" We almost asked, but then we noticed the wild boars roaming the plains. He must have hunted them earlier.
"So, you guys made up?" Rimuru handed Kakashi a skewer full of meat and sat beside him.
Kakashi, happily accepting the skewer, responded with another question. "Oh my, did it look like we were fighting?"
"Ah? So, I guess not? Haha~" Rimuru laughed.
Kakashi's closed-eyed smile remained unwavering, but we all had the same thought: "This bastard definitely overheard our conversation." I nearly forgot, no matter how much of a pacifist Rimuru is at heart, his Great Sage always covers any shortcomings. It was clearly that skill which enabled him to understand our situation with just a single look.
Which also means, he knew about the transmigrator.
"Hm? Fighting? You guys?" Riko asked while munching on her grilled meat, and I sat down next to her.
"It's nothing, Riko," I assured her.
"Yeah, we were just fighting over this kid we picked up," Kakashi added.
"K-kid—GAK?!" Riko choked on her food, clearly misunderstanding Kakashi's words. Well, introducing the transmigrator to them should be fine. I brought my Kamui to life, a portal swirled next to me and Riko, and there comes out a dog we've been trying to catch.
"W-woof? (Hm, am I here again?)" The dog looked around, scanning his surroundings, while Rimuru watched with curious eyes.
Riko's reaction was... predictable.
"A puppy~~~~~" She squealed, hugging the dog with overwhelming affection.
"Ruff??! (What the heck??!)"
The fluffy white fur ball was smothered by the middle schooler's intense hug of cuteness aggression. The transmigrator's face showed a mix of shock and discomfort, though somehow his face turned a bit creepy, so I decided to read his mind again.
Magic sense translations: "O-oooh~ this isn't bad, her chest is--"
Immediately, I snatched him away from Riko with both hands, sending him a thought transmission: "You better not if you want to stay alive."
"E-eh??? Ame-chan?" Riko exclaimed, surprised by my actions. The look on my face clearly showed I was angry. The puppy, feeling my anger, started sweating like crazy. "Is everyone in this group a mind reader?" the white fur ball thought to himself. But Riko misunderstood what was happening.
Hearts bloomed in her eyes as she grabbed my hands, patting them like crazy, while her other arm wrapped around me in a tight hug. "Araaa~ You don't have to be jealous, Ame-chan~🌸"
Did she just transfer her cute aggression to me? I wondered. The fur ball slipped from my grasp and landed safely on the ground. He quickly ran over to Kakashi's side, hiding behind him with his tail tucked between his legs.
Despite occasionally trembling with cuteness aggression from Riko, I kept my eyes locked on the frightened puppy. Kakashi and I had teamed up to place a seal on it, preventing any forced thought transmission. Unless Rimuru's Great Sage managed to bypass the seal, it should be safe.
Knowing Rimuru, he would consider reading someone's mind without their consent to be rude, so as long as he sticks to his usual manners, he won't do it.
"Well then... as everyone can see, each of you now has a Vision," Kakashi announced, clapping his hands loudly to get everyone's attention.
"Except for Ame-chan, of course," he added.
"Eh? So you got one too, Kakashi?" Rimuru asked.
"Yup, here it is," Kakashi replied, revealing a blue and vibrant Vision that radiated a brilliant hue.
I pulled away from Riko's hug, a frown creasing my forehead as a wave of suspicion washed over me. She was distracted, and it gave me a moment to break free.
Even though I had agreed to let Kakashi keep his Occlumency, I couldn't shake the paranoia. What if he tries to take over the chat group? As the admin, he has every right to share his experiences with the other members.
He wouldn't even have to lie. He could simply tell them how he turned his entire world against him because of the information I traded with him.
If new members joined, they'd likely take his side, and the power dynamics in the group would shift. To counter that, I need to build a faction that will stand with me against him.
Riko could be an ally, but Rimuru poses an even bigger challenge. If I want to keep control of the group, I have to consider that Rimuru might remain neutral.
Rimuru can gift skills easily and persuade everyone not to fight. Our group chat has never had an antagonist, so it would be impossible to manipulate any of them through greed.
As these thoughts raced through my mind, anxiety tightened its grip. My brain sped up, and Great Sage activated, amplifying my thoughts. The voices around me became a blurred hum, like distant noises underwater, too garbled to understand because of my accelerated perception.
Just as I let my guard down... Thud.
"Huh?" I felt a warm hand on my head. Even though it was a bit damp from the rain, the heat from it started to seep through, and the feel of fingerless gloves gave me the sensation of skin, then fabric, on my bewildered head.
Then, out of nowhere, that hand started to shake my head wildly with a loud SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE.
It was Kakashi.
What the—!?
"Gah! What kind of attack is this!? Are you trying to intimidate me? You'll tell them right away if I resist, won't you?!" I shouted in frustration, suspicion creeping into my voice as I struggled to push his hand away.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Ame-chan?" Riko asked, clearly confused.
"Pardon me, admin-san... Could you please repeat what you just said?" Rimuru chimed in, sounding puzzled.
"Maa, it seems you didn't hear what we were discussing," Kakashi remarked calmly.
"...Huh?" My anger quickly drained away as I stared wide-eyed at the masked face in front of me. He was obviously taller, and his raised eyebrow showed just how confused he was with my remarks.
"See? She didn't hear a word," Kakashi said again, addressing the others.
"W-What? What were you guys trying to do?" I asked, still confused.
