- Silas -
I opened my eyes to the same scene as the last time but this time, there was a pink haired girl with horns on her head in the room while the same goblin as last time ran quickly when he saw me waking up… Am I that scary?
"Silas-sama, you have awakened." The girl whom I didn't know asked me and I could only nod my head lightly.
Wait, didn't she look somewhat familiar?
I think I had seen that hair and eye colour somewhere.
….it took me another moment to realise that the girl was actually the princess of the Ogres. How did she look like this?
"You….are you perhaps the princess of the Ogre Tribe?" I asked, still not sure. The difference was quite huge.
The girl nodded.
"Yes, my name is Shuna. I was given this name by Rimuru-sama when we decided to join his town." She replied and her voice was also different from the previous time.
Had they already joined Rimuru's town? And they were named too. Didn't they faint too? If so then, how come they are awake before me?
How long has it been since I fainted?
Damn….
Twice I have fainted and ended up in this situation when evolving.
Man, becoming strong is hard.
Why do I even need to train to run a restaurant in peace?
Oh, yeah… I live in a world where children can be born with NotPokemon which can destroy countries because God… thought it was a good idea… somehow. And also the fact that God, well exists and I am a Devil. *Sigh*
Oh and the occasional customers who would try to shove soul bearing cursed fingers down my throat….fuck….my life was certifiably weird.
While having deja vu, I got up from my bed but this time and realised that I was naked. Almost instinctively, I grabbed the bedsheet and tugged it towards me in order to wrap it around me only resulting in a surprised cry as I dragged the girl on me accidentally while trying to pull the bedsheets.
The girl fell on my chest and I felt two soft lumps on my body, causing heat to rush to a certain part of my body.
She smelled like strawberries.
Was it her shampoo?
Did ogres even use shampoo?
Wait….was she even an ogre anymore?
My thoughts halted as I sensed some movements below and stiffened in realisation.
I did notice that I had grown… in more than one way. And I was sure that the girl felt my growth too due to our close vicinity.
The girl's blush made it look like she would bleed from her face.
"I'm sorry. I was trying to get the bedsheets." I apologised and released her, trying to untangle the bedsheets.
"I-it's o-oka-y." Her blush was even redder somehow.
"Silas! You are awake?" Rimuru bounced into the room in his slime form only to freeze at the door. "Oops, should have knocked. Carry on." He jumped back.
….
….
Why does this always happen to me?
I got a headache.
"Oi come back. It's not what you think." I shouted but he was already out of the room.
Fuck, that didn't look good from any angle.
I hurried to tear the bed sheets to get out of this mess but somehow, things were not going my way as I ended up tearing the girl's kimono as well.
"Sorry!" I bowed but little Silas in attention didn't help so I quickly turned around and grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her quickly and then tied the torn up bed sheets around my waist like a towel, not looking at the girl and embarrassing her even more.
I didn't have to run long as the bastard was waiting outside the door in his slime form. I didn't need to look at his human face because I could just sense his smugness dripping from his slime face.
"Silas….while you might have certain *cough* exhibitionist *cough* tendencies, I am not a voyeur and I don't think little Shuna is one too. You should consider her feelings."
"Fuck you, whose an exhibitionist?"
"Who would have thought that the shy and cute ones were your type. Still, you play fast. Didn't you have enough with Lavinia-chan, Sakura-chan and Tohru-chan? Now even Shuna-chan….damn Harem Protagonist." The blob of slime wiggled annoyingly and then went into a rant. I reflexively kicked him. But the effect was totally unexpected. The simple kick made him go like a cannonball, causing several of the trees to collapse in a row.
"Fuck! Rimuru." I rushed to see if he was alright.
"Ah, I am fine. I have physical damage resistance." He just bounced back as if nothing happened just now.
….
"Can I kick you once more?" My lips twitched.
"No."
I sighed.
"So, having trouble controlling your power?" He asked and I took a moment to check my condition. My Demonic Power alone was far beyond what I had before, same was the case with my Cursed Energy which had increased by leaps and bounds. Finally was the surprise increase in my physical strength.
I felt as if I could shatter a mountain with a punch.
"Is this going to be a regular thing? How did this happen anyway? I don't remember things clearly before I fainted."
"You ate the wrong food."
"What?" I deadpanned.
"What you ate at the end of the fight was the soul of the clown who we later found was a Deathman, an undead. This particular Deathman was someone made from the amalgamation of countless corpses and was very strong. In fact, it was too strong for you to digest so your body had to change in order to get the energy settled. So, what you had was basically a case of severe indigestion." He explained quite excitedly.
"This is too troublesome." I sighed and lay down. "How long was I out this time?"
"A week."
"A week! Damn, I am late. Sakura and Lavy will be worried about me going missing." I realised.
"Well, you can go there and inform them first. But hey, now you are stronger than me and Ainz in terms of base stats.
"I am?" I asked, surprised.
"Surprisingly, yes. I can still kick your butt though."
"Then I will reopen my shop. I think this level of strength should keep me safe. I can't delay for longer. The girls must be worried. Even the customers must be wondering why I closed for longer than expected."
"They wouldn't mind but sure. I think you should try getting used to your strength and rest for a while." He agreed with me.
"Where is Ainz? I haven't seen him." I asked not seeing our bone headed friend anywhere.
"Oh, I named him because I got enough power after the fight. It caused him to bind with this world's system and break his game's level cap. He's out hunting."
"He broke his level cap? Isn't that hacking?"
"We are jumping worlds. If that's hacking then you and your shop are the hack." Rimuru, back in his human form, rolled his eyes.
"... point."
"You should have seen his happiness. It looked like he had jumped directly out of a horror movie. Even the little goblins were scared." he chuckled.
… yeah, I can imagine that.
