Chapter 40 - Chapter 40

So, the ceremony went by for the construction of the cathedral. It was nothing big…ok, maybe it was. The whole town made this a day to celebrate and to have a feast. I don't know how, but they very quickly put together a festive atmosphere. It's like they have festival equipment on standby at all times or something. 

It's almost like the cathedral was sort of left behind or something in favor of a giant feast and celebration. Well…I was kind of getting that feeling too, so I just went along with it, and what better way than to make a bunch of food and eat it? It's a feast after all. 

I had a bit of a sweet tooth recently, so with the help of Shuna, I made a bunch of desserts. Mainly pies and some cakes. I was in the streets and there were some little set-ups with food and some festivities. This was really organized for how fast this was put together and how on-the-fly everything was. 

Me and Shuna were at a large table where we had a lot of food put out. Milim was off…doing whatever while enjoying the sudden celebration. Actually, maybe it's not the best idea to leave her unsupervised. Nah, I'll trust her on this one.

While setting up the table, Rimuru came up to me and saw all the food on the table.

"How many pies are there?"

"A lot. Here I'll show you.". I started from the left and went right. "This is pecan pie. This is strawberry pie. This is blueberry pie. This is apple pie, This is pumpkin pie. This is sweet potato pie. This is cream pie along with different variations of it. This is raspberry pie-". I was going to keep going, but Rimuru cut me off.

"Ok, I get it. You like pie. Is there anything else here besides a bunch of different pies?".

"Oh, definitely. Give me a second.". I turned around to another table where we had some cakes. I picked up a tray that had one of my personal favorite cakes, turned around, and placed it on the table. "This is a tres leches cake. This is one of my favorites.".

"Tres leches?". Rimuru pauses for a moment, which I assume is him talking to Great Sage. "Three milks?".

"Well, that's the literal translation from Spanish, but yeah.".

"You know Spanish?".

"No. I just know a little here and there. I barely passed my foreign language class. Anyway, want to try some? You might as well since we're in a spontaneous celebration.".

"Yeah.". Rimuru picked grabbed a slice of cake and ate it. He was nodding his head while eating it. "This is good!".

"I know. You can go ahead and try other stuff. It's not like we have to worry about food.".

"In that case, I'll try the apple pie.".

"Is that you're favorite?".

"I don't know. I've heard that apple pie is famous in America. Like hamburgers and hot dogs and stuff like that. I want to see how good it is. I've been to some American-styled festivals, and hamburgers and hot dogs are all over the place.".

Hold on, I think I might understand some things.

"What else was there at those festivals?'.

"Oh, there would be like some fake cowboy towns, and some people would dress up and act out some shoot-out scenes, dueling scenes, robberies, and stuff like that. I thought it was super cool.", Rimuru casually revealed to me while he was trying some apple pie. "Wow, This apple pie is delicious!". 

I get it. I finally understand. That's where his whole fanaticism comes from. Or at least a part of it. Other forms of media probably played a role, but that must be where it started. I don't really mind, but he took it a bit too far this one time. 

"I assume baseball is also a big part of it?".

"Oh, yeah. Baseball was one of the things that was also famous. Like a lot. They call it America's pastime, right?".

"That's true. I'm not a big baseball person myself, I'm more of a football person.".

"Really? I don't see it. Football wasn't that popular in America from what I remembered.".

"Wrong football, Rimuru. I meant American football. The one where you throw a ball with your hands.".

He seemed to be thinking for a little bit after I told him. "So in 'foot' ball, there's no kicking?".

"There's some kicking. You kick the ball for points. Sometimes 1, sometimes 3.".

"I'll be honest, that seems a bit confusing.".

"What do you mean? It makes perfect sense. I would tell you to watch a game, but we're in a new world so that doesn't really work out. Anyway what were we talking about? Oh yeah, baseball. Tell me, who are some baseball players you know outside of Japan?".

"I know that Mike Trout guy. I also know Barry Bonds. Some other dudes to.".

Yeah, about what I expected. Hold on, I just want to see something.

"What about some other Americans you know?".

"That basketball player…um…Michael Jordan! Oh, the swimming guy too, Michael Phelps. Oh, Michael Jackson as well!", Rimuru finished while just nodding his head while he tried out some more stuff.

So… one of the greatest basketball players ever. The greatest Olympic athlete and swimmer ever, the literal king of pop who is so famous that even some uncontacted tribe in the ocean have probably heard of him.

These aren't people that are just 'famous', they're FAMOUS famous. Also, are people named "Michael" just naturally super famous around the world or something?

"Well, that's enlightening, Rimuru, I hope you have a good time.".

"Hold on, what about you? Do you know some famous people from Japan?".

"Not a lot. Let's see. I know Ichiro Suzuki, Shohei Ohtani, Oda Nobunaga, and Miyamoto Musashi."