Kakashi tilted his head, his eyes closed in a way that hinted at a smile, though I could only see the small movement of his mouth beneath his mask.
Then, they gave me an answer that caught me off guard: "We're going to get you a Vision!"
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"We're going to get you a Vision!" Kakashi said with a closed-eyed smile.
"No, I don't really need one in the first place," I replied.
"Ooh, that's a good idea! We've got some time before heading back anyway," Riko chimed in, clearly excited.
"I wonder what kind of Vision Admin-san would get," Rimuru mused. "An Electro Vision might suit her."
"Woof... (I may not know about others' tastes, but that Cryo Vision I ate was quite filling...)" the dog added, almost as if in deep thought.
Kakashi turned back to me with a question. "Well, what do you think, Ame-chan?"
I glanced at him, noticing the entire group now focused on me. "...I don't need it," I repeated.
It's just a cliché avatar thing—controlling elements in a certain way. Great Sage can replicate those abilities easily enough. But that's not the real reason I declined.
I do want it.
But if I show greed now, who knows what they'll think of me? Especially Rimuru. It's important to stay in his good graces. Keeping a neutral faction happy requires a lot of work.
Ding
Huh?
I wasn't the only one who heard that notification, the others took out their phones too.
[• Follow-up Sequence: The Time Keeper quest is complete, but the transmigrator has changed the original timeline. Over time, the timeline will try to repair itself, but extra rewards await if you can fix it again. (0/1)]
[*note: The current sequence is optional and will not affect the current progress.]
[Prelisted Rewards:]
• Awakening Feature
• Inventory Feature
"Follow-up Sequence?" (Rimuru)
"Hm? So it wasn't the end?" (Riko)
"...Optional, so it's not mandatory?" (Kakashi)
"Woof? (The heck are you guys talking about? Why do all of you have smartphones, and why is the Rimuru Tempest here too? WHY ISN'T ANYONE EXPLAINING ANYTHING TO ME??)" (Dog)
Right... I almost forgot, the transmigrator ate a Vision.
«Report: 『Thought Communication』 will be created and fall under the subskill of Universal Affinity. You can now send smoother sound waves.»
My Great Sage responded to my thoughts right away, changing my Magic Perception into Thought Communication when I needed it, and then using it on the target immediately.
'Who's Vision did you eat?' I asked the dog telepathically.
"W-woof! (I-I didn't eat any Visions of the notable characters!)"
'Then tell me what happen next, you should know what will happen next.' I demanded
"Arf... (Well, the main character seem to have arrived and... he would probably go meet Ayaka first)"
"Sigh," I let out a sigh, noting the fact this man was actually not that great in decision making.
'You're useless.'
"BARK BARK! (I don't know okay?! There's too much world quest I did when I play the---!!!)"
His words within his barks suddenly come to a halt.
"Arf... (In the main quest, the main character met the Shogun for the first time when he had to save a 4-star polearm user from having his Vision taken by the Raiden Shogun. I've always wondered how they managed to capture him, a Vision owner. Kujou Sara should have been busy handling the resistance, so she couldn't have dealt with it...)"
That was it. I don't know what a "4-star character" means, but whoever they are, they should have been taken by the shogunate and stripped of their Vision. The trigger for that event was likely the Cryo Vision's owner, and the useless furball probably ate the Vision before it happened.
"The quest isn't mandatory, so we can just go home and—" Before I could finish, Kakashi interrupted.
"It looks like we can get some extra rewards. Anyone up for the quest?" His words caught my attention. I glanced at him with a hint of contempt, though I asked Great Sage to control my expression.
"Well, I haven't done anything so far, so..." Riko said.
"The group chat is nice, and we might want to see what kind of rewards we get. There might be more quests like this, and we can decide if the rewards are worth it next time," Rimuru added.
The group agreed to it silently. Damn you, Kakashi. A faction is starting to form, and I've lost control of the group. This is going to be bad.
"Maa, since Ame-chan didn't want a Vision. I suppose this can be a replacement?" Suddenly, Kakashi stated those words.
"Oh, now that you say it like that, that's also fine." (Riko)
"We can decide whether to do this or not if any of our members do not obtain anything from a journey." (Rimuru)
Huh...?
"What do you think, Ame-chan?" Riko asked cheerfully. I took a moment to look at them with Great Sage controlling my expression. The mask seemed to be working well, as I could feel my widened eyes being kept in check.
"If that's what everyone wants..." I muttered. I lost control of the group a long time ago. For now, I'll just guide them. Recruiting new members for my faction can wait until later.
"Then we'll go ahead with that. We should act quickly. I already have an idea of what we need to do," I said.
"Ah, wait a minute--"
I stopped in my tracks. It was Rimuru. "Before we go, maybe we should name the dog... I mean, we'll be seeing each other often now, right? Or do you already have a name in mind, admin-san?"
As expected of Rimuru--- No, this may just be his personality. It wasn't to gain subordinates, He names everything on a whim, so this should be fine. We have the contract, so the dog shouldn't be a problem for us.
"...I haven't thought of anything like that, go ahead as you please."
He knelt down to the dog's level, while the transmigrator sat and looked up at him expectantly. "Woof? (Naming me? Seriously? Bruh, That's such a Rimuru Tempest move...)"
"Well then, your name will be 'Haiiro'!!"
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• [Universal Affinity] (B)
Sub-skills: • Universal Programming • All of Nature • Sense • Thought Communication (New!)
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To be continued