"By the way, I noticed the Ogre Princess. She….looked different."
"Oh yeah, they evolved." Rimuru answered.
"All of them?" I asked.
He nodded.
"So all those ogres… they turned into…?"
"Kijin."
"That. Yes."
"Not all. Only a dozen. Naming even half a dozen of them almost drained me and caused me to sleep for a day. I also have to name the hundred and eighty thousand orcs who joined me. Great Sage made a ritual to name them without using my own magicules but it will still take me around a month or so to name all of them."
"How many orcs?" I asked, incredulously.
"Oh, the ones we fought were just a small battalion of soldiers led by their leader. The real camp was in the swamps, led by his friend. They were under the influence of the Orc Disaster's Unique Skill: Starved and were out of control. I promised them food and safety and they joined me."
"Food for that many will be a problem."
"Not really. I am planning to make a deal with Zeref for the restoration potions in exchange for the food. They can supply us enough food for a million, let alone one hundred and eighty thousand. With the new workforce, we will be able to produce our own food in a year, enough to feed everyone."
"That's… a surprisingly great plan."
We talked around for a while about various topics.
"Rimuru."
"Hmm."
"Thanks."
"Don't mind it. We are friends."
"Hmm."
- Lavinia -
She looked at Sakura staring at the window in the direction of the Restaurant and let out a sigh. She has been like this for the last five days.
Sil-kun and the rest had gone for the hunt and were supposed to be back in a week, which was five days ago.
Sakura however had become quiet since then. She didn't say anything or even complain but anyone taking one look at her could see the worries in her eyes as she sat for long hours beside the window looking outside.
"It's time for lunch, Sakura-chan. Let's go. Everyone is waiting for you." She called out but got no response.
She went forward and touched her shoulder. "Sakura-chan?"
"Ah!" The girl was shaken from her thoughts and looked towards her. "Lavy. I am sorry I didn't realise you were here."
Holding back a sigh, she patted her head. "Lunch is ready. Brandish-chan and the rest are waiting for you." Then with some hesitation added. "Sil-kun will return, you know. He is not the type to make others worry. They must have gotten stuck in some work and that's why they are late."
Sakura smiled. "I know."
Although her smile looked as usual, she noticed that whenever the topic came to Sil-kun, the smile always reached her eyes, although just barely. Normal people who didn't know her better would never be able to notice it.
"Sakura-chan."
"Hmm?"
"You like Sil-kun, don't you?" She asked, making the girl pause.
But after a moment, she continued walking. "Yes."
When she didn't continue anymore, she asked again. "Then why don't you tell him? I always see you getting closer to him and I think you two would get together but then you suddenly pull back. Do you not trust him?" She asked.
Sakura looked at her with a blank look on her face. "I trust him more than I trust anyone in this world, Lavy. There is probably not a single thing in this world I wouldn't do for him."
She was taken aback by the conviction behind her words. It was probably the surest she had seen Sakura in all their time together.
"Then why? Why do you always pull back? You know that he likes you too. He would be very happy if you two got together." She asked, confused.
Sakura just looked at her and asked. "Why are you asking me this? From what I have seen, you are interested in him too."
"Obviously I am. He is a kind boy who cares for everyone. Such people are rare to meet." Lavinia replied.
"Then why do you want me to get closer to him?" Sakura asked, confused.
"Why does me being with Sil-kun mean you can't be with him too?" She asked, confused by her question too.
"That's not how things work, Lavy." Sakura sighed.
"....not really, Sakura-chan. While it might not be so common among humans, among devils having more than one partner is a very common thing." She explained, taking the girl by surprise.
"What?!"
"Devils have harems. It's a very common thing."
"Eh?"
"A devil can have almost infinite lifespan. To be honest, I have never heard of a Devil dying from old age. Apart from that, they can maintain their youth for as long as they want. They also have a very low fertility rate. In fact, it's not common for Devils to have one child after trying for several centuries. Due to all these reasons, a single devil often takes more than one partner. In fact, not just them but most long lived supernatural races. That's why I don't think it's anything odd."
She looked at Sakura-chan, mouth agape. "B-b-but…."
"But what, Sakura-chan? I like Sil-kun but I also like you. I want you both to be happy. I don't see why we can't be happy together. I have always wanted to have a big family after all. Moreover don't you think keeping him all to myself would be a bit selfish? After all, we might lose our lives one day and he would be left alone."
These words gave Sakura a pause but she suddenly shook her head.
"No. no, I cannot. I….I am…."
"What Sakura-chan? If there is any problem then tell us. Maybe we could help?" She urged the girl.
Sakura just stared in the distance. "There is nothing anyone can do. We cannot be together. I….am not worthy of him." She whispered the last part.
Lavinia was about to ask what she meant but there was a knock on the door.
"Sakura, Lavinia, are you two inside? May I come in?" A voice came from outside.
She recognised the voice.
Before she could say anything, Sakura rushed to the door and opened it to reveal Sil-kun outside.
"Hey there. I'm sorry we got stuck in some trouble and it took longer to get back than we were expecting."
Both Sakura and her stopped and looked at Sil-kun.
He looked….different.
A closer look made her realise that he was slightly taller. He had always been fit. After all, Devils could passively change into their ideal body shape and he worked out in the Ryozanpaku dojo too but now he looked….more refined.
"You look different." Sakura asked the question in her mind.
"Ah yes. Well, some things happened and I kinda evolved during our trip. It's a long story. I will tell you when we get back home." He smiled.
"You were not hurt, were you?"
"Hurt? No, not really."
They sighed in relief at the statement.
"Anyways, I heard you were all coming down for dinner. Come on. I am hungry too." He smiled and she found her heart skipping a beat at the smile.
Did he suddenly become more handsome somehow?