"You know Japanese history?".

How do I tell him? Hold on, let me mess around with him a little.

"Yeah, I do actually. Oda Nobunaga, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. She was someone who tried to unify Japan during the warring states period. Her ability with guns as well as her reality marble that was very effective against gods and those with divinity is something to be feared."

Rimru just looked at me as if I was weird or something. I tried my best to keep a straight and serious face, but I felt my mouth twitch a bit sometimes. 

"What…what are you talking about? 'She'? What?". He was clearly confused. It seems that he is a bit "uncultured" as they say.

Well, maybe not so much since he has a huge thing for elves. I wonder how he would react to what's her face…Elmesia? I think it was Elmesia. Would he try getting closer to her? Nah. no way. I highly doubt Rimuru can pull that off.

I shook those thoughts out of my head before I responded back to him, "I mean, am I wrong? She was a demon king, tried to unify Japan, what am I missing?".

"A lot of things!".

"I don't think I did. Here just eat some pie and enjoy the celebration.", I just handed him some plates of pie and sent him on his merry way.

/\\//\\//\

The celebration went really well. I almost forgot this whole thing was to celebrate the cathedral and establishment of a religion. Everyone was very excited. I tried my best to make sure to curb what I expected out of people. If people want to worship me, that's fine, but they don't have to. They have to believe, have faith, and all that stuff. I want this to be chill and nothing too extreme. Certainly nothing like the religion of a certain vampire with heterochromia. 

The cathedral was open to visitors and stuff. It's more of a "touristy" place than anything else. Yeah, someone could come and worship, but they don't need to do that. It's very loose with how everything works. I tried to come up with some sort of message for people to rally around, but I decided against it since I'm sure they would take it too seriously. Totally not looking at a certain vampire in a certain nation that is to the west of us, no way.

Well, the only thing to do was to pack my stuff and move in. The part where I lived was secluded from the rest of the place. There was enough privacy so I didn't have to worry about anything and everyone here was respectful to not do anything that would intrude or bother me.

I had to make the move-in process quick since I'm leaving with Milim for her domain tomorrow. With our speed, it'll be a quick trip. A day at most. She just has to go there, make an announcement, maybe I'll have to talk to some people, and then we return. 

I packed all my things and went to my new house. I entered the cathedral and the first thing I saw was a statue of me resting my hand on the pommel of my sword with the blade touching the floor.

"Ok. That's a bit much, isn't it? First of all, when did they make a statue? That wasn't there the first time I checked this place out.". 

It seems they might have already done some things. Wait a minute, I look around and notice quite a bit of artwork of me. I took a closer look and noticed that a few of these paintings bear a striking resemblance to some famous paintings I've seen. 

"Hold on. That's literally that one Napolean painting when he's on that horse.", I went to another one and noticed the same thing, "Oh come on, at least try to do something different, that's literally just the Mona Lisa but with me on it.". One time is fine. To be honest, I can't really put a fault on the Napoleon one. If there was going to be a copy, that would be the most likely one, but the Mona Lisa? 

I don't have evidence, but I don't need it. Rimuru either copied this from memory and made it with Great Sage or he told some painter or artist in town to paint it from reference. Either way, he's probably trying to mess with me a little. That or this is the biggest coincidence ever. Well, I'll just leave it as is. No need to disrespect the work put into it.

I made my way into my new and permanent home. I entered the place and it had everything one would need and more. It was a large place and had a bunch of luxurious things. There was even a private hot spring. This place had a lot of charm and a cozy feeling to it. Completely opposite of those soulless modern homes I knew of. Where everything is painted white and gray and looks super artificial. This place had actual "color" and "personality" to it. 

"I can get used to this place.". I was admiring the place when I heard the door behind me open up as well. It was Shuna and she was carrying a bunch of stuff. "Shuna? What's everything you're carrying?".

"Artoria, after some thought and conversation with my parents and brother, I'll be moving in with you.", she said as she started unpacking and very quickly decorating this place to add her own charm to it.

'Awesome.'. That's all I could think about when she said she would be permanently staying with me. 

"By the way, Shuna, I will be leaving with Milim tomorrow to go to her domain. Do you want to come as well? Keep in mind that it will be a fast trip, so it might not be comfortable." 

"Yes.". 

Ok. Short, simple, and to the point. Maybe cause she's more focused on our new home. Well, I'm not going to complain. I went ahead and helped her.

Now that I think about it, isn't moving in and living together with someone a big leap in a relationship? 

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

(A/N)

Did anyone see that Australian breakdancer in the olympics? She just set back the sport for everyone. I know it's not the reason, but I have convinced myself she's the reason breakdancing isn't in the next olympics. I had to stop watching it from secondhand embarrassment.